,,the ,,essays    ,,of    ,,arthur      
,,schopenhauer    ,,translated ,,by     
,t4 ,,bailey ,,saunders1 ,m4,a4         
,,the ,,wisdom ,,of ,,life4             
,,contents4      ,,chapter              
,,introduction    ,i4 ,,division ,,of   
,,the ,,subject    ,,ii4 ,,personality1 
,,or ,,what ,a ,,man ,,is    ,,iii4     
,,property1 ,,or ,,what ,a ,,man ,,has  
,,iv4 ,,position1 ,,or ,a ,,man',s      
,,place ,,in ,,the ,,estimation ,,of    
,,others--      ,sect4 #a4 ,reputation  
#b4 ,pride           #c4 ,rank          
#d4 ,honor           #e4 ,fame          
,,introduction4      ,in these pages ,i 
shall speak of ,the ,wisdom of ,life in 
the common  meaning of the term1 as the 
art1 namely1 of ordering our lives so as
  to obtain the greatest possible amount
 of pleasure and success2 an art  the   
theory of which may be called           
,eudaemonology1 for it teaches us  how  
to lead a happy existence4 ,such an     
existence might perhaps be  defined as  
one which1 looked at from a purely      

objective point of  view1 or1 rather1   
after cool and mature reflection--for   
the question  necessarily involves      
subjective considerations1--would be    
decidedly  preferable to non-existence2 
implying that we should cling to it for 
its own sake1 and not merely from the   
fear of death2 and further1 that  we    
should never like it to come to an end4 
,now whether human life corresponds1 or 
could possibly correspond1  to this     
conception of existence1 is a question  
to which1 as is  well-known1 my         
philosophical system returns a negative 
answer4 ,on the  eudaemonistic          
hypothesis1 however1 the question must  
be answered in  the affirmative2 and ,i 
have shown1 in the second volume of my  
chief  work 7ch4 #di71 that this        
hypothesis is based upon a fundamental  
mistake4 ,accordingly1 in elaborating   
the scheme of a happy existence1  ,i    
have had to make a complete surrender of
 the higher metaphysical and  ethical   
standpoint to which my own theories     

lead2 and everything ,i  shall say here 
will to some extent rest upon a         
compromise2 in so far1  that is1 as ,i  
take the common standpoint of every day1
 and embrace  the error which is at the 
bottom of it4 ,my remarks1 therefore1   
will  possess only a qualified value1   
for the very word eudaemonology is a    
euphemism4 ,further1 ,i make no claims  
to completeness2 partly because  the    
subject is inexhaustible1 and partly    
because ,i should otherwise  have to say
 over again what has been already said  
by others4    ,the only book composed1  
as far as ,i remember1 with a like      
purpose to  that which animates this    
collection of aphorisms1 is ,cardan's   
,de  utilitate ex adversis capienda1    
which is well worth reading1 and may  be
 used to supplement the present work4   
,aristotle1 it is true1 has a  few words
 on eudaemonology in the fifth chapter  
of the first book  of his ,rhetoric2 but
 what he says does not come to very     
much4  ,as compilation is not my        

business1 ,i have made no use of these  
predecessors2 more especially because in
 the process of compiling1              
individuality of view is lost1 and      
individuality of view is the kernel  of 
works of this kind4 ,in general1 indeed1
 the wise in all ages have  always said 
the same thing1 and the fools1 who at   
all times form the  immense majority1   
have in their way too acted alike1 and  
done just the  opposite2 and so it will 
continue4 ,for1 as ,voltaire says1 we   
shall  leave this world as foolish and  
as wicked as we found it on our         
arrival4          ,,the ,,wisdom ,,of   
,,life4          ,,chapter ,i4          
,,division ,,of ,,the ,,subject4        
,aristotle#a divides the blessings of   
life into three classes--those  which   
come to us from without1 those of the   
soul1 and those of the  body4 ,keeping  
nothing of this division but the number1
 ,i observe that  the fundamental       
differences in human lot may be reduced 
to three  distinct classes3    ,footnote

 #a3 ,eth4 ,nichom41 ,i4 #h4    7#a7    
,what a man is3 that is to say1         
personality1 in the widest sense  of the
 word2 under which are included health1 
strength1 beauty1  temperament1 moral   
character1 intelligence1 and education4 
7#b7 ,what a man has3 that is1 property 
and possessions of every kind4    7#c7  
,how a man stands in the estimation of  
others3 by which is to be  understood1  
as everybody knows1 what a man is in the
 eyes of his  fellowmen1 or1 more       
strictly1 the light in which they regard
 him4 ,this  is shown by their opinion  
of him2 and their opinion is in its turn
  manifested by the honor in which he is
 held1 and by his rank and  reputation4 
,the differences which come under the   
first head are those which ,nature      
herself has set between man and man2 and
 from this fact alone we may  at once   
infer that they influence the happiness 
or unhappiness of  mankind in a much    
more vital and radical way than those   
contained  under the two following      

heads1 which are merely the effect of   
human  arrangements4 ,compared with     
genuine personal advantages1 such as a  
great mind or a great heart1 all the    
privileges of rank or birth1 even  of   
royal birth1 are but as kings on the    
stage1 to kings in real life4  ,the same
 thing was said long ago by ,metrodorus1
 the earliest disciple  of ,epicurus1   
who wrote as the title of one of his    
chapters1 ,the  happiness we receive    
from ourselves is greater than that     
which we  obtain from our surroundings#a
 ,and it is an obvious fact1 which      
cannot be called in question1 that the  
principal element in a man's            
well-being1--indeed1 in the whole tenor 
of his existence1--is what he  is made  
of1 his inner constitution4 ,for this is
 the immediate source  of that inward   
satisfaction or dissatisfaction         
resulting from the  sum total of his    
sensations1 desires and thoughts2 whilst
 his  surroundings1 on the other hand1  
exert only a mediate or indirect        

influence upon him4 ,this is why the    
same external events or  circumstances  
affect no two people alike2 even with   
perfectly similar  surroundings every   
one lives in a world of his own4 ,for a 
man has  immediate apprehension only of 
his own ideas1 feelings and volitions2  
the outer world can influence him only  
in so far as it brings these to  life4  
,the world in which a man lives shapes  
itself chiefly by the way  in which he  
looks at it1 and so it proves different 
to different  men2 to one it is barren1 
dull1 and superficial2 to another rich1 
interesting1 and full of meaning4 ,on   
hearing of the interesting events  which
 have happened in the course of a man's 
experience1 many people  will wish that 
similar things had happened in their    
lives too1  completely forgetting that  
they should be envious rather of the    
mental  aptitude which lent those events
 the significance they possess when he  
describes them2 to a man of genius they 
were interesting adventures2  but to the

 dull perceptions of an ordinary        
individual they would have  been stale1 
everyday occurrences4 ,this is in the   
highest degree the  case with many of   
,goethe's and ,byron's poems1 which are 
obviously  founded upon actual facts2   
where it is open to a foolish reader to 
envy the poet because so many delightful
 things happened to him1  instead of    
envying that mighty power of phantasy   
which was capable  of turning a fairly  
common experience into something so     
great and  beautiful4    ,footnote #a3  
,cf4 ,clemens ,alex4 ,strom4 ,,ii41 #ba4
    ,in the same way1 a person of       
melancholy temperament will make a scene
  in a tragedy out of what appears to   
the sanguine man only in the light  of  
an interesting conflict1 and to a       
phlegmatic soul as something  without   
any meaning2--all of which rests upon   
the fact that every  event1 in order to 
be realized and appreciated1 requires   
the  co-operation of two factors1       
namely1 a subject and an object1        

although  these are as closely and      
necessarily connected as oxygen and     
hydrogen  in water4 ,when therefore the 
objective or external factor in an      
experience is actually the same1 but the
 subjective or personal  appreciation of
 it varies1 the event is just as much a 
different one  in the eyes of different 
persons as if the objective factors had 
not  been alike2 for to a blunt         
intelligence the fairest and best object
 in  the world presents only a poor     
reality1 and is therefore only poorly   
appreciated1--like a fine landscape in  
dull weather1 or in the  reflection of a
 bad camera obscura4 ,in plain language1
 every man  is pent up within the limits
 of his own consciousness1 and cannot   
directly get beyond those limits any    
more than he can get beyond his  own    
skin2 so external aid is not of much use
 to him4 ,on the stage1 one  man is a   
prince1 another a minister1 a third a   
servant or a soldier or  a general1 and 
so on1--mere external differences3 the  

inner reality1  the kernel of all these 
appearances is the same--a poor player1 
with  all the anxieties of his lot4 ,in 
life it is just the same4 ,differences  
of rank and wealth give every man his   
part to play1 but this by no  means     
implies a difference of inward happiness
 and pleasure2 here1  too1 there is the 
same being in all--a poor mortal1 with  
his hardships  and troubles4 ,though    
these may1 indeed1 in every case proceed
 from  dissimilar causes1 they are in   
their essential nature much the same in 
all their forms1 with degrees of        
intensity which vary1 no doubt1 but  in 
no wise correspond to the part a man has
 to play1 to the presence  or absence of
 position and wealth4 ,since everything 
which exists or  happens for a man      
exists only in his consciousness and    
happens for it  alone1 the most         
essential thing for a man is the        
constitution of this  consciousness1    
which is in most cases far more         
important than the  circumstances which 

go to form its contents4 ,all the pride 
and  pleasure of the world1 mirrored in 
the dull consciousness of a fool1  are  
poor indeed compared with the           
imagination of ,cervantes writing his   
,don ,quixote in a miserable prison4    
,the objective half of life and  reality
 is in the hand of fate1 and accordingly
 takes various forms in  different      
cases3 the subjective half is ourself1  
and in essentials is  always remains the
 same4    ,hence the life of every man  
is stamped with the same character      
throughout1 however much his external   
circumstances may alter2 it is  like a  
series of variations on a single theme4 
,no one can get beyond  his own         
individuality4 ,an animal1 under        
whatever circumstances it  is placed1   
remains within the narrow limits to     
which nature has  irrevocably consigned 
it2 so that our endeavors to make a pet 
happy  must always keep within the      
compass of its nature1 and be restricted
  to what it can feel4 ,so it is with   

man2 the measure of the happiness  he   
can attain is determined beforehand by  
his individuality4 ,more  especially is 
this the case with the mental powers1   
which fix once for  all his capacity for
 the higher kinds of pleasure4 ,if these
 powers are  small1 no efforts from     
without1 nothing that his fellowmen or  
that  fortune can do for him1 will      
suffice to raise him above the ordinary 
degree of human happiness and pleasure1 
half animal though it be2 his  only     
resources are his sensual appetite1--a  
cozy and cheerful family  life at the   
most1--low company and vulgar pastime2  
even education1 on  the whole1 can avail
 little1 if anything1 for the           
enlargement of his  horizon4 ,for the   
highest1 most varied and lasting        
pleasures are those  of the mind1       
however much our youth may deceive us on
 this point2 and  the pleasures of the  
mind turn chiefly on the powers of the  
mind4 ,it  is clear1 then1 that our     
happiness depends in a great degree upon

 what  we are1 upon our individuality1  
whilst lot or destiny is generally      
taken to mean only what we have1 or our 
reputation4 ,our lot1  in this sense1   
may improve2 but we do not ask much of  
it if we are  inwardly rich3 on the     
other hand1 a fool remains a fool1 a    
dull  blockhead1 to his last hour1 even 
though he were surrounded by houris  in 
paradise4 ,this is why ,goethe1 in the  
,west-stliclien ,divan1 says  that every
 man1 whether he occupies a low position
 in life1 or emerges  as its victor1    
testifies to personality as the greatest
 factor in  happiness3--      ,volk und 
,knecht und ,uberwinder      ,sie       
gestehen1 zu jeder ,zeit1    ,hchtes    
,glck der ,erdenkinder      ,sei nur die
 ,persnlichkeit4    ,everything confirms
 the fact that the subjective element in
 life is  incomparably more important   
for our happiness and pleasure than the 
objective1 from such sayings as ,hunger 
is the best sauce1 and ,youth  and ,age 
cannot live together1 up to the life of 

the ,genius and the  ,saint4 ,health    
outweighs all other blessings so much   
that one may  really say that a healthy 
beggar is happier than an ailing king4  
,a  quiet and cheerful temperament1     
happy in the enjoyment of a perfectly   
sound physique1 an intellect clear1     
lively1 penetrating and seeing  things  
as they are1 a moderate and gentle will1
 and therefore a good  conscience--these
 are privileges which no rank or wealth 
can make up  for or replace4 ,for what a
 man is in himself1 what accompanies him
  when he is alone1 what no one can give
 or take away1 is obviously more        
essential to him than everything he has 
in the way of possessions1 or  even what
 he may be in the eyes of the world4 ,an
 intellectual man in  complete solitude 
has excellent entertainment in his own  
thoughts and  fancies1 while no amount  
of diversity or social pleasure1        
theatres1  excursions and amusements1   
can ward off boredom from a dullard4 ,a 
good1 temperate1 gentle character can be

 happy in needy circumstances1  whilst a
 covetous1 envious and malicious man1   
even if he be the  richest in the world1
 goes miserable4 ,nay more2 to one who  
has the  constant delight of a special  
individuality1 with a high degree of    
intellect1 most of the pleasures which  
are run after by mankind are  simply    
superfluous2 they are even a trouble and
 a burden4 ,and so  ,horace says of     
himself1 that1 however many are deprived
 of the  fancy-goods of life1 there is  
one at least who can live without       
them3--      ,gemmas1 marmor1 ebur1     
,tyrrhena sigilla1 tabellas1            
,argentum1 vestes1 ,gaetulo murice      
tinctas    ,sunt qui non habeant1 est   
qui non curat habere2    and when       
,socrates saw various articles of luxury
 spread out for sale1  he exclaimed3    
,how much there is in the world ,i do   
not want4    ,so the first and most     
essential element in our life's         
happiness is  what we are1--our         
personality1 if for no other reason than

 that it is  a constant factor coming   
into play under all circumstances3      
besides1  unlike the blessings which are
 described under the other two heads1 it
  is not the sport of destiny and cannot
 be wrested from us2--and1 so  far1 it  
is endowed with an absolute value in    
contrast to the merely  relative worth  
of the other two4 ,the consequence of   
this is that it is  much more difficult 
than people commonly suppose to get a   
hold on a  man from without4 ,but here  
the all-powerful agent1 ,time1 comes in 
and claims its rights1 and before its   
influence physical and mental           
advantages gradually waste away4 ,moral 
character alone remains  inaccessible to
 it4 ,in view of the destructive effect 
of time1 it  seems1 indeed1 as if the   
blessings named under the other two     
heads1  of which time cannot directly   
rob us1 were superior to those of the   
first4 ,another advantage might be      
claimed for them1 namely1 that being  in
 their very nature objective and        

external1 they are attainable1 and      
every one is presented with the         
possibility1 at least1 of coming into   
possession of them2 whilst what is      
subjective is not open to us to         
acquire1 but making its entry by a kind 
of divine right1 it remains  for life1  
immutable1 inalienable1 an inexorable   
doom4 ,let me quote  those lines in     
which ,goethe describes how an          
unalterable destiny is  assigned to     
every man at the hour of his birth1 so  
that he can develop  only in the lines  
laid down for him1 as it were1 by the   
conjunctions  of the stars3 and how the 
,sybil and the prophets declare that    
himself a man can never escape1 nor any 
power of time avail to  change the path 
on which his life is cast3--      ,wie  
an dem ,tag1 der dich der ,welt         
verliehen1    ,de ,sonne stand zum      
,grusse der ,planeten1    ,bist alsobald
 und fort und fort gediehen1    ,nach   
dem ,gesetz1 wonach du angetreten4      
,so musst du sein1 dir kannst du nicht  

entfliehen1    ,so tagten schon         
,sybillen und ,propheten2    ,und keine 
,zeit1 und keine ,macht zerstckelt      
,geprgte ,form1 die lebend sich         
entwickelt4    ,the only thing that     
stands in our power to achieve1 is to   
make the  most advantageous use possible
 of the personal qualities we possess1  
and accordingly to follow such pursuits 
only as will call them into  play1 to   
strive after the kind of perfection of  
which they admit and  to avoid every    
other2 consequently1 to choose the      
position1 occupation  and manner of life
 which are most suitable for their      
development4    ,imagine a man endowed  
with herculean strength who is compelled
 by  circumstances to follow a sedentary
 occupation1 some minute exquisite  work
 of the hands1 for example1 or to engage
 in study and mental  labor demanding   
quite other powers1 and just those which
 he has not  got1--compelled1 that is1  
to leave unused the powers in which he  
is  pre-eminently strong2 a man placed  

like this will never feel happy all  his
 life through4 ,even more miserable will
 be the lot of the man  with            
intellectual powers of a very high      
order1 who has to leave them            
undeveloped and unemployed1 in the      
pursuit of a calling which does not     
require them1 some bodily labor1        
perhaps1 for which his strength is      
insufficient4 ,still1 in a case of this 
kind1 it should be our care1  especially
 in youth1 to avoid the precipice of    
presumption1 and not  ascribe to        
ourselves a superfluity of power which  
is not there4    ,since the blessings   
described under the first head decidedly
 outweigh  those contained under the    
other two1 it is manifestly a wiser     
course  to aim at the maintenance of our
 health and the cultivation of our      
faculties1 than at the amassing of      
wealth2 but this must not be  mistaken  
as meaning that we should neglect to    
acquire an adequate  supply of the      
necessaries of life4 ,wealth1 in the    

strict sense of the  word1 that is1     
great superfluity1 can do little for our
 happiness2 and  many rich people feel  
unhappy just because they are without   
any true  mental culture or knowledge1  
and consequently have no objective      
interests which would qualify them for  
intellectual occupations4 ,for  beyond  
the satisfaction of some real and       
natural necessities1 all that  the      
possession of wealth can achieve has a  
very small influence upon  our          
happiness1 in the proper sense of the   
word2 indeed1 wealth rather  disturbs   
it1 because the preservation of property
 entails a great many  unavoidable      
anxieties4 ,and still men are a thousand
 times more intent  on becoming rich    
than on acquiring culture1 though it is 
quite certain  that what a man is       
contributes much more to his happiness  
than  what he has4 ,so you may see many 
a man1 as industrious as an ant1        
ceaselessly occupied from morning to    
night in the endeavor to increase  his  

heap of gold4 ,beyond the narrow horizon
 of means to this end1 he  knows        
nothing2 his mind is a blank1 and       
consequently unsusceptible to  any other
 influence4 ,the highest pleasures1     
those of the intellect1  are to him     
inaccessible1 and he tries in vain to   
replace them by the  fleeting pleasures 
of sense in which he indulges1 lasting  
but a brief  hour and at tremendous     
cost4 ,and if he is lucky1 his struggles
 result  in his having a really great   
pile of gold1 which he leaves to  his   
heir1 either to make it still larger1 or
 to squander it in  extravagance4 ,a    
life like this1 though pursued with a   
sense of  earnestness and an air of     
importance1 is just as silly as many    
another  which has a fool's cap for its 
symbol4    ,what a man has in himself   
is1 then1 the chief element in his      
happiness4 ,because this is1 as a rule1 
so very little1 most of those  who are  
placed beyond the struggle with penury  
feel at bottom quite as  unhappy as     

those who are still engaged in it4      
,their minds are vacant1  their         
imagination dull1 their spirits poor1   
and so they are driven to  the company  
of those like them--for similis simili  
gaudet--where  they make common pursuit 
of pastime and entertainment1 consisting
  for the most part in sensual pleasure1
 amusement of every kind1 and  finally1 
in excess and libertinism4 ,a young man 
of rich family enters  upon life with a 
large patrimony1 and often runs through 
it in an  incredibly short space of     
time1 in vicious extravagance2 and why8 
,simply because1 here too1 the mind is  
empty and void1 and so the man  is bored
 with existence4 ,he was sent forth into
 the world outwardly  rich but inwardly 
poor1 and his vain endeavor was to make 
his  external wealth compensate for his 
inner poverty1 by trying to obtain      
everything from without1 like an old man
 who seeks to strengthen  himself as    
,king ,david or ,marchal de ,rex tried  
to do4 ,and so in the  end one who is   

inwardly poor comes to be also poor     
outwardly4    ,i need not insist upon   
the importance of the other two kinds of
  blessings which make up the happiness 
of human life2 now-a-days the  value of 
possessing them is too well known to    
require advertisement4  ,the third      
class1 it is true1 may seem1 compared   
with the second1 of  a very ethereal    
character1 as it consists only of other 
people's  opinions4 ,still every one has
 to strive for reputation1 that is to   
say1 a good name4 ,rank1 on the other   
hand1 should be aspired to only  by     
those who serve the state1 and fame by  
very few indeed4 ,in any  case1         
reputation is looked upon as a priceless
 treasure1 and fame as  the most        
precious of all the blessings a man can 
attain1--the ,golden  ,fleece1 as it    
were1 of the elect3 whilst only fools   
will prefer rank  to property4 ,the     
second and third classes1 moreover1 are 
reciprocally  cause and effect2 so far1 
that is1 as ,petronius' maxim1 habes    

habeberis1 is true2 and conversely1 the 
favor of others1 in all its  forms1     
often puts us in the way of getting what
 we want4          ,,chapter ,,ii4      
,,personality1 ,,or ,,what ,a ,,man     
,,is4      ,we have already seen1 in    
general1 that what a man is contributes 
much more to his happiness than what he 
has1 or how he is regarded  by others4  
,what a man is1 and so what he has in   
his own person1 is  always the chief    
thing to consider2 for his individuality
 accompanies  him always and everywhere1
 and gives its color to all his         
experiences4  ,in every kind of         
enjoyment1 for instance1 the pleasure   
depends  principally upon the man       
himself4 ,every one admits this in      
regard to  physical1 and how much truer 
it is of intellectual1 pleasure4 ,when  
we  use that ,english expression1 to    
enjoy one's self1 we are employing a    
very striking and appropriate phrase2   
for observe--one says1 not he  enjoys   
,paris1 but he enjoys himself in ,paris4

 ,to a man possessed of  an             
ill-conditioned individuality1 all      
pleasure is like delicate wine  in a    
mouth made bitter with gall4 ,therefore1
 in the blessings as well  as in the    
ills of life1 less depends upon what    
befalls us than upon  the way in which  
it is met1 that is1 upon the kind and   
degree of our  general susceptibility4  
,what a man is and has in himself1--in a
 word  personality1 with all it entails1
 is the only immediate and direct       
factor in his happiness and welfare4    
,all else is mediate and indirect1  and 
its influence can be neutralized and    
frustrated2 but the influence  of       
personality never4 ,this is why the envy
 which personal qualities  excite is the
 most implacable of all1--as it is also 
the most  carefully dissembled4         
,further1 the constitution of our       
consciousness is the ever present  and  
lasting element in all we do or suffer2 
our individuality is  persistently at   
work1 more or less1 at every moment of  

our life3 all  other influences are     
temporal1 incidental1 fleeting1 and     
subject to  every kind of chance and    
change4 ,this is why ,aristotle says3   
,it is  not wealth but character that   
lasts4#a      ,greek3 --hae gar phusis  
bebion ou ta chraemata    ,footnote #a3 
,eth4 ,eud41 vii4 #b4 #cg3    ,and just 
for the same reason we can more easily  
bear a misfortune  which comes to us    
entirely from without1 than one which we
 have drawn  upon ourselves2 for fortune
 may always change1 but not character4  
,therefore1 subjective blessings1--a    
noble nature1 a capable head1 a  joyful 
temperament1 bright spirits1 a          
well-constituted1 perfectly  sound      
physique1 in a word1 mens sana in       
corpore sano1 are the first  and most   
important elements in happiness2 so that
 we should be  more intent on promoting 
and preserving such qualities than on   
the  possession of external wealth and  
external honor4    ,and of all these1   
the one which makes us the most directly

 happy is  a genial flow of good        
spirits2 for this excellent quality is  
its own  immediate reward4 ,the man who 
is cheerful and merry has always a  good
 reason for being so1--the fact1 namely1
 that he is so4 ,there is  nothing      
which1 like this quality1 can so        
completely replace the loss  of every   
other blessing4 ,if you know anyone who 
is young1 handsome1  rich and esteemed1 
and you want to know1 further1 if he is 
happy1 ask1  ,is he cheerful and        
genial8--and if he is1 what does it     
matter whether  he is young or old1     
straight or humpbacked1 poor or         
rich8--he is  happy4 ,in my early days  
,i once opened an old book and found    
these  words3 ,if you laugh a great     
deal1 you are happy2 if you cry a great 
deal1 you are unhappy2--a very simple   
remark1 no doubt2 but just  because it  
is so simple ,i have never been able to 
forget it1 even  though it is in the    
last degree a truism4 ,so if            
cheerfulness knocks  at our door1 we    

should throw it wide open1 for it never 
comes  inopportunely2 instead of that1  
we often make scruples about letting  it
 in4 ,we want to be quite sure that we  
have every reason to be  contented2 then
 we are afraid that cheerfulness of     
spirits may  interfere with serious     
reflections or weighty cares4           
,cheerfulness is a  direct and immediate
 gain1--the very coin1 as it were1 of   
happiness1  and not1 like all else1     
merely a cheque upon the bank2 for it   
alone  makes us immediately happy in the
 present moment1 and that is the        
highest blessing for beings like us1    
whose existence is but an  infinitesimal
 moment between two eternities4 ,to     
secure and promote  this feeling of     
cheerfulness should be the supreme aim  
of all our  endeavors after happiness4  
,now it is certain that nothing         
contributes so little to cheerfulness   
as riches1 or so much1 as health4 ,is it
 not in the lower classes1 the          
so-called working classes1 more         

especially those of them who live in    
the country1 that we see cheerful and   
contented faces8 and is it  not amongst 
the rich1 the upper classes1 that we    
find faces full of  ill-humor and       
vexation8 ,consequently we should try as
 much as possible  to maintain a high   
degree of health2 for cheerfulness is   
the very  flower of it4 ,i need hardly  
say what one must do to be              
healthy--avoid  every kind of excess1   
all violent and unpleasant emotion1 all 
mental  overstrain1 take daily exercise 
in the open air1 cold baths and such    
like hygienic measures4 ,for without a  
proper amount of daily exercise  no one 
can remain healthy2 all the processes of
 life demand exercise  for the due      
performance of their functions1 exercise
 not only of the  parts more immediately
 concerned1 but also of the whole body4 
,for1 as  ,aristotle rightly says1 ,life
 is movement2 it is its very essence4   
,ceaseless and rapid motion goes on in  
every part of the organism4  ,the heart1

