,,the ,,essays ,,of ,,arthur ,,schopenhauer ,,translated ,,by ,t4 ,,bailey ,,saunders1 ,m4,a4 ,,on ,,human ,,nature4 ,,contents4 ,,human ,,nature ,,government ,,free-,,will ,,and ,,fatalism ,,character ,,moral ,,instinct ,,ethical ,,reflections ,,translator',s ,,preface4 ,the following essays are drawn from the chapters entitled ,zur ,ethik and ,zur ,rechtslehre und ,politik which are to be found both in ,schopenhauer's ,parerga and in his posthumous writings4 ,as in my previous volumes1 so also in this1 ,i have omitted a few passages which appeared to me to be either antiquated or no longer of any general interest4 ,for convenience' sake ,i have divided the original chapters into sections1 which ,i have had to name2 and ,i have also had to invent a title which should express their real scope4 ,the reader will find that it is not so much ,ethics and ,politics that are here treated1 as human nature itself in various aspects4 ,t4,b4,s4 ,,human ,,nature4 ,truths of the physical order may possess much external significance1 but internal significance they have none4 ,the latter is the privilege of intellectual and moral truths1 which are concerned with the objectivation of the will in its highest stages1 whereas physical truths are concerned with it in its lowest4 ,for example1 if we could establish the truth of what up till now is only a conjecture1 namely1 that it is the action of the sun which produces thermoelectricity at the equator2 that this produces terrestrial magnetism2 and that this magnetism1 again1 is the cause of the aurora borealis1 these would be truths externally of great1 but internally of little1 significance4 ,on the other hand1 examples of internal significance are furnished by all great and true philosophical systems2 by the catastrophe of every good tragedy2 nay1 even by the observation of human conduct in the extreme manifestations of its morality and immorality1 of its good and its evil character4 ,for all these are expressions of that reality which takes outward shape as the world1 and which1 in the highest stages of its objectivation1 proclaims its innermost nature4 ,to say that the world has only a physical and not a moral significance is the greatest and most pernicious of all errors1 the fundamental blunder1 the real perversity of mind and temper2 and1 at bottom1 it is doubtless the tendency which faith personifies as ,anti-,christ4 ,nevertheless1 in spite of all religions--and they are systems which one and all maintain the opposite1 and seek to establish it in their mythical way--this fundamental error never becomes quite extinct1 but raises its head from time to time afresh1 until universal indignation compels it to hide itself once more4 ,yet1 however certain we may feel of the moral significance of life and the world1 to explain and illustrate it1 and to resolve the contradiction between this significance and the world as it is1 form a task of great difficulty2 so great1 indeed1 as to make it possible that it has remained for me to exhibit the true and only genuine and sound basis of morality everywhere and at all times effective1 together with the results to which it leads4 ,the actual facts of morality are too much on my side for me to fear that my theory can ever be replaced or upset by any other4 ,however1 so long as even my ethical system continues to be ignored by the professorial world1 it is ,kant's moral principle that prevails in the universities4 ,among its various forms the one which is most in favour at present is the dignity of man4 ,i have already exposed the absurdity of this doctrine in my treatise on the ,foundation of ,morality4#a ,therefore ,i will only say here that if the question were asked on what the alleged dignity of man rests1 it would not be long before the answer was made that it rests upon his morality4 ,in other words1 his morality rests upon his dignity1 and his dignity rests upon his morality4 ,footnote #a3 #h4 ,but apart from this circular argument it seems to me that the idea of dignity can be applied only in an ironical sense to a being whose will is so sinful1 whose intellect is so limited1 whose body is so weak and perishable as man's4 ,how shall a man be proud1 when his conception is a crime1 his birth a penalty1 his life a labour1 and death a necessity6-- ,quid superbit homo8 cujus conceptio culpa1 ,nasci poena1 labor vita1 necesse mori6 ,therefore1 in opposition to the above-mentioned form of the ,kantian principle1 ,i should be inclined to lay down the following rule3 ,when you come into contact with a man1 no matter whom1 do not attempt an objective appreciation of him according to his worth and dignity4 ,do not consider his bad will1 or his narrow understanding and perverse ideas2 as the former may easily lead you to hate and the latter to despise him2 but fix your attention only upon his sufferings1 his needs1 his anxieties1 his pains4 ,then you will always feel your kinship with him2 you will sympathise with him2 and instead of hatred or contempt you will experience the commiseration that alone is the peace to which the ,gospel calls us4 ,the way to keep down hatred and contempt is certainly not to look for a man's alleged dignity1 but1 on the contrary1 to regard him as an object of pity4 ,the ,buddhists1 as the result of the more profound views which they entertain on ethical and metaphysical subjects1 start from the cardinal vices and not the cardinal virtues2 since the virtues make their appearance only as the contraries or negations of the vices4 ,according to ,schmidt's ,history of the ,eastern ,mongolians the cardinal vices in the ,buddhist scheme are four3 ,lust1 ,indolence1 ,anger1 and ,avarice4 ,but probably instead of ,indolence1 we should read ,pride2 for so it stands in the ,lettres difiantes et curieuses1#a where ,envy1 or ,hatred1 is added as a fifth4 ,i am confirmed in correcting the statement of the excellent ,schmidt by the fact that my rendering agrees with the doctrine of the ,sufis1 who are certainly under the influence of the ,brahmins and ,buddhists4 ,the ,sufis also maintain that there are four cardinal vices1 and they arrange them in very striking pairs1 so that ,lust appears in connection with ,avarice1 and ,anger with ,pride4 ,the four cardinal virtues opposed to them would be ,chastity and ,generosity1 together with ,gentleness and ,humility4 ,footnote #a3 ,edit1 of #ahai1 vol4 vi41 p4 #cgb4 ,when we compare these profound ideas of morality1 as they are entertained by oriental nations1 with the celebrated cardinal virtues of ,plato1 which have been recapitulated again and again--,justice1 ,valour1 ,temperance1 and ,wisdom--it is plain that the latter are not based on any clear1 leading idea1 but are chosen on grounds that are superficial and1 in part1 obviously false4 ,virtues must be qualities of the will1 but ,wisdom is chiefly an attribute of the ,intellect4 ,greek3 ,sophrosynae1 which ,cicero translates ,temperantia1 is a very indefinite and ambiguous word1 and it admits1 therefore1 of a variety of applications3 it may mean discretion1 or abstinence1 or keeping a level head4 ,courage is not a virtue at all2 although sometimes it is a servant or instrument of virtue2 but it is just as ready to become the servant of the greatest villainy4 ,it is really a quality of temperament4 ,even ,geulinx 7in the preface to this ,ethics7 condemned the ,platonic virtues and put the following in their place3 ,diligence1 ,obedience1 ,justice and ,humility2 which are obviously bad4 ,the ,chinese distinguish five cardinal virtues3 ,sympathy1 ,justice1 ,propriety1 ,wisdom1 and ,sincerity4 ,the virtues of ,christianity are theological1 not cardinal3 ,faith1 ,love1 and ,hope4 ,fundamental disposition towards others1 assuming the character either of ,envy or of ,sympathy1 is the point at which the moral virtues and vices of mankind first diverge4 ,these two diametrically opposite qualities exist in every man2 for they spring from the inevitable comparison which he draws between his own lot and that of others4 ,according as the result of this comparison affects his individual character does the one or the other of these qualities become the source and principle of all his action4 ,envy builds the wall between ,thee and ,me thicker and stronger2 ,sympathy makes it slight and transparent2 nay1 sometimes it pulls down the wall altogether2 and then the distinction between self and not-self vanishes4 ,valour1 which has been mentioned as a virtue1 or rather the ,courage on which it is based 7for valour is only courage in war71 deserves a closer examination4 ,the ancients reckoned ,courage among the virtues1 and cowardice among the vices2 but there is no corresponding idea in the ,christian scheme1 which makes for charity and patience1 and in its teaching forbids all enmity or even resistance4 ,the result is that with the moderns ,courage is no longer a virtue4 ,nevertheless it must be admitted that cowardice does not seem to be very compatible with any nobility of character--if only for the reason that it betrays an overgreat apprehension about one's own person4 ,courage1 however1 may also be explained as a readiness to meet ills that threaten at the moment1 in order to avoid greater ills that lie in the future2 whereas cowardice does the contrary4 ,but this readiness is of the same quality as patience1 for patience consists in the clear consciousness that greater evils than those which are present1 and that any violent attempt to flee from or guard against the ills we have may bring the others upon us4 ,courage1 then1 would be a kind of patience2 and since it is patience that enables us to practise forbearance and self control1 ,courage is1 through the medium of patience1 at least akin to virtue4 ,but perhaps ,courage admits of being considered from a higher point of view4 ,the fear of death may in every case be traced to a deficiency in that natural philosophy--natural1 and therefore resting on mere feeling--which gives a man the assurance that he exists in everything outside him just as much as in his own person2 so that the death of his person can do him little harm4 ,but it is just this very assurance that would give a man heroic ,courage2 and therefore1 as the reader will recollect from my ,ethics1 ,courage comes from the same source as the virtues of ,justice and ,humanity4 ,this is1 ,i admit1 to take a very high view of the matter2 but apart from it ,i cannot well explain why cowardice seems contemptible1 and personal courage a noble and sublime thing2 for no lower point of view enables me to see why a finite individual who is everything to himself--nay1 who is himself even the very fundamental condition of the existence of the rest of the world--should not put his own preservation above every other aim4 ,it is1 then1 an insufficient explanation of ,courage to make it rest only on utility1 to give it an empirical and not a transcendental character4 ,it may have been for some such reason that ,calderon once uttered a sceptical but remarkable opinion in regard to ,courage1 nay1 actually denied its reality2 and put his denial into the mouth of a wise old minister1 addressing his young sovereign4 ,although1 he observed1 natural fear is operative in all alike1 a man may be brave in not letting it be seen2 and it is this that constitutes ,courage3 ,que aunque el natural temor ,en todos obra igualmente1 ,no mostrarle es ser valiente ,y esto es lo que hace el valor4#a ,footnote #a3 ,la ,hija del ,aire1 ii41 #b4 ,in regard to the difference which ,i have mentioned between the ancients and the moderns in their estimate of ,courage as a virtue1 it must be remembered that by ,virtue1 virtus1 ,greek3 aretae1 the ancients understood every excellence or quality that was praiseworthy in itself1 it might be moral or intellectual1 or possibly only physical4 ,but when ,christianity demonstrated that the fundamental tendency of life was moral1 it was moral superiority alone than henceforth attached to the notion of ,virtue4 ,meanwhile the earlier usage still survived in the elder ,latinists1 and also in ,italian writers1 as is proved by the well-known meaning of the word virtuoso4 ,the special attention of students should be drawn to this wider range of the idea of ,virtue amongst the ancients1 as otherwise it might easily be a source of secret perplexity4 ,i may recommend two passages preserved for us by ,stobaeus1 which will serve this purpose4 ,one of them is apparently from the ,pythagorean philosopher ,metopos1 in which the fitness of every bodily member is declared to be a virtue4 ,the other pronounces that the virtue of a shoemaker is to make good shoes4 ,this may also serve to explain why it is that in the ancient scheme of ethics virtues and vices are mentioned which find no place in ours4 ,as the place of ,courage amongst the virtues is a matter of doubt1 so is that of ,avarice amongst the vices4 ,it must not1 however1 be confounded with greed1 which is the most immediate meaning of the ,latin word avaritia4 ,let us then draw up and examine the arguments pro et contra in regard to ,avarice1 and leave the final judgment to be formed by every man for himself4 ,on the one hand it is argued that it is not ,avarice which is a vice1 but extravagance1 its opposite4 ,extravagance springs from a brutish limitation to the present moment1 in comparison with which the future1 existing as it does only in thought1 is as nothing4 ,it rests upon the illusion that sensual pleasures possess a positive or real value4 ,accordingly1 future need and misery is the price at which the spendthrift purchases pleasures that are empty1 fleeting1 and often no more than imaginary2 or else feeds his vain1 stupid self-conceit on the bows and scrapes of parasites who laugh at him in secret1 or on the gaze of the mob and those who envy his magnificence4 ,we should1 therefore1 shun the spendthrift as though he had the plague1 and on discovering his vice break with him betimes1 in order that later on1 when the consequences of his extravagance ensue1 we may neither have to help to bear them1 nor1 on the other hand1 have to play the part of the friends of ,timon of ,athens4 ,at the same time it is not to be expected that he who foolishly squanders his own fortune will leave another man's intact1 if it should chance to be committed to his keeping2 nay1 sui profusus and alieni appetens are by ,sallust very rightly conjoined4 ,hence it is that extravagance leads not only to impoverishment but also to crime2 and crime amongst the moneyed classes is almost always the result of extravagance4 ,it is accordingly with justice that the ,koran declares all spendthrifts to be brothers of ,satan4 ,but it is superfluity that ,avarice brings in its train1 and when was superfluity ever unwelcome8 ,that must be a good vice which has good consequences4 ,avarice proceeds upon the principle that all pleasure is only negative in its operation and that the happiness which consists of a series of pleasures is a chimaera2 that1 on the contrary1 it is pains which are positive and extremely real4 ,accordingly1 the avaricious man foregoes the former in order that he may be the better preserved from the latter1 and thus it is that bear and forbear--sustine et abstine--is his maxim4 ,and because he knows1 further1 how inexhaustible are the possibilities of misfortune1 and how innumerable the paths of danger1 he increases the means of avoiding them1 in order1 if possible1 to surround himself with a triple wall of protection4 ,who1 then1 can say where precaution against disaster begins to be exaggerated8 ,he alone who knows where the malignity of fate reaches its limit4 ,and even if precaution were exaggerated it is an error which at the most would hurt the man who took it1 and not others4 ,if he will never need the treasures which he lays up for himself1 they will one day benefit others whom nature has made less careful4 ,that until then he withdraws the money from circulation is no misfortune2 for money is not an article of consumption3 it only represents the good things which a man may actually possess1 and is not one itself4 ,coins are only counters2 their value is what they represent2 and what they represent cannot be withdrawn from circulation4 ,moreover1 by holding back the money1 the value of the remainder which is in circulation is enhanced by precisely the same amount4 ,even though it be the case1 as is said1 that many a miser comes in the end to love money itself for its own sake1 it is equally certain that many a spendthrift1 on the other hand1 loves spending and squandering for no better reason4 ,friendship with a miser is not only without danger1 but it is profitable1 because of the great advantages it can bring4 ,for it is doubtless those who are nearest and dearest to the miser who on his death will reap the fruits of the self-control which he exercised2 but even in his lifetime1 too1 something may be expected of him in cases of great need4 ,at any rate one can always hope for more from him than from the spendthrift1 who has lost his all and is himself helpless and in debt4 ,mas da el duro que el desnudo1 says a ,spanish proverb2 the man who has a hard heart will give more than the man who has an empty purse4 ,the upshot of all this is that ,avarice is not a vice4 ,on the other side1 it may be said that ,avarice is the quintessence of all vices4 ,when physical pleasures seduce a man from the right path1 it is his sensual nature--the animal part of him--which is at fault4 ,he is carried away by its attractions1 and1 overcome by the impression of the moment1 he acts without thinking of the consequences4 ,when1 on the other hand1 he is brought by age or bodily weakness to the condition in which the vices that he could never abandon end by abandoning him1 and his capacity for physical pleasure dies--if he turns to ,avarice1 the intellectual desire survives the sensual4 ,money1 which represents all the good things of this world1 and is these good things in the abstract1 now becomes the dry trunk overgrown with all the dead lusts of the flesh1 which are egoism in the abstract4 ,they come to life again in the love of the ,mammon4 ,the transient pleasure of the senses has become a deliberate and calculated lust of money1 which1 like that to which it is directed1 is symbolical in its nature1 and1 like it1 indestructible4 ,this obstinate love of the pleasures of the world--a love which1 as it were1 outlives itself2 this utterly incorrigible sin1 this refined and sublimated desire of the flesh1 is the abstract form in which all lusts are concentrated1 and to which it stands like a general idea to individual particulars4 ,accordingly1 ,avarice is the vice of age1 just as extravagance is the vice of youth4 ,this disputatio in utramque partem--this debate for and against--is certainly calculated to drive us into accepting the juste milieu morality of ,aristotle2 a conclusion that is also supported by the following consideration4 ,every human perfection is allied to a defect into which it threatens to pass2 but it is also true that every defect is allied to a perfection4 ,hence it is that if1 as often happens1 we make a mistake about a man1 it is because at the beginning of our acquaintance with him we confound his defects with the kinds of perfection to which they are allied4 ,the cautious man seems to us a coward2 the economical man1 a miser2 the spendthrift seems liberal2 the rude fellow1 downright and sincere2 the foolhardy person looks as if he were going to work with a noble self-confidence2 and so on in many other cases4 99 99 99 99 99 ,no one can live among men without feeling drawn again and again to the tempting supposition that moral baseness and intellectual incapacity are closely connected1 as though they both sprang direct from one source4 ,that that1 however1 is not so1 ,i have shown in detail4#a ,that it seems to be so is merely due to the fact that both are so often found together2 and the circumstance is to be explained by the very frequent occurrence of each of them1 so that it may easily happen for both to be compelled to live under one roof4 ,at the same time it is not to be denied that they play into each other's hands to their mutual benefit2 and it is this that produces the very unedifying spectacle which only too many men exhibit1 and that makes the world to go as it goes4 ,a man who is unintelligent is very likely to show his perfidy1 villainy and malice2 whereas a clever man understands how to conceal these qualities4 ,and how often1 on the other hand1 does a perversity of heart prevent a man from seeing truths which his intelligence is quite capable of grasping6 ,footnote #a3 ,in my chief work1 vol4 ii41 ch4 xix1 ,nevertheless1 let no one boast4 ,just as every man1 though he be the greatest genius1 has very definite limitations in some one sphere of knowledge1 and thus attests his common origin with the essentially perverse and stupid mass of mankind1 so also has every man something in his nature which is positively evil4 ,even the best1 nay the noblest1 character will sometimes surprise us by isolated traits of depravity2 as though it were to acknowledge his kinship with the human race1 in which villainy--nay1 cruelty--is to be found in that degree4 ,for it was just in virtue of this evil in him1 this bad principle1 that of necessity he became a man4 ,and for the same reason the world in general is what my clear mirror of it has shown it to be4 ,but in spite of all this the difference even between one man and another is incalculably great1 and many a one would be horrified to see another as he really is4 ,oh1 for some ,asmodeus of morality1 to make not only roofs and walls transparent to his favourites1 but also to lift the veil of dissimulation1 fraud1 hypocrisy1 pretence1 falsehood and deception1 which is spread over all things6 to show how little true honesty there is in the world1 and how often1 even where it is least to be expected1 behind all the exterior outwork of virtue1 secretly and in the innermost recesses1 unrighteousness sits at the helm6 ,it is just on this account that so many men of the better kind have four-footed friends3 for1 to be sure1 how is a man to get relief from the endless dissimulation1 falsity and malice of mankind1 if there were no dogs into whose honest faces he can look without distrust8 ,for what is our civilised world but a big masquerade8 where you meet knights1 priests1 soldiers1 men of learning1 barristers1 clergymen1 philosophers1 and ,i don't know what all6 ,but they are not what they pretend to be2 they are only masks1 and1 as a rule1 behind the masks you will find moneymakers4 ,one man1 ,i suppose1 puts on the mask of law1 which he has borrowed for the purpose from a barrister1 only in order to be able to give another man a sound drubbing2 a second has chosen the mask of patriotism and the public welfare with a similar intent2 a third takes religion or purity of doctrine4 ,for all sorts of purposes men have often put on the mask of philosophy1 and even of philanthropy1 and ,i know not what besides4 ,women have a smaller choice4 ,as a rule they avail themselves of the mask of morality1 modesty1 domesticity1 and humility4 ,then there are general masks1 without any particular character attaching to them like dominoes4 ,they may be met with everywhere2 and of this sort is the strict rectitude1 the courtesy1 the sincere sympathy1 the smiling friendship1 that people profess4 ,the whole of these masks as a rule are merely1 as ,i have said1 a disguise for some industry1 commerce1 or speculation4 ,it is merchants alone who in this respect constitute any honest class4 ,they are the only people who give themselves out to be what they are2 and therefore they go about without any mask at all1 and consequently take a humble rank4 ,it is very necessary that a man should be apprised early in life that it is a masquerade in which he finds himself4 ,for otherwise there are many things which he will fail to understand and put up with1 nay1 at which he will be completely puzzled1 and that man longest of all whose heart is made of better clay-- ,et meliore luto finxit praecordia ,titan4#a ,footnote #a3 ,juvenal1 ,sat4 #ad1 #cd ,such for instance is the favour that villainy finds2 the neglect that merit1 even the rarest and the greatest1 suffers at the hands of those of the same profession2 the hatred of truth and great capacity2 the ignorance of scholars in their own province2 and the fact that true wares are almost always despised and the merely specious ones in request4 ,therefore let even the young be instructed betimes that in this masquerade the apples are of wax1 the flowers of silk1 the fish of pasteboard1 and that all things--yes1 all things--are toys and trifles2 and that of two men whom he may see earnestly engaged in business1 one is supplying spurious goods and the other paying for them in false coin4 ,but there are more serious reflections to be made1 and worse things to be recorded4 ,man is at bottom a savage1 horrible beast4 ,we know it1 if only in the business of taming and restraining him which we call civilisation4 ,hence it is that we are terrified if now and then his nature breaks out4 ,wherever and whenever the locks and chains of law and order fall off and give place to anarchy1 he shows himself for what he is4 ,but it is unnecessary to wait for anarchy in order to gain enlightenment on this subject4 ,a hundred records1 old and new1 produce the conviction that in his unrelenting cruelty man is in no way inferior to the tiger and the hyaena4 ,a forcible example is supplied by a publication of the year #ahda entitled ,slavery and the ,internal ,slave ,trade in the ,united ,states of ,north ,america3 being replies to questions transmitted by the ,british ,anti-slavery ,society to the ,american ,anti-slavery ,society4#a ,this book constitutes one of the heaviest indictments against the human race4 ,no one can put it down with a feeling of horror1 and few without tears4 ,for whatever the reader may have ever heard1 or imagined1 or dreamt1 of the unhappy condition of slavery1 or indeed of human cruelty in general1 it will seem small to him when he reads of the way in which those devils in human form1 those bigoted1 church-going1 strictly ,sabbatarian rascals--and in particular the ,anglican priests among them--treated their innocent black brothers1 who by wrong and violence had got into their diabolical clutches4 ,footnote #a3 ,translator's ',note4--,if ,schopenhauer were writing to-day1 he would with equal truth point to the miseries of the ,african trade4 ,i have slightly abridged this passage1 as some of the evils against which he protested no longer exist4 ,other examples are furnished by ,tshudi's ,travels in ,peru1 in the description which he gives of the treatment of the ,peruvian soldiers at the hands of their officers2 and by ,macleod's ,travels in ,eastern ,africa1 where the author tells of the cold-blooded and truly devilish cruelty with which the ,portuguese in ,mozambique treat their slaves4 ,but we need not go for examples to the ,new ,world1 that obverse side of our planet4 ,in the year #ahdh it was brought to life that in ,england1 not in one1 but apparently in a hundred cases within a brief period1 a husband had poisoned his wife or vice vers1 or both had joined in poisoning their children1 or in torturing them slowly to death by starving and ill-treating them1 with no other object than to get the money for burying them which they had insured in the ,burial ,clubs against their death4 ,for this purpose a child was often insured in several1 even in as many as twenty clubs at once4#a ,footnote #a3 ,cf4 ,the ,times1 #bjth1 #bbnd and #bcrd ,sept41 #ahdh1 and also #abth ,dec41 #ahec4 ,details of this character belong1 indeed1 to the blackest pages in the criminal records of humanity4 ,but1 when all is said1 it is the inward and innate character of man1 this god par excellence of the ,pantheists1 from which they and everything like them proceed4 ,in every man there dwells1 first and foremost1 a colossal egoism1 which breaks the bounds of right and justice with the greatest freedom1 as everyday life shows on a small scale1 and as history on every page of it on a large4 ,does not the recognised need of a balance of power in ,europe1 with the anxious way in which it is preserved1 demonstrate that man is a beast of prey1 who no sooner sees a weaker man near him than he falls upon him without fail8 and does not the same hold good of the affairs of ordinary life8 ,but to the boundless egoism of our nature there is joined more or less in every human breast a fund of hatred1 anger1 envy1 rancour and malice1 accumulated like the venom in a serpent's tooth1 and waiting only for an opportunity of venting itself1 and then1 like a demon unchained1 of storming and raging4 ,if a man has no great occasion for breaking out1 he will end by taking advantage of the smallest1 and by working it up into something great by the aid of his imagination2 for1 however small it may be1 it is enough to rouse his anger-- ,quantulacunque adeo est occasio1 sufficit irae#a-- ,footnote #a3 ,juvenal1 ,sat4 #ac1 #ahc4 and then he will carry it as far as he can and may4 ,we see this in daily life1 where such outbursts are well known under the name of venting one's gall on something4 ,it will also have been observed that if such outbursts meet with no opposition the subject of them feels decidedly the better for them afterwards4 ,that anger is not without its pleasure is a truth that was recorded even by ,aristotle2#a and he quotes a passage from ,homer1 who declares anger to be sweeter than honey4 ,but not in anger alone--in hatred too1 which stands to anger like a chronic to an acute disease1 a man may indulge with the greatest delight3 ,footnote #a3 ,rhet41 i41 #aa2 ii41 #b4 ,now hatred is by far the longest pleasure1 ,men love in haste1 but they detest at leisure#a ,footnote #a3 ,byron ,don ,juan1 c4 xiii1 #f4 ,gobineau in his work ,les ,races ,humaines has called man l'animal mchant par excellence4 ,people take this very ill1 because they feel that it hits them2 but he is quite right1 for man is the only animal which causes pain to others without any further purpose than just to cause it4 ,other animals never do it except to satisfy their hunger1 or in the rage of combat4 ,if it is said against the tiger that he kills more than eats1 he strangles his prey only for the purpose of eating it2 and if he cannot eat it1 the only explanation is1 as the ,french phrase has it1 that ses yeux sont plus grands que son estomac4 ,no animal ever torments another for the mere purpose of tormenting1 but man does it1 and it is this that constitutes the diabolical feature in his character which is so much worse than the merely animal4 ,i have already spoken of the matter in its broad aspect2 but it is manifest even in small things1 and every reader has a daily opportunity of observing it4 ,for instance1 if two little dogs are playing together--and what a genial and charming sight it is--and a child of three or four years joins them1 it is almost inevitable for it to begin hitting them with a whip or stick1 and thereby show itself1 even at that age1 l'animal mchant par excellence4 ,the love of teasing and playing tricks1 which is common enough1 may be traced to the same source4 ,for instance1 if a man has expressed his annoyance at any interruption or other petty inconvenience1 there will be no lack of people who for that very reason will bring it about3 animal mchant par excellence6 ,this is so certain that a man should be careful not to express any annoyance at small evils4 ,on the other hand he should also be careful not to express his pleasure at any trifle1 for1 if he does so1 men will act like the jailer who1 when he found that his prisoner had performed the laborious task of taming a spider1 and took a pleasure in watching it1 immediately crushed it under his foot3 l'animal mchant par excellence6 ,this is why all animals are instinctively afraid of the sight1 or even of the track of a man1 that animal mchant par excellence6 nor does their instinct them false2 for it is man alone who hunts game for which he has no use and which does him no harm4 ,it is a fact1 then1 that in the heart of every man there lies a wild beast which only waits for an opportunity to storm and rage1 in its desire to inflict pain on others1 or1 if they stand in his way1 to kill them4 ,it is this which is the source of all the lust of war and battle4 ,in trying to tame and to some extent hold it in check1 the intelligence1 its appointed keeper1 has always enough to do4 ,people may1 if they please1 call it the radical evil of human nature--a name which will at least serve those with whom a word stands for an explanation4 ,i say1 however1 that it is the will to live1 which1 more and more embittered by the constant sufferings of existence1 seeks to alleviate its own torment by causing torment in others4 ,but in this way a man gradually develops in himself real cruelty and malice4 ,the observation may also be added that as1 according to ,kant1 matter subsists only through the antagonism of the powers of expansion and contraction1 so human society subsists only by the antagonism of hatred1 or anger1 and fear4 ,for there is a moment in the life of all of us when the malignity of our nature might perhaps make us murderers1 if it were not accompanied by a due admixture of fear to keep it within bounds2 and this fear1 again1 would make a man the sport and laughing stock of every boy1 if anger were not lying ready in him1 and keeping watch4 ,but it is ,schadenfreude1 a mischievous delight in the misfortunes of others1 which remains the worst trait in human nature4 ,it is a feeling which is closely akin to cruelty1 and differs from it1 to say the truth1 only as theory from practice4 ,in general1 it may be said of it that it takes the place which pity ought to take--pity which is its opposite1 and the true source of all real justice and charity4 ,envy is also opposed to pity1 but in another sense2 envy1 that is to say1 is produced by a cause directly antagonistic to that which produces the delight in mischief4 ,the opposition between pity and envy on the one hand1 and pity and the delight in mischief on the other1 rests1 in the main1 on the occasions which call them forth4 ,in the case of envy it is only as a direct effect of the cause which excites it that we feel it at all4 ,that is just the reason why envy1 although it is a reprehensible feeling1 still admits of some excuse1 and is1 in general1 a very human quality2 whereas the delight in mischief is diabolical1 and its taunts are the laughter of hell4 ,the delight in mischief1 as ,i have said1 takes the place which pity ought to take4 ,envy1 on the contrary1 finds a place only where there is no inducement to pity1 or rather an inducement to its opposite2 and it is just as this opposite that envy arises in the human breast2 and so far1 therefore1 it may still be reckoned a human sentiment4 ,nay1 ,i am afraid that no one will be found to be entirely free from it4 ,for that a man should feel his own lack of things more bitterly at the sight of another's delight in the enjoyment of them1 is natural2 nay1 it is inevitable2 but this should not rouse his hatred of the man who is happier than himself4 ,it is just this hatred1 however1 in which true envy consists4 ,least of all should a man be envious1 when it is a question1 not of the gifts of fortune1 or chance1 or another's favour1 but of the gifts of nature2 because everything that is innate in a man rests on a metaphysical basis1 and possesses justification of a higher kind2 it is1 so to speak1 given him by ,divine grace4 ,but1 unhappily1 it is just in the case of personal advantages that envy is most irreconcilable4 ,thus it is that intelligence1 or even genius1 cannot get on in the world without begging pardon for its existence1 wherever it is not in a position to be able1 proudly and boldly1 to despise the world4 ,in other words1 if envy is aroused only by wealth1 rank1 or power1 it is often kept down by egoism1 which perceives that1 on occasion1 assistance1 enjoyment1 support1 protection1 advancement1 and so on1 may be hoped for from the object of envy or that at least by intercourse with him a man may himself win honour from the reflected light of his superiority2 and here1 too1 there is the hope of one day attaining all those advantages himself4 ,on the other hand1 in the envy that is directed to natural gifts and personal advantages1 like beauty in women1 or intelligence in men1 there is no consolation or hope of one kind or the other2 so that nothing remains but to indulge a bitter and irreconcilable hatred of the person who possesses these privileges2 and hence the only remaining desire is to take vengeance on him4 ,but here the envious man finds himself in an unfortunate position2 for all his blows fall powerless as soon as it is known that they come from him4 ,accordingly he hides his feelings as carefully as if they were secret sins1 and so becomes an inexhaustible inventor of tricks and artifices and devices for concealing and masking his procedure1 in order that1 unperceived1 he may wound the object of his envy4 ,for instance1 with an air of the utmost unconcern he will ignore the advantages which are eating his heart out2 he will neither see them1 nor know them1 nor have observed or even heard of them1 and thus make himself a master in the art of dissimulation4 ,with great cunning he will completely overlook the man whose brilliant qualities are gnawing at his heart1 and act as though he were quite an unimportant person2 he will take no notice of him1 and1 on occasion1 will have even quite forgotten his existence4 ,but at the same time he will before all things endeavour by secret machination carefully to deprive those advantages of any opportunity of showing themselves and becoming known4 ,then out of his dark corner he will attack these qualities with censure1 mockery1 ridicule and calumny1 like the toad which spurts its poison from a hole4 ,no less will he enthusiastically praise unimportant people1 or even indifferent or bad performances in the same sphere4 ,in short1 he will becomes a ,proteas in stratagem1 in order to wound others without showing himself4 ,but what is the use of it8 ,the trained eye recognises him in spite of it all4 ,he betrays himself1 if by nothing else1 by the way in which he timidly avoids and flies from the object of his envy1 who stands the more completely alone1 the more brilliant he is2 and this is the reason why pretty girls have no friends of their own sex4 ,he betrays himself1 too1 by the causeless hatred which he shows--a hatred which finds vent in a violent explosion at any circumstance however trivial1 though it is often only the product of his imagination4 ,how many such men there are in the world may be recognised by the universal praise of modesty1 that is1 of a virtue invented on behalf of dull and commonplace people4 ,nevertheless1 it is a virtue which1 by exhibiting the necessity for dealing considerately with the wretched plight of these people1 is just what calls attention to it4 ,for our self-consciousness and our pride there can be nothing more flattering than the sight of envy lurking in its retreat and plotting its schemes2 but never let a man forget that where there is envy there is hatred1 and let him be careful not to make a false friend out of any envious person4 ,therefore it is important to our safety to lay envy bare2 and a man should study to discover its tricks1 as it is everywhere to be found and always goes about incognito2 or as ,i have said1 like a venomous toad it lurks in dark corners4 ,it deserves neither quarter nor sympathy2 but as we can never reconcile it let our rule of conduct be to scorn it with a good heart1 and as our happiness and glory is torture to it we may rejoice in its sufferings3 ,den ,neid wirst nimmer du vershnen2 ,so magst du ihn getrost verhhnen4 ,dein ,glck1 dein ,ruhm ist ihm ein ,leiden3 ,magst drum an seiner ,quaal dich weiden4 ,we have been taking a look at the depravity of man1 and it is a sight which may well fill us with horror4 ,but now we must cast our eyes on the misery of his existence2 and when we have done so1 and are horrified by that too1 we must look back again at his depravity4 ,we shall then find that they hold the balance to each other4 ,we shall perceive the eternal justice of things2 for we shall recognise that the world is itself the ,last ,judgment on it1 and we shall begin to understand why it is that everything that lives must pay the penalty of its existence1 first in living and then in dying4 ,thus the evil of the penalty accords with the evil of the sin--malum poenae with malum culpae4 ,from the same point of view we lose our indignation at that intellectual incapacity of the great majority of mankind which in life so often disgusts us4 ,in this ,sansara1 as the ,buddhists call it1 human misery1 human depravity and human folly correspond with one another perfectly1 and they are of like magnitude4 ,but if1 on some special inducement1 we direct our gaze to one of them1 and survey it in particular1 it seems to exceed the other two4 ,this1 however1 is an illusion1 and merely the effect of their colossal range4 ,all things proclaim this ,sansara2 more than all else1 the world of mankind2 in which1 from a moral point of view1 villainy and baseness1 and from an intellectual point of view1 incapacity and stupidity1 prevail to a horrifying extent4 ,nevertheless1 there appear in it1 although very spasmodically1 and always as a fresh surprise1 manifestations of honesty1 of goodness1 nay1 even of nobility2 and also of great intelligence1 of the thinking mind of genius4 ,they never quite vanish1 but like single points of light gleam upon us out of the great dark mass4 ,we must accept them as a pledge that this ,sansara contains a good and redeeming principle1 which is capable of breaking through and of filling and freeing the whole of it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the readers of my ,ethics know that with me the ultimate foundation of morality is the truth which in the ,vedas and the ,vedanta receives its expression in the established1 mystical formula1 ,tat twam asi 7,this is thyself71 which is spoken with reference to every living thing1 be it man or beast1 and is called the ,mahavakya1 the great word4 ,actions which proceed in accordance with this principle1 such as those of the philanthropist1 may indeed be regarded as the beginning of mysticism4 ,every benefit rendered with a pure intention proclaims that the man who exercises it acts in direct conflict with the world of appearance2 for he recognises himself as identical with another individual1 who exists in complete separation from him4 ,accordingly1 all disinterested kindness is inexplicable2 it is a mystery2 and hence in order to explain it a man has to resort to all sorts of fictions4 ,when ,kant had demolished all other arguments for theism1 he admitted one only1 that it gave the best interpretation and solution of such mysterious actions1 and of all others like them4 ,he therefore allowed it to stand as a presumption unsusceptible indeed of theoretical proof1 but valid from a practical point of view4 ,i may1 however1 express my doubts whether he was quite serious about it4 ,for to make morality rest on theism is really to reduce morality to egoism2 although the ,english1 it is true1 as also the lowest classes of society with us1 do not perceive the possibility of any other foundation for it4 ,the above-mentioned recognition of a man's own true being in another individual objectively presented to him1 is exhibited in a particularly beautiful and clear way in the cases in which a man1 already destined to death beyond any hope of rescue1 gives himself up to the welfare of others with great solicitude and zeal1 and tries to save them4 ,of this kind is the well-known story of a servant who was bitten in a courtyard at night by a mad dog4 ,in the belief that she was beyond hope1 she seized the dog and dragged it into a stable1 which she then locked1 so that no one else might be bitten4 ,then again there is the incident in ,naples1 which ,tischbein has immortalised in one of his aquarelles4 ,a son1 fleeing from the lava which is rapidly streaming toward the sea1 is carrying his aged father on his back4 ,when there is only a narrow strip of land left between the devouring elements1 the father bids the son put him down1 so that the son may save himself by flight1 as otherwise both will be lost4 ,the son obeys1 and as he goes casts a glance of farewell on his father4 ,this is the moment depicted4 ,the historical circumstance which ,scott represents in his masterly way in ,the ,heart of ,midlothian1 chap1 ii41 is of a precisely similar kind2 where1 of two delinquents condemned to death1 the one who by his awkwardness caused the capture of the other happily sets him free in the chapel by overpowering the guard after the execution-sermon1 without at the same time making any attempt on his own behalf4 ,nay1 in the same category must also be placed the scene which is represented in a common engraving1 which may perhaps be objectionable to western readers--,i mean the one in which a soldier1 kneeling to be shot1 is trying by waving a cloth to frighten away his dog who wants to come to him4 ,in all these cases we see an individual in the face of his own immediate and certain destruction no longer thinking of saving himself1 so that he may direct the whole of his efforts to saving some one else4 ,how could there be a clearer expression of the consciousness that what is being destroyed is only a phenomenon1 and that the destruction itself is only a phenomenon2 that1 on the other hand1 the real being of the man who meets