오늘의 나를 죽여야 내일의 내가 태어날 수 있다.
오늘의 나를 완전히 죽여야 내일의 내가 태어나는 것이다. 새로운 나로 변신하려면 기존의 나를 완전히 버려야 한다. 너는 네 자신의 불길로 너 스스로를 태워버릴 각오를 해야 하리라. 먼저 재가 되지 않고서 어떻게 거듭나길 바랄 수 있겠는가? – 니체
This past week, my boss has been even more gnomically obscure and dyspeptically cryptic than usual. One night a few days ago, during a break between classes, he was taping up some of his characteristic aphorisms in a prominent place by the door out of the staffroom, printed in large print on bright goldenrod paper. In Korean, of course.
I said, as is my wont, “What’s that?” I sit close to the staffroom door, so I was just making conversation while he taped his papers up.
At first he was dismissive. “These are not important,” he said. By which he normally means they’re not important to me – being in Korean, I suppose.
But then he reconsidered. “Do you want to understand these?”
I nodded, dubiously.
“Then read them. They could change your life.”
“Gee thanks,” I remarked, though my sarcasm is often lost on the Koreans around me. “Can you send me an electronic copy? That makes it easier for me to research them.”
He did. So I spent some time the last few days puzzling through some boss-sourced aphorisms.
Lo and behold, I found myself attempting to read Nietzsche, in Korean (see above, at the top of this blog post).
You might think, with all the Nietzsche I’ve read, that I’d be able to figure out the source of the quote – the quote only said “니체” [ni-che = Nietzsche] and didn’t specify a book or volume. But after a lot of effort at translation, I’m clueless.
The text is definitely Nietzschean in character, and the snippet my boss shared is quite popular on Korean blog sites, but it’s never properly attributed, that I’ve been able to find. I decided to not try to find the source any more, and just give as workmanlike a translation as I can manage.
오늘의 나를 죽여야
today me-OBJ die-CAUSE
내일의 내가 태어날 수 있다.
tomorrow I-SUBJ born-POSSIBLE
“I must die today in order to be born tomorrow.”
오늘의 나를 완전히 죽여야
today-GEN me-OBJ completely die-CAUSE
내일의 내가 태어나는 것이다.
tomorrow-GEN I-SUBJ born-PERIPRES
“I must die completely today in order that I am [re-]born tomorrow.”
새로운 나로 변신하려면
new-PPART me-ABL transform-CAUSE
기존의 나를 완전히 버려야 한다.
existing me-OBJ completely discard-INTENT-PRES
“To transform into the new me I am ready to discard the [currently] existing me completely.”
너는 네 자신의 불길로
you-TOPIC your self-GEN flame-ABL
너 스스로를 태워버릴 각오를 해야 하리라.
you REFLX-OBJ burn-off-FUTPART resolution-OBJ do-INTENT-TRY
“You must resolve to burn off yourself in your own flames.”
먼저 재가 되지 않고서
firstly I-SUBJ become-SUSP not-AND-THEN
어떻게 거듭나길 바랄 수 있겠는가?
how be-reborn-GER-OBJ hope-FUTPART possible have-FUT-SPEC
“[If] I don’t first finish how could I be reborn?”
As long as we’re on a Nietzsche kick, here’s another quote I rather like.
What if a demon were to creep after you one night, in your loneliest
loneliness, and say, ‘This life which you live must be lived by you once
again and innumerable times more; and every pain and joy and thought
and sigh must come again to you, all in the same sequence. The eternal
hourglass will again and again be turned and you with it, dust of the
dust!’ Would you throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse that
demon? Or would you answer, ‘Never have I heard anything more divine’?
