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The Modern Language Review, Vol. 86, No. 4. (Oct., 1991), pp. 911-923.
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Wed Jul 18 05:55:52 2007
ROBERT MUSIL AND NIETZSCHE
The extent of Friedrich Nietzsche's significance for writers and intellectuals in the
early part of this century is immeasurable. The article looks at just one example of
Nietzsche-reception, that of the Austrian writer, Robert Musil (1880-42). Musil
himself declared that it was Nietzsche 'von dem diese ganze Generation ausging'.l
My thanks are due to the Austrian National Library, Vienna, for access to the
Musil-NachlaJ there, and to the Robert-Musil-Arbeitsstelle in the University of
Klagenfurt for allowing me access to transcriptions of part of the Musil-NachlaJ. In
an interesting note from 1 9 3 5 , ~on the subject of ~Vachlasse, Musil classifies
Nietzsche's NachlaJ as one of the 'lehrreichen' and modestly rates his own future
NachlaJ among the 'iiberfliissigen'.
The article gathers together and examines some ofthe extremely varied references
Musil made to Nietzsche in his non-fictional writings. These include his extensive
diaries, essays, speeches, reviews, and letters, and although a strong Nietzschean
influence is evident in some of Musil's fictional writings, particularly Der Mann ohne
Eigenschaften, an attempt to deal with this aspect of Musil's Nietzsche-reception
would overstep the limits of the article form.
An indication of Nietzsche's significance for Musil is given by the fact that only
Goethe's name occurs more often than Nietzsche's in Musil's collected works, where
references to the philosopher span a period of more than forty years and the full
name is often abbreviated to 'N', a habit which suggests familiarity. Musil declared
it 'Schicksal: DaB ich Nietzsche gerade mit achtzehn Jahren zum ersten Male in die
Hand bekam. Gerade nach meinem Austritt vom Militar. Gerade im so und so
vielten Ent~icklungsjahr'.~ This oft-quoted declaration of Musil's makes more
sense if we examine briefly the education which the young Musil received.
He attended two military academies, one in Eisenstadt (1892-94) and afterwards
in Mahrisch-WeiBkirchen (1894-97). The largely negative experiences he had here
were to provide the stufffor the author's first book, Die Verwirrungen des Zoglings TarleJ
(1906).In these schools he was taught by military officers who attempted to provide
their prottgCs with the 'proper' patriotic and moral values, and art and literature
were used as a means to this end. Classic German works, especially those which
espoused loyalty to the 'Vaterland' were studied, and some of the teachers even
wrote trivial plays and sketches, embodying 'appropriate' values, which the unfor-
tunate pupils were forced to learn by heart.
Judging by the experiences of TorleB, the school libraries offered little mental
stimulation, 'denn dort waren in der Biichersammlung wohl die Klassiker erhalten,
aber diese galten als langweilig, und sonst fanden sich nur sentimentale Novellen-
bande und witzlose Militarhumoresken' (GW VI, 13). The boys were isolated in
cultural respects, without access to theatre, museums, art galleries, or major
bookshops.
' NM v11/8/6. References to Musil's A'achlaJ are made in the conventional manner; Nachlafl-Mappe
(NM) number, followed by leaf number.
Robert Musil, Gesammelte Werke, edited by Adolf Frise, g vols (Hamburg, 1983),v11. 966 (henceforth
cited as Gll').
Robert Musil, Tagebiicher I, edited b y Adolf Frisk, 2 vols (Hamburg, 1976), I, 19 (henceforth cited as
TB).
912 Robert Musil and Nietzsche
This schooling left Musil at the age of seventeen with a painful awareness of the
inadequacies of his education in the humanities. He felt himself 'als Halbbarbar'
( T B I, I 53) when he came to Brunn in 1897 to study engineering, and began for the
first time to mix with his counterparts who had been educated in Gymnasia. Brunn
marked an important period in his life. Here at last he was able to go to the theatre,
to read books and periodicals that were not available to him before, and to discuss
questions of art and literature with people of similar age and interests. He himself
referred to this time as 'die Ubergangszeit vom "Barbaren" zur Kultur' (TB I, 949).
I t was at this decisive period of his life that he had his first 'fateful' encounter with
Nietzsche's writings.