his death is untouched by that event1 and lives on in the other man1 in whom even now1 as his action betrays1 he so clearly perceives it to exist8 ,for if this were not so1 and it was his real being which was about to be annihilated1 how could that being spend its last efforts in showing such an ardent sympathy in the welfare and continued existence of another8 ,there are two different ways in which a man may become conscious of his own existence4 ,on the one hand1 he may have an empirical perception of it1 as it manifests itself externally--something so small that it approaches vanishing point2 set in a world which1 as regards time and space1 is infinite2 one only of the thousand millions of human creatures who run about on this planet for a very brief period and are renewed every thirty years4 ,on the other hand1 by going down into the depths of his own nature1 a man may become conscious that he is all in all2 that1 in fact1 he is the only real being2 and that1 in addition1 this real being perceives itself again in others1 who present themselves from without1 as though they formed a mirror of himself4 ,of these two ways in which a man may come to know what he is1 the first grasps the phenomenon alone1 the mere product of the principle of individuation2 whereas the second makes a man immediately conscious that he is the thing-in-itself4 ,this is a doctrine in which1 as regards the first way1 ,i have ,kant1 and as regards both1 ,i have the ,vedas1 to support me4 ,there is1 it is true1 a simple objection to the second method4 ,it may be said to assume that one and the same being can exist in different places at the same time1 and yet be complete in each of them4 ,although1 from an empirical point of view1 this is the most palpable impossibility--nay1 absurdity--it is nevertheless perfectly true of the thing-in-itself4 ,the impossibility and the absurdity of it1 empirically1 are only due to the forms which phenomena assume1 in accordance with the principle of individuation4 ,for the thing-in-itself1 the will to live1 exists whole and undivided in every being1 even in the smallest1 as completely as in the sum-total of all things that ever were or are or will be4 ,this is why every being1 even the smallest1 says to itself1 ,so long as ,i am safe1 let the world perish--dum ego salvus sim1 pereat mundus4 ,and1 in truth1 even if only one individual were left in the world1 and all the rest were to perish1 the one that remained would still possess the whole self-being of the world1 uninjured and undiminished1 and would laugh at the destruction of the world as an illusion4 ,this conclusion per impossible may be balanced by the counter-conclusion1 which is on all fours with it1 that if that last individual were to be annihilated in and with him the whole world would be destroyed4 ,it was in this sense that the mystic ,angelas ,silesius#a declared that ,god could not live for a moment without him1 and that if he were to be annihilated ,god must of necessity give up the ghost3 ,ich weiss dass ohne mich ,gott nicht ein ,nu kann leben2 ,werd' ich zunicht1 er muss von ,noth den ,geist aufgeben4 ,footnote #a3 ,translator's ,note4--,angelus ,silesius1 see ,counsels and ,maxims1 p4 #ci1 note4 ,but the empirical point of view also to some extent enables us to perceive that it is true1 or at least possible1 that our self can exist in other beings whose consciousness is separated and different from our own4 ,that this is so is shown by the experience of somnambulists4 ,although the identity of their ego is preserved throughout1 they know nothing1 when they awake1 of all that a moment before they themselves said1 did or suffered4 ,so entirely is the individual consciousness a phenomenon that even in the same ego two consciousnesses can arise of which the one knows nothing of the other4 ,,government4 ,it is a characteristic failing of the ,germans to look in the clouds for what lies at their feet4 ,an excellent example of this is furnished by the treatment which the idea of ,natural ,right has received at the hands of professors of philosophy4 ,when they are called upon to explain those simple relations of human life which make up the substance of this right1 such as ,right and ,wrong1 ,property1 ,state1 ,punishment and so on1 they have recourse to the most extravagant1 abstract1 remote and meaningless conceptions1 and out of them build a ,tower of ,babel reaching to the clouds1 and taking this or that form according to the special whim of the professor for the time being4 ,the clearest and simplest relations of life1 such as affect us directly1 are thus made quite unintelligible1 to the great detriment of the young people who are educated in such a school4 ,these relations themselves are perfectly simple and easily understood--as the reader may convince himself if he will turn to the account which ,i have given of them in the ,foundation of ,morality1 #ag1 and in my chief work1 bk4 i41 #fb4 ,but at the sound of certain words1 like ,right1 ,freedom1 the ,good1 ,being--this nugatory infinitive of the cupola--and many others of the same sort1 the ,german's head begins to swim1 and falling straightway into a kind of delirium he launches forth into high-flown phrases which have no meaning whatever4 ,he takes the most remote and empty conceptions1 and strings them together artificially1 instead of fixing his eyes on the facts1 and looking at things and relations as they really are4 ,it is these things and relations which supply the ideas of ,right and ,freedom1 and give them the only true meaning that they possess4 ,the man who starts from the preconceived opinion that the conception of ,right must be a positive one1 and then attempts to define it1 will fail2 for he is trying to grasp a shadow1 to pursue a spectre1 to search for what does not exist4 ,the conception of ,right is a negative one1 like the conception of ,freedom2 its content is mere negation4 ,it is the conception of ,wrong which is positive2 ,wrong has the same significance as injury--laesio--in the widest sense of the term4 ,an injury may be done either to a man's person or to his property or to his honour2 and accordingly a man's rights are easy to define3 every one has a right to do anything that injures no one else4 ,to have a right to do or claim a thing means nothing more than to be able to do or take or vise it without thereby injuring any one else4 ,simplex sigillum veri4 ,this definition shows how senseless many questions are2 for instance1 the question whether we have the right to take our own life1 ,as far as concerns the personal claims which others may possibly have upon us1 they are subject to the condition that we are alive1 and fall to the ground when we die4 ,to demand of a man1 who does not care to live any longer for himself1 that he should live on as a mere machine for the advantage of others is an extravagant pretension4 ,although men's powers differ1 their rights are alike4 ,their rights do not rest upon their powers1 because ,right is of a moral complexion2 they rest on the fact that the same will to live shows itself in every man at the same stage of its manifestation4 ,this1 however1 only applies to that original and abstract ,right1 which a man possesses as a man4 ,the property1 and also the honour1 which a man acquires for himself by the exercise of his powers1 depend on the measure and kind of power which he possesses1 and so lend his ,right a wider sphere of application4 ,here1 then1 equality comes to an end4 ,the man who is better equipped1 or more active1 increases by adding to his gains1 not his ,right1 but the number of the things to which it extends4 ,in my chief work#a ,i have proved that the ,state in its essence is merely an institution existing for the purpose of protecting its members against outward attack or inward dissension4 ,it follows from this that the ultimate ground on which the ,state is necessary is the acknowledged lack of ,right in the human race4 ,if ,right were there1 no one would think of a ,state2 for no one would have any fear that his rights would be impaired2 and a mere union against the attacks of wild beasts or the elements would have very little analogy with what we mean by a ,state4 ,from this point of view it is easy to see how dull and stupid are the philosophasters who in pompous phrases represent that the ,state is the supreme end and flower of human existence4 ,such a view is the apotheosis of ,philistinism4 ,footnote #a3 #a ,bk4 ii41 ch4 xlvii4 ,if it were ,right that ruled in the world1 a man would have done enough in building his house1 and would need no other protection than the right of possessing it1 which would be obvious4 ,but since ,wrong is the order of the day1 it is requisite that the man who has built his house should also be able to protect it4 ,otherwise his ,right is de facto incomplete2 the aggressor1 that is to say1 has the right of might--,faustrecht2 and this is just the conception of ,right which ,spinoza entertains4 ,he recognises no other4 ,his words are3 unusquisque tantum juris habet quantum potentia valet2#a each man has as much right as he has power4 ,and again3 uniuscujusque jus potentia ejus definitur2 each man's right is determined by his power4#b ,hobbes seems to have started this conception of ,right1#c and he adds the strange comment that the ,right of the good ,lord to all things rests on nothing but ,his omnipotence4 ,footnote #a3 ,tract4 ,theol4 ,pol41 ch4 ii41 #h4 ,footnote #b3 ,ethics1 ,,iv41 xxxvii41 #a4 ,footnote #c3 ,particularly in a passage in the ,de ,cive1 ,i1 #ad4 ,now this is a conception of ,right which1 both in theory and in practice1 no longer prevails in the civic world2 but in the world in general1 though abolished in theory1 it continues to apply in practice4 ,the consequences of neglecting it may be seen in the case of ,china4 ,threatened by rebellion within and foes without1 this great empire is in a defenceless state1 and has to pay the penalty of having cultivated only the arts of peace and ignored the arts of war4 ,there is a certain analogy between the operations of nature and those of man which is a peculiar but not fortuitous character1 and is based on the identity of the will in both4 ,when the herbivorous animals had taken their place in the organic world1 beasts of prey made their appearance--necessarily a late appearance--in each species1 and proceeded to live upon them4 ,just in the same way1 as soon as by honest toil and in the sweat of their faces men have won from the ground what is needed for the support of their societies1 a number of individuals are sure to arise in some of these societies1 who1 instead of cultivating the earth and living on its produce1 prefer to take their lives in their hands and risk health and freedom by falling upon those who are in possession of what they have honestly earned1 and by appropriating the fruits of their labour4 ,these are the beasts of prey in the human race2 they are the conquering peoples whom we find everywhere in history1 from the most ancient to the most recent times4 ,their varying fortunes1 as at one moment they succeed and at another fail1 make up the general elements of the history of the world4 ,hence ,voltaire was perfectly right when he said that the aim of all war is robbery4 ,that those who engage in it are ashamed of their doings is clear by the fact that governments loudly protest their reluctance to appeal to arms except for purposes of self-defence4 ,instead of trying to excuse themselves by telling public and official lies1 which are almost more revolting than war itself1 they should take their stand1 as bold as brass1 on ,macchiavelli's doctrine4 ,the gist of it may be stated to be this3 that whereas between one individual and another1 and so far as concerns the law and morality of their relations1 the principle1 ,don't do to others what you wouldn't like done to yourself1 certainly applies1 it is the converse of this principle which is appropriate in the case of nations and in politics3 ,what you wouldn't like done to yourself do to others4 ,if you do not want to be put under a foreign yoke1 take time by the forelock1 and put your neighbour under it himself2 whenever1 that is to say1 his weakness offers you the opportunity4 ,for if you let the opportunity pass1 it will desert one day to the enemy's camp and offer itself there4 ,then your enemy will put you under his yoke2 and your failure to grasp the opportunity may be paid for1 not by the generation which was guilty of it1 but by the next4 ,this ,macchiavellian principle is always a much more decent cloak for the lust of robbery than the rags of very obvious lies in a speech from the head of the ,state2 lies1 too1 of a description which recalls the well-known story of the rabbit attacking the dog4 ,every ,state looks upon its neighbours as at bottom a horde of robbers1 who will fall upon it as soon as they have the opportunity4 99 99 99 99 99 ,between the serf1 the farmer1 the tenant1 and the mortgagee1 the difference is rather one of form than of substance4 ,whether the peasant belongs to me1 or the land on which he has to get a living2 whether the bird is mine1 or its food1 the tree or its fruit1 is a matter of little moment2 for1 as ,shakespeare makes ,shylock say3 ,you take my life ,when you do take the means whereby ,i live4 ,the free peasant has1 indeed1 the advantage that he can go off and seek his fortune in the wide world2 whereas the serf who is attached to the soil1 glebae adscriptus1 has an advantage which is perhaps still greater1 that when failure of crops or illness1 old age or incapacity1 render him helpless1 his master must look after him1 and so he sleeps well at night2 whereas1 if the crops fail1 his master tosses about on his bed trying to think how he is to procure bread for his men4 ,as long ago as ,menander it was said that it is better to be the slave of a good master than to live miserably as a freeman4 ,another advantage possessed by the free is that if they have any talents they can improve their position2 but the same advantage is not wholly withheld from the slave4 ,if he proves himself useful to his master by the exercise of any skill1 he is treated accordingly2 just as in ancient ,rome mechanics1 foremen of workshops1 architects1 nay1 even doctors1 were generally slaves4 ,slavery and poverty1 then1 are only two forms1 ,i might almost say only two names1 of the same thing1 the essence of which is that a man's physical powers are employed1 in the main1 not for himself but for others2 and this leads partly to his being over-loaded with work1 and partly to his getting a scanty satisfaction for his needs4 ,for ,nature has given a man only as much physical power as will suffice1 if he exerts it in moderation1 to gain a sustenance from the earth4 ,no great superfluity of power is his4 ,if1 then1 a not inconsiderable number of men are relieved from the common burden of sustaining the existence of the human race1 the burden of the remainder is augmented1 and they suffer4 ,this is the chief source of the evil which under the name of slavery1 or under the name of the proletariat1 has always oppressed the great majority of the human race4 ,but the more remote cause of it is luxury4 ,in order1 it may be said1 that some few persons may have what is unnecessary1 superfluous1 and the product of refinement--nay1 in order that they may satisfy artificial needs--a great part of the existing powers of mankind has to be devoted to this object1 and therefore withdrawn from the production of what is necessary and indispensable4 ,instead of building cottages for themselves1 thousands of men build mansions for a few4 ,instead of weaving coarse materials for themselves and their families1 they make fine cloths1 silk1 or even lace1 for the rich1 and in general manufacture a thousand objects of luxury for their pleasure4 ,a great part of the urban population consists of workmen who make these articles of luxury2 and for them and those who give them work the peasants have to plough and sow and look after the flocks as well as for themselves1 and thus have more labour than ,nature originally imposed upon them4 ,moreover1 the urban population devotes a great deal of physical strength1 and a great deal of land1 to such things as wine1 silk1 tobacco1 hops1 asparagus and so on1 instead of to corn1 potatoes and cattle-breeding4 ,further1 a number of men are withdrawn from agriculture and employed in ship-building and seafaring1 in order that sugar1 coffee1 tea and other goods may be imported4 ,in short1 a large part of the powers of the human race is taken away from the production of what is necessary1 in order to bring what is superfluous and unnecessary within the reach of a few4 ,as long therefore as luxury exists1 there must be a corresponding amount of over-work and misery1 whether it takes the name of poverty or of slavery4 ,the fundamental difference between the two is that slavery originates in violence1 and poverty in craft4 ,the whole unnatural condition of society--the universal struggle to escape from misery1 the sea-trade attended with so much loss of life1 the complicated interests of commerce1 and finally the wars to which it all gives rise--is due1 only and alone1 to luxury1 which gives no happiness even to those who enjoy it1 nay1 makes them ill and bad-tempered4 ,accordingly it looks as if the most effective way of alleviating human misery would be to diminish luxury1 or even abolish it altogether4 ,there is unquestionably much truth in this train of thought4 ,but the conclusion at which it arrives is refuted by an argument possessing this advantage over it--that it is confirmed by the testimony of experience4 ,a certain amount of work is devoted to purposes of luxury4 ,what the human race loses in this way in the muscular power which would otherwise be available for the necessities of existence is gradually made up to it a thousandfold by the nervous power1 which1 in a chemical sense1 is thereby released4 ,and since the intelligence and sensibility which are thus promoted are on a higher level than the muscular irritability which they supplant1 so the achievements of mind exceed those of the body a thousandfold4 ,one wise counsel is worth the work of many hands3 ,greek3 ,hos en sophon bouleuma tas pollon cheiras nika4 ,a nation of nothing but peasants would do little in the way of discovery and invention2 but idle hands make active heads4 ,science and the ,arts are themselves the children of luxury1 and they discharge their debt to it4 ,the work which they do is to perfect technology in all its branches1 mechanical1 chemical and physical2 an art which in our days has brought machinery to a pitch never dreamt of before1 and in particular has1 by steam and electricity1 accomplished things the like of which would1 in earlier ages1 have been ascribed to the agency of the devil4 ,in manufactures of all kinds1 and to some extent in agriculture1 machines now do a thousand times more than could ever have been done by the hands of all the well-to-do1 educated1 and professional classes1 and could ever have been attained if all luxury had been abolished and every one had returned to the life of a peasant4 ,it is by no means the rich alone1 but all classes1 who derive benefit from these industries4 ,things which in former days hardly any one could afford are now cheap and abundant1 and even the lowest classes are much better off in point of comfort4 ,in the ,middle ,ages a ,king of ,england once borrowed a pair of silk stockings from one of his lords1 so that he might wear them in giving an audience to the ,french ambassador4 ,even ,queen ,elizabeth was greatly pleased and astonished to receive a pair as a ,new ,year's present2 to-day every shopman has them4 ,fifty years ago ladies wore the kind of calico gowns which servants wear now4 ,if mechanical science continues to progress at the same rate for any length of time1 it may end by saving human labour almost entirely1 just as horses are even now being largely superseded by machines4 ,for it is possible to conceive that intellectual culture might in some degree become general in the human race2 and this would be impossible as long as bodily labour was incumbent on any great part of it4 ,muscular irritability and nervous sensibility are always and everywhere1 both generally and particularly1 in antagonism2 for the simple reason that it is one and the same vital power which underlies both4 ,further1 since the arts have a softening effect on character1 it is possible that quarrels great and small1 wars and duels1 will vanish from the world2 just as both have become much rarer occurrences4 ,however1 it is not my object here to write a ,utopia4 ,but apart from all this the arguments used above in favour of the abolition of luxury and the uniform distribution of all bodily labour are open to the objection that the great mass of mankind1 always and everywhere1 cannot do without leaders1 guides and counsellors1 in one shape or another1 according to the matter in question2 judges1 governors1 generals1 officials1 priests1 doctors1 men of learning1 philosophers1 and so on1 are all a necessity4 ,their common task is to lead the race for the greater part so incapable and perverse1 through the labyrinth of life1 of which each of them according to his position and capacity has obtained a general view1 be his range wide or narrow4 ,that these guides of the race should be permanently relieved of all bodily labour as well as of all vulgar need and discomfort2 nay1 that in proportion to their much greater achievements they should necessarily own and enjoy more than the common man1 is natural and reasonable4 ,great merchants should also be included in the same privileged class1 whenever they make far-sighted preparations for national needs4 ,the question of the sovereignty of the people is at bottom the same as the question whether any man can have an original right to rule a people against its will4 ,how that proposition can be reasonably maintained ,i do not see4 ,the people1 it must be admitted1 is sovereign2 but it is a sovereign who is always a minor4 ,it must have permanent guardians1 and it can never exercise its rights itself1 without creating dangers of which no one can foresee the end2 especially as like all minors1 it is very apt to become the sport of designing sharpers1 in the shape of what are called demagogues4 ,voltaire remarks that the first man to become a king was a successful soldier4 ,it is certainly the case that all princes were originally victorious leaders of armies1 and for a long time it was as such that they bore sway4 ,on the rise of standing armies princes began to regard their people as a means of sustaining themselves and their soldiers1 and treated them1 accordingly1 as though they were a herd of cattle1 which had to be tended in order that it might provide wool1 milk1 and meat4 ,the why and wherefore