 with its complicated double systole and
 diastole1 beats  strongly and          
untiringly2 with twenty-eight beats it  
has to drive the  whole of the blood    
through arteries1 veins and capillaries2
 the lungs  pump like a steam-engine1   
without intermission2 the intestines are
  always in peristaltic action2 the     
glands are all constantly absorbing  and
 secreting2 even the brain has a double 
motion of its own1 with  every beat of  
the pulse and every breath we draw4     
,when people can get  no exercise at    
all1 as is the case with the countless  
numbers who  are condemned to a         
sedentary life1 there is a glaring and  
fatal  disproportion between outward    
inactivity and inner tumult4 ,for this  
ceaseless internal motion requires some 
external counterpart1 and the  want of  
it produces effects like those of       
emotion which we are obliged  to        
suppress4 ,even trees must be shaken by 
the wind1 if they are to  thrive4 ,the  
rule which finds its application here   

may be most briefly  expressed in       
,latin3 omnis motus1 quo celerior1 eo   
magis motus4    ,how much our happiness 
depends upon our spirits1 and these     
again upon  our state of health1 may be 
seen by comparing the influence which   
the  same external circumstances or     
events have upon us when we are well    
and strong with the effects which they  
have when we are depressed and  troubled
 with ill-health4 ,it is not what things
 are objectively and in  themselves1 but
 what they are for us1 in our way of    
looking at them1  that makes us happy or
 the reverse4 ,as ,epictetus says1 ,men 
are not  influenced by things1 but by   
their thoughts about things4 ,and1 in   
general1 nine-tenths of our happiness   
depends upon health alone4 ,with        
health1 everything is a source of       
pleasure2 without it1 nothing  else1    
whatever it may be1 is enjoyable2 even  
the other personal  blessings1--a great 
mind1 a happy temperament--are degraded 
and  dwarfed for want of it4 ,so it is  

really with good reason that1 when  two 
people meet1 the first thing they do is 
to inquire after each  other's health1  
and to express the hope that it is good2
 for good  health is by far the most    
important element in human happiness4   
,it  follows from all this that the     
greatest of follies is to sacrifice     
health for any other kind of happiness1 
whatever it may be1 for gain1           
advancement1 learning or fame1 let      
alone1 then1 for fleeting sensual       
pleasures4 ,everything else should      
rather be postponed to it4    ,but      
however much health may contribute to   
that flow of good spirits  which is so  
essential to our happiness1 good spirits
 do not entirely  depend upon health2   
for a man may be perfectly sound in his 
physique  and still possess a melancholy
 temperament and be generally given up  
to sad thoughts4 ,the ultimate cause of 
this is undoubtedly to be  found in     
innate1 and therefore unalterable1      
physical constitution1  especially in   

the more or less normal relation of a   
man's  sensitiveness to his muscular and
 vital energy4 ,abnormal sensitiveness  
produces inequality of spirits1 a       
predominating melancholy1 with          
periodical fits of unrestrained         
liveliness4 ,a genius is one whose      
nervous power or sensitiveness is       
largely in excess2 as ,aristotle#a  has 
very correctly observed1 ,men           
distinguished in philosophy1  politics1 
poetry or art appear to be all of a     
melancholy temperament4  ,this is       
doubtless the passage which ,cicero has 
in his mind when  he says1 as he often  
does1 ,aristoteles ait omnes ingeniosos 
melancholicos esse4#b ,shakespeare has  
very neatly expressed this  radical and 
innate diversity of temperament in those
 lines in ,the  ,merchant of ,venice3   
,footnote #a3 ,probl4 xxx41 ep4 #a      
,footnote #b3 ,tusc4 i41 #cc4           
,nature has framed strange fellows in   
her time2    ,some that will evermore   
peep through their eyes1    ,and laugh1 

like parrots at a bag-piper2    ,and    
others of such vinegar aspect1    ,that 
they'll not show their teeth in way of  
smile1    ,though ,nestor swear the jest
 be laughable4    ,this is the          
difference which ,plato draws between   
,greek3 eukolos  and ,greek3            
dyskolos--the man of easy1 and the man  
of difficult  disposition--in proof of  
which he refers to the varying degrees  
of  susceptibility which different      
people show to pleasurable and painful  
impressions2 so that one man will laugh 
at what makes another despair4  ,as a   
rule1 the stronger the susceptibility to
 unpleasant impressions1  the weaker is 
the susceptibility to pleasant ones1 and
 vice versa4  ,if it is equally possible
 for an event to turn out well or ill1  
the ,greek3 dyskolos will be annoyed or 
grieved if the issue is  unfavorable1   
and will not rejoice1 should it be      
happy4 ,on the other  hand1 the ,greek3 
eukolos will neither worry nor fret over
 an  unfavorable issue1 but rejoice if  

it turns out well4 ,if the one is       
successful in nine out of ten           
undertakings1 he will not be pleased1   
but rather annoyed that one has         
miscarried2 whilst the other1 if only  a
 single one succeeds1 will manage to    
find consolation in the fact  and remain
 cheerful4 ,but here is another instance
 of the truth1  that hardly any evil is 
entirely without its compensation2 for  
the  misfortunes and sufferings which   
the ,greek3 auskoloi1 that is1  people  
of gloomy and anxious character1 have to
 overcome1 are1 on the  whole1 more     
imaginary and therefore less real than  
those which befall  the gay and         
careless2 for a man who paints          
everything black1 who  constantly fears 
the worst and takes measures            
accordingly1 will not be  disappointed  
so often in this world1 as one who      
always looks upon the  bright side of   
things4 ,and when a morbid affection of 
the nerves1 or a  derangement of the    
digestive organs1 plays into the hands  

of an  innate tendency to gloom1 this   
tendency may reach such a height that   
permanent discomfort produces a         
weariness of life4 ,so arises an        
inclination to suicide1 which even the  
most trivial unpleasantness may         
actually bring about2 nay1 when the     
tendency attains its worst form1  it may
 be occasioned by nothing in particular1
 but a man may resolve  to put an end to
 his existence1 simply because he is    
permanently  unhappy1 and then coolly   
and firmly carry out his determination2 
as may be seen by the way in which the  
sufferer1 when placed under             
supervision1 as he usually is1 eagerly  
waits to seize the first  unguarded     
moment1 when1 without a shudder1 without
 a struggle or  recoil1 he may use the  
now natural and welcome means of        
effecting his  release4#a ,even the     
healthiest1 perhaps even the most       
cheerful  man1 may resolve upon death   
under certain circumstances2 when1 for  
instance1 his sufferings1 or his fears  

of some inevitable misfortune1  reach   
such a pitch as to outweigh the terrors 
of death4 ,the only  difference lies in 
the degree of suffering necessary to    
bring about  the fatal act1 a degree    
which will be high in the case of a     
cheerful1  and low in that of a gloomy  
man4 ,the greater the melancholy1 the   
lower  need the degree be2 in the end1  
it may even sink to zero4 ,but if a man 
is cheerful1 and his spirits are        
supported by good health1 it requires  a
 high degree of suffering to make him   
lay hands upon himself4 ,there  are     
countless steps in the scale between the
 two extremes of suicide1  the suicide  
which springs merely from a morbid      
intensification of  innate gloom1 and   
the suicide of the healthy and cheerful 
man1 who has  entirely objective grounds
 for putting an end to his existence4   
,footnote #a3 ,for a detailed           
description of this condition of mind   
,cf  ,esquirol1 ,des maladies mentales4 
,beauty is partly an affair of health4  

,it may be reckoned as a personal       
advantage2 though it does not1 properly 
speaking1 contribute directly  to our   
happiness4 ,it does so indirectly1 by   
impressing other people2  and it is no  
unimportant advantage1 even in man4     
,beauty is an open  letter of           
recommendation1 predisposing the heart  
to favor the person  who presents it4   
,as is well said in these lines of      
,homer1 the gift of  beauty is not      
lightly to be thrown away1 that glorious
 gift which none  can bestow save the   
gods alone--      ,greek3 outoi         
hapoblaet erti theon erikuoea dora1     
ossa ken autoi dosin1 ekon douk an tis  
eloito4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,iliad #c1   
#fe4    ,the most general survey shows  
us that the two foes of human happiness 
are pain and boredom4 ,we may go        
further1 and say that in the degree in  
which we are fortunate enough to get    
away from the one1 we approach  the     
other4 ,life presents1 in fact1 a more  
or less violent oscillation  between the

 two4 ,the reason of this is that each  
of these two poles  stands in a double  
antagonism to the other1 external or    
objective1  and inner or subjective4    
,needy surroundings and poverty produce 
pain2  while1 if a man is more than well
 off1 he is bored4 ,accordingly1 while  
the lower classes are engaged in a      
ceaseless struggle with need1  in other 
words1 with pain1 the upper carry on a  
constant and often  desperate battle    
with boredom4#a ,the inner or subjective
 antagonism  arises from the fact that1 
in the individual1 susceptibility to    
pain varies inversely with              
susceptibility to boredom1 because      
susceptibility is directly proportionate
 to mental power4 ,let  me explain4 ,a  
dull mind is1 as a rule1 associated with
 dull  sensibilities1 nerves which no   
stimulus can affect1 a temperament1 in  
short1 which does not feel pain or      
anxiety very much1 however great  or    
terrible it may be4 ,now1 intellectual  
dullness is at the bottom of  that      

vacuity of soul which is stamped on so  
many faces1 a state of  mind which      
betrays itself by a constant and lively 
attention to all  the trivial           
circumstances in the external world4    
,this is the true  source of boredom--a 
continual panting after excitement1 in  
order to  have a pretext for giving the 
mind and spirits something to occupy    
them4 ,the kind of things people choose 
for this purpose shows that  they are   
not very particular1 as witness the     
miserable pastimes they  have recourse  
to1 and their ideas of social pleasure  
and conversation3  or again1 the number 
of people who gossip on the doorstep or 
gape out  of the window4 ,it is mainly  
because of this inner vacuity of soul   
that  people go in quest of society1    
diversion1 amusement1 luxury of every   
sort1 which lead many to extravagance   
and misery4 ,nothing is so good  a      
protection against such misery as inward
 wealth1 the wealth of  the mind1       
because the greater it grows1 the less  

room it leaves for  boredom4 ,the       
inexhaustible activity of thought6      
,finding ever new  material to work upon
 in the multifarious phenomena of self  
and  nature1 and able and ready to form 
new combinations of them1--there  you   
have something that invigorates the     
mind1 and apart from moments  of        
relaxation1 sets it far above the reach 
of boredom4    ,footnote #a3 ,and the   
extremes meet2 for the lowest state of  
civilization1 a nomad or wandering life1
 finds its counterpart in the  highest1 
where everyone is at times a tourist4   
,the earlier stage was a  case of       
necessity2 the latter is a remedy for   
boredom4    ,but1 on the other hand1    
this high degree of intelligence is     
rooted in  a high degree of             
susceptibility1 greater strength of     
will1 greater  passionateness2 and from 
the union of these qualities comes an   
increased capacity for emotion1 an      
enhanced sensibility to all mental  and 
even bodily pain1 greater impatience of 

obstacles1 greater  resentment of       
interruption2--all of which tendencies  
are augmented by  the power of the      
imagination1 the vivid character of the 
whole range  of thought1 including what 
is disagreeable4 ,this applies1 in      
various  degrees1 to every step in the  
long scale of mental power1 from the    
veriest dunce to the greatest genius    
that ever lived4 ,therefore the  nearer 
anyone is1 either from a subjective or  
from an objective point  of view1 to one
 of those sources of suffering in human 
life1 the  farther he is from the other4
 ,and so a man's natural bent will lead 
him to make his objective world conform 
to his subjective as much as  possible2 
that is to say1 he will take the        
greatest measures against  that form of 
suffering to which he is most liable4   
,the wise man will1  above all1 strive  
after freedom from pain and annoyance1  
quiet and  leisure1 consequently a      
tranquil1 modest life1 with as few      
encounters  as may be2 and so1 after a  

little experience of his so-called      
fellowmen1 he will elect to live in     
retirement1 or even1 if he is  a man of 
great intellect1 in solitude4 ,for the  
more a man has in  himself1 the less he 
will want from other people1--the less1 
indeed1  other people can be to him4    
,this is why a high degree of intellect 
tends to make a man unsocial4 ,true1 if 
quality of intellect could be  made up  
for by quantity1 it might be worth while
 to live even in the  great world2 but  
unfortunately1 a hundred fools together 
will not make  one wise man4    ,but the
 individual who stands at the other end 
of the scale is no  sooner free from the
 pangs of need than he endeavors to get 
pastime  and society at any cost1 taking
 up with the first person he meets1 and 
avoiding nothing so much as himself4    
,for in solitude1 where every one  is   
thrown upon his own resources1 what a   
man has in himself comes  to light2 the 
fool in fine raiment groans under the   
burden of his  miserable personality1 a 

burden which he can never throw off1    
whilst  the man of talent peoples the   
waste places with his animating         
thoughts4 ,seneca declares that folly is
 its own burden1--omnis  stultitia      
laborat fastidio sui1--a very true      
saying1 with which may  be compared the 
words of ,jesus1 the son of ,sirach1    
,the life of a fool  is worse than      
death#a4 ,and1 as a rule1 it will be    
found that a man  is sociable just in   
the degree in which he is intellectually
 poor and  generally vulgar4 ,for one's 
choice in this world does not go much   
beyond solitude on one side and         
vulgarity on the other4 ,it is said     
that the most sociable of all people are
 the negroes2 and they are at  the      
bottom of the scale in intellect4 ,i    
remember reading once in a  ,french     
paper#b that the blacks in ,north       
,america1 whether free or  enslaved1 are
 fond of shutting themselves up in large
 numbers in the  smallest space1 because
 they cannot have too much of one       

another's  snub-nosed company4          
,footnote #a3 ,ecclesiasticus1 xxii4    
#aa4    ,footnote #b3 ,le ,commerce1    
,oct4 #aith1 #ahcg4    ,the brain may be
 regarded as a kind of parasite of the  
organism1 a  pensioner1 as it were1 who 
dwells with the body3 and leisure1 that 
is1 the time one has for the free       
enjoyment of one's consciousness or     
individuality1 is the fruit or produce  
of the rest of existence1 which  is in  
general only labor and effort4 ,but what
 does most people's  leisure            
yield8--boredom and dullness2 except1 of
 course1 when it is  occupied with      
sensual pleasure or folly4 ,how little  
such leisure is  worth may be seen in   
the way in which it is spent3 and1 as   
,ariosto  observes1 how miserable are   
the idle hours of ignorant men6--ozio   
lungo d'uomini ignoranti4 ,ordinary     
people think merely how they shall      
spend their time2 a man of any talent   
tries to use it4 ,the reason  why people
 of limited intellect are apt to be     

bored is that their  intellect is       
absolutely nothing more than the means  
by which the  motive power of the will  
is put into force3 and whenever there is
  nothing particular to set the will in 
motion1 it rests1 and their  intellect  
takes a holiday1 because1 equally with  
the will1 it requires  something        
external to bring it into play4 ,the    
result is an awful  stagnation of       
whatever power a man has--in a word1    
boredom4 ,to  counteract this miserable 
feeling1 men run to trivialities which  
please for the moment they are taken up1
 hoping thus to engage the  will in     
order to rouse it to action1 and so set 
the intellect in  motion2 for it is the 
latter which has to give effect to these
 motives  of the will4 ,compared with   
real and natural motives1 these are but 
as  paper money to coin2 for their value
 is only arbitrary--card games and  the 
like1 which have been invented for this 
very purpose4 ,and if there  is nothing 
else to be done1 a man will twirl his   

thumbs or beat the  devil's tattoo2 or a
 cigar may be a welcome substitute for  
exercising  his brains4 ,hence1 in all  
countries the chief occupation of       
society is  card-playing1#a and it is   
the gauge of its value1 and an outward  
sign  that it is bankrupt in thought4   
,because people have no thoughts to     
deal in1 they deal cards1 and try and   
win one another's money4 ,idiots6  ,but 
,i do not wish to be unjust2 so let me  
remark that it may certainly  be said in
 defence of card-playing that it is a   
preparation for the  world and for      
business life1 because one learns       
thereby how to make a  clever use of    
fortuitous but unalterable circumstances
 7cards1 in this  case71 and to get as  
much out of them as one can3 and to do  
this a man  must learn a little         
dissimulation1 and how to put a good    
face upon a  bad business4 ,but1 on the 
other hand1 it is exactly for this      
reason  that card-playing is so         
demoralizing1 since the whole object of 

it is  to employ every kind of trick and
 machination in order to win  what      
belongs to another4 ,and a habit of this
 sort1 learnt at the  card-table1       
strikes root and pushes its way into    
practical life2 and  in the affairs of  
every day a man gradually comes to      
regard meum and  tuum in much the same  
light as cards1 and to consider that he 
may  use to the utmost whatever         
advantages he possesses1 so long as he  
does  not come within the arm of the    
law4 ,examples of what ,i mean are of   
daily occurrence in mercantile life4    
,since1 then1 leisure is the  flower1 or
 rather the fruit1 of existence1 as it  
puts a man into  possession of himself1 
those are happy indeed who possess      
something  real in themselves4 ,but what
 do you get from most people's          
leisure8--only a good-for-nothing       
fellow1 who is terribly bored and a     
burden to himself4 ,let us1 therefore1  
rejoice1 dear brethren1 for we  are not 
children of the bondwoman1 but of the   

free4    ,footnote #a3 ,translator's    
,note4--,card-playing to this extent is 
now1  no doubt1 a thing of the past1 at 
any rate amongst the nations  of        
northern ,europe4 ,the present fashion  
is rather in favor of a  dilettante     
interest in art or literature4          
,further1 as no land is so well off as  
that which requires few imports1  or    
none at all1 so the happiest man is one 
who has enough in his own  inner wealth1
 and requires little or nothing from    
outside for his  maintenance1 for       
imports are expensive things1 reveal    
dependence1  entail danger1 occasion    
trouble1 and when all is said and done1 
are  a poor substitute for home produce4
 ,no man ought to expect much from      
others1 or1 in general1 from the        
external world4 ,what one human being   
can be to another is not a very great   
deal3 in the end every one  stands      
alone1 and the important thing is who it
 is that stands  alone4 ,here1 then1 is 
another application of the general truth

 which  ,goethe recognizes in ,dichtung 
und ,wahrheit 7,bk4 ,,iii471 that in    
everything a man has ultimately to      
appeal to himself2 or1 as ,goldsmith    
puts it in ,the ,traveller3      ,still 
to ourselves in every place consign'd   
,our own felicity we make or find4      
,himself is the source of the best and  
most a man can be or achieve4  ,the more
 this is so--the more a man finds his   
sources of pleasure in  himself--the    
happier he will be4 ,therefore1 it is   
with great truth  that ,aristotle#a     
says1 ,to be happy means to be          
self-sufficient4 ,for  all other sources
 of happiness are in their nature most  
uncertain1  precarious1 fleeting1 the   
sport of chance2 and so even under the  
most  favorable circumstances they can  
easily be exhausted2 nay1 this is       
unavoidable1 because they are not always
 within reach4 ,and in old age  these   
sources of happiness must necessarily   
dry up3--love leaves us  then1 and wit1 
desire to travel1 delight in horses1    

aptitude for  social intercourse2       
friends and relations1 too1 are taken   
from us by  death4 ,then more than ever1
 it depends upon what a man has in      
himself2  for this will stick to him    
longest2 and at any period of life it is
  the only genuine and lasting source of
 happiness4 ,there is not much to  be   
got anywhere in the world4 ,it is filled
 with misery and pain2 and  if a man    
escapes these1 boredom lies in wait for 
him at every corner4  ,nay more2 it is  
evil which generally has the upper hand1
 and folly  makes the most noise4 ,fate 
is cruel1 and mankind is pitiable4 ,in  
such  a world as this1 a man who is rich
 in himself is like a bright1 warm1     
happy room at ,christmastide1 while     
without are the frost and snow of  a    
,december night4 ,therefore1 without    
doubt1 the happiest destiny on  earth is
 to have the rare gift of a rich        
individuality1 and1 more  especially to 
be possessed of a good endowment of     
intellect2 this  is the happiest        

destiny1 though it may not be1 after    
all1 a very  brilliant one4    ,footnote
 #a3 ,eth4 ,eud1 vii #b    ,there was a 
great wisdom in that remark which ,queen
 ,christina of  ,sweden made1 in her    
nineteenth year1 about ,descartes1 who  
had then  lived for twenty years in the 
deepest solitude in ,holland1 and1 apart
  from report1 was known to her only by 
a single essay3 ,m4 ,descartes1  she    
said1 is the happiest of men1 and his   
condition seems to me much  to be       
envied4#a ,of course1 as was the case   
with ,descartes1 external  circumstances
 must be favorable enough to allow a man
 to be master of  his life and          
happiness2 or1 as we read in            
,ecclesiastes#b--,wisdom  is good       
together with an inheritance1 and       
profitable unto them that  see the sun4 
,the man to whom nature and fate have   
granted the  blessing of wisdom1 will be
 most anxious and careful to keep open  
the fountains of happiness which he has 
in himself2 and for this1  independence 

and leisure are necessary4 ,to obtain   
them1 he will be  willing to moderate   
his desires and harbor his resources1   
all the more  because he is not1 like   
others1 restricted to the external world
 for  his pleasures4 ,so he will not be 
misled by expectations of office1 or    
money1 or the favor and applause of his 
fellowmen1 into surrendering  himself in
 order to conform to low desires and    
vulgar tastes2 nay1 in  such a case he  
will follow the advice that ,horace     
gives in his epistle  to ,maecenas4#c   
,footnote #a3 ,vie de ,descartes1 par   
,baillet4 ,liv4 vii41 ch4 #aj4          
,footnote #b3 vii4 #ab4    ,footnote #c3
 ,lib4 #a41 ep4 #g4      ,nec somnum    
plebis laudo1 satur altilium1 nec       
,otia divitiis ,arabum liberrima muto4  
,it is a great piece of folly to        
sacrifice the inner for the outer man1  
to give the whole or the greater part of
 one's quiet1 leisure and  independence 
for splendor1 rank1 pomp1 titles and    
honor4 ,this is what  ,goethe did4 ,my  

good luck drew me quite in the other    
direction4    ,the truth which ,i am    
insisting upon here1 the truth1 namely1 
that the  chief source of human         
happiness is internal1 is confirmed by  
that most  accurate observation of      
,aristotle in the ,nichomachean         
,ethics#a that  every pleasure          
presupposes some sort of activity1 the  
application of  some sort of power1     
without which it cannot exist4 ,the     
doctrine of  ,aristotle's1 that a man's 
happiness consists in the free exercise 
of his highest faculties1 is also       
enunciated by ,stobaeus in his          
exposition of the ,peripatetic          
philosophy#b3 happiness1 he says1  means
 vigorous and successful activity in all
 your undertakings2 and  he explains    
that by vigor ,greek3 aretae he means   
mastery in any  thing1 whatever it be4  
,now1 the original purpose of those     
forces with  which nature has endowed   
man is to enable him to struggle against
 the  difficulties which beset him on   

all sides4 ,but if this struggle comes  
to an end1 his unemployed forces become 
a burden to him2 and he has to  set to  
work and play with them1--to use them1  
,i mean1 for no purpose  at all1 beyond 
avoiding the other source of human      
suffering1 boredom1  to which he is at  
once exposed4 ,it is the upper classes1 
people of  wealth1 who are the greatest 
victims of boredom4 ,lucretius long ago 
described their miserable state1 and the
 truth of his description may  be still 
recognized to-day1 in the life of every 
great capital--where  the rich man is   
seldom in his own halls1 because it     
bores him to be  there1 and still he    
returns thither1 because he is no better
 off  outside2--or else he is away in   
post-haste to his house in the  country1
 as if it were on fire2 and he is no    
sooner arrived there1  than he is bored 
again1 and seeks to forget everything in
 sleep1 or  else hurries back to town   
once more4    ,footnote #a3 i4 #g and   
vii4 #ac1 #ad4    ,footnote #b3 ,ecl4   

eth4 ii41 ch #g4      ,exit saepe foras 
magnis ex aedibus ille1    ,esse domi   
quem pertaesum est1 subitoque reventat1 
,quippe foris nihilo melius qui sentiat 
esse4    ,currit1 agens mannos1 ad      
villam precipitanter1    ,auxilium      
tectis quasi ferre ardentibus instans3  
,oscitat extemplo1 tetigit quum limina  
villae2    ,aut abit in somnum gravis1  
atque oblivia quaerit2    ,aut etiam    
properans urbem petit atque revisit4#a  
,footnote #a3 ,,iii #ajgc4    ,in their 
youth1 such people must have had a      
superfluity of muscular  and vital      
energy1--powers which1 unlike those of  
the mind1 cannot  maintain their full   
degree of vigor very long2 and in later 
years they  either have no mental powers
 at all1 or cannot develop any for want 
of employment which would bring them    
into play2 so that they are in a        
wretched plight4 ,will1 however1 they   
still possess1 for this is the  only    
power that is inexhaustible2 and they   
try to stimulate their  will by         

passionate excitement1 such as games of 
chance for high  stakes--undoubtedly a  
most degrading form of vice4 ,and one   
may say  generally that if a man finds  
himself with nothing to do1 he is sure  
to choose some amusement suited to the  
kind of power in which he               
excels1--bowls1 it may be1 or chess2    
hunting or painting2 horse-racing  or   
music2 cards1 or poetry1 heraldry1      
philosophy1 or some other  dilettante   
interest4 ,we might classify these      
interests methodically1  by reducing    
them to expressions of the three        
fundamental powers1  the factors1 that  
is to say1 which go to make up the      
physiological  constitution of man2 and 
further1 by considering these powers by 
themselves1 and apart from any of the   
definite aims which they may  subserve1 
and simply as affording three sources of
 possible pleasure1  out of which every 
man will choose what suits him1         
according as he  excels in one direction
 or another4    ,first of all come the  