In the few later sources in which Musil speaks of the great influences on his
intellectual development in this early period, Nietzsche's name is mentioned
without fail. In a letter dated 1924 to Joser Nadler, he mentions Nietzsche along with
Dostoevsky, Emerson, Novalis, and Maeterlinck as 'entscheidende geistige Ein-
f l ~ s s eof
' ~this time, and in his interesting 'Stichworte zu den Aufzeichnungen eines
Schriftstellers' (1940/41), he differentiates between the stronger 'Denkeinflusse'
coming from Nietzsche, Emerson, and Maeterlinck, and the poetic influence of
Richard Schaukal, who lived in Brunn until 1900. Musil continues, 'man kann nicht
sagen, daB das Dichterische zuruckblieb; aber es geriet unter ein schwacheres
Potential' (GWVII, 923). In his reply to a survey of 1938 regarding literary
influences in his youth, Nietzsche's name is once again listed alongside those of
Maeterlinck, Emerson, Novalis, D'Annunzio, Jacobsen, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy,
Altenberg, and Schnitzler (Brie), p. 837). In an essay from 1926, 'Charakterologie
und Dichtung', he generalizes from his own experiences, listing 'Nietzsche u Schule'
among the new influences on writers ofhis era, who began writing around the turn of
the century (GWVIII, 1403). Elsewhere he names Nietzsche along with hlarx,
Bergson, and Bismarck as the most influential personalities of the time (GW VIII,
1355). He describes thejn-de-sikcle period as a time when the most contradictory
streams and trends existed side bv side and Nietzsche was very much a part of the
intellectual ferment of the time: 'Man befand sich damals unter der Einwirkung der
Franzosen, der Skandinavier, der Russen, Nietzsches und der Stimmung einer
Jahrhundertwende zugleich, man war skeptisch alt urid zugleich amerikanisch jung,
morbid und revolutionar, intellektuell und antirationalistisch, lasterhaft und
zugleich fanatisch wahr' (GW IX, I 508). Musil makes his first explicit reference to
Nietzsche in Heft 3 of his diary in 1899. This well-known quotation expresses an
early frustration with what he regards as Nietzsche's inability to commit himself to
any one possibility:
Etwas uber Kietzsche.
Man nennt ihn unphilosophisch. Seine Werke lesen sich wie geistreiche Spielereien. Mir
kommt er vor wie jemand der hundert neue Moglichkeiten erschlossen hat und keine
ausgefiihrt. Daher lieben ihn die Leute denen neue Moglichkeiten Bedurfnis sind, und
nennen ihn jene unphilosophisch die das mathematisch berechnete Resultat nicht missen
konnen. Nietzsche an sich hat keinen zu grofien Wert. Nietzsche aber und zehn tuchtige
geistige Arbeiter, die das thun, was er nur zeigte brachten uns einen Culturfortschritt von
tausend Jahren.
Nietzsche ist wie ein Park, der Benutzung des Publikums iibergeben- aber es geht niemand
hinein!
(TB 1,501
Robert Musil, Briefe 1901-xgp, edited by Adolf Frist, assisted by Murray Hall (Hamburg, 1981).
p. 368 (henceforth cited as Briefe).
EMER HERITY 9I3
Critics, such as von H e ~ d e b r a n dhave
, ~ recognized in this appraisal ofNietzsche the
germ of Musil's later concept of 'Moglichkeitssinn'. Musil came to regard a n
openness to possibilities as something positive, and credited Nietzsche with
having 'durch sein Beispiel ein Denken in Moglichkeiten dieser Generation gelehrt'
( N M V I I I I1/17).
I n a diary entry dated 2 0 February 1902, Musil summarizes Nietzsche's attitude
thus:
Es giebt Wahrheiten, aber keine Mrahrheit. Ich kann ganz gut zwei einander vollig ent-
gegengesetzte Dinge behaupten und in beiden Fallen Recht haben. Man darf Einfalle nicht
gegeneinander abwagen - jeder ist ein Leben fur sich. Siehe Nietzsche. Welches Fiasco
sobald man in ihm ein System finden will, aul3er dem der geistigen Willkiir des Weisen.