of all this1 as ,i shall presently show in detail1 is the fact that originally it was not right1 but might1 that ruled in the world4 ,might has the advantage of having been the first in the field4 ,that is why it is impossible to do away with it and abolish it altogether2 it must always have its place2 and all that a man can wish or ask is that it should be found on the side of right and associated with it4 ,accordingly says the prince to his subjects3 ,i rule you in virtue of the power which ,i possess4 ,but1 on the other hand1 it excludes that of any one else1 and ,i shall suffer none but my own1 whether it comes from without1 or arises within by one of you trying to oppress another4 ,in this way1 then1 you are protected4 ,the arrangement was carried out2 and just because it was carried out the old idea of kingship developed with time and progress into quite a different idea1 and put the other one in the background1 where it may still be seen1 now and then1 flitting about like a spectre4 ,its place has been taken by the idea of the king as father of his people1 as the firm and unshakable pillar which alone supports and maintains the whole organisation of law and order1 and consequently the rights of every man4#a ,but a king can accomplish this only by inborn prerogative which reserves authority to him and to him alone--an authority which is supreme1 indubitable1 and beyond all attack1 nay1 to which every one renders instinctive obedience4 ,hence the king is rightly said to rule by the grace of ,god4 ,he is always the most useful person in the ,state1 and his services are never too dearly repaid by any ,civil ,list1 however heavy4 ,footnote #a3 ,we read in ,stobaeus1 ,florilegium1 ch4 xliv41 #da1 of a ,persian custom1 by which1 whenever a king died1 there was a five days' anarchy1 in order that people might perceive the advantage of having kings and laws4 ,but even as late a writer as ,macchiavelli was so decidedly imbued with the earlier or mediaeval conception of the position of a prince that he treats it as a matter which is self-evident3 he never discusses it1 but tacitly takes it as the presupposition and basis of his advice4 ,it may be said generally that his book is merely the theoretical statement and consistent and systematic exposition of the practice prevailing in his time4 ,it is the novel statement of it in a complete theoretical form that lends it such a poignant interest4 ,the same thing1 ,i may remark in passing1 applies to the immortal little work of ,la ,rochefaucauld1 who1 however1 takes private and not public life for his theme1 and offers1 not advice1 but observations4 ,the title of this fine little book is open1 perhaps1 to some objection3 the contents are not1 as a rule1 either maxims or reflections1 but aperus2 and that is what they should be called4 ,there is much1 too1 in ,macchiavelli that will be found also to apply to private life4 ,right in itself is powerless2 in nature it is ,might that rules4 ,to enlist might on the side of right1 so that by means of it right may rule1 is the problem of statesmanship4 ,and it is indeed a hard problem1 as will be obvious if we remember that almost every human breast is the seat of an egoism which has no limits1 and is usually associated with an accumulated store of hatred and malice2 so that at the very start feelings of enmity largely prevail over those of friendship4 ,we have also to bear in mind that it is many millions of individuals so constituted who have to be kept in the bonds of law and order1 peace and tranquillity2 whereas originally every one had a right to say to every one else3 ,i am just as good as you are6 ,a consideration of all this must fill us with surprise that on the whole the world pursues its way so peacefully and quietly1 and with so much law and order as we see to exist4 ,it is the machinery of ,state which alone accomplishes it4 ,for it is physical power alone which has any direct action on men2 constituted as they generally are1 it is for physical power alone that they have any feeling or respect4 ,if a man would convince himself by experience that this is the case1 he need do nothing but remove all compulsion from his fellows1 and try to govern them by clearly and forcibly representing to them what is reasonable1 right1 and fair1 though at the same time it may be contrary to their interests4 ,he would be laughed to scorn2 and as things go that is the only answer he would get4 ,it would soon be obvious to him that moral force alone is powerless4 ,it is1 then1 physical force alone which is capable of securing respect4 ,now this force ultimately resides in the masses1 where it is associated with ignorance1 stupidity and injustice4 ,accordingly the main aim of statesmanship in these difficult circumstances is to put physical force in subjection to mental force--to intellectual superiority1 and thus to make it serviceable4 ,but if this aim is not itself accompanied by justice and good intentions the result of the business1 if it succeeds1 is that the ,state so erected consists of knaves and fools1 the deceivers and the deceived4 ,that this is the case is made gradually evident by the progress of intelligence amongst the masses1 however much it may be repressed2 and it leads to revolution4 ,but if1 contrarily1 intelligence is accompanied by justice and good intentions1 there arises a ,state as perfect as the character of human affairs will allow4 ,it is very much to the purpose if justice and good intentions not only exist1 but are also demonstrable and openly exhibited1 and can be called to account publicly1 and be subject to control4 ,care must be taken1 however1 lest the resulting participation of many persons in the work of government should affect the unity of the ,state1 and inflict a loss of strength and concentration on the power by which its home and foreign affairs have to be administered4 ,this is what almost always happens in republics4 ,to produce a constitution which should satisfy all these demands would accordingly be the highest aim of statesmanship4 ,but1 as a matter of fact1 statesmanship has to consider other things as well4 ,it has to reckon with the people as they exist1 and their national peculiarities4 ,this is the raw material on which it has to work1 and the ingredients of that material will always exercise a great effect on the completed scheme4 ,statesmanship will have achieved a good deal if it so far attains its object as to reduce wrong and injustice in the community to a minimum4 ,to banish them altogether1 and to leave no trace of them1 is merely the ideal to be aimed at2 and it is only approximately that it can be reached4 ,if they disappear in one direction1 they creep in again in another2 for wrong and injustice lie deeply rooted in human nature4 ,attempts have been made to attain the desired aim by artificial constitutions and systematic codes of law2 but they are not in complete touch with the facts--they remain an asymptote1 for the simple reason that hard and fast conceptions never embrace all possible cases1 and cannot be made to meet individual instances4 ,such conceptions resemble the stones of a mosaic rather than the delicate shading in a picture4 ,nay1 more3 all experiments in this matter are attended with danger2 because the material in question1 namely1 the human race1 is the most difficult of all material to handle4 ,it is almost as dangerous as an explosive4 ,no doubt it is true that in the machinery of the ,state the freedom of the press performs the same function as a safety-valve in other machinery2 for it enables all discontent to find a voice2 nay1 in doing so1 the discontent exhausts itself if it has not much substance2 and if it has1 there is an advantage in recognising it betimes and applying the remedy4 ,this is much better than to repress the discontent1 and let it simmer and ferment1 and go on increasing until it ends in an explosion4 ,on the other hand1 the freedom of the press may be regarded as a permission to sell poison--poison for the heart and the mind4 ,there is no idea so foolish but that it cannot be put into the heads of the ignorant and incapable multitude1 especially if the idea holds out some prospect of any gain or advantage4 ,and when a man has got hold of any such idea what is there that he will not do8 ,i am1 therefore1 very much afraid that the danger of a free press outweighs its utility1 particularly where the law offers a way of redressing wrongs4 ,in any case1 however1 the freedom of the press should be governed by a very strict prohibition of all and every anonymity4 ,generally1 indeed1 it may be maintained that right is of a nature analogous to that of certain chemical substances1 which cannot be exhibited in a pure and isolated condition1 but at the most only with a small admixture of some other substance1 which serves as a vehicle for them1 or gives them the necessary consistency2 such as fluorine1 or even alcohol1 or prussic acid4 ,pursuing the analogy we may say that right1 if it is to gain a footing in the world and really prevail1 must of necessity be supplemented by a small amount of arbitrary force1 in order that1 notwithstanding its merely ideal and therefore ethereal nature1 it may be able to work and subsist in the real and material world1 and not evaporate and vanish into the clouds1 as it does in ,hesoid4 ,birth-right of every description1 all heritable privileges1 every form of national religion1 and so on1 may be regarded as the necessary chemical base or alloy2 inasmuch as it is only when right has some such firm and actual foundation that it can be enforced and consistently vindicated4 ,they form for right a sort of ,greek3 os moi pou sto--a fulcrum for supporting its lever4 ,linnaeus adopted a vegetable system of an artificial and arbitrary character4 ,it cannot be replaced by a natural one1 no matter how reasonable the change might be1 or how often it has been attempted to make it1 because no other system could ever yield the same certainty and stability of definition4 ,just in the same way the artificial and arbitrary basis on which1 as has been shown1 the constitution of a ,state rests1 can never be replaced by a purely natural basis4 ,a natural basis would aim at doing away with the conditions that have been mentioned3 in the place of the privileges of birth it would put those of personal merit2 in the place of the national religion1 the results of rationalistic inquiry1 and so on4 ,however agreeable to reason this might all prove1 the change could not be made2 because a natural basis would lack that certainty and fixity of definition which alone secures the stability of the commonwealth4 ,a constitution which embodied abstract right alone would be an excellent thing for natures other than human1 but since the great majority of men are extremely egoistic1 unjust1 inconsiderate1 deceitful1 and sometimes even malicious2 since in addition they are endowed with very scanty intelligence there arises the necessity for a power that shall be concentrated in one man1 a power that shall be above all law and right1 and be completely irresponsible1 nay1 to which everything shall yield as to something that is regarded as a creature of a higher kind1 a ruler by the grace of ,god4 ,it is only thus that men can be permanently held in check and governed4 ,the ,united ,states of ,north ,america exhibit the attempt to proceed without any such arbitrary basis2 that is to say1 to allow abstract right to prevail pure and unalloyed4 ,but the result is not attractive4 ,for with all the material prosperity of the country what do we find8 ,the prevailing sentiment is a base ,utilitarianism with its inevitable companion1 ignorance2 and it is this that has paved the way for a union of stupid ,anglican bigotry1 foolish prejudice1 coarse brutality1 and a childish veneration of women4 ,even worse things are the order of the day3 most iniquitous oppression of the black freemen1 lynch law1 frequent assassination often committed with entire impunity1 duels of a savagery elsewhere unknown1 now and then open scorn of all law and justice1 repudiation of public debts1 abominable political rascality towards a neighbouring ,state1 followed by a mercenary raid on its rich territory1--afterwards sought to be excused1 on the part of the chief authority of the ,state1 by lies which every one in the country knew to be such and laughed at--an ever-increasing ochlocracy1 and finally all the disastrous influence which this abnegation of justice in high quarters must have exercised on private morals4 ,this specimen of a pure constitution on the obverse side of the planet says very little for republics in general1 but still less for the imitations of it in ,mexico1 ,guatemala1 ,colombia and ,peru4 ,a peculiar disadvantage attaching to republics--and one that might not be looked for--is that in this form of government it must be more difficult for men of ability to attain high position and exercise direct political influence than in the case of monarchies4 ,for always and everywhere and under all circumstances there is a conspiracy1 or instinctive alliance1 against such men on the part of all the stupid1 the weak1 and the commonplace2 they look upon such men as their natural enemies1 and they are firmly held together by a common fear of them4 ,there is always a numerous host of the stupid and the weak1 and in a republican constitution it is easy for them to suppress and exclude the men of ability1 so that they may not be outflanked by them4 ,they are fifty to one2 and here all have equal rights at the start4 ,in a monarchy1 on the other hand1 this natural and universal league of the stupid against those who are possessed of intellectual advantages is a one-sided affair2 it exists only from below1 for in a monarchy talent and intelligence receive a natural advocacy and support from above4 ,in the first place1 the position of the monarch himself is much too high and too firm for him to stand in fear of any sort of competition4 ,in the next place1 he serves the ,state more by his will than by his intelligence2 for no intelligence could ever be equal to all the demands that would in his case be made upon it4 ,he is therefore compelled to be always availing himself of other men's intelligence4 ,seeing that his own interests are securely bound up with those of his country2 that they are inseparable from them and one with them1 he will naturally give the preference to the best men1 because they are his most serviceable instruments1 and he will bestow his favour upon them--as soon1 that is1 as he can find them2 which is not so difficult1 if only an honest search be made4 ,just in the same way even ministers of ,state have too much advantage over rising politicians to need to regard them with jealousy2 and accordingly for analogous reasons they are glad to single out distinguished men and set them to work1 in order to make use of their powers for themselves4 ,it is in this way that intelligence has always under a monarchical government a much better chance against its irreconcilable and ever-present foe1 stupidity2 and the advantage which it gains is very great4 ,in general1 the monarchical form of government is that which is natural to man2 just as it is natural to bees and ants1 to a flight of cranes1 a herd of wandering elephants1 a pack of wolves seeking prey in common1 and many other animals1 all of which place one of their number at the head of the business in hand4 ,every business in which men engage1 if it is attended with danger--every campaign1 every ship at sea--must also be subject to the authority of one commander2 everywhere it is one will that must lead4 ,even the animal organism is constructed on a monarchical principle3 it is the brain alone which guides and governs1 and exercises the hegemony4 ,although heart1 lungs1 and stomach contribute much more to the continued existence of the whole body1 these philistines cannot on that account be allowed to guide and lead4 ,that is a business which belongs solely to the brain2 government must proceed from one central point4 ,even the solar system is monarchical4 ,on the other hand1 a republic is as unnatural as it is unfavourable to the higher intellectual life and the arts and sciences4 ,accordingly we find that everywhere in the world1 and at all times1 nations1 whether civilised or savage1 or occupying a position between the two1 are always under monarchical government4 ,the rule of many as ,homer said1 is not a good thing3 let there be one ruler1 one king2 ,greek3 ,ouk agathon polykoiraniae-eis koiranos esto ,eis basoleus4 #a ,footnote #a3 ,iliad1 ii41 #bjd4 ,how would it be possible that1 everywhere and at all times1 we should see many millions of people1 nay1 even hundreds of millions1 become the willing and obedient subjects of one man1 sometimes even one woman1 and provisionally1 even1 of a child1 unless there were a monarchical instinct in men which drove them to it as the form of government best suited to them8 ,this arrangement is not the product of reflection4 ,everywhere one man is king1 and for the most part his dignity is hereditary4 ,he is1 as it were1 the personification1 the monogram1 of the whole people1 which attains an individuality in him4 ,in this sense he can rightly say3 l'etat c'est moi4 ,it is precisely for this reason that in ,shakespeare's historical plays the kings of ,england and ,france mutually address each other as ,france and ,england1 and the ,duke of ,austria goes by the name of his country4 ,it is as though the kings regarded themselves as the incarnation of their nationalities4 ,it is all in accordance with human nature2 and for this very reason the hereditary monarch cannot separate his own welfare and that of his family from the welfare of his country2 as1 on the other hand1 mostly happens when the monarch is elected1 as1 for instance1 in the ,states of the ,church4#a ,the ,chinese can conceive of a monarchical government only2 what a republic is they utterly fail to understand4 ,when a ,dutch legation was in ,china in the year #afeh1 it was obliged to represent that the ,prince of ,orange was their king1 as otherwise the ,chinese would have been inclined to take ,holland for a nest of pirates living without any lord or master4#b ,stobaeus1 in a chapter in his ,florilegium1 at the head of which he wrote ,that monarchy is best1 collected the best of the passages in which the ancients explained the advantages of that form of government4 ,in a word1 republics are unnatural and artificial2 they are the product of reflection4 ,hence it is that they occur only as rare exceptions in the whole history of the world4 ,there were the small ,greek republics1 the ,roman and the ,carthaginian2 but they were all rendered possible by the fact that five-sixths1 perhaps even seven-eighths1 of the population consisted of slaves4 ,in the year #ahdj1 even in the ,united ,states1 there were three million slaves to a population of sixteen millions4 ,then1 again1 the duration of the republics of antiquity1 compared with that of monarchies1 was very short4 ,republics are very easy to found1 and very difficult to maintain1 while with monarchies it is exactly the reverse4 ,if it is ,utopian schemes that are wanted1 ,i say this3 the only solution of the problem would be a despotism of the wise and the noble1 of the true aristocracy and the genuine nobility1 brought about by the method of generation--that is1 by the marriage of the noblest men with the cleverest and most intellectual women4 ,this is my ,utopia1 my ,republic of ,plato4 ,footnote #a3 ,translator's ,note4--,the reader will recollect that ,schopenhauer was writing long before the ,papal territories were absorbed into the kingdom of ,italy4 ,footnote #b3 ,see ,jean ,nieuhoff1 ,l',ambassade de la ,compagnie ,orientale des ,provinces ,unies vers ,l',empereur de la ,chine1 traduit par ,jean le ,charpentier ,leyde1 #affe2 ch4 #de4 ,constitutional kings are undoubtedly in much the same position as the gods of ,epicurus1 who sit upon high in undisturbed bliss and tranquillity1 and do not meddle with human affairs4 ,just now they are the fashion4 ,in every ,german duodecimo-principality a parody of the ,english constitution is set up1 quite complete1 from ,upper and ,lower ,houses down to the ,habeas ,corpus ,act and trial by jury4 ,these institutions1 which proceed from ,english character and ,english circumstances1 and presuppose both1 are natural and suitable to the ,english people4 ,it is just as natural to the ,german people to be split up into a number of different stocks1 under a similar number of ruling ,princes1 with an ,emperor over them all1 who maintains peace at home1 and represents the unity of the ,state board4 ,it is an arrangement which has proceeded from ,german character and ,german circumstances4 ,i am of opinion that if ,germany is not to meet with the same fate as ,italy1 it must restore the imperial crown1 which was done away with by its arch-enemy1 the first ,napoleon2 and it must restore it as effectively as possible4 #a ,for ,german unity depends on it1 and without the imperial crown it will always be merely nominal1 or precarious4 ,but as we no longer live in the days of ,gnther of ,schwarzburg1 when the choice of ,emperor was a serious business1 the imperial crown ought to go alternately to ,prussia and to ,austria1 for the life of the wearer4 ,in any case1 the absolute sovereignty of the small ,states is illusory4 ,napoleon ,i4 did for ,germany what ,otto the ,great did for ,italy3 he divided it into small1 independent ,states1 on the principle1 divide et impera4 ,footnote #a3 ,translator's ,note4--,here1 again1 it is hardly necessary to say that ,schopenhauer1 who died in #ahfj1 and wrote this passage at least some years previously1 cannot be referring to any of the events which culminated in #ahgj4 ,the whole passage forms a striking illustration of his political sagacity4 ,the ,english show their great intelligence1 amongst other ways1 by clinging to their ancient institutions1 customs and usages1 and by holding them sacred1 even at the risk of carrying this tenacity too far1 and making it ridiculous4 ,they hold them sacred for the simple reason that those institutions and customs are not the invention of an idle head1 but have grown up gradually by the force of circumstance and the wisdom of life itself1 and are therefore suited to them as a nation4 ,on the other hand1 the ,german ,michel#a allows himself to be persuaded by his schoolmaster that he must go about in an ,english dress-coat1 and that nothing else will do4 ,accordingly he has bullied his father into giving it to him2 and with his awkward manners this ungainly creature presents in it a sufficiently ridiculous figure4 ,but the dress-coat will some day be too tight for him and incommode him4 ,it will not be very long before he feels it in trial by jury4 ,this institution arose in the most