pleasures of vital energy1 of food1     
drink1  digestion1 rest and sleep2 and  
there are parts of the world where it   
can be said that these are              
characteristic and national pleasures4  
,secondly1 there are the pleasures of   
muscular energy1 such as  walking1      
running1 wrestling1 dancing1 fencing1   
riding and similar  athletic pursuits1  
which sometimes take the form of sport1 
and  sometimes of a military life and   
real warfare4 ,thirdly1 there are the   
pleasures of sensibility1 such as       
observation1 thought1 feeling1 or  a    
taste for poetry or culture1 music1     
learning1 reading1 meditation1          
invention1 philosophy and the like4 ,as 
regards the value1 relative  worth and  
duration of each of these kinds of      
pleasure1 a great deal  might be said1  
which1 however1 ,i leave the reader to  
supply4 ,but every  one will see that   
the nobler the power which is brought   
into play1  the greater will be the     
pleasure which it gives2 for pleasure   

always  involves the use of one's own   
powers1 and happiness consists in a     
frequent repetition of pleasure4 ,no one
 will deny that in this respect  the    
pleasures of sensibility occupy a higher
 place than either of  the other two    
fundamental kinds2 which exist in an    
equal1 nay1 in  a greater degree in     
brutes2 it is this preponderating amount
 of  sensibility which distinguishes man
 from other animals4 ,now1 our  mental  
powers are forms of sensibility1 and    
therefore a preponderating  amount of it
 makes us capable of that kind of       
pleasure which has to do  with mind1    
so-called intellectual pleasure2 and the
 more sensibility  predominates1 the    
greater the pleasure will be4#a         
,footnote #a3 ,nature exhibits a        
continual progress1 starting from the   
mechanical and chemical activity of the 
inorganic world1 proceeding  to the     
vegetable1 with its dull enjoyment of   
self1 from that to the  animal world1   
where intelligence and consciousness    

begin1 at first  very weak1 and only    
after many intermediate stages attaining
 its last  great development in man1    
whose intellect is ,nature's crowning   
point1  the goal of all her efforts1 the
 most perfect and difficult of all her  
works4 ,and even within the range of the
 human intellect1 there are a  great    
many observable differences of degree1  
and it is very seldom  that intellect   
reaches its highest point1 intelligence 
properly  so-called1 which in this      
narrow and strict sense of the word1 is 
,nature's most consummate product1 and  
so the rarest and most precious  thing  
of which the world can boast4 ,the      
highest product of ,nature  is the      
clearest degree of consciousness1 in    
which the world mirrors  itself more    
plainly and completely than anywhere    
else4 ,a man endowed  with this form of 
intelligence is in possession of what is
 noblest  and best on earth2 and        
accordingly1 he has a source of pleasure
 in  comparison with which all others   

are small4 ,from his surroundings he    
asks nothing but leisure for the free   
enjoyment of what he has got1  time1 as 
it were1 to polish his diamond4 ,all    
other pleasures that are  not of the    
intellect are of a lower kind2 for they 
are1 one and all1  movements of         
will--desires1 hopes1 fears and         
ambitions1 no matter to  what directed3 
they are always satisfied at the cost of
 pain1 and in  the case of ambition1    
generally with more or less of illusion4
 ,with  intellectual pleasure1 on the   
other hand1 truth becomes clearer and   
clearer4 ,in the realm of intelligence  
pain has no power4 ,knowledge is  all in
 all4 ,further1 intellectual pleasures  
are accessible entirely  and only       
through the medium of the intelligence1 
and are limited by  its capacity4 ,for  
all the wit there is in the world is    
useless to him  who has none4 ,still    
this advantage is accompanied by a      
substantial  disadvantage2 for the whole
 of ,nature shows that with the growth  

of  intelligence comes increased        
capacity for pain1 and it is only with  
the highest degree of intelligence that 
suffering reaches its supreme  point4   
,the normal1 ordinary man takes a vivid 
interest in anything only in so  far as 
it excites his will1 that is to say1 is 
a matter of personal  interest to him4  
,but constant excitement of the will is 
never an  unmixed good1 to say the      
least2 in other words1 it involves pain4
  ,card-playing1 that universal         
occupation of good society everywhere1  
is a device for providing this kind of  
excitement1 and that1 too1  by means of 
interests so small as to produce slight 
and momentary1  instead of real and     
permanent1 pain4 ,card-playing is1 in   
fact1 a mere  tickling of the will4#a   
,footnote #a3 ,vulgarity is1 at bottom1 
the kind of consciousness in  which the 
will completely predominates over the   
intellect1 where the  latter does       
nothing more than perform the service of
 its master1 the  will4 ,therefore1 when

 the will makes no demands1 supplies no 
motives1  strong or weak1 the intellect 
entirely loses its power1 and the result
  is complete vacancy of mind4 ,now will
 without intellect is the most  vulgar  
and common thing in the world1 possessed
 by every blockhead1  who1 in the       
gratification of his passions1 shows the
 stuff of which he  is made4 ,this is   
the condition of mind called vulgarity1 
in which  the only active elements are  
the organs of sense1 and that small     
amount of intellect which is necessary  
for apprehending the data of  sense4    
,accordingly1 the vulgar man is         
constantly open to all sorts of         
impressions1 and immediately perceives  
all the little trifling things  that go 
on in his environment3 the lightest     
whisper1 the most trivial  circumstance1
 is sufficient to rouse his attention2  
he is just like an  animal4 ,such a     
man's mental condition reveals itself in
 his face1 in  his whole exterior2 and  
hence that vulgar1 repulsive appearance1

 which  is all the more offensive1 if1  
as is usually the case1 his will--the   
only factor in his consciousness--is a  
base1 selfish and altogether  bad one4  
,on the other hand1 a man of powerful   
intellect is capable of taking  a vivid 
interest in things in the way of mere   
knowledge1 with no  admixture of will2  
nay1 such an interest is a necessity to 
him4 ,it  places him in a sphere where  
pain is an alien1--a diviner air1 where 
the gods live serene4      ,greek3      
phusis bebion ou ta chraematatheoi reia 
xoontes#a    ,footnote #a3 ,odyssey     
,,iv41 #hje4    ,look on these two      
pictures--the life of the masses1 one   
long1 dull  record of struggle and      
effort entirely devoted to the petty    
interests  of personal welfare1 to      
misery in all its forms1 a life beset by
  intolerable boredom as soon as ever   
those aims are satisfied and the  man is
 thrown back upon himself1 whence he can
 be roused again to some  sort of       
movement only by the wild fire of       

passion4 ,on the other side  you have a 
man endowed with a high degree of mental
 power1 leading an  existence rich in   
thought and full of life and meaning1   
occupied by  worthy and interesting     
objects as soon as ever he is free to   
give  himself to them1 bearing in       
himself a source of the noblest         
pleasure4  ,what external promptings he 
wants come from the works of nature1 and
  from the contemplation of human       
affairs and the achievements of the     
great of all ages and countries1 which  
are thoroughly appreciated by a  man of 
this type alone1 as being the only one  
who can quite understand  and feel with 
them4 ,and so it is for him alone that  
those great ones  have really lived2 it 
is to him that they make their appeal2  
the rest  are but casual hearers who    
only half understand either them or     
their  followers4 ,of course1 this      
characteristic of the intellectual man  
implies that he has one more need than  
the others1 the need of  reading1       

observing1 studying1 meditating1        
practising1 the need1 in  short1 of     
undisturbed leisure4 ,for1 as ,voltaire 
has very rightly said1  there are no    
real pleasures without real needs2 and  
the need of them  is why to such a man  
pleasures are accessible which are      
denied to  others1--the varied beauties 
of nature and art and literature4 ,to   
heap these pleasures round people who do
 not want them and cannot  appreciate   
them1 is like expecting gray hairs to   
fall in love4 ,a man  who is privileged 
in this respect leads two lives1 a      
personal and an  intellectual life2 and 
the latter gradually comes to be looked 
upon  as the true one1 and the former as
 merely a means to it4 ,other people    
make this shallow1 empty and troubled   
existence an end in itself4 ,to  the    
life of the intellect such a man will   
give the preference over  all his other 
occupations3 by the constant growth of  
insight and  knowledge1 this            
intellectual life1 like a slowly-forming

 work of art1  will acquire a           
consistency1 a permanent intensity1 a   
unity which  becomes ever more and more 
complete2 compared with which1 a life   
devoted to the attainment of personal   
comfort1 a life that may broaden        
indeed1 but can never be deepened1 makes
 but a poor show3 and yet1  as ,i have  
said1 people make this baser sort of    
existence an end in  itself4    ,the    
ordinary life of every day1 so far as it
 is not moved by passion1  is tedious   
and insipid2 and if it is so moved1 it  
soon becomes  painful4 ,those alone are 
happy whom nature has favored with some 
superfluity of intellect1 something     
beyond what is just necessary to  carry 
out the behests of their will2 for it   
enables them to lead an  intellectual   
life as well1 a life unattended by pain 
and full of vivid  interests4 ,mere     
leisure1 that is to say1 intellect      
unoccupied in the  service of the will1 
is not of itself sufficient3 there must 
be a  real superfluity of power1 set    

free from the service of the will and   
devoted to that of the intellect2 for1  
as ,seneca says1 otium sine  litteris   
mors est et vivi hominis                
sepultura--illiterate leisure is  a form
 of death1 a living tomb4 ,varying with 
the amount of the  superfluity1 there   
will be countless developments in this  
second life1  the life of the mind2 it  
may be the mere collection and labelling
 of  insects1 birds1 minerals1 coins1 or
 the highest achievements of poetry  and
 philosophy4 ,the life of the mind is   
not only a protection against  boredom2 
it also wards off the pernicious effects
 of boredom2 it keeps  us from bad      
company1 from the many dangers1         
misfortunes1 losses and  extravagances  
which the man who places his happiness  
entirely in the  objective world is sure
 to encounter1 ,my philosophy1 for      
instance1 has  never brought me in a    
six-pence2 but it has spared me many an 
expense4    ,the ordinary man places his
 life's happiness in things external to 

him1 in property1 rank1 wife and        
children1 friends1 society1 and the     
like1 so that when he loses them or     
finds them disappointing1 the           
foundation of his happiness is          
destroyed4 ,in other words1 his centre  
of gravity is not in himself2 it is     
constantly changing its place1  with    
every wish and whim4 ,if he is a man of 
means1 one day it will  be his house in 
the country1 another buying horses1 or  
entertaining  friends1 or traveling1--a 
life1 in short1 of general luxury1 the  
reason being that he seeks his pleasure 
in things outside him4 ,like  one whose 
health and strength are gone1 he tries  
to regain by the use  of jellies and    
drugs1 instead of by developing his own 
vital power1  the true source of what he
 has lost4 ,before proceeding to the    
opposite1 let us compare with this      
common type the man who comes  midway   
between the two1 endowed1 it may be1 not
 exactly with  distinguished powers of  
mind1 but with somewhat more than the   

ordinary  amount of intellect4 ,he will 
take a dilettante interest in art1 or   
devote his attention to some branch of  
science--botany1 for example1  or       
physics1 astronomy1 history1 and find a 
great deal of pleasure in  such studies1
 and amuse himself with them when       
external forces of  happiness are       
exhausted or fail to satisfy him any    
more4 ,of a man like  this it may be    
said that his centre of gravity is      
partly in himself4  ,but a dilettante   
interest in art is a very different     
thing from  creative activity2 and an   
amateur pursuit of science is apt to be 
superficial and not to penetrate to the 
heart of the matter4 ,a man  cannot     
entirely identify himself with such     
pursuits1 or have his whole  existence  
so completely filled and permeated with 
them that he loses  all interest in     
everything else4 ,it is only the highest
 intellectual  power1 what we call      
genius1 that attains to this degree of  
intensity1 making all time and existence

 its theme1 and striving to  express its
 peculiar conception of the world1      
whether it contemplates  life as the    
subject of poetry or of philosophy4     
,hence1 undisturbed  occupation with    
himself1 his own thoughts and works1 is 
a matter of  urgent necessity to such a 
man2 solitude is welcome1 leisure is    
the highest good1 and everything else is
 unnecessary1 nay1 even  burdensome4    
,this is the only type of man of whom it
 can be said that his centre of  gravity
 is entirely in himself2 which explains 
why it is that people  of this sort--and
 they are very rare--no matter how      
excellent their  character may be1 do   
not show that warm and unlimited        
interest in  friends1 family1 and the   
community in general1 of which others   
are  so often capable2 for if they have 
only themselves they are not            
inconsolable for the loss of everything 
else4 ,this gives an isolation  to their
 character1 which is all the more       
effective since other  people never     

really quite satisfy them1 as being1 on 
the whole1 of  a different nature3 nay  
more1 since this difference is          
constantly  forcing itself upon their   
notice they get accustomed to move about
  amongst mankind as alien beings1 and  
in thinking of humanity in  general1 to 
say they instead of we4    ,so the      
conclusion we come to is that the man   
whom nature has endowed  with           
intellectual wealth is the happiest2 so 
true it is that the  subjective concerns
 us more than the objective2 for        
whatever the  latter may be1 it can work
 only indirectly1 secondly1 and through 
the  medium of the former--a truth      
finely expressed by ,lucian3--          
,greek3 ,aeloutos ho taes psychaes      
ploutus monos estin alaethaes    ,talla 
dechei ataen pleiona ton kteanon--#a    
,footnote #a3 ,epigrammata1 #ab4    the 
wealth of the soul is the only true     
wealth1 for with all other  riches comes
 a bane even greater than they4 ,the man
 of inner wealth  wants nothing from    

outside but the negative gift of        
undisturbed  leisure1 to develop and    
mature his intellectual faculties1 that 
is1  to enjoy his wealth2 in short1 he  
wants permission to be himself1  his    
whole life long1 every day and every    
hour4 ,if he is destined to  impress the
 character of his mind upon a whole     
race1 he has only one  measure of       
happiness or unhappiness--to succeed or 
fail in perfecting  his powers and      
completing his work4 ,all else is of    
small consequence4  ,accordingly1 the   
greatest minds of all ages have set the 
highest value  upon undisturbed leisure1
 as worth exactly as much as the man    
himself4  ,happiness appears to consist 
in leisure1 says ,aristotle2#a and      
,diogenes ,laertius reports that        
,socrates praised leisure as the        
fairest of all possessions4 ,so1 in the 
,nichomachean ,ethics1  ,aristotle      
concludes that a life devoted to        
philosophy is the happiest2  or1 as he  
says in the ,politics1#b the free       

exercise of any power1  whatever it may 
be1 is happiness4 ,this again1 tallies  
with what  ,goethe says in ,wilhelm     
,meister3 ,the man who is born with a   
talent  which he is meant to use1 finds 
his greatest happiness in using it4     
,footnote #a3 ,eth4 ,nichom4 x4 #g4     
,footnote #b3 iv4 #aa4    ,but to be in 
possession of undisturbed leisure1 is   
far from being  the common lot2 nay1 it 
is something alien to human nature1 for 
the  ordinary man's destiny is to spend 
life in procuring what is necessary  for
 the subsistence of himself and his     
family2 he is a son of struggle  and    
need1 not a free intelligence4 ,so      
people as a rule soon get tired  of     
undisturbed leisure1 and it becomes     
burdensome if there are no  fictitious  
and forced aims to occupy it1 play1     
pastime and hobbies of  every kind4 ,for
 this very reason it is full of possible
 danger1 and  difficilis in otio quies  
is a true saying1--it is difficult to   
keep  quiet if you have nothing to do4  

,on the other hand1 a measure of        
intellect far surpassing the ordinary1  
is as unnatural as it is  abnormal4 ,but
 if it exists1 and the man endowed with 
it is to be  happy1 he will want        
precisely that undisturbed leisure which
 the  others find burdensome or         
pernicious2 for without it he is a      
,pegasus  in harness1 and consequently  
unhappy4 ,if these two unnatural        
circumstances1 external1 and internal1  
undisturbed leisure and great           
intellect1 happen to coincide in the    
same person1 it is a great piece  of    
fortune2 and if the fate is so far      
favorable1 a man can lead the  higher   
life1 the life protected from the two   
opposite sources of human  suffering1   
pain and boredom1 from the painful      
struggle for existence1  and the        
incapacity for enduring leisure 7which  
is free existence  itself7--evils which 
may be escaped only by being mutually   
neutralized4    ,but there is something 
to be said in opposition to this view4  

,great  intellectual gifts mean an      
activity pre-eminently nervous in its   
character1 and consequently a very high 
degree of susceptibility to  pain in    
every form4 ,further1 such gifts imply  
an intense temperament1  larger and more
 vivid ideas1 which1 as the inseparable 
accompaniment  of great intellectual    
power1 entail on its possessor a        
corresponding  intensity of the         
emotions1 making them incomparably more 
violent than  those to which the        
ordinary man is a prey4 ,now1 there are 
more things  in the world productive of 
pain than of pleasure4 ,again1 a large  
endowment of intellect tends to estrange
 the man who has it from other  people  
and their doings2 for the more a man has
 in himself1 the less  he will be able  
to find in them2 and the hundred things 
in which they  take delight1 he will    
think shallow and insipid4 ,here1 then1 
perhaps1  is another instance of that   
law of compensation which makes itself  
felt everywhere4 ,how often one hears it

 said1 and said1 too1 with some         
plausibility1 that the narrow-minded man
 is at bottom the happiest1  even though
 his fortune is unenviable4 ,i shall    
make no attempt to  forestall the       
reader's own judgment on this point2    
more especially as  ,sophocles himself  
has given utterance to two diametrically
 opposite  opinions3--      ,greek3     
,pollo to phronein eudaimonias    proton
 uparchei4#a    he says in one          
place--wisdom is the greatest part of   
happiness2  and again1 in another       
passage1 he declares that the life of   
the  thoughtless is the most pleasant of
 all--      ,greek3 ,en ta phronein gar 
maeden aedistos bios4#b    ,the         
philosophers of the ,old ,testament find
 themselves in a like  contradiction4   
,the life of a fool is worse than       
death#c    and--    ,in much wisdom is  
much grief2 and he that increaseth      
knowledge  increaseth sorrow4#d         
,footnote #a3 ,antigone1 #acdg-h4       
,footnote #b3 ,ajax1 #eed4    ,footnote 

#c3 ,ecclesiasticus1 xxii4 #aa4         
,footnote #d3 ,ecclesiastes1 i4 #ah4    
,i may remark1 however1 that a man who  
has no mental needs1 because his        
intellect is of the narrow and normal   
amount1 is1 in the strict sense  of the 
word1 what is called a philistine--an   
expression at first  peculiar to the    
,german language1 a kind of slang term  
at the  ,universities1 afterwards used1 
by analogy1 in a higher sense1 though   
still in its original meaning1 as       
denoting one who is not a ,son of  the  
,muses4 ,a philistine is and remains    
,greek3 amousos anaer4 ,i  should prefer
 to take a higher point of view1 and    
apply the term  philistine to people who
 are always seriously occupied with     
realities which are no realities2 but as
 such a definition would be a           
transcendental one1 and therefore not   
generally intelligible1 it  would hardly
 be in place in the present treatise1   
which aims at  being popular4 ,the other
 definition can be more easily          

elucidated1  indicating1 as it does1    
satisfactorily enough1 the essential    
nature of  all those qualities which    
distinguish the philistine4 ,he is      
defined to  be a man without mental     
needs4 ,from this is follows1 firstly1  
in  relation to himself1 that he has no 
intellectual pleasures2 for1 as  was    
remarked before1 there are no real      
pleasures without real needs4  ,the     
philistine's life is animated by no     
desire to gain knowledge and  insight   
for their own sake1 or to experience    
that true aeesthetic  pleasure which is 
so nearly akin to them4 ,if pleasures of
 this kind  are fashionable1 and the    
philistine finds himself compelled to   
pay  attention to them1 he will force   
himself to do so1 but he will take as   
little interest in them as possible4    
,his only real pleasures are of a       
sensual kind1 and he thinks that these  
indemnify him for the loss of  the      
others4 ,to him oysters and champagne   
are the height of existence2  the aim of

 his life is to procure what will       
contribute to his bodily  welfare1 and  
he is indeed in a happy way if this     
causes him some  trouble4 ,if the       
luxuries of life are heaped upon him1 he
 will  inevitably be bored1 and against 
boredom he has a great many fancied     
remedies1 balls1 theatres1 parties1     
cards1 gambling1 horses1 women1         
drinking1 traveling and so on2 all of   
which can not protect a man  from being 
bored1 for where there are no           
intellectual needs1 no  intellectual    
pleasures are possible4 ,the peculiar   
characteristic  of the philistine is a  
dull1 dry kind of gravity1 akin to that 
of  animals4 ,nothing really pleases1 or
 excites1 or interests him1 for  sensual
 pleasure is quickly exhausted1 and the 
society of philistines  soon becomes    
burdensome1 and one may even get tired  
of playing cards4  ,true1 the pleasures 
of vanity are left1 pleasures which he  
enjoys in  his own way1 either by       
feeling himself superior in point of    

wealth1 or  rank1 or influence and power
 to other people1 who thereupon pay  him
 honor2 or1 at any rate1 by going about 
with those who have a  superfluity of   
these blessings1 sunning himself in the 
reflection of  their splendor--what the 
,english call a snob4    ,from the      
essential nature of the philistine it   
follows1 secondly1 in  regard to others1
 that1 as he possesses no intellectual1 
but only  physical need1 he will seek   
the society of those who can satisfy the
  latter1 but not the former4 ,the last 
thing he will expect from his  friends  
is the possession of any sort of        
intellectual capacity2 nay1  if he      
chances to meet with it1 it will rouse  
his antipathy and  even hatred2 simply  
because in addition to an unpleasant    
sense of  inferiority1 he experiences1  
in his heart1 a dull kind of envy1 which
  has to be carefully concealed even    
from himself4 ,nevertheless1 it         
sometimes grows into a secret feeling of
 rancor4 ,but for all that1  it will    

never occur to him to make his own ideas
 of worth or value  conform to the      
standard of such qualities2 he will     
continue to give  the preference to rank
 and riches1 power and influence1 which 
in his  eyes seem to be the only genuine
 advantages in the world2 and his wish  
will be to excel in them himself4 ,all  
this is the consequence of his  being a 
man without intellectual needs4 ,the    
great affliction of all  philistines is 
that they have no interest in ideas1 and
 that1 to  escape being bored1 they are 
in constant need of realities4 ,but     
realities are either unsatisfactory or  
dangerous2 when they lose their         
interest1 they become fatiguing4 ,but   
the ideal world is illimitable  and     
calm1      something afar    ,from the  
sphere of our sorrow4      ,,note4--,in 
these remarks on the personal qualities 
which go to make  happiness1 ,i have    
been mainly concerned with the physical 
and  intellectual nature of man4 ,for an
 account of the direct and immediate    

influence of morality upon happiness1   
let me refer to my prize essay  on ,the 
,foundation of ,morals 7,sec4 #bb47     
,,chapter ,,iii4    ,,property1 ,,or    
,,what ,a ,,man ,,has4      ,epicurus   
divides the needs of mankind into three 
classes1 and the  division made by this 
great professor of happiness is a true  
and a  fine one4 ,first come natural and
 necessary needs1 such as1 when not     
satisfied1 produce pain1--food and      
clothing1 victus et amictus1  needs     
which can easily be satisfied4          
,secondly1 there are those needs  which1
 though natural1 are not necessary1 such
 as the gratification of  certain of the
 senses4 ,i may add1 however1 that in   
the report given by  ,diogenes          
,laertius1 ,epicurus does not mention   
which of the senses he  means2 so that  
on this point my account of his doctrine
 is somewhat  more definite and exact   
than the original4 ,these are needs     
rather more  difficult to satisfy4 ,the 
third class consists of needs which are 

neither natural nor necessary1 the need 
of luxury and prodigality1  show and    
splendor1 which never come to an end1   
and are very hard to  satisfy4#a        
,footnote #a3 ,cf4 ,diogenes ,laertius1 
,bk4 x41 ch4 xxvii41 pp4 #abg and  #adi2
 also ,cicero de finibus1 i41 #ac4      
,it is difficult1 if not impossible1 to 
define the limits which reason  should  
impose on the desire for wealth2 for    
there is no absolute or  definite amount
 of wealth which will satisfy a man4    
,the amount is  always relative1 that is
 to say1 just so much as will maintain  
the  proportion between what he wants   
and what he gets2 for to measure a      
man's happiness only by what he gets1   
and not also by what he expects  to get1
 is as futile as to try and express a   
fraction which shall have  a numerator  
but no denominator4 ,a man never feels  
the loss of things  which it never      
occurs to him to ask for2 he is just as 
happy without  them2 whilst another1 who
 may have a hundred times as much1 feels

  miserable because he has not got the  
one thing he wants4 ,in fact1 here  too1
 every man has an horizon of his own1   
and he will expect as much  as he thinks
 it is possible for him to get4 ,if an  
object within his  horizon looks as     
though he could confidently reckon on   
getting it1 he  is happy2 but if        
difficulties come in the way1 he is     
miserable4 ,what  lies beyond his       
horizon has no effect at all upon him4  
,so it is  that the vast possessions of 
the rich do not agitate the poor1 and   
conversely1 that a wealthy man is not   
consoled by all his wealth for  the     
failure of his hopes4 ,riches1 one may  
say1 are like sea-water2 the  more you  
drink the thirstier you become2 and the 
same is true of fame4  ,the loss of     
wealth and prosperity leaves a man1 as  
soon as the first  pangs of grief are   
over1 in very much the same habitual    
temper as  before2 and the reason of    
this is1 that as soon as fate diminishes
 the  amount of his possessions1 he     

himself immediately reduces the amount  
of his claims4 ,but when misfortune     
comes upon us1 to reduce the amount  of 
our claims is just what is most painful2
 once that we have done so1  the pain   
becomes less and less1 and is felt no   
more2 like an old wound  which has      
healed4 ,conversely1 when a piece of    
good fortune befalls us1  our claims    
mount higher and higher1 as there is    
nothing to regulate  them2 it is in this
 feeling of expansion that the delight  
of it lies4  ,but it lasts no longer    
than the process itself1 and when the   
expansion  is complete1 the delight     
ceases2 we have become accustomed to the
  increase in our claims1 and           
consequently indifferent to the amount  
of  wealth which satisfies them4 ,there 
is a passage in the ,odyssey#a          
illustrating this truth1 of which ,i may
 quote the last two lines3      ,greek3 
,toios gar noos estin epichthonion      
anthropon    ,oion eth aemar agei pataer
 andron te theou te    --the thoughts of

 man that dwells on the earth are as the
 day granted  him by the father of gods 
and men4 ,discontent springs from a     
constant  endeavor to increase the      
amount of our claims1 when we are       
powerless  to increase the amount which 
will satisfy them4    ,footnote #a3     
xviii41 #acj-g4    ,when we consider how
 full of needs the human race is1 how   
its whole  existence is based upon them1
 it is not a matter for surprise that   
wealth is held in more sincere esteem1  
nay1 in greater honor1 than  anything   
else in the world2 nor ought we to      
wonder that gain is made  the only good 
of life1 and everything that does not   
lead to it pushed  aside or thrown      
overboard--philosophy1 for instance1 by 
those who  profess it4 ,people are often
 reproached for wishing for money above 
all things1 and for loving it more than 
anything else2 but it is  natural and   
even inevitable for people to love that 
which1 like an  unwearied ,proteus1 is  
always ready to turn itself into        

whatever object  their wandering wishes 
or manifold desires may for the moment  
fix  upon4 ,everything else can satisfy 
only one wish1 one need3 food is  good  
only if you are hungry2 wine1 if you are
 able to enjoy it2 drugs1  if you are   
sick2 fur for the winter2 love for      
youth1 and so on4 ,these  are all only  
relatively good1 ,greek3 agatha pros ti4
 ,money alone is  absolutely good1      
because it is not only a concrete       
satisfaction of one  need in particular2
 it is an abstract satisfaction of all4 
,if a man has an independent fortune1 he
 should regard it as a bulwark  against 
the many evils and misfortunes which he 
may encounter2 he  should not look upon 
it as giving him leave to get what      
pleasure he  can out of the world1 or as
 rendering it incumbent upon him to     
spend  it in this way4 ,people who are  
not born with a fortune1 but end by     
making a large one through the exercise 
of whatever talents they  possess1      
almost always come to think that their  

talents are their  capital1 and that the
 money they have gained is merely the   
interest  upon it2 they do not lay by a 
part of their earnings to form a        
permanent capital1 but spend their money
 much as they have earned it4           
,accordingly1 they often fall into      
poverty2 their earnings decreased1  or  
come to an end altogether1 either       
because their talent is exhausted  by   
becoming antiquated1--as1 for instance1 
very often happens in  the case of fine 
art2 or else it was valid only under a  
special  conjunction of circumstances   
which has now passed away4 ,there is    
nothing to prevent those who live on the
 common labor of their hands  from      
treating their earnings in that way if  
they like2 because their  kind of skill 
is not likely to disappear1 or1 if it   
does1 it can be  replaced by that of    
their fellow-workmen2 morever1 the kind 
of work  they do is always in demand2 so
 that what the proverb says is quite    
true1 a useful trade is a mine of gold4 

