,,the ,,ego ,,and ,,his                 
,,own                                   
,,by                                    
,,max ,,stirner                         
,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,german ,,by 
,,steven ,t4 ,,byington                 
,,with ,,an ,,introduction ,,by         
,j4 ,l4 ,,walker                        
,,new ,,york                            
,,benj4 ,r4 ,,tucker1 ,,publisher       
#aijg                                   
,copyright4 #aijg1 by                   
,,benjamin ,r4 ,,tucker                 
,,to ,,my ,,sweetheart                  
,,marie ,d,,hnhardt          ,,contents 
,,page    ,,publisher',s ,,preface      
vii      ,,introduction                 
xii      ,,translator',s ,,preface      
xix      ,,all ,,things ,,are ,,nothing 
,,to ,,me                               
#c      ,,part ,,first3 ,,man           
#g        ,i4--,a ,,human ,,life        
#i       ,,ii4--,,men ,,of ,,the ,,old  
,,time ,,and ,,the ,,new                
#ag            ,i4--,,the ,,ancients    

#ag           ,,ii4--,,the ,,moderns    
#cj                #a4--,,the ,,spirit  
#cd                #b4--,,the           
,,possessed                             
#db                #c4--,,the           
,,hierarchy                             
#he          ,,iii4--,,the ,,free       
#abg                #a4--,,political    
,,liberalism                    #abh    
#b4--,,social ,,liberalism              
#aeb                #c4--;,,humane      
,,liberalism                       #afc 
,,part ,,second3 ,i                     
#bja        ,i4--,,ownness              
#bjc       ,,ii4--,,the ,,owner         
#bbe            ,i4--,,my ,,power       
#bdb           ,,ii4--,,my ,,intercourse
                               #bge     
,,iii4--,,my ,,self-,,enjoyment         
#dbe      ,,iii4--,,the ,,unique ,,one  
#dhd      ,,index                       
#dia          ,,publisher',s ,,preface  
,for more than twenty years ,i have     
entertained the design of publishing  an
 ,english translation of ,der ,einzige  

und sein ,eigentum4 ,when ,i  formed    
this design1 the number of              
,english-speaking persons who had ever  
heard of the book was very limited4 ,the
 memory of ,max ,stirner had been       
virtually extinct for an entire         
generation4 ,but in the last two decades
  there has been a remarkable revival of
 interest both in the book and in  its  
author4 ,it began in this country with a
 discussion in the pages of  the        
,anarchist periodical1 ,liberty1 in     
which ,stirner's thought was  clearly   
expounded and vigorously championed by  
,dr4 ,james ,l4 ,walker1 who  adopted   
for this discussion the pseudonym ,tak  
,kak4 ,at that time ,dr4  ,walker was   
the chief editorial writer for the      
,galveston ,news4 ,some  years later he 
became a practising physician in        
,mexico1 where he died in  #aijd4 ,a    
series of essays which he began in an   
,anarchist periodical1  ,egoism1 and    
which he lived to complete1 was         
published after his death  in a small   

volume1 ,the ,philosophy of ,egoism4 ,it
 is a very able and  convincing         
exposition of ,stirner's teachings1 and 
almost the only one  that exists in the 
,english language4 ,but the chief       
instrument in the  revival of           
,stirnerism was and is the ,german poet1
 ,john ,henry ,mackay4  ,very early in  
his career he met ,stirner's name in    
,lange's ,history of  ,materialism1 and 
was moved thereby to read his book4 ,the
 work made such  an impression on him   
that he resolved to devote a portion of 
his life to  the rediscovery and        
rehabilitation of the lost and forgotten
 genius4  ,through years of toil and    
correspondence and travel1 and          
triumphing over  tremendous obstacles1  
he carried his task to completion1 and  
his  biography of ,stirner appeared in  
,berlin in #ahih4 ,it is a tribute to   
the  thoroughness of ,mackay's work that
 since its publication not one          
important fact about ,stirner has been  
discovered by anybody4 ,during his      

years of investigation ,mackay's        
advertising for information had created 
a new interest in ,stirner1 which was   
enhanced by the sudden fame of the      
writings of ,friedrich ,nietzsche1 an   
author whose intellectual kinship  with 
,stirner has been a subject of much     
controversy4 ,der ,einzige1  previously 
obtainable only in an expensive form1   
was included in ,philipp  ,reclam's     
,universal-,bibliothek1 and this cheap  
edition has enjoyed a wide  and         
ever-increasing circulation4 ,during the
 last dozen years the book  has been    
translated twice into ,french1 once into
 ,italian1 once into  ,russian1 and     
possibly into other languages4 ,the     
,scandinavian critic1  ,brandes1 has    
written on ,stirner4 ,a large and       
appreciative volume1  entitled          
,l',individualisme ,anarchiste3 ,max    
,stirner1 from the pen of  ,prof4       
,victor ,basch1 of the ,university of   
,rennes1 has appeared in ,paris4        
,another large and sympathetic volume1  

,max ,stirner1 written by ,dr4  ,anselm 
,ruest1 has been published very recently
 in ,berlin4 ,dr4 ,paul  ,eltzbacher1 in
 his work1 ,der ,anarchismus1 gives a   
chapter to  ,stirner1 making him one of 
the seven typical ,anarchists1 beginning
 with  ,william ,godwin and ending with 
,tolstoi1 of whom his book treats4      
,there  is hardly a notable magazine or 
a review on the ,continent that has not 
given at least one leading article to   
the subject of ,stirner4 ,upon the      
initiative of ,mackay and with the aid  
of other admirers a suitable stone  has 
been placed above the philosopher's     
previously-neglected grave1 and  a      
memorial tablet upon the house in       
,berlin where he died in #ahef2 and     
this spring another is to be placed upon
 the house in ,bayreuth where he  was   
born in #ahjf4 ,as a result of these    
various efforts1 and though but  little 
has been written about ,stirner in the  
,english language1 his name  is now     
known at least to thousands in ,america 

and ,england where formerly  it was     
known only to hundreds4 ,therefore      
conditions are now more  favorable for  
the reception of this volume than they  
were when ,i formed  the design of      
publishing it1 more than twenty years   
ago4    ,the problem of securing a      
reasonably good translation 7for in the 
case  of a work presenting difficulties 
so enormous it was idle to hope for an  
adequate translation7 was finally solved
 by entrusting the task to  ,steven ,t4 
,byington1 a scholar of remarkable      
attainments1 whose specialty  is        
philology1 and who is also one of the   
ablest workers in the  propaganda of    
,anarchism4 ,but1 for further security  
from error1 it was  agreed with ,mr4    
,byington that his translation should   
have the benefit of  revision by ,dr4   
,walker1 the most thorough ,american    
student of ,stirner1  and by ,emma      
,heller ,schumm and ,george ,schumm1 who
 are not only  sympathetic with         
,stirner1 but familiar with the history 

of his time1 and  who enjoy a knowledge 
of ,english and ,german that makes it   
difficult to  decide which is their     
native tongue4 ,it was also agreed that1
 upon any  point of difference between  
the translator and his revisers which   
consultation might fail to solve1 the   
publisher should decide4 ,this  method  
has been followed1 and in a considerable
 number of instances it  has fallen to  
me to make a decision4 ,it is only fair 
to say1 therefore1  that the            
responsibility for special errors and   
imperfections properly  rests on my     
shoulders1 whereas1 on the other hand1  
the credit for  whatever general        
excellence the translation may possess  
belongs with the  same propriety to ,mr4
 ,byington and his coadjutors4 ,one     
thing is certain3  its defects are due  
to no lack of loving care and pains4    
,and ,i think ,i  may add with          
confidence1 while realizing fully how   
far short of  perfection it necessarily 
falls1 that it may safely challenge     

comparison  with the translations that  
have been made into other languages4    
,in particular1 ,i am responsible for   
the admittedly erroneous rendering  of  
the title4 ,the ,ego and ,his ,own is   
not an exact ,english equivalent  of    
,der ,einzige und sein ,eigentum4 ,but  
then1 there is no exact  ,english       
equivalent4 ,perhaps the nearest is ,the
 ,unique ,one and ,his  ,property4 ,but 
the unique one is not strictly the      
,einzige1 for  uniqueness connotes not  
only singleness but an admirable        
singleness1  while ,stirner's           
,einzigkeit is admirable in his eyes    
only as such1 it  being no part of the  
purpose of his book to distinguish a    
particular  ,einzigkeit as more         
excellent than another4 ,moreover1 ,the 
,unique ,one  and ,his ,property has no 
graces to compel our forgiveness of its 
slight  inaccuracy4 ,it is clumsy and   
unattractive4 ,and the same objections  
may  be urged with still greater force  
against all the other renderings that   

have been suggested1--,the ,single ,one 
and ,his ,property1 ,the ,only ,one  and
 ,his ,property1 ,the ,lone ,one and    
,his ,property1 ,the ,unit and ,his     
,property1 and1 last and least and      
worst1 ,the ,individual and ,his        
,prerogative4 ,the ,ego and ,his ,own1  
on the other hand1 if not a precise     
rendering1 is at least an excellent     
title in itself2 excellent by its       
euphony1 its monosyllabic incisiveness1 
and its telling--,einzigkeit4  ,another 
strong argument in its favor is the     
emphatic correspondence of  the phrase  
his own with ,mr4 ,byington's renderings
 of the kindred  words1 ,eigenheit and  
,eigner4 ,moreover1 no reader will be   
led astray  who bears in mind ,stirner's
 distinction3 ,i am not an ego along    
with  other egos1 but the sole ego2 ,i  
am unique4 ,and1 to help the reader to  
bear this in mind1 the various          
renderings of the word ,einzige that    
occur through the volume are often      
accompanied by foot-notes showing  that1

 in the ,german1 one and the same word  
does duty for all4    ,if the reader    
finds the first quarter of this book    
somewhat forbidding  and obscure1 he is 
advised nevertheless not to falter4     
,close attention  will master almost    
every difficulty1 and1 if he will but   
give it1 he  will find abundant reward  
in what follows4 ,for his guidance ,i   
may  specify one defect in the author's 
style4 ,when controverting a view       
opposite to his own1 he seldom          
distinguishes with sufficient clearness 
his statement of his own view from his  
re-statement of the antagonistic  view4 
,as a result1 the reader is plunged into
 deeper and deeper  mystification1 until
 something suddenly reveals the cause of
 his  misunderstanding1 after which he  
must go back and read again4 ,i         
therefore put him on his guard4 ,the    
other difficulties lie1 as a rule1  in  
the structure of the work4 ,as to these 
,i can hardly do better than  translate 
the following passage from ,prof4       

,basch's book1 alluded to  above3 ,there
 is nothing more disconcerting than the 
first approach to  this strange work4   
,stirner does not condescend to inform  
us as to the  architecture of his       
edifice1 or furnish us the slightest    
guiding thread4  ,the apparent divisions
 of the book are few and misleading4    
,from the  first page to the last a     
unique thought circulates1 but it       
divides  itself among an infinity of    
vessels and arteries in each of which   
runs a  blood so rich in ferments that  
one is tempted to describe them all4    
,there is no progress in the            
development1 and the repetitions are    
innumerable4444 ,the reader who is not  
deterred by this oddity1 or rather      
absence1 of composition gives proof of  
genuine intellectual courage4 ,at  first
 one seems to be confronted with a      
collection of essays strung  together1  
with a throng of aphorisms4444 ,but1 if 
you read this book  several times2 if1  
after having penetrated the intimacy of 

each of its  parts1 you then traverse it
 as a whole1--gradually the fragments   
weld  themselves together1 and          
,stirner's thought is revealed in all   
its unity1  in all its force1 and in all
 its depth4    ,a word about the        
dedication4 ,mackay's investigations    
have brought to  light that ,marie      
,daehnhardt had nothing whatever in     
common with ,stirner1  and so was       
unworthy of the honor conferred upon    
her4 ,she was no  ,eigene4 ,i therefore 
reproduce the dedication merely in the  
interest of  historical accuracy4       
,happy as ,i am in the appearance of    
this book1 my joy is not unmixed with   
sorrow4 ,the cherished project was as   
dear to the heart of ,dr4 ,walker as  to
 mine1 and ,i deeply grieve that he is  
no longer with us to share our  delight 
in the fruition4 ,nothing1 however1 can 
rob us of the masterly  introduction    
that he wrote for this volume 7in #aijc1
 or perhaps  earlier71 from which ,i    
will not longer keep the reader4 ,this  

introduction1 no more than the book     
itself1 shall that ,einzige1  ,death1   
make his ,eigentum4      ,february1     
#aijg4                                  
,b4 ,r4 ,t4          ,,introduction     
,fifty years sooner or later can make   
little difference in the case of a  book
 so revolutionary as this4    ,it saw   
the light when a so-called revolutionary
 movement was preparing  in men's minds1
 which agitation was1 however1 only a   
disturbance due to  desires to          
participate in government1 and to govern
 and to be governed1  in a manner       
different to that which prevails4 ,the  
revolutionists of  #ahdh were bewitched 
with an idea4 ,they were not at all the 
masters of  ideas4 ,most of those who   
since that time have prided themselves  
upon  being revolutionists have been and
 are likewise but the bondmen of an     
idea1--that of the different lodgment of
 authority4    ,the temptation is1 of   
course1 present to attempt an           
explanation of the  central thought of  

this work2 but such an effort appears to
 be  unnecessary to one who has the     
volume in his hand4 ,the author's care  
in  illustrating his meaning shows that 
he realized how prone the possessed  man
 is to misunderstand whatever is not    
moulded according to the  fashions in   
thinking4 ,the author's learning was    
considerable1 his  command of words and 
ideas may never be excelled by another1 
and he  judged it needful to develop his
 argument in manifold ways4 ,so those   
who  enter into the spirit of it will   
scarcely hope to impress others with    
the same conclusion in a more summary   
manner4 ,or1 if one might deem that     
possible after reading ,stirner1 still  
one cannot think that it could be  done 
so surely4 ,the author has made certain 
work of it1 even though he  has to wait 
for his public2 but still1 the reception
 of the book by its  critics amply      
proves the truth of the saying that one 
can give another  arguments1 but not    
understanding4 ,the system-makers and   

system-believers thus far cannot get it 
out of their heads that any  discourse  
about the nature of an ego must turn    
upon the common  characteristics of     
egos1 to make a systematic scheme of    
what they share  as a generality4 ,the  
critics inquire what kind of man the    
author is  talking about4 ,they repeat  
the question3 ,what does he believe in8 
,they  fail to grasp the purport of the 
recorded answer3 ,i believe in myself2  
which is attributed to a common soldier 
long before the time of ,stirner4  ,they
 ask1 ,what is the principle of the     
self-conscious egoist1--the  ,einzige8  
,to this perplexity ,stirner says3      
,change the question2 put  who8 instead 
of what8 and an answer can then be given
 by naming him6    ,this1 of course1 is 
too simple for persons governed by      
ideas1 and for  persons in quest of new 
governing ideas4 ,they wish to classify 
the man4  ,now1 that in me which you can
 classify is not my distinguishing self4
  ,man is the horizon or zero of my     

existence as an individual4 ,over that  
,i rise as ,i can4 ,at least ,i am      
something more than man in general4     
,pre-existing worship of ideals and     
disrespect for self had made of the  ego
 at the very most a ,somebody1 oftener  
an empty vessel to be filled  with the  
grace or the leavings of a tyrannous    
doctrine2 thus a ,nobody4  ,stirner     
dispels the morbid subjection1 and      
recognizes each one who knows  and feels
 himself as his own property to be      
neither humble ,nobody nor  befogged    
,somebody1 but henceforth flat-footed   
and level-headed ,mr4  ,thisbody1 who   
has a character and good pleasure of his
 own1 just as he  has a name of his own4
    ,the critics who attacked this work 
and were answered in the author's  minor
 writings1 rescued from oblivion by     
,john ,henry ,mackay1 nearly all        
display the most astonishing triviality 
and impotent malice4    ,we owe to ,dr4 
,eduard von ,hartmann the unquestionable
 service which he  rendered by directing

 attention to this book in his          
,philosophie des  ,unbewussten1 the     
first edition of which was published in 
#ahfi1 and in  other writings4 ,i do not
 begrudge ,dr4 von ,hartmann the liberty
 of  criticism which he used2 and ,i    
think the admirers of ,stirner's        
teaching  must quite appreciate one     
thing which ,von ,hartmann did at a much
 later  date4 ,in ,der ,eigene of       
,august #aj1 #ahif1 there appeared a    
letter  written by him and giving1 among
 other things1 certain data from which  
to judge that1 when ,friedrich          
,nietzsche wrote his later essays1      
,nietzsche was not ignorant of          
,stirner's book4    ,von ,hartmann      
wishes that ,stirner had gone on and    
developed his  principle4 ,von ,hartmann
 suggests that you and ,i are really the
 same  spirit1 looking out through two  
pairs of eyes4 ,then1 one may reply1 ,i 
need not concern myself about you1 for  
in myself ,i have--us2 and at that  rate
 ,von ,hartmann is merely accusing      

himself of inconsistency3 for1 when     
,stirner wrote this book1 ,von          
,hartmann's spirit was writing it2 and  
it is  just the pity that ,von ,hartmann
 in his present form does not indorse   
what he said in the form of             
,stirner1--that ,stirner was different  
from  any other man2 that his ego was   
not ,fichte's transcendental generality1
  but this transitory ego of flesh and  
blood4 ,it is not as a generality  that 
you and ,i differ1 but as a couple of   
facts which are not to be  reasoned into
 one4 ,i is somewise ,hartmann1 and thus
 ,hartmann is ,i2  but ,i am not        
,hartmann1 and ,hartmann is not--,i4    
,neither am ,i the ,i of  ,stirner2 only
 ,stirner himself was ,stirner's ,i4    
,note how comparatively  indifferent a  
matter it is with ,stirner that one is  
an ego1 but how  all-important it is    
that one be a self-conscious ego1--a    
self-conscious1  self-willed person4    
,those not self-conscious and           
self-willed are constantly acting from  

self-interested motives1 but clothing   
these in various garbs4 ,watch  those   
people closely in the light of          
,stirner's teaching1 and they seem  to  
be hypocrites1 they have so many good   
moral and religious plans of  which     
self-interest is at the end and bottom2 
but they1 we may believe1  do not know  
that this is more than a coincidence4   
,in ,stirner we have the philosophical  
foundation for political liberty4  ,his 
interest in the practical development of
 egoism to the dissolution  of the      
,state and the union of free men is     
clear and pronounced1 and  harmonizes   
perfectly with the economic philosophy  
of ,josiah ,warren4  ,allowing for      
difference of temperament and language1 
there is a  substantial agreement       
between ,stirner and ,proudhon4 ,each   
would be free1  and sees in every       
increase of the number of free people   
and their  intelligence an auxiliary    
force against the oppressor4 ,but1 on   
the other  hand1 will any one for a     

moment seriously contend that ,nietzsche
 and  ,proudhon march together in       
general aim and tendency1--that they    
have  anything in common except the     
daring to profane the shrine and        
sepulchre  of superstition8             
,nietzsche has been much spoken of as a 
disciple of ,stirner1 and1 owing  to    
favorable cullings from ,nietzsche's    
writings1 it has occurred that  one of  
his books has been supposed to contain  
more sense than it really  does--so long
 as one had read only the extracts4     
,nietzsche cites scores or hundreds of  
authors4 ,had he read everything1  and  
not read ,stirner8    ,but ,nietzsche is
 as unlike ,stirner as a tight-rope     
performance is unlike  an algebraic     
equation4    ,stirner loved liberty for 
himself1 and loved to see any and all   
men and  women taking liberty1 and he   
had no lust of power4 ,democracy to him 
was  sham liberty1 egoism the genuine   
liberty4    ,nietzsche1 on the contrary1
 pours out his contempt upon democracy  

because it is not aristocratic4 ,he is  
predatory to the point of  demanding    
that those who must succumb to feline   
rapacity shall be taught  to submit with
 resignation4 ,when he speaks of        
,anarchistic dogs  scouring the streets 
of great civilized cities1 it is true1  
the context  shows that he means the    
,communists2 but his worship of         
,napoleon1 his  bathos of anxiety for   
the rise of an aristocracy that shall   
rule ,europe  for thousands of years1   
his idea of treating women in the       
oriental  fashion1 show that ,nietzsche 
has struck out in a very old path--doing
  the apotheosis of tyranny4 ,we        
individual egoistic ,anarchists1        
however1  may say to the ,nietzsche     
school1 so as not to be misunderstood3  
,we do  not ask of the ,napoleons to    
have pity1 nor of the predatory barons  
to  do justice4 ,they will find it      
convenient for their own welfare to make
  terms with men who have learned of    
,stirner what a man can be who  worships

 nothing1 bears allegiance to nothing4  
,to ,nietzsche's  rhodomontade of eagles
 in baronial form1 born to prey on      
industrial  lambs1 we rather tauntingly 
oppose the ironical question3 ,where are
 your  claws8 ,what if the eagles are   
found to be plain barnyard fowls on     
which more silly fowls have fastened    
steel spurs to hack the victims1  who1  
however1 have the power to disarm the   
sham eagles between two  suns8          
,stirner shows that men make their      
tyrants as they make their gods1 and    
his purpose is to unmake tyrants4       
,nietzsche dearly loves a tyrant4    ,in
 style ,stirner's work offers the       
greatest possible contrast to the       
puerile1 padded phraseology of          
,nietzsche's ,zarathustra and its false 
imagery4 ,who ever imagined such an     
unnatural conjuncture as an eagle       
toting a serpent in friendship8 which   
performance is told of in bare  words1  
but nothing comes of it4 ,in ,stirner we
 are treated to an  enlivening and      

earnest discussion addressed to serious 
minds1 and every  reader feels that the 
word is to him1 for his instruction and 
benefit1  so far as he has mental       
independence and courage to take it and 
use it4  ,the startling intrepidity of  
this book is infused with a             
whole-hearted  love for all mankind1 as 
evidenced by the fact that the author   
shows not  one iota of prejudice or any 
idea of division of men into ranks4 ,he 
would lay aside government1 but would   
establish any regulation deemed         
convenient1 and for this only our       
convenience is consulted4 ,thus there   
will be general liberty only when the   
disposition toward tyranny is met  by   
intelligent opposition that will no     
longer submit to such a rule4  ,beyond  
this the manly sympathy and             
philosophical bent of ,stirner are  such
 that rulership appears by contrast a   
vanity1 an infatuation of  perverted    
pride4 ,we know not whether we more     
admire our author or more  love him4    

,stirner's attitude toward woman is not 
special4 ,she is an individual if  she  
can be1 not handicapped by anything he  
says1 feels1 thinks1 or  plans4 ,this   
was more fully exemplified in his life  
than even in this  book2 but there is   
not a line in the book to put or keep   
woman in an  inferior position to man1  
neither is there anything of caste or   
aristocracy in the book4    ,likewise   
there is nothing of obscurantism or     
affected mysticism about  it4           
,everything in it is made as plain as   
the author could make it4 ,he  who does 
not so is not ,stirner's disciple nor   
successor nor co-worker4    ,some one   
may ask3 ,how does plumb-line ,anarchism
 train with the unbridled  egoism       
proclaimed by ,stirner8 ,the plumb-line 
is not a fetish1 but an  intellectual   
conviction1 and egoism is a universal   
fact of animal life4  ,nothing could    
seem clearer to my mind than that the   
reality of egoism  must first come into 
the consciousness of men1 before we can 

have the  unbiased ,einzige in place of 
the prejudiced biped who lends himself  
to  the support of tyrannies a million  
times stronger over me than the  natural
 self-interest of any individual4 ,when 
plumb-line doctrine is  misconceived as 
duty between unequal-minded men1--as a  
religion of  humanity1--it is indeed the
 confusion of trying to read without    
knowing  the alphabet and of putting    
philanthropy in place of contract4 ,but1
 if  the plumb-line be scientific1 it is
 or can be my possession1 my  property1 
and ,i choose it for its use--when      
circumstances admit of its  use4 ,i do  
not feel bound to use it because it is  
scientific1 in building  my house2 but1 
as my will1 to be intelligent1 is not to
 be merely  wilful1 the adoption of the 
plumb-line follows the discarding of    
incantations4 ,there is no plumb-line   
without the unvarying lead at the  end  
of the line2 not a fluttering bird or a 
clawing cat4    ,on the practical side  
of the question of egoism versus        

self-surrender  and for a trial of      
egoism in politics1 this may be said3   
the belief that  men not moved by a     
sense of duty will be unkind or unjust  
to others is  but an indirect confession
 that those who hold that belief are    
greatly  interested in having others    
live for them rather than for           
themselves4  ,but ,i do not ask or      
expect so much4 ,i am content if others 
individually  live for themselves1 and  
thus cease in so many ways to act in    
opposition  to my living for myself1--to
 our living for ourselves4    ,if       
,christianity has failed to turn the    
world from evil1 it is not to be        
dreamed that rationalism of a pious     
moral stamp will succeed in the same    
task4 ,christianity1 or all             
philanthropic love1 is tested in        
non-resistance4 ,it is a dream that     
example will change the hearts of       
rulers1 tyrants1 mobs4 ,if the extremest
 self-surrender fails1 how can a        
mixture of ,christian love and worldly  

caution succeed8 ,this at least  must be
 given up4 ,the policy of ,christ and   
,tolstoi can soon be tested1  but       
,tolstoi's belief is not satisfied with 
a present test and failure4  ,he has the
 infatuation of one who persists because
 this ought to be4  ,the egoist who     
thinks ,i should like this to be still  
has the sense to  perceive that it is   
not accomplished by the fact of some    
believing and  submitting1 inasmuch as  
others are alert to prey upon the       
unresisting4  ,the ,pharaohs we have    
ever with us4    ,several passages in   
this most remarkable book show the      
author as a man  full of sympathy4 ,when
 we reflect upon his deliberately       
expressed  opinions and sentiments1--his
 spurning of the sense of moral         
obligation  as the last form of         
superstition1--may we not be warranted  
in thinking  that the total             
disappearance of the sentimental        
supposition of duty  liberates a        
quantity of nervous energy for the      

purest generosity and  clarifies the    
intellect for the more discriminating   
choice of objects of  merit8            
,j4 ,l4 ,,walker4                       
,,translator',s ,,preface      ,if the  
style of this book is found             
unattractive1 it will show that ,i  have
 done my work ill and not represented   
the author truly2 but1 if it  is found  
odd1 ,i beg that ,i may not bear all the
 blame4 ,i have simply  tried to        
reproduce the author's own mixture of   
colloquialisms and  technicalities1 and 
his preference for the precise          
expression of his  thought rather than  
the word conventionally expected4       
,one especial feature of the style1     
however1 gives the reason why this      
preface should exist4 ,it is            
characteristic of ,stirner's writing    
that the  thread of thought is carried  
on largely by the repetition of the same
  word in a modified form or sense4     
,that connection of ideas which has     
guided popular instinct in the formation

 of words is made to suggest the  line  
of thought which the writer wishes to   
follow4 ,if this echoing of  words is   
missed1 the bearing of the statements on
 each other is in a  measure lost2 and1 
where the ideas are very new1 one cannot
 afford to  throw away any help in      
following their connection4 ,therefore1 
where a  useful echo 7and there are few 
useless ones in the book7 could not be  
reproduced in ,english1 ,i have         
generally called attention to it in a   
note4 ,my notes are distinguished from  
the author's by being enclosed in       
brackets4    ,one or two of such        
coincidences of language1 occurring in  
words which  are prominent throughout   
the book1 should be borne constantly in 
mind as  a sort of ,keri perpetuum3 for 
instance1 the identity in the original  
of the words spirit and mind1 and of the
 phrases supreme being and  highest     
essence4 ,in such cases ,i have repeated
 the note where it  seemed that such    
repetition might be absolutely          

necessary1 but have  trusted the reader 
to carry it in his head where a failure 
of his memory  would not be ruinous or  
likely4    ,for the same reason1--that  
is1 in order not to miss any indication 
of  the drift of the thought1--,i have  
followed the original in the very       
liberal use of italics1 and in the      
occasional eccentric use of a           
punctuation mark1 as ,i might not have  
done in translating a work of a         
different nature4    ,i have set my face
 as a flint against the temptation to   
add notes that  were not part of the    
translation4 ,there is no telling how   
much ,i might  have enlarged the book if
 ,i had put a note at every sentence    
which  deserved to have its truth       
brought out by fuller elucidation1--or  
even  at every one which ,i thought     
needed correction4 ,it might have been  
within my province1 if ,i had been able1
 to explain all the allusions to        
contemporary events1 but ,i doubt       
whether any one could do that properly  

without having access to the files of   
three or four well-chosen ,german       
newspapers of ,stirner's time4 ,the     
allusions are clear enough1 without     
names and dates1 to give a vivid picture
 of certain aspects of ,german  life    
then4 ,the tone of some of them is      
explained by the fact that the  book was
 published under censorship4    ,i have 
usually preferred1 for the sake of the  
connection1 to translate  ,biblical     
quotations somewhat as they stand in the
 ,german1 rather than  conform them     
altogether to the ,english ,bible4 ,i am
 sometimes quite as  near the original  
,greek as if ,i had followed the current
 translation4    ,where ,german books   
are referred to1 the pages cited are    
those of the  ,german editions even when
 7usually because of some allusions in  
the  text7 the titles of the books are  
translated4                             
,,steven ,t4 ,,byington4          ,,the 
,,ego ,,and ,,his ,,own          ,all   
,things are ,nothing to ,me#a      ,what

 is not supposed1 to be my concern#b6   
,first and foremost1 the ,good          
,cause1#c then ,god's cause1 the cause  
of mankind1 of truth1 of freedom1  of   
humanity1 of justice2 further1 the cause
 of my people1 my prince1 my            
fatherland2 finally1 even the cause of  
,mind1 and a thousand other  causes4    
,only my cause is never to be my        
concern4 ,shame on the egoist  who      
thinks only of himself6    ,let us look 
and see1 then1 how they manage their    
concerns--they for  whose cause we are  
to labor1 devote ourselves1 and grow    
enthusiastic4    ,you have much profound
 information to give about ,god1 and    
have for  thousands of years searched   
the depths of the ,godhead1 and looked  
into  its heart1 so that you can        
doubtless tell us how ,god himself      
attends to  ,god's cause1 which we are  
called to serve4 ,and you do not conceal
 the  ,lord's doings1 either4 ,now1 what
 is his cause8 ,has he1 as is demanded  
of  us1 made an alien cause1 the cause  

of truth or love1 his own8 ,you are     
shocked by this misunderstanding1 and   
you instruct us that ,god's cause  is   
indeed the cause of truth and love1 but 
that this cause cannot be  called alien 
to him1 because ,god is himself truth   
and love2 you are  shocked by the       
assumption that ,god could be like us   
poor worms in  furthering an alien cause
 as his own4 ,should ,god take up the   
cause of  truth if he were not himself  
truth8 ,he cares only for his cause1    
but1  because he is all in all1         
therefore all is his cause6 ,but we1 we 
are  not all in all1 and our cause is   
altogether little and contemptible2     
therefore we must serve a higher        
cause4--,now it is clear1 ,god cares    
only for what is his1 busies himself    
only with himself1 thinks only of       
himself1 and has only himself before his
 eyes2 woe to all that is not           
well-pleasing to him6 ,he serves no     
higher person1 and satisfies only       
himself4 ,his cause is--a purely        

egoistic cause4    ,how is it with      
mankind1 whose cause we are to make our 
own8 ,is its cause  that of another1 and
 does mankind serve a higher cause8 ,no1
 mankind  looks only at itself1 mankind 
will promote the interests of mankind   
only1 mankind is its own cause4 ,that it
 may develop1 it causes nations  and    
individuals to wear themselves out in   
its service1 and1 when they  have       
accomplished what mankind needs1 it     
throws them on the dung-heap of  history
 in gratitude4 ,is not mankind's        
cause--a purely egoistic cause8    ,i   
have no need to take up each thing that 
wants to throw its cause on us  and show
 that it is occupied only with itself1  
not with us1 only with  its good1 not   
with ours4 ,look at the rest for        
yourselves4 ,do truth1  freedom1        
humanity1 justice1 desire anything else 
than that you grow  enthusiastic and    
serve them8    ,they all have an        
admirable time of it when they receive  
zealous homage4  ,just observe the      

nation that is defended by devoted      
patriots4 ,the  patriots fall in bloody 
battle or in the fight with hunger and  
want2  what does the nation care for    
that8 ,joy the manure of their corpses  
the  nation comes to its bloom6 ,the    
individuals have died for the great     
cause of the nation1 and the nation     
sends some words of thanks after  them  
and--has the profit of it4 ,i call that 
a paying kind of egoism4    ,but only   
look at that ,sultan who cares so       
lovingly for his people4 ,is he  not    
pure unselfishness itself1 and does he  
not hourly sacrifice himself  for his   
people8 ,oh1 yes1 for his people4 ,just 
try it2 show yourself  not as his1 but  
as your own2 for breaking away from his 
egoism you will  take a trip to jail4   
,the ,sultan has set his cause on       
nothing but  himself2 he is to himself  
all in all1 he is to himself the only   
one1 and  tolerates nobody who would    
dare not to be one of his people4       
,and will you not learn by these        

brilliant examples that the egoist gets 
on best8 ,i for my part take a lesson   
from them1 and propose1 instead of      
further unselfishly serving those great 
egoists1 rather to be the egoist        
myself4    ,god and mankind have        
concerned themselves for nothing1 for   
nothing but  themselves4 ,let me then   
likewise concern myself for myself1 who 
am  equally with ,god the nothing of all
 others1 who am my all1 who am the  only
 one4#d    ,if ,god1 if mankind1 as you 
affirm1 have substance enough in        
themselves  to be all in all to         
themselves1 then ,i feel that ,i shall  
still less  lack that1 and that ,i shall
 have no complaint to make of my        
emptiness4  ,i am nothing in the sense  
of emptiness1 but ,i am the creative    
nothing1  the nothing out of which ,i   
myself as creator create everything4    
,away1 then1 with every concern that is 
not altogether my concern6 ,you  think  
at least the good cause must be my      
concern8 ,what's good1 what's  bad8     

,why1 ,i myself am my concern1 and ,i am
 neither good nor bad4 ,neither  has    
meaning for me4    ,the divine is ,god's
 concern2 the human1 man's4 ,my concern 
is neither the  divine nor the human1   
not the true1 good1 just1 free1 etc41   
but solely  what is mine1 and it is not 
a general one1 but is--unique1#e as ,i  
am unique4    ,nothing is more to me    
than myself6          ,part ,first      
,man            ,man is to man the      
supreme being1 says ,feuerbach4         
,man has just been discovered1 says     
,burno ,bauer4      ,then let us take a 
more careful look at this supreme being 
and                                     
this new discovery4          ,i    ,a   
,,human ,,life      ,from the moment    
when he catches sight of the light of   
the world a man  seeks to find out      
himself and get hold of himself out of  
its  confusion1 in which he1 with       
everything else1 is tossed about in     
motley  mixture4    ,but everything that
 comes in contact with the child defends

 itself in  turn against his attacks1   
and asserts its own persistence4        
,accordingly1 because each thing cares  
for itself and at the same time  comes  
into constant collision with other      
things1 the combat of  self-assertion is
 unavoidable4    ,victory or            
defeat--between the two alternatives the
 fate of the  combat wavers4 ,the victor
 becomes the lord1 the vanquished one   
the  subject3 the former exercises      
supremacy and rights of supremacy1  the 
latter fulfils in awe and deference the 
duties of a subject4    ,but both remain
 enemies1 and always lie in wait3 they  
watch for each  other's                 
weaknesses--children for those of their 
parents and parents  for those of their 
children 7e4 g4 their fear72 either the 
stick  conquers the man1 or the man     
conquers the stick4    ,in childhood    
liberation takes the direction of trying
 to get to the  bottom of things1 to get
 at what is back of things2 therefore we
 spy  out the weak points of everybody1 

for which1 it is well known1 children   
have a sure instinct2 therefore we like 
to smash things1 like to rummage        
through hidden corners1 pry after what  
is covered up or out of the way1  and   
try what we can do with everything4     
,when we once get at what is back  of   
the things1 we know we are safe2 when1  
e4 g41 we have got at the  fact that the
 rod is too weak against our obduracy1  
then we no longer  fear it1 have        
outgrown it4    ,back of the rod1       
mightier than it1 stands our--obduracy1 
our obdurate  courage4 ,by degrees we   
get at what is back of everything that  
was  mysterious and uncanny to us1 the  
mysteriously-dreaded might of the rod1  
the father's stern look1 etc41 and back 
of all we find our--ataraxy1  i4 e4     
imperturbability1 intrepidity1 our      
counter force1 our odds of  strength1   
our invincibility4 ,before that which   
formerly inspired in us  fear and       
deference we no longer retreat shyly1   
but take courage4 ,back  of everything  

we find our courage1 our superiority2   
back of the sharp  command of parents   
and authorities stands1 after all1 our  
courageous  choice or our outwitting    
shrewdness4 ,and the more we feel       
ourselves1 the  smaller appears that    
which before seemed invincible4 ,and    
what is our  trickery1 shrewdness1      
courage1 obduracy8 ,what else           
but--mind6#f    ,through a considerable 
time we are spared a fight that is so   
exhausting  later--the fight against    
reason4 ,the fairest part of childhood  
passes  without the necessity of coming 
to blows with reason4 ,we care nothing  
at all about it1 do not meddle with it1 
admit no reason4 ,we are not to  be     
persuaded to anything by conviction1 and
 are deaf to good  arguments1           
principles1 etc42 on the other hand1    
coaxing1 punishment1 and  the like are  
hard for us to resist4    ,this stern   
life-and-death combat with reason enter 
later1 and begins a  new phase2 in      
childhood we scamper about without      

racking our brains  much4    ,mind is   
the name of the first self-discovery1   
the first  undeification of the divine1 
i4 e4 of the uncanny1 the spooks1 the   
powers above4 ,our fresh feeling of     
youth1 this feeling of self1 now  defers
 to nothing2 the world is discredited1  
for we are above it1 we are  mind4      
,now for the first time we see that     
hitherto we have not looked at the      
world intelligently at all1 but only    
stared at it4    ,we exercise the       
beginnings of our strength on natural   
powers4 ,we defer  to parents as a      
natural power2 later we say3 ,father and
 mother are to be  forsaken1 all natural
 power to be counted as riven4 ,they are
 vanquished4  ,for the rational1 i4 e4  
intellectual man there is no family as a
  natural power2 a renunciation of      
parents1 brothers1 etc41 makes its      
appearance4 ,if these are born again as 
intellectual1 rational  powers1 they are
 no longer at all what they were before4
    ,and not only parents1 but men in   

general1 are conquered by the young     
man2 they are no hindrance to him1 and  
are no longer regarded2 for now  he     
says3 ,one must obey ,god rather than   
men4    ,from this high standpoint      
everything earthly recedes into         
contemptible remoteness2 for the standby
 point is--the heavenly4    ,the        
attitude is now altogether reversed2 the
 youth takes up an  intellectual        
position1 while the boy1 who did not yet
 feel himself as  mind1 grew up in      
mindless learning4 ,the former does not 
try to get hold  of things 7e4 g4 to get
 into his head the data of history71 but
 of  the thoughts that lie hidden in    
things1 and so1 e4 g41 of the  spirit of
 history4 ,on the other hand1 the boy   
understands  connections no doubt1 but  
not ideas1 the spirit2 therefore he     
strings  together whatever can be       
learned1 without proceeding a priori and
  theoretically1 i4 e4 without looking  
for ideas4    ,as in childhood one had  
to overcome the resistance of the laws  

of the  world1 so now in everything that
 he proposes he is met by an objection  
of the mind1 of reason1 of his own      
conscience4 ,that is unreasonable1      
unchristian1 unpatriotic1 and the like1 
cries conscience to us1  and--frightens 
us away from it4 ,not the might of the  
avenging ,eumenides1  not ,poseidon's   
wrath1 not ,god1 far as he sees the     
hidden1 not the  father's rod of        
punishment1 do we fear1 but--conscience4
    ,we run after our thoughts now1 and 
follow their commands just as  before we
 followed parental1 human ones4 ,our    
course of action is  determined by our  
thoughts 7ideas1 conceptions1 faith7 as 
it is in  childhood by the commands of  
our parents4    ,for all that1 we were  
already thinking when we were children1 
only our  thoughts were not fleshless1  
abstract1 absolute1 i4 e4 ,,nothing     
,,but  ,,thoughts1 a heaven in          
themselves1 a pure world of thought1    
logical  thoughts4    ,on the contrary1 
they had been only thoughts that we had 

about a  thing2 we thought of the thing 
so or so4 ,thus we may have thought ,god
  made the world that we see there1 but 
we did not think of 7search7  the depths
 of the ,godhead itself2 we may have    
thought that is the  truth about the    
matter1 but we did not think of ,truth  
itself1 nor unite  into one sentence    
,god is truth4 ,the depths of the       
,godhead1 who is  truth1 we did not     
touch4 ,over such purely logical1 i4 e4 
theological  questions1 ,what is truth8 
,pilate does not stop1 though he does   
not  therefore hesitate to ascertain in 
an individual case what truth there  is 
in the thing1 i4 e4 whether the thing is
 true4    ,any thought bound to a thing 
is not yet nothing but a thought1       
absolute thought4    ,to bring to light 
the pure thought1 or to be of its party1
 is the  delight of youth2 and all the  
shapes of light in the world of thought1
  like truth1 freedom1 humanity1 ,man1  
etc41 illumine and inspire the  youthful
 soul4    ,but1 when the spirit is      