barbarous period of the ,middle ,ages--the times of ,alfred the ,great1 when the ability to read and write exempted a man from the penalty of death4 ,it is the worst of all criminal procedures4 ,instead of judges1 well versed in law and of great experience1 who have grown grey in daily unravelling the tricks and wiles of thieves1 murderers and rascals of all sorts1 and so are well able to get at the bottom of things1 it is gossiping tailors and tanners who sit in judgment2 it is their coarse1 crude1 unpractised1 and awkward intelligence1 incapable of any sustained attention1 that is called upon to find out the truth from a tissue of lies and deceit4 ,all the time1 moreover1 they are thinking of their cloth and their leather1 and longing to be at home2 and they have absolutely no clear notion at all of the distinction between probability and certainty4 ,it is with this sort of a calculus of probabilities in their stupid heads that they confidently undertake to seal a man's doom4 ,footnote #a3 ,translator's ,note4--,it may be well to explain that ,michel is sometimes used by the ,germans as a nickname of their nation1 corresponding to ,john ,bull as a nickname of the ,english4 ,flgel in his ,german-,english ,dictionary declares that der deutsche ,michel represents the ,german nation as an honest1 blunt1 unsuspicious fellow1 who easily allows himself to be imposed upon1 even1 he adds1 with a touch of patriotism1 by those who are greatly his inferiors in point of strength and real worth4 ,the same remark is applicable to them which ,dr4 ,johnson made of a court-martial in which he had little confidence1 summoned to decide a very important case4 ,he said that perhaps there was not a member of it who1 in the whole course of his life1 had ever spent an hour by himself in balancing probabilities4#a ,can any one imagine that the tailor and the tanner would be impartial judges8 ,what6 the vicious multitude impartial6 as if partiality were not ten times more to be feared from men of the same class as the accused than from judges who knew nothing of him personally1 lived in another sphere altogether1 were irremovable1 and conscious of the dignity of their office4 ,but to let a jury decide on crimes against the ,state and its head1 or on misdemeanours of the press1 is in a very real sense to set the fox to keep the geese4 ,footnote #a3 ,boswell's ,johnson1 #aghj1 set4 #ga4 ,everywhere and at all times there has been much discontent with governments1 laws and public regulations2 for the most part1 however1 because men are always ready to make institutions responsible for the misery inseparable from human existence itself2 which is1 to speak mythically1 the curse that was laid on ,adam1 and through him on the whole race4 ,but never has that delusion been proclaimed in a more mendacious and impudent manner than by the demagogues of the ,jetstzeit--of the day we live in4 ,as enemies of ,christianity1 they are1 of course1 optimists3 to them the world is its own end and object1 and accordingly in itself1 that is to say1 in its own natural constitution1 it is arranged on the most excellent principles1 and forms a regular habitation of bliss4 ,the enormous and glaring evils of the world they attribute wholly to governments3 if governments1 they think1 were to do their duty1 there would be a heaven upon earth2 in other words1 all men could eat1 drink1 propagate and die1 free from trouble and want4 ,this is what they mean when they talk of the world being its own end and object2 this is the goal of that perpetual progress of the human race1 and the other fine things which they are never tired of proclaiming4 ,formerly it was faith which was the chief support of the throne2 nowadays it is credit4 ,the ,pope himself is scarcely more concerned to retain the confidence of the faithful than to make his creditors believe in his own good faith4 ,if in times past it was the guilty debt of the world which was lamented1 now it is the financial debts of the world which arouse dismay4 ,formerly it was the ,last ,day which was prophesied2 now it is the ,greek3 seisachtheia the great repudiation1 the universal bankruptcy of the nations1 which will one day happen2 although the prophet1 in this as in the other case1 entertains a firm hope that he will not live to see it himself4 ,from an ethical and a rational point of view1 the right of possession rests upon an incomparably better foundation than the right of birth2 nevertheless1 the right of possession is allied with the right of birth and has come to be part and parcel of it1 so that it would hardly be possible to abolish the right of birth without endangering the right of possession4 ,the reason of this is that most of what a man possesses he inherited1 and therefore holds by a kind of right of birth2 just as the old nobility bear the names only of their hereditary estates1 and by the use of those names do no more than give expression to the fact that they own the estates4 ,accordingly all owners of property1 if instead of being envious they were wise1 ought also to support the maintenance of the rights of birth4 ,the existence of a nobility has1 then1 a double advantage3 it helps to maintain on the one hand the rights of possession1 and on the other the right of birth belonging to the king4 ,for the king is the first nobleman in the country1 and1 as a general rule1 he treats the nobility as his humble relations1 and regards them quite otherwise than the commoners1 however trusty and well-beloved4 ,it is quite natural1 too1 that he should have more confidence in those whose ancestors were mostly the first ministers1 and always the immediate associates1 of his own4 ,a nobleman1 therefore1 appeals with reason to the name he bears1 when on the occurrence of anything to rouse distrust he repeats his assurance of fidelity and service to the king4 ,a man's character1 as my readers are aware1 assuredly comes to him from his father4 ,it is a narrow-minded and ridiculous thing not to consider whose son a man is4 ,,free-,,will ,,and ,,fatalism4 ,no thoughtful man can have any doubt1 after the conclusions reached in my prize-essay on ,moral ,freedom1 that such freedom is to be sought1 not anywhere in nature1 but outside of it4 ,the only freedom that exists is of a metaphysical character4 ,in the physical world freedom is an impossibility4 ,accordingly1 while our several actions are in no wise free1 every man's individual character is to be regarded as a free act4 ,he is such and such a man1 because once for all it is his will to be that man4 ,for the will itself1 and in itself1 and also in so far as it is manifest in an individual1 and accordingly constitutes the original and fundamental desires of that individual1 is independent of all knowledge1 because it is antecedent to such knowledge4 ,all that it receives from knowledge is the series of motives by which it successively develops its nature and makes itself cognisable or visible2 but the will itself1 as something that lies beyond time1 and so long as it exists at all1 never changes4 ,therefore every man1 being what he is and placed in the circumstances which for the moment obtain1 but which on their part also arise by strict necessity1 can absolutely never do anything else than just what at that moment he does do4 ,accordingly1 the whole course of a man's life1 in all its incidents great and small1 is as necessarily predetermined as the course of a clock4 ,the main reason of this is that the kind of metaphysical free act which ,i have described tends to become a knowing consciousness--a perceptive intuition1 which is subject to the forms of space and time4 ,by means of those forms the unity and indivisibility of the act are represented as drawn asunder into a series of states and events1 which are subject to the ,principle of ,sufficient ,reason in its four forms--and it is this that is meant by necessity4 ,but the result of it all assumes a moral complexion4 ,it amounts to this1 that by what we do we know what we are1 and by what we suffer we know what we deserve4 ,further1 it follows from this that a man's individuality does not rest upon the principle of individuation alone1 and therefore is not altogether phenomenal in its nature4 ,on the contrary1 it has its roots in the thing-in-itself1 in the will which is the essence of each individual4 ,the character of this individual is itself individual4 ,but how deep the roots of individuality extend is one of the questions which ,i do not undertake to answer4 ,in this connection it deserves to be mentioned that even ,plato1 in his own way1 represented the individuality of a man as a free act4#a ,he represented him as coming into the world with a given tendency1 which was the result of the feelings and character already attaching to him in accordance with the doctrine of metempsychosis4 ,the ,brahmin philosophers also express the unalterable fixity of innate character in a mystical fashion4 ,they say that ,brahma1 when a man is produced1 engraves his doings and sufferings in written characters on his skull1 and that his life must take shape in accordance therewith4 ,they point to the jagged edges in the sutures of the skull-bones as evidence of this writing2 and the purport of it1 they say1 depends on his previous life and actions4 ,the same view appears to underlie the ,christian1 or rather1 the ,pauline1 dogma of ,predestination4 ,footnote #a3 ,phaedrus and ,laws1 bk4 x4 ,but this truth1 which is universally confirmed by experience1 is attended with another result4 ,all genuine merit1 moral as well as intellectual1 is not merely physical or empirical in its origin1 but metaphysical2 that is to say1 it is given a priori and not a posteriori2 in other words1 it lies innate and is not acquired1 and therefore its source is not a mere phenomenon1 but the thing-in-itself4 ,hence it is that every man achieves only that which is irrevocably established in his nature1 or is born with him4 ,intellectual capacity needs1 it is true1 to be developed just as many natural products need to be cultivated in order that we may enjoy or use them2 but just as in the case of a natural product no cultivation can take the place of original material1 neither can it do so in the case of intellect4 ,that is the reason why qualities which are merely acquired1 or learned1 or enforced--that is1 qualities a posteriori1 whether moral or intellectual--are not real or genuine1 but superficial only1 and possessed of no value4 ,this is a conclusion of true metaphysics1 and experience teaches the same lesson to all who can look below the surface4 ,nay1 it is proved by the great importance which we all attach to such innate characteristics as physiognomy and external appearance1 in the case of a man who is at all distinguished2 and that is why we are so curious to see him4 ,superficial people1 to be sure1--and1 for very good reasons1 commonplace people too1--will be of the opposite opinion2 for if anything fails them they will thus be enabled to console themselves by thinking that it is still to come4 ,the world1 then1 is not merely a battlefield where victory and defeat receive their due recompense in a future state4 ,no6 the world is itself the ,last ,judgment on it4 ,every man carries with him the reward and the disgrace that he deserves2 and this is no other than the doctrine of the ,brahmins and ,buddhists as it is taught in the theory of metempsychosis4 ,the question has been raised1 ,what two men would do1 who lived a solitary life in the wilds and met each other for the first time4 ,hobbes1 ,pufendorf1 and ,rousseau have given different answers4 ,pufendorf believed that they would approach each other as friends2 ,hobbes1 on the contrary1 as enemies2 ,rousseau1 that they would pass each other by ,in silence4 ,all three are both right and wrong4 ,this is just a case in which the incalculable difference that there is in innate moral disposition between one individual and another would make its appearance4 ,the difference is so strong that the question here raised might be regarded as the standard and measure of it4 ,for there are men in whom the sight of another man at once rouses a feeling of enmity1 since their inmost nature exclaims at once3 ,that is not me6 ,there are1 others in whom the sight awakens immediate sympathy2 their inmost nature says3 ,that is me over again6 ,between the two there are countless degrees4 ,that in this most important matter we are so totally different is a great problem1 nay1 a mystery4 ,in regard to this a priori nature of moral character there is matter for varied reflection in a work by ,bastholm1 a ,danish writer1 entitled ,historical ,contributions to the ,knowledge of ,man in the ,savage ,state4 ,he is struck by the fact that intellectual culture and moral excellence are shown to be entirely independent of each other1 inasmuch as one is often found without the other4 ,the reason of this1 as we shall find1 is simply that moral excellence in no wise springs from reflection1 which is developed by intellectual culture1 but from the will itself1 the constitution of which is innate and not susceptible in itself of any improvement by means of education4 ,bastholm represents most nations as very vicious and immoral2 and on the other hand he reports that excellent traits of character are found amongst some savage peoples2 as1 for instance1 amongst the ,orotchyses1 the inhabitants of the island ,savu1 the ,tunguses1 and the ,pelew islanders4 ,he thus attempts to solve the problem1 ,how it is that some tribes are so remarkably good1 when their neighbours are all bad1 ,it seems to me that the difficulty may be explained as follows3 ,moral qualities1 as we know1 are heritable1 and an isolated tribe1 such as is described1 might take its rise in some one family1 and ultimately in a single ancestor who happened to be a good man1 and then maintain its purity4 ,is it not the case1 for instance1 that on many unpleasant occasions1 such as repudiation of public debts1 filibustering raids and so on1 the ,english have often reminded the ,north ,americans of their descent from ,english penal colonists8 ,it is a reproach1 however1 which can apply only to a small part of the population4 ,it is marvellous how every man's individuality 7that is to say1 the union of a definite character with a definite intellect7 accurately determines all his actions and thoughts down to the most unimportant details1 as though it were a dye which pervaded them2 and how1 in consequence1 one man's whole course of life1 in other words1 his inner and outer history1 turns out so absolutely different from another's4 ,as a botanist knows a plant in its entirety from a single leaf2 as ,cuvier from a single bone constructed the whole animal1 so an accurate knowledge of a man's whole character may be attained from a single characteristic act2 that is to say1 he himself may to some extent be constructed from it1 even though the act in question is of very trifling consequence4 ,nay1 that is the most perfect test of all1 for in a matter of importance people are on their guard2 in trifles they follow their natural bent without much reflection4 ,that is why ,seneca's remark1 that even the smallest things may be taken as evidence of character1 is so true3 argumenta morum ex minimis quoque licet capere4#a ,if a man shows by his absolutely unscrupulous and selfish behaviour in small things that a sentiment of justice is foreign to his disposition1 he should not be trusted with a penny unless on due security4 ,for who will believe that the man who every day shows that he is unjust in all matters other than those which concern property1 and whose boundless selfishness everywhere protrudes through the small affairs of ordinary life which are subject to no scrutiny1 like a dirty shirt through the holes of a ragged jacket--who1 ,i ask1 will believe that such a man will act honourably in matters of meum and tuum without any other incentive but that of justice8 ,the man who has no conscience in small things will be a scoundrel in big things4 ,if we neglect small traits of character1 we have only ourselves to blame if we afterwards learn to our disadvantage what this character is in the great affairs of life4 ,on the same principle1 we ought to break with so-called friends even in matters of trifling moment1 if they show a character that is malicious or bad or vulgar1 so that we may avoid the bad turn which only waits for an opportunity of being done us4 ,the same thing applies to servants4 ,let it always be our maxim3 ,better alone than amongst traitors4 ,footnote #a3 ,ep41 #eb4 ,of a truth the first and foremost step in all knowledge of mankind is the conviction that a man's conduct1 taken as a whole1 and in all its essential particulars1 is not governed by his reason or by any of the resolutions which he may make in virtue of it4 ,no man becomes this or that by wishing to be it1 however earnestly4 ,his acts proceed from his innate and unalterable character1 and they are more immediately and particularly determined by motives4 ,a man's conduct1 therefore1 is the necessary product of both character and motive4 ,it may be illustrated by the course of a planet1 which is the result of the combined effect of the tangential energy with which it is endowed1 and the centripetal energy which operates from the sun4 ,in this simile the former energy represents character1 and the latter the influence of motive4 ,it is almost more than a mere simile4 ,the tangential energy which properly speaking is the source of the planet's motion1 whilst on the other hand the motion is kept in check by gravitation1 is1 from a metaphysical point of view1 the will manifesting itself in that body4 ,to grasp this fact is to see that we really never form anything more than a conjecture of what we shall do under circumstances which are still to happen2 although we often take our conjecture for a resolve4 ,when1 for instance1 in pursuance of a proposal1 a man with the greatest sincerity1 and even eagerness1 accepts an engagement to do this or that on the occurrence of a certain future event1 it is by no means certain that he will fulfil the engagement2 unless he is so constituted that the promise which he gives1 in itself and as such1 is always and everywhere a motive sufficient for him1 by acting upon him1 through considerations of honour1 like some external compulsion4 ,but above and beyond this1 what he will do on the occurrence of that event may be foretold from true and accurate knowledge of his character and the external circumstances under the influence of which he will fall2 and it may with complete certainty be foretold from this alone4 ,nay1 it is a very easy prophecy if he has been already seen in a like position2 for he will inevitably do the same thing a second time1 provided that on the first occasion he had a true and complete knowledge of the facts of the case4 ,for1 as ,i have often remarked1 a final cause does not impel a man by being real1 but by being known2 causa finalis non movet secundum suum esse reale1 sed secundum esse cognitum4#a ,whatever he failed to recognise or understand the first time could have no influence upon his will2 just as an electric current stops when some isolating body hinders the action of the conductor4 ,this unalterable nature of character1 and the consequent necessity of our actions1 are made very clear to a man who has not1 on any given occasion1 behaved as he ought to have done1 by showing a lack either of resolution or endurance or courage1 or some other quality demanded at the moment4 ,afterwards he recognises what it is that he ought to have done2 and1 sincerely repenting of his incorrect behaviour1 he thinks to himself1 ,if the opportunity were offered to me again1 ,i should act differently4 ,it is offered once more2 the same occasion recurs2 and to his great astonishment he does precisely the same thing over again4#b ,footnote #a3 ,suarez1 ,disp4 ,metaph41 xxiii42 #g and #h4 ,footnote #b3 ,cf4 ,world as ,will1 ii41 pp4 #bea ff4 sqq4 7third edition74 ,the best examples of the truth in question are in every way furnished by ,shakespeare's plays4 ,it is a truth with which he was thoroughly imbued1 and his intuitive wisdom expressed it in a concrete shape on every page4 ,i shall here1 however1 give an instance of it in a case in which he makes it remarkably clear1 without exhibiting any design or affectation in the matter2 for he was a real artist and never set out from general ideas4 ,his method was obviously to work up to the psychological truth which he grasped directly and intuitively1 regardless of the fact that few would notice or understand it1 and without the smallest idea that some dull and shallow fellows in ,germany would one day proclaim far and wide that he wrote his works to illustrate moral commonplaces4 ,i allude to the character of the ,earl of ,northumberland1 whom we find in three plays in succession1 although he does not take a leading part in any one of them2 nay1 he appears only in a few scenes distributed over fifteen acts4 ,consequently1 if the reader is not very attentive1 a character exhibited at such great intervals1 and its moral identity1 may easily escape his notice1 even though it has by no means escaped the poet's4 ,he makes the earl appear everywhere with a noble and knightly grace1 and talk in language suitable to it2 nay1 he sometimes puts very beautiful and even elevated passages1 into his mouth4 ,at the same time he is very far from writing after the manner of ,schiller1 who was fond of painting the devil black1 and whose moral approval or disapproval of the characters which he presented could be heard in their own words4 ,with ,shakespeare1 and also with ,goethe1 every character1 as long as he is on the stage and speaking1 seems to be absolutely in the right1 even though it were the devil himself4 ,in this respect let the reader compare ,duke ,alba as he appears in ,goethe with the same character in ,schiller4 ,we make the acquaintance of the ,earl of ,northumberland in the play of ,richard ,,ii41 where he is the first to hatch a plot against the ,king in favour of ,bolingbroke1 afterwards ,henry ,,iv41 to whom he even offers some personal flattery 7,act ,,ii41 ,sc4 #c74 ,in the following act he suffers a reprimand because1 in speaking of the ,king he talks of him as ,richard1 without more ado1 but protests that he did it only for brevity's sake4 ,a little later his insidious words induce the ,king to surrender4 ,in the following act1 when the ,king renounces the crown1 ,northumberland treats him with such harshness and contempt that the unlucky monarch is quite broken1 and losing all patience once more exclaims to him3 ,fiend1 thou torment'st me ere ,i come to hell6 ,at the close1 ,northumberland announces to the new ,king that he has sent the heads of the former ,king's adherents to ,london4 ,in the following tragedy1 ,henry ,,iv41 he hatches a plot against