,but with artists and  professionals of 
every kind the case is quite different1 
and that is  the reason why they are    
well paid4 ,they ought to build up a    
capital  out of their earnings2 but they
 recklessly look upon them as merely    
interest1 and end in ruin4 ,on the other
 hand1 people who inherit money  know1  
at least1 how to distinguish between    
capital and interest1 and  most of them 
try to make their capital secure and not
 encroach  upon it2 nay1 if they can1   
they put by at least an eighth of their 
interests in order to meet future       
contingencies4 ,so most of them         
maintain their position4 ,these few     
remarks about capital and interest  are 
not applicable to commercial life1 for  
merchants look upon money  only as a    
means of further gain1 just as a workman
 regards his tools2  so even if their   
capital has been entirely the result of 
their  own efforts1 they try to preserve
 and increase it by using it4           
,accordingly1 wealth is nowhere so much 

at home as in the merchant  class4      
,it will generally be found that those  
who know what it is to have  been in    
need and destitution are very much less 
afraid of it1 and  consequently more    
inclined to extravagance1 than those who
 know  poverty only by hearsay4 ,people 
who have been born and bred in good     
circumstances are as a rule much more   
careful about the future1 more          
economical1 in fact1 than those who1 by 
a piece of good luck1 have  suddenly    
passed from poverty to wealth4 ,this    
looks as if poverty were  not really    
such a very wretched thing as it appears
 from a distance4  ,the true reason1    
however1 is rather the fact that the man
 who has been  born into a position of  
wealth comes to look upon it as         
something  without which he could no    
more live than he could live without    
air2 he  guards it as he does his very  
life2 and so he is generally a lover of 
order1 prudent and economical4 ,but the 
man who has been born into a  poor      

position looks upon it as the natural   
one1 and if by any chance  he comes in  
for a fortune1 he regards it as a       
superfluity1 something  to be enjoyed or
 wasted1 because1 if it comes to an end1
 he can get on  just as well as before1 
with one anxiety the less2 or1 as       
,shakespeare  says in ,henry ,,vi41#a   
4444 the adage must be verified    ,that
 beggars mounted run their horse to     
death4    ,footnote #a3 ,part ,,iii41   
,act #a41 ,sc4 #d4    ,but it should be 
said that people of this kind have a    
firm and  excessive trust1 partly in    
fate1 partly in the peculiar means which
  have already raised them out of need  
and poverty1--a trust not only of  the  
head1 but of the heart also2 and so they
 do not1 like the man born  rich1 look  
upon the shallows of poverty as         
bottomless1 but console  themselves with
 the thought that once they have touched
 ground again1  they can take another   
upward flight4 ,it is this trait in     
human  character which explains the fact

 that women who were poor before  their 
marriage often make greater claims1 and 
are more extravagant1  than those who   
have brought their husbands a rich      
dowry2 because1 as  a rule1 rich girls  
bring with them1 not only a fortune1 but
 also more  eagerness1 nay1 more of the 
inherited instinct1 to preserve it1 than
  poor girls do4 ,if anyone doubts the  
truth of this1 and thinks that it  is   
just the opposite1 he will find         
authority for his view in ,ariosto's    
first ,satire2 but1 on the other hand1  
,dr4 ,johnson agrees with my  opinion4  
,a woman of fortune1 he says1 being used
 to the handling  of money1 spends it   
judiciously2 but a woman who gets the   
command  of money for the first time    
upon her marriage1 has such a gusto in  
spending it1 that she throws it away    
with great profusion4#a ,and in  any    
case let me advise anyone who marries a 
poor girl not to leave her  the capital 
but only the interest1 and to take      
especial care that she  has not the     

management of the children's fortune4   
,footnote #a3 ,boswell's ,life of       
,johnson3 ann3 #aggf1 aetat3 #fg4    ,i 
do not by any means think that ,i am    
touching upon a subject which is  not   
worth my while to mention when ,i       
recommend people to be careful to       
preserve what they have earned or       
inherited4 ,for to start life with  just
 as much as will make one independent1  
that is1 allow one to live  comfortably 
without having to work--even if one has 
only just enough  for oneself1 not to   
speak of a family--is an advantage which
 cannot be  over-estimated2 for it means
 exemption and immunity from that       
chronic  disease of penury1 which       
fastens on the life of man like a       
plague2 it  is emancipation from that   
forced labor which is the natural lot of
  every mortal4 ,only under a favorable 
fate like this can a man be said  to be 
born free1 to be1 in the proper sense of
 the word1 sui juris1  master of his own
 time and powers1 and able to say every 

morning1  ,this day is my own4 ,and just
 for the same reason the difference     
between the man who has a hundred a year
 and the man who has a  thousand1 is    
infinitely smaller than the difference  
between the former  and a man who has   
nothing at all4 ,but inherited wealth   
reaches its  utmost value when it falls 
to the individual endowed with mental   
powers of a high order1 who is resolved 
to pursue a line of life not  compatible
 with the making of money2 for he is    
then doubly endowed by  fate and can    
live for his genius2 and he will pay his
 debt to mankind  a hundred times1 by   
achieving what no other could achieve1  
by  producing some work which           
contributes to the general good1 and    
redounds to the honor of humanity at    
large4 ,another1 again1 may  use his    
wealth to further philanthropic schemes1
 and make himself  well-deserving of his
 fellowmen4 ,but a man who does none of 
these  things1 who does not even try to 
do them1 who never attempts to learn    

the rudiments of any branch of knowledge
 so that he may at least do  what he can
 towards promoting it--such a one1 born 
as he is into  riches1 is a mere idler  
and thief of time1 a contemptible       
fellow4 ,he  will not even be happy1    
because1 in his case1 exemption from    
need  delivers him up to the other      
extreme of human suffering1 boredom1    
which is such martyrdom to him1 that he 
would have been better off if  poverty  
had given him something to do4 ,and as  
he is bored he is apt to  be            
extravagant1 and so lose the advantage  
of which he showed himself  unworthy4   
,countless numbers of people find       
themselves in want1 simply  because1    
when they had money1 they spent it only 
to get momentary  relief from the       
feeling of boredom which oppressed them4
    ,it is quite another matter if one's
 object is success in political  life1  
where favor1 friends and connections are
 all-important1 in order  to mount by   
their aid step by step on the ladder of 

promotion1 and  perhaps gain the topmost
 rung4 ,in this kind of life1 it is much
 better  to be cast upon the world      
without a penny2 and if the aspirant is 
not  of noble family1 but is a man of   
some talent1 it will redound to his     
advantage to be an absolute pauper4 ,for
 what every one most aims at  in        
ordinary contact with his fellows is to 
prove them inferior to  himself2 and how
 much more is this the case in politics4
 ,now1 it is  only an absolute pauper   
who has such a thorough conviction of   
his own  complete1 profound and positive
 inferiority from every point of view1  
of his own utter insignificance and     
worthlessness1 that he can take  his    
place quietly in the political          
machine4#a ,he is the only one who  can 
keep on bowing low enough1 and even go  
right down upon his face if  necessary2 
he alone can submit to everything and   
laugh at it2 he alone  knows the entire 
worthlessness of merit2 he alone uses   
his loudest  voice and his boldest type 

whenever he has to speak or write of    
those  who are placed over his head1 or 
occupy any position of influence2  and  
if they do a little scribbling1 he is   
ready to applaud it as a  masterwork4   
,he alone understands how to beg1 and so
 betimes1 when he  is hardly out of his 
boyhood1 he becomes a high priest of    
that hidden  mystery which ,goethe      
brings to light4      ,uber's           
,niedertrchtige    ,niemand sich        
beklage3    ,denn es ist das ,machtige  
,was man dir auch sage3    --it is no   
use to complain of low aims2 for1       
whatever people may say1  they rule the 
world4    ,footnote #a3 ,translator's   
,note4--,schopenhauer is probably here  
making one of his most virulent attacks 
upon ,hegel2 in this case on  account of
 what he thought to be the philosopher's
 abject servility  to the government of 
his day4 ,though the ,hegelian system   
has been the  fruitful mother of many   
liberal ideas1 there can be no doubt    
that  ,hegel's influence1 in his own    

lifetime1 was an effective support of   
,prussian bureaucracy4    ,on the other 
hand1 the man who is born with enough to
 live upon is  generally of a somewhat  
independent turn of mind2 he is         
accustomed  to keep his head up2 he has 
not learned all the arts of the beggar2 
perhaps he even presumes a little upon  
the possession of talents  which1 as he 
ought to know1 can never compete with   
cringing  mediocrity2 in the long run he
 comes to recognize the inferiority of  
those who are placed over his head1 and 
when they try to put insults  upon him1 
he becomes refractory and shy4 ,this is 
not the way to get  on in the world4    
,nay1 such a man may at least incline to
 the opinion  freely expressed by       
,voltaire3 ,we have only two days to    
live2 it  is not worth our while to     
spend them in cringing to contemptible  
rascals4 ,but alas6 let me observe by   
the way1 that contemptible  rascal is an
 attribute which may be predicated of an
 abominable  number of people4 ,what    

,juvenal says--it is difficult to rise  
if your  poverty is greater than your   
talent--      ,haud facile emergunt     
quorum virtutibus obstat    ,res angusta
 domi--    is more applicable to a      
career of art and literature than to a  
political and social ambition4    ,wife 
and children ,i have not reckoned       
amongst a man's possessions3 he  is     
rather in their possession4 ,it would be
 easier to include friends  under that  
head2 but a man's friends belong to him 
not a whit more  than he belongs to     
them4          ,,chapter ,,iv4          
,,position1 ,,or ,a ,,man',s ,,place    
,,in ,,the ,,estimation ,,of ,,others4  
,section #a4--,reputation4      ,by a   
peculiar weakness of human nature1      
people generally think too  much about  
the opinion which others form of them2  
although the  slightest reflection will 
show that this opinion1 whatever it may 
be1 is not in itself essential to       
happiness4 ,therefore it is hard to     
understand why everybody feels so very  

pleased when he sees that other  people 
have a good opinion of him1 or say      
anything flattering to his  vanity4 ,if 
you stroke a cat1 it will purr2 and1 as 
inevitably1 if you  praise a man1 a     
sweet expression of delight will appear 
on his face2  and even though the praise
 is a palpable lie1 it will be welcome1 
if  the matter is one on which he prides
 himself4 ,if only other people  will   
applaud him1 a man may console himself  
for downright misfortune  or for the    
pittance he gets from the two sources of
 human happiness  already discussed3 and
 conversely1 it is astonishing how      
infallibly  a man will be annoyed1 and  
in some cases deeply pained1 by any     
wrong  done to his feeling of           
self-importance1 whatever be the nature1
  degree1 or circumstances of the       
injury1 or by any depreciation1  slight1
 or disregard4    ,if the feeling of    
honor rests upon this peculiarity of    
human nature1  it may have a very       
salutary effect upon the welfare of a   

great many  people1 as a substitute for 
morality2 but upon their happiness1 more
  especially upon that peace of mind and
 independence which are so  essential to
 happiness1 its effect will be          
disturbing and prejudicial  rather than 
salutary4 ,therefore it is advisable1   
from our point of  view1 to set limits  
to this weakness1 and duly to consider  
and rightly  to estimate the relative   
value of advantages1 and thus temper1 as
 far  as possible1 this great           
susceptibility to other people's        
opinion1  whether the opinion be one    
flattering to our vanity1 or whether it 
causes us pain2 for in either case it is
 the same feeling which is  touched4    
,otherwise1 a man is the slave of what  
other people are  pleased to think1--and
 how little it requires to disconcert or
 soothe  the mind that is greedy of     
praise3      ,sic leve1 sic parvum est1 
animum quod laudis avarum    ,subruit ac
 reficit4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,horace1   
,epist3 ,,ii41 #a1 #ahj4    ,therefore  

it will very much conduce to our        
happiness if we duly  compare the value 
of what a man is in and for himself with
 what he is  in the eyes of others4     
,under the former conies everything that
 fills  up the span of our existence and
 makes it what it is1 in short1 all  the
 advantages already considered and      
summed up under the heads of            
personality and property2 and the sphere
 in which all this takes place  is the  
man's own consciousness4 ,on the other  
hand1 the sphere of what  we are for    
other people is their consciousness1 not
 ours2 it is the  kind of figure we make
 in their eyes1 together with the       
thoughts  which this arouses4#a ,but    
this is something which has no direct   
and  immediate existence for us1 but can
 affect us only mediately and           
indirectly1 so far1 that is1 as other   
people's behavior towards us is         
directed by it2 and even then it ought  
to affect us only in so far as  it can  
move us to modify what we are in and for

 ourselves4 ,apart  from this1 what goes
 on in other people's consciousness is1 
as such1 a  matter of indifference to   
us2 and in time we get really           
indifferent to  it1 when we come to see 
how superficial and futile are most     
people's  thoughts1 how narrow their    
ideas1 how mean their sentiments1 how   
perverse their opinions1 and how much of
 error there is in most of  them2 when  
we learn by experience with what        
depreciation a man will  speak of his   
fellow1 when he is not obliged to fear  
him1 or thinks  that what he says will  
not come to his ears4 ,and if ever we   
have  had an opportunity of seeing how  
the greatest of men will meet with      
nothing but slight from half-a-dozen    
blockheads1 we shall understand  that to
 lay great value upon what other people 
say is to pay them too  much honor4     
,footnote #a3 ,let me remark that people
 in the highest positions in  life1 with
 all their brilliance1 pomp1 display1   
magnificence and  general show1 may well

 say3--,our happiness lies entirely     
outside us2  for it exists only in the  
heads of others4    ,at all events1 a   
man is in a very bad way1 who finds no  
source of  happiness in the first two   
classes of blessings already treated of1
  but has to seek it in the third1 in   
other words1 not in what he is in       
himself1 but in what he is in the       
opinion of others4 ,for1 after all1  the
 foundation of our whole nature1 and1   
therefore1 of our happiness1  is our    
physique1 and the most essential factor 
in happiness is  health1 and1 next in   
importance after health1 the ability to 
maintain  ourselves in independence and 
freedom from care4 ,there can be no     
competition or compensation between     
these essential factors on the one      
side1 and honor1 pomp1 rank and         
reputation on the other1 however much   
value we may set upon the latter4 ,no   
one would hesitate to sacrifice  the    
latter for the former1 if it were       
necessary4 ,we should add very  much to 

our happiness by a timely recognition of
 the simple truth that  every man's     
chief and real existence is in his own  
skin1 and not in  other people's        
opinions2 and1 consequently1 that the   
actual conditions  of our personal      
life1--health1 temperament1 capacity1   
income1 wife1  children1 friends1 home1 
are a hundred times more important for  
our  happiness than what other people   
are pleased to think of us3 otherwise   
we shall be miserable4 ,and if people   
insist that honor is dearer than  life  
itself1 what they really mean is that   
existence and well-being  are as nothing
 compared with other people's opinions4 
,of course1 this  may be only an        
exaggerated way of stating the prosaic  
truth that  reputation1 that is1 the    
opinion others have of us1 is           
indispensable  if we are to make any    
progress in the world2 but ,i shall come
 back to  that presently4 ,when we see  
that almost everything men devote their 
lives to attain1 sparing no effort and  

encountering a thousand toils  and      
dangers in the process1 has1 in the end1
 no further object than  to raise       
themselves in the estimation of others2 
when we see that  not only offices1     
titles1 decorations1 but also wealth1   
nay1 even  knowledge#a and art1 are     
striven for only to obtain1 as the      
ultimate  goal of all effort1 greater   
respect from one's fellowmen1--is not   
this  a lamentable proof of the extent  
to which human folly can go8 ,to set    
much too high a value on other people's 
opinion is a common error  everywhere2  
an error1 it may be1 rooted in human    
nature itself1 or  the result of        
civilization1 and social arrangements   
generally2 but1  whatever its source1 it
 exercises a very immoderate influence  
on all  we do1 and is very prejudicial  
to our happiness4 ,we can trace it from 
a timorous and slavish regard for what  
other people will say1 up to  the       
feeling which made ,virginius plunge the
 dagger into his daughter's  heart1 or  

induces many a man to sacrifice quiet1  
riches1 health and  even life itself1   
for posthumous glory4 ,undoubtedly this 
feeling is a  very convenient instrument
 in the hands of those who have the     
control  or direction of their          
fellowmen2 and accordingly we find that 
in  every scheme for training up        
humanity in the way it should go1 the   
maintenance and strengthening of the    
feeling of honor occupies an  important 
place4 ,but it is quite a different     
matter in its effect  on human          
happiness1 of which it is here our      
object to treat2 and we  should rather  
be careful to dissuade people from      
setting too much  store by what others  
think of them4 ,daily experience shows  
us1  however1 that this is just the     
mistake people persist in making2 most  
men set the utmost value precisely on   
what other people think1 and  are more  
concerned about it than about what goes 
on in their own  consciousness1 which is
 the thing most immediately and directly

  present to them4 ,they reverse the    
natural order1--regarding the  opinions 
of others as real existence and their   
own consciousness  as something shadowy2
 making the derivative and secondary    
into the  principal1 and considering the
 picture they present to the world of   
more importance than their own selves4  
,by thus trying to get a direct  and    
immediate result out of what has no     
really direct or immediate  existence1  
they fall into the kind of folly which  
is called  vanity--the appropriate term 
for that which has no solid or          
instrinsic value4 ,like a miser1 such   
people forget the end in their          
eagerness to obtain the means4          
,footnote #a3 ,scire tuum nihil est nisi
 te scire hoc sciat alter1  7,persins i1
 #bg7--knowledge is no use unless others
 know that you have  it4    ,the truth  
is that the value we set upon the       
opinion of others1 and our  constant    
endeavor in respect of it1 are each     
quite out of proportion  to any result  

we may reasonably hope to attain2 so    
that this attention  to other people's  
attitude may be regarded as a kind of   
universal  mania which every one        
inherits4 ,in all we do1 almost the     
first thing  we think about is1 what    
will people say2 and nearly half the    
troubles  and bothers of life may be    
traced to our anxiety on this score2 it 
is the anxiety which is at the bottom of
 all that feeling of  self-importance1  
which is so often mortified because it  
is so very  morbidly sensitive4 ,it is  
solicitude about what others will say   
that  underlies all our vanity and      
pretension1 yes1 and all our show and   
swagger too4 ,without it1 there would   
not be a tenth part of the luxury  which
 exists4 ,pride in every form1 point    
d'honneur and punctilio1  however varied
 their kind or sphere1 are at bottom    
nothing but  this--anxiety about what   
others will say--and what sacrifices it 
costs6 ,one can see it even in a child2 
and though it exists at every  period of

 life1 it is strongest in age2 because1 
when the capacity for  sensual pleasure 
fails1 vanity and pride have only       
avarice to share  their dominion4       
,frenchmen1 perhaps1 afford the best    
example of  this feeling1 and amongst   
them it is a regular epidemic1 appearing
  sometimes in the most absurd ambition1
 or in a ridiculous kind of  national   
vanity and the most shameless boasting4 
,however1 they  frustrate their own     
gains1 for other people make fun of them
 and call  them la grande nation4    ,by
 way of specially illustrating this     
perverse and exuberant respect  for     
other people's opinion1 let me take     
passage from the ,times of  ,march      
#cast1 #ahdf1 giving a detailed account 
of the execution of one  ,thomas ,wix1  
an apprentice who1 from motives of      
vengeance1 had  murdered his master4    
,here we have very unusual circumstances
 and an  extraordinary character1 though
 one very suitable for our purpose2 and 
these combine to give a striking picture

 of this folly1 which is so  deeply     
rooted in human nature1 and allow us to 
form an accurate notion  of the extent  
to which it will go4 ,on the morning of 
the execution1  says the report1 the    
rev4 ordinary was early in attendance   
upon  him1 but ,wix1 beyond a quiet     
demeanor1 betrayed no interest in his   
ministrations1 appearing to feel anxious
 only to acquit himself  bravely before 
the spectators of his ignomininous      
end4444 ,in the  procession ,wix fell   
into his proper place with alacrity1    
and1 as he  entered the ,chapel-yard1   
remarked1 sufficiently loud to be heard 
by  several persons near him1 ,now1     
then1 as ,dr4 ,dodd said1 ,i shall soon 
know the grand secret4 ,on reaching the 
scaffold1 the miserable wretch  mounted 
the drop without the slightest          
assistance1 and when he got  to the     
centre1 he bowed to the spectators      
twice1 a proceeding which  called forth 
a tremendous cheer from the degraded    
crowd beneath4    ,this is an admirable 

example of the way in which a man1 with 
death in  the most dreadful form before 
his very eyes1 and eternity beyond it1  
will care for nothing but the impression
 he makes upon a crowd of  gapers1 and  
the opinion he leaves behind him in     
their heads4 ,there was  much the same  
kind of thing in the case of ,lecompte1 
who was executed  at ,frankfurt1 also in
 #ahdf1 for an attempt on the king's    
life4 ,at the  trial he was very much   
annoyed that he was not allowed to      
appear1 in  decent attire1 before the   
,upper ,house2 and on the day of the    
execution  it was a special grief to him
 that he was not permitted to shave4 ,it
  is not only in recent times that this 
kind of thing has been known to  happen4
 ,mateo ,aleman tells us1 in the        
,introduction to his celebrated         
romance1 ,juzman de ,alfarache1 that    
many infatuated criminals1  instead of  
devoting their last hours to the welfare
 of their souls1  as they ought to have 
done1 neglect this duty for the purpose 

of  preparing and committing to memory a
 speech to be made from the  scaffold4  
,i take these extreme cases as being the
 best illustrations to what ,i  mean2   
for they give us a magnified reflection 
of our own nature4 ,the  anxieties of   
all of us1 our worries1 vexations1      
bothers1 troubles1  uneasy apprehensions
 and strenuous efforts are due1 in      
perhaps the  large majority of          
instances1 to what other people will    
say2 and we are  just as foolish in this
 respect as those miserable criminals4  
,envy and  hatred are very often        
traceable to a similar source4    ,now1 
it is obvious that happiness1 which     
consists for the most part in  peace of 
mind and contentment1 would be served by
 nothing so much  as by reducing this   
impulse of human nature within          
reasonable  limits1--which would perhaps
 make it one fiftieth part of what it is
  now4 ,by doing so1 we should get rid  
of a thorn in the flesh which is  always
 causing us pain4 ,but it is a very     

difficult task1 because  the impulse in 
question is a natural and innate        
perversity of human  nature4 ,tacitus   
says1 ,the lust of fame is the last that
 a wise man  shakes off#a ,the only way 
of putting an end to this universal     
folly is to see clearly that it is a    
folly2 and this may be done by          
recognizing the fact that most of the   
opinions in men's heads are apt  to be  
false1 perverse1 erroneous and absurd1  
and so in themselves  unworthy of       
attention2 further1 that other people's 
opinions can  have very little real and 
positive influence upon us in most of   
the  circumstances and affairs of life4 
,again1 this opinion is generally of    
such an unfavorable character that it   
would worry a man to death to  hear     
everything that was said of him1 or the 
tone in which he was  spoken of4 ,and   
finally1 among other things1 we should  
be clear about  the fact that honor     
itself has no really direct1 but only an
 indirect1  value4 ,if people were      

generally converted from this universal 
folly1  the result would be such an     
addition to our piece of mind and       
cheerfulness as at present seems        
inconceivable2 people would present  a  
firmer and more confident front to the  
world1 and generally behave  with less  
embarrassment and restraint4 ,it is     
observable that a retired  mode of life 
has an exceedingly beneficial influence 
on our peace  of mind1 and this is      
mainly because we thus escape having to 
live  constantly in the sight of others1
 and pay everlasting regard to their    
casual opinions2 in a word1 we are able 
to return upon ourselves4 ,at  the same 
time a good deal of positive misfortune 
might be avoided1  which we are now     
drawn into by striving after shadows1   
or1 to speak  more correctly1 by        
indulging a mischievous piece of folly2 
and we  should consequently have more   
attention to give to solid realities and
  enjoy them with less interruption that
 at present4 ,but ,greek3 chalepa  ga   

