(1467–1566) Luigi Cornaro was an Italian nobleman and writer who, after surviving a near-fatal illness, wrote a book called Discorsi sulla vita sobria, or “Discourses On the Temperate Life” (1588). In the book, Cornaro argues that a restrictive diet can promote longevity. Nietzsche derides Cornaro, accusing him of mistaking the consequence for the cause (Cornaro’s slow metabolism required him to eat a spring diet and allowed him to live longer—it wasn’t the diet itself.) Nietzsche identifies mistaking consequence for cause as one of the four great errors of philosophy.
Luigi Cornaro Quotes in Twilight of the Idols
The Twilight of the Idols quotes below are all either spoken by Luigi Cornaro or refer to Luigi Cornaro. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Four Great Errors
Quotes
There is no more dangerous error than that of mistaking the consequence for the cause. I call it reason’s intrinsic form of corruption. None the less, this error is among the most ancient and most recent habits of mankind: it is even sanctified among us, it bears the names ‘religion’ and ‘morality’.
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Luigi Cornaro Quotes in Twilight of the Idols
The Twilight of the Idols quotes below are all either spoken by Luigi Cornaro or refer to Luigi Cornaro. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Four Great Errors
Quotes
There is no more dangerous error than that of mistaking the consequence for the cause. I call it reason’s intrinsic form of corruption. None the less, this error is among the most ancient and most recent habits of mankind: it is even sanctified among us, it bears the names ‘religion’ and ‘morality’.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