the new ,king in just the same way4 ,in the fourth act we see the rebels united1 making preparations for the decisive battle on the morrow1 and only waiting impatiently for ,northumberland and his division4 ,at last there arrives a letter from him1 saying that he is ill1 and that he cannot entrust his force to any one else2 but that nevertheless the others should go forward with courage and make a brave fight4 ,they do so1 but1 greatly weakened by his absence1 they are completely defeated2 most of their leaders are captured1 and his own son1 the valorous ,hotspur1 falls by the hand of the ,prince of ,wales4 ,again1 in the following play1 the ,second ,part of ,henry ,,iv41 we see him reduced to a state of the fiercest wrath by the death of his son1 and maddened by the thirst for revenge4 ,accordingly he kindles another rebellion1 and the heads of it assemble once more4 ,in the fourth act1 just as they are about to give battle1 and are only waiting for him to join them1 there comes a letter saying that he cannot collect a proper force1 and will therefore seek safety for the present in ,scotland2 that1 nevertheless1 he heartily wishes their heroic undertaking the best success4 ,thereupon they surrender to the ,king under a treaty which is not kept1 and so perish4 ,so far is character from being the work of reasoned choice and consideration that in any action the intellect has nothing to do but to present motives to the will4 ,thereafter it looks on as a mere spectator and witness at the course which life takes1 in accordance with the influence of motive on the given character4 ,all the incidents of life occur1 strictly speaking1 with the same necessity as the movement of a clock4 ,on this point let me refer to my prize-essay on ,the ,freedom of the ,will4 ,i have there explained the true meaning and origin of the persistent illusion that the will is entirely free in every single action2 and ,i have indicated the cause to which it is due4 ,i will only add here the following teleological explanation of this natural illusion4 ,since every single action of a man's life seems to possess the freedom and originality which in truth only belong to his character as he apprehends it1 and the mere apprehension of it by his intellect is what constitutes his career2 and since what is original in every single action seems to the empirical consciousness to be always being performed anew1 a man thus receives in the course of his career the strongest possible moral lesson4 ,then1 and not before1 he becomes thoroughly conscious of all the bad sides of his character4 ,conscience accompanies every act with the comment3 ,you should act differently1 although its true sense is3 ,you could be other than you are4 ,as the result of this immutability of character on the one hand1 and1 on the other1 of the strict necessity which attends all the circumstances in which character is successively placed1 every man's course of life is precisely determined from ,alpha right through to ,omega4 ,but1 nevertheless1 one man's course of life turns out immeasurably happier1 nobler and more worthy than another's1 whether it be regarded from a subjective or an objective point of view1 and unless we are to exclude all ideas of justice1 we are led to the doctrine which is well accepted in ,brahmanism and ,buddhism1 that the subjective conditions in which1 as well as the objective conditions under which1 every man is born1 are the moral consequences of a previous existence4 ,macchiavelli1 who seems to have taken no interest whatever in philosophical speculations1 is drawn by the keen subtlety of his very unique understanding into the following observation1 which possesses a really deep meaning4 ,it shows that he had an intuitive knowledge of the entire necessity with which1 characters and motives being given1 all actions take place4 ,he makes it at the beginning of the prologue to his comedy ,clitia4 ,if1 he says1 the same men were to recur in the world in the way that the same circumstances recur1 a hundred years would never elapse without our finding ourselves together once more1 and doing the same things as we are doing now--,se nel mondo tornassino i medesimi uomini1 como tornano i medesimi casi1 non passarebbono mai cento anni che noi non ci trovassimo un altra volta insieme1 a fare le medesime cose che hora4 ,he seems however to have been drawn into the remark by a reminiscence of what ,augustine says in his ,de ,civitate ,dei1 bk4 xii41 ch4 xiii4 ,again1 ,fate1 or the ,greek3 eimarmenae of the ancients1 is nothing but the conscious certainty that all that happens is fast bound by a chain of causes1 and therefore takes place with a strict necessity2 that the future is already ordained with absolute certainty and can undergo as little alteration as the past4 ,in the fatalistic myths of the ancients all that can be regarded as fabulous is the prediction of the future2 that is1 if we refuse to consider the possibility of magnetic clairvoyance and second sight4 ,instead of trying to explain away the fundamental truth of ,fatalism by superficial twaddle and foolish evasion1 a man should attempt to get a clear knowledge and comprehension of it2 for it is demonstrably true1 and it helps us in a very important way to an understanding of the mysterious riddle of our life4 ,predestination and ,fatalism do not differ in the main4 ,they differ only in this1 that with ,predestination the given character and external determination of human action proceed from a rational ,being1 and with ,fatalism from an irrational one4 ,but in either case the result is the same3 that happens which must happen4 ,on the other hand the conception of ,moral ,freedom is inseparable from that of ,originality4 ,a man may be said1 but he cannot be conceived1 to be the work of another1 and at the same time be free in respect of his desires and acts4 ,he who called him into existence out of nothing in the same process created and determined his nature--in other words1 the whole of his qualities4 ,for no one can create without creating a something1 that is to say1 a being determined throughout and in all its qualities4 ,but all that a man says and does necessarily proceeds from the qualities so determined2 for it is only the qualities themselves set in motion4 ,it is only some external impulse that they require to make their appearance4 ,as a man is1 so must he act2 and praise or blame attaches1 not to his separate acts1 but to his nature and being4 ,that is the reason why ,theism and the moral responsibility of man are incompatible2 because responsibility always reverts to the creator of man and it is there that it has its centre4 ,vain attempts have been made to make a bridge from one of these incompatibles to the other by means of the conception of moral freedom2 but it always breaks down again4 ,what is free must also be original4 ,if our will is free1 our will is also the original element1 and conversely4 ,pre-,kantian dogmatism tried to separate these two predicaments4 ,it was thereby compelled to assume two kinds of freedom1 one cosmological1 of the first cause1 and the other moral and theological1 of human will4 ,these are represented in ,kant by the third as well as the fourth antimony of freedom4 ,on the other hand1 in my philosophy the plain recognition of the strictly necessary character of all action is in accordance with the doctrine that what manifests itself even in the organic and irrational world is will4 ,if this were not so1 the necessity under which irrational beings obviously act would place their action in conflict with will2 if1 ,i mean1 there were really such a thing as the freedom of individual action1 and this were not as strictly necessitated as every other kind of action4 ,but1 as ,i have just shown1 it is this same doctrine of the necessary character of all acts of will which makes it needful to regard a man's existence and being as itself the work of his freedom1 and consequently of his will4 ,the will1 therefore1 must be self-existent2 it must possess so-called a-se-ity4 ,under the opposite supposition all responsibility1 as ,i have shown1 would be at an end1 and the moral like the physical world would be a mere machine1 set in motion for the amusement of its manufacturer placed somewhere outside of it4 ,so it is that truths hang together1 and mutually advance and complete one another2 whereas error gets jostled at every corner4 ,what kind of influence it is that moral instruction may exercise on conduct1 and what are the limits of that influence1 are questions which ,i have sufficiently examined in the twentieth section of my treatise on the ,foundation of ,morality4 ,in all essential particulars an analogous influence is exercised by example1 which1 however1 has a more powerful effect than doctrine1 and therefore it deserves a brief analysis4 ,in the main1 example works either by restraining a man or by encouraging him4 ,it has the former effect when it determines him to leave undone what he wanted to do4 ,he sees1 ,i mean1 that other people do not do it2 and from this he judges1 in general1 that it is not expedient2 that it may endanger his person1 or his property1 or his honour4 ,he rests content1 and gladly finds himself relieved from examining into the matter for himself4 ,or he may see that another man1 who has not refrained1 has incurred evil consequences from doing it2 this is example of the deterrent kind4 ,the example which encourages a man works in a twofold manner4 ,it either induces him to do what he would be glad to leave undone1 if he were not afraid lest the omission might in some way endanger him1 or injure him in others' opinion2 or else it encourages him to do what he is glad to do1 but has hitherto refrained from doing from fear of danger or shame2 this is example of the seductive kind4 ,finally1 example may bring a man to do what he would have otherwise never thought of doing4 ,it is obvious that in this last case example works in the main only on the intellect2 its effect on the will is secondary1 and if it has any such effect1 it is by the interposition of the man's own judgment1 or by reliance on the person who presented the example4 ,the whole influence of example--and it is very strong--rests on the fact that a man has1 as a rule1 too little judgment of his own1 and often too little knowledge1 o explore his own way for himself1 and that he is glad1 therefore1 to tread in the footsteps of some one else4 ,accordingly1 the more deficient he is in either of these qualities1 the more is he open to the influence of example2 and we find1 in fact1 that most men's guiding star is the example of others2 that their whole course of life1 in great things and in small1 comes in the end to be mere imitation2 and that not even in the pettiest matters do they act according to their own judgment4 ,imitation and custom are the spring of almost all human action4 ,the cause of it is that men fight shy of all and any sort of reflection1 and very properly mistrust their own discernment4 ,at the same time this remarkably strong imitative instinct in man is a proof of his kinship with apes4 ,but the kind of effect which example exercises depends upon a man's character1 and thus it is that the same example may possibly seduce one man and deter another4 ,an easy opportunity of observing this is afforded in the case of certain social impertinences which come into vogue and gradually spread4 ,the first time that a man notices anything of the kind1 he may say to himself3 ,for shame6 how can he do it6 how selfish and inconsiderate of him6 really1 ,i shall take care never to do anything like that4 ,but twenty others will think3 ,aha6 if he does that1 ,i may do it too4 ,as regards morality1 example1 like doctrine1 may1 it is true1 promote civil or legal amelioration1 but not that inward amendment which is1 strictly speaking1 the only kind of moral amelioration4 ,for example always works as a personal motive alone1 and assumes1 therefore1 that a man is susceptible to this sort of motive4 ,but it is just the predominating sensitiveness of a character to this or that sort of motive that determines whether its morality is true and real2 though1 of whatever kind it is1 it is always innate4 ,in general it may be said that example operates as a means of promoting the good and the bad qualities of a character1 but it does not create them2 and so it is that ,seneca's maxim1 velle non discitur--will cannot be learned--also holds good here4 ,but the innateness of all truly moral qualities1 of the good as of the bad1 is a doctrine that consorts better with the metempsychosis of the ,brahmins and ,buddhists1 according to which a man's good and bad deeds follow him from one existence to another like his shadow1 than with ,judaism4 ,for ,judaism requires a man to come into the world as a moral blank1 so that1 in virtue of an inconceivable free will1 directed to objects which are neither to be sought nor avoided--liberum arbitrium indifferentiae--and consequently as the result of reasoned consideration1 he may choose whether he is to be an angel or a devil1 or anything else that may lie between the two4 ,though ,i am well aware what the ,jewish scheme is1 ,i pay no attention to it2 for my standard is truth4 ,i am no professor of philosophy1 and therefore ,i do not find my vocation in establishing the fundamental ideas of ,judaism at any cost1 even though they for ever bar the way to all and every kind of philosophical knowledge4 ,liberum arbitrium indifferentiae under the name of moral freedom is a charming doll for professors of philosophy to dandle2 and we must leave it to those intelligent1 honourable and upright gentlemen4 ,,character4 ,men who aspire to a happy1 a brilliant and a long life1 instead of to a virtuous one1 are like foolish actors who want to be always having the great parts1--the parts that are marked by splendour and triumph4 ,they fail to see that the important thing is not what or how much1 but how they act4 ,since a man does not alter1 and his moral character remains absolutely the same all through his life2 since he must play out the part which he has received1 without the least deviation from the character2 since neither experience1 nor philosophy1 nor religion can effect any improvement in him1 the question arises1 ,what is the meaning of life at all8 ,to what purpose is it played1 this farce in which everything that is essential is irrevocably fixed and determined8 ,it is played that a man may come to understand himself1 that he may see what it is that he seeks and has sought to be2 what he wants1 and what1 therefore1 he is4 ,this is a knowledge which must be imparted to him from without4 ,life is to man1 in other words1 to will1 what chemical re-agents are to the body3 it is only by life that a man reveals what he is1 and it is only in so far as he reveals himself that he exists at all4 ,life is the manifestation of character1 of the something that we understand by that word2 and it is not in life1 but outside of it1 and outside time1 that character undergoes alteration1 as a result of the self-knowledge which life gives4 ,life is only the mirror into which a man gazes not in order that he may get a reflection of himself1 but that he may come to understand himself by that reflection2 that he may see what it is that the mirror shows4 ,life is the proof sheet1 in which the compositors' errors are brought to light4 ,how they become visible1 and whether the type is large or small1 are matters of no consequence4 ,neither in the externals of life nor in the course of history is there any significance2 for as it is all one whether an error occurs in the large type or in the small1 so it is all one1 as regards the essence of the matter1 whether an evil disposition is mirrored as a conqueror of the world or a common swindler or ill-natured egoist4 ,in one case he is seen of all men2 in the other1 perhaps only of himself2 but that he should see himself is what signifies4 ,therefore if egoism has a firm hold of a man and masters him1 whether it be in the form of joy1 or triumph1 or lust1 or hope1 or frantic grief1 or annoyance1 or anger1 or fear1 or suspicion1 or passion of any kind--he is in the devil's clutches and how he got into them does not matter4 ,what is needful is that he should make haste to get out of them2 and here1 again1 it does not matter how4 ,i have described character as theoretically an act of will lying beyond time1 of which life in time1 or character in action1 is the development4 ,for matters of practical life we all possess the one as well as the other2 for we are constituted of them both4 ,character modifies our life more than we think1 and it is to a certain extent true that every man is the architect of his own fortune4 ,no doubt it seems as if our lot were assigned to us almost entirely from without1 and imparted to us in something of the same way in which a melody outside us reaches the ear4 ,but on looking back over our past1 we see at once that our life consists of mere variations on one and the same theme1 namely1 our character1 and that the same fundamental bass sounds through it all4 ,this is an experience which a man can and must make in and by himself4 ,not only a man's life1 but his intellect too1 may be possessed of a clear and definite character1 so far as his intellect is applied to matters of theory4 ,it is not every man1 however1 who has an intellect of this kind2 for any such definite individuality as ,i mean is genius--an original view of the world1 which presupposes an absolutely exceptional individuality1 which is the essence of genius4 ,a man's intellectual character is the theme on which all his works are variations4 ,in an essay which ,i wrote in ,weimar ,i called it the knack by which every genius produces his works1 however various4 ,this intellectual character determines the physiognomy of men of genius--what ,i might call the theoretical physiognomy--and gives it that distinguished expression which is chiefly seen in the eyes and the forehead4 ,in the case of ordinary men the physiognomy presents no more than a weak analogy with the physiognomy of genius4 ,on the other hand1 all men possess the practical physiognomy1 the stamp of will1 of practical character1 of moral disposition2 and it shows itself chiefly in the mouth4 ,since character1 so far as we understand its nature1 is above and beyond time1 it cannot undergo any change under the influence of life4 ,but although it must necessarily remain the same always1 it requires time to unfold itself and show the very diverse aspects which it may possess4 ,for character consists of two factors3 one1 the will-to-live itself1 blind impulse1 so-called impetuosity2 the other1 the restraint which the will acquires when it comes to understand the world2 and the world1 again1 is itself will4 ,a man may begin by following the craving of desire1 until he comes to see how hollow and unreal a thing is life1 how deceitful are its pleasures1 what horrible aspects it possesses2 and this it is that makes people hermits1 penitents1 ,magdalenes4 ,nevertheless it is to be observed that no such change from a life of great indulgence in pleasure to one of resignation is possible1 except to the man who of his own accord renounces pleasure4 ,a really bad life cannot be changed into a virtuous one4 ,the most beautiful soul1 before it comes to know life from its horrible side1 may eagerly drink the sweets of life and remain innocent4 ,but it cannot commit a bad action2 it cannot cause others suffering to do a pleasure to itself1 for in that case it would see clearly what it would be doing2 and whatever be its youth and inexperience it perceives the sufferings of others as clearly as its own pleasures4 ,that is why one bad action is a guarantee that numberless others will be committed as soon as circumstances give occasion for them4 ,somebody once remarked to me1 with entire justice1 that every man had something very good and humane in his disposition1 and also something very bad and malignant2 and that according as he was moved one or the other of them made its appearance4 ,the sight of others' suffering arouses1 not only in different men1 but in one and the same man1 at one moment an inexhaustible sympathy1 at another a certain satisfaction2 and this satisfaction may increase until it becomes the cruellest delight in pain4 ,i observe in myself that at one moment ,i regard all mankind with heartfelt pity1 at another with the greatest indifference1 on occasion with hatred1 nay1 with a positive enjoyment of their pain4 ,all this shows very clearly that we are possessed of two different1 nay1 absolutely contradictory1 ways of regarding the world3 one according to the principle of individuation1 which exhibits all creatures as entire strangers to us1 as definitely not ourselves4 ,we can have no feelings for them but those of indifference1 envy1 hatred1 and delight that they suffer4 ,the other way of regarding the world is in accordance with what ,i may call the ,tat-twam-asi--this-is-thyself principle4 ,all creatures are exhibited as identical with ourselves2 and so it is pity and love which the sight of them arouses4 ,the one method separates individuals by impassable barriers2 the other removes the barrier and brings the individuals together4 ,the one makes us feel1 in regard to every man1 that is what ,i am2 the other1 that is not what ,i am4 ,but it is remarkable that while the sight of another's suffering makes us feel our identity with him1 and arouses our pity1 this is not so with the sight of another's happiness4 ,then we almost always feel some envy2 and even though we may have no such feeling in certain cases1--as1 for instance1 when our friends are happy1--yet the interest which we take in their happiness is of a weak description1 and cannot compare with the sympathy which we feel with their suffering4 ,is this because we recognise all happiness to be a delusion1 or an impediment to true welfare8 ,no6 ,i am inclined to think that it is because the sight of the pleasure1 or the possessions1 which are denied to us1 arouses envy2 that is to say1 the wish that we1 and not the other1 had that pleasure or those possessions4 ,it is only the first way of looking at the world which is founded on any demonstrable reason4 ,the other is1 as it were1 the gate out of this world2 it has no attestation beyond itself1 unless it be the very abstract and difficult proof which my doctrine supplies4 ,why the first way predominates in one man1 and the second in another--though perhaps it does not exclusively predominate in any man2 why the one or the other emerges according as the will is moved--these are deep problems4 ,the paths of night and day are close together3 ,greek3 ,engus gar nuktos de kai aematos eisi keleuthoi4 ,it is a fact that there is a great and original difference between one empirical character and another2 and it is a