kala--what is worth doing is hard to do4
    ,footnote #a3 ,hist41 iv41 #f4      
,section #b4--,pride4      ,the folly of
 our nature which we are discussing puts
 forth three  shoots1 ambition1 vanity  
and pride4 ,the difference between the  
last  two is this3 pride is an          
established conviction of one's own     
paramount worth in some particular      
respect2 while vanity is the  desire of 
rousing such a conviction in others1 and
 it is generally  accompanied by the    
secret hope of ultimately coming to the 
same  conviction oneself4 ,pride works  
from within2 it is the direct           
appreciation of oneself4 ,vanity is the 
desire to arrive at this  appreciation  
indirectly1 from without4 ,so we find   
that vain people  are talkative1 proud1 
and taciturn4 ,but the vain person ought
 to be  aware that the good opinion of  
others1 which he strives for1 may be    
obtained much more easily and certainly 
by persistent silence than by  speech1  
even though he has very good things to  

say4 ,anyone who wishes  to affect pride
 is not therefore a proud man2 but he   
will soon have to  drop this1 as every  
other1 assumed character4    ,it is only
 a firm1 unshakeable conviction of      
pre-eminent worth and  special value    
which makes a man proud in the true     
sense of the  word1--a conviction which 
may1 no doubt1 be a mistaken one or rest
 on  advantages which are of an         
adventitious and conventional character3
  still pride is not the less pride for 
all that1 so long as it be  present in  
real earnest4 ,and since pride is thus  
rooted in conviction1  it resembles     
every other form of knowledge in not    
being within our own  arbitrament4      
,pride's worst foe1--,i mean its        
greatest obstacle1--is  vanity1 which   
courts the applause of the world in     
order to gain the  necessary foundation 
for a high opinion of one's own worth1  
whilst  pride is based upon a           
pre-existing conviction of it4    ,it is
 quite true that pride is something     

which is generally found  fault with1   
and cried down2 but usually1 ,i imagine1
 by those who have  nothing upon which  
they can pride themselves4 ,in view of  
the impudence  and foolhardiness of most
 people1 anyone who possesses any kind  
of  superiority or merit will do well to
 keep his eyes fixed on it1 if  he does 
not want it to be entirely forgotten2   
for if a man is  good-natured enough to 
ignore his own privileges1 and hob-nob  
with the  generality of other people1 as
 if he were quite on their level1 they  
will be sure to treat him1 frankly and  
candidly1 as one of themselves4  ,this  
is a piece of advice ,i would specially 
offer to those whose  superiority is of 
the highest kind--real superiority1 ,i  
mean1 of a  purely personal             
nature--which cannot1 like orders and   
titles1 appeal  to the eye or ear at    
every moment2 as1 otherwise1 they will  
find that  familiarity breeds contempt1 
or1 as the ,romans used to say1 sus     
,minervam4 ,joke with a slave1 and he'll

 soon show his heels1 is an  excellent  
,arabian proverb2 nor ought we to       
despise what ,horace says1        ,sume 
superbiam    ,quaesitam meritis4        
--usurp the fame you have deserved4 ,no 
doubt1 when modesty was made a  virtue1 
it was a very advantageous thing for the
 fools2 for everybody  is expected to   
speak of himself as if he were one4     
,this is leveling  down indeed2 for it  
comes to look as if there were nothing  
but fools  in the world4    ,the        
cheapest sort of pride is national      
pride2 for if a man is proud of  his own
 nation1 it argues that he has no       
qualities of his own of which  he can be
 proud2 otherwise he would not have     
recourse to those which  he shares with 
so many millions of his fellowmen4 ,the 
man who is  endowed with important      
personal qualities will be only too     
ready to  see clearly in what respects  
his own nation falls short1 since their 
failings will be constantly before his  
eyes4 ,but every miserable fool  who has

 nothing at all of which he can be proud
 adopts1 as a last  resource1 pride in  
the nation to which he belongs2 he is   
ready and  glad to defend all its faults
 and follies tooth and nail1 thus       
reimbursing himself for his own         
inferiority4 ,for example1 if you speak 
of the stupid and degrading bigotry of  
the ,english nation with the  contempt  
it deserves1 you will hardly find one   
,englishman in fifty to  agree with you2
 but if there should be one1 he will    
generally happen  to be an intelligent  
man4    ,the ,germans have no national  
pride1 which shows how honest they are1 
as everybody knows6 and how dishonest   
are those who1 by a piece  of ridiculous
 affectation1 pretend that they are     
proud of their  country--the ,deutsche  
,bruder and the demagogues who flatter  
the  mob in order to mislead it4 ,i have
 heard it said that gunpowder was       
invented by a ,german4 ,i doubt it4     
,lichtenberg asks1 ,why is it that a    
man who is not a ,german does not care  

about pretending that he is one2  and   
that if he makes any pretence at all1 it
 is to be a ,frenchman or  an           
,englishman8#a    ,footnote #a3         
,translator's ,note4--,it should be     
remembered that these  remarks were     
written in the earlier part of the      
present century1 and  that a ,german    
philosopher now-a-days1 even though he  
were as apt to  say bitter things as    
,schopenhauer1 could hardly write in a  
similar  strain4    ,however that may   
be1 individuality is a far more         
important thing  than nationality1 and  
in any given man deserves a             
thousand-fold more  consideration4 ,and 
since you cannot speak of national      
character  without referring to large   
masses of people1 it is impossible to be
  loud in your praises and at the same  
time honest4 ,national character  is    
only another name for the particular    
form which the littleness1  perversity  
and baseness of mankind take in every   
country4 ,if we become  disgusted with  

one1 we praise another1 until we get    
disgusted with  this too4 ,every nation 
mocks at other nations1 and all are     
right4    ,the contents of this chapter1
 which treats1 as ,i have said1 of what 
we  represent in the world1 or what we  
are in the eyes of others1 may be       
further distributed under three heads3  
honor rank and fame4      ,section      
#c4--,rank4      ,let us take rank      
first1 as it may be dismissed in a few  
words1  although it plays an important  
part in the eyes of the masses and of   
the philistines1 and is a most useful   
wheel in the machinery of the  ,state4  
,it has a purely conventional value4    
,strictly speaking1 it is a sham2  its  
method is to exact an artificial        
respect1 and1 as a matter of  fact1 the 
whole thing is a mere farce4    ,orders1
 it may be said1 are bills of exchange  
drawn on public opinion1  and the       
measure of their value is the credit of 
the drawer4 ,of course1  as a substitute
 for pensions1 they save the ,state a   

good deal of  money2 and1 besides1 they 
serve a very useful purpose1 if they are
  distributed with discrimination and   
judgment4 ,for people in general  have  
eyes and ears1 it is true2 but not much 
else1 very little  judgment indeed1 or  
even memory4 ,there are many services of
 the ,state  quite beyond the range of  
their understanding2 others1 again1 are 
appreciated and made much of for a time1
 and then soon forgotten4 ,it  seems to 
me1 therefore1 very proper1 that a cross
 or a star should  proclaim to the mass 
of people always and everywhere1 ,this  
man is not  like you2 he has done       
something4 ,but orders lose their value 
when  they are distributed unjustly1 or 
without due selection1 or in too  great 
numbers3 a prince should be as careful  
in conferring them as a  man of business
 is in signing a bill4 ,it is a pleonasm
 to inscribe on  any order for          
distinguished service2 for every order  
ought to be for  distinguished service4 
,that stands to reason4      ,section   

#d4--;,honor4      ,honor is a much     
larger question than rank1 and more     
difficult to  discuss4 ,let us begin by 
trying to define it4    ,if ,i were to  
say ,honor is external conscience1 and  
conscience is  inward honor1 no doubt a 
good many people would assent2 but there
  would be more show than reality about 
such a definition1 and it would  hardly 
go to the root of the matter4 ,i prefer 
to say1 ,honor is1 on  its objective    
side1 other people's opinion of what we 
are worth2 on  its subjective side1 it  
is the respect we pay to this opinion4  
,from  the latter point of view1 to be a
 man of honor is to exercise what  is   
often a very wholesome1 but by no means 
a purely moral1 influence4    ,the      
feelings of honor and shame exist in    
every man who is not utterly  depraved1 
and honor is everywhere recognized as   
something particularly  valuable4 ,the  
reason of this is as follows4 ,by and in
 himself a man  can accomplish very     
little2 he is like ,robinson ,crusoe on 

a desert  island4 ,it is only in society
 that a man's powers can be called into 
full activity4 ,he very soon finds this 
out when his consciousness  begins to   
develop1 and there arises in him the    
desire to be looked  upon as a useful   
member of society1 as one1 that is1 who 
is capable  of playing his part as a    
man--pro parte virili--thereby acquiring
 a  right to the benefits of social     
life4 ,now1 to be a useful member of    
society1 one must do two things3        
firstly1 what everyone is expected to   
do everywhere2 and1 secondly1 what one's
 own particular position in  the world  
demands and requires4    ,but a man soon
 discovers that everything depends upon 
his being  useful1 not in his own       
opinion1 but in the opinion of others2  
and so  he tries his best to make that  
favorable impression upon the world1 to 
which he attaches such a high value4    
,hence1 this primitive and innate       
characteristic of human nature1 which is
 called the feeling of honor1  or1 under

 another aspect1 the feeling of         
shame--verecundia4 ,it is  this which   
brings a blush to his cheeks at the     
thought of having  suddenly to fall in  
the estimation of others1 even when he  
knows that  he is innocent1 nay1 even if
 his remissness extends to no absolute  
obligation1 but only to one which he has
 taken upon himself of his own  free    
will4 ,conversely1 nothing in life gives
 a man so much courage as  the          
attainment or renewal of the conviction 
that other people regard  him with      
favor2 because it means that everyone   
joins to give him help  and protection1 
which is an infinitely stronger bulwark 
against the  ills of life than anything 
he can do himself4    ,the variety of   
relations in which a man can stand to   
other people so  as to obtain their     
confidence1 that is1 their good opinion1
 gives rise  to a distinction between   
several kinds of honor1 resting chiefly 
on  the different bearings that meum may
 take to tuum2 or1 again1 on  the       

performance of various pledges2 or      
finally1 on the relation of the  sexes4 
,hence1 there are three main kinds of   
honor1 each of which takes  various     
forms--civic honor1 official honor1 and 
sexual honor4    ,civic honor has the   
widest sphere of all4 ,it consists in   
the  assumption that we shall pay       
unconditional respect to the rights of  
others1 and1 therefore1 never use any   
unjust or unlawful means of  getting    
what we want4 ,it is the condition of   
all peaceable intercourse  between man  
and man2 and it is destroyed by anything
 that openly and  manifestly militates  
against this peaceable intercourse1     
anything1  accordingly1 which entails   
punishment at the hands of the law1     
always  supposing that the punishment is
 a just one4    ,the ultimate foundation
 of honor is the conviction that moral  
character is unalterable3 a single bad  
action implies that future  actions of  
the same kind will1 under similar       
circumstances1 also be  bad4 ,this is   

well expressed by the ,english use of   
the word character  as meaning credit1  
reputation1 honor4 ,hence honor1 once   
lost1 can  never be recovered2 unless   
the loss rested on some mistake1 such as
  may occur if a man is slandered or his
 actions viewed in a false  light4 ,so  
the law provides remedies against       
slander1 libel1 and even  insult2 for   
insult though it amounts to no more than
 mere abuse1 is a  kind of summary      
slander with a suppression of the       
reasons4 ,what ,i  mean may be well put 
in the ,greek phrase--not quoted from   
any  author--,greek3 estin hae loidoria 
diabolae4 ,it is true that if a  man    
abuses another1 he is simply showing    
that he has no real or true  causes of  
complaint against him2 as1 otherwise1 he
 would bring these  forward as the      
premises1 and rely upon his hearers to  
draw the  conclusion themselves3 instead
 of which1 he gives the conclusion and  
leaves out the premises1 trusting that  
people will suppose that he has  done so

 only for the sake of being brief4      
,civic honor draws its existence and    
name from the middle classes2  but it   
applies equally to all1 not excepting   
the highest4 ,no man can  disregard it1 
and it is a very serious thing1 of which
 every one  should be careful not to    
make light4 ,the man who breaks         
confidence has  for ever forfeited      
confidence1 whatever he may do1 and     
whoever he may  be2 and the bitter      
consequences of the loss of confidence  
can never be  averted4    ,there is a   
sense in which honor may be said to have
 a negative  character in opposition to 
the positive character of fame4 ,for    
honor  is not the opinion people have of
 particular qualities which a man may   
happen to possess exclusively3 it is    
rather the opinion they have of  the    
qualities which a man may be expected to
 exhibit1 and to which  he should not   
prove false4 ,honor1 therefore1 means   
that a man is not  exceptional2 fame1   
that he is4 ,fame is something which    

must be won2  honor1 only something     
which must not be lost4 ,the absence of 
fame is  obscurity1 which is only a     
negative2 but loss of honor is shame1   
which  is a positive quality4 ,this     
negative character of honor must not be 
confused with anything passive2 for     
honor is above all things active  in its
 working4 ,it is the only quality which 
proceeds directly from  the man who     
exhibits it2 it is concerned entirely   
with what he does  and leaves undone1   
and has nothing to do with the actions  
of others or  the obstacles they place  
in his way4 ,it is something entirely in
 our  own power--,greek3 ton ephaemon4  
,this distinction1 as we shall see      
presently1 marks off true honor from the
 sham honor of chivalry4    ,slander is 
the only weapon by which honor can be   
attacked from  without2 and the only way
 to repel the attack is to confute the  
slander with the proper amount of       
publicity1 and a due unmasking of  him  
who utters it4    ,the reason why       

respect is paid to age is that old      
people have  necessarily shown in the   
course of their lives whether or not    
they  have been able to maintain their  
honor unblemished2 while that of  young 
people has not been put to the proof1   
though they are credited  with the      
possession of it4 ,for neither length of
 years1--equalled1  as it is1 and even  
excelled1 in the case of the lower      
animals1--nor1  again1 experience1 which
 is only a closer knowledge of the      
world's  ways1 can be any sufficient    
reason for the respect which the young  
are  everywhere required to show towards
 the old3 for if it were merely a       
matter of years1 the weakness which     
attends on age would call rather  for   
consideration than for respect4 ,it is1 
however1 a remarkable fact  that white  
hair always commands reverence--a       
reverence really innate  and            
instinctive4 ,wrinkles--a much surer    
sign of old age--command  no reverence  
at all2 you never hear any one speak of 

venerable  wrinkles2 but venerable white
 hair is a common expression4    ,honor 
has only an indirect value4 ,for1 as ,i 
explained at the beginning  of this     
chapter1 what other people think of us1 
if it affects us at  all1 can affect us 
only in so far as it governs their      
behavior towards  us1 and only just so  
long as we live with1 or have to do     
with1 them4  ,but it is to society alone
 that we owe that safety which we and   
our  possessions enjoy in a state of    
civilization2 in all we do we need the  
help of others1 and they1 in their turn1
 must have confidence in  us before they
 can have anything to do with us4       
,accordingly1 their  opinion of us is1  
indirectly1 a matter of great           
importance2 though ,i  cannot see how it
 can have a direct or immediate value4  
,this is an  opinion also held by       
,cicero4 ,i quite agree1 he writes1 with
 what  ,chrysippus and ,diogenes used to
 say1 that a good reputation is not     
worth raising a finger to obtain1 if it 

were not that it is so  useful4#a ,this 
truth has been insisted upon at great   
length by  ,helvetius in his chief work 
,de l',esprit1#b the conclusion of which
  is that we love esteem not for its own
 sake1 but solely for the  advantages   
which it brings4 ,and as the means can  
never be more than  the end1 that       
saying1 of which so much is made1 ,honor
 is dearer than  life itself1 is1 as ,i 
have remarked1 a very exaggerated       
statement4 ,so  much then1 for civic    
honor4    ,footnote #a3 ,de finilus     
iii41 #ag4    ,footnote #b3 ,disc3 iii4 
#ag4    ,official honor is the general  
opinion of other people that a man who  
fills any office really has the         
necessary qualities for the proper      
discharge of all the duties which       
appertain to it4 ,the greater and  more 
important the duties a man has to       
discharge in the ,state1 and the  higher
 and more influential the office which  
he fills1 the stronger  must be the     
opinion which people have of the moral  

and intellectual  qualities which render
 him fit for his post4 ,therefore1 the  
higher  his position1 the greater must  
be the degree of honor paid to him1     
expressed1 as it is1 in titles1 orders  
and the generally subservient  behavior 
of others towards him4 ,as a rule1 a    
man's official rank  implies the        
particular degree of honor which ought  
to be paid to him1  however much this   
degree may be modified by the capacity  
of the masses  to form any notion of its
 importance4 ,still1 as a matter of     
fact1  greater honor is paid to a man   
who fulfills special duties than to  the
 common citizen1 whose honor mainly     
consists in keeping clear of  dishonor4 
,official honor demands1 further1 that  
the man who occupies an office  must    
maintain respect for it1 for the sake   
both of his colleagues  and of those who
 will come after him4 ,this respect an  
official can  maintain by a proper      
observance of his duties1 and by        
repelling any  attack that may be made  

upon the office itself or upon its      
occupant3  he must not1 for instance1   
pass over unheeded any statement to the 
effect that the duties of the office are
 not properly discharged1 or  that the  
office itself does not conduce to the   
public welfare4 ,he must  prove the     
unwarrantable nature of such attacks by 
enforcing the legal  penalty for them4  
,subordinate to the honor of official   
personages comes that of those  who     
serve the ,state in any other capacity1 
as doctors1 lawyers1  teachers1 anyone1 
in short1 who1 by graduating in any     
subject1 or by  any other public        
declaration that he is qualified to     
exercise some  special skill1 claims to 
practice it2 in a word1 the honor of all
  those who take any public pledges     
whatever4 ,under this head comes        
military honor1 in the true sense of the
 word1 the opinion that people  who have
 bound themselves to defend their       
country really possess  the requisite   
qualities which will enable them to do  

so1 especially  courage1 personal       
bravery and strength1 and that they are 
perfectly  ready to defend their country
 to the death1 and never and under  any 
circumstances desert the flag to which  
they have once sworn  allegiance4 ,i    
have here taken official honor in a     
wider sense than  that in which it is   
generally used1 namely1 the respect due 
by  citizens to an office itself4    ,in
 treating of sexual honor and the       
principles on which it rests1 a  little 
more attention and analysis are         
necessary2 and what ,i shall  say will  
support my contention that all honor    
really rests upon a  utilitarian basis4 
,there are two natural divisions of the 
subject--the  honor of women and the    
honor of men1 in either side issuing in 
a  well-understood esprit de corps4 ,the
 former is by far the more  important of
 the two1 because the most essential    
feature in woman's  life is her relation
 to man4    ,female honor is the general
 opinion in regard to a girl that she is

  pure1 and in regard to a wife that she
 is faithful4 ,the importance of  this  
opinion rests upon the following        
considerations4 ,women depend  upon men 
in all the relations of life2 men upon  
women1 it might  be said1 in one only4  
,so an arrangement is made for mutual   
interdependence--man undertaking        
responsibility for all woman's needs    
and also for the children that spring   
from their union--an arrangement  on    
which is based the welfare of the whole 
female race4 ,to carry out  this plan1  
women have to band together with a show 
of esprit de  corps1 and present one    
undivided front to their common enemy1  
man1--who possesses all the good things 
of the earth1 in virtue of his  superior
 physical and intellectual power1--in   
order to lay siege to  and conquer him1 
and so get possession of him and a share
 of those  good things4 ,to this end the
 honor of all women depends upon the    
enforcement of the rule that no woman   
should give herself to a man  except in 

marriage1 in order that every man may be
 forced1 as it  were1 to surrender and  
ally himself with a woman2 by this      
arrangement  provision is made for the  
whole of the female race4 ,this is a    
result1  however1 which can be obtained 
only by a strict observance of the      
rule2 and1 accordingly1 women everywhere
 show true esprit de corps  in carefully
 insisting upon its maintenance4 ,any   
girl who commits a  breach of the rule  
betrays the whole female race1 because  
its welfare  would be destroyed if every
 woman were to do likewise2 so she is   
cast  out with shame as one who has lost
 her honor4 ,no woman will have         
anything more to do with her2 she is    
avoided like the plague4 ,the same  doom
 is awarded to a woman who breaks the   
marriage tie2 for in so  doing she is   
false to the terms upon which the man   
capitulated2 and  as her conduct is such
 as to frighten other men from making a 
similar  surrender1 it imperils the     
welfare of all her sisters4 ,nay1 more2 

this  deception and coarse breach of    
troth is a crime punishable by the      
loss1 not only of personal1 but also of 
civic honor4 ,this is why we  minimize  
the shame of a girl1 but not of a wife2 
because1 in the  former case1 marriage  
can restore honor1 while in the latter1 
no  atonement can be made for the breach
 of contract4    ,once this esprit de   
corps is acknowledged to be the         
foundation  of female honor1 and is seen
 to be a wholesome1 nay1 a necessary    
arrangement1 as at bottom a matter of   
prudence and interest1 its  extreme     
importance for the welfare of women will
 be recognized4 ,but  it does not       
possess anything more than a relative   
value4 ,it is no  absolute end1 lying   
beyond all other aims of existence and  
valued  above life itself4 ,in this     
view1 there will be nothing to applaud  
in the forced and extravagant conduct of
 a ,lucretia or a  ,virginius--conduct  
which can easily degenerate into tragic 
farce1 and  produce a terrible feeling  

of revulsion4 ,the conclusion of ,emilia
  ,galotti1 for instance1 makes one     
leave the theatre completely ill at     
ease2 and1 on the other hand1 all the   
rules of female honor cannot  prevent a 
certain sympathy with ,clara in ,egmont4
 ,to carry this  principle of female    
honor too far is to forget the end in   
thinking  of the means--and this is just
 what people often do2 for such         
exaggeration suggests that the value of 
sexual honor is absolute2  while the    
truth is that it is more relative than  
any other kind4 ,one  might go so far as
 to say that its value is purely        
conventional1 when  one sees from       
,thomasius how in all ages and          
countries1 up to the time  of the       
,reformation1 irregularities were       
permitted and recognized by  law1 with  
no derogation to female honor1--not to  
speak of the temple  of ,mylitta at     
,babylon4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,heroditus1
 i4 #aii4    ,there are also of course  
certain circumstances in civil life     

which  make external forms of marriage  
impossible1 especially in ,catholic     
countries1 where there is no such thing 
as divorce4 ,ruling princes  everywhere1
 would1 in my opinion1 do much better1  
from a moral point  of view1 to dispense
 with forms altogether rather than      
contract a  morganatic marriage1 the    
descendants of which might raise claims 
to  the throne if the legitimate stock  
happened to die out2 so that there  is a
 possibility1 though1 perhaps1 a remote 
one1 that a morganatic  marriage might  
produce a civil war4 ,and1 besides1 such
 a marriage1  concluded in defiance of  
all outward ceremony1 is a concession   
made to  women and priests--two classes 
of persons to whom one should be most   
careful to give as little tether as     
possible4 ,it is further to be  remarked
 that every man in a country can marry  
the woman of his  choice1 except one    
poor individual1 namely1 the prince4    
,his hand  belongs to his country1 and  
can be given in marriage only for       

reasons  of ,state1 that is1 for the    
good of the country4 ,still1 for all    
that1  he is a man2 and1 as a man1 he   
likes to follow whither his heart       
leads4 ,it is an unjust1 ungrateful and 
priggish thing to forbid1 or  to desire 
to forbid1 a prince from following his  
inclinations in this  matter2 of course1
 as long as the lady has no influence   
upon the  ,government of the country4   
,from her point of view she occupies an 
exceptional position1 and does not come 
under the ordinary rules of  sexual     
honor2 for she has merely given herself 
to a man who loves her1  and whom she   
loves but cannot marry4 ,and in general1
 the fact that the  principle of female 
honor has no origin in nature1 is shown 
by the  many bloody sacrifices which    
have been offered to it1--the murder of 
children and the mother's suicide4 ,no  
doubt a girl who contravenes the  code  
commits a breach of faith against her   
whole sex2 but this faith  is one which 
is only secretly taken for granted1 and 

not sworn to4 ,and  since1 in most      
cases1 her own prospects suffer most    
immediately1 her  folly is infinitely   
greater than her crime4    ,the         
corresponding virtue in men is a product
 of the one ,i have been  discussing4   
,it is their esprit de corps1 which     
demands that1 once  a man has made that 
surrender of himself in marriage which  
is so  advantageous to his conqueror1 he
 shall take care that the terms of  the 
treaty are maintained2 both in order    
that the agreement itself  may lose none
 of its force by the permission of any  
laxity in its  observance1 and that men1
 having given up everything1 may1 at    
least1 be assured of their bargain1     
namely1 exclusive possession4           
,accordingly1 it is part of a man's     
honor to resent a breach of the         
marriage tie on the part of his wife1   
and to punish it1 at the  very least by 
separating from her4 ,if he condones the
 offence1 his  fellowmen cry shame upon 
him2 but the shame in this case is not  

nearly  so foul as that of the woman who
 has lost her honor2 the stain is by  no
 means of so deep a dye--levioris notae 
macula2--because a man's  relation to   
woman is subordinate to many other and  
more important  affairs in his life4    
,the two great dramatic poets of modern 
times  have each taken man's honor as   
the theme of two plays2 ,shakespeare in 
,othello and ,the ,winter's ,tale1 and  
,calderon in ,el medico de su  honra1   
7,the ,physician of his ,honor71 and ,a 
secreto agravio secreta  venganza1 7for 
,secret ,insult ,secret ,vengeance74 ,it
 should be said1  however1 that honor   
demands the punishment of the wife only2
 to punish  her paramour too1 is a work 
of supererogation4 ,this confirms the   
view  ,i have taken1 that a man's honor 
originates in esprit de corps4    ,the  
kind of honor which ,i have been        
discussing hitherto has always  existed 
in its various forms and principles     
amongst all nations and  at all times2  
although the history of female honor    

shows that its  principles have         
undergone certain local modifications at
 different  periods4 ,but there is      
another species of honor which differs  
from this  entirely1 a species of honor 
of which the ,greeks and ,romans had  no
 conception1 and up to this day it is   
perfectly unknown amongst  ,chinese1    
,hindoos or ,mohammedans4 ,it is a kind 
of honor which arose  only in the       
,middle ,age1 and is indigenous only to 
,christian ,europe1  nay1 only to an    
extremely small portion of the          
population1 that is  to say1 the higher 
classes of society and those who ape    
them4 ,it is  knightly honor1 or point  
d'honneur4 ,its principles are quite    
different from those which underlie the 
kind of honor ,i have been  treating    
until now1 and in some respects are even
 opposed to them4 ,the  sort ,i am      
referring to produces the cavalier2     
while the other kind  creates the man of
 honor4 ,as this is so1 ,i shall proceed
 to give an  explanation of its         