(TBI, I2)
I t is possible that he is here referring to the following remark which Nietzsche made
in this respect: 'Es gibt vielerlei Augen. Auch die Sphinx hat Augen -: und folglich
gibt es vielerlei "Wahrheiten" und folglich gibt es keine i2'ahrheit.'6 hlusil appears
to go along with Nietzsche's Perspectivism. He does not look for clearcut truths and
ordered systems and in this vein remarks: 'siehe Christus, Buddha, Gothe,
Nietzsche. M a n sucht nicht Wahrheit, sondern es schlient sich etwas immer wieder
zu einem ganzen Zustand zusammen' ( T B 11.849).
I n May 1902, he records in his diary that he has borrowed two volumes
of Nietzsche's works and wonders how they will affect him this time. I n any case,
Nietzsche signifies for him 'Sammlung, Selbstpriifung und 411es Mogliche Gute'
( T B I, 19).A few days later Musil summarizes his impressions thus: 'Das Charakter-
istische liegt darin, dan er sagt: dies konnte so sein und jenes so. Und daraufkonnte
man dies und daraufjenes bauen.' H e adds, somewhat dismissively, 'kurz: er spricht
von lauter Moglichkeiten, lauter Combinationen, ohne eine einzige uns wirklich
ausgefiuhrt zu zeigen . . . . E r zeigt uns alle il'ege auf denen unser Gehirn arbeiten
kann, aber er betritt keinen'. I n a more humble vein he admits that this positive
attitude to new possibilities was perhaps 'ein sehr grones Verdienst und erscheint
mir blos heute nicht mehr als solches, weil es mir gemein u. alltaglich vorkommt und
ich vergessen habe wem ich diesen Reichthum eigentlich verdanke' ( T B I, 19). An
addition he made at the side of this page over twenty years later illustrates a n
increased respect towards Nietzsche's ideas: 'Wie drollig man als junger Mensch ist!
Nietzsche gerade gut genug um einem Lausbuben als Stufe zu dienen . . . Wie fern
der Gedanke liegt, auf den Totalgedanken Nietzsche einzugehen' ( T B I, 19).
Musil's first literary efforts are recalled by Gustav Donath, a close friend in Briinn
(and model for Walter in Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften). who writes 'uns alle (zogen)
die literarischen Ereignisse, die "moderne Literatur" machtig a n und bewogen ihn
[Musil] zu eigener schriftstellerischer Tatigkeit' ( T B 11, I 0).
I n Musil's early prose fragments (1899-1900) written by 'monsieur le vivi-
secteur', a familiarity with Nietzschean images and ideas is clearly evident. T h e very
concept of 'monsieur le vivisecteur', who describes his life as 'die Abenteuer und
Irrfahrten eines seelischen Vivisectors zu Beginn des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts'
R. von Heydebrand, Die Rejexionen Ulrichs zn Robert Musils Roman 'Der Mann ohne Eigenschajten'
(Miinster, 1966),p. 42.
' E. Albertsen, 'Jugendsiinden? Die literarischen Anfange Musils', in Robert Musil. Studien zu seinem
Jemeits Don Gut und Bose, edited by Karl Schlechta, 6 vols (Munich and Vienna, 1980), IV, 644, 683.
With the exception o f D e r Wille zur Macht, all references to Nietzsche's works are to this Schlechta edition,
and where possible will be referred to in the text by the relevant volume and page number.
S. Mulot, Derjunge Musil. Seine Beziehungen zu Literatur und Kunst der Jahrhundertwende (Stuttgart, 1g77),
pp.81, 1 2 6 2 7 .
EMER HERITY 9'5
into his diary at this stage crop up again in his later writings, a phenomenon which
will be made clear by various examples.
In an entry from June 1902, he comments: 'N. sagt, daB es dahin kommen solle,
daB man Kriege um einer Erkenntnis Willen fuhrt.' He is under the impression that
this is not meant metaphorically; 'es ist im Gegentheil anzunehmen, daB die
Tapferkeit u. Kriegslust, die bei N. immer wiederkehrt, dahin abzielt u. also
wijrtlich zu nehmen ist' (TB I, 23). But by 1918, he has acquired a more mature
understanding of Nietzsche's intentions, and quotes from Thomas Mann's
Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen his 'Beweis daB Nietzsche mit dem Ubermenschen
etwas Geistiges meinte: sein Internationalismus. Hatte er die militarischen Tugen-
den wortlich gemeint, so hatte er nicht international sein konnen' (TB I, 478).