recognized as the essential thing1 it   
still  makes a difference whether the   
spirit is poor or rich1 and therefore   
one  seeks to become rich in spirit2 the
 spirit wants to spread out so as to    
found its empire--an empire that is not 
of this world1 the world just           
conquered4 ,thus1 then1 it longs to     
become all in all to itself2 i4 e41     
although ,i am spirit1 ,i am not yet    
perfected spirit1 and must first  seek  
the complete spirit4    ,but with that  
,i1 who had just now found myself as    
spirit1 lose myself  again at once1     
bowing before the complete spirit as one
 not my own but  supernal1 and feeling  
my emptiness4    ,spirit is the         
essential point for everything1 to be   
sure2 but then is  every spirit the     
right spirit8 ,the right and true spirit
 is the ideal  of spirit1 the ,holy     
,spirit4 ,it is not my or your spirit1  
but just--an  ideal1 supernal one1 it is
 ,god4 ,god is spirit4 ,and this        
supernal  ,father in heaven gives it to 

those that pray to him4#g    ,the man is
 distinguished from the youth by the    
fact that he takes the  world as it is1 
instead of everywhere fancying it amiss 
and wanting to  improve it1 i4 e4 model 
it after his ideal2 in him the view that
 one  must deal with the world according
 to his interest1 not according to  his 
ideals1 becomes confirmed4    ,so long  
as one knows himself only as spirit1 and
 feels that all the  value of his       
existence consists in being spirit 7it  
becomes easy for the  youth to give his 
life1 the bodily life1 for a nothing1   
for the  silliest point of honor71 so   
long it is only thoughts that one has1  
ideas that he hopes to be able to       
realize some day when he has found a    
sphere of action2 thus one has meanwhile
 only ideals1 unexecuted ideas  or      
thoughts4    ,not till one has fallen in
 love with his corporeal self1 and takes
 a  pleasure in himself as a living     
flesh-and-blood person1--but it is in   
mature years1 in the man1 that we find  

it so1--not till then has one a         
personal or egoistic interest1 i4 e4 an 
interest not only of our  spirit1 for   
instance1 but of total satisfaction1    
satisfaction of the  whole chap1 a      
selfish interest4 ,just compare a man   
with a youth1 and  see if he will not   
appear to you harder1 less magnanimous1 
more selfish4  ,is he therefore worse8  
,no1 you say2 he has only become more   
definite1  or1 as you also call it1 more
 practical4 ,but the main point is this1
  that he makes himself more the centre 
than does the youth1 who is  infatuated 
about other things1 e4 g4 ,god1         
fatherland1 and so on4    ,therefore the
 man shows a second self-discovery4 ,the
 youth found  himself as spirit and lost
 himself again in the general spirit1   
the  complete1 holy spirit1 ,man1       
mankind1--in short1 all ideals2 the man 
finds himself as embodied spirit4       
,boys had only unintellectual interests 
7i4 e4 interests devoid of  thoughts and
 ideas71 youths only intellectual ones2 

the man has  bodily1 personal1 egoistic 
interests4    ,if the child has not an  
object that it can occupy itself with1  
it  feels ennui2 for it does not yet    
know how to occupy itself with  itself4 
,the youth1 on the contrary1 throws the 
object aside1 because  for him thoughts 
arose out of the object2 he occupies    
himself with his  thoughts1 his dreams1 
occupies himself intellectually1 or his 
mind is  occupied4    ,the young man    
includes everything not intellectual    
under the  contemptuous name of         
externalities4 ,if he nevertheless      
sticks to the  most trivial             
externalities 7e4 g4 the customs of     
students' clubs and  other formalities71
 it is because1 and when1 he discovers  
mind in  them1 i4 e4 when they are      
symbols to him4    ,as ,i find myself   
back of things1 and that as mind1 so ,i 
must later find  myself also back of    
thoughts1--to wit1 as their creator and 
owner4  ,in the time of spirits thoughts
 grew till they overtopped my head1     

whose offspring they yet were2 they     
hovered about me and convulsed me  like 
fever-phantasies--an awful power4 ,the  
thoughts had become  corporeal on their 
own account1 were ghosts1 such as ,god1 
,emperor1  ,pope1 ,fatherland1 etc4 ,if 
,i destroy their corporeity1 then ,i    
take them  back into mine1 and say3 ,i  
alone am corporeal4 ,and now ,i take the
  world as what it is to me1 as mine1 as
 my property2 ,i refer all to  myself4  
,if as spirit ,i had thrust away the    
world in the deepest contempt1 so as    
owner ,i thrust spirits or ideas away   
into their vanity4 ,they have no  longer
 any power over me1 as no earthly might 
has power over the  spirit4    ,the     
child was realistic1 taken up with the  
things of this world1 till  little by   
little he succeeded in getting at what  
was back of these very  things2 the     
youth was idealistic1 inspired by       
thoughts1 till he worked  his way up to 
where he became the man1 the egoistic   
man1 who deals with  things and thoughts

 according to his heart's pleasure1 and 
sets his  personal interest above       
everything4 ,finally1 the old man8 ,when
 ,i become  one1 there will still be    
time enough to speak of that4           
,,ii4    ,,men ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,time  
,,and ,,the ,,new      ,how each of us  
developed himself1 what he strove for1  
attained1 or  missed1 what objects he   
formerly pursued and what plans and     
wishes his  heart is now set on1 what   
transformations his views have          
experienced1  what perturbations his    
principles1--in short1 how he has to-day
 become  what yesterday or years ago he 
was not1--this he brings out again from 
his memory with more or less ease1 and  
he feels with especial vividness  what  
changes have taken place in himself when
 he has before his eyes the  unrolling  
of another's life4    ,let us therefore 
look into the activities our            
fore-fathers busied  themselves with4   
,i4--,,the ,,ancients    ,custom having 
once given the name of the ancients to  

our pre-,christian  ancestors1 we will  
not throw it up against them that1 in   
comparison with  us experienced people1 
they ought properly to be called        
children1 but  will rather continue to  
honor them as our good old fathers4 ,but
 how have  they come to be antiquated1  
and who could displace them through his 
pretended newness8    ,we know1 of      
course1 the revolutionary innovator and 
disrespectful heir1  who even took away 
the sanctity of the fathers' sabbath to 
hallow his  ,sunday1 and interrupted the
 course of time to begin at himself with
 a  new chronology2 we know him1 and    
know that it is--the ,christian4 ,but   
does he remain forever young1 and is he 
to-day still the new man1 or  will he   
too be superseded1 as he has superseded 
the ancients8    ,the fathers must      
doubtless have themselves begotten the  
young one who  entombed them4 ,let us   
then peep at this act of generation4    
,to the ancients the world was a truth1 
says ,feuerbach1 but he forgets  to make

 the important addition1 a truth whose  
untruth they tried to get  back of1 and 
at last really did4 ,what is meant by   
those words of  ,feuerbach will be      
easily recognized if they are put       
alongside the  ,christian thesis of the 
vanity and transitoriness of the world4 
,for1  as the ,christian can never      
convince himself of the vanity of the   
divine  word1 but believes in its       
eternal and unshakeable truth1 which1   
the more  its depths are searched1 must 
all the more brilliantly come to light  
and  triumph1 so the ancients on their  
side lived in the feeling that the      
world and mundane relations 7e4 g4 the  
natural ties of blood7 were the  truth  
before which their powerless ,i must    
bow4 ,the very thing on which  the      
ancients set the highest value is       
spurned by ,christians as the           
valueless1 and what they recognized as  
truth these brand as idle lies2  the    
high significance of the fatherland     
disappears1 and the ,christian  must    

regard himself as a stranger on earth2#h
 the sanctity of  funeral rites1 from   
which sprang a work of art like the     
,antigone of  ,sophocles1 is designated 
as a paltry thing 7,let the dead bury   
their  dead72 the infrangible truth of  
family ties is represented as an        
untruth which one cannot promptly enough
 get clear of2#i and so in  everything4 
,if we now see that to the two sides    
opposite things appear as truth1 to  one
 the natural1 to the other the          
intellectual1 to one earthly things  and
 relations1 to the other heavenly 7the  
heavenly fatherland1  ,jerusalem that is
 above1 etc471 it still remains to be   
considered how  the new time and that   
undeniable reversal could come out of   
antiquity4  ,but the ancients themselves
 worked toward making their truth a lie4
    ,let us plunge at once into the     
midst of the most brilliant years of the
  ancients1 into the ,periclean century4
 ,then the ,sophistic culture was       
spreading1 and ,greece made a pastime of

 what had hitherto been to her a        
monstrously serious matter4    ,the     
fathers had been enslaved by the        
undisturbed power of existing  things   
too long for the posterity not to have  
to learn by bitter  experience to feel  
themselves4 ,therefore the ,sophists1   
with courageous  sauciness1 pronounce   
the reassuring words1 ,don't be bluffed6
 and  diffuse the rationalistic         
doctrine1 ,use your understanding1 your 
wit1  your mind1 against everything2 it 
is by having a good and well-drilled    
understanding that one gets through the 
world best1 provides for himself  the   
best lot1 the pleasantest life4 ,thus   
they recognize in mind  man's true      
weapon against the world4 ,this is why  
they lay such stress  on dialectic      
skill1 command of language1 the art of  
disputation1 etc4  ,they announce that  
mind is to be used against everything2  
but they are  still far removed from the
 holiness of the ,spirit1 for to them it
 is a  means1 a weapon1 as trickery and 

defiance serve children for the same    
purpose2 their mind is the unbribable   
understanding4    ,to-day we should call
 that a one-sided culture of the        
understanding1 and  add the warning1    
,cultivate not only your understanding1 
but also1 and  especially1 your heart4  
,socrates did the same4 ,for1 if the    
heart did  not become free from its     
natural impulses1 but remained filled   
with the  most fortuitous contents and1 
as an uncriticised avidity1 altogether  
in the power of things1 i4 e4 nothing   
but a vessel of the most various        
appetites1--then it was unavoidable that
 the free understanding must  serve the 
bad heart and was ready to justify      
everything that the  wicked heart       
desired4    ,therefore ,socrates says   
that it is not enough for one to use his
  understanding in all things1 but it is
 a question of what cause one  exerts it
 for4 ,we should now say1 one must serve
 the good cause4 ,but  serving the good 
cause is--being moral4 ,hence ,socrates 

is the founder of  ethics4    ,certainly
 the principle of the ,sophistic        
doctrine must lead to the  possibility  
that the blindest and most dependent    
slave of his desires  might yet be an   
excellent sophist1 and1 with keen       
understanding1 trim  and expound        
everything in favor of his coarse heart4
 ,what could there be  for which a good 
reason might not be found1 or which     
might not be  defended through thick and
 thin8    ,therefore ,socrates says3    
,you must be 'pure-hearted' if your     
shrewdness  is to be valued4 ,at this   
point begins the second period of ,greek
  liberation of the mind1 the period of 
purity of heart4 ,for the first  was    
brought to a close by the ,sophists in  
their proclaiming the  omnipotence of   
the understanding4 ,but the heart       
remained  worldly-minded1 remained a    
servant of the world1 always affected by
  worldly wishes4 ,this coarse heart was
 to be cultivated from now on--the  era 
of culture of the heart4 ,but how is the

 heart to be cultivated8  ,what the     
understanding1 this one side of the     
mind1 has reached1--to wit1  the        
capability of playing freely with and   
over every concern1--awaits  the heart  
also2 everything worldly must come to   
grief before it1 so  that at last       
family1 commonwealth1 fatherland1 and   
the like1 are given  up for the sake of 
the heart1 i4 e4 of blessedness1 the    
heart's  blessedness4    ,daily         
experience confirms the truth that the  
understanding may have  renounced a     
thing many years before the heart has   
ceased to beat for it4  ,so the         
,sophistic understanding too had so far 
become master over the  dominant1       
ancient powers that they now needed only
 to be driven out of  the heart1 in     
which they dwelt unmolested1 to have at 
last no part at  all left in man4       
,this war is opened by ,socrates1 and   
not till the dying day of the old  world
 does it end in peace4    ,the          
examination of the heart takes its start

 with ,socrates1 and all the  contents  
of the heart are sifted4 ,in their last 
and extremest struggles  the ancients   
threw all contents out of the heart and 
let it no longer  beat for anything2    
this was the deed of the ,skeptics4 ,the
 same purgation  of the heart was now   
achieved in the ,skeptical age1 as the  
understanding  had succeeded in         
establishing in the ,sophistic age4     
,the ,sophistic culture has brought it  
to pass that one's understanding no     
longer stands still before anything1 and
 the ,skeptical1 that his heart  is no  
longer moved by anything4    ,so long as
 man is entangled in the movements of   
the world and  embarrassed by relations 
to the world1--and he is so till the end
 of  antiquity1 because his heart still 
has to struggle for independence from   
the worldly1--so long he is not yet     
spirit2 for spirit is without body1  and
 has no relations to the world and      
corporality2 for it the world does  not 
exist1 nor natural bonds1 but only the  

spiritual1 and spiritual  bonds4        
,therefore man must first become so     
completely unconcerned and  reckless1 so
 altogether without relations1 as the   
,skeptical culture  presents him1--so   
altogether indifferent to the world that
 even its  falling in ruins would not   
move him1--before he could feel himself 
as  worldless1 i4 e4 as spirit4 ,and    
this is the result of the gigantic  work
 of the ancients3 that man knows himself
 as a being without  relations and      
without a world1 as spirit4    ,only    
now1 after all worldly care has left    
him1 is he all in all to  himself1 is he
 only for himself1 i4 e4 he is spirit   
for the spirit1 or1  in plainer         
language1 he cares only for the         
spiritual4    ,in the ,christian wisdom 
of serpents and innocence of doves the  
two  sides--understanding and heart--of 
the ancient liberation of mind are  so  
completed that they appear young and new
 again1 and neither the one  nor the    
other lets itself be bluffed any longer 

by the worldly and  natural4    ,thus   
the ancients mounted to spirit1 and     
strove to become spiritual4  ,but a man 
who wishes to be active as spirit is    
drawn to quite other  tasks than he was 
able to set himself formerly3 to tasks  
which really  give something to do to   
the spirit and not to mere sense or     
acuteness1#aj which exerts itself only  
to become master of things4  ,the spirit
 busies itself solely about the         
spiritual1 and seeks out the  traces of 
mind in everything2 to the believing    
spirit everything  comes from ,god1 and 
interests him only to the extent that it
 reveals  this origin2 to the           
philosophic spirit everything appears   
with the  stamp of reason1 and interests
 him only so far as he is able to       
discover  in it reason1 i4 e4 spiritual 
content4    ,not the spirit1 then1 which
 has to do with absolutely nothing      
unspiritual1 with no thing1 but only    
with the essence which exists  behind   
and above things1 with thoughts1--not   

that did the ancients  exert1 for they  
did not yet have it2 no1 they had only  
reached the point  of struggling and    
longing for it1 and therefore sharpened 
it against  their too-powerful foe1 the 
world of sense 7but what would not have 
been  sensuous for them1 since ,jehovah 
or the gods of the heathen were yet far 
removed from the conception ,god is     
spirit1 since the heavenly  fatherland  
had not yet stepped into the place of   
the sensuous1  etc87--they sharpened    
against the world of sense their sense1 
their  acuteness4 ,to this day the      
,jews1 those precocious children of     
antiquity1  have got no farther2 and    
with all the subtlety and strength of   
their  prudence and understanding1 which
 easily becomes master of things and    
forces them to obey it1 they cannot     
discover spirit1 which takes no  account
 whatever of things4    ,the ,christian 
has spiritual interests1 because he     
allows himself to be a  spiritual man2  
the ,jew does not even understand these 

interests in  their purity1 because he  
does not allow himself to assign no     
value to  things4 ,he does not arrive at
 pure spirituality1 a spirituality such 
as is religiously expressed1 e4 g41 in  
the faith1 of ,christians1  which alone 
7i4 e4 without works7 justifies4 ,their 
unspirituality  sets ,jews forever apart
 from ,christians2 for the spiritual man
 is  incomprehensible to the            
unspiritual1 as the unspiritual is      
contemptible  to the spiritual4 ,but the
 ,jews have only the spirit of this     
world4    ,the ancient acuteness and    
profundity lies as far from the spirit  
and the  spirituality of the ,christian 
world as earth from heaven4    ,he who  
feels himself as free spirit is not     
oppressed and made anxious by  the      
things of this world1 because he does   
not care for them2 if one is  still to  
feel their burden1 he must be narrow    
enough to attach weight  to them1--as is
 evidently the case1 for instance1 when 
one is still  concerned for his dear    

life4 ,he to whom everything centres in 
knowing  and conducting himself as a    
free spirit gives little heed to how    
scantily he is supplied meanwhile1 and  
does not reflect at all on how he  must 
make his arrangements to have a         
thoroughly free or enjoyable  life4 ,he 
is not disturbed by the inconveniences  
of the life that  depends on things1    
because he lives only spiritually and on
 spiritual  food1 while aside from this 
he only gulps things down like a beast1 
hardly knowing it1 and dies bodily1 to  
be sure1 when his fodder gives  out1 but
 knows himself immortal as spirit1 and  
closes his eyes with an  adoration or a 
thought4 ,his life is occupation with   
the spiritual1  is--thinking2 the rest  
does not bother him2 let him busy       
himself with  the spiritual in any way  
that he can and chooses1--in devotion1  
in  contemplation1 or in philosophic    
cognition1--his doing is always         
thinking2 and therefore ,descartes1 to  
whom this had at last become quite      

clear1 could lay down the proposition3  
,i think1 that is--,i am4 ,this  means1 
my thinking is my being or my life2 only
 when ,i live spiritually  do ,i live2  
only as spirit am ,i really1 or--,i am  
spirit through and  through and nothing 
but spirit4 ,unlucky ,peter ,schlemihl1 
who has lost  his shadow1 is the        
portrait of this man become a spirit2   
for the  spirit's body is               
shadowless4--,over against this1 how    
different among the  ancients6 ,stoutly 
and manfully as they might bear         
themselves against the  might of things1
 they must yet acknowledge the might    
itself1 and got no  farther than to     
protect their life against it as well as
 possible4  ,only at a late hour did    
they recognize that their true life was 
not  that which they led in the fight   
against the things of the world1 but    
the spiritual life1 turned away from    
these things2 and1 when they  saw this1 
they became--,christians1 i4 e4 the     
moderns1 and innovators  upon the       

ancients4 ,but the life turned away from
 things1 the spiritual  life1 no longer 
draws any nourishment from nature1 but  
lives only on  thoughts1 and therefore  
is no longer life1 but--thinking4       
,yet it must not be supposed now that   
the ancients were without  thoughts1    
just as the most spiritual man is not to
 be conceived of as  if he could be     
without life4 ,rather1 they had their   
thoughts about  everything1 about the   
world1 man1 the gods1 etc41 and showed  
themselves  keenly active in bringing   
all this to their consciousness4 ,but   
they did  not know thought1 even though 
they thought of all sorts of things and 
worried themselves with their thoughts4 
,compare with their position  the       
,christian saying1 ,my thoughts are not 
your thoughts2 as the heaven  is higher 
than the earth1 so are my thoughts      
higher than your thoughts1  and remember
 what was said above about our          
child-thoughts4    ,what is antiquity   
seeking1 then8 ,the true enjoyment of   

life6 ,you will  find that at bottom it 
is all the same as the true life4       
,the ,greek poet ,simonides sings3      
,health is the noblest good for mortal  
man1 the next to this is beauty1 the    
third riches acquired without  guile1   
the fourth the enjoyment of social      
pleasures in the company of  young      
friends4 ,these are all good things of  
life1 pleasures of life4  ,what else was
 ,diogenes of ,sinope seeking for than  
the true enjoyment of  life1 which he   
discovered in having the least possible 
wants8 ,what else  ,aristippus1 who     
found it in a cheery temper under all   
circumstances8  ,they are seeking for   
cheery1 unclouded life-courage1 for     
cheeriness2  they are seeking to be of  
good cheer4    ,the ,stoics want to     
realize the wise man1 the man with      
practical  philosophy1 the man who knows
 how to live1--a wise life1 therefore2  
they find him in contempt for the world1
 in a life without development1  without
 spreading out1 without friendly        

relations with the world1  i4 e4 in the 
isolated life1 in life as life1 not in  
life with  others2 only the ,stoic      
lives1 all else is dead for him4 ,the   
,epicureans1 on the contrary1 demand a  
moving life4    ,the ancients1 as they  
want to be of good cheer1 desire good   
living  7the ,jews especially a long    
life1 blessed with children and goods71 
eudaemonia1 well-being in the most      
various forms4 ,democritus1 e4 g41      
praises as such the calm of the soul in 
which one lives smoothly1  without fear 
and without excitement4    ,so what he  
thinks is that with this he gets on     
best1 provides for  himself the best    
lot1 and gets through the world best4   
,but as he cannot  get rid of the       
world1--and in fact cannot for the very 
reason that his  whole activity is taken
 up in the effort to get rid of it1 that
 is1 in  repelling the world 7for which 
it is yet necessary that what can be    
and is repelled should remain existing1 
otherwise there would no longer  be     

anything to repel71--he reaches at most 
an extreme degree of  liberation1 and is
 distinguishable only in degree from the
 less  liberated4 ,if he even got as far
 as the deadening of the earthly sense1 
which at last admits only the monotonous
 whisper of the word ,brahm1 he         
nevertheless would not be essentially   
distinguishable from the sensual  man4  
,even the ,stoic attitude and manly     
virtue amounts only to this1--that  one 
must maintain and assert himself against
 the world2 and the ethics  of the      
,stoics 7their only science1 since they 
could tell nothing about  the spirit but
 how it should behave toward the world1 
and of nature  physics only this1 that  
the wise man must assert himself against
 it7  is not a doctrine of the spirit1  
but only a doctrine of the repelling of 
the world and of self-assertion against 
the world4 ,and this consists in        
imperturbability and equanimity of life1
 and so in the most explicit  ,roman    
virtue4    ,the ,romans too 7,horace1   

,cicero1 etc47 went no further than this
  practical philosophy4    ,the comfort 
7hedone7 of the ,epicureans is the same 
practical  philosophy the ,stoics teach1
 only trickier1 more deceitful4 ,they   
teach  only another behavior toward the 
world1 exhort us only to take a  shrewd 
attitude toward the world2 the world    
must be deceived1 for it is  my enemy4  
,the break with the world is completely 
carried through by the ,skeptics4  ,my  
entire relation to the world is         
worthless and truthless4 ,timon  says1  
,the feelings and thoughts which we draw
 from the world contain no  truth4 ,what
 is truth8 cries ,pilate4 ,according to 
,pyrrho's doctrine  the world is neither
 good nor bad1 neither beautiful nor    
ugly1 etc41 but  these are predicates   
which ,i give it4 ,timon says that in   
itself  nothing is either good or bad1  
but man only thinks of it thus or  thus2
 to face the world only ataraxia        
7unmovedness7 and aphasia               
7speechlessness--or1 in other words1    

isolated inwardness7 are left4  ,there  
is no longer any truth to be recognized 
in the world2 things  contradict        
themselves2 thoughts about things are   
without distinction  7good and bad are  
all the same1 so that what one calls    
good another  finds bad72 here the      
recognition of truth is at an end1 and  
only the  man without power of          
recognition1 the man who finds in the   
world  nothing to recognize1 is left1   
and this man just leaves the            
truth-vacant  world where it is and     
takes no account of it4    ,so antiquity
 gets trough with the world of things1  
the order of the  world1 the world as a 
whole2 but to the order of the world1 or
 the  things of this world1 belong not  
only nature1 but all relations in which 
man sees himself placed by nature1 e4 g4
 the family1 the  community1--in short1 
the so-called natural bonds4 ,with the  
world of  the spirit ,christianity then 
begins4 ,the man who still faces the    
world  armed is the ancient1            

the--heathen 7to which class the ,jew1  
too1 as  non-,christian1 belongs72 the  
man who has come to be led by nothing   
but  his heart's pleasure1 the interest 
he takes1 his fellow-feeling1           
his--spirit1 is the modern1             
the--,christian4    ,as the ancients    
worked toward the conquest of the world 
and strove to  release man from the     
heavy trammels of connection with other 
things1  at last they came also to the  
dissolution of the ,state and giving    
preference to everything private4 ,of   
course community1 family1 etc41 as      
natural relations1 are burdensome       
hindrances which diminish my  spiritual 
freedom4      ,,ii4--,,the ,,moderns    
,if any man be in ,christ1 he is a new  
creature2 the old is passed  away1      
behold1 all is become new4#aa    ,as it 
was said above1 ,to the ancients the    
world was a truth1 we must  say here1   
,to the moderns the spirit was a truth2 
but here1 as there1  we must not omit   
the supplement1 a truth whose untruth   

they tried to  get back of1 and at last 
they really do4    ,a course similar to 
that which antiquity took may be        
demonstrated in  ,christianity also1 in 
that the understanding was held a       
prisoner under  the dominion of the     
,christian dogmas up to the time        
preparatory to the  ,reformation1 but in
 the pre-,reformation century asserted  
itself  sophistically and played        
heretical pranks with all tenets of the 
faith4 ,and the talk then was1          
especially in ,italy and at the ,roman  
court1 ,if only the heart remains       
,christian-minded1 the understanding    
may go right on taking its pleasure4    
,long before the ,reformation people    
were so thoroughly accustomed to        
fine-spun wranglings that the pope1 and 
most others1 looked on  ,luther's       
appearance too as a mere wrangling of   
monks at first4  ,humanism corresponds  
to ,sophisticism1 and1 as in the time of
 the  ,sophists ,greek life stood in its
 fullest bloom 7the ,periclean age71 so 

the most brilliant things happened in   
the time of ,humanism1 or1 as one  might
 perhaps also say1 of ,machiavellianism 
7printing1 the ,new ,world1  etc474 ,at 
this time the heart was still far from  
wanting to relieve  itself of its       
,christian contents4    ,but finally the
 ,reformation1 like ,socrates1 took hold
 seriously of the  heart itself1 and    
since then hearts have kept growing     
visibly--more  unchristian4 ,as with    
,luther people began to take the matter 
to heart1  the outcome of this step of  
the ,reformation must be that the heart 
also  gets lightened of the heavy burden
 of ,christian faith4 ,the heart1 from  
day to day more unchristian1 loses the  
contents with which it had busied       
itself1 till at last nothing but empty  
warm-heartedness is left it1  the quite 
general love of men1 the love of ,man1  
the consciousness of  freedom1          
self-consciousness4    ,only so is      
,christianity complete1 because it has  
become bald1 withered1  and void of     

contents4 ,there are now no contents    
whatever against which  the heart does  
not mutiny1 unless indeed the heart     
unconsciously or  without               
self-consciousness lets them slip in4   
,the heart criticises  to death with    
hard-hearted mercilessness everything   
that wants to make  its way in1 and is  
capable 7except1 as before1             
unconsciously or taken by  surprise7 of 
no friendship1 no love4 ,what could     
there be in men to love1  since they are
 all alike egoists1 none of them man as 
such1 i4 e4  none spirit only8 ,the     
,christian loves only the spirit2 but   
where could  one be found who should be 
really nothing but spirit8    ,to have a
 liking for the corporeal man with hide 
and hair1--why1 that  would no longer be
 a spiritual warm-heartedness1 it would 
be treason  against pure                
warm-heartedness1 the theoretical       
regard4 ,for pure  warm-heartedness is  
by no means to be conceived as like that
 kindliness  that gives everybody a     

friendly hand-shake2 on the contrary1   
pure  warm-heartedness is warm-hearted  
toward nobody1 it is only a theoretical 
interest1 concern for man as man1 not as
 a person4 ,the person is  repulsive to 
it because of being egoistic1 because of
 not being that  abstraction1 ,man4 ,but
 it is only for the abstraction that one
 can have a  theoretical regard4 ,to    
pure warm-heartedness or pure theory men
 exist  only to be criticised1 scoffed  
at1 and thoroughly despised2 to it1 no  
less than to the fanatical parson1 they 
are only filth and other such  nice     
things4    ,pushed to this extremity of 
disinterested warm-heartedness1 we must 
finally become conscious that the       
spirit1 which alone the ,christian      
loves1 is nothing2 in other words1 that 
the spirit is--a lie4    ,what has here 
been set down roughly1 summarily1 and   
doubtless as yet  incomprehensibly1     
will1 it is to be hoped1 become clear as
 we go on4    ,let us take up the       
inheritance left by the ancients1 and1  

as active  workmen1 do with it as much  
as--can be done with it6 ,the world lies
  despised at our feet1 far beneath us  
and our heaven1 into which its  mighty  
arms are no longer thrust and its       
stupefying breath does not  come4       
,seductively as it may pose1 it can     
delude nothing but our sense2  it cannot
 lead astray the spirit--and spirit     
alone1 after all1 we really  are4       
,having once got back of things1 the    
spirit has also got above  them1 and    
become free from their bonds1           
emancipated supernal1 free4 ,so  speaks 
spiritual freedom4    ,to the spirit    
which1 after long toil1 has got rid of  
the world1 the  worldless spirit1       
nothing is left after the loss of the   
world and the  worldly but--the spirit  
and the spiritual4    ,yet1 as it has   
only moved away from the world and made 
of itself a being  free from the world1 
without being able really to annihilate 
the  world1 this remains to it a        
stumbling-block that cannot be cleared  

away1  a discredited existence2 and1 as1
 on the other hand1 it knows and        
recognizes nothing but the spirit and   
the spiritual1 it must perpetually      
carry about with it the longing to      
spiritualize the world1 i4 e4 to  redeem
 it from the black list4 ,therefore1    
like a youth1 it goes about  with plans 
for the redemption or improvement of the
 world4    ,the ancients1 we saw1 served
 the natural1 the worldly1 the natural  
order  of the world1 but they           
incessantly asked themselves whether    
they could  not1 then1 relieve          
themselves of this service2 and1 when   
they had tired  themselves to death in  
ever-renewed attempts at revolt1 then1  
among  their last sighs1 was born to    
them the ,god1 the conqueror of the     
world4 ,all their doing had been nothing
 but wisdom of the world1 an  effort to 
get back of the world and above it4 ,and
 what is the wisdom of  the many        
following centuries8 ,what did the      
moderns try to get back of8  ,no longer 

to get back of the world1 for the       
ancients had accomplished  that2 but    
back of the ,god whom the ancients      
bequeathed to them1 back of  the ,god   
who is spirit1 back of everything that  
is the spirit's1 the  spiritual4 ,but   
the activity of the spirit1 which       
searches even the  depths of the        
,godhead1 is theology4 ,if the ancients 
have nothing to  show but wisdom of the 
world1 the moderns never did nor do make
 their  way further than to theology4   
,we shall see later that even the newest
  revolts against ,god are nothing but  
the extremest efforts of theology1  i4  
e4 theological insurrections4           
#a4--,,the ,,spirit    ,the realm of    
spirits is monstrously great1 there is  
an infinite deal of  the spiritual2 yet 
let us look and see what the spirit1    
this bequest of  the ancients1 properly 
is4    ,out of their birth-pangs it came
 forth1 but they themselves could not   
utter themselves as spirit2 they could  
give birth to it1 it itself must  speak4

 ,the born ,god1 the ,son of ,man1 is   
the first to utter the word  that the   
spirit1 i4 e4 he1 ,god1 has to do with  
nothing earthly and no  earthly         
relationship1 but solely with the spirit
 and spiritual  relationships4    ,is my
 courage1 indestructible under all the  
world's blows1 my  inflexibility and my 
obduracy1 perchance already spirit in   
the full  sense1 because the world      
cannot touch it8 ,why1 then it would not
 yet be  at enmity with the world1 and  
all its action would consist merely in  
not  succumbing to the world6 ,no1 so   
long as it does not busy itself with    
itself alone1 so long as it does not    
have to do with its world1 the          
spiritual1 alone1 it is not free spirit1
 but only the spirit of this  world1 the
 spirit fettered to it4 ,the spirit is  
free spirit1 i4 e4  really spirit1 only 
in a world of its own2 in this1 the     
world1 it is  a stranger4 ,only through 
a spiritual world is the spirit really  
spirit1  for this world does not        

understand it and does not know how to  
keep  the maiden from a foreign land#ab 
from departing4    ,but where is it to  
get this spiritual world8 ,where but out
 of itself8 ,it  must reveal itself2 and
 the words that it speaks1 the          
revelations in  which it unveils itself1
 these are its world4 ,as a visionary   
lives and  has his world only in the    
visionary pictures that he himself      
creates1  as a crazy man generates for  
himself his own dream-world1 without    
which  he could not be crazy1 so the    
spirit must create for itself its spirit
  world1 and is not spirit till it      
creates it4    ,thus its creations make 
it spirit1 and by its creatures we know 
it1 the  creator2 in them it lives1 they
 are its world4    ,now1 what is the    
spirit8 ,it is the creator of a         
spiritual world6 ,even in  you and me   
people do not recognize spirit till they
 see that we have  appropriated to      
ourselves something spiritual1--i4 e41  
though thoughts  may have been set      

before us1 we have at least brought them
 to life in  ourselves2 for1 as long as 
we were children1 the most edifying     
thoughts  might have been laid before us
 without our wishing1 or being able to  
reproduce them in ourselves4 ,so the    
spirit also exists only when it  creates
 something spiritual2 it is real only   
together with the  spiritual1 its       
creature4    ,as1 then1 we know it by   
its works1 the question is what these   
works are4  ,but the works or children  
of the spirit are nothing else          
but--spirits3    ,if ,i had before me   
,jews1 ,jews of the true metal1 ,i      
should have to stop  here and leave them
 standing before this mystery as for    
almost two  thousand years they have    
remained standing before it1 unbelieving
 and  without knowledge4 ,but1 as you1  
my dear reader1 are at least not a      
full-blooded ,jew1--for such a one will 
not go astray as far as this1--we  will 
still go along a bit of road together1  
till perhaps you too turn  your back on 

me because ,i laugh in your face4    ,if
 somebody told you you were altogether  
spirit1 you would take hold of  your    
body and not believe him1 but answer3 ,i
 have a spirit1 no doubt1  but do not   
exist only as spirit1 but am a man with 
a body4 ,you would  still distinguish   
yourself from your spirit4 ,but1 replies
 he1 it  is your destiny1 even though   
now you are yet going about in the      
fetters  of the body1 to be one day a   
'blessed spirit1' and1 however you may  
conceive of the future aspect of your   
spirit1 so much is yet certain1  that in
 death you will put off this body and   
yet keep yourself1 i4 e4  your spirit1  
for all eternity2 accordingly your      
spirit is the eternal  and true in you1 
the body only a dwelling here below1    
which you may  leave and perhaps        
exchange for another4    ,now you       
believe him6 ,for the present1 indeed1  
you are not spirit only2  but1 when you 
emigrate from the mortal body1 as one   
day you must1 then  you will have to    

help yourself without the body1 and     
therefore it is  needful that you be    
prudent and care in time for your proper
 self4 ,what  should it profit a man if 
he gained the whole world and yet       
suffered  damage in his soul8    ,but1  
even granted that doubts1 raised in the 
course of time against the  tenets of   
the ,christian faith1 have long since   
robbed you of faith in  the immortality 
of your spirit1 you have nevertheless   
left one tenet  undisturbed1 and still  
ingenuously adhere to the one truth1    
that the  spirit is your better part1   
and that the spiritual has greater      
claims on  you than anything else4      
,despite all your atheism1 in zeal      
against  egoism you concur with the     
believers in immortality4    ,but whom  
do you think of under the name of       
egoist8 ,a man who1 instead of  living  
to an idea1--i4 e4 a spiritual          
thing--and sacrificing to it his        
personal advantage1 serves the latter4  
,a good patriot1 e4 g41 brings  his     

sacrifice to the altar of the           
fatherland2 but it cannot be disputed   
that the fatherland is an idea1 since   
for beasts incapable of mind1#ac  or    
children as yet without mind1 there is  
no fatherland and no  patriotism4 ,now1 
if any one does not approve himself as a
 good patriot1  he betrays his egoism   
with reference to the fatherland4 ,and  
so the  matter stands in innumerable    
other cases3 he who in human society    
takes  the benefit of a prerogative sins
 egoistically against the idea of       
equality2 he who exercises dominion is  
blamed as an egoist against the  idea of
 liberty1--etc4    ,you despise the     
egoist because he puts the spiritual in 
the background  as compared with the    
personal1 and has his eyes on himself   
where you  would like to see him act to 
favor an idea4 ,the distinction between 
you  is that he makes himself the       
central point1 but you the spirit2 or   
that  you cut your identity in two and  
exalt your proper self1 the spirit1  to 

be ruler of the paltrier remainder1     
while he will hear nothing of  this     
cutting in two1 and pursues spiritual   
and material interests just  as he      
pleases4 ,you think1 to be sure1 that   
you are falling foul of  those only who 
enter into no spiritual interest at all1
 but in fact you  curse at everybody who
 does not look on the spiritual interest
 as his  true and highest interest4 ,you
 carry your knightly service for this   
beauty so far that you affirm her to be 
the only beauty of the world4  ,you live
 not to yourself1 but to your spirit and
 to what is the  spirit's--i4 e4 ideas4 
,as the spirit exists only in its       
creating of the spiritual1 let us take  
a look about us for its first creation4 
,if only it has accomplished  this1     
there follows thenceforth a natural     
propagation of creations1 as  according 
to the myth only the first human beings 
needed to be created1  the rest of the  
race propagating of itself4 ,the first  
creation1 on the  other hand1 must come 

forth out of nothing1--i4 e41 the spirit
 has  toward its realization nothing but
 itself1 or rather it has not yet even  
itself1 but must create itself2 hence   
its first creation is itself1 the       
spirit4 ,mystical as this sounds1 we yet
 go through it as an every-day          
experience4 ,are you a thinking being   
before you think8 ,in creating the      
first thought you create yourself1 the  
thinking one2 for you do not  think     
before you think a thought1 i4 e4 have a
 thought4 ,is it not your  singing that 
first makes you a singer1 your talking  
that makes you a  talker8 ,now1 so too  
it is the production of the spiritual   
that first  makes you a spirit4         
,meantime1 as you distinguish yourself  
from the thinker1 singer1 and  talker1  
so you no less distinguish yourself from
 the spirit1 and feel  very clearly that
 you are something beside spirit4 ,but1 
as in the  thinking ego hearing and     
sight easily vanish in the enthusiasm of
  thought1 so you also have been seized 

by the spirit-enthusiasm1 and you  now  
long with all your might to become      
wholly spirit and to be dissolved  in   
spirit4 ,the spirit is your ideal1 the  
unattained1 the otherworldly2  spirit is
 the name of your--god1 ,god is spirit4 
,against all that is not spirit you are 
a zealot1 and therefore you play  the   
zealot against yourself who cannot get  
rid of a remainder of the               
non-spiritual4 ,instead of saying1 ,i am
 more than spirit1 you say  with        
contrition1 ,i am less than spirit2 and 
spirit1 pure spirit1 or the  spirit that
 is nothing but spirit1 ,i can only     
think of1 but am not2 and1  since ,i am 
not it1 it is another1 exists as        
another1 whom ,i call ',god'4    ,it    
lies in the nature of the case that the 
spirit that is to exist as  pure spirit 
must be an otherworldly one1 for1 since 
,i am not it1 it  follows that it can   
only be outside me2 since in any case a 
human  being is not fully comprehended  
in the concept spirit1 it follows that  

the pure spirit1 the spirit as such1 can
 only be outside of men1 beyond  the    
human world1--not earthly1 but heavenly4
    ,only from this disunion in which ,i
 and the spirit lie2 only because ,i    
and spirit are not names for one and the
 same thing1 but different  names for   
completely different things2 only       
because ,i am not spirit and  spirit not
 ,i1--only from this do we get a quite  
tautological explanation  of the        
necessity that the spirit dwells in the 
other world1 i4 e4 is  ,god4    ,but    
from this it also appears how thoroughly
 theological is the  liberation that    
,feuerbach#ad is laboring to give us4   
,what he says is  that we had only      
mistaken our own essence1 and therefore 
looked for it  in the other world1 but  
that now1 when we see that ,god was only
 our  human essence1 we must recognize  
it again as ours and move it back out   
of the other world into this4 ,to ,god1 
who is spirit1 ,feuerbach gives the     
name ,our ,essence4 ,can we put up with 

this1 that ,our ,essence is  brought    
into opposition to us1--that we are     
split into an essential  and an         
unessential self8 ,do we not therewith  
go back into the dreary  misery of      
seeing ourselves banished out of        
ourselves8    ,what have we gained1     
then1 when for a variation we have      
transferred into  ourselves the divine  
outside us8 ,are we that which is in us8
 ,as little  as we are that which is    
outside us4 ,i am as little my heart as 
,i am my  sweetheart1 this other self of
 mine4 ,just because we are not the     
spirit that dwells in us1 just for that 
reason we had to take it and set  it    
outside us2 it was not we1 did not      
coincide with us1 and therefore we      
could not think of it as existing       
otherwise than outside us1 on the  other
 side from us1 in the other world4      
,with the strength of despair ,feuerbach
 clutches at the total substance  of    
,christianity1 not to throw it away1 no1
 to drag it to himself1 to  draw it1 the

 long-yearned-for1 ever-distant1 out of 
its heaven with a  last effort1 and keep
 it by him forever4 ,is not that a      
clutch of the  uttermost despair1 a     
clutch for life or death1 and is it not 
at the  same time the ,christian        
yearning and hungering for the other    
world8 ,the  hero wants not to go into  
the other world1 but to draw the other  
world  to him1 and compel it to become  
this world6 ,and since then has not all 
the world1 with more or less            
consciousness1 been crying that this    
world is the vital point1 and heaven    
must come down on earth and be          
experienced even here8    ,let us1 in   
brief1 set ,feuerbach's theological view
 and our contradiction  over against    
each other6    ,the essence of man is   
man's supreme being2#ae now by religion1
 to be  sure1 the supreme being is      
called ,god and regarded as an objective
  essence1 but in truth it is only man's
 own essence2 and therefore the  turning
 point of the world's history is that   