principles1 as a kind of code or mirror 
of knightly  courtesy4    7#a47 ,to     
begin with1 honor of this sort consists1
 not in other people's  opinion of what 
we are worth1 but wholly and entirely in
 whether they  express it or not1 no    
matter whether they really have any     
opinion at  all1 let alone whether they 
know of reasons for having one4 ,other  
people may entertain the worst opinion  
of us in consequence of what we  do1 and
 may despise us as much as they like2 so
 long as no one dares  to give          
expression to his opinion1 our honor    
remains untarnished4 ,so  if our actions
 and qualities compel the highest       
respect from other  people1 and they    
have no option but to give this         
respect1--as soon as  anyone1 no matter 
how wicked or foolish he may be1 utters 
something  depreciatory of us1 our honor
 is offended1 nay1 gone for ever1 unless
  we can manage to restore it4 ,a       
superfluous proof of what ,i say1       
namely1 that knightly honor depends1 not

 upon what people think1 but  upon what 
they say1 is furnished by the fact that 
insults can be  withdrawn1 or1 if       
necessary1 form the subject of an       
apology1 which  makes them as though    
they had never been uttered4 ,whether   
the opinion  which underlays the        
expression has also been rectified1 and 
why  the expression should ever have    
been used1 are questions which are      
perfectly unimportant3 so long as the   
statement is withdrawn1 all is  well4   
,the truth is that conduct of this kind 
aims1 not at earning  respect1 but at   
extorting it4    7#b47 ,in the second   
place1 this sort of honor rests1 not on 
what a man  does1 but on what he        
suffers1 the obstacles he encounters2   
differing  from the honor which prevails
 in all else1 in consisting1 not in what
  he says or does himself1 but in what  
another man says or does4 ,his  honor is
 thus at the mercy of every man who can 
talk it away on the  tip of his tongue2 
and if he attacks it1 in a moment it is 

gone for  ever1--unless the man who is  
attacked manages to wrest it back again 
by a process which ,i shall mention     
presently1 a process which involves     
danger to his life1 health1 freedom1    
property and peace of mind4 ,a  man's   
whole conduct may be in accordance with 
the most righteous and  noble           
principles1 his spirit may be the purest
 that ever breathed1 his  intellect of  
the very highest order2 and yet his     
honor may disappear  the moment that    
anyone is pleased to insult him1 anyone 
at all who has  not offended against    
this code of honor himself1 let him be  
the most  worthless rascal or the most  
stupid beast1 an idler1 gambler1 debtor1
  a man1 in short1 of no account at all4
 ,it is usually this sort of  fellow who
 likes to insult people2 for1 as        
,seneca#a rightly remarks1  ut quisque  
contemtissimus et ludibrio est1 ita     
solutissimae est1 the  more contemptible
 and ridiculous a man is1--the readier  
he is with his  tongue4 ,his insults are

 most likely to be directed against the 
very  kind of man ,i have described1    
because people of different tastes can  
never be friends1 and the sight of      
pre-eminent merit is apt to  raise the  
secret ire of a ne'er-do-well4 ,what    
,goethe says in the  ,weststlicher      
,divan is quite true1 that it is useless
 to complain  against your enemies2 for 
they can never become your friends1 if  
your  whole being is a standing reproach
 to them3--      ,was klagst du ber     
,feinde8    ,sollten ,solche je warden  
,freunde    ,denen das ,wesen1 wie du   
bist1    ,im stillen ein ewiger ,vorwurf
 ist8    ,footnote #a3 ,de ,constantia1 
#aa4    ,it is obvious that people of   
this worthless description have good    
cause to be thankful to the principle of
 honor1 because it puts them  on a level
 with people who in every other respect 
stand far above  them4 ,if a fellow     
likes to insult any one1 attribute to   
him1  for example1 some bad quality1    
this is taken prima facie as a          

well-founded opinion1 true in fact2 a   
decree1 as it were1 with all the  force 
of law2 nay1 if it is not at once wiped 
out in blood1 it is a  judgment which   
holds good and valid to all time4 ,in   
other words1  the man who is insulted   
remains--in the eyes of all honorable   
people--what the man who uttered the    
insult--even though he were the         
greatest wretch on earth--was pleased to
 call him2 for he has put  up with the  
insult--the technical term1 ,i believe4 
,accordingly1 all  honorable people will
 have nothing more to do with him1 and  
treat  him like a leper1 and1 it may be1
 refuse to go into any company where  he
 may be found1 and so on4    ,this wise 
proceeding may1 ,i think1 be traced back
 to the fact that in  the ,middle ,age1 
up to the fifteenth century1 it was not 
the accuser in  any criminal process who
 had to prove the guilt of the accused1 
but  the accused who had to prove his   
innocence4#a ,this he could do by       
swearing he was not guilty2 and his     

backers--consacramentales--had  to come 
and swear that in their opinion he was  
incapable of perjury4  ,if he could find
 no one to help him in this way1 or the 
accuser took  objection to his backers1 
recourse was had to trial by the        
,judgment  of ,god1 which generally     
meant a duel4 ,for the accused was now  
in  disgrace1#b and had to clear        
himself4 ,here1 then1 is the origin  of 
the notion of disgrace1 and of that     
whole system which prevails  now-a-days 
amongst honorable people--only that the 
oath is omitted4  ,this is also the     
explanation of that deep feeling of     
indignation which  honorable people are 
called upon to show if they are given   
the lie2  it is a reproach which they   
say must be wiped out in blood4 ,it     
seldom  comes to this pass1 however1    
though lies are of common occurrence2   
but  in ,england1 more than elsewhere1  
it is a superstition which has taken    
very deep root4 ,as a matter of order1 a
 man who threatens to kill  another for 

telling a lie should never have told one
 himself4 ,the  fact is1 that the       
criminal trial of the ,middle ,age also 
admitted of a  shorter form4 ,in reply  
to the charge1 the accused answered3    
,that is  a lie2 whereupon it was left  
to be decided by the ,judgment of ,god4 
,hence1 the code of knightly honor      
prescribes that1 when the lie is  given1
 an appeal to arms follows as a matter  
of course4 ,so much1 then1  for the     
theory of insult4    ,footnote #a3 ,see 
,c4,g4 von ,waehter's ,beitrge zur      
deutschen  ,geschichte1 especially the  
chapter on criminal law4    ,footnote   
#b3 ,translator's ,note4--,it is true   
that this expression has  another       
special meaning in the technical        
terminology of ,chivalry1  but it is the
 nearest ,english equivalent which ,i   
can find for the  ,german--ein          
,bescholtener    ,but there is something
 even worse than insult1 something so   
dreadful  that ,i must beg pardon of all
 honorable people for so much as        

mentioning it in this code of knightly  
honor2 for ,i know they will  shiver1   
and their hair will stand on end1 at the
 very thought of  it--the summum malum1 
the greatest evil on earth1 worse than  
death  and damnation4 ,a man may give   
another--horrible dictu6--a slap or a   
blow4 ,this is such an awful thing1 and 
so utterly fatal to all  honor1 that1   
while any other species of insult may be
 healed by  blood-letting1 this can be  
cured only by the coup-de-grace4        
7#c47 ,in the third place1 this kind of 
honor has absolutely nothing  to do with
 what a man may be in and for himself2  
or1 again1 with the  question whether   
his moral character can ever become     
better or worse1  and all such pedantic 
inquiries4 ,if your honor happens to be 
attacked1  or to all appearances gone1  
it can very soon be restored in its     
entirety if you are only quick enough in
 having recourse to the one  universal  
remedy--a duel4 ,but if the aggressor   
does not belong to  the classes which   

recognize the code of knightly honor1 or
 has himself  once offended against it1 
there is a safer way of meeting any     
attack  upon your honor1 whether it     
consists in blows1 or merely in words4  
,if you are armed1 you can strike down  
your opponent on the spot1 or  perhaps  
an hour later4 ,this will restore your  
honor4    ,but if you wish to avoid such
 an extreme step1 from fear of any      
unpleasant consequences arising         
therefrom1 or from uncertainty as to    
whether the aggressor is subject to the 
laws of knightly honor or  not1 there is
 another means of making your position  
good1 namely1 the  ,avantage4 ,this     
consists in returning rudeness with     
still greater  rudeness2 and if insults 
are no use1 you can try a blow1 which   
forms a  sort of climax in the          
redemption of your honor2 for instance1 
a box on  the ear may be cured by a blow
 with a stick1 and a blow with a stick  
by a thrashing with a horsewhip2 and1 as
 the approved remedy for this  last1    

some people recommend you to spit at    
your opponent4#a ,if all  these means   
are of no avail1 you must not shrink    
from drawing blood4  ,and the reason for
 these methods of wiping out insult is1 
in this  code1 as follows3    ,footnote 
#a3 ,translator's ,note4 ,it must be    
remembered that  ,schopenhauer is here  
describing1 or perhaps caricaturing the 
manners  and customs of the ,german     
aristocracy of half a century ago4 ,now1
 of  course1 nous avons change tout     
cela6    7#d47 ,to receive an insult is 
disgraceful2 to give one1 honorable4    
,let  me take an example4 ,my opponent  
has truth1 right and reason on his      
side4 ,very well4 ,i insult him4        
,thereupon right and honor leave him and
  come to me1 and1 for the time being1  
he has lost them--until he gets  them   
back1 not by the exercise of right or   
reason1 but by shooting and  sticking   
me4 ,accordingly1 rudeness is a quality 
which1 in point of  honor1 is a         
substitute for any other and outweighs  

them all4 ,the  rudest is always right4 
,what more do you want8 ,however stupid1
 bad or  wicked a man may have been1 if 
he is only rude into the bargain1 he    
condones and legitimizes all his faults4
 ,if in any discussion or  conversation1
 another man shows more knowledge1      
greater love of  truth1 a sounder       
judgment1 better understanding than we1 
or generally  exhibits intellectual     
qualities which cast ours into the      
shade1 we can  at once annul his        
superiority and our own shallowness1 and
 in our turn  be superior to him1 by    
being insulting and offensive4 ,for     
rudeness  is better than any argument2  
it totally eclipses intellect4 ,if our  
opponent does not care for our mode of  
attack1 and will not answer  still more 
rudely1 so as to plunge us into the     
ignoble rivalry of  the ,avantage1 we   
are the victors and honor is on our     
side4 ,truth1  knowledge1 understanding1
 intellect1 wit1 must beat a retreat and
  leave the field to this almighty      

insolence4    ,honorable people         
immediately make a show of mounting     
their  war-horse1 if anyone utters an   
opinion adverse to theirs1 or shows     
more intelligence than they can muster2 
and if in any controversy  they are at a
 loss for a reply1 they look about for  
some weapon of  rudeness1 which will    
serve as well and come readier to hand2 
so they  retire masters of the position4
 ,it must now be obvious that people are
  quite right in applauding this        
principle of honor as having ennobled   
the tone of society4 ,this principle    
springs from another1 which forms  the  
heart and soul of the entire code4      
7#e47 ,fifthly1 the code implies that   
the highest court to which a man  can   
appeal in any differences he may have   
with another on a point of  honor is the
 court of physical force1 that is1 of   
brutality4 ,every  piece of rudeness is1
 strictly speaking1 an appeal to        
brutality2 for  it is a declaration that
 intellectual strength and moral insight

 are  incompetent to decide1 and that   
the battle must be fought out by        
physical force--a struggle which1 in the
 case of man1 whom ,franklin  defines as
 a tool-making animal1 is decided by the
 weapons peculiar  to the species2 and  
the decision is irrevocable4 ,this is   
the  well-known principle of right of   
might--irony1 of course1 like the  wit  
of a fool1 a parallel phrase4 ,the honor
 of a knight may be called  the glory of
 might4    7#f47 ,lastly1 if1 as we saw 
above1 civic honor is very scrupulous in
  the matter of meum and tuum1 paying   
great respect to obligations  and a     
promise once made1 the code we are here 
discussing displays1 on  the other hand1
 the noblest liberality4 ,there is only 
one word which  may not be broken1 the  
word of honor--upon my honor1 as people 
say--the presumption being1 of course1  
that every other form of  promise may be
 broken4 ,nay1 if the worst comes to the
 worst1 it  is easy to break even one's 
word of honor1 and still remain         

honorable--again by adopting that       
universal remedy1 the duel1 and         
fighting with those who maintain that we
 pledged our word4 ,further1  there is  
one debt1 and one alone1 that under no  
circumstances must be  left unpaid--a   
gambling debt1 which has accordingly    
been called a  debt of honor4 ,in all   
other kinds of debt you may cheat ,jews 
and  ,christians as much as you like2   
and your knightly honor remains  without
 a stain4    ,the unprejudiced reader   
will see at once that such a strange1   
savage  and ridiculous code of honor as 
this has no foundation in human  nature1
 nor any warrant in a healthy view of   
human affairs4 ,the  extremely narrow   
sphere of its operation serves only to  
intensify the  feeling1 which is        
exclusively confined to ,europe since   
the ,middle ,age1  and then only to the 
upper classes1 officers and soldiers1   
and people  who imitate them4 ,neither  
,greeks nor ,romans knew anything of    
this code  of honor or of its           

principles2 nor the highly civilized    
nations of  ,asia1 ancient or modern4   
,amongst them no other kind of honor is 
recognized but that which ,i discussed  
first1 in virtue of which a man  is what
 he shows himself to be by his actions1 
not what any wagging  tongue is pleased 
to say of him4 ,they thought that what a
 man said or  did might perhaps affect  
his own honor1 but not any other man's4 
,to  them1 a blow was but a blow--and   
any horse or donkey could give a  harder
 one--a blow which under certain        
circumstances might make a man  angry   
and demand immediate vengeance2 but it  
had nothing to do with  honor4 ,no one  
kept account of blows or insulting      
words1 or of the  satisfaction which was
 demanded or omitted to be demanded4    
,yet in  personal bravery and contempt  
of death1 the ancients were certainly   
not inferior to the nations of          
,christian ,europe4 ,the ,greeks and    
,romans  were thorough heroes1 if you   
like2 but they knew nothing about  point

 d'honneur4 ,if they had any idea of a  
duel1 it was totally  unconnected with  
the life of the nobles2 it was merely   
the exhibition  of mercenary gladiators1
 slaves devoted to slaughter1 condemned 
criminals1 who1 alternately with wild   
beasts1 were set to butcher one  another
 to make a ,roman holiday4 ,when        
,christianity was introduced1           
gladiatorial shows were done away with1 
and their place taken1 in  ,christian   
times1 by the duel1 which was a way of  
settling difficulties  by the ,judgment 
of ,god4    ,if the gladiatorial fight  
was a cruel sacrifice to the prevailing 
desire for great spectacles1 dueling is 
a cruel sacrifice to existing           
prejudices--a sacrifice1 not of         
criminals1 slaves and prisoners1 but  of
 the noble and the free4#a    ,footnote 
#a3 ,translator's ,note4 ,these and     
other remarks on dueling  will no doubt 
wear a belated look to ,english readers2
 but they are  hardly yet antiquated for
 most parts of the ,continent4    ,there

 are a great many traits in the         
character of the ancients which  show   
that they were entirely free from these 
prejudices4 ,when1 for  instance1       
,marius was summoned to a duel by a     
,teutonic chief1 he  returned answer to 
the effect that1 if the chief were tired
 of his  life1 he might go and hang     
himself2 at the same time he offered him
 a  veteran gladiator for a round or    
two4 ,plutarch relates in his life of   
,themistocles that ,eurybiades1 who was 
in command of the fleet1 once  raised   
his stick to strike him2 whereupon      
,themistocles1 instead of  drawing his  
sword1 simply said3 ,strike1 but hear   
me4 ,how sorry the  reader must be1 if  
he is an honorable man1 to find that we 
have no  information that the ,athenian 
officers refused in a body to serve any 
longer under ,themistocles1 if he acted 
like that6 ,there is a modern  ,french  
writer who declares that if anyone      
considers ,demosthenes a man  of honor1 
his ignorance will excite a smile of    

pity2 and that ,cicero  was not a man of
 honor either6#a ,in a certain passage  
in ,plato's  ,laws#b the philosopher    
speaks at length of ,greek3 aikia or    
assault1 showing us clearly enough that 
the ancients had no notion  of any      
feeling of honor in connection with such
 matters4 ,socrates'  frequent          
discussions were often followed by his  
being severely  handled1 and he bore it 
all mildly4 ,once1 for instance1 when   
somebody  kicked him1 the patience with 
which he took the insult surprised  one 
of his friends4 ,do you think1 said     
,socrates1 that if an ass  happened to  
kick me1 ,i should resent it8#c ,on     
another occasion1 when  he was asked1   
,has not that fellow abused and insulted
 you8 ,no1 was  his answer1 what he says
 is not addressed to me#d ,stobaeus has 
preserved a long passage from ,musonius1
 from which we can see how the  ancients
 treated insults4 ,they knew no other   
form of satisfaction than  that which   
the law provided1 and wise people       

despised even this4 ,if a  ,greek       
received a box on the ear1 he could get 
satisfaction by the aid  of the law2 as 
is evident from ,plato's ,gorgias1 where
 ,socrates'  opinion may be found4 ,the 
same thing may be seen in the account   
given  by ,gellius of one ,lucius       
,veratius1 who had the audacity to give 
some  ,roman citizens whom he met on the
 road a box on the ear1 without any     
provocation whatever2 but to avoid any  
ulterior consequences1 he  told a slave 
to bring a bag of small money1 and on   
the spot paid  the trivial legal penalty
 to the men whom he had astonished by   
his  conduct4    ,footnote              
#a3litteraires3 par ,c4 ,durand4 ,rouen1
 #ahbh4    ,footnote #b3 ,bk4 ,,ix44    
,footnote #c3 ,diogenes ,laertius1 ii41 
#ba4    ,footnote #d3 ,ibid #cf4        
,crates1 the celebrated ,cynic          
philosopher1 got such a box on the ear  
from ,nicodromus1 the musician1 that his
 face swelled up and became  black and  
blue2 whereupon he put a label on his   

forehead1 with the  inscription1        
,nicodromus fecit1 which brought much   
disgrace to the  fluteplayer who had    
committed such a piece of brutality upon
 the man  whom all ,athens honored as a 
household god4#a ,and in a letter to    
,melesippus1 ,diogenes of ,sinope tells 
us that he got a beating from the       
drunken sons of the ,athenians2 but he  
adds that it was a matter of no         
importance4#b ,and ,seneca devotes the  
last few chapters of his ,de            
,constantia to a lengthy discussion on  
insult--contumelia2 in order  to show   
that a wise man will take no notice of  
it4 ,in ,chapter ,,xiv1 he  says1 ,what 
shall a wise man do1 if he is given a   
blow8 ,what ,cato did1  when some one   
struck him on the mouth2--not fire up or
 avenge the  insult1 or even return the 
blow1 but simply ignore it4    ,footnote
 #a3 ,diogenes ,laertius1 vi4 #hg1 and  
,apul3 ,flor3 p4 #abf4    ,footnote #b3 
,cf4 ,casaubon's ,note1 ,diog4 ,laert41 
vi4 #cc4    ,yes1 you say1 but these men

 were philosophers4--,and you are fools1
  eh8 ,precisely4    ,it is clear that  
the whole code of knightly honor was    
utterly unknown  to the ancients2 for   
the simple reason that they always took 
a natural  and unprejudiced view of     
human affairs1 and did not allow        
themselves  to be influenced by any such
 vicious and abominable folly4 ,a blow  
in the face was to them a blow and      
nothing more1 a trivial physical        
injury2 whereas the moderns make a      
catastrophe out of it1 a theme for  a   
tragedy2 as1 for instance1 in the ,cid  
of ,corneille1 or in a  recent ,german  
comedy of middle-class life1 called ,the
 ,power of  ,circumstance1 which should 
have been entitled ,the ,power of       
,prejudice4 ,if a member of the         
,national ,assembly at ,paris got a blow
  on the ear1 it would resound from one 
end of ,europe to the other4 ,the       
examples which ,i have given of the way 
in which such an occurrence  would have 
been treated in classic times may not   

suit the ideas of  honorable people2 so 
let me recommend to their notice1 as a  
kind of  antidote1 the story of         
,monsieur ,desglands in ,diderot's      
masterpiece1  ,jacques le fataliste4 ,it
 is an excellent specimen of modern     
knightly  honor1 which1 no doubt1 they  
will find enjoyable and edifying4#a     
,footnote3 #a3 ,translator's ,note4 ,the
 story to which ,schopenhauer  here     
refers is briefly as follows3 ,two      
gentlemen1 one of whom was  named       
,desglands1 were paying court to the    
same lady4 ,as they sat at  table side  
by side1 with the lady opposite1        
,desglands did his best to  charm her   
with his conversation2 but she pretended
 not to hear him1  and kept looking at  
his rival4 ,in the agony of jealousy1   
,desglands1 as  he was holding a fresh  
egg in his hand1 involuntarily crushed  
it2 the  shell broke1 and its contents  
bespattered his rival's face4 ,seeing   
him  raise his hand1 ,desglands seized  
it and whispered3 ,sir1 ,i take it as   

given4 ,the next day ,desglands appeared
 with a large piece of black            
sticking-plaster upon his right cheek4  
,in the duel which followed1  ,desglands
 severely wounded his rival2 upon which 
he reduced the size  of the plaster4    
,when his rival recovered1 they had     
another duel2  ,desglands drew blood    
again1 and again made his plaster a     
little  smaller2 and so on for five or  
six times4 ,after every duel ,desglands'
  plaster grew less and less1 until at  
last his rival4    ,from what ,i have   
said it must be quite evident that the  
principle  of knightly honor has no     
essential and spontaneous origin in     
human  nature4 ,it is an artificial     
product1 and its source is not hard to  
find4 ,its existence obviously dates    
from the time when people used  their   
fists more than their heads1 when       
priestcraft had enchained the  human    
intellect1 the much bepraised ,middle   
,age1 with its system of  chivalry4     
,that was the time when people let the  

,almighty not only care  for them but   
judge for them too2 when difficult cases
 were decided by  an ordeal1 a ,judgment
 of ,god2 which1 with few exceptions1   
meant  a duel1 not only where nobles    
were concerned1 but in the case of      
ordinary citizens as well4 ,there is a  
neat illustration of this in            
,shakespeare's ,henry ,,vi4#a ,every    
judicial sentence was subject to an     
appeal to arms--a court1 as it were1 of 
higher instance1 namely1 the  ,judgment 
of ,god3 and this really meant that     
physical strength and  activity1 that   
is1 our animal nature1 usurped the place
 of reason on  the judgment seat1       
deciding in matters of right and wrong1 
not by what  a man had done1 but by the 
force with which he was opposed1 the    
same  system1 in fact1 as prevails      
to-day under the principles of knightly 
honor4 ,if any one doubts that such is  
really the origin of our modern  duel1  
let him read an excellent work by ,j4,b4
 ,millingen1 ,the ,history  of          