Nietzsche's works convinced Musil of the complex nature of moral values and
inspired him to re-examine stagnant beliefs. He diveloped the view that good and
bad are not direct opposites, and that actions and deeds cannot be judged by
reference to a prewritten rule-book, but only by looking closely at each unique
situation and each protagonist. In 1902 he decares himself 'erschrocken, als ich bei
Lecture von 'yenseits . . ." auf eine Stelle stieB, wo N. obige Eigenschaften (Neid,
Habsucht) propagierte - und ich mich dadurch abgestonen fiuhlte und erst der
~ b e r l e g u nbedurfte,
~ um N recht zu geben'. For 'wir sind an die allgemein giiltigen
Schatzungen gewohnt'.1°
Musil continued to call on Nietzsche as a moral oracle, and in a public lecture held
'Vor dem Internationalen SchriftstellerkongreB fur die Verteidigung der Kultur' in
Paris 1935, he asserts:
Das Entscheidende liegt am Ganzen, wie man denn auch nach einzelnen Grundsatzen oder
Handlungen von einem Menschen nicht sagen kann, ob er ein Narr oder ein Genie oder ein
geborener Verbrecher ist.
Daruber gibt es -in den Nachgelassenen Fragmenten -eine grauenvolle und weit voraus
blickende Bemerkung Nietzsches (ich fuhre diesen groBen Analytiker nun zum zweitenmal
an, weil er auch ein groRer Prophet gewesen ist), und diese Bemerkung lautet: 'Der Sieg eines
moralischen Ideals wird durch dieselben unmoralischen Mittel errungen wie jeder Sieg:
Gewalt, Luge, Verleumdung, Ungerechtigkeit'. (GW VIII, 1263)
Impressed by Nietzsche's equation of what helps him to be creative with what is
good, Musil quotes in his diary 'alles Gute macht mich fruchtbar . . . ich habe keinen
andern Beweis dafur, was gut ist'." In a 1913 essay, whose title 'Moralische
Fruchtbarkeit' is surely inspired by Nietzsche, he expresses the idea that 'auch das
Bose ist nicht der Gegensatz des Guten oder seine Abwesenheit, sondern sie sind
parallele Erscheinungen . . . . Die diametrale Gegeneinandersetzung entspricht
einem friiheren Denkzustand, der von der Dichotomie alles erhoffte und ist wenig
wissenschaftlich'. He pleads instead for 'moralische Kontemplation und Phantasie'
(GW VIII, I 002-03).
In a short prose piece from 1925, entitled 'BriefSusannens', he reiterates the same
phrase from Nietzsche in an unexpected context and gives it an ironic twist:
'Erinnerst Du Dich, bei Nietzsche gelesen zu haben: "Alles Gute macht mich
lo T B I, 24. Regarding this comment in Musil's diary, Frist quotes Karl Schlechta. who, unable to find
the relevant part in Jensetts uon Gut und Bose, suggests that since Jenseits von Gut und Bbse and Zur Genealogie der
Moral were frequently published together in one volume, Musil may have been mistakenly referring to a
passage in the latter work (TB 11, 2 I , Anmerkung I go). It seems, however, more likely that he was in fact
commenting on the passage 'gesetzt aber, jemand nimmt gar die Affekte Hal3, Neid, Habsucht,
Herrschsucht als lebenbedingende Affekte' (Jenseits von Gut und Bose, IV,587).
l1 T B I. 30. From Der Fall Wagner, IV, 906.
916 Robert Musil and A7iet.gche
fruchtbar, das ist die einzige Form der Dankbarkeit, die ich kenne"? Das ist ein
wunderbarer Satz f i r Frauen, die keine Kinder haben wollen' (GW VII. 637).
After a critical reading of Zur Genealogie der Moral in 1902, Musil feels 'das
Bedurfnis nach einer andern Anordnung des Stoffes, nach einer Gruppirung um
diejenigen Fragen die mir am Herzen liegen', indicating that he would like to adapt
Nietzsche for his own purposes. Alternatively, he comments, one can read Kietzsche
'daR man aus seiner Stoffgruppirung auf sein Herz schlieflt, will sagen auf sein
Personliches, - dafl man ihn kennen zu lernen trachtet. nicht blos seine Philoso-
phie' (TBr, 25). hlusil, though interested in the main in Eietzsche's ideas. here
shows an interest in the personality behind the writings, the figure who so fascinated
hisjn-de-siicle readers.