henceforth no longer ,god1  but man1 is 
to appear to man as ,god4#af    ,to this
 we reply3 ,the supreme being is indeed 
the essence of man1 but1  just because  
it is his essence and not he himself1 it
 remains quite  immaterial whether we   
see it outside him and view it as ,god1 
or find  it in him and call it ,essence 
of ,man or ,man4 ,i am neither ,god nor 
,man1#ag neither the supreme essence nor
 my essence1 and therefore it  is all   
one in the main whether ,i think of the 
essence as in me or  outside me4 ,nay1  
we really do always think of the supreme
 being as in  both kinds of             
otherworldliness1 the inward and        
outward1 at once2 for  the ,spirit of   
,god is1 according to the ,christian    
view1 also our  spirit1 and dwells in   
us4#ah ,it dwells in heaven and dwells  
in us2  we poor things are just its     
dwelling1 and1 if ,feuerbach goes on to 
destroy its heavenly dwelling and force 
it to move to us bag and  baggage1 then 
we1 its earthly apartments1 will be     

badly overcrowded4    ,but after this   
digression 7which1 if we were at all    
proposing to work by  line and level1 we
 should have had to save for later pages
 in order to  avoid repetition7 we      
return to the spirit's first creation1  
the spirit  itself4    ,the spirit is   
something other than myself4 ,but this  
other1 what is it8       #b4--,,the     
,,possessed4    ,have you ever seen a   
spirit8 ,no1 not ,i1 but my grandmother4
 ,now1 you  see1 it's just so with me   
too2 ,i myself haven't seen any1 but my 
grandmother had them running between her
 feet all sorts of ways1 and out  of    
confidence in our grandmothers' honesty 
we believe in the existence  of spirits4
    ,but had we no grandfathers then1   
and did they not shrug their shoulders  
every time our grandmothers told about  
their ghosts8 ,yes1 those were          
unbelieving men who have harmed our good
 religion much1 those  rationalists6 ,we
 shall feel that6 ,what else lies at the
 bottom of this  warm faith in ghosts1  

if not the faith in the existence of    
spiritual  beings in general1 and is not
 this latter itself disastrously        
unsettled  if saucy men of the          
understanding may disturb the former8   
,the  ,romanticists were quite conscious
 what a blow the very belief in ,god    
suffered by the laying aside of the     
belief in spirits or ghosts1 and  they  
tried to help us out of the baleful     
consequences not only by their          
reawakened fairy world1 but at last1 and
 especially1 by the intrusion  of a     
higher world1 by their somnambulists1   
prophetesses of ,prevorst1  etc4 ,the   
good believers and fathers of the church
 did not suspect that  with the belief  
in ghosts the foundation of religion was
 withdrawn1 and  that since then it had 
been floating in the air4 ,he who no    
longer  believes in any ghost needs only
 to travel on consistently in his       
unbelief to see that there is no        
separate being at all concealed behind  
things1 no ghost or--what is naively    

reckoned as synonymous even in our  use 
of words--no spirit4    ,spirits exist6 
,look about in the world1 and say for   
yourself whether a  spirit does not gaze
 upon you out of everything4 ,out of the
 lovely  little flower there speaks to  
you the spirit of the ,creator1 who has 
shaped it so wonderfully2 the stars     
proclaim the spirit that established    
their order2 from the mountain-tops a   
spirit of sublimity breathes down2  out 
of the waters a spirit of yearning      
murmurs up2 and--out of men  millions of
 spirits speak4 ,the mountains may sink1
 the flowers fade1 the  world of stars  
fall in ruins1 the men die--what matters
 the wreck of  these visible bodies8    
,the spirit1 the invisible spirit1      
abides  eternally6    ,yes1 the whole   
world is haunted6 ,only is haunted8     
,nay1 it itself  walks1 it is uncanny   
through and through1 it is the wandering
  seeming-body of a spirit1 it is a     
spook4 ,what else should a ghost be1    
then1 than an apparent body1 but real   

spirit8 ,well1 the world is  empty1 is  
naught1 is only glamorous semblance2 its
 truth is the  spirit alone2 it is the  
seeming-body of a spirit4    ,look out  
near or far1 a ghostly world surrounds  
you everywhere2 you  are always having  
apparitions or visions4 ,everything that
 appears to  you is only the phantasm of
 an indwelling spirit1 is a ghostly     
apparition2 the world is to you only a  
world of appearances1 behind  which the 
spirit walks4 ,you see spirits4    ,are 
you perchance thinking of comparing     
yourself with the ancients1 who  saw    
gods everywhere8 ,gods1 my dear modern1 
are not spirits2 gods do not  degrade   
the world to a semblance1 and do not    
spiritualize it4    ,but to you the     
whole world is spiritualized1 and has   
become an  enigmatical ghost2 therefore 
do not wonder if you likewise find in   
yourself nothing but a spook4 ,is not   
your body haunted by your spirit1  and  
is not the latter alone the true and    
real1 the former only the  transitory1  

naught or a semblance8 ,are we not all  
ghosts1 uncanny  beings that wait for   
deliverance1--to wit1 spirits8    ,since
 the spirit appeared in the world1 since
 the ,word became flesh1  since then the
 world has been spiritualized1          
enchanted1 a spook4    ,you have spirit1
 for you have thoughts4 ,what are your  
thoughts8  ,spiritual entities4 ,not    
things1 then8 ,no1 but the spirit of    
things1  the main point in all things1  
the inmost in them1 their--idea4        
,consequently what you think is not only
 your thought8 ,on the contrary1  it is 
that in the world which is most real1   
that which is properly to be  called    
true2 it is the truth itself2 if ,i only
 think truly1 ,i think the  truth4 ,i   
may1 to be sure1 err with regard to the 
truth1 and fail to  recognize it2 but1  
if ,i recognize truly1 the object of my 
cognition  is the truth4 ,so1 ,i        
suppose1 you strive at all times to     
recognize the  truth8 ,to me the truth  
is sacred4 ,it may well happen that ,i  

find a  truth incomplete and replace it 
with a better1 but the truth ,i cannot  
abrogate4 ,i believe in the truth1      
therefore ,i search in it2 nothing      
transcends it1 it is eternal4           
,sacred1 eternal is the truth2 it is the
 ,sacred1 the ,eternal4 ,but you1  who  
let yourself be filled and led by this  
sacred thing1 are yourself  hallowed4   
,further1 the sacred is not for your    
senses1--and you never as  a sensual man
 discover its trace1--but for your      
faith1 or1 more  definitely still1 for  
your spirit2 for it itself1 you know1 is
 a  spiritual thing1 a spirit1--is      
spirit for the spirit4    ,the sacred is
 by no means so easily to be set aside  
as many at present  affirm1 who no      
longer take this unsuitable word into   
their mouths4 ,if  even in a single     
respect ,i am still upbraided as an     
egoist1 there is  left the thought of   
something else which ,i should serve    
more than  myself1 and which must be to 
me more important than everything2 in   

short1 somewhat in which ,i should have 
to seek my true welfare1#ai             
something--sacred4#bj ,however human    
this sacred thing may look1  though it  
be the ,human itself1 that does not take
 away its sacredness1  but at most      
changes it from an unearthly to an      
earthly sacred thing1  from a divine one
 to a human4    ,sacred things exist    
only for the egoist who does not        
acknowledge  himself1 the involuntary   
egoist1 for him who is always looking   
after  his own and yet does not count   
himself as the highest being1 who serves
  only himself and at the same time     
always thinks he is serving a higher    
being1 who knows nothing higher than    
himself and yet is infatuated about     
something higher2 in short1 for the     
egoist who would like not to be an      
egoist1 and abases himself 7i4 e4       
combats his egoism71 but at the same    
time abases himself only for the sake of
 being exalted1 and therefore  of       
gratifying his egoism4 ,because he would

 like to cease to be an  egoist1 he     
looks about in heaven and earth for     
higher beings to serve  and sacrifice   
himself to2 but1 however much he shakes 
and disciplines  himself1 in the end he 
does all for his own sake1 and the      
disreputable  egoism will not come off  
him4 ,on this account ,i call him the   
involuntary  egoist4    ,his toil and   
care to get away from himself is nothing
 but the  misunderstood impulse to      
self-dissolution4 ,if you are bound to  
your past  hour1 if you must babble     
to-day because you babbled yesterday1#ba
 if  you can not transform yourself each
 instant1 you feel yourself fettered  in
 slavery and benumbed4 ,therefore over  
each minute of your existence a  fresh  
minute of the future beckons to you1    
and1 developing yourself1 you  get away 
from yourself1--i4 e4 from the self that
 was at that  moment4 ,as you are at    
each instant1 you are your own creature1
 and in  this very creature you do not  
wish to lose yourself1 the creator4 ,you

  are yourself a higher being than you  
are1 and surpass yourself4 ,but that    
you are the one who is higher than      
you1--i4 e4 that you are not only       
creature1 but likewise your             
creator1--just this1 as an involuntary  
egoist1 you fail to recognize2 and      
therefore the higher essence is to      
you--an alien#bb essence4 ,every higher 
essence1 such as truth1 mankind1  etc41 
is an essence over us4    ,alienness is 
a criterion of the sacred4 ,in          
everything sacred there  lies something 
uncanny1 i4 e4 strange1#bc such as we   
are not quite  familiar and at home in4 
,what is sacred to me is not my own2 and
 if1  e4 g4 the property of others was  
not sacred to me1 ,i should look on it  
as mine1 which ,i should take to myself 
when occasion offered4 ,or1 on  the     
other side1 if ,i regard the face of the
 ,chinese emperor as sacred1  it remains
 strange to my eye1 which ,i close at   
its appearance4    ,why is an           
incontrovertible mathematical truth1    

which might even be  called eternal     
according to the common understanding of
 words1  not--sacred8 ,because it is not
 revealed1 or not the revelation of a   
higher being4 ,if by revealed we        
understand only the so-called religious 
truths1 we go far astray1 and entirely  
fail to recognize the breadth of  the   
concept higher being4 ,atheists keep up 
their scoffing at the  higher being1    
which was also honored under the name of
 the highest or  tre suprme1 and trample
 in the dust one proof of his existence 
after another without noticing that they
 themselves1 out of need for a  higher  
being1 only annihilate the old to make  
room for a new4 ,is ,man  perchance not 
a higher essence than an individual man1
 and must not the  truths1 rights1 and  
ideas which result from the concept of  
him be  honored and--counted sacred1 as 
revelations of this very concept8 ,for1 
even though we should abrogate again    
many a truth that seemed to be made     
manifest by this concept1 yet this would

 only evince a misunderstanding  on our 
part1 without in the least degree       
harming the sacred concept  itself or   
taking their sacredness from those      
truths that must rightly be  looked upon
 as its revelations4 ,man reaches beyond
 every individual  man1 and yet--though 
he be his essence--is not in fact his   
essence  7which rather would be as      
single#bd as he the individual himself71
 but  a general and higher1 yes1 for    
atheists the highest essence4#be  ,and1 
as the divine revelations were not      
written down by ,god with his own  hand1
 but made public through the ,lord's    
instruments1 so also the new  highest   
essence does not write out its          
revelations itself1 but lets them  come 
to our knowledge through true men4 ,only
 the new essence betrays1  in fact1 a   
more spiritual style of conception than 
the old ,god1 because  the latter was   
still represented in a sort of          
embodiedness or form1  while the        
undimmed spirituality of the new is     

retained1 and no special  material body 
is fancied for it4 ,and withal it does  
not lack corporeity1  which even takes  
on a yet more seductive appearance      
because it looks  more natural and      
mundane and consists in nothing less    
than in every  bodily man1--yes1 or     
outright in humanity or all men4        
,thereby the  spectralness of the spirit
 in a seeming-body has once again become
  really solid and popular4    ,sacred1 
then1 is the highest essence and        
everything in which this  highest       
essence reveals or will reveal itself2  
but hallowed are they who  recognize    
this highest essence together with its  
own1 i4 e4 together  with its           
revelations4 ,the sacred hallows in turn
 its reverer1 who by his  worship       
becomes himself a saint1 as likewise    
what he does is saintly1 a  saintly     
walk1 saintly thoughts and actions1     
imaginations and  aspirations1 etc4     
,it is easily understood that the       
conflict over what is revered as the    

highest essence can be significant only 
so long as even the most  embittered    
opponents concede to each other the main
 point1--that there  is a highest       
essence to which worship or service is  
due4 ,if one should  smile              
compassionately at the whole struggle   
over a highest essence1 as a  ,christian
 might at the war of words between a    
,shiite and a ,sunnite or  between a    
,brahman and a ,buddhist1 then the      
hypothesis of a highest  essence would  
be null in his eyes1 and the conflict on
 this basis an  idle play4 ,whether then
 the one ,god or the three in one1      
whether the  ,lutheran ,god or the tre  
suprme or not ,god at all1 but ,man1 may
  represent the highest essence1 that   
makes no difference at all for him  who 
denies the highest essence itself1 for  
in his eyes those servants of  a highest
 essence are one and all--pious people1 
the most raging atheist  not less than  
the most faith-filled ,christian4    ,in
 the foremost place of the sacred1#bf   

then1 stands the highest  essence and   
the faith in this essence1 our holy#bg  
faith4      ,,the ,,spook    ,with      
ghosts we arrive in the spirit-realm1 in
 the realm of essences4    ,what haunts 
the universe1 and has its occult1       
incomprehensible being  there1 is       
precisely the mysterious spook that we  
call highest essence4  ,and to get to   
the bottom of this spook1 to comprehend 
it1 to  discover reality in it 7to prove
 the existence of ,god7--this task  men 
set to themselves for thousands of      
years2 with the horrible  impossibility1
 the endless ,danaid-labor1 of          
transforming the spook into  a          
non-spook1 the unreal into something    
real1 the spirit into an entire  and    
corporeal person1--with this they       
tormented themselves to death4  ,behind 
the existing world they sought the thing
 in itself1 the  essence2 behind the    
thing they sought the un-thing4    ,when
 one looks to the bottom of anything1 i4
 e4 searches out its  essence1 one often

 discovers something quite other than   
what it  seems to be2 honeyed speech and
 a lying heart1 pompous words and       
beggarly thoughts1 etc4 ,by bringing the
 essence into prominence one  degrades  
the hitherto misapprehended appearance  
to a bare semblance1 a  deception4 ,the 
essence of the world1 so attractive and 
splendid1 is for  him who looks to the  
bottom of it--emptiness2 emptiness is   
world's  essence 7world's doings74 ,now1
 he who is religious does not occupy    
himself with the deceitful semblance1   
with the empty appearances1 but  looks  
upon the essence1 and in the essence    
has--the truth4    ,the essences which  
are deduced from some appearances are   
the evil  essences1 and conversely from 
others the good4 ,the essence of human  
feeling1 e4 g41 is love2 the essence of 
human will is the good2 that  of one's  
thinking1 the true2 etc4    ,what at    
first passed for existence1 such as the 
world and its like1  appears now as bare
 semblance1 and the truly existent is   

much rather  the essence1 whose realm is
 filled with gods1 spirits1 demons1 i4  
e4  with good or bad essences4 ,only    
this inverted world1 the world of       
essences1 truly exists now4 ,the human  
heart may be loveless1 but its  essence 
exists1 ,god1 who is love2 human thought
 may wander in error1  but its essence1 
truth1 exists2 ,god is truth1--etc4     
,to know and acknowledge essences alone 
and nothing but essences1 that is       
religion2 its realm is a realm of       
essences1 spooks1 and ghosts4    ,the   
longing to make the spook               
comprehensible1 or to realize non-sense1
  has brought about a corporeal ghost1 a
 ghost or spirit with a real  body1 an  
embodied ghost4 ,how the strongest and  
most talented ,christians  have tortured
 themselves to get a conception of this 
ghostly apparition6  ,but there always  
remained the contradiction of two       
natures1 the divine  and human1 i4 e4   
the ghostly and sensual2 there remained 
the most  wondrous spook1 a thing that  

was not a thing4 ,never yet was a ghost 
more  soul-torturing1 and no shaman1 who
 pricks himself to raving fury and      
nerve-lacerating cramps to conjure a    
ghost1 can endure such soul-torment  as 
,christians suffered from that most     
incomprehensible ghost4    ,but through 
,christ the truth of the matter had at  
the same time come to  light1 that the  
veritable spirit or ghost is--man4 ,the 
corporeal or  embodied spirit is just   
man2 he himself is the ghastly being and
 at the  same time the being's          
appearance and existence4 ,henceforth   
man no  longer1 in typical cases1       
shudders at ghosts outside him1 but at  
himself2 he is terrified at himself4 ,in
 the depth of his breast dwells  the    
spirit of sin2 even the faintest thought
 7and this is itself a  spirit1 you     
know7 may be a devil1 etc4--,the ghost  
has put on a body1  ,god has become man1
 but now man is himself the gruesome    
spook which he  seeks to get back of1 to
 exorcise1 to fathom1 to bring to       

reality and to  speech2 man is--spirit4 
,what matter if the body wither1 if only
 the  spirit is saved8 everything rests 
on the spirit1 and the spirit's or      
soul's welfare becomes the exclusive    
goal4 ,man has become to himself a      
ghost1 an uncanny spook1 to which there 
is even assigned a distinct seat  in the
 body 7dispute over the seat of the     
soul1 whether in the head1  etc474      
,you are not to me1 and ,i am not to    
you1 a higher essence4 ,nevertheless a  
higher essence may be hidden in each of 
us1 and call forth a mutual  reverence4 
,to take at once the most general1 ,man 
lives in you and me4  ,if ,i did not see
 ,man in you1 what occasion should ,i   
have to respect you8  ,to be sure you   
are not ,man and his true and adequate  
form1 but only a  mortal veil of his1   
from which he can withdraw without      
himself ceasing2  but yet for the       
present this general and higher essence 
is housed in  you1 and you present      
before me 7because an imperishable      

spirit has in  you assumed a perishable 
body1 so that really your form is only  
an  assumed one7 a spirit that appears1 
appears in you1 without being  bound to 
your body and to this particular mode of
 appearance1--therefore  a spook4 ,hence
 ,i do not regard you as a higher       
essence1 but only respect  that higher  
essence which walks in you2 ,i respect  
,man in you4 ,the  ancients did not     
observe anything of this sort in their  
slaves1 and the  higher essence ,man    
found as yet little response4 ,to make  
up for this1  they saw in each other    
ghosts of another sort4 ,the ,people is 
a higher  essence than an individual1   
and1 like ,man or the ,spirit of ,man1 a
 spirit  haunting the individual1--the  
,spirit of the ,people4 ,for this reason
 they  revered this spirit1 and only so 
far as he served this or else a spirit  
related to it 7e4 g4 the ,spirit of the 
,family1 etc47 could the  individual    
appear significant2 only for the sake of
 the higher essence1  the ,people1 was  

consideration allowed to the member of  
the people4 ,as  you are hallowed to us 
by ,man who haunts you1 so at every time
 men  have been hallowed by some higher 
essence or other1 like ,people1 ,family1
  and such4 ,only for the sake of a     
higher essence has any one been honored 
from of old1 only as a ghost has he been
 regarded in the light of a  hallowed1  
i4 e41 protected and recognized person4 
,if ,i cherish you  because ,i hold you 
dear1 because in you my heart finds     
nourishment1 my  need satisfaction1 then
 it is not done for the sake of a higher
 essence  whose hallowed body you are1  
not on account of my beholding in you a 
ghost1 i4 e4 an appearing spirit1 but   
from egoistic pleasure2 you  yourself   
with your essence are valuable to me1   
for your essence is not  a higher one1  
is not higher and more general than you1
 is unique#bh  like you yourself1       
because it is you4    ,but it is not    
only man that1 haunts2 so does          
everything4 ,the higher  essence1 the   

spirit1 that walks in everything1 is at 
the same time bound  to nothing1 and    
only--appears in it4 ,ghosts in every   
corner6    ,here would be the place to  
pass the haunting spirits in review1 if 
they  were not to come before us again  
further on in order to vanish before    
egoism4 ,hence let only a few of them be
 particularized by way of  example1 in  
order to bring us at once to our        
attitude toward them4    ,sacred above  
all1 e4 g41 is the holy ,spirit1 sacred 
the truth1  sacred are right1 law1 a    
good cause1 majesty1 marriage1 the      
common good1  order1 the fatherland1    
etc4      ,,wheels ,,in ,,the ,,head4   
,man1 your head is haunted2 you have    
wheels in your head6 ,you imagine  great
 things1 and depict to yourself a whole 
world of gods that has an  existence for
 you1 a spirit-realm to which you       
suppose yourself to be  called1 an ideal
 that beckons to you4 ,you have a fixed 
idea6    ,do not think that ,i am       
jesting or speaking figuratively when ,i

 regard  those persons who cling to the 
,higher1 and 7because the vast majority 
belongs under this head7 almost the     
whole world of men1 as veritable  fools1
 fools in a madhouse4 ,what is it1 then1
 that is called a fixed  idea8 ,an idea 
that has subjected the man to itself4   
,when you recognize1  with regard to    
such a fixed idea1 that it is a folly1  
you shut its slave  up in an asylum4    
,and is the truth of the faith1 say1    
which we are not to  doubt2 the majesty 
of 7e4 g47 the people1 which we are not 
to strike  at 7he who does is guilty    
of--lese-majesty72 virtue1 against which
 the  censor is not to let a word pass1 
that morality may be kept pure2         
etc41--are these not fixed ideas8 ,is   
not all the stupid chatter of  7e4 g47  
most of our newspapers the babble of    
fools who suffer from the  fixed idea of
 morality1 legality1 ,christianity1     
etc41 and only seem to  go about free   
because the madhouse in which they walk 
takes in so broad  a space8 ,touch the  

fixed idea of such a fool1 and you will 
at once have  to guard your back against
 the lunatic's stealthy malice4 ,for    
these  great lunatics are like the      
little so-called lunatics in this point 
too1--that they assail by stealth him   
who touches their fixed idea4 ,they     
first steal his weapon1 steal free      
speech from him1 and then they fall     
upon him with their nails4 ,every day   
now lays bare the cowardice and         
vindictiveness of these maniacs1 and the
 stupid populace hurrahs for  their     
crazy measures4 ,one must read the      
journals of this period1 and  must hear 
the ,philistines talk1 to get the       
horrible conviction that one  is shut up
 in a house with fools4 ,thou shalt not 
call thy brother a  fool2 if thou       
dost--etc4 ,but ,i do not fear the      
curse1 and ,i say1 my  brothers are     
arch-fools4 ,whether a poor fool of the 
insane asylum is  possessed by the fancy
 that he is ,god the ,father1 ,emperor  
of ,japan1 the  ,holy ,spirit1 etc41 or 

whether a citizen in comfortable        
circumstances  conceives that it is his 
mission to be a good ,christian1 a      
faithful  ,protestant1 a loyal citizen1 
a virtuous man1 etc41--both these are   
one  and the same fixed idea4 ,he who   
has never tried and dared not to be a   
good ,christian1 a faithful ,protestant1
 a virtuous man1 etc41 is  possessed and
 prepossessed#bi by faith1 virtuousness1
 etc4 ,just as  the schoolmen           
philosophized only inside the belief of 
the church2 as  ,pope ,benedict ,,xiv   
wrote fat books inside the papist       
superstition1  without ever throwing a  
doubt upon this belief2 as authors fill 
whole  folios on the ,state without     
calling in question the fixed idea of   
the  ,state itself2 as our newspapers   
are crammed with politics because they  
are conjured into the fancy that man was
 created to be a zoon  politicon1--so   
also subjects vegetate in subjection1   
virtuous people in  virtue1 liberals in 
humanity1 etc41 without ever putting to 

these fixed  ideas of theirs the        
searching knife of criticism4           
,undislodgeable1 like a  madman's       
delusion1 those thoughts stand on a firm
 footing1 and he who  doubts them--lays 
hands on the sacred6 ,yes1 the fixed    
idea1 that is  the truly sacred6    ,is 
it perchance only people possessed by   
the devil that meet us1 or do  we as    
often come upon people possessed in the 
contrary way1--possessed  by the good1  
by virtue1 morality1 the law1 or some   
principle or  other8 ,possessions of the
 devil are not the only ones4 ,god works
 on us1  and the devil does2 the former 
workings of grace1 the latter workings  
of the devil4 ,possessed#cj people are  
set#ca in their opinions4    ,if the    
word possession displeases you1 then    
call it prepossession2  yes1 since the  
spirit possesses you1 and all           
inspirations come from  it1 call        
it--inspiration and enthusiasm4 ,i add  
that complete  enthusiasm--for we cannot
 stop with the sluggish1 half-way       

kind--is  called fanaticism4    ,it is  
precisely among cultured people that    
fanaticism is at home2 for  man is      
cultured so far as he takes an interest 
in spiritual things1 and  interest in   
spiritual things1 when it is alive1 is  
and must be  fanaticism2 it is a        
fanatical interest in the sacred        
7fanum74  ,observe our liberals1 look   
into the ,saechsischen                  
,vaterlandsblaetter1  hear what         
,schlosser says3#cb ,holbach's company  
constituted a regular  plot against the 
traditional doctrine and the existing   
system1 and its  members were as        
fanatical on behalf of their unbelief as
 monks and  priests1 ,jesuits and       
,pietists1 ,methodists1 missionary and  
,bible  societies1 commonly are for     
mechanical worship and orthodoxy4       
,take notice how a moral man behaves1   
who to-day often thinks he is  through  
with ,god and throws off ,christianity  
as a bygone thing4 ,if you  ask him     
whether he has ever doubted that the    

copulation of brother and  sister is    
incest1 that monogamy is the truth of   
marriage1 that filial  piety is a sacred
 duty1 etc41 then a moral shudder will  
come over him at  the conception of     
one's being allowed to touch his sister 
as wife also1  etc4 ,and whence this    
shudder8 ,because he believes in those  
moral  commandments4 ,this moral faith  
is deeply rooted in his breast4 ,much as
  he rages against the pious            
,christians1 he himself has nevertheless
 as  thoroughly remained a              
,christian1--to wit1 a moral ,christian4
 ,in the  form of morality ,christianity
 holds him a prisoner1 and a prisoner   
under  faith4 ,monogamy is to be        
something sacred1 and he who may live in
  bigamy is punished as a criminal2 he  
who commits incest suffers as a         
criminal4 ,those who are always crying  
that religion is not to be  regarded in 
the ,state1 and the ,jew is to be a     
citizen equally with the  ,christian1   
show themselves in accord with this4 ,is

 not this of incest  and monogamy a     
dogma of faith8 ,touch it1 and you will 
learn by  experience how this moral man 
is a hero of faith too1 not less than   
,krummacher1 not less than ,philip ,,ii4
 ,these fight for the faith of the      
,church1 he for the faith of the ,state1
 or the moral laws of the ,state2  for  
articles of faith1 both condemn him who 
acts otherwise than their  faith will   
allow4 ,the brand of crime is stamped   
upon him1 and he may  languish in       
reformatories1 in jails4 ,moral faith is
 as fanatical as  religious faith6 ,they
 call that liberty of faith then1 when  
brother  and sister1 on account of a    
relation that they should have settled  
with  their conscience1 are thrown into 
prison4 ,but they set a pernicious      
example4 ,yes1 indeed3 others might have
 taken the notion that the  ,state had  
no business to meddle with their        
relation1 and thereupon  purity of      
morals would go to ruin4 ,so then the   
religious heroes of  faith are zealous  

for the sacred ,god1 the moral ones for 
the sacred  good4    ,those who are     
zealous for something sacred often look 
very little like  each other4 ,how the  
strictly orthodox or old-style believers
 differ from  the fighters for truth1   
light1 and justice1 from the            
,philalethes1 the  ,friends of ,light1  
the ,rationalists1 etc4 ,and yet1 how   
utterly  unessential is this difference6
 ,if one buffets single traditional     
truths  7e4 g4 miracles1 unlimited power
 of princes1 etc471 then the            
rationalists buffet them too1 and only  
the old-style believers wail4  ,but1 if 
one buffets truth itself1 he immediately
 has both1 as  believers1 for opponents4
 ,so with moralities2 the strict        
believers are  relentless1 the clearer  
heads are more tolerant4 ,but he who    
attacks  morality itself gets both to   
deal with4 ,truth1 morality1 justice1   
light1 etc41 are to be and remain       
sacred4 ,what any one finds to  censure 
in ,christianity is simply supposed to  

be unchristian according  to the view of
 these rationalists2 but ,christianity  
must remain a  fixture1 to buffet it is 
outrageous1 an outrage4 ,to be sure1 the
  heretic against pure faith no longer  
exposes himself to the earlier fury  of 
persecution1 but so much the more does  
it now fall upon the heretic  against   
pure morals4           99       99      
99       99       99    ,piety has for a
 century received so many blows1 and had
 to hear its  superhuman essence reviled
 as an inhuman one so often1 that one   
cannot feel tempted to draw the sword   
against it again4 ,and yet it has       
almost always been only moral opponents 
that have appeared in the arena1  to    
assail the supreme essence in favor     
of--another supreme essence4 ,so        
,proudhon1 unabashed1 says3#cc ,man is  
destined to live without  religion1 but 
the moral law is eternal and absolute4  
,who would dare  to-day to attack       
morality8 ,moral people skimmed off the 
best fat from  religion1 ate it         

themselves1 and are now having a tough  
job to get rid  of the resulting        
scrofula4 ,if1 therefore1 we point out  
that religion has  not by any means been
 hurt in its inmost part so long as     
people reproach  it only with its       
superhuman essence1 and that it takes   
its final appeal  to the spirit alone   
7for ,god is spirit71 then we have      
sufficiently  indicated its final accord
 with morality1 and can leave its       
stubborn  conflict with the latter lying
 behind us4 ,it is a question of a      
supreme  essence with both1 and whether 
this is a superhuman or a human one can 
make 7since it is in any case an essence
 over me1 a super-mine one1 so  to      
speak7 but little difference to me4 ,in 
the end the relation to the  human      
essence1 or to ,man1 as soon as ever it 
has shed the snake-skin  of the old     
religion1 will yet wear a religious     
snake-skin again4    ,so ,feuerbach     
instructs us that1 if one only inverts  
speculative  philosophy1 i4 e4 always   

makes the predicate the subject1 and so 
makes  the subject the object and       
principle1 one has the undraped truth1  
pure  and clean4#cd ,herewith1 to be    
sure1 we lose the narrow religious      
standpoint1 lose the ,god1 who from this
 standpoint is subject2 but we  take in 
exchange for it the other side of the   
religious standpoint1 the  moral        
standpoint4 ,e4 g41 we no longer say    
,god is love1 but ,love  is divine4 ,if 
we further put in place of the predicate
 divine the  equivalent sacred1 then1 as
 far as concerns the sense1 all the old 
comes back again4 ,according to this1   
love is to be the good in man1  his     
divineness1 that which does him honor1  
his true humanity 7it  makes him ,man   
for the first time1 makes for the first 
time a man out  of him74 ,so then it    
would be more accurately worded thus3   
,love is what  is human in man1 and what
 is inhuman is the loveless egoist4 ,but
  precisely all that which ,christianity
 and with it speculative philosophy  7i4

 e4 theology7 offers as the good1 the   
absolute1 is to  self-ownership simply  
not the good 7or1 what means the same1  
it is only  the good74 ,consequently1 by
 the transformation of the predicate    
into  the subject1 the ,christian       
essence 7and it is the predicate that   
contains the essence1 you know7 would   
only be fixed yet more  oppressively4   
,god and the divine would entwine       
themselves all the more  inextricably   
with me4 ,to expel ,god from his heaven 
and to rob him of his  transcendence    
cannot yet support a claim of complete  
victory1 if  therein he is only chased  
into the human breast and gifted with   
indelible immanence4 ,now they say1 ,the
 divine is the truly human6    ,the same
 people who oppose ,christianity as the 
basis of the ,state1  i4 e4 oppose the  
so-called ,christian ,state1 do not tire
 of repeating  that morality is the     
fundamental pillar of social life and of
 the  ,state4 ,as if the dominion of    
morality were not a complete dominion of

  the sacred1 a hierarchy4    ,so we may
 here mention by the way that           
rationalist movement which1 after       
theologians had long insisted that only 
faith was capable of grasping  religious
 truths1 that only to believers did ,god
 reveal himself1 etc41  and that        
therefore only the heart1 the feelings1 
the believing fancy was  religious1     
broke out with the assertion that the   
natural  understanding1 human reason1   
was also capable of discerning ,god4    
,what  does that mean but that the      
reason laid claim to be the same        
visionary  as the fancy8#ce ,in this    
sense ,reimarus wrote his ,most ,notable
 ,truths  of ,natural ,religion4 ,it had
 to come to this1--that the whole man   
with  all his faculties was found to be 
religious2 heart and affections1        
understanding and reason1 feeling1      
knowledge1 and will1--in short1         
everything in man1--appeared religious4 
,hegel has shown that even  philosophy  
is religious4 ,and what is not called   

religion to-day8 ,the  religion of love1
 the religion of freedom1 political     
religion1--in  short1 every enthusiasm4 
,so it is1 too1 in fact4    ,to this day
 we use the ,romance word religion1     
which expresses the  concept of a       
condition of being bound4 ,to be sure1  
we remain bound1 so  far as religion    
takes possession of our inward parts2   
but is the mind  also bound8 ,on the    
contrary1 that is free1 is sole lord1 is
 not our  mind1 but absolute4 ,therefore
 the correct affirmative translation of 
the  word religion would be freedom of  
mind6 ,in whomsoever the mind is  free1 
he is religious in just the same way as 
he in whom the senses have  free course 
is called a sensual man4 ,the mind binds
 the former1 the  desires the latter4   
,religion1 therefore1 is boundness or   
religio with  reference to me1--,i am   
bound2 it is freedom with reference to  
the  mind1--the mind is free1 or has    
freedom of mind4 ,many know from        
experience how hard it is on us when the

 desires run away with us1  free and    
unbridled2 but that the free mind1      
splendid intellectuality1  enthusiasm   
for intellectual interests1 or however  
this jewel may in the  most various     
phrase be named1 brings us into yet more
 grievous straits  than even the wildest
 impropriety1 people will not perceive2 
nor can  they perceive it without being 
consciously egoists4    ,reimarus1 and  
all who have shown that our reason1 our 
heart1 etc41 also  lead to ,god1 have   
therewithal shown that we are possessed 
through and  through4 ,to be sure1 they 
vexed the theologians1 from whom they   
took  away the prerogative of religious 
exaltation2 but for religion1 for       
freedom of mind1 they thereby only      
conquered yet more ground4 ,for1 when   
the mind is no longer limited to feeling
 or faith1 but also1 as  understanding1 
reason1 and thought in general1 belongs 
to itself the  mind1--when1 therefore1  
it may take part in the spiritual#cf and
  heavenly truths in the form of        

understanding1 etc41 as well as in its  
other forms1--then the whole mind is    
occupied only with spiritual  things1 i4
 e4 with itself1 and is therefore free4 
,now we are so  through-and-through     
religious that jurors1 i4 e4 sworn men1 
condemn us to death1 and every          
policeman1 as a good ,christian1 takes  
us  to the lock-up by virtue of an oath 
of office4    ,morality could not come  
into opposition with piety till after   
the time  when in general the boisterous
 hate of everything that looked like an 
order 7decrees1 commandments1 etc47     
spoke out in revolt1 and the  personal  
absolute lord was scoffed at and        
persecuted2 consequently it  could      
arrive at independence only through     
liberalism1 whose first form  acquired  
significance in the world's history as  
citizenship1 and  weakened the          
specifically religious powers 7see      
,liberalism below74  ,for1 when morality
 not merely goes alongside of piety1 but
 stands on  feet of its own1 then its   

principle lies no longer in the divine  
commandments1 but in the law of reason1 
from which the commandments1 so  far as 
they are still to remain valid1 must    
first await justification  for their    
validity4 ,in the law of reason man     
determines himself out of  himself1 for 
,man is rational1 and out of the essence
 of ,man those  laws follow of          
necessity4 ,piety and morality part     
company in this1--that  the former makes
 ,god the lawgiver1 the latter ,man4    
,from a certain standpoint of morality  
people reason about as follows3  ,either
 man is led by his sensuality1 and is1  
following it1 immoral1 or  he is led by 
the good which1 taken up into the will1 
is called moral  sentiment 7sentiment   
and prepossession in favor of the good72
 then he  shows himself moral4 ,from    
this point of view how1 e4 g41 can      
,sand's  act against ,kotzebue be called
 immoral8 ,what is commonly understood  
by  unselfish it certainly was1 in the  
same measure as 7among other things7    

,st4 ,crispin's thieveries in favor of  
the poor4 ,he should not have  murdered1
 for it stands written1 ,thou shalt not 
murder6 ,then to serve  the good1 the   
welfare of the people1 as ,sand at least
 intended1 or the  welfare of the poor1 
like ,crispin1--is moral2 but murder and
 theft are  immoral2 the purpose moral1 
the means immoral4 ,why8 ,because       
murder1  assassination1 is something    
absolutely bad4 ,when the ,guerrillas   
enticed  the enemies of the country into
 ravines and shot them down unseen from 
the bushes1 do you suppose that was not 
assassination8 ,according to the        
principle of morality1 which commands us
 to serve the good1 you could  really   
ask only whether murder could never in  
any case be a realization  of the good1 
and would have to endorse that murder   
which realized the  good4 ,you cannot   
condemn ,sand's deed at all2 it was     
moral1 because in  the service of the   
good1 because unselfish2 it was an act  
of punishment1  which the individual    

inflicted1 an--execution inflicted at   
the risk of  the executioner's life4    
,what else had his scheme been1 after   
all1 but  that he wanted to suppress    
writings by brute force8 ,are you not   
acquainted with the same procedure as a 
legal and sanctioned one8 ,and  what can
 be objected against it from your       
principle of morality8--,but  it was an 
illegal execution4 ,so the immoral thing
 in it was the  illegality1 the         
disobedience to law8 ,then you admit    
that the good is  nothing else          
than--law1 morality nothing else than   
loyalty4 ,and to  this externality of   
loyalty your morality must sink1 to this
  righteousness of works in the         
fulfilment of the law1 only that the    
latter is at once more tyrannical and   
more revolting than the old-time        
righteousness of works4 ,for in the     
latter only the act is needed1 but  you 
require the disposition too2 one must   
carry in himself the law1  the statute2 
and he who is most legally disposed is  

the most moral4 ,even  the last vestige 
of cheerfulness in ,catholic life must  
perish in this  ,protestant legality4   
,here at last the domination of the law 
is for the  first time complete4 ,not ,i
 live1 but the law lives in me4 ,thus ,i
 have  really come so far as to be only 
the vessel of its glory4 ,every         
,prussian carries his gendarme in his   
breast1 says a high ,prussian  officer4 
,why do certain opposition parties fail 
to flourish8 ,solely for the  reason    
that they refuse to forsake the path of 
morality or legality4  ,hence the       
measureless hypocrisy of devotion1 love1
 etc41 from whose  repulsiveness one may
 daily get the most thorough nausea at  
this rotten  and hypocritical relation  
of a lawful opposition4--,in the moral  
relation of love and fidelity divided or
 opposed will cannot have place2  the   
beautiful relation is disturbed if the  
one wills this and the other  the       
reverse4 ,but now1 according to the     
practice hitherto and the old  prejudice

 of the opposition1 the moral relation  
is to be preserved above  all4 ,what is 
then left to the opposition8 ,perhaps   
the will to have a  liberty1 if the     
beloved one sees fit to deny it8 ,not a 
bit6 ,it may not  will to have the      
freedom1 it can only wish for it1       
petition for  it1 lisp a ,please1       
please6 ,what would come of it1 if the  
opposition  really willed1 willed with  
the full energy of the will8 ,no1 it    
must  renounce will in order to live to 
love1 renounce liberty--for love  of    
morality4 ,it may never claim as a right
 what it is permitted only  to beg as a 
favor4 ,love1 devotion1 etc41 demand    
with undeviating  definiteness that     
there be only one will to which the     
others devote  themselves1 which they   
serve1 follow1 love4 ,whether this will 
is  regarded as reasonable or as        
unreasonable1 in both cases one acts    
morally when one follows it1 and        
immorally when one breaks away from it4 
,the will that commands the censorship  

seems to many unreasonable2 but he  who 
in a land of censorship evades the      
censoring of his book acts  immorally1  
and he who submits it to the censorship 
acts morally4 ,if some  one let his     
moral judgment go1 and set up e4 g4 a   
secret press1 one  would have to call   
him immoral1 and imprudent into the     
bargain if he let  himself be caught2   
but will such a man lay claim to a value
 in the eyes  of the moral8             
,perhaps6--,that is1 if he fancied he   
was serving a  higher morality4    ,the 
web of the hypocrisy of to-day hangs on 
the frontiers of two  domains1 between  
which our time swings back and forth1   
attaching its  fine threads of deception
 and self-deception4 ,no longer vigorous
 enough  to serve morality without doubt
 or weakening1 not yet reckless enough  
to live wholly to egoism1 it trembles   
now toward the one and now toward  the  
other in the spider-web of hypocrisy1   
and1 crippled by the curse of  halfness1
 catches only miserable1 stupid flies4  