,dueling4#b ,nay1 you may still find    
amongst the supporters of  the          
system1--who1 by the way are not usually
 the most educated or  thoughtful of    
men1--some who look upon the result of a
 duel as really  constituting a divine  
judgment in the matter in dispute2 no   
doubt in  consequence of the traditional
 feeling on the subject4    ,but leaving
 aside the question of origin1 it must  
now be clear to us  that the main       
tendency of the principle is to use     
physical menace for  the purpose of     
extorting an appearance of respect which
 is deemed too  difficult or superfluous
 to acquire in reality2 a proceeding    
which  comes to much the same thing as  
if you were to prove the warmth of  your
 room by holding your hand on the       
thermometer and so make it rise4  ,in   
fact1 the kernel of the matter is this3 
whereas civic honor aims  at peaceable  
intercourse1 and consists in the opinion
 of other people  that we deserve full  
confidence1 because we pay unconditional

  respect to their rights2 knightly     
honor1 on the other hand1 lays  down    
that we are to be feared1 as being      
determined at all costs to  maintain our
 own4    ,as not much reliance can be   
placed upon human integrity1 the        
principle  that it is more essential to 
arouse fear than to invite confidence   
would not1 perhaps1 be a false one1 if  
we were living in a state of  nature1   
where every man would have to protect   
himself and directly  maintain his own  
rights4 ,but in civilized life1 where   
the ,state  undertakes the protection of
 our person and property1 the principle 
is  no longer applicable3 it stands1    
like the castles and watch-towers of    
the age when might was right1 a useless 
and forlorn object1 amidst  well-tilled 
fields and frequented roads1 or even    
railways4    ,accordingly1 the          
application of knightly honor1 which    
still recognizes  this principle1 is    
confined to those small cases of        
personal assault  which meet with but   

slight punishment at the hands of the   
law1 or even  none at all1 for de       
minimis non1--mere trivial wrongs1      
committed  sometimes only in jest4 ,the 
consequence of this limited application 
of  the principle is that it has forced 
itself into an exaggerated respect  for 
the value of the person1--a respect     
utterly alien to the nature1            
constitution or destiny of man--which it
 has elated into a species  of sanctity3
 and as it considers that the ,state has
 imposed a very  insufficient penalty on
 the commission of such trivial         
injuries1 it  takes upon itself to      
punish them by attacking the aggressor  
in life  or limb4 ,the whole thing      
manifestly rests upon an excessive      
degree  of arrogant pride1 which1       
completely forgetting what man really   
is1  claims that he shall be absolutely 
free from all attack or even  censure4  
,those who determine to carry out this  
principle by main  force1 and announce1 
as their rule of action1 whoever insults

 or  strikes me shall die6 ought for    
their pains to be banished the          
country4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,knightly   
honor is the child of pride and folly1  
and it is  needy not pride1 which is the
 heritage of the human race4 ,it is a   
very remarkable fact that this extreme  
form of pride should be found           
exclusively amongst the adherents of the
 religion which teaches the  deepest    
humility4 ,still1 this pride must not be
 put down to religion1  but1 rather1 to 
the feudal system1 which made every     
nobleman a petty  sovereign who         
recognized no human judge1 and learned  
to regard his  person as sacred and     
inviolable1 and any attack upon it1 or  
any blow  or insulting word1 as an      
offence punishable with death4 ,the     
principle  of knightly honor and of the 
duel were at first confined to the      
nobles1 and1 later on1 also to officers 
in the army1 who1 enjoying a  kind of   
off-and-on relationship with the upper  
classes1 though they  were never        

incorporated with them1 were anxious not
 to be behind them4  ,it is true that   
duels were the product of the old       
ordeals2 but  the latter are not the    
foundation1 but rather the consequence  
and  application of the principle of    
honor3 the man who recognized no human  
judge appealed to the divine4 ,ordeals1 
however1 are not peculiar to            
,christendom3 they may be found in great
 force among the ,hindoos1  especially  
of ancient times2 and there are traces  
of them even now4    ,as a palliative to
 this rash arrogance1 people are in the 
habit of  giving way on everything4 ,if 
two intrepid persons meet1 and neither  
will give way1 the slightest difference 
may cause a shower of abuse1  then      
fisticuffs1 and1 finally1 a fatal blow3 
so that it would really  be a more      
decorous proceeding to omit the         
intermediate steps and  appeal to arms  
at once4 ,an appeal to arms has its own 
special  formalities2 and these have    
developed into a rigid and precise      

system  of laws and regulations1        
together forming the most solemn farce  
there  is--a regular temple of honor    
dedicated to folly6 ,for if two intrepid
  persons dispute over some trivial     
matter1 7more important affairs are     
dealt with by law71 one of them1 the    
cleverer of the two1 will of  course    
yield2 and they will agree to differ4   
,that this is so is proved  by the fact 
that common people1--or1 rather1 the    
numerous classes of  the community who  
do not acknowledge the principle of     
knightly honor1  let any dispute run its
 natural course4 ,amongst these classes 
homicide  is a hundredfold rarer than   
amongst those--and they amount1 perhaps1
  in all1 to hardly one in a            
thousand1--who pay homage to the        
principle3  and even blows are of no    
very frequent occurrence4    ,then it   
has been said that the manners and tone 
of good society are  ultimately based   
upon this principle of honor1 which1    
with its system  of duels1 is made out  

to be a bulwark against the assaults of 
savagery  and rudeness4 ,but ,athens1   
,corinth and ,rome could assuredly boast
 of  good1 nay1 excellent society1 and  
manners and tone of a high order1       
without any support from the bogey of   
knightly honor4 ,it is true that  women 
did not occupy that prominent place in  
ancient society which  they hold now1   
when conversation has taken on a        
frivolous and  trifling character1 to   
the exclusion of that weighty discourse 
which  distinguished the ancients4      
,this change has certainly contributed a
 great deal to bring about the          
tendency1 which is observable in good   
society now-a-days1 to prefer  personal 
courage to the possession of any other  
quality4 ,the fact is  that personal    
courage is really a very subordinate    
virtue1--merely the  distinguishing mark
 of a subaltern1--a virtue1 indeed1 in  
which we are  surpassed by the lower    
animals2 or else you would not hear     
people say1  as brave as a lion4 ,far   

from being the pillar of society1       
knightly  honor affords a sure asylum1  
in general for dishonesty and           
wickedness1  and also for small         
incivilities1 want of consideration and 
unmannerliness4 ,rude behavior is often 
passed over in silence because  no one  
cares to risk his neck in correcting it4
    ,after what ,i have said1 it will   
not appear strange that the dueling     
system is carried to the highest pitch  
of sanguinary zeal precisely in  that   
nation whose political and financial    
records show that they  are not too     
honorable4 ,what that nation is like in 
its private and  domestic life1 is a    
question which may be best put to those 
who are  experienced in the matter4     
,their urbanity and social culture have 
long  been conspicuous by their absence4
    ,there is no truth1 then1 in such   
pretexts4 ,it can be urged with more    
justice that as1 when you snarl at a    
dog1 he snarls in return1 and  when you 
pet him1 he fawns2 so it lies in the    

nature of men to return  hostility by   
hostility1 and to be embittered and     
irritated at any  signs of depreciatory 
treatment or hatred3 and1 as ,cicero    
says1 there  is something so penetrating
 in the shaft of envy that even men of  
wisdom and worth find its wound a       
painful one2 and nowhere in the  world1 
except1 perhaps1 in a few religious     
sects1 is an insult or a  blow taken    
with equanimity4 ,and yet a natural view
 of either would  in no case demand     
anything more than a requital           
proportionate to the  offence1 and would
 never go to the length of assigning    
death as the  proper penalty for anyone 
who accuses another of lying or         
stupidity or  cowardice4 ,the old       
,german theory of blood for a blow is a 
revolting  superstition of the age of   
chivalry4 ,and in any case the return or
  requital of an insult is dictated by  
anger1 and not by any such  obligation  
of honor and duty as the advocates of   
chivalry seek to  attach to it4 ,the    

fact is that1 the greater the truth1 the
 greater  the slander2 and it is clear  
that the slightest hint of some real    
delinquency will give much greater      
offence than a most terrible  accusation
 which is perfectly baseless3 so that a 
man who is quite  sure that he has done 
nothing to deserve a reproach may treat 
it with  contempt1 and will be safe in  
doing so4 ,the theory of honor demands  
that he shall show a susceptibility     
which he does not possess1 and  take    
bloody vengeance for insults which he   
cannot feel4 ,a man must  himself have  
but a poor opinion of his own worth who 
hastens to  prevent the utterance of an 
unfavorable opinion by giving his enemy 
a  black eye4    ,true appreciation of  
his own value will make a man really    
indifferent  to insult2 but if he cannot
 help resenting it1 a little shrewdness 
and  culture will enable him to save    
appearances and dissemble his anger4    
,if he could only get rid of this       
superstition about honor--the idea1 ,i  

mean1 that it disappears when you are   
insulted1 and can be restored by        
returning the insult2 if we could only  
stop people from thinking  that wrong1  
brutality and insolence can be legalized
 by expressing  readiness to give       
satisfaction1 that is1 to fight in      
defence of it1  we should all soon come 
to the general opinion that insult and  
depreciation are like a battle in which 
the loser wins2 and that1 as  ,vincenzo 
,monti says1 abuse resembles a          
church-procession1 because it  always   
returns to the point from which it set  
out4 ,if we could only  get people to   
look upon insult in this light1 we      
should no longer have  to say something 
rude in order to prove that we are in   
the right4 ,now1  unfortunately1 if we  
want to take a serious view of any      
question1 we  have first of all to      
consider whether it will not give       
offence in some  way or other to the    
dullard1 who generally shows alarm and  
resentment  at the merest sign of       

intelligence2 and it may easily happen  
that the  head which contains the       
intelligent view has to be pitted       
against the  noodle which is empty of   
everything but narrowness and stupidity4
 ,if  all this were done away with1     
intellectual superiority could take  the
 leading place in society which is its  
due--a place now occupied1  though      
people do not like to confess it1 by    
excellence of physique1  mere fighting  
pluck1 in fact2 and the natural effect  
of such a change  would be that the best
 kind of people would have one reason   
the  less for withdrawing from society4 
,this would pave the way for the        
introduction of real courtesy and       
genuinely good society1 such as         
undoubtedly existed in ,athens1 ,corinth
 and ,rome4 ,if anyone wants  to see a  
good example of what ,i mean1 ,i should 
like him to read  ,xenophon's ,banquet4 
,the last argument in defence of        
knightly honor no doubt is1 that1  but  
for its existence1 the world--awful     

thought6--would be a regular            
bear-garden4 ,to which ,i may briefly   
reply that nine hundred and  ninety-nine
 people out of a thousand who do not    
recognize the code1  have often given   
and received a blow without any fatal   
consequences3  whereas amongst the      
adherents of the code a blow usually    
means death  to one of the parties4 ,but
 let me examine this argument more      
closely4    ,i have often tried to find 
some tenable1 or at any rate1 plausible 
basis--other than a merely conventional 
one--some positive reasons1  that is to 
say1 for the rooted conviction which a  
portion of mankind  entertains1 that a  
blow is a very dreadful thing2 but ,i   
have looked  for it in vain1 either in  
the animal or in the rational side of   
human  nature4 ,a blow is1 and always   
will be1 a trivial physical injury which
  one man can do to another2 proving1   
thereby1 nothing more than his          
superiority in strength or skill1 or    
that his enemy was off his guard4       

,analysis will carry us no further4 ,the
 same knight who regards a blow  from   
the human hand as the greatest of evils1
 if he gets a ten times  harder blow    
from his horse1 will give you the       
assurance1 as he limps  away in         
suppressed pain1 that it is a matter of 
no consequence  whatever4 ,so ,i have   
come to think that it is the human hand 
which is  at the bottom of the mischief4
 ,and yet in a battle the knight may get
  cuts and thrusts from the same hand1  
and still assure you that his  wounds   
are not worth mentioning4 ,now1 ,i hear 
that a blow from the flat  of a sword is
 not by any means so bad as a blow from 
a stick2 and  that1 a short time ago1   
cadets were liable to be punished by the
 one  but not the other1 and that the   
very greatest honor of all is the       
accolade4 ,this is all the psychological
 or moral basis that ,i can  find2 and  
so there is nothing left me but to      
pronounce the whole thing  an antiquated
 superstition that has taken deep root1 

and one more  of the many examples which
 show the force of tradition4 ,my view  
is  confirmed by the well-known fact    
that in ,china a beating with a bamboo  
is a very frequent punishment for the   
common people1 and even for  officials  
of every class2 which shows that human  
nature1 even in a  highly civilized     
state1 does not run in the same groove  
here and in  ,china4    ,on the         
contrary1 an unprejudiced view of human 
nature shows that it is  just as natural
 for a man to beat as it is for savage  
animals to bite  and rend in pieces1 or 
for horned beasts to butt or push4 ,man 
may be  said to be the animal that      
beats4 ,hence it is revolting to our    
sense  of the fitness of things to hear1
 as we sometimes do1 that one man       
bitten another2 on the other hand1 it is
 a natural and everyday  occurrence for 
him to get blows or give them4 ,it is   
intelligible  enough that1 as we become 
educated1 we are glad to dispense with  
blows  by a system of mutual restraint4 

,but it is a cruel thing to compel a    
nation or a single class to regard a    
blow as an awful misfortune which  must 
have death and murder for its           
consequences4 ,there are too  many      
genuine evils in the world to allow of  
our increasing them by  imaginary       
misfortunes1 which brings real ones in  
their train3 and yet  this is the       
precise effect of the superstition1     
which thus proves  itself at once stupid
 and malign4    ,it does not seem to me 
wise of governments and legislative     
bodies to  promote any such folly by    
attempting to do away with flogging as a
  punishment in civil or military life4 
,their idea is that they are  acting in 
the interests of humanity2 but1 in point
 of fact1 they are  doing just the      
opposite2 for the abolition of flogging 
will serve only  to strengthen this     
inhuman and abominable superstition1 to 
which so  many sacrifices have already  
been made4 ,for all offences1 except the
  worst1 a beating is the obvious1 and  

therefore the natural penalty2  and a   
man who will not listen to reason will  
yield to blows4 ,it seems  to me right  
and proper to administer corporal       
punishment to the man  who possesses    
nothing and therefore cannot be fined1  
or cannot be put  in prison because his 
master's interests would suffer by the  
loss of  his service4 ,there are really 
no arguments against it3 only mere talk 
about the dignity of man--talk which    
proceeds1 not from any clear  notions on
 the subject1 but from the pernicious   
superstition ,i have  been describing4  
,that it is a superstition which lies at
 the bottom of  the whole business is   
proved by an almost laughable example4  
,not  long ago1 in the military         
discipline of many countries1 the cat   
was  replaced by the stick4 ,in either  
case the object was to produce  physical
 pain2 but the latter method involved no
 disgrace1 and was not  derogatory to   
honor4    ,by promoting this            
superstition1 the ,state is playing into

 the hands of  the principle of knightly
 honor1 and therefore of the duel2 while
 at  the same time it is trying1 or at  
any rate it pretends it is trying1  to  
abolish the duel by legislative         
enactment4 ,as a natural consequence  we
 find that this fragment of the theory  
that might is right1 which  has come    
down to us from the most savage days of 
the ,middle ,age1 has  still in this    
nineteenth century a good deal of life  
left in it--more  shame to us6 ,it is   
high time for the principle to be driven
 out bag  and baggage4 ,now-a-days no   
one is allowed to set dogs or cocks to  
fight each other1--at any rate1 in      
,england it is a penal offence1--but    
men are plunged into deadly strife1     
against their will1 by the  operation of
 this ridiculous1 superstitious and     
absurd principle1  which imposes upon us
 the obligation1 as its narrow-minded   
supporters  and advocates declare1 of   
fighting with one another like          
gladiators1  for any little trifle4 ,let

 me recommend our purists to adopt the  
expression baiting#a instead of duel1   
which probably comes to us1  not from   
the ,latin duellum1 but from the        
,spanish duelo1--meaning  suffering1    
nuisance1 annoyance4    ,footnote #a3   
,ritterhetze    ,in any case1 we may    
well laugh at the pedantic excess to    
which this  foolish system has been     
carried4 ,it is really revolting that   
this  principle1 with its absurd code1  
can form a power within the             
,state--imperium in imperio--a power too
 easily put in motion1 which1           
recognizing no right but might1         
tyrannizes over the classes which come  
within its range1 by keeping up a sort  
of inquisition1 before which  any one   
may be haled on the most flimsy pretext1
 and there and then be  tried on an     
issue of life and death between himself 
and his opponent4  ,this is the lurking 
place from which every rascal1 if he    
only belongs  to the classes in         
question1 may menace and even           

exterminate the  noblest and best of    
men1 who1 as such1 must of course be an 
object of  hatred to him4 ,our system of
 justice and police-protection has made 
it  impossible in these days for any    
scoundrel in the street to attack us    
with--,your money or your life6 ,an end 
should be put to the burden  which      
weighs upon the higher classes--the     
burden1 ,i mean1 of having to  be ready 
every moment to expose life and limb to 
the mercy of anyone  who takes it into  
his rascally head to be coarse1 rude1   
foolish or  malicious4 ,it is perfectly 
atrocious that a pair of silly1         
passionate  boys should be wounded1     
maimed or even killed1 simply because   
they  have had a few words4    ,the     
strength of this tyrannical power within
 the ,state1 and the force  of the      
superstition1 may be measured by the    
fact that people who are  prevented from
 restoring their knightly honor by the  
superior or  inferior rank of their     
aggressor1 or anything else that puts   

the  persons on a different level1 often
 come to a tragic-comic end by          
committing suicide in sheer despair4    
,you may generally know a thing  to be  
false and ridiculous by finding that1 if
 it is carried to its  logical          
conclusion1 it results in a             
contradiction2 and here1 too1 we  have a
 very glaring absurdity4 ,for an officer
 is forbidden to take  part in a duel2  
but if he is challenged and declines to 
come out1 he  is punished by being      
dismissed the service4    ,as ,i am on  
the matter1 let me be more frank still4 
,the important  distinction1 which is   
often insisted upon1 between killing    
your enemy  in a fair fight with equal  
weapons1 and lying in ambush for him1 is
  entirely a corollary of the fact that 
the power within the ,state1 of  which  
,i have spoken1 recognizes no other     
right than might1 that is1  the right of
 the stronger1 and appeals to a         
,judgment of ,god as the  basis of the  
whole code4 ,for to kill a man in a fair

 fight1 is to  prove that you are       
superior to him in strength or skill2   
and to  justify the deed1 you must      
assume that the right of the stronger is
  really a right4    ,but the truth is  
that1 if my opponent is unable to defend
 himself1 it  gives me the possibility1 
but not by any means the right1 of      
killing  him4 ,the right1 the moral     
justification1 must depend entirely upon
  the motives which ,i have for taking  
his life4 ,even supposing that ,i  have 
sufficient motive for taking a man's    
life1 there is no reason  why ,i should 
make his death depend upon whether ,i   
can shoot or fence  better than he4 ,in 
such a case1 it is immaterial in what   
way ,i kill  him1 whether ,i attack him 
from the front or the rear4 ,from a     
moral  point of view1 the right of the  
stronger is no more convincing than  the
 right of the more skillful2 and it is  
skill which is employed if  you murder a
 a man treacherously4 ,might and skill  
are in this case  equally right2 in a   

duel1 for instance1 both the one and the
 other  come into play2 for a feint is  
only another name for treachery4 ,if ,i 
consider myself morally justified in    
taking a man's life1 it is stupid  of me
 to try first of all whether he can     
shoot or fence better than  ,i2 as1 if  
he can1 he will not only have wronged   
me1 but have taken my  life into the    
bargain4    ,it is ,rousseau's opinion  
that the proper way to avenge an insult 
is1  not to fight a duel with your      
aggressor1 but to assassinate him1--an  
opinion1 however1 which he is cautious  
enough only to barely indicate  in a    
mysterious note to one of the books of  
his ,emile4 ,this shows  the philosopher
 so completely under the influence of   
the mediaeval  superstition of knightly 
honor that he considers it justifiable  
to  murder a man who accuses you of     
lying3 whilst he must have known that   
every man1 and himself especially1 has  
deserved to have the lie given  him     
times without number4    ,the prejudice 

which justifies the killing of your     
adversary1 so long  as it is done in an 
open contest and with equal weapons1    
obviously  looks upon might as really   
right1 and a duel as the interference of
  ,god4 ,the ,italian who1 in a fit of  
rage1 falls upon his aggressor  wherever
 he finds him1 and despatches him       
without any ceremony1 acts1  at any     
rate1 consistently and naturally3 he may
 be cleverer1 but he is  not worse1 than
 the duelist4 ,if you say1 ,i am        
justified in killing my  adversary in a 
duel1 because he is at the moment doing 
his best to  kill me2 ,i can reply that 
it is your challenge which has placed   
him  under the necessity of defending   
himself2 and that by mutually putting   
it on the ground of self-defence1 the   
combatants are seeking a  plausible     
pretext for committing murder4 ,i should
 rather justify the  deed by the legal  
maxim ,volenti non fit injuria2 because 
the parties  mutually agree to set their
 life upon the issue4    ,this argument 

may1 however1 be rebutted by showing    
that the injured  party is not injured  
volens2 because it is this tyrannical   
principle  of knightly honor1 with its  
absurd code1 which forcibly drags one at
  least of the combatants before a      
bloody inquisition4    ,i have been     
rather prolix on the subject of knightly
 honor1 but ,i  had good reason for     
being so1 because the ,augean stable of 
moral and  intellectual enormity in this
 world can be cleaned out only with the 
besom of philosophy4 ,there are two     
things which more than all  else serve  
to make the social arrangements of      
modern life compare  unfavorably with   
those of antiquity1 by giving our age a 
gloomy1 dark  and sinister aspect1 from 
which antiquity1 fresh1 natural and1 as 
it  were1 in the morning of life1 is    
completely free2 ,i mean modern honor   
and modern disease1--par nobile         
fratrum6--which have combined to  poison
 all the relations of life1 whether     
public or private4 ,the  second of this 

noble pair extends its influence much   
farther than at  first appears to be the
 case1 as being not merely a physical1  
but also  a moral disease4 ,from the    
time that poisoned arrows have been     
found  in ,cupid's quiver1 an           
estranging1 hostile1 nay1 devilish      
element has  entered into the relations 
of men and women1 like a sinister thread
  of fear and mistrust in the warp and  
woof of their intercourse2  indirectly  
shaking the foundations of human        
fellowship1 and so more or  less        
affecting the whole tenor of existence4 
,but it would be beside my  present     
purpose to pursue the subject further4  
,an influence analogous to this1 though 
working on other lines1 is  exerted by  
the principle of knightly honor1--that  
solemn farce1  unknown to the ancient   
world1 which makes modern society stiff1
 gloomy  and timid1 forcing us to keep  
the strictest watch on every word that  
falls4 ,nor is this all4 ,the principle 
is a universal ,minotaur2 and the       

goodly company of the sons of noble     
houses which it demands in yearly       
tribute1 comes1 not from one country    
alone1 as of old1 but from every  land  
in ,europe4 ,it is high time to make a  
regular attack upon this  foolish       
system2 and this is what ,i am trying to
 do now4 ,would that  these two monsters
 of the modern world might disappear    
before the end  of the century6    ,let 
us hope that medicine may be able to    
find some means of preventing  the one1 
and that1 by clearing our ideals1       
philosophy may put an end  to the other3
 for it is only by clearing our ideas   
that the evil can  be eradicated4       
,governments have tried to do so by     
legislation1 and  failed4    ,still1 if 
they are really concerned to stop the   
dueling system2 and if  the small       
success that has attended their efforts 
is really due only  to their inability  
to cope with the evil1 ,i do not mind   
proposing a  law the success of which ,i
 am prepared to guarantee4 ,it will     

involve  no sanguinary measures1 and can
 be put into operation without recourse 
either to the scaffold or the gallows1  
or to imprisonment for life4 ,it  is a  
small homeopathic pilule1 with no       
serious after effects4 ,if any  man send
 or accept a challenge1 let the corporal
 take him before the  guard house1 and  
there give him1 in broad daylight1      
twelve strokes  with a stick a la       
,chinoise2 a non-commissioned officer or
 a private  to receive six4 ,if a duel  
has actually taken place1 the usual     
criminal  proceedings should be         
instituted4    ,a person with knightly  
notions might1 perhaps1 object that1 if 
such  a punishment were carried out1 a  
man of honor would possibly shoot       
himself2 to which ,i should answer that 
it is better for a fool like  that to   
shoot himself rather than other people4 
,however1 ,i know very  well that       
governments are not really in earnest   
about putting down  dueling4 ,civil     
officials1 and much more so1 officers in

 the army1  7except those in the highest
 positions71 are paid most inadequately 
for the services they perform2 and the  
deficiency is made up by honor1  which  
is represented by titles and orders1    
and1 in general1 by the  system of rank 
and distinction4 ,the duel is1 so to    
speak1 a very  serviceable extra-horse  
for people of rank3 so they are trained 
in the  knowledge of it at the          
universities4 ,the accidents which      
happen to  those who use it make up in  
blood for the deficiency of the pay4    
,just to complete the discussion1 let me
 here mention the subject  of national  
honor4 ,it is the honor of a nation as a
 unit in the  aggregate of nations4 ,and
 as there is no court to appeal to but  
the  court of force2 and as every nation
 must be prepared to defend its own     
interests1 the honor of a nation        
consists in establishing the opinion1   
not only that it may be trusted 7its    
credit71 but also that it is to  be     
feared4 ,an attack upon its rights must 

never be allowed to pass  unheeded4 ,it 
is a combination of civic and knightly  
honor4      ,section #e4--;,fame4       
,under the heading of place in the      
estimation of the world we have put     
,fame2 and this we must now proceed to  
consider4    ,fame and honor are twins2 
and twins1 too1 like ,castor and        
,pollux1 of  whom the one was mortal and
 the other was not4 ,fame is the undying
  brother of ephemeral honor4 ,i speak1 
of course1 of the highest kind of  fame1
 that is1 of fame in the true and       
genuine sense of the word2 for1  to be  
sure1 there are many sorts of fame1 some
 of which last but a  day4 ,honor is    
concerned merely with such qualities as 
everyone may be  expected to show under 
similar circumstances2 fame only of     
those which  cannot be required of any  
man4 ,honor is of qualities which       
everyone  has a right to attribute to   
himself2 fame only of those which should
  be left to others to attribute4       
,whilst our honor extends as far as     

people have knowledge of us2 fame runs  
in advance1 and makes us known  wherever
 it finds its way4 ,everyone can make a 
claim to honor2 very  few to fame1 as   
being attainable only in virtue of      
extraordinary  achievements4    ,these  
achievements may be of two kinds1 either
 actions or works2  and so to fame there
 are two paths open4 ,on the path of    
actions1 a  great heart is the chief    
recommendation2 on that of works1 a     
great  head4 ,each of the two paths has 
its own peculiar advantages and         
detriments2 and the chief difference    
between them is that actions are        
fleeting1 while works remain4 ,the      
influence of an action1 be it never  so 
noble1 can last but a short time2 but a 
work of genius is a living  influence1  
beneficial and ennobling throughout the 
ages4 ,all that can  remain of actions  
is a memory1 and that becomes weak and  
disfigured by  time--a matter of        
indifference to us1 until at last it is 
extinguished  altogether2 unless1       

indeed1 history takes it up1 and        
presents it1  fossilized1 to posterity4 
,works are immortal in themselves1 and  
once  committed to writing1 may live for
 ever4 ,of ,alexander the ,great we     
have but the name and the record2 but   
,plato and ,aristotle1 ,homer and       
,horace are alive1 and as directly at   
work to-day as they were in their  own  
lifetime4 ,the ,vedas1 and their        
,upanishads1 are still with us3  but of 
all contemporaneous actions not a trace 
has come down to us4#a    ,footnote #a3 
,accordingly it is a poor compliment1   
though sometimes  a fashionable one1 to 
try to pay honor to a work by calling it
 an  action4 ,for a work is something   
essentially higher in its nature4  ,an  
action is always something based on     
motive1 and1 therefore1  fragmentary and
 fleeting--a part1 in fact1 of that     
,will which is the  universal and       
original element in the constitution of 
the world4 ,but  a great and beautiful  
work has a permanent character1 as being

 of  universal significance1 and sprung 
from the ,intellect1 which rises1  like 
a perfume1 above the faults and follies 
of the world of ,will4    ,the fame of a
 great action has this advantage1 that  
it generally  starts with a loud        
explosion2 so loud1 indeed1 as to be    
heard all over  ,europe3 whereas the    
fame of a great work is slow and gradual
 in its  beginnings2 the noise it makes 
is at first slight1 but it goes on      
growing greater1 until at last1 after a 
hundred years perhaps1 it  attains its  
full force2 but then it remains1 because
 the works  remain1 for thousands of    
years4 ,but in the other case1 when the 
first  explosion is over1 the noise it  
makes grows less and less1 and is  heard
 by fewer and fewer persons2 until it   
ends by the action having  only a       
shadowy existence in the pages of       
history4    ,another disadvantage under 
which actions labor is that they depend 
upon chance for the possibility of      
coming into existence2 and hence1  the  

fame they win does not flow entirely    
from their intrinsic value1  but also   
from the circumstances which happened to
 lend them importance  and lustre4      
,again1 the fame of actions1 if1 as in  
war1 they are purely  personal1 depends 
upon the testimony of fewer witnesses2  
and these  are not always present1 and  
even if present1 are not always just or 
unbiased observers4 ,this disadvantage1 
however1 is counterbalanced  by the fact
 that actions have the advantage of     
being of a practical  character1 and1   
therefore1 within the range of general  
human  intelligence2 so that once the   
facts have been correctly reported1     
justice is immediately done2 unless1    
indeed1 the motive underlying the       
action is not at first properly         
understood or appreciated4 ,no action   
can be really understood apart from the 
motive which prompted it4    ,it is just
 the contrary with works4 ,their        
inception does not depend  upon chance1 
but wholly and entirely upon their      

author2 and whoever  they are in and for
 themselves1 that they remain as long as
 they live4  ,further1 there is a       
difficulty in properly judging them1    
which becomes  all the harder1 the      
higher their character2 often there are 
no persons  competent to understand the 
work1 and often no unbiased or honest   
critics4 ,their fame1 however1 does not 
depend upon one judge only2  they can   
enter an appeal to another4 ,in the case
 of actions1 as ,i have  said1 it is    
only their memory which comes down to   
posterity1 and then  only in the        
traditional form2 but works are handed  
down themselves1  and1 except when parts
 of them have been lost1 in the form in 
which they first appeared4 ,in this case
 there is no room for any  disfigurement
 of the facts2 and any circumstance     
which may have  prejudiced them in their
 origin1 fall away with the lapse of    
time4  ,nay1 it is often only after the 
lapse of time that the persons really   
competent to judge them                 

appear--exceptional critics sitting in  
judgment on exceptional works1 and      
giving their weighty verdicts in        
succession4 ,these collectively form a  
perfectly just appreciation2 and  though
 there are cases where it has taken some
 hundreds of years to  form it1 no      
further lapse of time is able to reverse
 the verdict2--so  secure and inevitable
 is the fame of a great work4           
,whether authors ever live to see the   
dawn of their fame depends upon  the    
chance of circumstance2 and the higher  
and more important their  works are1 the
 less likelihood there is of their doing
 so4 ,that was  an incomparable fine    
saying of ,seneca's1 that fame follows  
merit as  surely as the body casts a    
shadow2 sometimes falling in front1 and 
sometimes behind4 ,and he goes on to    
remark that though the envy of          
contemporaries be shown by universal    
silence1 there will come those  who will
 judge without enmity or favor4 ,from   
this remark it is  manifest that even in

