Erik B.K.K.

“Under der linden
an der heide,
dâ unser zweier bette was,
Dâ muget ir vinden
schône beide
gebrochen bluomen unde gras.
Vor dem walde in einem tal,
tandaradei,
schône sanc diu nahtegal.

Ich kam gegangen
zuo der ouwe:
dô was mîn friedel komen ê.
Dâ wart ich empfangen,
hêre frouwe,
daz ich bin saelic iemer mê.
Kuster mich? wol tûsentstunt:
tandaradei,
seht wie rôt mir ist der munt.

Dô het er gemachet
alsô rîche
von bluomen eine bettestat.
Des wirt noch gelachet
inneclîche,
kumt iemen an daz selbe pfat.
Bî den rôsen er wol mac,
tandaradei,
merken wâ mirz houbet lac.

Daz er bî mir laege,
wessez iemen
(nu enwelle got!), sô schamt ich mich.
Wes er mit mir pflaege,
niemer niemen
bevinde daz, wan er und ich.
Und ein kleinez vogellîn:
tandaradei,
daz mac wol getriuwe sîn.”
― Walther von der Vogelweide

“In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche introduced the concept of the Übermensch: an exemplary, transcendent figure who is the polar opposite of “the last man” or “men without chests.” The Übermensch is virtuous, loyal, ambitious and outspoken, disdainful of religious dogma and suspicious of received wisdom, intensely engaged in the hurly-burly of the real world. Above all he is passionate—a connoisseur of both “the highest joys” and “the deepest sorrows.” He believes in the moral imperative to defend (with his life, if necessary) ideals such as truth, beauty, honor, and justice. He is self-assured. He is a risk taker. He regards suffering as salutary, and scorns the path of least resistance.”
― Jon Krakauer, Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

“O never a green leaf whispers, where the green-gold branches swing:
O never a song I hear now, where one was wont to sing.
Here in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still,
But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.”
― William Sharp

“I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I'm gone which would not have happened if I had not come.”
― Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children