,if one has once dared  to make a free  
motion1 immediately one waters it again 
with assurances  of love1 and--shams    
resignation2 if1 on the other side1 they
 have had  the face to reject the free  
motion with moral appeals to confidence1
  etc41 immediately the moral courage   
also sinks1 and they assure one how     
they hear the free words with special   
pleasure1 etc42 they--sham  approval4   
,in short1 people would like to have the
 one1 but not go  without the other2    
they would like to have a free will1 but
 not for  their lives lack the moral    
will4 ,just come in contact with a      
servile  loyalist1 you ,liberals4 ,you  
will sweeten every word of freedom with 
a  look of the most loyal confidence1   
and he will clothe his servilism in  the
 most flattering phrases of freedom4    
,then you go apart1 and he1 like  you1  
thinks ,i know you1 fox6 ,he scents the 
devil in you as much as you  do the dark
 old ,lord ,god in him4    ,a ,nero is a
 bad man only in the eyes of the good2  

in mine he is  nothing but a possessed  
man1 as are the good too4 ,the good see 
in him  an arch-villain1 and relegate   
him to hell4 ,why did nothing hinder him
 in  his arbitrary course8 ,why did     
people put up with so much8 ,do you     
suppose  the tame ,romans1 who let all  
their will be bound by such a tyrant1   
were  a hair the better8 ,in old ,rome  
they would have put him to death        
instantly1 would never have been his    
slaves4 ,but the contemporary good      
among the ,romans opposed to him only   
moral demands1 not their will2  they    
sighed that their emperor did not do    
homage to morality1 like them2  they    
themselves remained moral subjects1 till
 at last one found  courage to give up  
moral1 obedient subjection4 ,and then   
the same good  ,romans who1 as obedient 
subjects1 had borne all the ignominy of 
having no will1 hurrahed over the       
nefarious1 immoral act of the rebel4    
,where then in the good was the courage 
for the revolution1 that  courage which 

they now praised1 after another had     
mustered it up8 ,the  good could not    
have this courage1 for a revolution1 and
 an insurrection  into the bargain1 is  
always something immoral1 which one can 
resolve  upon only when one ceases to be
 good and becomes either bad            
or--neither of the two4 ,nero was no    
viler than his time1 in which one  could
 only be one of the two1 good or bad4   
,the judgment of his time on  him had to
 be that he was bad1 and this in the    
highest degree3 not a  milksop1 but an  
arch-scoundrel4 ,all moral people can   
pronounce only this  judgment on him4   
,rascals such as he was are still living
 here and there  to-day 7see e4 g4 the  
,memoirs of ,ritter von ,lang7 in the   
midst of the  moral4 ,it is not         
convenient to live among them certainly1
 as one is not  sure of his life for a  
moment2 but can you say that it is more 
convenient to live among the moral8 ,one
 is just as little sure of his  life    
there1 only that one is hanged in the   

way of justice1 but least  of all is one
 sure of his honor1 and the national    
cockade is gone before  you can say     
,jack ,robinson4 ,the hard fist of      
morality treats the noble  nature of    
egoism altogether without compassion4   
,but surely one cannot put a rascal and 
an honest man on the same  level6 ,now1 
no human being does that oftener than   
you judges of morals2  yes1 still more  
than that1 you imprison as a criminal an
 honest man who  speaks openly against  
the existing constitution1 against the  
hallowed  institutions1 etc41 and you   
entrust portfolios and still more       
important  things to a crafty rascal4   
,so in praxi you have nothing to        
reproach me  with4 ,but in theory6 ,now 
there ,i do put both on the same level1 
as two  opposite poles1--to wit1 both on
 the level of the moral law4 ,both have 
meaning only in the moral world1 just as
 in the pre-,christian time a  ,jew who 
kept the law and one who broke it had   
meaning and significance  only in       

respect to the ,jewish law2 before      
,jesus ,christ1 on the contrary1  the   
,pharisee was no more than the sinner   
and publican4 ,so before  self-ownership
 the moral ,pharisee amounts to as much 
as the immoral  sinner4    ,nero became 
very inconvenient by his possessedness4 
,but a self-owning  man would not       
sillily oppose to him the sacred1 and   
whine if the  tyrant does not regard the
 sacred2 he would oppose to him his     
will4 ,how  often the sacredness of the 
inalienable rights of man has been held 
up  to their foes1 and some liberty or  
other shown and demonstrated to be a    
sacred right of man6 ,those who do that 
deserve to be laughed out of  court--as 
they actually are1--were it not that in 
truth they do1 even  though             
unconsciously1 take the road that leads 
to the goal4 ,they have a  presentiment 
that1 if only the majority is once won  
for that liberty1 it  will also will the
 liberty1 and will then take what it    
will have4 ,the  sacredness of the      

liberty1 and all possible proofs of this
 sacredness1  will never procure it2    
lamenting and petitioning only shows    
beggars4    ,the moral man is           
necessarily narrow in that he knows no  
other enemy than  the immoral man4 ,he  
who is not moral is immoral6 and        
accordingly  reprobate1 despicable1 etc4
 ,therefore the moral man can never     
comprehend  the egoist4 ,is not unwedded
 cohabitation an immorality8 ,the moral 
man  may turn as he pleases1 he will    
have to stand by this verdict2 ,emilia  
,galotti gave up her life for this moral
 truth4 ,and it is true1 it is an       
immorality4 ,a virtuous girl may become 
an old maid2 a virtuous man may  pass   
the time in fighting his natural        
impulses till he has perhaps  dulled    
them1 he may castrate himself for the   
sake of virtue as ,st4  ,origen did for 
the sake of heaven3 he thereby honors   
sacred wedlock1  sacred chastity1 as    
inviolable2 he is--moral4 ,unchastity   
can never  become a moral act4 ,however 

indulgently the moral man may judge and 
excuse him who committed it1 it remains 
a transgression1 a sin against a  moral 
commandment2 there clings to it an      
indelible stain4 ,as chastity  once     
belonged to the monastic vow1 so it does
 to moral conduct4 ,chastity  is        
a--good4--,for the egoist1 on the       
contrary1 even chastity is not a  good  
without which he could not get along2 he
 cares nothing at all about  it4 ,what  
now follows from this for the judgment  
of the moral man8 ,this3  that he throws
 the egoist into the only class of men  
that he knows  besides moral men1 into  
that of the--immoral4 ,he cannot do     
otherwise2 he  must find the egoist     
immoral in everything in which the      
egoist  disregards morality4 ,if he did 
not find him so1 then he would already  
have become an apostate from morality   
without confessing it to himself1  he   
would already no longer be a truly moral
 man4 ,one should not let  himself be   
led astray by such phenomena1 which at  

the present day are  certainly no longer
 to be classed as rare1 but should      
reflect that he  who yields any point of
 morality can as little be counted among
 the  truly moral as ,lessing was a     
pious ,christian when1 in the well-known
  parable1 he compared the ,christian   
religion1 as well as the ,mohammedan    
and ,jewish1 to a counterfeit ring4     
,often people are already further  than 
they venture to confess to themselves4  
,for ,socrates1 because in  culture he  
stood on the level of morality1 it would
 have been an  immorality if he had been
 willing to follow ,crito's seductive   
incitement  and escape from the dungeon2
 to remain was the only moral thing4    
,but it  was solely because ,socrates   
was--a moral man4 ,the unprincipled1    
sacrilegious men of the ,revolution1 on 
the contrary1 had sworn fidelity  to    
,louis ,,xvi1 and decreed his           
deposition1 yes1 his death2 but the act 
was an immoral one1 at which moral      
persons will be horrified to all        

eternity4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,yet all this     
applies1 more or less1 only to civic    
morality1 on which  the freer look down 
with contempt4 ,for it 7like civism1 its
 native  ground1 in general7 is still   
too little removed and free from the    
religious heaven not to transplant the  
latter's laws without criticism  or     
further consideration to its domain     
instead of producing independent        
doctrines of its own4 ,morality cuts a  
quite different figure when it  arrives 
at the consciousness of its dignity1 and
 raises its principle1  the essence of  
man1 or ,man1 to be the only regulative 
power4 ,those who  have worked their way
 through to such a decided consciousness
 break  entirely with religion1 whose   
,god no longer finds any place alongside
  their ,man1 and1 as they 7see below7  
themselves scuttle the ship of  ,state1 
so too they crumble away that morality  
which flourishes only in  the ,state1   
and logically have no right to use even 

its name any further4  ,for what this   
critical party calls morality is very   
positively  distinguished from the      
so-called civic or political morality1  
and  must appear to the citizen like an 
insensate and unbridled liberty4  ,but  
at bottom it has only the advantage of  
the purity of the  principle1 which1    
freed from its defilement with the      
religious1 has now  reached universal   
power in its clarified definiteness as  
humanity4  ,therefore one should not    
wonder that the name morality is        
retained  along with others1 like       
freedom1 benevolence1                   
self-consciousness1 etc41  and is only  
garnished now and then with the         
addition1 a free  morality1--just as1   
though the civic ,state is abused1 yet  
the ,state is  to arise again as a free 
,state1 or1 if not even so1 yet as a    
free  society4    ,because this morality
 completed into humanity has fully      
settled its  accounts with the religion 
out of which it historically came forth1

  nothing hinders it from becoming a    
religion on its own account4 ,for a     
distinction prevails between religion   
and morality only so long as our        
dealings with the world of men are      
regulated and hallowed by our  relation 
to a superhuman being1 or so long as our
 doing is a doing for  ,god's sake4 ,if1
 on the other hand1 it comes to the     
point that man is  to man the supreme   
being1 then that distinction vanishes1  
and morality1  being removed from its   
subordinate position1 is completed      
into--religion4 ,for then the higher    
being who had hitherto been             
subordinated to the highest1 ,man1 has  
ascended to absolute height1 and  we are
 related to him as one is related to the
 highest being1 i4 e4  religiously4     
,morality and piety are now as          
synonymous as in the  beginning of      
,christianity1 and it is only because   
the supreme being has  come to be a     
different one that a holy walk is no    
longer called a  holy one1 but a human  

one4 ,if morality has conquered1 then a 
complete--change of masters has taken   
place4    ,after the annihilation of    
faith ,feuerbach thinks to put in to the
  supposedly safe harbor of love4 ,the  
first and highest law must be the  love 
of man to man4 ,homo homini ,deus       
est--this is the supreme  practical     
maxim1 this the turning point of the    
world's history4#cg  ,but1 properly     
speaking1 only the god is changed1--the 
deus2 love has  remained3 there love to 
the superhuman ,god1 here love to the   
human ,god1  to homo as ,deus4          
,therefore man is to me--sacred4 ,and   
everything  truly human is to           
me--sacred6 ,marriage is sacred of      
itself4 ,and so it  is with all moral   
relations4 ,friendship is and must be   
sacred for you1  and property1 and      
marriage1 and the good of every man1 but
 sacred in  and of itself4#ch ,haven't  
we the priest again there8 ,who is his  
,god8  ,man with a great ,m6 ,what is   
the divine8 ,the human6 ,then the       

predicate  has indeed only been changed 
into the subject1 and1 instead of the   
sentence ,god is love1 they say love is 
divine2 instead of ,god has  become man1
 ,man has become ,god1 etc4 ,it is      
nothing more or less than  a            
new--religion4 ,all moral relations are 
ethical1 are cultivated with  a moral   
mind1 only where of themselves 7without 
religious consecration  by the priest's 
blessing7 they are counted religious4   
,feuerbach's  proposition1 ,theology is 
anthropology1 means only religion must  
be  ethics1 ethics alone is religion4   
,altogether ,feuerbach accomplishes only
 a transposition of subject and         
predicate1 a giving of preference to the
 latter4 ,but1 since he himself  says1  
,love is not 7and has never been        
considered by men7 sacred through  being
 a predicate of ,god1 but it is a       
predicate of ,god because it is  divine 
in and of itself1 he might judge that   
the fight against the  predicates       
themselves1 against love and all        

sanctities1 must be  commenced4 ,how    
could he hope to turn men away from ,god
 when he left them  the divine8 ,and if1
 as ,feuerbach says1 ,god himself has   
never been the  main thing to them1 but 
only his predicates1 then he might have 
gone on  leaving them the tinsel longer 
yet1 since the doll1 the real kernel1   
was  left at any rate4 ,he recognizes1  
too1 that with him it is only a matter  
of annihilating an illusion2#ci he      
thinks1 however1 that the effect of  the
 illusion on men is downright ruinous1  
since even love1 in itself  the truest1 
most inward sentiment1 becomes an       
obscure1 illusory one  through          
religiousness1 since religious love     
loves man#dj only for ,god's  sake1     
therefore loves man only apparently1 but
 in truth ,god only4 ,is  this different
 with moral love8 ,does it love the man1
 this man for  this man's sake1 or for  
morality's sake1 for ,man's sake1 and   
so--for  homo homini ,deus--for ,god's  
sake8           99       99       99    

99       99    ,the wheels in the head  
have a number of other formal aspects1  
some of  which it may be useful to      
indicate here4    ,thus                 
self-renunciation is common to the holy 
with the unholy1 to the  pure and the   
impure4 ,the impure man renounces all   
better feelings1  all shame1 even       
natural timidity1 and follows only the  
appetite that  rules him4 ,the pure man 
renounces his natural relation to the   
world  7renounces the world7 and follows
 only the desire which rules him4       
,driven by the thirst for money1 the    
avaricious man renounces all            
admonitions of conscience1 all feeling  
of honor1 all gentleness and all        
compassion2 he puts all considerations  
out of sight2 the appetite drags  him   
along4 ,the holy man behaves similarly4 
,he makes himself the  laughing-stock of
 the world1 is hard-hearted and strictly
 just2 for  the desire drags him along4 
,as the unholy man renounces himself    
before  ,mammon1 so the holy man        

renounces himself before ,god and the   
divine  laws4 ,we are now living in a   
time when the shamelessness of the holy 
is every day more and more felt and     
uncovered1 whereby it is at the same    
time compelled to unveil itself1 and lay
 itself bare1 more and more  every day4 
,have not the shamelessness and         
stupidity of the reasons with  which men
 antagonize the progress of the age long
 surpassed all  measure and all         
expectation8 ,but it must be so4 ,the   
self-renouncers  must1 as holy men1 take
 the same course that they do as unholy 
men2  as the latter little by little    
sink to the fullest measure of          
self-renouncing vulgarity and lowness1  
so the former must ascend  to the most  
dishonorable exaltation4 ,the mammon of 
the earth  and the ,god of heaven both  
demand exactly the same degree          
of--self-renunciation4 ,the low man1    
like the exalted one1 reaches out  for a
 good1--the former for the material     
good1 the latter for the  ideal1 the    

so-called supreme good2 and at last both
 complete each  other again too1 as the 
materially-minded man sacrifices        
everything to  an ideal phantasm1 his   
vanity1 and the spiritually-minded man  
to a  material gratification1 the life  
of enjoyment4    ,those who exhort men  
to unselfishness#da think they are      
saying an  uncommon deal4 ,what do they 
understand by it8 ,probably something   
like  what they understand by           
self-renunciation4 ,but who is this self
 that  is to be renounced and to have no
 benefit8 ,it seems that you yourself   
are supposed to be it4 ,and for whose   
benefit is unselfish  self-renunciation 
recommended to you8 ,again for your     
benefit and  behoof1 only that through  
unselfishness you are procuring your    
true  benefit4    ,you are to benefit   
yourself1 and yet you are not seek your 
benefit4    ,people regard as unselfish 
the benefactor of men1 a ,franke who    
founded  the orphan asylum1 an          
,o',connell who works tirelessly for his

 ,irish  people2 but also the fanatic   
who1 like ,st4 ,boniface1 hazards his   
life  for the conversion of the heathen1
 or1 like ,robespierre1 sacrifices      
everything to virtue1--like ,koerner1   
dies for ,god1 king1 and fatherland4    
,hence1 among others1 ,o',connell's     
opponents try to trump up against him   
some selfishness or mercenariness1 for  
which the ,o',connell fund seemed  to   
give them a foundation2 for1 if they    
were successful in casting  suspicion on
 his unselfishness1 they would easily   
separate him from  his adherents4       
,yet what could they show further than  
that ,o',connell was working for        
another end than the ostensible one8    
,but1 whether he may aim at making      
money or at liberating the people1 it   
still remains certain1 in one case  as  
in the other1 that he is striving for an
 end1 and that his end2  selfishness    
here as there1 only that his national   
self-interest would be  beneficial to   
others too1 and so would be for the     

common interest4    ,now1 do you suppose
 unselfishness is unreal and nowhere    
extant8 ,on the  contrary1 nothing is   
more ordinary6 ,one may even call it an 
article of  fashion in the civilized    
world1 which is considered so           
indispensable  that1 if it costs too    
much in solid material1 people at least 
adorn  themselves with its tinsel       
counterfeit and feign it4 ,where does   
unselfishness begin8 ,right where an end
 ceases to be our end and our  property1
 which we1 as owners1 can dispose of at 
pleasure2 where it  becomes a fixed end 
or a--fixed idea2 where it begins to    
inspire1  enthuse1 fanaticize us2 in    
short1 where it passes into our         
stubbornness and becomes our--master4   
,one is not unselfish so long as  he    
retains the end in his power2 one       
becomes so only at that ,here ,i  stand1
 ,i cannot do otherwise1 the fundamental
 maxim of all the  possessed2 one       
becomes so in the case of a sacred end1 
through the  corresponding sacred       

zeal4--    ,i am not unselfish so long  
as the end remains my own1 and ,i1      
instead  of giving myself up to be the  
blind means of its fulfilment1 leave it 
always an open question4 ,my zeal need  
not on that account be slacker  than the
 most fanatical1 but at the same time ,i
 remain toward it  frostily cold1       
unbelieving1 and its most irreconcilable
 enemy2 ,i remain  its judge1 because ,i
 am its owner4    ,unselfishness grows  
rank as far as possessedness reaches1 as
 much on  possessions of the devil as on
 those of a good spirit3 there vice1    
folly1 etc42 here humility1 devotion1   
etc4    ,where could one look without   
meeting victims of self-renunciation8   
,there  sits a girl opposite me1 who    
perhaps has been making bloody          
sacrifices  to her soul for ten years   
already4 ,over the buxom form droops a  
deathly-tired head1 and pale cheeks     
betray the slow bleeding away of her    
youth4 ,poor child1 how often the       
passions may have beaten at your heart1 

and the rich powers of youth have       
demanded their right6 ,when your head   
rolled in the soft pillow1 how awakening
 nature quivered through your  limbs1   
the blood swelled your veins1 and fiery 
fancies poured the gleam  of            
voluptuousness into your eyes6 ,then    
appeared the ghost of the soul  and its 
eternal bliss4 ,you were terrified1 your
 hands folded themselves1  your         
tormented eye turned its look upward1   
you--prayed4 ,the storms of  nature were
 hushed1 a calm glided over the ocean of
 your appetites4  ,slowly the weary     
eyelids sank over the life extinguished 
under them1 the  tension crept out      
unperceived from the rounded limbs1 the 
boisterous  waves dried up in the heart1
 the folded hands themselves rested a   
powerless weight on the unresisting     
bosom1 one last faint ,oh dear6  moaned 
itself away1 and--the soul was at rest4 
,you fell asleep1 to  awake in the      
morning to a new combat and a           
new--prayer4 ,now the habit of          

renunciation cools the heat of your     
desire1 and the roses of your youth  are
 growing pale in the--chlorosis of your 
heavenliness4 ,the soul is  saved1 the  
body may perish6 ,o ,lais1 ,o ,ninon1   
how well you did to scorn  this pale    
virtue6 ,one free grisette against a    
thousand virgins grown  gray in virtue6 
,the fixed idea may also be perceived as
 maxim1 principle1  standpoint1 and the 
like4 ,archimedes1 to move the earth1   
asked for a  standpoint outside it4 ,men
 sought continually for this standpoint1
 and  every one seized upon it as well  
as he was able4 ,this foreign standpoint
  is the world of mind1 of ideas1       
thoughts1 concepts1 essences1 etc42 it  
is heaven4 ,heaven is the standpoint    
from which the earth is moved1  earthly 
doings surveyed and--despised4 ,to      
assure to themselves heaven1  to occupy 
the heavenly standpoint firmly and for  
ever1--how painfully  and tirelessly    
humanity struggled for this6            
,christianity has aimed to deliver us   

from a life determined by nature1  from 
the appetites as actuating us1 and so   
has meant that man should not  let      
himself be determined by his appetites4 
,this does not involve the  idea that he
 was not to have appetites1 but that the
 appetites were  not to have him1 that  
they were not to become fixed1          
uncontrollable1  indissoluble4 ,now1    
could not what ,christianity 7religion7 
contrived  against the appetites be     
applied by us to its own precept that   
mind  7thought1 conceptions1 ideas1     
faith1 etc47 must determine us2 could we
  not ask that neither should mind1 or  
the conception1 the idea1 be  allowed to
 determine us1 to become fixed and      
inviolable or sacred8  ,then it would   
end in the dissolution of mind1 the     
dissolution of all  thoughts1 of all    
conceptions4 ,as we there had to say ,we
 are indeed to  have appetites1 but the 
appetites are not to have us1 so we     
should now  say ,we are indeed to have  
mind1 but mind is not to have us4 ,if   

the  latter seems lacking in sense1     
think e4 g4 of the fact that with so    
many a man a thought becomes a maxim1   
whereby he himself is made  prisoner to 
it1 so that it is not he that has the   
maxim1 but rather it  that has him4 ,and
 with the maxim he has a permanent      
standpoint again4  ,the doctrines of the
 catechism become our principles before 
we find it  out1 and no longer brook    
rejection4 ,their thought1 or--mind1 has
 the  sole power1 and no protest of the 
flesh is further listened to4           
,nevertheless it is only through the    
flesh that ,i can break the tyranny  of 
mind2 for it is only when a man hears   
his flesh along with the rest  of him   
that he hears himself wholly1 and it is 
only when he wholly hears  himself that 
he is a hearing or rational#db being4   
,the ,christian does  not hear the agony
 of his enthralled nature1 but lives in 
humility2  therefore he does not grumble
 at the wrong which befalls his person2 
he thinks himself satisfied with the    

freedom of the spirit4 ,but1 if  the    
flesh once takes the floor1 and its tone
 is passionate1  indecorous1 not        
well-disposed1 spiteful1 etc4 7as it    
cannot be  otherwise71 then he thinks he
 hears voices of devils1 voices against 
the spirit 7for decorum1                
passionlessness1 kindly disposition1 and
 the  like1 is--spirit71 and is justly  
zealous against them4 ,he could not be a
  ,christian if he were willing to      
endure them4 ,he listens only to        
morality1 and slaps immorality in the   
mouth2 he listens only to  legality1 and
 gags the lawless word4 ,the spirit of  
morality and  legality holds him a      
prisoner2 a rigid1 unbending master4    
,they call  that the mastery of the     
spirit1--it is at the same time the     
standpoint of the spirit4    ,and now   
whom do the ordinary liberal gentlemen  
mean to make free8 ,whose  freedom is it
 that they cry out and thirst for8 ,the 
spirit's6 ,that of  the spirit of       
morality1 legality1 piety1 the fear of  

,god1 etc4 ,that is  what the           
anti-liberal gentlemen also want1 and   
the whole contention  between the two   
turns on a matter of advantage1--whether
 the latter are  to be the only         
speakers1 or the former are to receive a
 share in the  enjoyment of the same    
advantage4 ,the spirit remains the      
absolute  lord for both1 and their only 
quarrel is over who shall occupy the    
hierarchical throne that pertains to the
 ,vicegerent of the ,lord4 ,the  best of
 it is that one can calmly look upon the
 stir with the certainty  that the wild 
beasts of history will tear each other  
to pieces just like  those of nature2   
their putrefying corpses fertilize the  
ground for--our  crops4    ,we shall    
come back later to many another wheel in
 the head1--for  instance1 those of     
vocation1 truthfulness1 love1 etc4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,when one's own is contrasted with what 
is imparted to him1 there is no  use in 
objecting that we cannot have anything  

isolated1 but receive  everything as a  
part of the universal order1 and        
therefore through the  impression of    
what is around us1 and that consequently
 we have it as  something imparted2 for 
there is a great difference between the 
feelings and thoughts which are aroused 
in me by other things and  those which  
are given to me4 ,god1 immortality1     
freedom1 humanity1  etc41 are drilled   
into us from childhood as thoughts and  
feelings which  move our inner being    
more or less strongly1 either ruling us 
without our  knowing it1 or sometimes in
 richer natures manifesting themselves  
in  systems and works of art2 but are   
always not aroused1 but imparted1       
feelings1 because we must believe in    
them and cling to them4 ,that an        
,absolute existed1 and that it must be  
taken in1 felt1 and thought by us1  was 
settled as a faith in the minds of those
 who spent all the strength  of their   
mind on recognizing it and setting it   
forth4 ,the feeling for  the ,absolute  

exists there as an imparted one1 and    
thenceforth results  only in the most   
manifold revelations of its own self4   
,so in ,klopstock  the religious feeling
 was an imparted one1 which in the      
,messiad simply  found artistic         
expression4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the 
religion with  which he was confronted  
had been for him only an incitation to  
feeling  and thought1 and if he had     
known how to take an attitude completely
 his  own toward it1 then there would   
have resulted1 instead of religious     
inspiration1 a dissolution and          
consumption of the religion itself4     
,instead of that1 he only continued in  
mature years his childish feelings      
received in childhood1 and squandered   
the powers of his manhood in  decking   
out his childish trifles4    ,the       
difference is1 then1 whether feelings   
are imparted to me or only  aroused4    
,those which are aroused are my own1    
egoistic1 because they are  not as      
feelings drilled into me1 dictated to   

me1 and pressed upon me2  but those     
which are imparted to me ,i receive1    
with open arms1--,i cherish  them in me 
as a heritage1 cultivate them1 and am   
possessed by them4  ,who is there that  
has never1 more or less consciously1    
noticed that our  whole education is    
calculated to produce feelings in us1 i4
 e4  impart them to us1 instead of      
leaving their production to ourselves   
however they may turn out8 ,if we hear  
thee name of ,god1 we are to feel       
veneration2 if we hear that of the      
prince's majesty1 it is to be  received 
with reverence1 deference1 submission2  
if we hear that of  morality1 we are to 
think that we hear something inviolable2
 if we hear  of the ,evil ,one or evil  
ones1 we are to shudder2 etc4 ,the      
intention is  directed to these         
feelings1 and he who e4 g4 should hear  
with  pleasure the deeds of the bad     
would have to be taught what's what     
with the rod of discipline4 ,thus       
stuffed with imparted feelings1 we      

appear before the bar of majority and   
are pronounced of age4 ,our  equipment  
consists of elevating feelings1 lofty   
thoughts1 inspiring  maxims1 eternal    
principles1 etc4 ,the young are of age  
when they twitter  like the old2 they   
are driven through school to learn the  
old song1 and1  when they have this by  
heart1 they are declared of age4    ,we 
must not feel at every thing and every  
name that comes before us  what we could
 and would like to feel thereat2 e4 g41 
at the name of  ,god we must think of   
nothing laughable1 feel nothing         
disrespectful1 it  being prescribed and 
imparted to us what and how we are to   
feel and  think at mention of that name4
    ,that is the meaning of the care of 
souls1--that my soul or my mind be      
tuned as others think right1 not as ,i  
myself would like it4 ,how much  trouble
 does it not cost one1 finally to secure
 to oneself a feeling of  one's own at  
the mention of at least this or that    
name1 and to laugh  in the face of many 

who expect from us a holy face and a    
composed  expression at their speeches4 
,what is imparted is alien to us1 is not
  our own1 and therefore is sacred1 and 
it is hard work to lay aside the  sacred
 dread of it4    ,to-day one again hears
 seriousness praised1 seriousness in the
  presence of highly important subjects 
and discussions1 ,german  seriousness1  
etc4 ,this sort of seriousness proclaims
 clearly how old  and grave lunacy and  
possession have already become4 ,for    
there is  nothing more serious than a   
lunatic when he comes to the central    
point  of his lunacy2 then his great    
earnestness incapacitates him for taking
 a  joke4 7,see madhouses47             
#c4--,,the ,,hierarchy    ,the          
historical reflections on our ,mongolism
 which ,i propose to insert             
episodically at this place are not given
 with the claim of thoroughness1  or    
even of approved soundness1 but solely  
because it seems to me that  they may   
contribute toward making the rest clear4

    ,the history of the world1 whose    
shaping properly belongs altogether to  
the ,caucasian race1 seems till now to  
have run through two ,caucasian  ages1  
in the first of which we had to work out
 and work off our innate  negroidity2   
this was followed in the second by      
,mongoloidity  7,chineseness71 which    
must likewise be terribly made an end   
of4  ,negroidity represents antiquity1  
the time of dependence on things  7on   
cocks' eating1 birds' flight1 on        
sneezing1 on thunder and lightning1  on 
the rustling of sacred trees1 etc472    
,mongoloidity the time of  dependence on
 thoughts1 the ,christian time4         
,reserved for the future  are the words 
,i am owner of the world of things1 and 
,i am owner of the  world of mind4      
,in the negroid age fall the campaigns  
of ,sesostris and the importance of     
,egypt and of northern ,africa in       
general4 ,to the ,mongoloid age belong  
the  invasions of the ,huns and         
,mongols1 up to the ,russians4    ,the  

value of me cannot possibly be rated    
high so long as the hard  diamond of the
 not-me bears so enormous a price as was
 the case both  with ,god and with the  
world4 ,the not-me is still too stony   
and  indomitable to be consumed and     
absorbed by me2 rather1 men only creep  
about with extraordinary bustle on this 
immovable entity1 i4 e4 on  this        
substance1 like parasitic animals on a  
body from whose juices  they draw       
nourishment1 yet without consuming it4  
,it is the bustle of  vermin1 the       
assiduity of ,mongolians4 ,among the    
,chinese1 we know1  everything remains  
as it used to be1 and nothing essential 
or  substantial suffers a change2 all   
the more actively do they work away  at 
that which remains1 which bears the name
 of the old1 ancestors1  etc4           
,accordingly1 in our ,mongolian age all 
change has been only reformatory  or    
ameliorative1 not destructive or        
consuming and annihilating4 ,the        
substance1 the object1 remains4 ,all our

 assiduity was only the  activity of    
ants and the hopping of fleas1 jugglers'
 tricks on the  immovable tight-rope of 
the objective1 corve-service under the  
lordship of the unchangeable or eternal4
 ,the ,chinese are doubtless the  most  
positive nation1 because totally buried 
in precepts2 but neither  has the       
,christian age come out from the        
positive1 i4 e4 from limited  freedom1  
freedom within certain limits4 ,in the  
most advanced stage of  civilization    
this activity earns the name of         
scientific activity1 of  working on a   
motionless presupposition1 a hypothesis 
that is not to be  upset4    ,in its    
first and most unintelligible form      
morality shows itself as  habit4 ,to act
 according to the habit and usage       
7morem7 of one's  country--is to be     
moral there4 ,therefore pure moral      
action1 clear1  unadulterated morality1 
is most straightforwardly practised in  
,china2  they keep to the old habit and 
usage1 and hate each innovation as a    

crime worthy of death4 ,for innovation  
is the deadly enemy of habit1  of the   
old1 of permanence4 ,in fact1 too1 it   
admits of no doubt that  through habit  
man secures himself against the         
obtrusiveness of things1  of the world1 
and founds a world of his own in which  
alone he is and  feels at home1 i4 e4   
builds himself a heaven4 ,why1 heaven   
has no  other meaning than that it is   
man's proper home1 in which nothing     
alien  regulates and rules him any      
longer1 no influence of the earthly any 
longer makes him himself alien2 in      
short1 in which the dross of the        
earthly is thrown off1 and the combat   
against the world has found an  end1--in
 which1 therefore1 nothing is any longer
 denied him4 ,heaven is  the end of     
abnegation1 it is free enjoyment4 ,there
 man no longer  denies himself anything1
 because nothing is any longer alien and
 hostile  to him4 ,but now habit is a   
second nature1 which detaches and frees 
man  from his first and original natural

 condition1 in securing him against     
every casualty of it4 ,the fully        
elaborated habit of the ,chinese has    
provided for all emergencies1 and       
everything is looked out for2  whatever 
may come1 the ,chinaman always knows how
 he has to behave1 and  does not need to
 decide first according to the          
circumstances2 no  unforeseen case      
throws him down from the heaven of his  
rest4 ,the morally  habituated and      
inured ,chinaman is not surprised and   
taken off his guard2  he behaves with   
equanimity 7i4 e4 with equal spirit or  
temper7 toward  everything1 because his 
temper1 protected by the precaution of  
his  traditional usage1 does not lose   
its balance4 ,hence1 on the ladder of   
culture or civilization humanity mounts 
the first round through habit2  and1 as 
it conceives that1 in climbing to       
culture1 it is at the same  time        
climbing to heaven1 the realm of culture
 or second nature1 it  really mounts the
 first round of the--ladder to heaven4  

,if ,mongoldom has settled the existence
 of spiritual beings1--if it has        
created a world of spirits1 a           
heaven1--the ,caucasians have wrestled  
for  thousands of years with these      
spiritual beings1 to get to the bottom  
of  them4 ,what were they doing1 then1  
but building on ,mongolian ground8 ,they
  have not built on sand1 but in the    
air2 they have wrestled with            
,mongolism1 stormed the ,mongolian      
heaven1 ,tien4 ,when will they at last  
annihilate this heaven8 ,when will they 
at last become really  ,caucasians1 and 
find themselves8 ,when will the         
immortality of the  soul1 which in these
 latter days thought it was giving      
itself still  more security if it       
presented itself as immortality of mind1
 at last  change to the mortality of    
mind8    ,it was when1 in the           
industrious struggle of the ,mongolian  
race1 men had  built a heaven1 that     
those of the ,caucasian race1 since in  
their  ,mongolian complexion they have  

to do with heaven1 took upon themselves 
the opposite task1 the task of storming 
that heaven of custom1                  
heaven-storming#dc activity4 ,to dig    
under all human ordinance1 in  order to 
set up a new and--better one on the     
cleared site1 to wreck all  customs in  
order to put new and better customs in  
their place1  etc41--their act is       
limited to this4 ,but is it thus already
 purely and  really what it aspires to  
be1 and does it reach its final aim8    
,no1 in  this creation of a better it is
 tainted with ,mongolism4 ,it storms    
heaven only to make a heaven again1 it  
overthrows an old power only to         
legitimate a new power1 it              
only--improves4 ,nevertheless the point 
aimed at1 often as it may vanish from   
the eyes at every new attempt1 is  the  
real1 complete downfall of heaven1      
customs1 etc41--in short1 of man        
secured only against the world1 of the  
isolation or inwardness of  man4        
,through the heaven of culture man seeks

 to isolate himself from the  world1 to 
break its hostile power4 ,but this      
isolation of heaven must  likewise be   
broken1 and the true end of             
heaven-storming is the--downfall  of    
heaven1 the annihilation of heaven4     
,improving and reforming is  the        
,mongolism of the ,caucasian1 because   
thereby he is always setting up  again  
what already existed1--to wit1 a        
precept1 a generality1 a  heaven4 ,he   
harbors the most irreconcilable enmity  
to heaven1 and yet  builds new heavens  
daily2 piling heaven on heaven1 he only 
crushes one  by another2 the ,jews'     
heaven destroys the ,greeks'1 the       
,christians' the  ,jews'1 the           
,protestants' the ,catholics'1 etc4--,if
 the heaven-storming  men of ,caucasian 
blood throw on their ,mongolian skin1   
they will bury the  emotional man under 
the ruins of the monstrous world of     
emotion1 the  isolated man under his    
isolated world1 the paradisiacal man    
under his  heaven4 ,and heaven is the   

realm of spirits1 the realm of freedom  
of  the spirit4    ,the realm of heaven1
 the realm of spirits and ghosts1 has   
found its  right standing in the        
speculative philosophy4 ,here it was    
stated as the  realm of thoughts1       
concepts1 and ideas2 heaven is peopled  
with thoughts  and ideas1 and this realm
 of spirits is then the true reality4   
,to want to win freedom for the spirit  
is ,mongolism2 freedom of the  spirit is
 ,mongolian freedom1 freedom of feeling1
 moral freedom1 etc4    ,we may find the
 word morality taken as synonymous with 
spontaneity1  self-determination4 ,but  
that is not involved in it2 rather has  
the  ,caucasian shown himself           
spontaneous only in spite of his        
,mongolian  morality4 ,the ,mongolian   
heaven1 or morals1#dd remained the      
strong  castle1 and only by storming    
incessantly at this castle did the      
,caucasian show himself moral2 if he had
 not had to do with morals at  all any  
longer1 if he had not had therein his   

indomitable1 continual  enemy1 the      
relation to morals would cease1 and     
consequently morality  would cease4     
,that his spontaneity is still a moral  
spontaneity1  therefore1 is just the    
,mongoloidity of it1--is a sign that in 
it he has  not arrived at himself4      
,moral spontaneity corresponds entirely 
with  religious and orthodox philosophy1
 constitutional monarchy1 the           
,christian ,state1 freedom within       
certain limits1 the limited freedom  of 
the press1 or1 in a figure1 to the hero 
fettered to a sick-bed4    ,man has not 
really vanquished ,shamanism and its    
spooks till he possesses  the strength  
to lay aside not only the belief in     
ghosts or in spirits1  but also the     
belief in the spirit4    ,he who        
believes in a spook no more assumes the 
introduction of a higher  world than he 
who believes in the spirit1 and both    
seek behind the  sensual world a        
supersensual one2 in short1 they produce
 and believe  another world1 and this   

other world1 the product of their mind1 
is a  spiritual world2 for their senses 
grasp and know nothing of another1 a    
non-sensual world1 only their spirit    
lives in it4 ,going on from this        
,mongolian belief in the existence of   
spiritual beings to the point  that the 
proper being of man too is his spirit1  
and that all care  must be directed to  
this alone1 to the welfare of his soul1 
is not  hard4 ,influence on the spirit1 
so-called moral influence1 is hereby    
assured4    ,hence it is manifest that  
,mongolism represents utter absence of  
any  rights of the sensuous1 represents 
non-sensuousness and unnature1 and  that
 sin and the consciousness of sin was   
our ,mongolian torment that  lasted     
thousands of years4    ,but who1 then1  
will dissolve the spirit into its       
nothing8 ,he who by  means of the spirit
 set forth nature as the null1 finite1  
transitory1  he alone can bring down the
 spirit too to like nullity4 ,i can2    
each  one among you can1 who does his   

will as an absolute ,i2 in a word1 the  
egoist can4           99       99       
99       99       99    ,before the     
sacred1 people lose all sense of power  
and all confidence2  they occupy a      
powerless and humble attitude toward it4
 ,and yet no  thing is sacred of itself1
 but by my declaring it sacred1 by my   
declaration1 my judgment1 my bending the
 knee2 in short1 by  my--conscience4    
,sacred is everything which for the     
egoist is to be unapproachable1 not  to 
be touched1 outside his power1--i4 e4   
above him2 sacred1 in a  word1 is every 
matter of conscience1 for this is a     
matter of  conscience to me means simply
 ,i hold this sacred4    ,for little    
children1 just as for animals1 nothing  
sacred exists1  because1 in order to    
make room for this conception1 one must 
already  have progressed so far in      
understanding that he can make          
distinctions  like good and bad1        
warranted and unwarranted1 etc42 only at
 such a  level of reflection or         

intelligence--the proper standpoint of  
religion--can unnatural 7i4 e4 brought  
into existence by thinking7  reverence1 
sacred dread1 step into the place of    
natural fear4 ,to  this sacred dread    
belongs holding something outside       
oneself for  mightier1 greater1 better  
warranted1 better1 etc42 i4 e4 the      
attitude  in which one acknowledges the 
might of something alien--not merely    
feels it1 then1 but expressly           
acknowledges it1 i4 e4 admits it1       
yields1 surrenders1 lets himself be tied
 7devotion1 humility1 servility1        
submission1 etc47 ,here walks the whole 
ghostly troop of the ,christian         
virtues4    ,everything toward which you
 cherish any respect or reverence       
deserves  the name of sacred2 you       
yourselves1 too1 say that you would feel
 a  sacred dread of laying hands on it4 
,and you give this tinge even to  the   
unholy 7gallows1 crime1 etc47 ,you have 
a horror of touching it4  ,there lies in
 it something uncanny1 i4 e4 unfamiliar 

or not your  own4    ,if something or   
other did not rank as sacred in a man's 
mind1 why1 then  all bars would be let  
down to self-will1 to unlimited         
subjectivity6  ,fear makes the          
beginning1 and one can make himself     
fearful to the  coarsest man2 already1  
therefore1 a barrier against his        
insolence4 ,but  in fear there always   
remains the attempt to liberate oneself 
from what  is feared1 by guile1         
deception1 tricks1 etc4 ,in             
reverence1#de on the  contrary1 it is   
quite otherwise4 ,here something is not 
only feared1#df  but also honored#dg3   
what is feared has become an inward     
power which ,i  can no longer get clear 
of2 ,i honor it1 am captivated by it and
 devoted  to it1 belong to it2 by the   
honor which ,i pay it ,i am completely  
in its  power1 and do not even attempt  
liberation any longer4 ,now ,i am       
attached  to it with all the strength of
 faith2 ,i believe4 ,i and what ,i fear 
are  one2 not ,i live1 but the respected

 lives in me6 ,because the spirit1  the 
infinite1 does not allow of coming to   
any end1 therefore it is  stationary2 it
 fears dying1 it cannot let go its dear 
,jesus1 the  greatness of finiteness is 
no longer recognized by its blinded eye2
 the  object of fear1 now raised to     
veneration1 may no longer be handled2   
reverence is made eternal1 the respected
 is deified4 ,the man is now no  longer 
employed in creating1 but in learning   
7knowing1 investigating1  etc471 i4 e4  
occupied with a fixed object1 losing    
himself in its  depths1 without return  
to himself4 ,the relation to this object
 is that  of knowing1 fathoming1 basing1
 etc41 not that of dissolution          
7abrogation1 etc47 ,man is to be        
religious1 that is settled2 therefore   
people busy themselves only with the    
question how this is to be  attained1   
what is the right meaning of            
religiousness1 etc4 ,quite  otherwise   
when one makes the axiom itself doubtful
 and calls it in  question1 even though 

it should go to smash4 ,morality too is 
such sacred  conception2 one must be    
moral1 and must look only for the right 
how1  the right way to be so4 ,one dares
 not go at morality itself with the     
question whether it is not itself an    
illusion2 it remains exalted above  all 
doubt1 unchangeable4 ,and so we go on   
with the sacred1 grade after  grade1    
from the holy to the holy of holies4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,men are sometimes divided into two     
classes1 cultured and uncultured4  ,the 
former1 so far as they were worthy of   
their name1 occupied  themselves with   
thoughts1 with mind1 and 7because in the
 time since  ,christ1 of which the very 
principle is thought1 they were the     
ruling  ones7 demanded a servile respect
 for the thoughts recognized by them4   
,state1 emperor1 church1 ,god1 morality1
 order1 etc41 are such thoughts  or     
spirits1 that exist only for the mind4  
,a merely living being1 an  animal1     
cares as little for them as a child4    