 ,seneca's age there were rascals who   
understood  the art of suppressing merit
 by maliciously ignoring its existence1 
and of concealing good work from the    
public in order to favor the bad3  it is
 an art well understood in our day1 too1
 manifesting itself1 both  then and now1
 in an envious conspiracy of silence4   
,as a general rule1 the longer a man's  
fame is likely to last1 the  later it   
will be in coming2 for all excellent    
products require time  for their        
development4 ,the fame which lasts to   
posterity is like an  oak1 of very slow 
growth2 and that which endures but a    
little while1  like plants which spring 
up in a year and then die2 whilst false 
fame  is like a fungus1 shooting up in a
 night and perishing as soon4    ,and   
why8 ,for this reason2 the more a man   
belongs to posterity1 in  other words1  
to humanity in general1 the more of an  
alien he is to his  contemporaries2     
since his work is not meant for them as 
such1 but only  for them in so far as   

they form part of mankind at large2     
there is  none of that familiar local   
color about his productions which would 
appeal to them2 and so what he does1    
fails of recognition because it  is     
strange4    ,people are more likely to  
appreciate the man who serves the       
circumstances of his own brief hour1 or 
the temper of the  moment1--belonging to
 it1 living and dying with it4    ,the  
general history of art and literature   
shows that the highest  achievements of 
the human mind are1 as a rule1 not      
favorably received  at first2 but remain
 in obscurity until they win notice from
  intelligence of a high order1 by whose
 influence they are brought into  a     
position which they then maintain1 in   
virtue of the authority thus  given     
them4    ,if the reason of this should  
be asked1 it will be found that         
ultimately1 a man can really understand 
and appreciate those things  only which 
are of like nature with himself4 ,the   
dull person will like  what is dull1 and

 the common person what is common2 a man
 whose ideas  are mixed will be         
attracted by confusion of thought2 and  
folly will  appeal to him who has no    
brains at all2 but best of all1 a man   
will  like his own works1 as being of a 
character thoroughly at one with        
himself4 ,this is a truth as old as     
,epicharmus of fabulous memory--        
,greek3 ,thaumaston ouden esti me tauth 
outo legein    ,kal andanein autoisin   
autous kal dokein    ,kalos pethukenai  
kal gar ho kuon kuni    ,kalloton eimen 
phainetai koi bous boi    ,onos dono    
kalliston estin1 us dut4    ,the sense  
of this passage--for it should not be   
lost--is that we  should not be         
surprised if people are pleased with    
themselves1 and  fancy that they are in 
good case2 for to a dog the best thing  
in the  world is a dog2 to an ox1 an ox2
 to an ass1 an ass2 and to a sow1 a     
sow4    ,the strongest arm is unavailing
 to give impetus to a featherweight2    
for1 instead of speeding on its way and 

hitting its mark with effect1  it will  
soon fall to the ground1 having expended
 what little energy  was given to it1   
and possessing no mass of its own to be 
the vehicle  of momentum4 ,so it is with
 great and noble thoughts1 nay1 with the
  very masterpieces of genius1 when     
there are none but little1 weak1 and    
perverse minds to appreciate them1--a   
fact which has been deplored  by a      
chorus of the wise in all ages4 ,jesus1 
the son of ,sirach1 for  instance1      
declares that ,he that telleth a tale to
 a fool speaketh to  one in slumber3    
when he hath told his tale1 he will say1
 ,what is the  matter8#a ,and ,hamlet   
says1 ,a knavish speech sleeps in a     
fool's  ear4#b ,and ,goethe is of the   
same opinion1 that a dull ear mocks at  
the wisest word1      ,das glcktichste  
,wort es wird verhhnt1    ,wenn der     
,hrer ein ,schiefohr ist3    and again1 
that we should not be discouraged if    
people are stupid1 for  you can make no 
rings if you throw your stone into a    

marsh4      ,du iwirkest nicht1 ,alles  
bleibt so stumpf3      ,sei guter       
,dinge6    ,der ,stein in ,sumpf        
,macht keine ,ringe4    ,footnote #a3   
,ecclesiasticus1 xxii41 #h4    ,footnote
 #b3 ,act iv41 ,sc4 #b4    ,lichtenberg 
asks3 ,when a head and a book come into 
collision1 and one  sounds hollow1 is it
 always the book8 ,and in another place3
 ,works  like this are as a mirror2 if  
an ass looks in1 you cannot expect an   
apostle to look out4 ,we should do well 
to remember old ,gellert's  fine and    
touching lament1 that the best gifts of 
all find the fewest  admirers1 and that 
most men mistake the bad for the        
good1--a daily  evil that nothing can   
prevent1 like a plague which no remedy  
can cure4  ,there is but one thing to be
 done1 though how difficult6--the       
foolish  must become wise1--and that    
they can never be4 ,the value of life   
they  never know2 they see with the     
outer eye but never with the mind1 and  
praise the trivial because the good is  

strange to them3--      ,nie kennen sie 
den ,werth der ,dinge1      ,ihr ,auge  
schliesst1 nicht ihr ,verstand2    ,sie 
loben ewig das ,geringe      ,weil sie  
das ,gute nie gekannt4    ,to the       
intellectual incapacity which1 as       
,goethe says1 fails to  recognize and   
appreciate the good which exists1 must  
be added  something which comes into    
play everywhere1 the moral baseness of  
mankind1 here taking the form of envy4  
,the new fame that a man wins  raises   
him afresh over the heads of his        
fellows1 who are thus degraded  in      
proportion4 ,all conspicuous merit is   
obtained at the cost of those  who      
possess none2 or1 as ,goethe has it in  
the ,weststlicher ,divan1  another's    
praise is one's own depreciation--      
,wenn wir ,andern ,ehre geben    ,mssen 
wir uns selbst entadeln4    ,we see1    
then1 how it is that1 whatever be the   
form which excellence  takes1           
mediocrity1 the common lot of by far the
 greatest number1 is  leagued against it

 in a conspiracy to resist1 and if      
possible1 to  suppress it4 ,the         
pass-word of this league is  bas le     
mrite4 ,nay  more2 those who have done  
something themselves1 and enjoy a       
certain  amount of fame1 do not care    
about the appearance of a new           
reputation1  because its success is apt 
to throw theirs into the shade4 ,hence1 
,goethe declares that if we had to      
depend for our life upon the favor  of  
others1 we should never have lived at   
all2 from their desire  to appear       
important themselves1 people gladly     
ignore our very  existence3--      ,htte
 ich gezaudert zu werden1    ,bis man   
mir's ,leben gegnut1    ,ich wre noch   
nicht auf ,erden1    ,wie ihr begreifen 
knnt1    ,wenn ihr seht1 wie sie sich   
geberden1    ,die1 um etwas zu scheinen1
    ,mich gerne mochten verneinen4      
,honor1 on the contrary1 generally meets
 with fair appreciation1 and is  not    
exposed to the onslaught of envy2 nay1  
every man is credited with  the         

possession of it until the contrary is  
proved4 ,but fame has to be  won in     
despite of envy1 and the tribunal which 
awards the laurel is  composed of judges
 biased against the applicant from the  
very first4  ,honor is something which  
we are able and ready to share with     
everyone2  fame suffers encroachment and
 is rendered more unattainable in       
proportion as more people come by it4   
,further1 the difficulty of  winning    
fame by any given work stands in reverse
 ratio to the number  of people who are 
likely to read it2 and hence it is so   
much harder  to become famous as the    
author of a learned work than as a      
writer  who aspires only to amuse4 ,it  
is hardest of all in the case of        
philosophical works1 because the result 
at which they aim is rather  vague1 and1
 at the same time1 useless from a       
material point of view2  they appeal    
chiefly to readers who are working on   
the same lines  themselves4    ,it is   
clear1 then1 from what ,i have said as  

to the difficulty of  winning fame1 that
 those who labor1 not out of love for   
their subject1  nor from pleasure in    
pursuing it1 but under the stimulus of  
ambition1  rarely or never leave mankind
 a legacy of immortal works4 ,the man   
who  seeks to do what is good and       
genuine1 must avoid what is bad1 and be 
ready to defy the opinions of the mob1  
nay1 even to despise it and its         
misleaders4 ,hence the truth of the     
remark1 7especially insisted upon  by   
,osorius de ,gloria71 that fame shuns   
those who seek it1 and seeks  those who 
shun it2 for the one adapt themselves to
 the taste of their  contemporaries1 and
 the others work in defiance of it4     
,but1 difficult though it be to acquire 
fame1 it is an easy thing to  keep when 
once acquired4 ,here1 again1 fame is in 
direct opposition to  honor1 with which 
everyone is presumably to be accredited4
 ,honor  has not to be won2 it must only
 not be lost4 ,but there lies the       
difficulty6 ,for by a single unworthy   

action1 it is gone irretrievably4  ,but 
fame1 in the proper sense of the word1  
can never disappear2 for  the action or 
work by which it was acquired can never 
be undone2 and  fame attaches to its    
author1 even though he does nothing to  
deserve it  anew4 ,the fame which       
vanishes1 or is outlived1 proves itself 
thereby  to be spurious1 in other words1
 unmerited1 and due to a momentary      
overestimate of a man's work2 not to    
speak of the kind of fame which  ,hegel 
enjoyed1 and which ,lichtenberg         
describes as trumpeted forth by  a      
clique of admiring undergraduates--the  
resounding echo of empty  heads2--such a
 fame as will make posterity smile when 
it lights upon  a grotesque architecture
 of words1 a fine nest with the birds   
long  ago flown2 it will knock at the   
door of this decayed structure of       
conventionalities and find it utterly   
empty6--not even a trace of  thought    
there to invite the passer-by4    ,the  
truth is that fame means nothing but    

what a man is in comparison  with       
others4 ,it is essentially relative in  
character1 and therefore  only          
indirectly valuable2 for it vanishes the
 moment other people  become what the   
famous man is4 ,absolute value can be   
predicated only  of what a man possesses
 under any and all circumstances1--here1
 what a  man is directly and in himself4
 ,it is the possession of a great heart 
or a great head1 and not the mere fame  
of it1 which is worth having1  and      
conducive to happiness4 ,not fame1 but  
that which deserves to be  famous1 is   
what a man should hold in esteem4 ,this 
is1 as it were1 the  true underlying    
substance1 and fame is only an accident1
 affecting its  subject chiefly as a    
kind of external symptom1 which serves  
to confirm  his own opinion of himself4 
,light is not visible unless it meets   
with  something to reflect it2 and      
talent is sure of itself only when its  
fame is noised abroad4 ,but fame is not 
a certain symptom of merit2  because you

 can have the one without the other2 or1
 as ,lessing nicely  puts it1 ,some     
people obtain fame1 and others deserve  
it4    ,it would be a miserable         
existence which should make its value or
 want  of value depend upon what other  
people think2 but such would be the     
life of a hero or a genius if its worth 
consisted in fame1 that is1  in the     
applause of the world4 ,every man lives 
and exists on his own  account1 and1    
therefore1 mainly in and for himself2   
and what he is and  the whole manner of 
his being concern himself more than     
anyone else2  so if he is not worth much
 in this respect1 he cannot be worth    
much  otherwise4 ,the idea which other  
people form of his existence is         
something secondary1 derivative1 exposed
 to all the chances of fate1  and in the
 end affecting him but very indirectly4 
,besides1 other  people's heads are a   
wretched place to be the home of a man's
 true  happiness--a fanciful happiness  
perhaps1 but not a real one4    ,and    

what a mixed company inhabits the       
,temple of ,universal  ,fame6--generals1
 ministers1 charlatans1 jugglers1       
dancers1 singers1  millionaires and     
,jews6 ,it is a temple in which more    
sincere  recognition1 more genuine      
esteem1 is given to the several         
excellencies  of such folk1 than to     
superiority of mind1 even of a high     
order1 which  obtains from the great    
majority only a verbal acknowledgment4  
,from the point of view of human        
happiness1 fame is1 surely1 nothing  but
 a very rare and delicate morsel for the
 appetite that feeds on  pride and      
vanity--an appetite which1 however      
carefully concealed1  exists to an      
immoderate degree in every man1 and is1 
perhaps strongest  of all in those who  
set their hearts on becoming famous at  
any cost4  ,such people generally have  
to wait some time in uncertainty as to  
their own value1 before the opportunity 
comes which will put it to the  proof   
and let other people see what they are  

made of2 but until then1  they feel as  
if they were suffering secret           
injustice4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,our      
greatest pleasure consists in being     
admired2 but  those who admire us1 even 
if they have every reason to do so1 are 
slow  to express their sentiments4      
,hence he is the happiest man who1 no   
matter how1 manages sincerely to admire 
himself--so long as other  people leave 
him alone4    ,but1 as ,i explained at  
the beginning of this chapter1 an       
unreasonable value is set upon other    
people's opinion1 and one quite         
disproportionate to its real worth4     
,hobbes has some strong remarks on  this
 subject2 and no doubt he is quite      
right4 ,mental pleasure1 he  writes1 and
 ecstacy of any kind1 arise when1 on    
comparing ourselves  with others1 we    
come to the conclusion that we may think
 well of  ourselves4 ,so we can easily  
understand the great value which is     
always attached to fame1 as worth any   
sacrifices if there is the  slightest   

hope of attaining it4      ,fame is the 
spur that the clear spirit doth raise   
7,that hath infirmity of noble mind7    
,to scorn delights and live laborious   
days#a    ,and again3            ,how   
hard it is to climb    ,the heights     
where ,fame's proud temple shines afar6 
,footnote #a3 ,milton4 ,lycidas4    ,we 
can thus understand how it is that the  
vainest people in the world  are always 
talking about la gloire1 with the most  
implicit faith in  it as a stimulus to  
great actions and great works4 ,but     
there can he no  doubt that fame is     
something secondary in its character1 a 
mere echo  or reflection--as it were1 a 
shadow or symptom--of merit3 and1 in    
any case1 what excites admiration must  
be of more value than the  admiration   
itself4 ,the truth is that a man is made
 happy1 not by fame1  but by that which 
brings him fame1 by his merits1 or to   
speak more  correctly1 by the           
disposition and capacity from which his 
merits  proceed1 whether they be moral  

or intellectual4 ,the best side of a    
man's nature must of necessity be more  
important for him than for  anyone else3
 the reflection of it1 the opinion which
 exists in the  heads of others1 is a   
matter that can affect him only in a    
very  subordinate degree4 ,he who       
deserves fame without getting it        
possesses  by far the more important    
element of happiness1 which should      
console  him for the loss of the other4 
,it is not that a man is thought to be  
great by masses of incompetent and often
 infatuated people1 but that  he really 
is great1 which should move us to envy  
his position2 and his  happiness lies1  
not in the fact that posterity will hear
 of him1 but  that he is the creator of 
thoughts worthy to be treasured up and  
studied for hundreds of years4          
,besides1 if a man has done this1 he    
possesses something which cannot  be    
wrested from him2 and1 unlike fame1 it  
is a possession dependent  entirely upon
 himself4 ,if admiration were his chief 

aim1 there would  be nothing in him to  
admire4 ,this is just what happens in   
the case  of false1 that is1 unmerited1 
fame2 for its recipient lives upon it   
without actually possessing the solid   
substratum of which fame is the  outward
 and visible sign4 ,false fame must     
often put its possessor out  of conceit 
with himself2 for the time may come     
when1 in spite of the  illusions borne  
of self-love1 he will feel giddy on the 
heights which  he was never meant to    
climb1 or look upon himself as spurious 
coin2 and in the anguish of threatened  
discovery and well-merited  degradation1
 he will read the sentence of posterity 
on the foreheads  of the wise--like a   
man who owes his property to a forged   
will4    ,the truest fame1 the fame that
 comes after death1 is never heard of by
  its recipient2 and yet he is called a 
happy man4    ,his happiness lay both in
 the possession of those great qualities
  which won him fame1 and in the        
opportunity that was granted him of     

developing them--the leisure he had to  
act as he pleased1 to dedicate  himself 
to his favorite pursuits4 ,it is only   
work done from the heart  that ever     
gains the laurel4    ,greatness of soul1
 or wealth of intellect1 is what makes a
 man  happy--intellect1 such as1 when   
stamped on its productions1 will        
receive the admiration of centuries to  
come1--thoughts which make him  happy at
 the time1 and will in their turn be a  
source of study and  delight to the     
noblest minds of the most remote        
posterity4 ,the value  of posthumous    
fame lies in deserving it2 and this is  
its own reward4  ,whether works destined
 to fame attain it in the lifetime of   
their  author is a chance affair1 of no 
very great importance4 ,for the  average
 man has no critical power of his own1  
and is absolutely  incapable of         
appreciating the difficulty of a great  
work4 ,people are  always swayed by     
authority2 and where fame is widespread1
 it means  that ninety-nine out of a    

hundred take it on faith alone4 ,if a   
man is  famed far and wide in his own   
lifetime1 he will1 if he is wise1 not   
set too much value upon it1 because it  
is no more than the echo of a  few      
voices1 which the chance of a day has   
touched in his favor4    ,would a       
musician feel flattered by the loud     
applause of an audience  if he knew that
 they were nearly all deaf1 and that1 to
 conceal their  infirmity1 they set to  
work to clap vigorously as soon as ever 
they  saw one or two persons applauding8
 ,and what would he say if he got to    
know that those one or two persons had  
often taken bribes to secure  the       
loudest applause for the poorest player6
    ,it is easy to see why contemporary 
praise so seldom develops into          
posthumous fame4 ,d',alembert1 in an    
extremely fine description of the       
temple of literary fame1 remarks that   
the sanctuary of the temple is          
inhabited by the great dead1 who during 
their life had no place there1  and by a

 very few living persons1 who are nearly
 all ejected on their  death4 ,let me   
remark1 in passing1 that to erect a     
monument to a man  in his lifetime is as
 much as declaring that posterity is not
 to be  trusted in its judgment of him4 
,if a man does happen to see his own    
true fame1 it can very rarely be before 
he is old1 though there have  been      
artists and musicians who have been     
exceptions to this rule1 but  very few  
philosophers4 ,this is confirmed by the 
portraits of people  celebrated by their
 works2 for most of them are taken only 
after their  subjects have attained     
celebrity1 generally depicting them as  
old and  grey2 more especially if       
philosophy has been the work of their   
lives4  ,from the eudaemonistic         
standpoint1 this is a very proper       
arrangement2  as fame and youth are too 
much for a mortal at one and the same   
time4  ,life is such a poor business    
that the strictest economy must be      
exercised in its good things4 ,youth has

 enough and to spare in itself1  and    
must rest content with what it has4 ,but
 when the delights and joys  of life    
fall away in old age1 as the leaves from
 a tree in autumn1  fame buds forth     
opportunely1 like a plant that is green 
in winter4  ,fame is1 as it were1 the   
fruit that must grow all the summer     
before it  can be enjoyed at ,yule4     
,there is no greater consolation in age 
than  the feeling of having put the     
whole force of one's youth into works   
which still remain young4    ,finally1  
let us examine a little more closely the
 kinds of fame which  attach to various 
intellectual pursuits2 for it is with   
fame of this  sort that my remarks are  
more immediately concerned4    ,i think 
it may be said broadly that the         
intellectual superiority it  denotes    
consists in forming theories1 that is1  
new combinations of  certain facts4     
,these facts may be of very different   
kinds2 but  the better they are known1  
and the more they come within everyday  

experience1 the greater and wider will  
be the fame which is to be won  by      
theorizing about them4    ,for instance1
 if the facts in question are numbers or
 lines or special  branches of science1 
such as physics1 zoology1 botany1       
anatomy1 or  corrupt passages in ancient
 authors1 or undecipherable             
inscriptions1  written1 it may be1 in   
some unknown alphabet1 or obscure points
  in history2 the kind of fame that may 
be obtained by correctly  manipulating  
such facts will not extend much beyond  
those who make a  study of them--a small
 number of persons1 most of whom live   
retired  lives and are envious of others
 who become famous in their special     
branch of knowledge4    ,but if the     
facts be such as are known to everyone1 
for example1 the  fundamental           
characteristics of the human mind or the
 human heart1  which are shared by all  
alike2 or the great physical agencies   
which  are constantly in operation      
before our eyes1 or the general course  

of  natural laws2 the kind of fame which
 is to be won by spreading the  light of
 a new and manifestly true theory in    
regard to them1 is such  as in time will
 extend almost all over the civilized   
world3 for if the  facts be such as     
everyone can grasp1 the theory also will
 be generally  intelligible4 ,but the   
extent of the fame will depend upon the 
difficulties overcome2 and the more     
generally known the facts are1 the      
harder it will be to form a theory that 
shall be both new and true3  because a  
great many heads will have been occupied
 with them1 and  there will be little or
 no possibility of saying anything that 
has not  been said before4    ,on the   
other hand1 facts which are not         
accessible to everybody1 and  can be got
 at only after much difficulty and      
labor1 nearly  always admit of new      
combinations and theories2 so that1 if  
sound  understanding and judgment are   
brought to bear upon them--qualities    
which do not involve very high          

intellectual power--a man may easily be 
so fortunate as to light upon some new  
theory in regard to them which  shall be
 also true4 ,but fame won on such paths 
does not extend much  beyond those who  
possess a knowledge of the facts in     
question4 ,to  solve problems of this   
sort requires1 no doubt1 a great ideal  
of study  and labor1 if only to get at  
the facts2 whilst on the path where the 
greatest and most widespread fame is to 
be won1 the facts may be  grasped       
without any labor at all4 ,but just in  
proportion as less labor  is necessary1 
more talent or genius is required2 and  
between such  qualities and the drudgery
 of research no comparison is possible1 
in  respect either of their intrinsic   
value1 or of the estimation in which    
they are held4    ,and so people who    
feel that they possess solid            
intellectual capacity  and a sound      
judgment1 and yet cannot claim the      
highest mental powers1  should not be   
afraid of laborious study2 for by its   

aid they may  work themselves above the 
great mob of humanity who have the facts
  constantly before their eyes1 and     
reach those secluded spots which are    
accessible to learned toil4    ,for this
 is a sphere where there are infinitely 
fewer rivals1 and  a man of only        
moderate capacity may soon find an      
opportunity of  proclaiming a theory    
which shall be both new and true2 nay1  
the merit  of his discovery will partly 
rest upon the difficulty of coming at   
the facts4 ,but applause from one's     
fellow-students1 who are the only       
persons with a knowledge of the subject1
 sounds very faint to the  far-off      
multitude4 ,and if we follow up this    
sort of fame far enough1  we shall at   
last come to a point where facts very   
difficult to get at  are in themselves  
sufficient to lay a foundation of fame1 
without any  necessity for forming a    
theory2--travels1 for instance1 in      
remote and  little-known countries1     
which make a man famous by what he has  

seen1  not by what he has thought4 ,the 
great advantage of this kind of fame  is
 that to relate what one has seen1 is   
much easier than to impart  one's       
thoughts1 and people are apt to         
understand descriptions better  than    
ideas1 reading the one more readily than
 the other3 for1 as ,asmus  says1       
,when one goes forth a-voyaging    ,he  
has a tale to tell4    ,and yet for all 
that1 a personal acquaintance with      
celebrated  travelers often remind us of
 a line from ,horace--new scenes do not 
always mean new ideas--      ,caelum non
 animum mutant qui trans mare currunt4#a
    ,footnote #a3 ,epist4 ,i4 ,,ii4     
,but if a man finds himself in          
possession of great mental faculties1   
such as alone should venture on the     
solution of the hardest of all          
problems--those which concern nature as 
a whole and humanity in its  widest     
range1 he will do well to extend his    
view equally in all  directions1 without
 ever straying too far amid the         

intricacies of  various by-paths1 or    
invading regions little known2 in other 
words1  without occupying himself with  
special branches of knowledge1 to say   
nothing of their petty details4 ,there  
is no necessity for him to  seek out    
subjects difficult of access1 in order  
to escape a crowd of  rivals2 the common
 objects of life will give him material 
for new  theories at once serious and   
true2 and the service he renders will be
  appreciated by all those--and they    
form a great part of mankind--who  know 
the facts of which he treats4 ,what a   
vast distinction there is  between      
students of physics1 chemistry1 anatomy1
 mineralogy1 zoology1  philology1       
history1 and the men who deal with the  
great facts of human  life1 the poet and
 the philosopher6