Gaze not too long into the abyss, lest the abyss turn its gaze upon you

let sleeping dog lie. the abyss is not a good place to keep staring into. evil may become attractive and justifiable if you keep imagining what it entails. the more you want to know everything, the higher the possibility you may be consumed and destroyed by your passion in it. the more you want to change things and make them work your way, the more things want to change you so that you start working in the opposite direction contrary to what you wanted.

The quote becomes less obscure if it is taken in its entirety. "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." It is always dangerous to try to state what Nietzsche had in mind but to me this seems to say that there is a danger of becoming what you hate or fight against. Todays neo-athiests are a case in point. They fight the idea of religion with such vigor that their own cause takes on all the trappings of a religion.

I've not heard either of those, but they ring true to me, as I believe we are drawn toward that we look at and seek out.. and also believe there to be creative power in our thoughts and words.

Hi Urban. I suppose it means if you stare into the dark heart/void/abyss it becomes aware of you and communicates with you. for example if you look into your darkest desires or dreams long enough, become familiar with them, those dreams and desires will interact with you. it could mean our very presence looking into the void validates it's exsistence. Nietchze was a dark one! a brutal realist if anything .. but his words have been twisted by a lot of people.

Isn't it a quote from a medieval abbot, from before the Star Chamber fixed the spelling of "Abbess"?

Very tough to say what it means. At least for me. I more or less feel like it's about doing something too much (thinking, hobby, etc..) that it consumes you or makes you see things that aren't really there. But idk.