difference which1 at bottom1 rests upon the relation of the individual's will to his intellectual faculty4 ,this relation is finally determined by the degree of will in his father and of intellect in his mother2 and the union of father and mother is for the most part an affair of chance4 ,this would all mean a revolting injustice in the nature of the world1 if it were not that the difference between parents and son is phenomenal only and all chance is1 at bottom1 necessity4 ,as regards the freedom of the will1 if it were the case that the will manifested itself in a single act alone1 it would be a free act4 ,but the will manifests itself in a course of life1 that is to say1 in a series of acts4 ,every one of these acts1 therefore1 is determined as a part of a complete whole1 and cannot happen otherwise than it does happen4 ,on the other hand1 the whole series is free2 it is simply the manifestation of an individualised will4 ,if a man feels inclined to commit a bad action and refrains1 he is kept back either 7#a7 by fear of punishment or vengeance2 or 7#b7 by superstition in other words1 fear of punishment in a future life2 or 7#c7 by the feeling of sympathy1 including general charity2 or 7#d7 by the feeling of honour1 in other words1 the fear of shame2 or 7#e7 by the feeling of justice1 that is1 an objective attachment to fidelity and good-faith1 coupled with a resolve to hold them sacred1 because they are the foundation of all free intercourse between man and man1 and therefore often of advantage to himself as well4 ,this last thought1 not indeed as a thought1 but as a mere feeling1 influences people very frequently4 ,it is this that often compels a man of honour1 when some great but unjust advantage is offered him1 to reject it with contempt and proudly exclaim3 ,i am an honourable man6 ,for otherwise how should a poor man1 confronted with the property which chance or even some worse agency has bestowed on the rich1 whose very existence it is that makes him poor1 feel so much sincere respect for this property1 that he refuses to touch it even in his need2 and although he has a prospect of escaping punishment1 what other thought is it that can be at the bottom of such a man's honesty8 ,he is resolved not to separate himself from the great community of honourable people who have the earth in possession1 and whose laws are recognised everywhere4 ,he knows that a single dishonest act will ostracise and proscribe him from that society for ever4 ,no6 a man will spend money on any soil that yields him good fruit1 and he will make sacrifices for it4 ,with a good action1--that1 every action in which a man's own advantage is ostensibly subordinated to another's1--the motive is either 7#a7 self-interest1 kept in the background2 or 7#b7 superstition1 in other words1 self-interest in the form of reward in another life2 or 7#c7 sympathy2 or 7#d7 the desire to lend a helping hand1 in other words1 attachment to the maxim that we should assist one another in need1 and the wish to maintain this maxim1 in view of the presumption that some day we ourselves may find it serve our turn4 ,for what ,kant calls a good action done from motives of duty and for the sake of duty1 there is1 as will be seen1 no room at all4 ,kant himself declares it to be doubtful whether an action was ever determined by pure motives of duty alone4 ,i affirm most certainly that no action was ever so done2 it is mere babble2 there is nothing in it that could really act as a motive to any man4 ,when he shelters himself behind verbiage of that sort1 he is always actuated by one of the four motives which ,i have described4 ,among these it is obviously sympathy alone which is quite genuine and sincere4 ,good and bad apply to character only potiori2 that is to say1 we prefer the good to the bad2 but1 absolutely1 there is no such distinction4 ,the difference arises at the point which lies between subordinating one's own advantage to that of another1 and not subordinating it4 ,if a man keeps to the exact middle1 he is just4 ,but most men go an inch in their regard for others' welfare to twenty yards in regard for their own4 ,the source of good and of bad character1 so far as we have any real knowledge of it1 lies in this1 that with the bad character the thought of the external world1 and especially of the living creatures in it1 is accompanied--all the more1 the greater the resemblance between them and the individual self--by a constant feeling of not ,i1 not ,i1 not ,i4 ,contrarily1 with the good character 7both being assumed to exist in a high degree7 the same thought has for its accompaniment1 like a fundamental bass1 a constant feeling of ,i1 ,i1 ,i4 ,from this spring benevolence and a disposition to help all men1 and at the same time a cheerful1 confident and tranquil frame of mind1 the opposite of that which accompanies the bad character4 ,the difference1 however1 is only phenomenal1 although it is a difference which is radical4 ,but now we come to the hardest of all problems3 ,how is it that1 while the will1 as the thing-in-itself1 is identical1 and from a metaphysical point of view one and the same in all its manifestations1 there is nevertheless such an enormous difference between one character and another8--the malicious1 diabolical wickedness of the one1 and set off against it1 the goodness of the other1 showing all the more conspicuously4 ,how is it that we get a ,tiberius1 a ,caligula1 a ,carcalla1 a ,domitian1 a ,nero2 and on the other hand1 the ,antonines1 ,titus1 ,hadrian1 ,nerva8 ,how is it that among the animals1 nay1 in a higher species1 in individual animals1 there is a like difference8--the malignity of the cat most strongly developed in the tiger2 the spite of the monkey2 on the other hand1 goodness1 fidelity and love in the dog and the elephant4 ,it is obvious that the principle of wickedness in the brute is the same as in man4 ,we may to some extent modify the difficulty of the problem by observing that the whole difference is in the end only one of degree4 ,in every living creature1 the fundamental propensities and instincts all exist1 but they exist in very different degrees and proportions4 ,this1 however1 is not enough to explain the facts4 ,we must fall back upon the intellect and its relation to the will2 it is the only explanation that remains4 ,a man's intellect1 however1 by no means stands in any direct and obvious relation with the goodness of his character4 ,we may1 it is true1 discriminate between two kinds of intellect3 between understanding1 as the apprehension of relation in accordance with the ,principle of ,sufficient ,reason1 and cognition1 a faculty akin to genius1 which acts more directly1 is independent of this law1 and passes beyond the ,principle of ,individuation4 ,the latter is the faculty which apprehends ,ideas1 and it is the faculty which has to do with morality4 ,but even this explanation leaves much to be desired4 ,fine minds are seldom fine souls was the correct observation of ,jean ,paul2 although they are never the contrary4 ,lord ,bacon1 who1 to be sure1 was less a fine soul than a fine mind1 was a scoundrel4 ,i have declared space and time to be part of the ,principle of ,individuation1 as it is only space and time that make the multiplicity of similar objects a possibility4 ,but multiplicity itself also admits of variety2 multiplicity and diversity are not only quantitative1 but also qualitative4 ,how is it that there is such a thing as qualitative diversity1 especially in ethical matters8 ,or have ,i fallen into an error the opposite of that in which ,leibnitz fell with his identitas indiscernibilium8 ,the chief cause of intellectual diversity is to be found in the brain and nervous system4 ,this is a fact which somewhat lessens the obscurity of the subject4 ,with the brutes the intellect and the brain are strictly adapted to their aims and needs4 ,with man alone there is now and then1 by way of exception1 a superfluity1 which1 if it is abundant1 may yield genius4 ,but ethical diversity1 it seems1 proceeds immediately from the will4 ,otherwise ethical character would not be above and beyond time1 as it is only in the individual that intellect and will are united4 ,the will is above and beyond time1 and eternal2 and character is innate2 that is to say1 it is sprung from the same eternity1 and therefore it does not admit of any but a transcendental explanation4 ,perhaps some one will come after me who will throw light into this dark abyss4 ,,moral ,,instinct4 ,an act done by instinct differs from every other kind of act in that an understanding of its object does not precede it but follows upon it4 ,instinct is therefore a rule of action given priori4 ,we may be unaware of the object to which it is directed1 as no understanding of it is necessary to its attainment4 ,on the other hand1 if an act is done by an exercise of reason or intelligence1 it proceeds according to a rule which the understanding has itself devised for the purpose of carrying out a preconceived aim4 ,hence it is that action according to rule may miss its aim1 while instinct is infallible4 ,on the priori character of instinct we may compare what ,plato says in the ,philebus4 ,with ,plato instinct is a reminiscence of something which a man has never actually experienced in his lifetime2 in the same way as1 in the ,phaedo and elsewhere1 everything that a man learns is regarded as a reminiscence4 ,he has no other word to express the priori element in all experience4 ,there are1 then1 three things that are priori3 7#a7 ,theoretical ,reason1 in other words1 the conditions which make all experience possible4 7#b7 ,instinct1 or the rule by which an object promoting the life of the senses may1 though unknown1 be attained4 7#c7 ,the ,moral ,law1 or the rule by which an action takes place without any object4 ,accordingly rational or intelligent action proceeds by a rule laid down in accordance with the object as it is understood4 ,instinctive action proceeds by a rule without an understanding of the object of it4 ,moral action proceeds by a rule without any object at all4 ,theoretical ,reason is the aggregate of rules in accordance with which all my knowledge--that is to say1 the whole world of experience--necessarily proceeds4 ,in the same manner ,instinct is the aggregate of rules in accordance with which all my action necessarily proceeds if it meets with no obstruction4 ,hence it seems to me that ,instinct may most appropriately be called practical reason1 for like theoretical reason it determines the must of all experience4 ,the so-called moral law1 on the other hand1 is only one aspect of the better consciousness1 the aspect which it presents from the point of view of instinct4 ,this better consciousness is something lying beyond all experience1 that is1 beyond all reason1 whether of the theoretical or the practical kind1 and has nothing to do with it2 whilst it is in virtue of the mysterious union of it and reason in the same individual that the better consciousness comes into conflict with reason1 leaving the individual to choose between the two4 ,in any conflict between the better consciousness and reason1 if the individual decides for reason1 should it be theoretical reason1 he becomes a narrow1 pedantic philistine2 should it be practical1 a rascal4 ,if he decides for the better consciousness1 we can make no further positive affirmation about him1 for if we were to do so1 we should find ourselves in the realm of reason2 and as it is only what takes place within this realm that we can speak of at all it follows that we cannot speak of the better consciousness except in negative terms4 ,this shows us how it is that reason is hindered and obstructed2 that theoretical reason is suppressed in favour of genius1 and practical reason in favour of virtue4 ,now the better consciousness is neither theoretical nor practical2 for these are distinctions that only apply to reason4 ,but if the individual is in the act of choosing1 the better consciousness appears to him in the aspect which it assumes in vanquishing and overcoming the practical reason 7or instinct1 to use the common word74 ,it appears to him as an imperative command1 an ought4 ,it so appears to him1 ,i say2 in other words1 that is the shape which it takes for the theoretical reason which renders all things into objects and ideas4 ,but in so far as the better consciousness desires to vanquish and overcome the theoretical reason1 it takes no shape at all2 on the simple ground that1 as it comes into play1 the theoretical reason is suppressed and becomes the mere servant of the better consciousness4 ,that is why genius can never give any account of its own works4 ,in the morality of action1 the legal principle that both sides are to be heard must not be allowed to apply2 in other words1 the claims of self and the senses must not be urged4 ,nay1 on the contrary1 as soon as the pure will has found expression1 the case is closed2 nec audienda altera pars4 ,the lower animals are not endowed with moral freedom4 ,probably this is not because they show no trace of the better consciousness which in us is manifested as morality1 or nothing analogous to it2 for1 if that were so1 the lower animals1 which are in so many respects like ourselves in outward appearance that we regard man as a species of animal1 would possess some raison d'tre entirely different from our own1 and actually be1 in their essential and inmost nature1 something quite other than ourselves4 ,this is a contention which is obviously refuted by the thoroughly malignant and inherently vicious character of certain animals1 such as the crocodile1 the hyaena1 the scorpion1 the snake1 and the gentle1 affectionate and contented character of others1 such as the dog4 ,here1 as in the case of men1 the character1 as it is manifested1 must rest upon something that is above and beyond time4 ,for1 as ,jacob ,bhme says1#a there is a power in every animal which is indestructible1 and the spirit of the world draws it into itself1 against the final separation at the ,last ,judgment4 ,therefore we cannot call the lower animals free1 and the reason why we cannot do so is that they are wanting in a faculty which is profoundly subordinate to the better consciousness in its highest phase1 ,i mean reason4 ,reason is the faculty of supreme comprehension1 the idea of totality4 ,how reason manifests itself in the theoretical sphere ,kant has shown1 and it does the same in the practical3 it makes us capable of observing and surveying the whole of our life1 thought1 and action1 in continual connection1 and therefore of acting according to general maxims1 whether those maxims originate in the understanding as prudential rules1 or in the better consciousness as moral laws4 ,footnote #a3 ,epistles1 #ef4 ,if any desire or passion is aroused in us1 we1 and in the same way the lower animals1 are for the moment filled with this desire2 we are all anger1 all lust1 all fear2 and in such moments neither the better consciousness can speak1 nor the understanding consider the consequences4 ,but in our case reason allows us even at that moment to see our actions and our life as an unbroken chain1--a chain which connects our earlier resolutions1 or1 it may be1 the future consequences of our action1 with the moment of passion which now fills our whole consciousness4 ,it shows us the identity of our person1 even when that person is exposed to influences of the most varied kind1 and thereby we are enabled to act according to maxims4 ,the lower animal is wanting in this faculty2 the passion which seizes it completely dominates it1 and can be checked only by another passion--anger1 for instance1 or lust1 by fear2 even though the vision that terrifies does not appeal to the senses1 but is present in the animal only as a dim memory and imagination4 ,men1 therefore1 may be called irrational1 if1 like the lower animals1 they allow themselves to be determined by the moment4 ,so far1 however1 is reason from being the source of morality that it is reason alone which makes us capable of being rascals1 which the lower animals cannot be4 ,it is reason which enables us to form an evil resolution and to keep it when the provocation to evil is removed2 it enables us1 for example1 to nurse vengeance4 ,although at the moment that we have an opportunity of fulfilling our resolution the better consciousness may manifest itself as love or charity1 it is by force of reason1 in pursuance of some evil maxim1 that we act against it4 ,thus ,goethe says that a man may use his reason only for the purpose of being more bestial than any beast3 ,er hat ,vernunft1 doch braucht er sie allein ,um theirischer als jedes ,thier zu sein4 ,for not only do we1 like the beasts1 satisfy the desires of the moment1 but we refine upon them and stimulate them in order to prepare the desire for the satisfaction4 ,whenever we think that we perceive a trace of reason in the lower animals1 it fills us with surprise4 ,now our surprise is not excited by the good and affectionate disposition which some of them exhibit--we recognise that as something other than reason--but by some action in them which seems to be determined not by the impression of the moment1 but by a resolution previously made and kept4 ,elephants1 for instance1 are reported to have taken premeditated revenge for insults long after they were suffered2 lions1 to have requited benefits on an opportunity tardily offered4 ,the truth of such stories has1 however1 no bearing at all on the question1 ,what do we mean by reason8 ,but they enable us to decide whether in the lower animals there is any trace of anything that we can call reason4 ,kant not only declares that all our moral sentiments originate in reason1 but he lays down that reason1 in my sense of the word1 is a condition of moral action2 as he holds that for an action to be virtuous and meritorious it must be done in accordance with maxims1 and not spring from a resolve taken under some momentary impression4 ,but in both contentions he is wrong4 ,if ,i resolve to take vengeance on some one1 and when an opportunity offers1 the better consciousness in the form of love and humanity speaks its word1 and ,i am influenced by it rather than by my evil resolution1 this is a virtuous act1 for it is a manifestation of the better consciousness4 ,it is possible to conceive of a very virtuous man in whom the better consciousness is so continuously active that it is never silent1 and never allows his passions to get a complete hold of him4 ,by such consciousness he is subject to a direct control1 instead of being guided indirectly1 through the medium of reason1 by means of maxims and moral principles4 ,that is why a man may have weak reasoning powers and a weak understanding and yet have a high sense of morality and be eminently good2 for the most important element in a man depends as little on intellectual as it does on physical strength4 ,jesus says1 ,blessed are the poor in spirit4 ,and ,jacob ,bhme has the excellent and noble observation3 ,whoso lies quietly in his own will1 like a child in the womb1 and lets himself be led and guided by that inner principle from which he is sprung1 is the noblest and richest on earth4#a ,footnote #a3 ,epistles1 #cg4 ,,ethical ,,reflections4 ,the philosophers of the ancient world united in a single conception a great many things that had no connection with one another4 ,of this every dialogue of ,plato's furnishes abundant examples4 ,the greatest and worst confusion of this kind is that between ethics and politics4 ,the ,state and the ,kingdom of ,god1 or the ,moral ,law1 are so entirely different in their character that the former is a parody of the latter1 a bitter mockery at the absence of it4 ,compared with the ,moral ,law the ,state is a crutch instead of a limb1 an automaton instead of a man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the principle of honour stands in close connection with human freedom4 ,it is1 as it were1 an abuse of that freedom4 ,instead of using his freedom to fulfil the moral law1 a man employs his power of voluntarily undergoing any feeling of pain1 of overcoming any momentary impression1 in order that he may assert his self-will1 whatever be the object to which he directs it4 ,as he thereby shows that1 unlike the lower animals1 he has thoughts which go beyond the welfare of his body and whatever makes for that welfare1 it has come about that the principle of honour is often confused with virtue4 ,they are regarded as if they were twins4 ,but wrongly2 for although the principle of honour is something which distinguishes man from the lower animals1 it is not1 in itself1 anything that raises him above them4 ,taken as an end and aim1 it is as dark a delusion as any other aim that springs from self4 ,used as a means1 or casually1 it may be productive of good2 but even that is good which is vain and frivolous4 ,it is the misuse of freedom1 the employment of it as a weapon for overcoming the world of feeling1 that makes man so infinitely more terrible than the lower animals2 for they do only what momentary instinct bids them2 while man acts by ideas1 and his ideas may entail universal ruin before they are satisfied4 ,there is another circumstance which helps to promote the notion that honour and virtue are connected4 ,a man who can do what he wants to do shows that he can also do it if what he wants to do is a virtuous act4 ,but that those of our actions which we are ourselves obliged to regard with contempt are also regarded with contempt by other people serves more than anything that ,i have here mentioned to establish the connection4 ,thus it often happens that a man who is not afraid of the one kind of contempt is unwilling to undergo the other4 ,but when we are called upon to choose between our own approval and the world's censure1 as may occur in complicated and mistaken circumstances1 what becomes of the principle of honour then8 ,two characteristic examples of the principle of honour are to be found in ,shakespeare's ,henry ,,vi41 ,part ,,ii41 ,act ,,iv41 ,sc4 #a4 ,a pirate is anxious to murder his captive instead of accepting1 like others1 a ransom for him2 because in taking his captive he lost an eye1 and his own honour and that of his forefathers would in his opinion be stained1 if he were to allow his revenge to be bought off as though he were a mere trader4 ,the prisoner1 on the other hand1 who is the ,duke of ,suffolk1 prefers to have his head grace a pole than to uncover it to such a low fellow as a pirate1 by approaching him to ask for mercy4 ,just as civic honour--in other words1 the opinion that we deserve to be trusted--is the palladium of those whose endeavour it is to make their way in the world on the path of honourable business1 so knightly honour--in other words1 the opinion that we are men to be feared--is the palladium of those who aim at going through life on the path of