Spurred on by reading Der Fall Wagner and Gotzendammerung, he begins to reflect in
detail on Nietzsche's concept of 'dGcadence', of which the earlier monsieur le
vivisecteur sketches were a li;erary expression.'~etranscribes whole passages from
Nietzsche relating to this theme. He quotes from Nietzsche's definition of literary
dtcadence where 'das Leben nicht mehr im Ganzen wohnt. Das Wort wird
souverain und springt aus dem Satz hinaus, der Satz greift iiber und verdunkelt den
Sinn der Seite, die Seite gewinnt Leben aufunkosten des Ganzen . . . Das Ganze lebt
uberhaupt nicht mehr: es ist zusammengesetzt, gerechnet, kunstlich, ein
Artefakt'.12 Nietzsche, drawing heavily from Bourget's definition of literary dica-
dence (Bourget singled out Baudelaire as its main protagonist), defined dicadence as
an over-emphasizing of single elements and insignificant detail, resulting in the loss
of a sense ofwhole. For Nietzsche, from the time ofDer Fall Wagner, \.Yagner7smusic
was the prime example of dicadent art. Kietzsche moved his argument from the
sphere of art and literature to the political and moral arena, and again Musil cites:
'Aber das ist das Gleichnis Fir jeden Stil der dkcadence: jedes Ma1 Anarchie der
Atome, Disgregration des Willens, "Freiheit des Individuums", moralisch geredet,
-zu einer politischen Theorie erweitert "gleiche Rechte f i r Alle".'13
Musil describes good and evil as a 'Spielart des Problems der decad' (TB I. 27),
and goes on to quote a passage from Der Fall Wagner which stresses the contradictory
nature of contemporary values:
Der rnoderne Mensch stellt, biologisch, einen Widerspruch der Werthe dar, er sitzt zwischen
zwei Stiihlen, er sagt in einern Athem Ja und Nein . . . . Aber wir Alle haben wider Wissen,
wider Willen, Werthe, Worte, Forrneln, Moralen entgegengesetzter Abkunft im Leibe, -wir
sind physiologisch betrachtet falsch . . . Eine Diagnostik der modernen Seele - womit
begonne sie? Mit einem resoluten Einschnitt in diese Instinkt Widerspriichlichkeit, mit der
Herauslosung ihrer Gegensatz-Werthe, mit der Vivisektion vollzogen an ihrem lehrreichsten
~a11.l~
Nietzsche also defined as de'cadent a need for salvation ('Erlosung') as exemplified by
Christian morality, the denial ofone's instincts and the development of compassion.
Citing an idea of Nietzsche's ('die Instinkte bekampfen mussen -das ist die Formel
fur dtcadence: so lange das Leben aufsteigt, ist Gluck gleich Instinkt'),ls Musil
comments, 'trotzdem wird man oft die Instinkte corrigiren mussen . . . Man wird es
vielleicht so fassen: Sobald man mit seinen Instinkten in Widerspruch gerath, ist die
H e counts Nietzsche among the 'Ethiker', who are not concerned with systems and
rules but develop their own creative moralities. This group is contrasted favourably
with the 'Moralisten', who adopt ready-made values and force them into a con-
strictive moral framework.
In this chapter, Musil makes a point so often stressed by Nietzsche, that different
people will judge the same person or action in different ways, that there is no
universally applicable concept of 'good'. His plea for 'Richtung statt Ordnung'
(TBI, 653) in morality is a development of Nietzsche's criticism of rigid value-
norms, and is further developed in Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften into 'die Moral des
nachsten Schritts'. Musil searches for a 'mathematical' morality, emphasizing his
attempt to combine creativity and exactness, which he elsewhere describes as 'das
Erbe Nietzsches' (GW VII, 899). In another diary entry (1g20), he finds that
'Sozialismus u. aktive Moral. / Nietzsche Mystik usw.' are at odds in everything
except their 'Verlangen nach einem aktiven Ethos anstelle der Statik' (TBI,
522-23). He calls evil 'Motor u. Ordnungsprinzip' (TBI, 660), reiterating a
common theme of Nietzsche's, that badlevil is not undesirable, but is rather a
922 Robert Musil and Nietzsche
necessary corollary of good and that the interaction between these two poles
provides the dynamic impetus in morality.
