were so tied together that whoever wanted to have as much as possible of one must also

have as much as possible of the other—that whoever wanted to learn to 'jubilate up

to the heavens' would also have to be prepared for 'depression unto death'?

And that is how things may well be.”

In my opinion, that is one of Nietzsche's sharpest insights: pleasure and pain are inseparable.

As usual, I'm gonna explore this idea through a dialogue.

--- A rich man (R) spent the majority of his life

chasing things, and at the age of 40, he finally had everything he wanted: millions of dollars,

exotic cars, designer clothes, a big home, a high-status position at a large company,

and a beautiful wife.

You may think it's weird that I placed his wife among a group of objects that one acquires,

but for this man, that was how he viewed his wife: a thing to be acquired.

Ever since he was a boy, the man had a mental checklist: get a well-respected job, make

a lot of money, get a beautiful wife, and the end result is happiness.

But at the age of 40, after decades of hard work, after acquiring all he set out to acquire,

after getting everything he wanted, he realized he was no happier than when he started.

The sudden realization that he was no happier than when he started threw him into a psychological

crisis.

What had he been chasing for 40 years?

What was the point of it all?

All that hard work and what did he have to show for it?

A few nice toys, that's it.

And the toys hadn't brought the lasting happiness he had hoped for.

He quit his job the very next day, and for weeks, he refused to get out of bed.

All he did was eat and sleep.

His wife prepared his meals and brought several doctors to the house to help her husband.

“There's no point to anything,” said the rich man to each doctor.

“It's all pointless.”

Needless to say, the doctors were unsuccessful in helping him.

Eventually, the rich man reached a breaking point.

When his wife was out to get food, the man left a note on the kitchen counter and walked

out of the house.

On the way to his destination, he saw the same street performer he had seen everyday

for the past few years.

The street performer wore tattered clothes and played the guitar on the sidewalks.

He appeared homeless and sick.

But even so, this man was smiling and full of joy everyday.

The rich man clenched his fists and walked towards the street performer (S).

The following conversation ensued.

R: Hey You!

S: Yes?

R: Why are you so happy?

I walk by you everyday.

Hardly anyone listens to you play your guitar, you have no home, no friends, no money, no

clothes, no status, and you're coughing up blood for goodness sakes.

What do you have to be happy about?

S: Ahh yes, I thought you looked familiar.

I see you walk by everyday too.

You always have a very nice suit on.

You probably have a nice home, a beautiful family, lots of money, nice cars, and a lot

of respect.

But you're still not happy.

Why?

R: I-I don't know.

Probably because everything is pointless and meaningless.

Trust me: I've been chasing these things for 40 years.

Once I got a million dollars, I wanted two.

Once I got a home, I wanted a bigger home.

Once I got one car, I wanted a faster car.

I kept thinking these things would make me happy, but they don't.

Not for long anyways.

When you've gotten as far as I have, you realize that everything is pointless and meaningless.

That's why you're happy and I'm not.

You haven't accomplished enough to know.

S: Here, listen to this song on my guitar.

Da-da-da.

It's nice isn't it?

R: Yeah, but so what?

What's the point?

S: Why does it need to have a point?

Why bother with all this talk about meaning and meaninglessness.

Just listen.

Da-da-da.

Doesn't it fill you with joy?

R: I guess so.

So is that how I can have what you have?

By listening?

S: What's with you and always wanting to achieve something or acquire something?

You wanted money so you chased that.

You wanted cars so you chased that.

And now you think I have something, and you want to chase that.

What's the difference?

I may not have all the things you have, but I can tell you something you've never heard.

R: What's that?

S: You think happiness comes from chasing things, but let me tell you something: the

happiness you believe in is not real.

You think happiness is a state of continuous pleasure, but that doesn't exist.

Pleasure and pain are two sides of the same coin called desire.

You can't have pleasure without pain.

Pleasure comes from getting what you desire, but desiring something means that you don't

have it.

And realizing that you don't have something you want is painful.

So as long as you're chasing something, as long as you're desiring something, you'll

feel both pain and pleasure in equal measures.

You'll feel pain as long as you don't have the thing, you'll feel pleasure when

you get it, then you'll adjust to having it and feel nothing, and then you'll start

desiring the next thing.

You've been in this cycle for 40 years.

You should see by now that happiness does not come from this process.

Happiness is not pleasure.

R: Then what is happiness?

S: Forget what happiness is.

Listen: you've played this game of wanting and chasing your whole life, and where has

it led you?

It's led you no further than where you started.

But when you stop playing this game for a second, what happens?

Listen.

Da-da-da.

When you stop chasing, you can be with the music and allow joy to enter your life.

You've spent your whole life looking for the wind in your home, but maybe it's time

you tried opening the window.

R: I'm not sure I follow.

S: You've spent your whole life acquiring things, and you still haven't acquired happiness.

Maybe happiness is what happens when you give up the game of acquiring things.

R: You've given me a lot to think about.

Here take this: it's a $100.

It's all I have in my wallet, but I will bring you more tomorrow.

S: How kind of you sir, but no thank you.

I have no need for it.

I'll be heading off tomorrow.

R: Where to?

S: To be honest with you sir, I'm not sure, but I will be alright.

Well anyways, so long, it was a joy to talk with you today.

R: So long.

The rich man walked away feeling lighter.

He looked at the world as if for the first time once again, appreciating the sight of

the sun setting, the warmth on his skin, and the still, silent air.

For a moment, all was perfect and he needed nothing.

It was a joyful walk.

When he returned home, he saw his wife, really saw her, for the first time in a long time.

He saw tears in her eyes and pain in her heart.

He walked up to her and gave her a hug.

--- Nietzsche suggested that pleasure and pain

were inseparable, and I explored the meaning behind this idea through a dialogue.

Pleasure and pain are two sides of the same coin called desire.

There's no pleasure without pain.

Pleasure comes from getting what we desire, but desiring something means that we don't

have it.

And realizing that we don't have something we want is painful.

As long as we're chasing something, as long as we're desiring something, we'll feel

both pain and pleasure in equal measures.

Both the pain and the pleasure are proportional to how badly we want the thing.

In modern society, people often equate happiness with a constant state of pleasure, but that

isn't a real thing.

Pain and pleasure are two sides of the same coin, and you can't separate one side of

the coin from the other.

But what if you stop, at least for a moment, flipping the coin?

What if you stop the game of chasing things?

What happens then?

In The Joyful Science, in the section titled My Happiness, Nietzsche wrote, “Since I

grew tired of the chase and search, I learned to find; And since the wind blows in my face,

I sail with every wind.”

As always, this is just my opinion and understanding of Nietzsche's words, not advice.

Feel free to use this information however you like, and if you have a different take

on Nietzsche's words, I'd love to hear

your perspective in

the comments.