violence2 and so it was that knightly honour arose among the robber-knights and other knights of the ,middle ,ages4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a theoretical philosopher is one who can supply in the shape of ideas for the reason1 a copy of the presentations of experience2 just as what the painter sees he can reproduce on canvas2 the sculptor1 in marble2 the poet1 in pictures for the imagination1 though they are pictures which he supplies only in sowing the ideas from which they sprang4 ,a so-called practical philosopher1 on the other hand1 is one who1 contrarily1 deduces his action from ideas4 ,the theoretical philosopher transforms life into ideas4 ,the practical philosopher transforms ideas into life2 he acts1 therefore1 in a thoroughly reasonable manner2 he is consistent1 regular1 deliberate2 he is never hasty or passionate2 he never allows himself to be influenced by the impression of the moment4 ,and indeed1 when we find ourselves among those full presentations of experience1 or real objects1 to which the body belongs--since the body is only an objectified will1 the shape which the will assumes in the material world--it is difficult to let our bodies be guided1 not by those presentations1 but by a mere image of them1 by cold1 colourless ideas1 which are related to experience as the shadow of ,orcus to life2 and yet this is the only way in which we can avoid doing things of which we may have to repent4 ,the theoretical philosopher enriches the domain of reason by adding to it2 the practical philosopher draws upon it1 and makes it serve him4 99 99 99 99 99 ,according to ,kant the truth of experience is only a hypothetical truth4 ,if the suppositions which underlie all the intimations of experience--subject1 object1 time1 space and causality--were removed1 none of those intimations would contain a word of truth4 ,in other words1 experience is only a phenomenon2 it is not knowledge of the thing-in-itself4 ,if we find something in our own conduct at which we are secretly pleased1 although we cannot reconcile it with experience1 seeing that if we were to follow the guidance of experience we should have to do precisely the opposite1 we must not allow this to put us out2 otherwise we should be ascribing an authority to experience which it does not deserve1 for all that it teaches rests upon a mere supposition4 ,this is the general tendency of the ,kantian ,ethics4 99 99 99 99 99 ,innocence is in its very nature stupid4 ,it is stupid because the aim of life 7,i use the expression only figuratively1 and ,i could just as well speak of the essence of life1 or of the world7 is to gain a knowledge of our own bad will1 so that our will may become an object for us1 and that we may undergo an inward conversion4 ,our body is itself our will objectified2 it is one of the first and foremost of objects1 and the deeds that we accomplish for the sake of the body show us the evil inherent in our will4 ,in the state of innocence1 where there is no evil because there is no experience1 man is1 as it were1 only an apparatus for living1 and the object for which the apparatus exists is not yet disclosed4 ,an empty form of life like this1 a stage untenanted1 is in itself1 like the so-called real world1 null and void2 and as it can attain a meaning only by action1 by error1 by knowledge1 by the convulsions of the will1 it wears a character of insipid stupidity4 ,a golden age of innocence1 a fools' paradise1 is a notion that is stupid and unmeaning1 and for that very reason in no way worthy of any respect4 ,the first criminal and murderer1 ,cain1 who acquired a knowledge of guilt1 and through guilt acquired a knowledge of virtue by repentance1 and so came to understand the meaning of life1 is a tragical figure more significant1 and almost more respectable1 than all the innocent fools in the world put together4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if ,i had to write about modesty ,i should say3 ,i know the esteemed public for which ,i have the honour to write far too well to dare to give utterance to my opinion about this virtue4 ,personally ,i am quite content to be modest and to apply myself to this virtue with the utmost possible circumspection4 ,but one thing ,i shall never admit--that ,i have ever required modesty of any man1 and any statement to that effect ,i repel as a slander4 ,the paltry character of most men compels the few who have any merit or genius to behave as though they did not know their own value1 and consequently did not know other people's want of value2 for it is only on this condition that the mob acquiesces in tolerating merit4 ,a virtue has been made out of this necessity1 and it is called modesty4 ,it is a piece of hypocrisy1 to be excused only because other people are so paltry that they must be treated with indulgence4 99 99 99 99 99 ,human misery may affect us in two ways1 and we may be in one of two opposite moods in regard to it4 ,in one of them1 this misery is immediately present to us4 ,we feel it in our own person1 in our own will which1 imbued with violent desires1 is everywhere broken1 and this is the process which constitutes suffering4 ,the result is that the will increases in violence1 as is shown in all cases of passion and emotion2 and this increasing violence comes to a stop only when the will turns and gives way to complete resignation1 in other words1 is redeemed4 ,the man who is entirely dominated by this mood will regard any prosperity which he may see in others with envy1 and any suffering with no sympathy4 ,in the opposite mood human misery is present to us only as a fact of knowledge1 that is to say1 indirectly4 ,we are mainly engaged in looking at the sufferings of others1 and our attention is withdrawn from our own4 ,it is in their person that we become aware of human misery2 we are filled with sympathy2 and the result of this mood is general benevolence1 philanthropy4 ,all envy vanishes1 and instead of feeling it1 we are rejoiced when we see one of our tormented fellow-creatures experience any pleasure or relief4 ,after the same fashion we may be in one of two opposite moods in regard to human baseness and depravity4 ,in the one we perceive this baseness indirectly1 in others4 ,out of this mood arise indignation1 hatred1 and contempt of mankind4 ,in the other we perceive it directly1 in ourselves4 ,out of it there arises humiliation1 nay1 contrition4 ,in order to judge the moral value of a man1 it is very important to observe which of these four moods predominate in him4 ,they go in pairs1 one out of each division4 ,in very excellent characters the second mood of each division will predominate4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the categorical imperative1 or absolute command1 is a contradiction4 ,every command is conditional4 ,what is unconditional and necessary is a must1 such as is presented by the laws of nature4 ,it is quite true that the moral law is entirely conditional4 ,there is a world and a view of life in which it has neither validity nor significance4 ,that world is1 properly speaking1 the real world in which1 as individuals1 we live2 for every regard paid to morality is a denial of that world and of our individual life in it4 ,it is a view of the world1 however1 which does not go beyond the principle of sufficient reason2 and the opposite view proceeds by the intuition of ,ideas4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if a man is under the influence of two opposite but very strong motives1 ,a and ,b1 and ,i am greatly concerned that he should choose ,a1 but still more that he should never be untrue to his choice1 and by changing his mind betray me1 or the like1 it will not do for me to say anything that might hinder the motive ,b from having its full effect upon him1 and only emphasise ,a2 for then ,i should never be able to reckon on his decision4 ,what ,i have to do is1 rather1 to put both motives before him at the same time1 in as vivid and clear a way as possible1 so that they may work upon him with their whole force4 ,the choice that he then makes is the decision of his inmost nature1 and stands firm to all eternity4 ,in saying ,i will do this1 he has said ,i must do this4 ,i have got at his will1 and ,i can rely upon its working as steadily as one of the forces of nature4 ,it is as certain as fire kindles and water wets that he will act according to the motive which has proved to be stronger for him4 ,insight and knowledge may be attained and lost again2 they may be changed1 or improved1 or destroyed2 but will cannot be changed4 ,that is why ,i apprehend1 ,i perceive1 ,i see1 is subject to alteration and uncertainty2 ,i will1 pronounced on a right apprehension of motive1 is as firm as nature itself4 ,the difficulty1 however1 lies in getting at a right apprehension4 ,a man's apprehension of motive may change1 or be corrected or perverted2 and on the other hand1 his circumstances may undergo an alteration4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a man should exercise an almost boundless toleration and placability1 because if he is capricious enough to refuse to forgive a single individual for the meanness or evil that lies at his door1 it is doing the rest of the world a quite unmerited honour4 ,but at the same time the man who is every one's friend is no one's friend4 ,it is quite obvious what sort of friendship it is which we hold out to the human race1 and to which it is open to almost every man to return1 no matter what he may have done4 99 99 99 99 99 ,with the ancients friendship was one of the chief elements in morality4 ,but friendship is only limitation and partiality2 it is the restriction to one individual of what is the due of all mankind1 namely1 the recognition that a man's own nature and that of mankind are identical4 ,at most it is a compromise between this recognition and selfishness4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a lie always has its origin in the desire to extend the dominion of one's own will over other individuals1 and to deny their will in order the better to affirm one's own4 ,consequently a lie is in its very nature the product of injustice1 malevolence and villainy4 ,that is why truth1 sincerity1 candour and rectitude are at once recognised and valued as praiseworthy and noble qualities2 because we presume that the man who exhibits them entertains no sentiments of injustice or malice1 and therefore stands in no need of concealing such sentiments4 ,he who is open cherishes nothing that is bad4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there is a certain kind of courage which springs from the same source as good-nature4 ,what ,i mean is that the good-natured man is almost as clearly conscious that he exists in other individuals as in himself4 ,i have often shown how this feeling gives rise to good-nature4 ,it also gives rise to courage1 for the simple reason that the man who possesses this feeling cares less for his own individual existence1 as he lives almost as much in the general existence of all creatures4 ,accordingly he is little concerned for his own life and its belongings4 ,this is by no means the sole source of courage for it is a phenomenon due to various causes4 ,but it is the noblest kind of courage1 as is shown by the fact that in its origin it is associated with great gentleness and patience4 ,men of this kind are usually irresistible to women4 99 99 99 99 99 ,all general rules and precepts fail1 because they proceed from the false assumption that men are constituted wholly1 or almost wholly1 alike2 an assumption which the philosophy of ,helvetius expressly makes4 ,whereas the truth is that the original difference between individuals in intellect and morality is immeasurable4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the question as to whether morality is something real is the question whether a well-grounded counter-principle to egoism actually exists4 ,as egoism restricts concern for welfare to a single individual1 viz41 the man's own self1 the counter-principle would have to extend it to all other individuals4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is only because the will is above and beyond time that the stings of conscience are ineradicable1 and do not1 like other pains1 gradually wear away4 ,no6 an evil deed weighs on the conscience years afterwards as heavily as if it had been freshly committed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,character is innate1 and conduct is merely its manifestation2 the occasion for great misdeeds comes seldom2 strong counter-motives keep us back2 our disposition is revealed to ourselves by our desires1 thoughts1 emotions1 when it remains unknown to others4 ,reflecting on all this1 we might suppose it possible for a man to possess1 in some sort1 an innate evil conscience1 without ever having done anything very bad4 99 99 99 99 99 ,don't do to others what you wouldn't like done to yourself4 ,this is1 perhaps1 one of those arguments that prove1 or rather ask1 too much4 ,for a prisoner might address it to a judge4 99 99 99 99 99 ,stupid people are generally malicious1 for the very same reason as the ugly and the deformed4 ,similarly1 genius and sanctity are akin4 ,however simple-minded a saint may be1 he will nevertheless have a dash of genius in him2 and however many errors of temperament1 or of actual character1 a genius may possess1 he will still exhibit a certain nobility of disposition by which he shows his kinship with the saint4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the great difference between ,law without and ,law within1 between the ,state and the ,kingdom of ,god1 is very clear4 ,it is the ,state's business to see that every one should have justice done to him2 it regards men as passive beings1 and therefore takes no account of anything but their actions4 ,the ,moral ,law1 on the other hand1 is concerned that every one should do justice2 it regards men as active1 and looks to the will rather than the deed4 ,to prove that this is the true distinction let the reader consider what would happen if he were to say1 conversely1 that it is the ,state's business that every one should do justice1 and the business of the ,moral ,law that every one should have justice done to him4 ,the absurdity is obvious4 ,as an example of the distinction1 let me take the case of a debtor and a creditor disputing about a debt which the former denies4 ,a lawyer and a moralist are present1 and show a lively interest in the matter4 ,both desire that the dispute should end in the same way1 although what they want is by no means the same4 ,the lawyer says1 ,i want this man to get back what belongs to him2 and the moralist1 ,i want that man to do his duty4 ,it is with the will alone that morality is concerned4 ,whether external force hinders or fails to hinder the will from working does not in the least matter4 ,for morality the external world is real only in so far as it is able or unable to lead and influence the will4 ,as soon as the will is determined1 that is1 as soon as a resolve is taken1 the external world and its events are of no further moment and practical do not exist4 ,for if the events of the world had any such reality--that is to say1 if they possessed a significance in themselves1 or any other than that derived from the will which is affected by them--what a grievance it would be that all these events lie in the realm of chance and error6 ,it is1 however1 just this which proves that the important thing is not what happens1 but what is willed4 ,accordingly1 let the incidents of life be left to the play of chance and error1 to demonstrate to man that he is as chaff before the wind4 ,the ,state concerns itself only with the incidents--with what happens2 nothing else has any reality for it4 ,i may dwell upon thoughts of murder and poison as much as ,i please3 the ,state does not forbid me1 so long as the axe and rope control my will1 and prevent it from becoming action4 ,ethics asks3 ,what are the duties towards others which justice imposes upon us8 in other words1 ,what must ,i render8 ,the ,law of ,nature asks3 ,what need ,i not submit to from others8 that is1 ,what must ,i suffer8 ,the question is put1 not that ,i may do no injustice1 but that ,i may not do more than every man must do if he is to safeguard his existence1 and than every man will approve being done1 in order that he may be treated in the same way himself2 and1 further1 that ,i may not do more than society will permit me to do4 ,the same answer will serve for both questions1 just as the same straight line can be drawn from either of two opposite directions1 namely1 by opposing forces2 or1 again1 as the angle can give the sine1 or the sine the angle4 ,it has been said that the historian is an inverted prophet4 ,in the same way it may be said that a teacher of law is an inverted moralist 7viz41 a teacher of the duties of justice71 or that politics are inverted ethics1 if we exclude the thought that ethics also teaches the duty of benevolence1 magnanimity1 love1 and so on4 ,the ,state is the ,gordian knot that is cut instead of being untied2 it is ,columbus' egg which is made to stand by being broken instead of balanced1 as though the business in question were to make it stand rather than to balance it4 ,in this respect the ,state is like the man who thinks that he can produce fine weather by making the barometer go up4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the pseudo-philosophers of our age tell us that it is the object of the ,state to promote the moral aims of mankind4 ,this is not true2 it is rather the contrary which is true4 ,the aim for which mankind exists--the expression is parabolic--is not that a man should act in such and such a manner2 for all opera operata1 things that have actually been done1 are in themselves matters of indifference4 ,no6 the aim is that the ,will1 of which every man is a complete specimen--nay1 is the very ,will itself--should turn whither it needs to turn2 that the man himself 7the union of ,thought and ,will7 should perceive what this will is1 and what horrors it contains2 that he should show the reflection of himself in his own deeds1 in the abomination of them4 ,the ,state1 which is wholly concerned with the general welfare1 checks the manifestation of the bad will1 but in no wise checks the will itself2 the attempt would be impossible4 ,it is because the ,state checks the manifestation of his will that a man very seldom sees the whole abomination of his nature in the mirror of his deeds4 ,or does the reader actually suppose there are no people in the world as bad as ,robespierre1 ,napoleon1 or other murderers8 ,does he fail to see that there are many who would act like them if only they could8 ,many a criminal dies more quietly on the scaffold than many a non-criminal in the arms of his family4 ,the one has perceived what his will is and has discarded it4 ,the other has not been able to discard it1 because he has never been able to perceive what it is4 ,the aim of the ,state is to produce a fool's paradise1 and this is in direct conflict with the true aim of life1 namely1 to attain a knowledge of what the will1 in its horrible nature1 really is4 99 99 99 99 99 ,napoleon was not really worse than many1 not to say most1 men4 ,he was possessed of the very ordinary egoism that seeks its welfare at the expense of others4 ,what distinguished him was merely the greater power he had of satisfying his will1 and greater intelligence1 reason and courage2 added to which1 chance gave him a favourable scope for his operations4 ,by means of all this he did for his egoism what a thousand other men would like to do for theirs1 but cannot4 ,every feeble lad who by little acts of villainy gains a small advantage for himself by putting others to some disadvantage1 although it may be equally small1 is just as bad as ,napoleon4 ,those who fancy that retribution comes after death would demand that ,napoleon should by unutterable torments pay the penalty for all the numberless calamities that he caused4 ,but he is no more culpable than all those who possess the same will1 unaccompanied by the same power4 ,the circumstance that in his case this extraordinary power was added allowed him to reveal the whole wickedness of the human will2 and the sufferings of his age1 as the necessary obverse of the medal1 reveal the misery which is inextricably bound up with this bad will4 ,it is the general manipulation of this will that constitutes the world4 ,but it is precisely that it should be understood how inextricably the will to live is bound up with1 and is really one and the same as1 this unspeakable misery1 that is the world's aim and purpose2 and it is an aim and purpose which the appearance of ,napoleon did much to assist4 ,not to be an unmeaning fools' paradise but a tragedy1 in which the will to live understands itself and yields--that is the object for which the world exists4 ,napoleon is only an enormous mirror of the will to live4 ,the difference between the man who causes suffering and the man who suffers it1 is only phenomenal4 ,it is all a will to live1 identical with great suffering2 and it is only by understanding this that the will can mend and end4 99 99 99 99 99 ,what chiefly distinguishes ancient from modern times is that in ancient times1 to use ,napoleon's expression1 it was affairs that reigned3 les paroles aux choses4 ,in modern times this is not so4 ,what ,i mean is that in ancient times the character of public life1 of the ,state1 and of ,religion1 as well as of private life1 was a strenuous affirmation of the will to live4 ,in modern times it is a denial of this will1 for such is the character of ,christianity4 ,but now while on the one hand that denial has suffered some abatement even in public opinion1 because it is too repugnant to human character1 on the other what is publicly denied is secretly affirmed4 ,hence it is that we see half measures and falsehood everywhere2 and that is why modern times look so small beside antiquity4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the structure of human society is like a pendulum swinging between two impulses1 two evils in polar opposition1 despotism and anarchy4 ,the further it gets from the one1 the nearer it approaches the other4 ,from this the reader might hit on the thought that if it were exactly midway between the two1 it would be right4 ,far from it4 ,for these two evils are by no means equally bad and dangerous4 ,the former is incomparably less to be feared2 its ills exist in the main only as possibilities1 and if they come at all it is only one among millions that they touch4 ,but1 with anarchy1 possibility and actuality are inseparable2 its blows fall on every man every day4 ,therefore every constitution should be a nearer approach to a despotism than to anarchy2 nay1 it must contain a small possibility of despotism4