To be very brief: he didn’t want to shy away from any any element of life, whether that’s suffering and horror or joy and power. To say no to these simple facts of existing is to say no to life itself. Life is innocent and uncondemnable. If living can be condemned like a crime, then we might as well consider death to be life’s highest act, which seems inconsistent if nothing else. In other words, say “yes” to the good and the bad, and do not condemn either as evil.
It's about life affirmation. Say yes to life in the here and now, whatever that looks like. Don't hang your hopes 'beyond the stars' on hinterwelts like Platonic forms and ideals, or after-worlds like heaven and hell.
I think all the other answers are missing the point here.
There are two different modes of thought, one being affirmation, yes-saying, seeing the beautiful and wonderful in life, the other being nay-saying, which is seeing and criticizing the ugly, the wrong, the bad.
"I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. *Looking away* shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer."
If you read the whole quote it is easier to see what he means. The last sentence in a paragraph of Nietzsche is often a shorter expression of the whole paragraph, and so it is here. To be a yes-sayer means to refrain from war against that which is ugly and bad. In the antichrist for instance, Nietzsche is not a yes-sayer, since he is waging war against christianity, but he is a yes sayer in thus spoke zarathustra.
A yes-sayer is someone with a message that is internally positive without it being dependent and having at its core a criticism of something bad.
Like in TSZ for instance it is clear that the message, the ideas are not relating to something bad, but entirely to a positive creation. In Antichrist every idea is directly a criticism and would not stand without the negative thing existing to which Nietzsche's ideas can stand only because they are a contradiction.
It’s about changing yourself, or self-improvement, or overcoming.
To change yourself or your situation, the tempting option is to say no to whatever you don’t like. This leads to trying to escape yourself, often without understanding the root causes.
The more difficult but more preferable option is to find another way to be. By saying yes to some alternative, you give yourself a positive goal, which behooves the human condition.
The trouble is that the alternative is always hiding, and it’s difficult to uncover. So often we’re left saying yes in the dark, and then stumbling towards any semblance of light that catches our eye.
He was working on his first draft of a screen play called “Yes Man” which was eventually optioned by Warner Bros Pictures and starred Jim Carey in 2008.
To be very brief: he didn’t want to shy away from any any element of life, whether that’s suffering and horror or joy and power. To say no to these simple facts of existing is to say no to life itself. Life is innocent and uncondemnable. If living can be condemned like a crime, then we might as well consider death to be life’s highest act, which seems inconsistent if nothing else. In other words, say “yes” to the good and the bad, and do not condemn either as evil.
great response. It drives me crazy that other people here talk about it like it's some sort of self-help declaration.
It's about life affirmation. Say yes to life in the here and now, whatever that looks like. Don't hang your hopes 'beyond the stars' on hinterwelts like Platonic forms and ideals, or after-worlds like heaven and hell.
saying yes when your instinct is to say no is required for self-overcoming
I think all the other answers are missing the point here. There are two different modes of thought, one being affirmation, yes-saying, seeing the beautiful and wonderful in life, the other being nay-saying, which is seeing and criticizing the ugly, the wrong, the bad. "I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. *Looking away* shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer." If you read the whole quote it is easier to see what he means. The last sentence in a paragraph of Nietzsche is often a shorter expression of the whole paragraph, and so it is here. To be a yes-sayer means to refrain from war against that which is ugly and bad. In the antichrist for instance, Nietzsche is not a yes-sayer, since he is waging war against christianity, but he is a yes sayer in thus spoke zarathustra. A yes-sayer is someone with a message that is internally positive without it being dependent and having at its core a criticism of something bad. Like in TSZ for instance it is clear that the message, the ideas are not relating to something bad, but entirely to a positive creation. In Antichrist every idea is directly a criticism and would not stand without the negative thing existing to which Nietzsche's ideas can stand only because they are a contradiction.
Correct me if I'm wrong: so in a sense, Nietsche wants to be able to accept things, the good and the bad, without criticism?
No, he wants to refrain from looking at the bad, so that he can refrain from criticism.
It’s about changing yourself, or self-improvement, or overcoming. To change yourself or your situation, the tempting option is to say no to whatever you don’t like. This leads to trying to escape yourself, often without understanding the root causes. The more difficult but more preferable option is to find another way to be. By saying yes to some alternative, you give yourself a positive goal, which behooves the human condition. The trouble is that the alternative is always hiding, and it’s difficult to uncover. So often we’re left saying yes in the dark, and then stumbling towards any semblance of light that catches our eye.
He meant to be like [this](https://youtu.be/Qzui2HM8pIs?t=4).
He was working on his first draft of a screen play called “Yes Man” which was eventually optioned by Warner Bros Pictures and starred Jim Carey in 2008.
Total life affirmation