,but the uncultured are  really nothing 
but children1 and he who attends only to
 the necessities  of his life is        
indifferent to those spirits2 but1      
because he is also  weak before them1 he
 succumbs to their power1 and is ruled  
by--thoughts4  ,this is the meaning of  
hierarchy4    ,hierarchy is dominion of 
thoughts1 dominion of mind6    ,we are  
hierarchic to this day1 kept down by    
those who are supported by  thoughts4   
,thoughts are the sacred4    ,but the   
two are always clashing1 now one and now
 the other giving the  offence2 and this
 clash occurs1 not only in the collision
 of two men1  but in one and the same   
man4 ,for no cultured man is so cultured
 as not  to find enjoyment in things    
too1 and so be uncultured2 and no       
uncultured  man is totally without      
thoughts4 ,in ,hegel it comes to light  
at last what  a longing for things even 
the most cultured man has1 and what a   
horror  of every hollow theory he       
harbors4 ,with him reality1 the world of

  things1 is altogether to correspond to
 the thought1 and no concept to be      
without reality4 ,this caused ,hegel's  
system to be known as the most          
objective1 as if in it thought and thing
 celebrated their union4 ,but  this was 
simply the extremest case of violence on
 the part of thought1  its highest pitch
 of despotism and sole dominion1 the    
triumph of mind1  and with it the       
triumph of philosophy4 ,philosophy      
cannot hereafter  achieve anything      
higher1 for its highest is the          
omnipotence of mind1  the almightiness  
of mind4#dh    ,spiritual men have taken
 into their head something that is to be
  realized4 ,they have concepts of love1
 goodness1 and the like1 which  they    
would like to see realized2 therefore   
they want to set up a  kingdom of love  
on earth1 in which no one any longer    
acts from  selfishness1 but each one    
from love4 ,love is to rule4 ,what they 
have  taken into their head1 what shall 
we call it but--fixed idea8 ,why1  their

 head is haunted4 ,the most oppressive  
spook is ,man4 ,think of  the proverb1  
,the road to ruin is paved with good    
intentions4 ,the  intention to realize  
humanity altogether in oneself1 to      
become  altogether man1 is of such      
ruinous kind2 here belong the intentions
 to  become good1 noble1 loving1 etc4   
,in the sixth part of the               
,denkwuerdigkeiten p4 #g1 ,bruno ,bauer 
says3  ,that middle class1 which was to 
receive such a terrible importance for  
modern history is capable of no         
self-sacrificing action1 no enthusiasm  
for an idea1 no exaltation2 it devotes  
itself to nothing but the  interests of 
its mediocrity2 i4 e4 it remains always 
limited to  itself1 and conquers at last
 only through its bulk1 with which it   
has  succeeded in tiring out the efforts
 of passion1 enthusiasm1                
consistency1--through its surface1 into 
which it absorbs a part of the  new     
ideas4 ,and 7p4 #f7 ,it has turned the  
revolutionary ideas1 for which  not it1 

but unselfish or impassioned men        
sacrificed themselves1 solely  to its   
own profit1 has turned spirit into      
money4--,that is1 to be sure1  after it 
had taken away from those ideas their   
point1 their consistency1  their        
destructive seriousness1 fanatical      
against all egoism4 ,these  people1     
then1 are not self-sacrificing1 not     
enthusiastic1 not  idealistic1 not      
consistent1 not zealots2 they are       
egoists in the usual  sense1 selfish    
people1 looking out for their advantage1
 sober1  calculating1 etc4    ,who1     
then1 is self-sacrificing8#di ,in the   
full sense1 surely1 he who  ventures    
everything else for one thing1 one      
object1 one will1 one  passion1 etc4 ,is
 not the lover self-sacrificing who     
forsakes father and  mother1 endures all
 dangers and privations1 to reach his   
goal8 ,or the  ambitious man1 who offers
 up all his desires1 wishes1 and        
satisfactions  to the single passion1 or
 the avaricious man who denies himself  

everything to gather treasures1 or the  
pleasure-seeker1 etc48 ,he is  ruled by 
a passion to which he brings the rest as
 sacrifices4    ,and are these          
self-sacrificing people perchance not   
selfish1 not  egoists8 ,as they have    
only one ruling passion1 so they provide
 for only  one satisfaction1 but for    
this the more strenuously2 they are     
wholly  absorbed in it4 ,their entire   
activity is egoistic1 but it is a       
one-sided1 unopened1 narrow egoism2 it  
is possessedness4    ,why1 those are    
petty passions1 by which1 on the        
contrary1 man must not  let himself be  
enthralled4 ,man must make sacrifices   
for a great idea1 a  great cause6 ,a    
great idea1 a good cause1 is1 it may be1
 the honor  of ,god1 for which          
innumerable people have met death2      
,christianity1 which  has found its     
willing martyrs2 the ,holy ,catholic    
,church1 which has  greedily demanded   
sacrifices of heretics2 liberty and     
equality1 which  were waited on by      

bloody guillotines4    ,he who lives for
 a great idea1 a good cause1 a doctrine1
 a system1 a  lofty calling1 may not let
 any worldly lusts1 any self-seeking    
interest1  spring up in him4 ,here we   
have the concept of clericalism1 or1 as 
it  may also be called in its pedagogic 
activity1 school-masterliness2 for  the 
idealists play the schoolmaster over us4
 ,the clergyman is especially  called to
 live to the idea and to work for the   
idea1 the truly good  cause4 ,therefore 
the people feel how little it befits him
 to show  worldly haughtiness1 to desire
 good living1 to join in such pleasures 
as  dancing and gaming1--in short1 to   
have any other than a sacred  interest4 
,hence too1 doubtless1 is derived the   
scanty salary of  teachers1 who are to  
feel themselves repaid by the sacredness
 of their  calling alone1 and to        
renounce other enjoyments4    ,even a   
directory of the sacred ideas1 one or   
more of which man is to  look upon as   
his calling1 is not lacking4 ,family1   

fatherland1 science1  etc41 may find in 
man a servant faithful to his calling4  
,here we come upon the old1 old craze of
 the world which has not yet  learned to
 do without clericalism1--that to live  
and work for an idea  is man's calling1 
and according to the faithfulness of its
 fulfilment  his human worth is         
measured4    ,this is the dominion of   
the idea2 in other words1 it is         
clericalism4  ,e4 g41 ,robespierre1 ,st4
 ,just1 etc41 were priests through and  
through1  inspired by the idea1         
enthusiasts1 consistent instruments of  
this idea1  idealistic men4 ,so ,st4    
,just exclaims in a speech1 ,there is   
something  terrible in the sacred love  
of country2 it is so exclusive that it  
sacrifices everything to the public     
interest without mercy1 without  fear1  
without human consideration4 ,it hurls  
,manlius down the precipice2  it        
sacrifices its private inclinations2 it 
leads ,regulus to ,carthage1  throws a  
,roman into the chasm1 and sets ,marat1 

as a victim of his  devotion1 in the    
,pantheon4    ,now1 over against these  
representatives of ideal or sacred      
interests  stands a world of innumerable
 personal profane interests4 ,no idea1  
no  system1 no sacred cause is so great 
as never to be outrivaled and  modified 
by these personal interests4 ,even if   
they are silent  momentarily1 and in    
times of rage and fanaticism1 yet they  
soon come  uppermost again through the  
sound sense of the people4 ,those ideas 
do  not completely conquer till they are
 no longer hostile to personal          
interests1 i4 e4 till they satisfy      
egoism4    ,the man who is just now     
crying herrings in front of my window   
has a  personal interest in good sales1 
and1 if his wife or anybody else wishes 
him the like1 this remains a personal   
interest all the same4 ,if1 on the      
other hand1 a thief deprived him of his 
basket1 then there would at once  arise 
an interest of many1 of the whole city1 
of the whole country1 or1  in a word1 of

 all who abhor theft2 an interest in    
which the  herring-seller's person would
 become indifferent1 and in its place   
the  category of the robbed man would   
come into the foreground4 ,but even     
here all might yet resolve itself into a
 personal interest1 each of the         
partakers reflecting that he must concur
 in the punishment of the thief  because
 unpunished stealing might otherwise    
become general and cause him  too to    
lose his own4 ,such a calculation1      
however1 can hardly be assumed  on the  
part of many1 and we shall rather hear  
the cry that the thief is  a criminal4  
,here we have before us a judgment1 the 
thief's action  receiving its expression
 in the concept crime4 ,now the matter  
stands  thus3 even if a crime did not   
cause the slightest damage either to me 
or  to any of those in whom ,i take an  
interest1 ,i should nevertheless        
denounce it4 ,why8 ,because ,i am       
enthusiastic for morality1 filled  with 
the idea of morality2 what is hostile to

 it ,i everywhere assail4  ,because in  
his mind theft ranks as abominable      
without any question1  ,proudhon1 e4 g41
 thinks that with the sentence ,property
 is theft he  has at once put a brand on
 property4 ,in the sense of the         
priestly1 theft  is always a crime1 or  
at least a misdeed4    ,here the        
personal interest is at an end4 ,this   
particular person who has  stolen the   
basket is perfectly indifferent to my   
person2 it is only the  thief1 this     
concept of which that person presents a 
specimen1 that ,i  take an interest in4 
,the thief and man are in my mind       
irreconcilable  opposites2 for one is   
not truly man when one is a thief2 one  
degrades  ,man or humanity in himself   
when one steals4 ,dropping out of       
personal  concern1 one gets into        
philanthropism1 friendliness to man1    
which is  usually misunderstood as if it
 was a love to men1 to each individual1 
while it is nothing but a love of ,man1 
the unreal concept1 the spook4  ,it is  

not ,greek3 tous anthrpous1 men1 but    
,greek3 ton anthrpon1  ,man1 that the   
philanthropist carries in his heart4 ,to
 be sure1 he cares  for each individual1
 but only because he wants to see his   
beloved ideal  realized everywhere4     
,so there is nothing said here of care  
for me1 you1 us2 that would be  personal
 interest1 and belongs under the head of
 worldly love4  ,philanthropism is a    
heavenly1 spiritual1 a--priestly love4  
,man must be  restored in us1 even if   
thereby we poor devils should come to   
grief4 ,it  is the same priestly        
principle as that famous fiat justitia1 
pereat  mundus2 man and justice are     
ideas1 ghosts1 for love of which        
everything  is sacrificed2 therefore the
 priestly spirits are the               
self-sacrificing  ones4    ,he who is   
infatuated with ,man leaves persons out 
of account so far as  that infatuation  
extends1 and floats in an ideal1 sacred 
interest4  ,man1 you see1 is not a      
person1 but an ideal1 a spook4    ,now1 

things as different as possible can     
belong to ,man and be so  regarded4 ,if 
one finds ,man's chief requirement in   
piety1 there arises  religious          
clericalism2 if one sees it in morality1
 then moral  clericalism raises its     
head4 ,on this account the priestly     
spirits of our  day want to make a      
religion of everything1 a religion of   
liberty1  religion of equality1 etc41   
and for them every idea becomes a sacred
  cause1 e4 g4 even citizenship1        
politics1 publicity1 freedom of the     
press1 trial by jury1 etc4    ,now1 what
 does unselfishness mean in this sense8 
,having only an ideal  interest1 before 
which no respect of persons avails6     
,the stiff head of the worldly man      
opposes this1 but for centuries has     
always been worsted at least so far as  
to have to bend the unruly neck  and    
honor the higher power2 clericalism     
pressed it down4 ,when the  worldly     
egoist had shaken off a higher power 7e4
 g4 the ,old ,testament  law1 the ,roman

 pope1 etc471 then at once a seven times
 higher one was  over him again1 e4 g4  
faith in the place of the law1 the      
transformation of all laymen into       
divines in place of the limited body  of
 clergy1 etc4 ,his experience was like  
that of the possessed man into  whom    
seven devils passed when he thought he  
had freed himself from one4    ,in the  
passage quoted above all ideality1 etc41
 is denied to the middle  class4 ,it    
certainly schemed against the ideal     
consistency with which  ,robespierre    
wanted to carry out the principle4 ,the 
instinct of its  interest told it that  
this consistency harmonized too little  
with what  its mind was set on1 and that
 it would be acting against itself if it
  were willing to further the enthusiasm
 for principle4 ,was it to behave  so   
unselfishly as to abandon all its aims  
in order to bring a harsh  theory to its
 triumph8 ,it suits the priests         
admirably1 to be sure1 when  people     
listen to their summons1 ,cast away     

everything and follow me1 or  ,sell all 
that thou hast and give to the poor1 and
 thou shalt have  treasure in heaven2   
and come1 follow me4 ,some decided      
idealists obey  this call2 but most act 
like ,ananias and ,sapphira1 maintaining
 a  behavior half clerical or religious 
and half worldly1 serving ,god and      
,mammon4    ,i do not blame the middle  
class for not wanting to let its aims be
  frustrated by ,robespierre1 i4 e4 for 
inquiring of its egoism how far  it     
might give the revolutionary idea a     
chance4 ,but one might blame 7if  blame 
were in place here anyhow7 those who let
 their own interests be  frustrated by  
the interests of the middle class4      
,however1 will not they  likewise sooner
 or later learn to understand what is to
 their advantage8  ,august ,becker      
says3#ej ,to win the producers          
7proletarians7 a negation  of the       
traditional conception of right is by no
 means enough4 ,folks  unfortunately    
care little for the theoretical victory 

of the idea4 ,one  must demonstrate to  
them ad oculos how this victory can be  
practically  utilized in life4 ,and 7p4 
#cb73 ,you must get hold of folks by    
their  real interests if you want to    
work upon them4 ,immediately after this 
he  shows how a fine looseness of morals
 is already spreading among our         
peasants1 because they prefer to follow 
their real interests rather than  the   
commands of morality4    ,because the   
revolutionary priests or schoolmasters  
served ,man1 they  cut off the heads of 
men4 ,the revolutionary laymen1 those   
outside the  sacred circle1 did not feel
 any greater horror of cutting off      
heads1 but  were less anxious about the 
rights of ,man than about their own4    
,how comes it1 though1 that the egoism  
of those who affirm personal  interest1 
and always inquire of it1 is            
nevertheless forever succumbing  to a   
priestly or schoolmasterly 7i4 e4 an    
ideal7 interest8 ,their  person seems to
 them too small1 too insignificant1--and

 is so in  fact1--to lay claim to       
everything and be able to put itself    
completely  in force4 ,there is a sure  
sign of this in their dividing          
themselves into  two persons1 an eternal
 and a temporal1 and always caring      
either only  for the one or only for the
 other1 on ,sunday for the eternal1 on  
the  work-day for the temporal1 in      
prayer for the former1 in work for the  
latter4 ,they have the priest in        
themselves1 therefore they do not get   
rid of him1 but hear themselves lectured
 inwardly every ,sunday4    ,how men    
have struggled and calculated to get at 
a solution regarding  these dualistic   
essences6 ,idea followed upon idea1     
principle upon  principle1 system upon  
system1 and none knew how to keep down  
permanently the contradiction of the    
worldly man1 the so-called  egoist4     
,does not this prove that all those     
ideas were too feeble to  take up my    
whole will into themselves and satisfy  
it8 ,they were and  remained hostile to 

me1 even if the hostility lay concealed 
for a  considerable time4 ,will it be   
the same with self-ownership8 ,is it too
  only an attempt at mediation8         
,whatever principle ,i turned to1 it    
might  be to that of reason1 ,i always  
had to turn away from it again4 ,or can 
,i always be rational1 arrange my life  
according to reason in everything8  ,i  
can1 no doubt1 strive after rationality1
 ,i can love it1 just as ,i  can also   
love ,god and every other idea4 ,i can  
be a philosopher1 a lover  of wisdom1 as
 ,i love ,god4 ,but what ,i love1 what  
,i strive for1 is only in  my idea1 my  
conception1 my thoughts2 it is in my    
heart1 my head1 it is  in me like the   
heart1 but it is not ,i1 ,i am not it4  
,to the activity of priestly minds      
belongs especially what one often  hears
 called moral influence4    ,moral      
influence takes its start where         
humiliation begins2 yes1 it is  nothing 
else than this humiliation itself1 the  
breaking and bending of  the temper#ea  

down to humility4#eb ,if ,i call to some
 one to run away  when a rock is to be  
blasted1 ,i exert no moral influence by 
this demand2  if ,i say to a child ,you 
will go hungry if you will not eat what 
is put  on the table1 this is not moral 
influence4 ,but1 if ,i say to it ,you   
will pray1 honor your parents1 respect  
the crucifix1 speak the truth1  etc41   
for this belongs to man and is man's    
calling1 or even this is  ,god's will1  
then moral influence is complete2 then a
 man is to bend  before the calling of  
man1 be tractable1 become humble1 give  
up his  will for an alien one which is  
set up as rule and law2 he is to abase  
himself before something higher3        
self-abasement4 ,he that abaseth        
himself shall be exalted4 ,yes1 yes1    
children must early be made to  practise
 piety1 godliness1 and propriety2 a     
person of good breeding is  one into    
whom good maxims have been instilled and
 impressed1  poured in through a funnel1
 thrashed in and preached in4    ,if one

 shrugs his shoulders at this1 at once  
the good wring their hands              
despairingly1 and cry3 ,but1 for        
heaven's sake1 if one is to give        
children no good instruction1 why1 then 
they will run straight into the  jaws of
 sin1 and become good-for-nothing       
hoodlums6 ,gently1 you prophets  of     
evil4 ,good-for-nothing in your sense   
they certainly will become2 but  your   
sense happens to be a very              
good-for-nothing sense4 ,the impudent   
lads will no longer let anything be     
whined and chattered into them by  you1 
and will have no sympathy for all the   
follies for which you have  been raving 
and driveling since the memory of man   
began2 they will  abolish the law of    
inheritance1 i4 e4 they will not be     
willing to  inherit your stupidities as 
you inherited them from your fathers2   
they  destroy inherited sin4#ec ,if you 
command them1 ,bend before the ,most    
,high1 they will answer3 ,if he wants to
 bend us1 let him come himself  and do  

it2 we1 at least1 will not bend of our  
own accord4 ,and1 if you  threaten them 
with his wrath and his punishment1 they 
will take it like  being threatened with
 the bogie-man4 ,if you are no longer   
successful in  making them afraid of    
ghosts1 then the dominion of ghosts is  
at an end1  and nurses' tales find      
no--faith4    ,and is it not precisely  
the liberals again that press for good  
education  and improvement of the       
educational system8 ,for how could their
  liberalism1 their liberty within the  
bounds of law1 come about without       
discipline8 ,even if they do not exactly
 educate to the fear of ,god1 yet  they 
demand the fear of ,man all the more    
strictly1 and awaken  enthusiasm for the
 truly human calling by discipline4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,a long time passed away1 in which      
people were satisfied with the fancy    
that they had the truth1 without        
thinking seriously whether perhaps  they
 themselves must be true to possess the 

truth4 ,this time was the  ,middle      
,ages4 ,with the common                 
consciousness--i4 e4 the consciousness  
which deals with things1 that           
consciousness which has receptivity only
  for things1 or for what is sensuous   
and sense-moving--they thought to  grasp
 what did not deal with things and was  
not perceptible by the  senses4 ,as one 
does indeed also exert his eye to see   
the remote1 or  laboriously exercise his
 hand till its fingers have become      
dexterous  enough to press the keys     
correctly1 so they chastened themselves 
in the  most manifold ways1 in order to 
become capable of receiving the         
supersensual wholly into themselves4    
,but what they chastened was1 after     
all1 only the sensual man1 the common   
consciousness1 so-called finite or      
objective thought4 ,yet as this thought1
 this understanding1 which ,luther      
decries under the name of reason1 is    
incapable of comprehending the  divine1 
its chastening contributed just as much 

to the understanding of  the truth as if
 one exercised the feet year in and year
 out in dancing1  and hoped that in this
 way they would finally learn to play   
the flute4  ,luther1 with whom the      
so-called ,middle ,ages end1 was the    
first who  understood that the man      
himself must become other than he was if
 he  wanted to comprehend truth1--must  
become as true as truth itself4 ,only   
he who already has truth in his belief1 
only he who believes in it1  can become 
a partaker of it2 i4 e41 only the       
believer finds it  accessible and sounds
 its depths4 ,only that organ of man    
which is able  to blow can attain the   
further capacity of flute-playing1 and  
only that  man can become a partaker of 
truth who has the right organ for it4   
,he  who is capable of thinking only    
what is sensuous1 objective1 pertaining 
to things1 figures to himself in truth  
only what pertains to things4 ,but      
truth is spirit1 stuff altogether       
inappreciable by the senses1 and        

therefore only for the higher           
consciousness1 not for that which is    
earthly-minded4    ,with ,luther1       
accordingly1 dawns the perception that  
truth1 because it is  a thought1 is only
 for the thinking man4 ,and this is to  
say that man  must henceforth take an   
utterly different standpoint1 viz41 the 
heavenly1 believing1 scientific         
standpoint1 or that of thought in       
relation to its object1                 
the--thought1--that of mind in relation 
to  mind4 ,consequently3 only the like  
apprehend the like4 ,you are like the   
spirit that you understand4#ed          
,because ,protestantism broke the       
medival hierarchy1 the opinion could    
take root that hierarchy in general had 
been shattered by it1 and it  could be  
wholly overlooked that it was precisely 
a reformation1 and so  a reinvigoration 
of the antiquated hierarchy4 ,that      
medival hierarchy  had been only a      
weakly one1 as it had to let all        
possible barbarism of  unsanctified     

things run on uncoerced beside it1 and  
it was the  ,reformation that first     
steeled the power of hierarchy4 ,if     
,bruno ,bauer  thinks3#ee ,as the       
,reformation was mainly the abstract    
rending of the  religious principle from
 art1 ,state1 and science1 and so its   
liberation  from those powers with which
 it had joined itself in the antiquity  
of  the church and in the hierarchy of  
the ,middle ,ages1 so too the           
theological and ecclesiastical movements
 which proceeded from the  ,reformation 
are only the consistent carrying out of 
this abstraction of  the religious      
principle from the other powers of      
humanity1 ,i regard  precisely the      
opposite as correct1 and think that the 
dominion of  spirits1 or freedom of mind
 7which comes to the same thing71 was   
never  before so all-embracing and      
all-powerful1 because the present one1  
instead of rending the religious        
principle from art1 ,state1 and science1
  lifted the latter altogether out of   

secularity into the realm of  spirit and
 made them religious4    ,luther and    
,descartes have been appropriately put  
side by side in their  ,he who believes 
is a ,god and ,i think1 therefore ,i am 
7cogito1 ergo  sum74 ,man's heaven is   
thought1--mind4 ,everything can be      
wrested from  him1 except thought1      
except faith4 ,particular faith1 like   
faith in  ,zeus1 ,astarte1 ,jehovah1    
,allah1 etc41 may be destroyed1 but     
faith itself  is indestructible4 ,in    
thought is freedom4 ,what ,i need and   
what ,i hunger  for is no longer granted
 to me by any grace1 by the ,virgin     
,mary1 by  intercession of the saints1  
or by the binding and loosing church1   
but ,i  procure it for myself4 ,in      
short1 my being 7the sum7 is a living in
 the  heaven of thought1 of mind1 a     
cogitare4 ,but ,i myself am nothing else
  than mind1 thinking mind 7according to
 ,descartes71 believing mind  7according
 to ,luther74 ,my body ,i am not2 my    
flesh may suffer from  appetites or     

pains4 ,i am not my flesh1 but ,i am    
mind1 only mind4    ,this thought runs  
through the history of the ,reformation 
till to-day4    ,only by the more modern
 philosophy since ,descartes has a      
serious effort  been made to bring      
,christianity to complete efficacy1 by  
exalting the  scientific consciousness  
to be the only true and valid one4      
,hence it  begins with absolute doubt1  
dubitare1 with grinding common          
consciousness to atoms1 with turning    
away from everything that mind1         
thought1 does not legitimate4 ,to it    
,nature counts for nothing2 the  opinion
 of men1 their human precepts1 for      
nothing3 and it does not  rest till it  
has brought reason into everything1 and 
can say ,the real  is the rational1 and 
only the rational is the real4 ,thus it 
has at last  brought mind1 reason1 to   
victory2 and everything is mind1 because
  everything is rational1 because all   
nature1 as well as even the  perversest 
opinions of men1 contains reason2 for   

all must serve for the  best1 i4 e4 lead
 to the victory of reason4              
,descartes's dubitare contains the      
decided statement that only  cogitare1  
thought1 mind--is4 ,a complete break    
with common  consciousness1 which       
ascribes reality to irrational things6  
,only the  rational is1 only mind is6   
,this is the principle of modern        
philosophy1  the genuine ,christian     
principle4 ,descartes in his own time   
discriminated  the body sharply from the
 mind1 and the spirit 'tis that builds  
itself  the body1 says ,goethe4    ,but 
this philosophy itself1 ,christian      
philosophy1 still does not get rid  of  
the rational1 and therefore inveighs    
against the merely subjective1  against 
fancies1 fortuities1 arbitrariness1 etc4
 ,what it wants is that  the divine     
should become visible in everything1 and
 all consciousness  become a knowing of 
the divine1 and man behold ,god         
everywhere2 but ,god  never is1 without 
the devil4    ,for this very reason the 

name of philosopher is not to be given  
to him  who has indeed open eyes for the
 things of the world1 a clear and       
undazzled gaze1 a correct judgment about
 the world1 but who sees in the  world  
just the world1 in objects only objects1
 and1 in short1 everything  prosaically 
as it is2 but he alone is a philosopher 
who sees1 and points  out or            
demonstrates1 heaven in the world1 the  
supernal in the earthly1  the--divine in
 the mundane4 ,the former may be ever so
 wise1 there is  no getting away from   
this3      ,what wise men see not by    
their wisdom's art    ,is practised     
simply by a childlike heart4#ef    ,it  
takes this childlike heart1 this eye for
 the divine1 to make a  philosopher4    
,the first-named man has only a common  
consciousness1 but  he who knows the    
divine1 and knows how to tell it1 has a 
scientific  one4 ,on this ground ,bacon 
was turned out of the realm of          
philosophers4  ,and certainly what is   
called ,english philosophy seems to have

 got no  further than to the discoveries
 of so-called clear heads1 such as      
,bacon and ,hume4 ,the ,english did not 
know how to exalt the simplicity of  the
 childlike heart to philosophic         
significance1 did not know how to       
make--philosophers out of childlike     
hearts4 ,this is as much as to say1     
their philosophy was not able to become 
theological or theology1 and  yet it is 
only as theology that it can really live
 itself out1  complete itself4 ,the     
field of its battle to the death is in  
theology4  ,bacon did not trouble       
himself about theological questions and 
cardinal  points4    ,cognition has its 
object in life4 ,german thought seeks1  
more than that  of others1 to reach the 
beginnings and fountain-heads of life1  
and sees  no life till it sees it in    
cognition itself4 ,descartes's cogito1  
ergo  sum has the meaning ,one lives    
only when one thinks4 ,thinking life is 
called intellectual life6 ,only mind    
lives1 its life is the true life4       

,then1 just so in nature only the       
eternal laws1 the mind or the reason  of
 nature1 are its true life4 ,in man1 as 
in nature1 only the thought  lives2     
everything else is dead6 ,to this       
abstraction1 to the life of             
generalities or of that which is        
lifeless1 the history of mind had to    
come4 ,god1 who is spirit1 alone lives4 
,nothing lives but the ghost4    ,how   
can one try to assert of modern         
philosophy or modern times that they    
have reached freedom1 since they have   
not freed us from the power of          
objectivity8 ,or am ,i perhaps free from
 a despot when ,i am not afraid of  the 
personal potentate1 to be sure1 but of  
every infraction of the  loving         
reverence which ,i fancy ,i owe him8    
,the case is the same with  modern      
times4 ,they only changed the existing  
objects1 the real ruler1  etc41 into    
conceived objects1 i4 e4 into ideas1    
before which the  old respect not only  
was not lost1 but increased in          

intensity4 ,even if  people snapped     
their fingers at ,god and the devil in  
their former crass  reality1 people     
devoted only the greater attention to   
their ideas4 ,they  are rid of the ,evil
 ,one2 evil is left4#eg ,the decision   
having once  been made not to let       
oneself be imposed on any longer by the 
extant and  palpable1 little scruple was
 felt about revolting against the       
existing  ,state or overturning the     
existing laws2 but to sin against the   
idea of  the ,state1 not to submit to   
the idea of law1 who would have dared   
that8 ,so one remained a citizen and a  
law-respecting1 loyal man2  yes1 one    
seemed to himself to be only so much    
more law-respecting1 the  more          
rationalistically one abrogated the     
former defective law in order  to do    
homage to the spirit of the law4 ,in all
 this the objects had  only suffered a  
change of form2 they had remained in    
their prepollence  and pre-eminence2 in 
short1 one was still involved in        

obedience and  possessedness1 lived in  
refection1 and had an object on which   
one  reflected1 which one respected1 and
 before which one felt reverence and    
fear4 ,one had done nothing but         
transform the things into conceptions   
of the things1 into thoughts and ideas1 
whereby one's dependence  became all the
 more intimate and indissoluble4 ,so1 e4
 g41 it is not  hard to emancipate      
oneself from the commands of parents1 or
 to set aside  the admonitions of uncle 
and aunt1 the entreaties of brother and 
sister2  but the renounced obedience    
easily gets into one's conscience1 and  
the  less one does give way to the      
individual demands1 because he          
rationalistically1 by his own reason1   
recognizes them to be  unreasonable1 so 
much the more conscientiously does he   
hold fast to  filial piety and family   
love1 and so much the harder is it for  
him to  forgive himself a trespass      
against the conception which he has     
formed  of family love and of filial    

duty4 ,released from dependence as      
regards  the existing family1 one falls 
into the more binding dependence on the 
idea of the family2 one is ruled by the 
spirit of the family4 ,the  family      
consisting of ,john1 ,maggie1 etc41     
whose dominion has become  powerless1 is
 only internalized1 being left as family
 in general1 to  which one just applies 
the old saying1 ,we must obey ,god      
rather than  man1 whose significance    
here is this3 ,i cannot1 to be sure1    
accommodate myself to your senseless    
requirements1 but1 as my 'family1'  you 
still remain the object of my love and  
care2 for the family is a  sacred idea1 
which the individual must never offend  
against4--,and this  family internalized
 and desensualized into a thought1 a    
conception1 now  ranks as the sacred1   
whose despotism is tenfold more grievous
 because  it makes a racket in my       
conscience4 ,this despotism is broken   
only when  the conception1 family1 also 
becomes a nothing to me4 ,the ,christian

  dicta1 ,woman1 what have ,i to do with
 thee8#eh ,i am come to stir up a  man  
against his father1 and a daughter      
against her mother1#ei and  others1 are 
accompanied by something that refers us 
to the heavenly or  true family1 and    
mean no more than the ,state's demand1  
in case of a  collision between it and  
the family1 that we obey its commands4  
,the case of morality is like that of   
the family4 ,many a man renounces       
morals1 but with great difficulty the   
conception1 morality4 ,morality  is the 
idea of morals1 their intellectual      
power1 their power over the  conscience2
 on the other hand1 morals are too      
material to rule the mind1  and do not  
fetter an intellectual man1 a so-called 
independent1 a  freethinker4    ,the    
,protestant may put it as he will1 the  
holy#fj ,scripture1 the  ,word of ,god1 
still remains sacred#fa for him4 ,he for
 whom this is no  longer holy has ceased
 to--be a ,protestant4 ,but herewith    
what is  ordained in it1 the public     

authorities appointed by ,god1 etc41    
also  remain sacred for him4 ,for him   
these things remain indissoluble1       
unapproachable1 raised above all doubt2 
and1 as doubt1 which in  practice       
becomes a buffeting1 is what is most    
man's own1 these things  remain raised  
above himself4 ,he who cannot get away  
from them  will--believe2 for to believe
 in them is to be bound to them4        
,through the fact that in ,protestantism
 the faith became a more inward  faith1 
the servitude has also become a more    
inward servitude2 one has  taken those  
sanctities up into himself1 entwined    
them with all his  thoughts and         
endeavors1 made them a matter of        
conscience1  constructed out of them a  
sacred duty for himself4 ,therefore what
  the ,protestant's conscience cannot   
get away from is sacred to him1 and     
conscientiousness most clearly          
designates his character4               
,protestantism has actually put a man in
 the position of a country  governed by 

secret police4 ,the spy and             
eavesdropper1 conscience1  watches over 
every motion of the mind1 and all       
thought and action is for  it a matter  
of conscience1 i4 e4 police business4   
,this tearing apart  of man into natural
 impulse and conscience 7inner populace 
and inner  police7 is what constitutes  
the ,protestant4 ,the reason of the     
,bible 7in  place of the ,catholic      
reason of the church7 ranks as sacred1  
and this  feeling and consciousness that
 the word of the ,bible is sacred is    
called--conscience4 ,with this1 then1   
sacredness is laid upon one's           
conscience4 ,if one does not free       
himself from conscience1 the            
consciousness of the sacred1 he may act 
unconscientiously indeed1 but  never    
consciencelessly4    ,the ,catholic     
finds himself satisfied when he fulfils 
the command2 the  ,protestant acts      
according to his best judgment and      
conscience4 ,for the  ,catholic is only 
a layman2 the ,protestant is himself a  

clergyman4#fb ,just this is the progress
 of the ,reformation period  beyond the 
,middle ,ages1 and at the same time its 
curse1--that the  spiritual became      
complete4    ,what else was the ,jesuit 
moral philosophy than a continuation of 
the  sale of indulgences8 only that the 
man who was relieved of his burden of   
sin now gained also an insight into the 
remission of sins1 and  convinced       
himself how really his sin was taken    
from him1 since in this  or that        
particular case 7,casuists7 it was so   
clearly no sin at all that  he          
committed4 ,the sale of indulgences had 
made all sins and  transgressions       
permissible1 and silenced every movement
 of conscience4  ,all sensuality might  
hold sway1 if it was only purchased from
 the  church4 ,this favoring of         
sensuality was continued by the         
,jesuits1 while  the strictly moral1    
dark1 fanatical1 repentant1 contrite1   
praying  ,protestants 7as the true      
completers of ,christianity1 to be sure7

  acknowledged only the intellectual and
 spiritual man4 ,catholicism1           
especially the ,jesuits1 gave aid to    
egoism in this way1 found  involuntary  
and unconscious adherents within        
,protestantism itself1 and  saved us    
from the subversion and extinction of   
sensuality4  ,nevertheless the          
,protestant spirit spreads its dominion 
farther and  farther2 and1 as1 beside it
 the divine1 the ,jesuit spirit         
represents  only the diabolic which is  
inseparable from everything divine1 the 
latter can never assert itself alone1   
but must look on and see how in         
,france1 e4 g41 the ,philistinism of    
,protestantism wins at last1 and  mind  
is on top4    ,protestantism is usually 
complimented on having brought the      
mundane into  repute again1 e4 g4       
marriage1 the ,state1 etc4 ,but the     
mundane itself  as mundane1 the secular1
 is even more indifferent to it than to 
,catholicism1 which lets the profane    
world stand1 yes1 and relishes its      

pleasures1 while the rational1          
consistent ,protestant sets about       
annihilating the mundane altogether1 and
 that simply by hallowing it4  ,so      
marriage has been deprived of its       
naturalness by becoming sacred1 not  in 
the sense of the ,catholic sacrament1   
where it only receives its  consecration
 from the church and so is unholy at    
bottom1 but in the  sense of being      
something sacred in itself to begin     
with1 a sacred  relation4 ,just so the  
,state1 etc4 ,formerly the pope gave    
consecration  and his blessing to it and
 its princes2 now the ,state is         
intrinsically  sacred1 majesty is sacred
 without needing the priest's blessing4 
,the  order of nature1 or natural law1  
was altogether hallowed as ,god's       
ordinance4 ,hence it is said e4 g4 in   
the ,augsburg ,confession1 ,art4  #aa3  
,so now we reasonably abide by the      
saying1 as the jurisconsults  have      
wisely and rightly said3 that man and   
woman should be with each  other is a   

natural law4 ,now1 if it is a natural   
law1 then it is ,god's  ordinance1      
therefore implanted in nature1 and      
therefore a divine law  also4 ,and is it
 anything more than ,protestantism      
brought up to date1  when ,feuerbach    
pronounces moral relations sacred1 not  
as ,god's ordinance  indeed1 but1       
instead1 for the sake of the spirit that
 dwells in them8  ,but marriage--as a   
free alliance of love1 of course--is    
sacred of  itself1 by the nature of the 
union that is formed here4 ,that        
marriage alone is a religious one that  
is a true one1 that  corresponds to the 
essence of marriage1 love4 ,and so it is
 with all  moral relations4 ,they are   
ethical1 are cultivated with a moral    
mind1  only where they rank as religious
 of themselves4 ,true friendship is     
only where the limits of friendship are 
preserved with religious                
conscientiousness1 with the same        
conscientiousness with which the        
believer guards the dignity of his ,god4

 ,friendship is and must be  sacred for 
you1 and property1 and marriage1 and the
 good of every man1  but sacred in and  
of itself4#fc    ,that is a very        
essential consideration4 ,in            
,catholicism the mundane can  indeed be 
consecrated or hallowed1 but it is not  
sacred without this  priestly blessing2 
in ,protestantism1 on the contrary1     
mundane relations  are sacred of        
themselves1 sacred by their mere        
existence4 ,the ,jesuit  maxim1 the end 
hallows the means1 corresponds precisely
 to the  consecration by which sanctity 
is bestowed4 ,no means are holy or      
unholy  in themselves1 but their        
relation to the church1 their use for   
the  church1 hallows the means4         
,regicide was named as such2 if it was  
committed for the church's behoof1 it   
could be certain of being hallowed  by  
the church1 even if the hallowing was   
not openly pronounced4 ,to the          
,protestant1 majesty ranks as sacred2 to
 the ,catholic only that majesty  which 

is consecrated by the pontiff can rank  
as such2 and it does rank  as such to   
him only because the pope1 even though  
it be without a  special act1 confers   
this sacredness on it once for all4 ,if 
he retracted  his consecration1 the king
 would be left only a man of the world  
or  layman1 an unconsecrated man1 to the
 ,catholic4    ,if the ,protestant seeks
 to discover a sacredness in the sensual
 itself1  that he may then be linked    
only to what is holy1 the ,catholic     
strives  rather to banish the sensual   
from himself into a separate domain1    
where  it1 like the rest of nature1     
keeps its value for itself4 ,the        
,catholic  church eliminated mundane    
marriage from its consecrated order1 and
  withdrew those who were its own from  
the mundane family2 the ,protestant     
church declared marriage and family ties
 to be holy1 and therefore not          
unsuitable for its clergymen4    ,a     
,jesuit may1 as a good ,catholic1 hallow
 everything4 ,he needs only  e4 g4 to   

say to himself3 ,i as a priest am       
necessary to the church1  but serve it  
more zealously when ,i appease my       
desires properly2  consequently ,i will 
seduce this girl1 have my enemy there   
poisoned1  etc42 my end is holy because 
it is a priest's1 consequently it       
hallows  the means4 ,for in the end it  
is still done for the benefit of the    
church4 ,why should the ,catholic priest
 shrink from handing ,emperor  ,henry   
,,vii the poisoned wafer for            
the--church's welfare8    ,the          
genuinely--churchly ,protestants        
inveighed against every innocent        
pleasure1 because only the sacred1 the  
spiritual1 could be innocent4  ,what    
they could not point out the holy spirit
 in1 the ,protestants had to            
reject1--dancing1 the theatre1          
ostentation 7e4 g4 in the church71 and  
the like4    ,compared with this        
puritanical ,calvinism1 ,lutheranism is 
again more on  the religious1 i4 e4     
spiritual1 track1--is more radical4 ,for

 the  former excludes at once a great   
number of things as sensual and worldly1
  and purifies the church2 ,lutheranism1
 on the contrary1 tries to bring  spirit
 into all things as far as possible1 to 
recognize the holy  spirit as an essence
 in everything1 and so to hallow        
everything  worldly4 7,no one can forbid
 a kiss in honor4 ,the spirit of honor  
hallows it47 ,hence it was that the     
,lutheran ,hegel 7he declares himself   
such in some passage or other3 he wants 
to remain a ,lutheran7 was  completely  
successful in carrying the idea through 
everything4 ,in  everything there is    
reason1 i4 e4 holy spirit1 or the real  
is  rational4 ,for the real is in fact  
everything1 as in each thing1 e4 g4     
each lie1 the truth can be detected3    
there is no absolute lie1 no  absolute  
evil1 and the like4    ,great works of  
mind were created almost solely by      
,protestants1 as they  alone were the   
true disciples and consummators of mind4
           99       99       99       99