The concept of 'Essayism' which Musil sketches out in his diary is a central theme
in Der Mann ohne Eigenschajen. 'Essayism' attempts to synthesize the best of both
artistic and scientific worlds. The concept is used in a sense close to the original
French word 'essai' - 'attempt'. He counts Nietzsche among the great 'Essayists',
writing in 1914 'Wir Deutschen haben - auBer dem einen groRen Versuch
Nietzsches - keine Bucher uber den Menschen; keine Systematiker und Organi-
satoren des Lebens. Kunstlerisches und wissenschaftliches Denken beriihren sich
bei uns noch nicht. Die Fragen einer Mittelzone zwischen beiden bleiben ungelost'
(GW VIII,1019).
I n an unpublished draft ofa part of Der Mann ohne Eigenschajen, Ulrich muses that
Nietzsche and Emerson were the source of this concept of 'Essayism' - 'er hatte
nach ihnen seinen Begriff des Essayismus gebildet' ( N M VII/I 7/40).
It would be inappropriate to close this article without citing Musil's perhaps
best-known utterances with regard to the whole problem of influence and
Nietzsche's influence on him in particular. In the 11320s he wrote 'Entwick1un.q nicht
Fortschritt: I Es gibt ~ugenblickegroRer Wahrhaftigkeit, wo ich mir eingeitehe,
alles, was ich sag;, hat vie1 besser schon Emerson oder Nietzsche gesagt. 1ch werde
nicht nur davon uberwaltigt, wenn ich solche Stellen wiedersehe, sondern ich muR
auch annehmen, daR ein tatsachlicher EinfluR im Spiel ist' (GW VII, goo). He goes
on to say that Emerson and Nietzsche cannot already have written everything of
importance and essence because, although they have some things in common, the
two writers are too dissimilar from each other. In various notes he discusses the
question of originality in writing (TB I, 458, 490), and in the late 1930s concludes
that
Der faktische Grundsatz der Literatur ist Wiederholung. Er wird karrikiert angewendet.
Aber eine Wiederholung liegt schon im Gebrauch der Sprachwendungen u. im Sprachgeist.
Est ist also eine Grenze zu ziehen. Offenbar sagt man auch unendlich seltener Neues, als man
etwas neu gestaltet (Die Erfahrung mit Nietzsche, Emerson usw.) Der Begriff der Neugestal-
tung diirfte von groBter Wichtigkeit sein! Was ist die Gestalt eines Gedankens? (einer Idee?).
(TB 1,913-14).
He sees the challenge in an ability to combine the same constant elements in an
original and interesting way, to put new forms on old ideas.
~ u s i himself
l realiied the w~oblematicnature of his relationshiw to Nietzsche.
writing in 1935 'es ist immer ein unklares gewesen, das in mir selbst Praformierte an
mich nehmend, das Fremde beiseite lassend' (Briefe, p. 683). A few years later, he
asks himself the question: 'Nietzsche. Habe ich in meiner Jugend auch nur 113 von
ihm aufgenommen? Und doch entscheidender EinfluR' (TB I, 903). Musil's own
acknowledgement that he adopted those ideas from Nietzsche withwhich he could
identify and ignored all others is a fair appraisal of his Nietzsche-reception. For him,
Nietzsche was above all else an original mind, a critic ofconvention, and the greatest
moral thinker ofthe late nineteenth century (TB I, 743). Although in his youth Musil
criticized Nietzsche for not having committed himself to any one set of doctrines, he
came to regard this openness to possibilities as something positive and desirable.
Nietzsche's influence on him spanned his lifetime. I have shown how ideas and
phrases he quoted from ~ i e t z s d h ein 1902 cropped up again and again in his own
writings in the 1920s and 1930s. He also recognized Nietzsche as having been at the
EMER HERITY 9*3
head of a trend whereby the barriers between the disciplines of art and philosophy
were becoming more and more fluid, and himself combined talent in both areas. He
admired Nietzsche's literiry genius and talent of expression (in the 1930s he
considered trying to publish some aphoristic pieces in order to earn some badly-
needed cash, and mentioned Nietzsche as his model for this style of writing - see
T B I, goo; Briefe, pp. 549-50,928-29, 976) and frequently quoted from his works.
Musil achieved a differentiated understanding of Nietzsche's ideas, and Musil's
writings are an illustration of the great variety ofways in which Nietzsche influenced
him.