       99    ,how little man is able to 
control6 ,he must let the sun run its   
course1  the sea roll its waves1 the    
mountains rise to heaven4 ,thus he      
stands  powerless before the            
uncontrollable4 ,can he keep off the    
impression  that he is helpless against 
this gigantic world8 ,it is a fixed law 
to which he must submit1 it determines  
his fate4 ,now1 what did  pre-,christian
 humanity work toward8 ,toward getting  
rid of the irruptions  of the destinies1
 not letting oneself be vexed by them4  
,the ,stoics  attained this in apathy1  
declaring the attacks of nature         
indifferent1  and not letting themselves
 be affected by them4 ,horace utters the
 famous  ,nil admirari1 by which he     
likewise announces the indifference of  
the  other1 the world2 it is not to     
influence us1 not to arouse our         
astonishment4 ,and that impavidum       
ferient ruinae expresses the very  same 
imperturbability as ,ps4 #df4c3 ,we do  
not fear1 though the earth  should      

perish4 ,in all this there is room made 
for the ,christian  proposition that the
 world is empty1 for the ,christian     
contempt of the  world4    ,the         
imperturbable spirit of the wise man1   
with which the old world  worked to     
prepare its end1 now underwent an inner 
perturbation against  which no ataraxy1 
no ,stoic courage1 was able to protect  
it4 ,the spirit1  secured against all   
influence of the world1 insensible to   
its shocks and  exalted above its       
attacks1 admiring nothing1 not to be    
disconcerted by  any downfall of the    
world1--foamed over irrepressibly again1
 because  gases 7spirits7 were evolved  
in its own interior1 and1 after the     
mechanical shock that comes from without
 had become ineffective1  chemical      
tensions1 that agitate within1 began    
their wonderful play4    ,in fact1      
ancient history ends with this1--that ,i
 have struggled till ,i  won my         
ownership of the world4 ,all things have
 been delivered1 to me  by my ,father   

7,matt4 #aa4bg74 ,it has ceased to be   
overpowering1  unapproachable1 sacred1  
divine1 etc41 for me2 it is undeified1  
and now  ,i treat it so entirely as ,i  
please that1 if ,i cared1 ,i could exert
 on it  all miracle-working power1 i4 e4
 power of mind1--remove mountains1      
command mulberry trees to tear          
themselves up and transplant themselves 
into the sea 7,luke #ag4f71 and do      
everything possible1 i4 e4 thinkable3   
,all things are possible to him who     
believes4#fd ,i am the lord of  the     
world1 mine is the glory4#fe ,the world 
has become prosaic1  for the divine has 
vanished from it3 it is my property1    
which ,i dispose  of as ,i 7to wit1 the 
mind7 choose4    ,when ,i had exalted   
myself to be the owner of the world1    
egoism had won  its first complete      
victory1 had vanquished the world1 had  
become  worldless1 and put the          
acquisitions of a long age under lock   
and key4    ,the first property1 the    
first glory1 has been acquired6    ,but 

the lord of the world is not yet lord of
 his thoughts1 his feelings1  his will3 
he is not lord and owner of the spirit1 
for the spirit is  still sacred1 the    
,holy ,spirit1 and the worldless        
,christian is not  able to become       
godless4 ,if the ancient struggle was a 
struggle against  the world1 the medival
 7,christian7 struggle is a struggle    
against  self1 the mind2 the former     
against the outer world1 the latter     
against  the inner world4 ,the medival  
man is the man whose gaze is turned     
inward1 the thinking1 meditative man4   
,all wisdom of the ancients is the      
science of the world1 all wisdom of  the
 moderns is the science of ,god4    ,the
 heathen 7,jews included7 got through   
with the world2 but now the  thing was  
to get through with self1 the spirit1   
too2 i4 e4 to become  spiritless or     
godless4    ,for almost two thousand    
years we have been working at subjecting
 the  ,holy ,spirit to ourselves1 and   
little by little we have torn off and   

trodden under foot many bits of         
sacredness2 but the gigantic opponent is
  constantly rising anew under a changed
 form and name4 ,the spirit has not  yet
 lost its divinity1 its holiness1 its   
sacredness4 ,to be sure1 it has  long   
ceased to flutter over our heads as a   
dove2 to be sure1 it no  longer gladdens
 its saints alone1 but lets itself be   
caught by the laity  too1 etc42 but as  
spirit of humanity1 as spirit of ,man1  
it remains still  an alien spirit to me 
or you1 still far from becoming our     
unrestricted  property1 which we dispose
 of at our pleasure4 ,however1 one thing
  certainly happened1 and visibly guided
 the progress of post-,christian        
history3 this one thing was the endeavor
 to make the ,holy ,spirit more  human1 
and bring it nearer to men1 or men to   
it4 ,through this it came  about that at
 last it could be conceived as the      
spirit of humanity1  and1 under         
different expressions like idea of      
humanity1 mankind1  humaneness1 general 

philanthropy1 etc41 appeared more       
attractive1 more  familiar1 and more    
accessible4    ,would not one think that
 now everybody could possess the ,holy  
,spirit1  take up into himself the idea 
of humanity1 bring mankind to form and  
existence in himself8    ,no1 the spirit
 is not stripped of its holiness and    
robbed of its  unapproachableness1 is   
not accessible to us1 not our property2 
for the  spirit of humanity is not my   
spirit4 ,my ideal it may be1 and as a   
thought ,i call it mine2 the thought of 
humanity is my property1 and ,i  prove  
this sufficiently by propounding it     
quite according to my views1  and       
shaping it to-day so1 to-morrow         
otherwise2 we represent it to  ourselves
 in the most manifold ways4 ,but it is  
at the same time an  entail1 which ,i   
cannot alienate nor get rid of4         
,among many transformations1 the ,holy  
,spirit became in time the  absolute    
idea1 which again in manifold           
refractions split into the  different   

ideas of philanthropy1 reasonableness1  
civic virtue1 etc4    ,but can ,i call  
the idea my property if it is the idea  
of humanity1 and  can ,i consider the   
,spirit as vanquished if ,i am to serve 
it1 sacrifice  myself to it8 ,antiquity1
 at its close1 had gained its ownership 
of the  world only when it had broken   
the world's overpoweringness and        
divinity1 recognized the world's        
powerlessness and vanity4    ,the case  
with regard to the spirit corresponds4  
,when ,i have degraded  it to a spook   
and its control over me to a cranky     
notion1 then it is  to be looked upon as
 having lost its sacredness1 its        
holiness1 its  divinity1 and then ,i use
 it1 as one uses nature at pleasure     
without  scruple4    ,the nature of the 
case1 the concept of the relationship1  
is to guide  me in dealing with the case
 or in contracting the relation4 ,as if 
a  concept of the case existed on its   
own account1 and was not rather the     
concept that one forms of the case6 ,as 

if a relation which we enter into  was  
not1 by the uniqueness of those who     
enter into it1 itself unique6 ,as  if it
 depended on how others stamp it6 ,but1 
as people separated the  essence of ,man
 from the real man1 and judged the      
latter by the former1  so they also     
separate his action from him1 and       
appraise it by human  value4 ,concepts  
are to decide everywhere1 concepts to   
regulate life1  concepts to rule4 ,this 
is the religious world1 to which ,hegel 
gave a  systematic expression1 bringing 
method into the nonsense and completing 
the conceptual precepts into a rounded1 
firmly-based dogmatic4  ,everything is  
sung according to concepts1 and the real
 man1 i4 e4 ,i1  am compelled to live   
according to these conceptual laws4 ,can
 there be a  more grievous dominion of  
law1 and did not ,christianity confess  
at the  very beginning that it meant    
only to draw ,judaism's dominion of law 
tighter8 7,not a letter of the law shall
 be lost67    ,liberalism simply brought

 other concepts on the carpet1 viz41    
human  instead of divine1 political     
instead of ecclesiastical1 scientific   
instead of doctrinal1 or1 more          
generally1 real concepts and eternal    
laws  instead of crude dogmas and       
precepts4    ,now nothing but mind rules
 in the world4 ,an innumerable multitude
 of  concepts buzz about in people's    
heads1 and what are those doing who     
endeavor to get further8 ,they are      
negating these concepts to put new  ones
 in their place6 ,they are saying3 ,you 
form a false concept of  right1 of the  
,state1 of man1 of liberty1 of truth1 of
 marriage1 etc42  the concept of right1 
etc41 is rather that one which we now   
set up4  ,thus the confusion of concepts
 moves forward4    ,the history of the  
world has dealt cruelly with us1 and the
 spirit has  obtained an almighty power4
 ,you must have regard for my miserable 
shoes1  which could protect your naked  
foot1 my salt1 by which your potatoes   
would become palatable1 and my          

state-carriage1 whose possession would  
relieve you of all need at once2 you    
must not reach out after them4 ,man  is 
to recognize the independence of all    
these and innumerable other  things3    
they are to rank in his mind as         
something that cannot be seized  or     
approached1 are to be kept away from    
him4 ,he must have regard for it1       
respect it2 woe to him if he stretches  
out his fingers desirously2 we  call    
that being light-fingered6    ,how      
beggarly little is left us1 yes1 how    
really nothing6 ,everything has  been   
removed1 we must not venture on anything
 unless it is given us2 we  continue to 
live only by the grace of the giver4    
,you must not pick up  a pin1 unless    
indeed you have got leave to do so4 ,and
 got it from  whom8 ,from respect6 ,only
 when this lets you have it as property1
 only  when you can respect it as       
property1 only then may you take it4    
,and  again1 you are not to conceive a  
thought1 speak a syllable1 commit an    

action1 that should have their warrant  
in you alone1 instead of  receiving it  
from morality or reason or humanity4    
,happy unconstraint  of the desirous    
man1 how mercilessly people have tried  
to slay you on  the altar of constraint6
    ,but around the altar rise the      
arches of a church1 and its walls keep  
moving further and further out4 ,what   
they enclose is--sacred4 ,you can  no   
longer get to it1 no longer touch it4   
,shrieking with the hunger that  devours
 you1 you wander round about these walls
 in search of the little  that is       
profane1 and the circles of your course 
keep growing more and  more extended4   
,soon that church will embrace the whole
 world1 and you be  driven out to the   
extreme edge2 another step1 and the     
world of the  sacred has conquered3 you 
sink into the abyss4 ,therefore take    
courage  while it is yet time1 wander   
about no longer in the profane where now
 it  is dry feeding1 dare the leap1 and 
rush in through the gates into the      

sanctuary itself4 ,if you devour the    
sacred1 you have made it your  own6     
,digest the sacramental wafer1 and you  
are rid of it6      ,,iii4--,,the ,,free
    ,the ancients and the moderns having
 been presented above in two  divisions1
 it may seem as if the free were here to
 be described in a  third division as   
independent and distinct4 ,this is not  
so4 ,the free are  only the more modern 
and most modern among the moderns1 and  
are put in  a separate division merely  
because they belong to the present1 and 
what  is present1 above all1 claims our 
attention here4 ,i give the free only   
as a translation of the liberals1 but   
must with regard to the concept  of     
freedom 7as in general with regard to so
 many other things whose  anticipatory  
introduction cannot be avoided7 refer to
 what comes later4                      
#a4--,,political ,,liberalism    ,after 
the chalice of so-called absolute       
monarchy had been drained down  to the  
dregs1 in the eighteenth century people 

became aware that their  drink did not  
taste human--too clearly aware not to   
begin to crave a  different cup4 ,since 
our fathers were human beings after all1
 they at  last desired also to be       
regarded as such4    ,whoever sees in us
 something else than human beings1 in   
him we likewise  will not see a human   
being1 but an inhuman being1 and will   
meet him as  an unhuman being2 on the   
other hand1 whoever recognizes us as    
human  beings and protects us against   
the danger of being treated inhumanly1  
him we will honor as our true protector 
and guardian4    ,let us then hold      
together and protect the man in each    
other2 then we  find the necessary      
protection in our holding together1 and 
in  ourselves1 those who hold together1 
a fellowship of those who know  their   
human dignity and hold together as human
 beings4 ,our holding  together is the  
,state2 we who hold together are the    
nation4    ,in our being together as    
nation or ,state we are only human      

beings4 ,how  we deport ourselves in    
other respects as individuals1 and what 
self-seeking impulses we may there      
succumb to1 belongs solely to our       
private life2 our public or ,state life 
is a purely human one4  ,everything     
un-human or egoistic that clings to us  
is degraded to a  private matter and we 
distinguish the ,state definitely from  
civil  society1 which is the sphere of  
egoism's activity4    ,the true man is  
the nation1 but the individual is always
 an egoist4  ,therefore strip off your  
individuality or isolation wherein      
dwells  discord and egoistic inequality1
 and consecrate yourselves wholly to the
  true man1--the nation or the ,state4  
,then you will rank as men1 and have    
all that is man's2 the ,state1 the true 
man1 will entitle you to what  belongs  
to it1 and give you the rights of man2  
,man gives you his  rights6    ,so runs 
the speech of the commonalty4    ,the   
commonalty#ff is nothing else than the  
thought that the ,state is  all in all1 

the true man1 and that the individual's 
human value consists  in being a citizen
 of the ,state4 ,in being a good citizen
 he seeks his  highest honor2 beyond    
that he knows nothing higher than at    
most the  antiquated--being a good      
,christian4    ,the commonalty developed
 itself in the struggle against the     
privileged  classes1 by whom it was     
cavalierly treated as third estate and  
confounded with the canaille4 ,in other 
words1 up to this time the  ,state had  
recognized caste4#fg ,the son of a      
nobleman was selected for  posts to     
which the most distinguished commoners  
aspired in vain1 etc4  ,the civic       
feeling revolted against this4 ,no more 
distinction1 no giving  preference to   
persons1 no difference of classes6 ,let 
all be alike6 ,no  separate interest is 
to be pursued longer1 but the general   
interest  of all4 ,the ,state is to be a
 fellowship of free and equal men1 and  
every one is to devote himself to the   
welfare of the whole1 to be  dissolved  

in the ,state1 to make the ,state his   
end and ideal4 ,state6  ,state6 so ran  
the general cry1 and thenceforth people 
sought for the  right form of ,state1   
the best constitution1 and so the ,state
 in its  best conception4 ,the thought  
of the ,state passed into all hearts and
  awakened enthusiasm2 to serve it1 this
 mundane god1 became the new  divine    
service and worship4 ,the properly      
political epoch had dawned4  ,to serve  
the ,state or the nation became the     
highest ideal1 the ,state's  interest   
the highest interest1 ,state service    
7for which one does not by  any means   
need to be an official7 the highest     
honor4    ,so then the separate         
interests and personalities had been    
scared away1  and sacrifice for the     
,state had become the shibboleth4 ,one  
must give up  himself1 and live only for
 the ,state4 ,one must act              
disinterestedly1  not want to benefit   
himself1 but the ,state4 ,hereby the    
latter has  become the true person1     

before whom the individual personality  
vanishes2  not ,i live1 but it lives in 
me4 ,therefore1 in comparison with the  
former  self-seeking1 this was          
unselfishness and impersonality itself4 
,before  this god--,state--all egoism   
vanished1 and before it all were equal2 
they  were without any other            
distinction--men1 nothing but men4      
,the ,revolution took fire from the     
inflammable material of property4  ,the 
government needed money4 ,now it must   
prove the proposition that it  is       
absolute1 and so master of all property1
 sole proprietor2 it must  take to      
itself its money1 which was only in the 
possession of the  subjects1 not their  
property4 ,instead of this1 it calls    
,states-general1  to have this money    
granted to it4 ,the shrinking from      
strictly logical  action destroyed the  
illusion of an absolute government2 he  
who must  have something granted to him 
cannot be regarded as absolute4 ,the    
subjects recognized that they were real 

proprietors1 and that it was  their     
money that was demanded4 ,those who had 
hitherto been subjects  attained the    
consciousness that they were            
proprietors4 ,bailly depicts  this in a 
few words3 ,if you cannot dispose of my 
property without my  assent1 how much   
less can you of my person1 of all that  
concerns my  mental and social position8
 ,all this is my property1 like the     
piece of  land that ,i till2 and ,i have
 a right1 an interest1 to make the laws 
myself4 ,bailly's words sound1          
certainly1 as if every one was a        
proprietor now4 ,however1 instead of the
 government1 instead of the  prince1    
the--nation now became proprietor and   
master4 ,from this time  on the ideal is
 spoken of as--popular liberty--a free  
people1 etc4    ,as early as ,july #h1  
#aghi1 the declaration of the bishop of 
,autun and  ,barrre took away all       
semblance of the importance of each and 
every  individual in legislation2 it    
showed the complete powerlessness of    

the constituents2 the majority of the   
representatives has become  master4     
,when on ,july #i the plan for division 
of the work on the  constitution is     
proposed1 ,mirabeau remarks that the    
government has only  power1 no rights2  
only in the people is the source of all 
right to  be found4 ,on ,july #af this  
same ,mirabeau exclaims3 ,is not the    
people  the source of all power8 ,the   
source1 therefore1 of all right1 and the
  source of all--power6#fh ,by the way1 
here the substance of right  becomes    
visible2 it is--power4 ,he who has power
 has right4    ,the commonalty is the   
heir of the privileged classes4 ,in     
fact1 the  rights of the barons1 which  
were taken from them as usurpations1    
only  passed over to the commonalty4    
,for the commonalty was now called the  
nation4 ,into the hands of the nation   
all prerogatives were given  back4      
,thereby they ceased to be              
prerogatives3#fi they became  rights4#gj
 ,from this time on the nation demands  

tithes1 compulsory  services2 it has    
inherited the lord's court1 the rights  
of vert and  venison1 the--serfs4 ,the  
night of ,august #d was the death-night 
of  privileges or prerogatives 7cities1 
communes1 boards of magistrates1  were  
also privileged1 furnished with         
prerogatives and seigniorial  rights71  
and ended with the new morning of right1
 the rights of the  ,state1 the rights  
of the nation4    ,the monarch in the   
person of the royal master had been a   
paltry  monarch compared with this new  
monarch1 the sovereign nation4 ,this    
monarchy was a thousand times severer1  
stricter1 and more consistent4  ,against
 the new monarch there was no longer any
 right1 any privilege at  all2 how      
limited the absolute king of the ancien 
rgime looks in  comparison6 ,the        
,revolution effected the transformation 
of limited  monarchy into absolute      
monarchy4 ,from this time on every right
 that  is not conferred by this monarch 
is an assumption2 but every  prerogative

 that he bestows1 a right4 ,the times   
demanded absolute  royalty1 absolute    
monarchy2 therefore down fell that      
so-called absolute  royalty which had so
 little understood how to become        
absolute that it  remained limited by a 
thousand little lords4    ,what was     
longed for and striven for through      
thousands of years1--to wit1  to find   
that absolute lord beside whom no other 
lords and lordlings any  longer exist to
 clip his power1--the bourgeoisie has   
brought to pass4  ,it has revealed the  
,lord who alone confers rightful titles1
 and  without whose warrant nothing is  
justified4 ,so now we know that an  idol
 is nothing in the world1 and that there
 is no other god save the  one4#ga      
,against right one can no longer1 as    
against a right1 come forward with  the 
assertion that it is a wrong4 ,one can  
say now only that it is a  piece of     
nonsense1 an illusion4 ,if one called it
 wrong1 one would have  to set up       
another right in opposition to it1 and  

measure it by this4  ,if1 on the        
contrary1 one rejects right as such1    
right in and of itself1  altogether1    
then one also rejects the concept of    
wrong1 and dissolves  the whole concept 
of right 7to which the concept of wrong 
belongs74    ,what is the meaning of the
 doctrine that we all enjoy equality of 
political rights8 ,only this1--that the 
,state has no regard for my  person1    
that to it ,i1 like every other1 am only
 a man1 without having  another         
significance that commands its          
deference4 ,i do not command its        
deference as an aristocrat1 a nobleman's
 son1 or even as heir of an  official   
whose office belongs to me by           
inheritance 7as in the ,middle  ,ages   
countships1 etc41 and later under       
absolute royalty1 where  hereditary     
offices occur74 ,now the ,state has an  
innumerable multitude of  rights to give
 away1 e4 g4 the right to lead a        
battalion1 a company1  etc42 the right  
to lecture at a university2 and so      

forth2 it has them to  give away because
 they are its own1 i4 e4 ,state rights  
or political  rights4 ,withal1 it makes 
no difference to it to whom it gives    
them1 if  the receiver only fulfils the 
duties that spring from the delegated   
rights4 ,to it we are all of us all     
right1 and--equal1--one worth no  more  
and no less than another4 ,it is        
indifferent to me who receives the      
command of the army1 says the sovereign 
,state1 provided the grantee            
understands the matter properly4        
,equality of political rights has1      
consequently1 the meaning that every one
 may acquire every right that  the      
,state has to give away1 if only he     
fulfils the conditions annexed          
thereto1--conditions which are to be    
sought only in the nature of the        
particular right1 not in a predilection 
for the person 7persona  grata73 the    
nature of the right to become an officer
 brings with it1  e4 g41 the necessity  
that one possess sound limbs and a      

suitable  measure of knowledge1 but it  
does not have noble birth as a          
condition2  if1 on the other hand1 even 
the most deserving commoner could not   
reach  that station1 then an inequality 
of political rights would exist4 ,among 
the ,states of to-day one has carried   
out that maxim of equality more1        
another less4    ,the monarchy of       
estates 7so ,i will call absolute       
royalty1 the time of  the kings before  
the revolution7 kept the individual in  
dependence on  a lot of little          
monarchies4 ,these were fellowships     
7societies7 like the  guilds1 the       
nobility1 the priesthood1 the burgher   
class1 cities1  communes1 etc4          
,everywhere the individual must regard  
himself first as  a member of this      
little society1 and yield unconditional 
obedience to  its spirit1 the esprit de 
corps1 as his monarch4 ,more1 e4 g41    
than  the individual nobleman himself   
must his family1 the honor of his race1 
be to him4 ,only by means of his        

corporation1 his estate1 did the        
individual have relation to the greater 
corporation1 the ,state1--as in         
,catholicism the individual deals with  
,god only through the priest4 ,to  this 
the third estate now1 showing courage to
 negate itself as an  estate1 made an   
end4 ,it decided no longer to be and be 
called an  estate beside other estates1 
but to glorify and generalize itself    
into  the nation4 ,hereby it created a  
much more complete and absolute         
monarchy1 and the entire previously     
ruling principle of estates1 the        
principle of little monarchies inside   
the great1 went down4 ,therefore it     
cannot be said that the ,revolution was 
a revolution against the first  two     
privileged estates3 it was against the  
little monarchies of estates  in        
general4 ,but1 if the estates and their 
despotism were broken 7the  king too1 we
 know1 was only a king of estates1 not a
 citizen-king71 the  individuals freed  
from the inequality of estate were left4

 ,were they now  really to be without   
estate and out of gear1 no longer bound 
by any  estate1 without a general bond  
of union8 ,no1 for the third estate had 
declared itself the nation only in order
 not to remain an estate  beside other  
estates1 but to become the sole estate4 
,this sole  estate is the nation1 the   
,state4 ,what had the individual now    
become8 ,a political ,protestant1 for he
 had come into immediate  connection    
with his ,god1 the ,state4 ,he was no   
longer1 as an aristocrat1  in the       
monarchy of the nobility2 as a mechanic1
 in the monarchy of the  guild2 but he1 
like all1 recognized and acknowledged   
only--one lord1  the ,state1 as whose   
servants they all received the equal    
title of honor1  citizen4    ,the       
bourgeoisie is the aristocracy of       
,,desert2 its motto1 ,let desert  wear  
its crowns4 ,it fought against the lazy 
aristocracy1 for  according to it 7the  
industrious aristocracy acquired by     
industry and  desert7 it is not the born

 who is free1 nor yet ,i who am free    
either1  but the deserving man1 the     
honest servant 7of his king2 of the     
,state2 of the people in constitutional 
,states74 ,through service one  acquires
 freedom1 i4 e4 acquires deserts1 even  
if one  served--mammon4 ,one must       
deserve well of the ,state1 i4 e4 of the
  principle of the ,state1 of its moral 
spirit4 ,he who serves this spirit  of  
the ,state is a good citizen1 let him   
live to whatever honest branch  of      
industry he will4 ,in its eyes          
innovators practise a breadless art4    
,only the shopkeeper is practical1 and  
the spirit that chases after  public    
offices is as much the shopkeeping      
spirit as is that which tries  in trade 
to feather its nest or otherwise to     
become useful to itself and  anybody    
else4    ,but1 if the deserving count as
 the free 7for what does the comfortable
  commoner1 the faithful office-holder1 
lack of that freedom that his  heart    
desires871 then the servants are        

the--free4 ,the obedient  servant is the
 free man6 ,what glaring nonsense6 ,yet 
this is the sense of  the bourgeoisie1  
and its poet1 ,goethe1 as well as its   
philosopher1  ,hegel1 succeeded in      
glorifying the dependence of the subject
 on the  object1 obedience to the       
objective world1 etc4 ,he who only      
serves the  cause1 devotes himself      
entirely to it1 has the true freedom4   
,and among  thinkers the cause          
was--reason1 that which1 like ,state and
 ,church1  gives--general laws1 and puts
 the individual man in irons by the     
thought of humanity4 ,it determines what
 is true1 according to which  one must  
then act4 ,no more rational people than 
the honest servants1  who primarily are 
called good citizens as servants of the 
,state4    ,be rich as ,croesus or poor 
as ,job--the ,state of the commonalty   
leaves  that to your option2 but only   
have a good disposition4 ,this it       
demands  of you1 and counts it its most 
urgent task to establish this in all4   

,therefore it will keep you from evil   
promptings1 holding the  ill-disposed in
 check and silencing their inflammatory 
discourses  under censors'              
cancelling-marks or press-penalties and 
behind dungeon  walls1 and will1 on the 
other hand1 appoint people of good      
disposition  as censors1 and in every   
way have a moral influence exerted on   
you by  well-disposed and well-meaning  
people4 ,if it has made you deaf to evil
  promptings1 then it opens your ears   
again all the more diligently to  good  
promptings4    ,with the time of the    
bourgeoisie begins that of liberalism4  
,people  want to see what is rational1  
suited to the times1 etc41 established  
everywhere4 ,the following definition of
 liberalism1 which is supposed  to be   
pronounced in its honor1 characterizes  
it completely3 ,liberalism  is nothing  
else than the knowledge of reason1      
applied to our existing  relations4#gb  
,its aim is a rational order1 a moral   
behavior1 a  limited freedom1 not       

anarchy1 lawlessness1 selfhood4 ,but1 if
 reason  rules1 then the person         
succumbs4 ,art has for a long time not  
only  acknowledged the ugly1 but        
considered the ugly as necessary to its 
existence1 and taken it up into itself2 
it needs the villain1 etc4 ,in  the     
religious domain1 too1 the extremest    
liberals go so far that they  want to   
see the most religious man regarded as a
 citizen--i4 e4 the  religious villain2 
they want to see no more of trials for  
heresy4 ,but  against the rational law  
no one is to rebel1 otherwise he is     
threatened with the severest--penalty4  
,what is wanted is not free  movement   
and realization of the person or of me1 
but of reason1--i4 e4  a dominion of    
reason1 a dominion4 ,the liberals are   
zealots1 not  exactly for the faith1 for
 ,god1 etc41 but certainly for reason1  
their  master4 ,they brook no lack of   
breeding1 and therefore no              
self-development and self-determination2
 they play the guardian as  effectively 

as the most absolute rulers4            
,political liberty1 what are we to      
understand by that8 ,perhaps the        
individual's independence of the ,state 
and its laws8 ,no2 on the  contrary1 the
 individual's subjection in the ,state  
and to the ,state's  laws4 ,but why     
liberty8 ,because one is no longer      
separated from the  ,state by           
intermediaries1 but stands in direct and
 immediate relation to  it2 because one 
is a--citizen1 not the subject of       
another1 not even of  the king as a     
person1 but only in his quality as      
supreme head of the  ,state4 ,political 
liberty1 this fundamental doctrine of   
liberalism1 is  nothing but a second    
phase of--,protestantism1 and runs quite
 parallel  with religious liberty4#gc   
,or would it perhaps be right to        
understand  by the latter an            
independence of religion8 ,anything but 
that4  ,independence of intermediaries  
is all that it is intended to express1  
independence of mediating priests1 the  

abolition of the laity1 and so  direct  
and immediate relation to religion or to
 ,god4 ,only on the  supposition that   
one has religion can he enjoy freedom of
 religion2  freedom of religion does not
 mean being without religion1 but       
inwardness  of faith1 unmediated        
intercourse with ,god4 ,to him who is   
religiously  free religion is an affair 
of the heart1 it is to him his own      
affair1  it is to him a sacredly serious
 matter4 ,so1 too1 to the politically   
free man the ,state is a sacredly       
serious matter2 it is his heart's       
affair1 his chief affair1 his own       
affair4    ,political liberty means that
 the polis1 the ,state1 is free2 freedom
 of  religion that religion is free1 as 
freedom of conscience signifies that    
conscience is free2 not1 therefore1 that
 ,i am free from the ,state1 from       
religion1 from conscience1 or that ,i am
 rid of them4 ,it does not mean  my     
liberty1 but the liberty of a power that
 rules and subjugates me2  it means that

 one of my despots1 like ,state1        
religion1 conscience1 is  free4 ,state1 
religion1 conscience1 these despots1    
make me a slave1 and  their liberty is  
my slavery4 ,that in this they          
necessarily follow  the principle1 the  
end hallows the means1 is self-evident4 
,if the  welfare of the ,state is the   
end1 war is a hallowed means2 if justice
 is  the ,state's end1 homicide is a    
hallowed means1 and is called by its    
sacred name1 execution1 etc42 the sacred
 ,state hallows everything  that is     
serviceable to it4    ,individual       
liberty1 over which civic liberalism    
keeps jealous watch1  does not by any   
means signify a completely free         
self-determination1 by  which actions   
become altogether mine1 but only        
independence of  persons4 ,individually 
free is he who is responsible to no man4
 ,taken  in this sense1--and we are not 
allowed to understand it otherwise1--not
  only the ruler is individually free1  
i4 e41 irresponsible toward men  7before

 ,god1 we know1 he acknowledges himself 
responsible71 but all  who are          
responsible only to the law4 ,this kind 
of liberty was won  through the         
revolutionary movement of the           
century1--to wit1 independence  of      
arbitrary will1 of tel est notre        
plaisir4 ,hence the constitutional      
prince must himself be stripped of all  
personality1 deprived of all  individual
 decision1 that he may not as a person1 
as an individual  man1 violate the      
individual liberty of others4 ,the      
personal will of  the ruler has         
disappeared in the constitutional       
prince2 it is with a  right feeling1    
therefore1 that absolute princes resist 
this4  ,nevertheless these very ones    
profess to be in the best sense         
,christian  princes4 ,for this1 however1
 they must become a purely spiritual    
power1 as the ,christian is subject only
 to spirit 7,god is spirit74  ,the      
purely spiritual power is consistently  
represented only by the  constitutional 

prince1 he who1 without any personal    
significance1 stands  there             
spiritualized to the degree that he can 
rank as a sheer1 uncanny  spirit1 as an 
idea4 ,the constitutional king is the   
truly ,christian  king1 the genuine1    
consistent carrying-out of the          
,christian principle4  ,in the          
constitutional monarchy individual      
dominion1--i4 e41 a real  ruler that    
wills--has found its end2 here1         
therefore1 individual  liberty prevails1
 independence of every individual       
dictator1 of every  one who could       
dictate to me with a tel est notre      
plaisir4 ,it is the  completed          
,christian ,state-life1 a spiritualized 
life4    ,the behavior of the commonalty
 is liberal through and through4 ,every 
personal invasion of another's sphere   
revolts the civic sense2 if the  citizen
 sees that one is dependent on the      
humor1 the pleasure1 the will  of a man 
as individual 7i4 e4 as not authorized  
by a higher power71  at once he brings  

his liberalism to the front and shrieks 
about  arbitrariness4 ,in fine1 the     
citizen asserts his freedom from what is
  called orders 7ordonnance73 ,no one   
has any business to give  me--orders6   
,orders carries the idea that what ,i am
 to do is another  man's will1 while law
 does not express a personal authority  
of  another4 ,the liberty of the        
commonalty is liberty or independence   
from  the will of another person1       
so-called personal or individual        
liberty2  for being personally free     
means being only so free that no other  
person  can dispose of mine1 or that    
what ,i may or may not do does not      
depend on  the personal decree of       
another4 ,the liberty of the press1 for 
instance1  is such a liberty of         
liberalism1 liberalism fighting only    
against the  coercion of the censorship 
as that of personal wilfulness1 but     
otherwise showing itself extremely      
inclined and willing to tyrannize  over 
the press by press laws2 i4 e41 the     

civic liberals want liberty  of writing 
for themselves2 for1 as they are        
law-abiding1 their  writings will not   
bring them under the law4 ,only liberal 
matter1 i4 e4  only lawful matter1 is to
 be allowed to be printed2 otherwise the
 press  laws threaten press-penalties4  
,if one sees personal liberty assured1  
one does not notice at all how1 if a new
 issue happens to arise1 the  most      
glaring unfreedom becomes dominant4 ,for
 one is rid of orders  indeed1 and no   
one has any business to give us orders1 
but one has  become so much the more    
submissive to the--law4 ,one is         
enthralled now  in due legal form4      
,in the citizen-,state there are only   
free people1 who are compelled  to      
thousands of things 7e4 g4 to deference1
 to a confession of faith1  and the     
like74 ,but what does that amount to8   
,why1 it is only the--,state1  the law1 
not any man1 that compels them6    ,what
 does the commonalty mean by inveighing 
against every personal  order1 i4 e4    

every order not founded on the cause1 on
 reason1  etc48 ,it is simply fighting  
in the interest of the cause#gd against 
the dominion of persons6 ,but the mind's
 cause is the rational1 good1  lawful1  
etc42 that is the good cause4 ,the      
commonalty wants an  impersonal ruler4  
,furthermore1 if the principle is this1 
that only the cause is to rule  man--to 
wit1 the cause of morality1 the cause of
 legality1 etc41--then  no personal     
balking of one by the other may be      
authorized either 7as  formerly1 e4 g41 
the commoner was balked of the          
aristocratic offices1  the aristocrat of
 common mechanical trades1 etc472 i4 e4 
free  competition must exist4 ,only     
through the thing#ge can one balk       
another  7e4 g4 the rich man balking the
 impecunious man by money1 a thing71    
not as a person4 ,henceforth only one   
lordship1 the lordship of the  ,state1  
is admitted2 personally no one is any   
longer lord of another4  ,even at birth 
the children belong to the ,state1 and  

to the parents only  in the name of the 
,state1 which1 e4 g41 does not allow    
infanticide1  demands their baptism1    
etc4    ,but all the ,state's children1 
furthermore1 are of quite equal account 
in  its eyes 7civic or political        
equality71 and they may see to it       
themselves how they get along with each 
other2 they may compete4    ,free       
competition means nothing else than that
 every one can present  himself1 assert 
himself1 fight1 against another4 ,of    
course the feudal  party set itself     
against this1 as its existence depended 
on an absence  of competition4 ,the     
contests in the time of the ,restoration
 in ,france  had no other substance than
 this1--that the bourgeoisie was        
struggling  for free competition1 and   
the feudalists were seeking to bring    
back the  guild system4    ,now1 free   
competition has won1 and against the    
guild system it had to  win4 7,see below
 for the further discussion47    ,if the
 ,revolution ended in a reaction1 this  

only showed what the  ,revolution really
 was4 ,for every effort arrives at      
reaction when it  comes to discreet     
reflection1 and storms forward in the   
original  action only so long as it is  
an intoxication1 an indiscretion4       
,discretion will always be the cue of   
the reaction1 because discretion  sets  
limits1 and liberates what was really   
wanted1 i4 e4 the  principle1 from the  
initial unbridledness and               
unrestrainedness4 ,wild  young fellows1 
bumptious students1 who set aside all   
considerations1 are  really             
,philistines1 since with them1 as with  
the latter1  considerations form the    
substance of their conduct2 only that as
  swaggerers they are mutinous against  
considerations and in negative          
relations to them1 but as ,philistines1 
later1 they give themselves up to       
considerations and have positive        
relations to them4 ,in both cases all   
their doing and thinking turns upon     
considerations1 but the ,philistine  is 

reactionary in relation to the student2 
he is the wild fellow come  to discreet 
reflection1 as the latter is the        
unreflecting ,philistine4  ,daily       
experience confirms the truth of this   
transformation1 and shows  how the      
swaggerers turn to ,philistines in      
turning gray4    ,so too the so-called  
reaction in ,germany gives proof that it
 was only  the discreet continuation of 
the warlike jubilation of liberty4      
,the ,revolution was not directed       
against the established1 but against    
the establishment in question1 against a
 particular establishment4  ,it did away
 with this ruler1 not with the ruler--on
 the contrary1  the ,french were ruled  
most inexorably2 it killed the old      
vicious rulers1  but wanted to confer on
 the virtuous ones a securely           
established  position1 i4 e4 it simply  
set virtue in the place of vice4 7,vice 
and  virtue1 again1 are on their part   
distinguished from each other only as a 
wild young fellow from a ,philistine47  

,etc4    ,to this day the revolutionary 
principle has gone no farther than to   
assail only one or another particular   
establishment1 i4 e4 be  reformatory4   
,much as may be improved1 strongly as   
discreet  progress may be adhered to1   
always there is only a new master set in
  the old one's place1 and the          
overturning is a--building up4 ,we are  
still  at the distinction of the young  
,philistine from the old one4 ,the      
,revolution began in bourgeois fashion  
with the uprising of the third  estate1 
the middle class2 in bourgeois fashion  
it dries away4 ,it was  not the         
individual man--and he alone is         
,man--that became free1 but  the        
citizen1 the citoyen1 the political man1
 who for that very  reason is not ,man  
but a specimen of the human species1 and
 more  particularly a specimen of the   
species ,citizen1 a free citizen4    ,in
 the ,revolution it was not the         
individual who acted so as to affect    
the world's history1 but a people2 the  

nation1 the sovereign nation1  wanted to
 effect everything4 ,a fancied ,i1 an   
idea1 such as the nation  is1 appears   
acting2 i4 e41 the individuals          
contribute themselves as  tools of this 
idea1 and act as citizens4    ,the      
commonalty has its power1 and at the    
same time its limits1 in the            
fundamental law of the ,state1 in a     
charter1 in a legitimate#gf or  just#gg 
prince who himself is guided1 and rules1
 according to  rational laws2 in short1 
in legality4 ,the period of the         
bourgeoisie is ruled by the ,british    
spirit of legality4 ,an assembly  of    
provincial estates1 e4 g41 is ever      
recalling that its authorization  goes  
only so and so far1 and that it is      
called at all only through favor  and   
can be thrown out again through         
disfavor4 ,it is always reminding       
itself of its--vocation4 ,it is         
certainly not to be denied that my      
father begot me2 but1 now that ,i am    
once begotten1 surely his purposes  in  

begetting do not concern me a bit and1  
whatever he may have called  me to1 ,i  
do what ,i myself will4 ,therefore even 
a called assembly of  estates1 the      
,french assembly in the beginning of the
 ,revolution1  recognized quite rightly 
that it was independent of the caller4  
,it  existed1 and would have been stupid
 if it did not avail itself of the      
right of existence1 but fancied itself  
dependent as on a father4 ,the  called  
one no longer has to ask what did the   
caller want when he  created me8 but    
what do ,i want after ,i have once      
followed the call8  ,not the caller1 not
 the constituents1 not the charter      
according to which  their meeting was   
called out1 nothing will be to him a    
sacred1  inviolable power4 ,he is       
authorized for everything that is in his
  power2 he will know no restrictive    
authorization1 will not want to be      
loyal4 ,this1 if any such thing could be
 expected from chambers at all1  would  
give a completely egoistic chamber1     

severed from all  navel-string and      
without consideration4 ,but chambers are
 always devout1  and therefore one      
cannot be surprised if so much half-way 
or undecided1  i4 e4 hypocritical1      
egoism parades in them4    ,the members 
of the estates are to remain within the 
limits that are  traced for them by the 
charter1 by the king's will1 and the    
like4 ,if  they will not or can not do  
that1 then they are to step out4 ,what  
dutiful man could act otherwise1 could  
put himself1 his conviction1 and  his   
will as the first thing8 who could be so
 immoral as to want to  assert himself1 
even if the body corporate and          
everything should go to  ruin over it8  
,people keep carefully within the limits
 of their  authorization2 of course one 
must remain within the limits of his    
power anyhow1 because no one can do more
 than he can4 ,my power1 or1  if it be  
so1 powerlessness1 be my sole limit1 but
 authorizations only                    
restraining--precepts8 ,should ,i       

profess this all-subversive view8 ,no1  
,i  am a--law-abiding citizen6    ,the  
commonalty professes a morality which is
 most closely connected with  its       
essence4 ,the first demand of this      
morality is to the effect that one      
should carry on a solid business1 an    
honorable trade1 lead a moral life4     
,immoral1 to it1 is the sharper1 the    
demirep1 the thief1 robber1 and         
murderer1 the gamester1 the penniless   
man without a situation1 the  frivolous 
man4 ,the doughty commoner designates   
the feeling against these  immoral      
people as his deepest indignation4 ,all 
these lack  settlement1 the solid       
quality of business1 a solid1 seemly    
life1 a  fixed income1 etc42 in short1  
they belong1 because their existence    
does  not rest on a secure basis1 to the
 dangerous individuals or isolated      
persons1 to the dangerous proltariat2   
they are individual bawlers  who offer  
no guarantee and have nothing to lose1  
and so nothing to  risk4 ,the forming of

 family ties1 e4 g41 binds a man3 he who
 is bound  furnishes security1 can be   
taken hold of2 not so the street-walker4
 ,the  gamester stakes everything on the
 game1 ruins himself and others2--no    
guarantee4 ,all who appear to the       
commoner suspicious1 hostile1 and       
dangerous might be comprised under the  
name vagabonds2 every  vagabondish way  
of living displeases him4 ,for there are
 intellectual  vagabonds too1 to whom   
the hereditary dwelling-place of their  
fathers  seems too cramped and          
oppressive for them to be willing to    
satisfy  themselves with the limited    
space any more3 instead of keeping      
within  the limits of a temperate style 
of thinking1 and taking as inviolable   
truth what furnishes comfort and        
tranquillity to thousands1 they         
overleap all bounds of the traditional  
and run wild with their impudent        
criticism and untamed mania for doubt1  
these extravagating vagabonds4  ,they   
form the class of the unstable1         

restless1 changeable1 i4 e4 of  the     
proltariat1 and1 if they give voice to  
their unsettled nature1  are called     
unruly fellows4    ,such a broad sense  
has the so-called proltariat1 or        
pauperism4 ,how  much one would err if  
one believed the commonalty to be       
desirous of  doing away with poverty    
7pauperism7 to the best of its ability6 
,on the  contrary1 the good citizen     
helps himself with the incomparably     
comforting conviction that the fact is  
that the good things of fortune  are    
unequally divided and will always remain
 so--according to ,god's wise  decree4  
,the poverty which surrounds him in     
every alley does not disturb  the true  
commoner further than that at most he   
clears his account with  it by throwing 
an alms1 or finds work and food for an  
honest and  serviceable fellow4 ,but so 
much the more does he feel his quiet    
enjoyment clouded by innovating and     
discontented poverty1 by those  poor who
 no longer behave quietly and endure1   

but begin to run wild  and become       
restless4 ,lock up the vagabond1 thrust 
the breeder of unrest  into the darkest 
dungeon6 ,he wants to arouse            
dissatisfaction and incite  people      
against existing institutions in the    
,state--stone him1 stone  him6    ,but  
from these identical discontented ones  
comes a reasoning somewhat as  follows3 
,it need not make any difference to the 
good citizens who  protects them and    
their principles1 whether an absolute   
king or a  constitutional one1 a        
republic1 etc41 if only they are        
protected4 ,and  what is their          
principle1 whose protector they always  
love8 ,not that of  labor2 not that of  
birth either4 ,but that of mediocrity1  
of the golden  mean3 a little birth and 
a little labor1 i4 e41 an               
interest-bearing  possession4           
,possession is here the fixed1 the      
given1 inherited 7birth72               
interest-drawing is the exertion about  
it 7labor72 laboring capital1           

therefore4 ,only no immoderation1 no    
ultra1 no radicalism6 ,right of birth   
certainly1 but only hereditary          
possessions2 labor certainly1 yet little
  or none at all of one's own1 but labor
 of capital and of the--subject         
laborers4    ,if an age is imbued with  
an error1 some always derive advantage  
from the  error1 while the rest have to 
suffer from it4 ,in the ,middle ,ages   
the  error was general among ,christians
 that the church must have all power1   
or the supreme lordship on earth2 the   
hierarchs believed in this truth  not   
less than the laymen1 and both were     
spellbound in the like error4  ,but by  
it the hierarchs had the advantage of   
power1 the laymen had to  suffer        
subjection4 ,however1 as the saying     
goes1 one learns wisdom by  suffering2  
and so the laymen at last learned wisdom
 and no longer  believed in the medival 
truth4--,a like relation exists between 
the  commonalty and the laboring class4 
,commoner and laborer believe in the    

truth of money2 they who do not possess 
it believe in it no less  than those who
 possess it3 the laymen1 therefore1 as  
well as the  priests4    ,money governs 
the world is the keynote of the civic   
epoch4 ,a destitute  aristocrat and a   
destitute laborer1 as starvelings1      
amount to nothing  so far as political  
consideration is concerned2 birth and   
labor do not  do it1 but money brings   
consideration4#gh ,the possessors rule1 
but  the ,state trains up from the      
destitute its servants1 to whom1 in     
proportion as they are to rule 7govern7 
in its name1 it gives money 7a  salary74
    ,i receive everything from the      
,state4 ,have ,i anything without the   
,state's assent8 ,what ,i have without  
this it takes from me as soon as  it    
discovers the lack of a legal title4 ,do
 ,i not1 therefore1 have  everything    
through its grace1 its assent8    ,on   
this alone1 on the legal title1 the     
commonalty rests4 ,the commoner  is what
 he is through the protection of the    

,state1 through the ,state's  grace4 ,he
 would necessarily be afraid of losing  
everything if the  ,state's power were  
broken4    ,but how is it with him who  
has nothing to lose1 how with the       
proletarian8 ,as he has nothing to lose1
 he does not need the protection  of the
 ,state for his nothing4 ,he may gain1  
on the contrary1 if that  protection of 
the ,state is withdrawn from the protg4 
,therefore the non-possessor will regard
 the ,state as a power protecting  the  
possessor1 which privileges the latter1 
but does nothing for him1  the          
non-possessor1 but to--suck his blood4  
,the ,state is a--commoners'  ,state1 is
 the estate of the commonalty4 ,it      
protects man not according  to his      
labor1 but according to his             
tractableness 7loyalty71--to wit1       
according to whether the rights         
entrusted to him by the ,state are      
enjoyed and managed in accordance with  
the will1 i4 e4 laws1 of the  ,state4   
,under the rgime of the commonalty the  

laborers always fall into the  hands of 
the possessors1--i4 e4 of those who have
 at their disposal  some bit of the     
,state domains 7and everything          
possessible is ,state  domain1 belongs  
to the ,state1 and is only a fief of the
 individual71  especially money and     
land2 of the capitalists1 therefore4    
,the laborer  cannot realize on his     
labor to the extent of the value that it
 has for  the consumer4 ,labor is badly 
paid6 ,the capitalist has the greatest  
profit from it4--,well paid1 and more   
than well paid1 are only the labors  of 
those who heighten the splendor and     
dominion of the ,state1 the  labors of  
high ,state servants4 ,the ,state pays  
well that its good  citizens1 the       
possessors1 may be able to pay badly    
without danger2 it  secures to itself by
 good payment its servants1 out of whom 
it forms a  protecting power1 a police  
7to the police belong soldiers1         
officials  of all kinds1 e4 g4 those of 
justice1 education1 etc41--in short1 the

  whole machinery of the ,state7 for the
 good citizens1 and the good  citizens  
gladly pay high tax-rates to it in order
 to pay so much lower  rates to their   
laborers4    ,but the class of laborers1
 because unprotected in what they       
essentially  are 7for they do not enjoy 
the protection of the ,state as         
laborers1 but  as its subjects they have
 a share in the enjoyment of the police1
 a  so-called protection of the law71   
remains a power hostile to this ,state1 
this ,state of possessors1 this citizen 
kingship4 ,its principle1 labor1  is not
 recognized as to its value2 it is      
exploited1#gi a spoil#hj  of the        
possessors1 the enemy4    ,the laborers 
have the most enormous power in their   
hands1 and1 if they  once became        
thoroughly conscious of it and used it1 
nothing would  withstand them2 they     
would only have to stop labor1 regard   
the product  of labor as theirs1 and    
enjoy it4 ,this is the sense of the     
labor  disturbances which show          

themselves here and there4    ,the      
,state rests on the--slavery of labor4  
,if labor becomes free1  the ,state is  
lost4       #b4--,,social ,,liberalism  
,we are freeborn men1 and wherever we   
look we see ourselves made servants  of 
egoists6 ,are we therefore to become    
egoists too8 ,heaven forbid6 we  want   
rather to make egoists impossible6 ,we  
want to make them all  ragamuffins2 all 
of us must have nothing1 that all may   
have4    ,so say the ,socialists4       
,who is this person that you call       
,all8--,it is society6--,but is it      
corporeal1 then8--,we are its           
body6--,you8 ,why1 you are not a body   
yourselves2--you1 sir1 are corporeal to 
be sure1 you too1 and you1 but  you all 
together are only bodies1 not a body4   
,accordingly the united  society may    
indeed have bodies at its service1 but  
no one body of its  own4 ,like the      
nation of the politicians1 it will turn 
out to be  nothing but a spirit1 its    
body only semblance4    ,the freedom of 

man is1 in political liberalism1 freedom
 from persons1  from personal dominion1 
from the master2 the securing of each   
individual person against other persons1
 personal freedom4    ,no one has any   
orders to give2 the law alone gives     
orders4    ,but1 even if the persons    
have become equal1 yet their possessions
  have not4 ,and yet the poor man needs 
the rich1 the rich the poor1 the  former
 the rich man's money1 the latter the   
poor man's labor4 ,so no one  needs     
another as a person1 but needs him as a 
giver1 and thus as one  who has         
something to give1 as holder or         
possessor4 ,so what he has  makes the   
man4 ,and in having1 or in possessions1 
people are  unequal4    ,consequently1  
social liberalism concludes1 no one must
 have1 as  according to political       
liberalism no one was to give orders2 i4
 e41  as in that case the ,state alone  
obtained the command1 so now society    
alone obtains the possessions4    ,for  
the ,state1 protecting each one's person

 and property against the  other1       
separates them from one another2 each   
one is his special part  and has his    
special part4 ,he who is satisfied with 
what he is and has  finds this state of 
things profitable2 but he who would like
 to be and  have more looks around for  
this more1 and finds it in the power of 
other persons4 ,here he comes upon a    
contradiction2 as a person no one  is   
inferior to another1 and yet one person 
has what another has not  but would like
 to have4 ,so1 he concludes1 the one    
person is more than  the other1 after   
all1 for the former has what he needs1  
the latter has  not2 the former is a    
rich man1 the latter a poor man4    ,he 
now asks himself further1 are we to let 
what we rightly buried come  to life    
again8 are we to let this circuitously  
restored inequality of  persons pass8   
,no2 on the contrary1 we must bring     
quite to an end what  was only half     
accomplished4 ,our freedom from         
another's person still  lacks the       

freedom from what the other's person can
 command1 from what he  has in his      
personal power1--in short1 from personal
 property4 ,let us  then do away with   
personal property4 ,let no one have     
anything any  longer1 let every one be  
a--ragamuffin4 ,let property be         
impersonal1  let it belong to--society4 
,before the supreme ruler1 the sole     
commander1 we had all become  equal1    
equal persons1 i4 e4 nullities4         
,before the supreme proprietor we all   
become equal--ragamuffins4 ,for  the    
present1 one is still in another's      
estimation a ragamuffin1 a              
have-nothing2 but then this estimation  
ceases4 ,we are all ragamuffins         
together1 and as the aggregate of       
,communistic society we might call      
ourselves a ragamuffin crew4    ,when   
the proletarian shall really have       
founded his purposed society in  which  
the interval between rich and poor is to
 be removed1 then he  will be a         
ragamuffin1 for then he will feel that  

it amounts to  something to be a        
ragamuffin1 and might lift ,ragamuffin  
to be an  honorable form of address1    
just as the ,revolution did with the    
word  ,citizen4 ,ragamuffin is his      
ideal2 we are all to become ragamuffins4
    ,this is the second robbery of the  
personal in the interest of  humanity4  
,neither command nor property is left to
 the individual2 the  ,state took the   
former1 society the latter4    ,because 
in society the most oppressive evils    
make themselves felt1  therefore the    
oppressed especially1 and consequently  
the members in the  lower regions of    
society1 think they find the fault in   
society1 and make  it their task to     
discover the right society4 ,this is    
only the old  phenomenon1--that one     
looks for the fault first in everything 
but  himself1 and consequently in the   
,state1 in the self-seeking of the      
rich1 etc41 which yet have precisely our
 fault to thank for their  existence4   
,the reflections and conclusions of     

,communism look very simple4 ,as        
matters lie at this time1--in the       
present situation with regard to the    
,state1 therefore1--some1 and they the  
majority1 are at a disadvantage         
compared to others1 the minority4 ,in   
this state of things the former  are in 
a state of prosperity1 the latter in a  
state of need4 ,hence  the present state
 of things1 i4 e4 the ,state1 must be   
done away  with4 ,and what in its place8
 ,instead of the isolated state of      
prosperity--a general state of          
prosperity1 a prosperity of all4        
,through the ,revolution the bourgeoisie
 became omnipotent1 and  all inequality 
was abolished by every one's being      
raised or  degraded to the dignity of a 
citizen3 the common man--raised1 the    
aristocrat--degraded2 the third estate  
became sole estate1--viz41  the estate  
of--citizens of the ,state4 ,now        
,communism responds3 ,our  dignity and  
our essence consist not in our being    
all--the equal  children of our mother1 

the ,state1 all born with equal claim to
 her  love and her protection1 but in   
our all existing for each other4 ,this  
is our equality1 or herein we are equal1
 in that we1 ,i as well as you  and you 
and all of you1 are active or labor each
 one for the rest2 in  that each of us  
is a laborer1 then4 ,the point for us is
 not what we  are for the ,state 7viz41 
citizens71 not our citizenship          
therefore1  but what we are for each    
other1--viz41 that each of us exists    
only  through the other1 who1 caring for
 my wants1 at the same time sees his    
own satisfied by me4 ,he labors1 e4 g41 
for my clothing 7tailor71 ,i for  his   
need of amusement 7comedy-writer1       
rope-dancer1 etc471 he for my food      
7farmer1 etc471 ,i for his instruction  
7scientist1 etc474 ,it is labor  that   
constitutes our dignity and             
our--equality4    ,what advantage does  
citizenship bring us8 ,burdens6 ,and how
 high is our  labor appraised8 ,as low  
as possible6 ,but labor is our sole     

value all the  same2 that we are        
laborers is the best thing about us1    
this is our  significance in the world1 
and therefore it must be our            
consideration  too and must come to     
receive consideration4 ,what can you    
meet us with8  ,surely nothing          
but--labor too4 ,only for labor or      
services do we owe  you a recompense1   
not for your bare existence2 not for    
what you are for  yourselves either1 but
 only for what you are for us4 ,by what 
have  you claims on us8 ,perhaps by your
 high birth1 etc48 ,no1 only by what you
  do for us that is desirable or useful4
 ,be it thus then3 we are willing  to be
 worth to you only so much as we do for 
you2 but you are to be held  likewise by
 us4 ,services determine value1--i4 e4  
those services that  are worth something
 to us1 and consequently labors for each
 other1  labors for the common good4    
,let each one be in the other's eyes a  
laborer4 ,he who accomplishes something 
useful is inferior to none1  or--all    

laborers 7laborers1 of course1 in the   
sense of laborers for the  common good1 
i4 e4 communistic laborers7 are equal4  
,but1 as the  laborer is worth his      
wages1#ha let the wages too be equal4   
,as long as faith sufficed for man's    
honor and dignity1 no labor1 however    
harassing1 could be objected to if it   
only did not hinder a man in his  faith4
 ,now1 on the contrary1 when every one  
is to cultivate himself into  man1      
condemning a man to machine-like labor  
amounts to the same thing  as slavery4  
,if a factory-worker must tire himself  
to death twelve hours  and more1 he is  
cut off from becoming man4 ,every labor 
is to have the  intent that the man be  
satisfied4 ,therefore he must become a  
master in  it too1 i4 e4 be able to     
perform it as a totality4 ,he who in a  
pin-factory only puts on the heads1 only
 draws the wire1 etc41 works1 as  it    
were1 mechanically1 like a machine2 he  
remains half-trained1 does not  become a
 master3 his labor cannot satisfy him1  

it can only fatigue  him4 ,his labor is 
nothing taken by itself1 has no object  
in itself1  is nothing complete in      
itself2 he labors only into another's   
hands1 and  is used 7exploited7 by this 
other4 ,for this laborer in another's   
service there is no enjoyment of a      
cultivated mind1 at most crude          
amusements3 culture1 you see1 is barred 
against him4 ,to be a good  ,christian  
one needs only to believe1 and that can 
be done under the  most oppressive      
circumstances4 ,hence the               
,christian-minded take care only  of the
 oppressed laborers' piety1 their       
patience1 submission1 etc4 ,only  so    
long as the downtrodden classes were    
,christians could they bear all  their  
misery3 for ,christianity does not let  
their murmurings and  exasperation rise4
 ,now the hushing of desires is no      
longer enough1 but  their sating is     
demanded4 ,the bourgeoisie has          
proclaimed the gospel  of the enjoyment 
of the world1 of material enjoyment1 and

 now wonders  that this doctrine finds  
adherents among us poor3 it has shown   
that not  faith and poverty1 but culture
 and possessions1 make a man blessed2 we
  proletarians understand that too4     
,the commonalty freed us from the orders
 and arbitrariness of  individuals4 ,but
 that arbitrariness was left which      
springs from the  conjuncture of        
situations1 and may be called the       
fortuity of  circumstances2 favoring    
fortune1 and those favored by fortune1  
still  remain4    ,when e4 g4 a branch  
of industry is ruined and thousands of  
laborers  become breadless1 people think
 reasonably enough to acknowledge that  
it  is not the individual who must bear 
the blame1 but that the evil lies  in   
the situation4    ,let us change the    
situation then1 but let us change it    
thoroughly1 and  so that its fortuity   
becomes powerless1 and a law6 ,let us no
 longer  be slaves of chance6 ,let us   
create a new order that makes an end of 
fluctuations4 ,let this order then be   

sacred6    ,formerly one had to suit the
 lords to come to anything2 after the   
,revolution the word was ,grasp fortune6
 ,luck-hunting or  hazard-playing1 civil
 life was absorbed in this4 ,then1      
alongside this1  the demand that he who 
has obtained something shall not        
frivolously  stake it again4    ,strange
 and yet supremely natural              
contradiction4 ,competition1 in which   
alone civil or political life unrolls   
itself1 is a game of luck through  and  
through1 from the speculations of the   
exchange down to the  solicitation of   
offices1 the hunt for customers1 looking
 for work1  aspiring to promotion and   
decorations1 the second-hand dealer's   
petty  haggling1 etc4 ,if one succeeds  
in supplanting and outbidding his       
rivals1  then the lucky throw is made2  
for it must be taken as a piece of luck 
to begin with that the victor sees      
himself equipped with an ability  7even 
though it has been developed by the most
 careful industry7 against  which the   

others do not know how to rise1         
consequently that--no abler  ones are   
found4 ,and now those who ply their     
daily lives in the midst of  these      
changes of fortune without seeing any   
harm in it are seized with  the most    
virtuous indignation when their own     
principle appears in naked  form and    
breeds misfortune as--hazard-playing4   
,hazard-playing1 you  see1 is too clear1
 too barefaced a competition1 and1 like 
every decided  nakedness1 offends       
honorable modesty4    ,the ,socialists  
want to put a stop to this activity of  
chance1 and to  form a society in which 
men are no longer dependent on fortune1 
but  free4    ,in the most natural way  
in the world this endeavor first utters 
itself  as hatred of the unfortunate    
against the fortunate1 i4 e41 of  those 
for whom fortune has done little or     
nothing1 against those for  whom it has 
done everything4    ,but properly the   
ill-feeling is not directed against the 
fortunate1 but  against fortune1 this   

rotten spot of the commonalty4    ,as   
the ,communists first declare free      
activity to be man's essence1 they1     
like all work-day dispositions1 need a  
,sunday2 like all material  endeavors1  
they need a ,god1 an uplifting and      
edification alongside their  witless    
labor4    ,that the ,communist sees in  
you the man1 the brother1 is only the   
,sunday  side of ,communism4 ,according 
to the work-day side he does not by any 
means take you as man simply1 but as    
human laborer or laboring man4 ,the     
first view has in it the liberal        
principle2 in the second1 illiberality  
is concealed4 ,if you were a lazybones1 
he would not indeed fail to  recognize  
the man in you1 but would endeavor to   
cleanse him as a lazy  man from laziness
 and to convert you to the faith that   
labor is man's  destiny and calling4    
,therefore he shows a double face3 with 
the one he takes heed that the          
spiritual man be satisfied1 with the    
other he looks about him for means  for 

the material or corporeal man4 ,he gives
 man a twofold post1--an  office of     
material acquisition and one of         
spiritual4    ,the commonalty had thrown
 open spiritual and material goods1 and 
left  it with each one to reach out for 
them if he liked4    ,communism really  
procures them for each one1 presses them
 upon him1 and  compels him to acquire  
them4 ,it takes seriously the idea that1
 because  only spiritual and material   
goods make us men1 we must              
unquestionably  acquire these goods in  
order to be man4 ,the commonalty made   
acquisition  free2 ,communism compels to
 acquisition1 and recognizes only the   
acquirer1 him who practises a trade4 ,it
 is not enough that the trade is  free1 
but you must take it up4    ,so all that
 is left for criticism to do is to prove
 that the acquisition  of these goods   
does not yet by any means make us men4  
,with the liberal commandment that every
 one is to make a man of himself1  or   
every one to make himself man1 there was

 posited the necessity that  every one  
must gain time for this labor of        
humanization1 i4 e4 that it  should     
become possible for every one to labor  
on himself4    ,the commonalty thought  
it had brought this about if it handed  
over  everything human to competition1  
but gave the individual a right to      
every human thing4 ,each may strive     
after everything6    ,social liberalism 
finds that the matter is not settled    
with the may1  because may means only it
 is forbidden to none but not it is made
  possible to every one4 ,hence it      
affirms that the commonalty is liberal  
only with the mouth and in words1       
supremely illiberal in act4 ,it on its  
part wants to give all of us the means  
to be able to labor on  ourselves4      
,by the principle of labor that of      
fortune or competition is certainly     
outdone4 ,but at the same time the      
laborer1 in his consciousness that the  
essential thing in him is the laborer1  
holds himself aloof from egoism  and    

subjects himself to the supremacy of a  
society of laborers1 as the  commoner   
clung with self-abandonment to the      
competition-,state4 ,the  beautiful     
dream of a social duty still continues  
to be dreamed4 ,people  think again that
 society gives what we need1 and we are 
under  obligations to it on that        
account1 owe it everything4#hb ,they are
  still at the point of wanting to serve
 a supreme giver of all good4  ,that    
society is no ego at all1 which could   
give1 bestow1 or grant1 but  an         
instrument or means1 from which we may  
derive benefit2 that we have  no social 
duties1 but solely interests for the    
pursuance of which  society must serve  
us2 that we owe society no sacrifice1   
but1 if we  sacrifice anything1         
sacrifice it to ourselves1--of this the 
,socialists  do not think1 because      
they--as liberals--are imprisoned in the
 religious  principle1 and zealously    
aspire after--a sacred society1 such as 
the  ,state was hitherto4    ,society1  

from which we have everything1 is a new 
master1 a new spook1 a  new supreme     
being1 which takes us into its service  
and allegiance6    ,the more precise    
appreciation of political as well as    
social liberalism  must wait to find its
 place further on4 ,for the present we  
pass this  over1 in order first to      
summon them before the tribunal of      
humane or  critical liberalism4         
#c4--;,,humane ,,liberalism    ,as      
liberalism is completed in              
self-criticising1 critical#hc           
liberalism1 in which the critic remains 
a liberal and does not go beyond  the   
principle of liberalism1 ,man1--this may
 distinctively be named after  ,man and 
called the humane4    ,the laborer is   
counted as the most material and        
egoistical man4 ,he does  nothing at all
 for humanity1 does everything for      
himself1 for his  welfare4    ,the      
commonalty1 because it proclaimed the   
freedom of ,man only as to  his birth1  
had to leave him in the claws of the    

un-human man 7the  egoist7 for the rest 
of life4 ,hence under the rgime of      
political  liberalism egoism has an     
immense field for free utilization4     
,the laborer will utilize society for   
his egoistic ends as the  commoner does 
the ,state4 ,you have only an egoistic  
end after all1 your  welfare6 is the    
humane liberal's reproach to the        
,socialist2 take up a  purely human     
interest1 then ,i will be your          
companion4 ,but to this  there belongs a
 consciousness stronger1 more           
comprehensive1 than a                   
laborer-consciousness4 ,the laborer     
makes nothing1 therefore he has         
nothing2 but he makes nothing because   
his labor is always a labor that        
remains individual1 calculated strictly 
for his own want1 a labor day  by       
day4#hd ,in opposition to this one      
might1 for instance1 consider the  fact 
that ,gutenberg's labor did not remain  
individual1 but begot  innumerable      
children1 and still lives to-day2 it was

 calculated for the  want of humanity1  
and was an eternal1 imperishable labor4 
,the humane consciousness despises the  
commoner-consciousness as well as  the  
laborer-consciousness3 for the commoner 
is indignant only at  vagabonds 7at all 
who have no definite occupation7 and    
their  immorality2 the laborer is       
disgusted by the idler 7lazybones7  and 
his immoral1 because parasitic and      
unsocial1 principles4 ,to this  the     
humane liberal retorts3 ,the            
unsettledness of many is only your      
product1 ,philistine6 ,but that you1    
proletarian1 demand the grind of  all1  
and want to make drudgery general1 is a 
part1 still clinging to  you1 of your   
pack-mule life up to this time4         
,certainly you want to  lighten drudgery
 itself by all having to drudge equally 
hard1 yet only  for this reason1 that   
all may gain leisure to an equal extent4
 ,but  what are they to do with their   
leisure8 ,what does your society do1    
that this leisure may be passed humanly8

 ,it must leave the gained  leisure to  
egoistic preference again1 and the very 
gain that your  society furthers falls  
to the egoist1 as the gain of the       
commonalty1 the  masterlessness of man1 
could not be filled with a human element
 by the  ,state1 and therefore was left 
to arbitrary choice4    ,it is assuredly
 necessary that man be masterless3 but  
therefore the  egoist is not to become  
master over man again either1 but man   
over the  egoist4 ,man must assuredly   
find leisure3 but1 if the egoist makes  
use of  it1 it will be lost for man2    
therefore you ought to have given       
leisure a  human significance4 ,but you 
laborers undertake even your labor from 
an  egoistic impulse1 because you want  
to eat1 drink1 live2 how should you  be 
less egoists in leisure8 ,you labor only
 because having your time to  yourselves
 7idling7 goes well after work done1 and
 what you are to while  away your       
leisure time with is left to chance4    
,but1 if every door is to be bolted     

against egoism1 it would be necessary   
to strive after completely disinterested
 action1 total  disinterestedness4 ,this
 alone is human1 because only ,man is   
disinterested1 the egoist always        
interested4           99       99       
99       99       99    ,if we let      
disinterestedness pass unchallenged for 
a while1 then we ask1  do you mean not  
to take an interest in anything1 not to 
be enthusiastic  for anything1 not for  
liberty1 humanity1 etc48 ,oh1 yes1 but  
that is not  an egoistic interest1 not  
interestedness1 but a human1 i4 e4      
a--theoretical interest1 to wit1 an     
interest not for an individual or       
individuals 7'all'71 but for the idea1  
for ,man6    ,and you do not notice that
 you too are enthusiastic only for your 
idea1 your idea of liberty8    ,and1    
further1 do you not notice that your    
disinterestedness is again1  like       
religious disinterestedness1 a heavenly 
interestedness8 ,certainly  benefit to  
the individual leaves you cold1 and     

abstractly you could cry  fiat libertas1
 pereat mundus4 ,you do not take thought
 for the coming  day either1 and take no
 serious care for the individual's wants
 anyhow1  not for your own comfort nor  
for that of the rest2 but you make      
nothing  of all this1 because you are   
a--dreamer4    ,do you suppose the      
humane liberal will be so liberal as to 
aver that  everything possible to man is
 human8 ,on the contrary6 ,he does not1 
indeed1 share the ,philistine's moral   
prejudice about the strumpet1 but  that 
this woman turns her body into a        
money-getting machine#he makes  her     
despicable to him as human being4 ,his  
judgment is1 ,the strumpet is  not a    
human being2 or1 ,so far as a woman is a
 strumpet1 so far is she  unhuman1      
dehumanized4 ,further3 ,the ,jew1 the   
,christian1 the privileged  person1 the 
theologian1 etc41 is not a human being2 
so far as you are a  ,jew1 etc41 you are
 not a human being4 ,again the imperious
 postulate3  ,cast from you everything  

peculiar1 criticise it away6 ,be not a  
,jew1 not  a ,christian1 etc41 but be a 
human being1 nothing but a human being4 
,assert your humanity against every     
restrictive specification2 make         
yourself1 by means of it1 a human being1
 and free from those limits2  make      
yourself a free man1 i4 e4 recognize    
humanity as your  all-determining       
essence4    ,i say3 ,you are indeed more
 than a ,jew1 more than a ,christian1   
etc41 but  you are also more than a     
human being4 ,those are all ideas1 but  
you are  corporeal4 ,do you suppose1    
then1 that you can ever become a human  
being  as such8 ,do you suppose our     
posterity will find no prejudices and   
limits to clear away1 for which our     
powers were not sufficient8 ,or do  you 
perhaps think that in your fortieth or  
fiftieth year you have come  so far that
 the following days have nothing more to
 dissipate in you1  and that you are a  
human being8 ,the men of the future will
 yet fight  their way to many a liberty 

that we do not even miss4 ,what do you  
need  that later liberty for8 ,if you   
meant to esteem yourself as nothing     
before you had become a human being1 you
 would have to wait till the  last      
judgment1 till the day when man1 or     
humanity1 shall have attained           
perfection4 ,but1 as you will surely die
 before that1 what becomes of  your     
prize of victory8    ,rather1 therefore1
 invert the case1 and say to yourself1  
,i am a human  being6 ,i do not need to 
begin by producing the human being in   
myself1  for he belongs to me already1  
like all my qualities4    ,but1 asks the
 critic1 how can one be a ,jew and a man
 at once8 ,in the  first place1 ,i      
answer1 one cannot be either a ,jew or a
 man at all1 if  one and ,jew or man are
 to mean the same2 one always reaches   
beyond  those specifications1 and1--let 
,isaacs be ever so ,jewish1--a ,jew1    
nothing but a ,jew1 he cannot be1 just  
because he is this ,jew4 ,in the  second
 place1 as a ,jew one assuredly cannot  

be a man1 if being a man  means being   
nothing special4 ,but in the third      
place--and this is the  point--,i can1  
as a ,jew1 be entirely what ,i--can be4 
,from ,samuel or  ,moses1 and others1   
you hardly expect that they should have 
raised  themselves above ,judaism1      
although you must say that they were not
 yet  men4 ,they simply were what they  
could be4 ,is it otherwise with the     
,jews of to-day8 ,because you have      
discovered the idea of humanity1 does   
it follow from this that every ,jew can 
become a convert to it8 ,if he  can1 he 
does not fail to1 and1 if he fails to1  
he--cannot4 ,what does  your demand     
concern him8 what the call to be a man1 
which you address  to him8           99 
99       99       99       99    ,as a  
universal principle1 in the human       
society which the humane  liberal       
promises1 nothing special which one or  
another has is to find  recognition1    
nothing which bears the character of    
private is to have  value4 ,in this way 

the circle of liberalism1 which has its 
good  principle in man and human        
liberty1 its bad in the egoist and      
everything  private1 its ,god in the    
former1 its devil in the latter1 rounds 
itself  off completely2 and1 if the     
special or private person lost his value
 in  the ,state 7no personal            
prerogative71 if in the laborers' or    
ragamuffins' society special 7private7  
property is no longer  recognized1 so in
 human society everything special or    
private will be  left out of account2   
and1 when pure criticism shall have     
accomplished  its arduous task1 then it 
will be known just what we must look    
upon as  private1 and what1 penetrated  
with a sense of our nothingness1 we     
must--let stand4    ,because ,state and 
society do not suffice for humane       
liberalism1 it  negates both1 and at the
 same time retains them4 ,so at one time
 the cry  is that the task of the day is
 not a political1 but a social1 one1 and
  then again the free ,state is promised

 for the future4 ,in truth1 human       
society is both1--the most general      
,state and the most general society4    
,only against the limited ,state is it  
asserted that it makes too much  stir   
about spiritual private interests 7e4 g4
 people's religious  belief71 and       
against limited society that it makes   
too much of material  private interests4
 ,both are to leave private interests to
 private  people1 and1 as human society1
 concern themselves solely about general
  human interests4    ,the politicians1 
thinking to abolish personal will1      
self-will or  arbitrariness1 did not    
observe that through property#hf our    
self-will#hg gained a secure place of   
refuge4    ,the ,socialists1 taking away
 property too1 do not notice that this  
secures itself a continued existence in 
self-ownership4 ,is it only  money and  
goods1 then1 that are a property1 or is 
every opinion  something of mine1       
something of my own8    ,so every       
opinion must be abolished or made       

impersonal4 ,the person is  entitled to 
no opinion1 but1 as self-will was       
transferred to the ,state1  property to 
society1 so opinion too must be         
transferred to something  general1 ,man1
 and thereby become a general human     
opinion4    ,if opinion persists1 then  
,i have my ,god 7why1 ,god exists only  
as my  ,god1 he is an opinion or my     
faith71 and consequently my faith1 my   
religion1 my thoughts1 my ideals4       
,therefore a general human faith must   
come into existence1 the fanaticism of  
liberty4 ,for this would be a  faith    
that agreed with the essence of man1    
and1 because only man is  reasonable    
7you and ,i might be very               
unreasonable671 a reasonable faith4     
,as self-will and property become       
powerless1 so must self-ownership or    
egoism in general4    ,in this supreme  
development of free man egoism1         
self-ownership1 is  combated on         
principle1 and such subordinate ends as 
the social welfare  of the ,socialists1 

etc41 vanish before the lofty idea of   
humanity4  ,everything that is not a    
general human entity is something       
separate1  satisfies only some or one2  
or1 if it satisfies all1 it does this to
  them only as individuals1 not as men1 
and is therefore called  egoistic4      
,to the ,socialists welfare is still the
 supreme aim1 as free rivalry  was the  
approved thing to the political         
liberals2 now welfare is free  too1 and 
we are free to achieve welfare1 just as 
he who wanted to enter  into rivalry    
7competition7 was free to do so4    ,but
 to take part in the rivalry you need   
only to be commoners2 to take  part in  
the welfare1 only to be laborers4       
,neither reaches the point of  being    
synonymous with man4 ,it is truly well  
with man only when he is  also          
intellectually free6 ,for man is mind3  
therefore all powers that  are alien to 
him1 the mind1--all superhuman1         
heavenly1 unhuman  powers1--must be     
overthrown1 and the name man must be    

above every  name4    ,so in this end of
 the modern age 7age of the moderns7    
there returns  again1 as the main point1
 what had been the main point at its    
beginning3  intellectual liberty4    ,to
 the ,communist in particular the humane
 liberal says3 ,if society  prescribes  
to you your activity1 then this is      
indeed free from the  influence of the  
individual1 i4 e4 the egoist1 but it    
still does not  on that account need to 
be a purely human activity1 nor you to  
be a  complete organ of humanity4 ,what 
kind of activity society demands of you 
remains accidental1 you know2 it might  
give you a place in building a  temple  
or something of that sort1 or1 even if  
not that1 you might yet on  your own    
impulse be active for something foolish1
 therefore unhuman2  yes1 more yet1 you 
really labor only to nourish yourself1  
in general to  live1 for dear life's    
sake1 not for the glorification of      
humanity4  ,consequently free activity  
is not attained till you make yourself  

free  from all stupidities1 from        
everything non-human1 i4 e4 egoistic    
7pertaining only to the individual1 not 
to the ,man in the individual71         
dissipate all untrue thoughts that      
obscure man or the idea of humanity3  in
 short1 when you are not merely         
unhampered in your activity1 but the    
substance too of your activity is only  
what is human1 and you live and  work   
only for humanity4 ,but this is not the 
case so long as the aim of  your effort 
is only your welfare and that of all2   
what you do for the  society of         
ragamuffins is not yet anything done for
 human society4    ,laboring does not   
alone make you a man1 because it is     
something formal  and its object        
accidental2 the question is who you that
 labor are4 ,as  far as laboring goes1  
you might do it from an egoistic        
7material7  impulse1 merely to procure  
nourishment and the like2 it must be a  
labor  furthering humanity1 calculated  
for the good of humanity1 serving       

historical 7i4 e4 human7 evolution1--in 
short1 a humane labor4 ,this  implies   
two things3 one1 that it be useful to   
humanity2 next1 that it be  the work of 
a man4 ,the first alone may be the case 
with every labor1  as even the labors of
 nature1 e4 g4 of animals1 are utilized 
by  humanity for the furthering of      
science1 etc42 the second requires that 
he who labors should know the human     
object of his labor2 and1 as he can     
have this consciousness only when he    
knows himself as man1 the crucial       
condition is--self-consciousness4       
,unquestionably much is already attained
 when you cease to be a                 
fragment-laborer1#hh yet therewith you  
only get a view of the whole  of your   
labor1 and acquire a consciousness about
 it1 which is still far  removed from a 
self-consciousness1 a consciousness     
about your true  self or essence1 ,man4 
,the laborer has still remaining the    
desire for  a higher consciousness1     
which1 because the activity of labor is 

unable  to quiet it1 he satisfies in a  
leisure hour4 ,hence leisure stands by  
the  side of his labor1 and he sees     
himself compelled to proclaim labor and 
idling human in one breath1 yes1 to     
attribute the true elevation to the     
idler1 the leisure-enjoyer4 ,he labors  
only to get rid of labor2 he wants  to  
make labor free1 only that he may be    
free from labor4    ,in fine1 his work  
has no satisfying substance1 because it 
is only  imposed by society1 only a     
stint1 a task1 a calling2 and1          
conversely1  his society does not       
satisfy1 because it gives only work4    
,his labor ought to satisfy him as a    
man2 instead of that1 it satisfies      
society2 society ought to treat him as a
 man1 and it treats him as--a  rag-tag  
laborer1 or a laboring ragamuffin4      
,labor and society are of use to him not
 as he needs them as a man1 but  only as
 he needs them as an egoist4    ,such is
 the attitude of criticism toward labor4
 ,it points to mind1  wages the war of  

mind with the masses1#hi and pronounces 
communistic  labor unintellectual       
mass-labor4 ,averse to labor as they    
are1 the masses  love to make labor easy
 for themselves4 ,in literature1 which  
is to-day  furnished in mass1 this      
aversion to labor begets the            
universally-known  superficiality1 which
 puts from it the toil of research4#ij  
,therefore humane liberalism says3 ,you 
want labor2 all right1 we want it       
likewise1 but we want it in the fullest 
measure4 ,we want it1 not that we  may  
gain spare time1 but that we may find   
all satisfaction in it itself4  ,we want
 labor because it is our                
self-development4    ,but then the labor
 too must be adapted to that end6 ,man  
is honored only  by human1              
self-conscious labor1 only by the labor 
that has for its end  no egoistic       
purpose1 but ,man1 and is ,man's        
self-revelation2 so that  the saying    
should be laboro1 ergo sum1 ,i labor1   
therefore ,i am a man4  ,the humane     

liberal wants that labor of the mind    
which works up all  material2 he wants  
the mind1 that leaves no thing quiet or 
in its  existing condition1 that        
acquiesces in nothing1 analyzes         
everything1  criticises anew every      
result that has been gained4 ,this      
restless mind is  the true laborer1 it  
obliterates prejudices1 shatters limits 
and  narrownesses1 and raises man above 
everything that would like to  dominate 
over him1 while the ,communist labors   
only for himself1 and not  even freely1 
but from necessity1--in short1          
represents a man condemned  to hard     
labor4    ,the laborer of such a type is
 not egoistic1 because he does not labor
  for individuals1 neither for himself  
nor for other individuals1 not for      
private men therefore1 but for humanity 
and its progress3 he does not  ease     
individual pains1 does not care for     
individual wants1 but removes  limits   
within which humanity is pressed1       
dispels prejudices which  dominate an   

entire time1 vanquishes hindrances that 
obstruct the path of  all1 clears away  
errors in which men entangle themselves1
 discovers  truths which are found      
through him for all and for all time2 in
  short--he lives and labors for        
humanity4    ,now1 in the first place1  
the discoverer of a great truth         
doubtless knows  that it can be useful  
to the rest of men1 and1 as a jealous   
withholding  furnishes him no enjoyment1
 he communicates it2 but1 even though he
 has  the consciousness that his        
communication is highly valuable to the 
rest1  yet he has in no wise sought and 
found his truth for the sake of the     
rest1 but for his own sake1 because he  
himself desired it1 because  darkness   
and fancies left him no rest till he had
 procured for himself  light and        
enlightenment to the best of his powers4
    ,he labors1 therefore1 for his own  
sake and for the satisfaction of his    
want4 ,that along with this he was also 
useful to others1 yes1 to  posterity1   

does not take from his labor the        
egoistic character4    ,in the next     
place1 if he did labor only on his own  
account1 like the  rest1 why should his 
act be human1 those of the rest unhuman1
 i4 e4  egoistic8 ,perhaps1 because this
 book1 painting1 symphony1 etc41 is the 
labor of his whole being1 because he has
 done his best in it1 has spread        
himself out wholly and is wholly to be  
known from it1 while the work of  a     
handicraftsman mirrors only the         
handicraftsman1 i4 e4 the skill in      
handicraft1 not the man8 ,in his poems  
we have the whole ,schiller2 in  so many
 hundred stoves1 on the other hand1 we  
have before us only the  stove-maker1   
not the man4    ,but does this mean more
 than in the one work you see me as     
completely  as possible1 in the other   
only my skill8 ,is it not me again that 
the  act expresses8 ,and is it not more 
egoistic to offer oneself to the  world 
in a work1 to work out and shape        
oneself1 than to remain  concealed      

behind one's labor8 ,you say1 to be     
sure1 that you are  revealing ,man4 ,but
 the ,man that you reveal is you2 you   
reveal only  yourself1 yet with this    
distinction from the                    
handicraftsman1--that he  does not      
understand how to compress himself into 
one labor1 but1 in  order to be known as
 himself1 must be searched out in his   
other  relations of life1 and that your 
want1 through whose satisfaction that   
work came into being1 was a--theoretical
 want4    ,but you will reply that you  
reveal quite another man1 a worthier1   
higher1 greater1 a man that is more man 
than that other4 ,i will assume  that   
you accomplish all that is possible to  
man1 that you bring to pass  what no    
other succeeds in4 ,wherein1 then1 does 
your greatness consist8  ,precisely in  
this1 that you are more than other men  
7the masses71 more  than men ordinarily 
are1 more than ordinary men2 precisely  
in your  elevation above men4 ,you are  
distinguished beyond other men not by   

being  man1 but because you are a       
unique#ia man4 ,doubtless you show what 
a  man can do2 but because you1 a man1  
do it1 this by no means shows that      
others1 also men1 are able to do as     
much2 you have executed it only as a    
unique man1 and are unique therein4     
,it is not man that makes up your       
greatness1 but you create it1 because   
you are more than man1 and mightier than
 other--men4    ,it is believed that one
 cannot be more than man4 ,rather1 one  
cannot be  less6    ,it is believed     
further that whatever one attains is    
good for ,man4 ,in so  far as ,i remain 
at all times a man--or1 like ,schiller1 
a ,swabian2 like  ,kant1 a ,prussian2   
like ,gustavus ,adolphus1 a near-sighted
 person--,i  certainly become by my     
superior qualities a notable man1       
,swabian1  ,prussian1 or near-sighted   
person4 ,but the case is not much better
 with  that than with ,frederick the    
,great's cane1 which became famous for  
,frederick's sake4    ,to ,give ,god the

 glory corresponds the modern ,give ,man
 the glory4 ,but  ,i mean to keep it for
 myself4    ,criticism1 issuing the     
summons to man to be human1 enunciates  
the  necessary condition of sociability2
 for only as a man among men is one     
companionable4 ,herewith it makes known 
its social object1 the  establishment of
 human society4    ,among social        
theories criticism is indisputably the  
most complete1  because it removes and  
deprives of value everything that       
separates man  from man3 all            
prerogatives1 down to the prerogative of
 faith4 ,in it the  love-principle of   
,christianity1 the true social          
principle1 comes to the  purest         
fulfilment1 and the last possible       
experiment is tried to take  away       
exclusiveness and repulsion from men3 a 
fight against egoism in its  simplest   
and therefore hardest form1 in the form 
of singleness1#ib  exclusiveness1       
itself4    ,how can you live a truly    
social life so long as even one         

exclusiveness  still exists between you8
    ,i ask conversely1 ,how can you be  
truly single so long as even one        
connection still exists between you8 ,if
 you are connected1 you cannot  leave   
each other2 if a tie clasps you1 you are
 something only with  another1 and      
twelve of you make a dozen1 thousands of
 you a people1  millions of you         
humanity4    ,only when you are human   
can you keep company with each other as 
men1  just as you can understand each   
other as patriots only when you are     
patriotic6    ,all right2 then ,i       
answer1 ,only when you are single can   
you have  intercourse with each other as
 what you are4    ,it is precisely the  
keenest critic who is hit hardest by the
 curse of  his principle4 ,putting from 
him one exclusive thing after another1  
shaking off churchliness1 patriotism1   
etc41 he undoes one tie after  another  
and separates himself from the churchly 
man1 from the patriot1  etc41 till at   
last1 when all ties are undone1 he      

stands--alone4 ,he1 of  all men1 must   
exclude all that have anything exclusive
 or private2 and1  when you get to the  
bottom1 what can be more exclusive than 
the  exclusive1 single person himself6  
,or does he perhaps think that the      
situation would be better if all  became
 men and gave up exclusiveness8 ,why1   
for the very reason that  all means     
every individual the most glaring       
contradiction is still  maintained1 for 
the individual is exclusiveness itself4 
,if the humane  liberal no longer       
concedes to the individual anything     
private or  exclusive1 any private      
thought1 any private folly2 if he       
criticises  everything away from him    
before his face1 since his hatred of the
  private is an absolute and fanatical  
hatred2 if he knows no tolerance  toward
 what is private1 because everything    
private is unhuman1--yet he  cannot     
criticise away the private person       
himself1 since the hardness of  the     
individual person resists his criticism1

 and he must be satisfied  with         
declaring this person a private person  
and really leaving  everything private  
to him again4    ,what will the society 
that no longer cares about anything     
private do8  ,make the private          
impossible8 ,no1 but subordinate it to  
the interests of  society1 and1 e4 g41  
leave it to private will to institute   
holidays1  as many as it chooses1 if    
only it does not come in collision with 
the  general interest4#ic ,everything   
private is left free2 i4 e4 it has  no  
interest for society4    ,by their      
raising of barriers against science the 
church and  religiousness have declared 
that they are what they always were1    
only  that this was hidden under another
 semblance when they were proclaimed  to
 be the basis and necessary foundation  
of the ,state----a matter of  purely    
private concern4 ,even when they were   
connected with the ,state and  made it  
,christian1 they were only the proof    
that the ,state had not yet  developed  

its general political idea1 that it was 
only instituting  private rights----they
 were only the highest expression for   
the fact  that the ,state was a private 
affair and had to do only with private  
affairs4 ,when the ,state shall at last 
have the courage and strength to  fulfil
 its general destiny and to be free2    
when1 therefore1 it is also  able to    
give separate interests and private     
concerns their true  position1--then    
religion and the church will be free as 
they have never  been hitherto4 ,as a   
matter of the most purely private       
concern1 and a  satisfaction of purely  
personal want1 they will be left to     
themselves2  and every individual1 every
 congregation and ecclesiastical        
communion1  will be able to care for the
 blessedness of their souls as they     
choose  and as they think necessary4    
,every one will care for his soul's     
blessedness so far as it is to him a    
personal want1 and will accept and  pay 
as spiritual caretaker the one who seems

 to him to offer the best  guarantee for
 the satisfaction of his want4 ,science 
is at last left  entirely out of the    
game4#id    ,what is to happen1 though8 
,is social life to have an end1 and all 
companionableness1 all fraternization1  
everything that is created by the  love 
or society principle1 to disappear8     
,as if one will not always seek the     
other because he needs him2 as if  one  
must not accommodate himself to the     
other when he needs him4 ,but  the      
difference is this1 that then the       
individual really unites with  the      
individual1 while formerly they were    
bound together by a tie2 son  and father
 are bound together before majority1    
after it they can come  together        
independently2 before it they belonged  
together as members of  the family1     
after it they unite as egoists2 sonship 
and fatherhood  remain1 but son and     
father no longer pin themselves down to 
these4    ,the last privilege1 in truth1
 is ,man2 with it all are privileged or 

invested4 ,for1 as ,bruno ,bauer himself
 says1 privilege remains even when  it  
is extended to all4#ie    ,thus         
liberalism runs its course in the       
following transformations3  ,first1 the 
individual is not man1 therefore his    
individual  personality is of no        
account3 no personal will1 no           
arbitrariness1 no  orders or mandates6  
,second1 the individual has nothing     
human1 therefore no mine and  thine1 or 
property1 is valid4    ,third1 as the   
individual neither is man nor has       
anything human1 he  shall not exist at  
all3 he shall1 as an egoist with his    
egoistic  belongings1 be annihilated by 
criticism to make room for ,man1 ',man1 
just  discovered'4    ,but1 although the
 individual is not ,man1 ,man is yet    
present in the  individual1 and1 like   
every spook and everything divine1 has  
its  existence in him4 ,hence political 
liberalism awards to the individual     
everything that pertains to him as a man
 by birth1 as a born man1  among which  

there are counted liberty of conscience1
 the possession of  goods1 etc41--in    
short1 the rights of man2 ,socialism    
grants to the  individual what pertains 
to him as an active man1 as a laboring  
man2  finally1 humane liberalism gives  
the individual what he has as a man1  i4
 e4 everything that belongs to humanity4
 ,accordingly the single  one#if has    
nothing at all1 humanity everything2 and
 the necessity of  the regeneration     
preached in ,christianity is demanded   
unambiguously  and in the completest    
measure4 ,become a new creature1 become 
man6    ,one might even think himself   
reminded of the close of the ,lord's    
,prayer4  ,to ,man belongs the lordship 
7the power or dynamis72 therefore no    
individual may be lord1 but ,man is the 
lord of individuals2--,man's is  the    
kingdom1 i4 e4 the world1 consequently  
the individual is not to  be proprietor1
 but ,man1 all1 commands the world as   
property2--to ,man  is due renown1      
glorification or glory 7doxa7 from all1 

for ,man or  humanity is the            
individual's end1 for which he labors1  
thinks1 lives1  and for whose           
glorification he must become man4       
,hitherto men have always striven to    
find out a fellowship in which their    
inequalities in other respects should   
become non-essential2 they  strove for  
equalization1 consequently for equality1
 and wanted to come  all under one hat1 
which means nothing less than that they 
were seeking  for one lord1 one tie1 one
 faith 7',tis in one ,god we all        
believe74  ,there cannot be for men     
anything more fellowly or more equal    
than ,man  himself1 and in this         
fellowship the love-craving has found   
its  contentment3 it did not rest till  
it had brought on this last             
equalization1 leveled all inequality1   
laid man on the breast of man4 ,but     
under this very fellowship decay and    
ruin become most glaring4 ,in a more    
limited fellowship the ,frenchman still 
stood against the ,german1 the          

,christian against the ,mohammedan1 etc4
 ,now1 on the contrary1 man  stands     
against men1 or1 as men are not man1 man
 stands against the  un-man4    ,the    
sentence ,god has become man is now     
followed by the other1 ,man has  become 
,i4 ,this is the human ,i4 ,but we      
invert it and say3 ,i was not  able to  
find myself so long as ,i sought myself 
as ,man4 ,but1 now that it  appears that
 ,man is aspiring to become ,i and to   
gain a corporeity in me1  ,i note that1 
after all1 everything depends on me1 and
 ,man is lost  without me4 ,but ,i do   
not care to give myself up to be the    
shrine of this  most holy thing1 and    
shall not ask henceforward whether ,i am
 man or  un-man in what ,i set about2   
let this spirit keep off my neck6       
,humane liberalism goes to work         
radically4 ,if you want to be or have   
anything especial even in one point1 if 
you want to retain for yourself  even   
one prerogative above others1 to claim  
even one right that is not a  general   

right of man1 you are an egoist4        
,very good6 ,i do not want to have or be
 anything especial above others1 ,i  do 
not want to claim any prerogative       
against them1 but--,i do not measure    
myself by others either1 and do not want
 to have any right whatever4 ,i  want to
 be all and have all that ,i can be and 
have4 ,whether others are  and have     
anything similar1 what do ,i care8 ,the 
equal1 the same1 they  can neither be   
nor have4 ,i cause no detriment to them1
 as ,i cause no  detriment to the rock  
by being ahead of it in having motion4  
,if they  could have it1 they would have
 it4    ,to cause other men no detriment
 is the point of the demand to possess  
no prerogative2 to renounce all being   
ahead1 the strictest theory of          
renunciation4 ,one is not to count      
himself as anything especial1 such  as  
e4 g4 a ,jew or a ,christian4 ,well1 ,i 
do not count myself as anything         
especial1 but as unique4#ig ,doubtless  
,i have similarity with  others2 yet    

that holds good only for comparison or  
reflection2 in fact ,i  am incomparable1
 unique4 ,my flesh is not their flesh1  
my mind is not  their mind4 ,if you     
bring them under the generalities flesh1
 mind1  those are your thoughts1 which  
have nothing to do with my flesh1  my   
mind1 and can least of all issue a call 
to mine4    ,i do not want to recognize 
or respect in you anything1 neither the 
proprietor nor the ragamuffin1 nor even 
the man1 but to use you4 ,in  salt ,i   
find that it makes food palatable to me1
 therefore ,i dissolve it2  in the fish 
,i recognize an aliment1 therefore ,i   
eat it2 in you ,i  discover the gift of 
making my life agreeable1 therefore ,i  
choose you as  a companion4 ,or1 in salt
 ,i study crystallization1 in the fish  
animality1  in you men1 etc4 ,but to me 
you are only what you are for me1--to   
wit1 my  object2 and1 because my object1
 therefore my property4    ,in humane   
liberalism ragamuffinhood is completed4 
,we must first come  down to the most   

ragamuffin-like1 most poverty-stricken  
condition if we  want to arrive at      
ownness1 for we must strip off          
everything alien4 ,but  nothing seems   
more ragamuffin-like than naked--,man4  
,it is more than ragamuffinhood1        
however1 when ,i throw away ,man too    
because ,i feel that he too is alien to 
me and that ,i can make no  pretensions 
on that basis4 ,this is no longer mere  
ragamuffinhood3  because even the last  
rag has fallen off1 here stands real    
nakedness1  denudation of everything    
alien4 ,the ragamuffin has stripped off 
ragamuffinhood itself1 and therewith has
 ceased1 to be what he was1 a           
ragamuffin4    ,i am no longer a        
ragamuffin1 but have been one4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,up to this time the discord could not  
come to an outbreak1 because  properly  
there is current only a contention of   
modern liberals with  antiquated        
liberals1 a contention of those who     
understand freedom in a  small measure  

and those who want the full measure of  
freedom2 of the  moderate and           
measureless1 therefore4 ,everything     
turns on the  question1 how free must   
man be8 ,that man must be free1 in this 
all  believe2 therefore all are liberal 
too4 ,but the un-man#ih who is          
somewhere in every individual1 how is he
 blocked8 flow can it be  arranged not  
to leave the un-man free at the same    
time with man8    ,liberalism as a whole
 has a deadly enemy1 an invincible      
opposite1 as ,god  has the devil3 by the
 side of man stands always the un-man1  
the  individual1 the egoist4 ,state1    
society1 humanity1 do not master this   
devil4    ,humane liberalism has        
undertaken the task of showing the other
 liberals  that they still do not want  
freedom4    ,if the other liberals had  
before their eyes only isolated egoism  
and  were for the most part blind1      
radical liberalism has against it egoism
  in mass1 throws among the masses all  
who do not make the cause of  freedom   

their own as it does1 so that now man   
and un-man1 rigorously  separated1 stand
 over against each other as enemies1 to 
wit1 the  masses and criticism2#ii      
namely1 free1 human criticism1 as it is 
called 7,judenfrage1 p4 #aad71 in       
opposition to crude1 e4 g4  religious1  
criticism4    ,criticism expresses the  
hope that it will be victorious over all
 the  masses and give them a general    
certificate of insolvency4#ajj ,so it   
means finally to make itself out in the 
right1 and to represent all  contention 
of the faint-hearted and timorous as an 
egoistic  stubbornness1#aja as          
pettiness1 paltriness4 ,all wrangling   
loses  significance1 and petty          
dissensions are given up1 because in    
criticism a  common enemy enters the    
field4 ,you are egoists altogether1 one 
no  better than another6 ,now the       
egoists stand together against          
criticism4    ,really the egoists8 ,no1 
they fight against criticism precisely  
because  it accuses them of egoism2 they

 do not plead guilty to egoism4         
,accordingly criticism and the masses   
stand on the same basis3 both fight     
against egoism1 both repudiate it for   
themselves and charge it to each  other4
    ,criticism and the masses pursue the
 same goal1 freedom from egoism1 and    
wrangle only over which of them         
approaches nearest to the goal or even  
attains it4    ,the ,jews1 the          
,christians1 the absolutists1 the men of
 darkness and men  of light1            
politicians1 ,communists1--all1 in      
short1--hold the reproach of  egoism far
 from them2 and1 as criticism brings    
against them this  reproach in plain    
terms and in the most extended sense1   
all justify  themselves against the     
accusation of egoism1 and               
combat--egoism1 the  same enemy with    
whom criticism wages war4    ,both1     
criticism and masses1 are enemies of    
egoists1 and both seek to  liberate     
themselves from egoism1 as well by      
clearing or whitewashing  themselves as 

by ascribing it to the opposite party4  
,the critic is the true spokesman of the
 masses who gives them the  simple      
concept and the phrase of egoism1 while 
the spokesmen to whom  the triumph is   
denied in ,lit4 ,ztg4 ,v4 #bd were only 
bunglers4 ,he is  their prince and      
general in the war against egoism for   
freedom2 what he  fights against they   
fight against4 ,but at the same time he 
is their  enemy too1 only not the enemy 
before them1 but the friendly enemy who 
wields the knout behind the timorous to 
force courage into them4    ,hereby the 
opposition of criticism and the masses  
is reduced to the  following            
contradiction3 ,you are egoists6 ,no1 we
 are not6 ,i will  prove it to you6 ,you
 shall have our justification6    ,let  
us then take both for what they give    
themselves out for1  non-egoists1 and   
what they take each other for1 egoists4 
,they are  egoists and are not4         
,properly criticism says3 ,you must     
liberate your ego from all limitedness  

so entirely that it becomes a human ego4
 ,i say3 ,liberate yourself as  far as  
you can1 and you have done your part2   
for it is not given to  every one to    
break through all limits1 or1 more      
expressively3 not to  every one is that 
a limit which is a limit for the rest4  
,consequently1  do not tire yourself    
with toiling at the limits of others2   
enough if you  tear down yours4 ,who has
 ever succeeded in tearing down even one
 limit  for all men8 ,are not countless 
persons to-day1 as at all times1        
running about with all the limitations  
of humanity8 ,he who overturns  one of  
his limits may have shown others the way
 and the means2 the  overturning of     
their limits remains their affair4      
,nobody does anything  else either4 ,to 
demand of people that they become wholly
 men is to call  on them to cast down   
all human limits4 ,that is impossible1  
because ,man  has no limits4 ,i have    
some indeed1 but then it is only mine   
that  concern me any1 and only they can 

be overcome by me4 ,a human ego ,i      
cannot become1 just because ,i am ,i and
 not merely man4    ,yet let us still   
see whether criticism has not taught us 
something that  we can lay to heart6 ,i 
am not free if ,i am not without        
interests1 not  man if ,i am not        
disinterested8 ,well1 even if it makes  
little difference  to me to be free or  
man1 yet ,i do not want to leave unused 
any occasion  to realize myself or make 
myself count4 ,criticism offers me this 
occasion by the teaching that1 if       
anything plants itself firmly in me1    
and becomes indissoluble1 ,i become its 
prisoner and servant1 i4 e4 a  possessed
 man4 ,an interest1 be it for what it   
may1 has kidnapped a slave  in me if ,i 
cannot get away from it1 and is no      
longer my property1 but ,i  ,i am its4  
,let us therefore accept criticism's    
lesson to let no part of  our property  
become stable1 and to feel comfortable  
only  in--dissolving it4    ,so1 if     
criticism says3 ,you are man only when  

you are restlessly  criticising and     
dissolving6 then we say3 ,man ,i am     
without that1 and ,i am  ,i likewise2   
therefore ,i want only to be careful to 
secure my property to  myself2 and1 in  
order to secure it1 ,i continually take 
it back into  myself1 annihilate in it  
every movement toward independence1 and 
swallow  it before it can fix itself and
 become a fixed idea or a mania4    ,but
 ,i do that not for the sake of my human
 calling1 but because ,i call  myself to
 it4 ,i do not strut about dissolving   
everything that it is  possible for a   
man to dissolve1 and1 e4 g41 while not  
yet ten years  old ,i do not criticise  
the nonsense of the ,commandments1 but  
,i am man  all the same1 and act humanly
 in just this1--that ,i still leave them
  uncriticised4 ,in short1 ,i have no   
calling1 and follow none1 not even  that
 to be a man4    ,do ,i now reject what 
liberalism has won in its various       
exertions8 ,far be  the day that        
anything won should be lost6 ,only1     

after ,man has become  free through     
liberalism1 ,i turn my gaze back upon   
myself and confess to  myself openly3   
,what ,man seems to have gained1 ,i     
alone have gained4    ,man is free when 
,man is to man the supreme being4 ,so it
 belongs to the  completion of          
liberalism that every other supreme     
being be annulled1  theology overturned 
by anthropology1 ,god and his grace     
laughed down1  atheism universal4       
,the egoism of property has given up the
 last that it had to give when  even the
 ,my ,god has become senseless2 for ,god
 exists only when he has  at heart the  
individual's welfare1 as the latter     
seeks his welfare in  him4    ,political
 liberalism abolished1 the inequality of
 masters and servants3  it made people  
masterless1 anarchic4 ,the master was   
now removed from  the individual1 the   
egoist1 to become a ghost1--the law or  
the ,state4  ,social liberalism         
abolishes the inequality of possession1 
of the poor  and rich1 and makes people 

possessionless or propertyless4         
,property is  withdrawn from the        
individual and surrendered to ghostly   
society4 ,humane  liberalism makes      
people godless1 atheistic4 ,therefore   
the individual's  ,god1 my ,god1 must be
 put an end to4 ,now masterlessness is  
indeed at  the same time freedom from   
service1 possessionlessness at the same 
time  freedom from care1 and godlessness
 at the same time freedom from          
prejudice3 for with the master the      
servant falls away2 with possession1    
the care about it2 with the             
firmly-rooted ,god1 prejudice4 ,but1    
since the  master rises again as ,state1
 the servant appears again as subject2  
since  possession becomes the property  
of society1 care is begotten anew as    
labor2 and1 since ,god as ,man becomes a
 prejudice1 there arises a new  faith1  
faith in humanity or liberty4 ,for the  
individual's ,god the ,god of  all1     
viz41 ,man1 is now exalted2 for it is   
the highest thing in us  all to be man4 

,but1 as nobody can become entirely what
 the idea man  imports1 ,man remains to 
the individual a lofty other world1 an  
unattained supreme being1 a ,god4 ,but  
at the same time this is the true  ,god1
 because he is fully adequate to us1--to
 wit1 our own self2 we  ourselves1 but  
separated from us and lifted above us4  
,,postscript    ,the foregoing review of
 free human criticism was written by    
bits  immediately after the appearance  
of the books in question1 as was also   
that which elsewhere refers to writings 
of this tendency1 and ,i did  little    
more than bring together the fragments4 
,but criticism is  restlessly pressing  
forward1 and thereby makes it necessary 
for me to  come back to it once more1   
now that my book is finished1 and insert
 this  concluding note4    ,i have      
before me the latest 7eighth7 number of 
the ,allgemeine  ,literatur-,zeitung of 
,bruno ,bauer4    ,there again the      
general interests of society stand at   
the top4 ,but  criticism has reflected1 

and given this society a specification  
by  which it is discriminated from a    
form which previously had still been    
confused with it3 the ,state1 in former 
passages still celebrated as  free      
,state1 is quite given up because it can
 in no wise fulfil the  task of human   
society4 ,criticism only saw itself     
compelled to  identify for a moment     
human and political affairs in #ahdb2   
but now it  has found that the ,state1  
even as free ,state1 is not human       
society1  or1 as it could likewise say1 
that the people is not man4 ,we saw how 
it got through with theology and showed 
clearly that ,god sinks into dust       
before ,man2 we see it now come to a    
clearance with politics in the same     
way1 and show that before ,man peoples  
and nationalities fall3 so we see  how  
it has its explanation with ,church and 
,state1 declaring them both  unhuman1   
and we shall see--for it betrays this to
 us already--how it can  also give proof
 that before ,man the masses1 which it  

even calls a  spiritual being1 appear   
worthless4 ,and how should the lesser   
spiritual beings be able to maintain    
themselves before the supreme  spirit8  
,man casts down the false idols4    ,so 
what the critic has in view for the     
present is the scrutiny of the  masses1 
which he will place before ,man in order
 to combat them from  the standpoint of 
,man4 ,what is now the object of        
criticism8 ,the  masses1 a spiritual    
being6 ,these the critic will learn to  
know1 and  will find that they are in   
contradiction with ,man2 he will        
demonstrate  that they are unhuman1 and 
will succeed just as well in this       
demonstration as in the former ones1    
that the divine and the national1  or   
the concerns of ,church and of ,state1  
were the unhuman4    ,the masses are    
defined as the most significant product 
of the  ,revolution1 as the deceived    
multitude which the illusions of        
political  ,illumination1 and in general
 the entire ,illumination movement of   

the  eighteenth century1 have given over
 to boundless disgruntlement4 ,the      
,revolution satisfied some by its       
result1 and left others unsatisfied2    
the satisfied part is the commonalty    
7bourgeoisie1 etc471 the  unsatisfied is
 the--masses4 ,does not the critic1 so  
placed1 himself  belong to the masses8  
,but the unsatisfied are still in great 
mistiness1 and their discontent  utters 
itself only in a boundless              
disgruntlement4 ,this the likewise      
unsatisfied critic now wants to master3 
he cannot want and attain more  than to 
bring that spiritual being1 the masses1 
out of its  disgruntlement1 and to      
uplift those who were only disgruntled1 
i4 e4  to give them the right attitude  
toward those results of the ,revolution 
which are to be overcome2--he can become
 the head of the masses1 their  decided 
spokesman4 ,therefore he wants also to  
abolish the deep chasm  which parts him 
from the multitude4 ,from those who want
 to uplift the  lower classes of the    

people he is distinguished by wanting to
 deliver  from disgruntlement1 not      
merely these1 but himself too4    ,but  
assuredly his consciousness does not    
deceive him either1 when he  takes the  
masses to be the natural opponents of   
theory1 and foresees  that1 the more    
this theory shall develop itself1 so    
much the more will  it make the masses  
compact4 ,for the critic cannot         
enlighten or satisfy  the masses with   
his presupposition1 ,man4 ,if over      
against the  commonalty they are only   
the lower classes of the people1        
politically  insignificant masses1 over 
against ,man they must still more be    
mere  masses1 humanly                   
insignificant--yes1 unhuman--masses1 or 
a multitude of  un-men4    ,the critic  
clears away everything human2 and1      
starting from the  presupposition that  
the human is the true1 he works against 
himself1  denying it wherever it had    
been hitherto found4 ,he proves only    
that the  human is to be found nowhere  

except in his head1 but the unhuman     
everywhere4 ,the unhuman is the real1   
the extant on all hands1 and by the     
proof that it is not human the critic   
only enunciates plainly the             
tautological sentence that it is the    
unhuman4    ,but what if the unhuman1   
turning its back on itself with resolute
 heart1  should at the same time turn   
away from the disturbing critic and     
leave  him standing1 untouched and      
unstung by his remonstrance8    ,you    
call me the unhuman1 it might say to    
him1 and so ,i really am--for  you2 but 
,i am so only because you bring me into 
opposition to the human1  and ,i could  
despise myself only so long as ,i let   
myself be hypnotized  into this         
opposition4 ,i was contemptible because 
,i sought my 'better  self' outside me2 
,i was the unhuman because ,i dreamed of
 the 'human'2 ,i  resembled the pious   
who hunger for their 'true self' and    
always remain  'poor sinners'2 ,i       
thought of myself only in comparison to 

another2  enough1 ,i was not all in all1
 was not--unique4#ajb ,but now ,i cease 
to  appear to myself as the unhuman1    
cease to measure myself and let myself  
be measured by man1 cease to recognize  
anything above me3  consequently--adieu1
 humane critic6 ,i only have been the   
unhuman1 am it  now no longer1 but am   
the unique1 yes1 to your loathing1 the  
egoistic2  yet not the egoistic as it   
lets itself be measured by the human1   
humane1 and unselfish1 but the egoistic 
as the--unique4    ,we have to pay      
attention to still another sentence of  
the same number4  ,criticism sets up no 
dogmas1 and wants to learn to know      
nothing but  things4    ,the critic is  
afraid of becoming dogmatic or setting  
up dogmas4 ,of  course3 why1 thereby he 
would become the opposite of the        
critic1--the  dogmatist2 he would now   
become bad1 as he is good as critic1 or 
would  become from an unselfish man an  
egoist1 etc4 ,of all things1 no dogma6  
this is his--dogma4 ,for the critic     

remains on one and the same ground  with
 the dogmatist1--that of thoughts4 ,like
 the latter he always  starts from a    
thought1 but varies in this1 that he    
never ceases to keep  the               
principle-thought in the process of     
thinking1 and so does not let  it become
 stable4 ,he only asserts the           
thought-process against  stationariness 
in it4 ,from criticism no thought is    
safe1 since criticism  is thought or the
 thinking mind itself4    ,therefore ,i 
repeat that the religious world--and    
this is the world of  thoughts--reaches 
its completion in criticism1 where      
thinking extends  its encroachments over
 every thought1 no one of which may     
egoistically  establish itself4 ,where  
would the purity of criticism1 the      
purity of  thinking1 be left if even one
 thought escaped the process of         
thinking8  ,this explains the fact that 
the critic has even begun already to    
gibe  gently here and there at the      
thought of ,man1 of humanity and        

humaneness1  because he suspects that   
here a thought is approaching dogmatic  
fixity4  ,but yet he cannot decompose   
this thought till he has found a--higher
  in which it dissolves2 for he moves   
only--in thoughts4 ,this higher  thought
 might be enunciated as that of the     
movement or process of  thinking itself1
 i4 e4 as the thought of thinking or of 
criticism4    ,freedom of thinking has  
in fact become complete hereby1 freedom 
of mind  celebrates its triumph3 for the
 individual1 egoistic thoughts have     
lost their dogmatic truculence4 ,there  
is nothing left but the--dogma of  free 
thinking or of criticism4    ,against   
everything that belongs to the world of 
thought1 criticism is in  the right1 i4 
e4 in might3 it is the victor4          
,criticism1 and criticism  alone1 is up 
to date4 ,from the standpoint of thought
 there is no power  capable of being an 
overmatch for criticism's1 and it is a  
pleasure to  see how easily and         
sportively this dragon swallows all     

other serpents of  thought4 ,each       
serpent twists1 to be sure1 but         
criticism crushes it in  all its turns4 
,i am no opponent of criticism1 i4 e4 ,i
 am no dogmatist1 and do not  feel      
myself touched by the critic's tooth    
with which he tears the  dogmatist to   
pieces4 ,if ,i were a dogmatist1 ,i     
should place at the head  a dogma1 i4 e4
 a thought1 an idea1 a principle1 and   
should complete  this as a systematist1 
spinning it out to a system1 i4 e4 a    
structure of thought4 ,conversely1 if ,i
 were a critic1 viz41 an  opponent of   
the dogmatist1 ,i should carry on the   
fight of free thinking  against the     
enthralling thought1 ,i should defend   
thinking against what  was thought4 ,but
 ,i am neither the champion of a thought
 nor the champion  of thinking2 for ,i1 
from whom ,i start1 am not a thought1   
nor do ,i  consist in thinking4 ,against
 me1 the unnameable1 the realm of       
thoughts1  thinking1 and mind is        
shattered4    ,criticism is the         

possessed man's fight against possession
 as such1  against all possession3 a    
fight which is founded in the           
consciousness  that everywhere          
possession1 or1 as the critic calls it1 
a religious and  theological attitude1  
is extant4 ,he knows that people stand  
in a  religious or believing attitude   
not only toward ,god1 but toward other  
ideas as well1 like right1 the ,state1  
law1 etc42 i4 e4 he recognizes          
possession in all places4 ,so he wants  
to break up thoughts by thinking2  but  
,i say1 only thoughtlessness really     
saves me from thoughts4 ,it it not      
thinking1 but my thoughtlessness1 or ,i 
the unthinkable1  incomprehensible1 that
 frees me from possession4    ,a jerk   
does me the service of the most anxious 
thinking1 a stretching of  the limbs    
shakes off the torment of thoughts1 a   
leap upward hurls from  my breast the   
nightmare of the religious world1 a     
jubilant ,hoopla throws  off year-long  
burdens4 ,but the monstrous significance

 of unthinking  jubilation could not be 
recognized in the long night of thinking
 and  believing4    ,what clumsiness and
 frivolity1 to want to solve the most   
difficult  problems1 acquit yourself of 
the most comprehensive tasks1 by a      
breaking off6    ,but have you tasks if 
you do not set them to yourself8 ,so    
long as you  set them1 you will not give
 them up1 and ,i certainly do not care  
if you  think1 and1 thinking1 create a  
thousand thoughts4 ,but you who have set
  the tasks1 are you not to be able to  
upset them again8 ,must you be bound  to
 these tasks1 and must they become      
absolute tasks8    ,to cite only one    
thing1 the government has been          
disparaged on account of  its resorting 
to forcible means against thoughts1     
interfering against  the press by means 
of the police power of the censorship1  
and making a  personal fight out of a   
literary one4 ,as if it were solely a   
matter of  thoughts1 and as if one's    
attitude toward thoughts must be        

unselfish1  self-denying1 and           
self-sacrificing6 ,do not those thoughts
 attack the  governing parties          
themselves1 and so call out egoism8 ,and
 do the  thinkers not set before the    
attacked ones the religious demand to   
reverence the power of thought1 of      
ideas8 ,they are to succumb  voluntarily
 and resignedly1 because the divine     
power of thought1  ,minerva1 fights on  
their enemies' side4 ,why1 that would be
 an act of  possession1 a religious     
sacrifice4 ,to be sure1 the governing   
parties are  themselves held fast in a  
religious bias1 and follow the leading  
power  of an idea or a faith2 but they  
are at the same time unconfessed        
egoists1 and right here1 against the    
enemy1 their pent-up egoism breaks      
loose3 possessed in their faith1 they   
are at the same time unpossessed  by    
their opponents' faith1 i4 e4 they are  
egoists toward this4 ,if one  wants to  
make them a reproach1 it could only be  
the converse1--to wit1  that they are   

possessed by their ideas4    ,against   
thoughts no egoistic power is to appear1
 no police power and the  like4 ,so the 
believers in thinking believe4 ,but     
thinking and its  thoughts are not      
sacred to me1 and ,i defend my skin     
against them as  against other things4  
,that may be an unreasonable defence2   
but1 if ,i am  in duty bound to reason1 
then ,i1 like ,abraham1 must sacrifice  
my dearest  to it6    ,in the kingdom of
 thought1 which1 like that of faith1 is 
the kingdom of  heaven1 every one is    
assuredly wrong who uses unthinking     
force1 just  as every one is wrong who  
in the kingdom of love behaves          
unlovingly1 or1  although he is a       
,christian and therefore lives in the   
kingdom of love1  yet acts              
unchristianly2 in these kingdoms1 to    
which he supposes himself  to belong    
though he nevertheless throws off their 
laws1 he is a sinner  or egoist4 ,but it
 is only when he becomes a criminal     
against these  kingdoms that he can     

throw off their dominion4    ,here too  
the result is this1 that the fight of   
the thinkers against the  government is 
indeed in the right1 viz41 in might1--so
 far as it is  carried on against the   
government's thoughts 7the government is
 dumb1  and does not succeed in making  
any literary rejoinder to speak of71 but
  is1 on the other hand1 in the wrong1  
viz41 in impotence1 so far as it  does  
not succeed in bringing into the field  
anything but thoughts  against a        
personal power 7the egoistic power stops
 the mouths of the  thinkers74 ,the     
theoretical fight cannot complete the   
victory1 and the  sacred power of       
thought succumbs to the might of egoism4
 ,only the  egoistic fight1 the fight of
 egoists on both sides1 clears up       
everything4    ,this last now1 to make  
thinking an affair of egoistic option1  
an  affair of the single person1#ajc a  
mere pastime or hobby as it were1  and  
to take from it the importance of being 
the last decisive  power2 this          

degradation and desecration of thinking2
 this equalization  of the unthinking   
and thoughtful ego2 this clumsy but real
  equality1--criticism is not able to   
produce1 because it itself is only  the 
priest of thinking1 and sees nothing    
beyond thinking but--the  deluge4       
,criticism does indeed affirm1 e4 g41   
that free criticism may overcome  the   
,state1 but at the same time it defends 
itself against the reproach  which is   
laid upon it by the ,state government1  
that it is self-will and  impudence2 it 
thinks1 then1 that self-will and        
impudence may not  overcome1 it alone   
may4 ,the truth is rather the reverse3  
the ,state can  be really overcome only 
by impudent self-will4    ,it may now1  
to conclude with this1 be clear that in 
the critic's new  change of front he has
 not transformed himself1 but only made 
good an  oversight1 disentangled a      
subject1 and is saying too much when he 
speaks of criticism criticising itself3 
it1 or rather he1 has only  criticised  

its oversight and cleared it of its     
inconsistencies4 ,if  he wanted to      
criticise criticism1 he would have to   
look and see if there  was anything in  
its presupposition4    ,i on my part    
start from a presupposition in          
presupposing myself2 but  my            
presupposition does not struggle for its
 perfection like ,man  struggling for   
his perfection1 but only serves me to   
enjoy it and  consume it4 ,i consume my 
presupposition1 and nothing else1 and   
exist  only in consuming it4 ,but that  
presupposition is therefore not a       
presupposition at all3 for1 as ,i am the
 ,unique1 ,i know nothing of the        
duality of a presupposing and a         
presupposed ego 7an incomplete and a    
complete ego or man72 but this1 that ,i 
consume myself1 means only that  ,i am4 
,i do not presuppose myself1 because ,i 
am every moment just  positing or       
creating myself1 and am ,i only by being
 not presupposed but  posited1 and1     
again1 posited only in the moment when  

,i posit myself2  i4 e41 ,i am creator  
and creature in one4    ,if the         
presuppositions that have hitherto been 
current are to melt away  in a full     
dissolution1 they must not be dissolved 
into a higher  presupposition again1--i4
 e4 a thought1 or thinking itself1      
criticism4  ,for that dissolution is to 
be for my good2 otherwise it would      
belong  only in the series of the       
innumerable dissolutions which1 in favor
 of  others1 7e4 g4 this very ,man1     
,god1 the ,state1 pure morality1 etc471 
declared old truths to be untruths and  
did away with long-fostered             
presuppositions4          ,part ,second 
,i               ,at the entrance of the
 modern time stands the ,god-man4 ,at   
its       exit will only the ,god in the
 ,god-man evaporate8 and can the        
,god-man really die if only the ,god in 
him dies8 ,they did not       think of  
this question1 and thought they were    
through when in       our days they     
brought to a victorious end the work of 

the       ,illumination1 the vanquishing
 of ,god2 they did not notice that      
,man has killed ,god in order to become 
now--sole ,god on high4       ,the other
 world outside us is indeed brushed     
away1 and the       great undertaking of
 the ,illuminators completed2 but the   
other       world in us has become a new
 heaven and calls us forth to           
renewed heaven-storming3 ,god has had to
 give place1 yet not to       us1 but   
to--,man4 ,how can you believe that the 
,god-man is dead       before the ,man  
in him1 besides the ,god1 is dead8      
,i    ,,ownness#ajd      ,does not the  
spirit thirst for freedom8--,alas1 not  
my spirit alone1 my  body too thirsts   
for it hourly6 ,when before the odorous 
castle-kitchen  my nose tells my palate 
of the savory dishes that are being     
prepared  therein1 it feels a fearful   
pining at its dry bread2 when my eyes   
tell  the hardened back about soft down 
on which one may lie more delightfully  
than on its compressed straw1 a         

suppressed rage seizes it2 when--but let
  us not follow the pains further4--,and
 you call that a longing for  freedom8  
,what do you want to become free from1  
then8 ,from your hardtack  and your     
straw bed8 ,then throw them away6--,but 
that seems not to serve  you3 you want  
rather to have the freedom to enjoy     
delicious foods and  downy beds4 ,are   
men to give you this freedom1--are they 
to permit it  to you8 ,you do not hope  
that from their philanthropy1 because   
you know  they all think like--you3 each
 is the nearest to himself6 ,how1       
therefore1 do you mean to come to the   
enjoyment of those foods and beds8      
,evidently not otherwise than in making 
them your property6    ,if you think it 
over rightly1 you do not want the       
freedom to have all  these fine things1 
for with this freedom you still do not  
have them2 you  want really to have     
them1 to call them yours and possess    
them as your  property4 ,of what use is 
a freedom to you1 indeed1 if it brings  

in  nothing8 ,and1 if you became free   
from everything1 you would no longer    
have anything2 for freedom is empty of  
substance4 ,whoso knows not how to  make
 use of it1 for him it has no value this
 useless permission2 but how  ,i make   
use of it depends on my personality4#aje
    ,i have no objection to freedom1 but
 ,i wish more than freedom for you3  you
 should not merely be rid of what you do
 not want1 you should also  have what   
you want2 you should not only be a      
freeman1 you should be  an owner too4   
,free--from what8 ,oh6 what is there    
that cannot be shaken off8 ,the yoke  of
 serfdom1 of sovereignty1 of aristocracy
 and princes1 the dominion of  the      
desires and passions2 yes1 even the     
dominion of one's own will1 of          
self-will1 for the completest           
self-denial is nothing but              
freedom--freedom1 to wit1 from          
self-determination1 from one's own self4
  ,and the craving for freedom as for   
something absolute1 worthy of every     

praise1 deprived us of ownness3 it      
created self-denial4 ,however1 the      
freer ,i become1 the more compulsion    
piles up before my eyes2 and the  more  
impotent ,i feel myself4 ,the unfree son
 of the wilderness does not  yet feel   
anything of all the limits that crowd a 
civilized man3 he seems  to himself     
freer than this latter4 ,in the measure 
that ,i conquer freedom  for myself ,i  
create for myself new bounds and new    
tasks3 if ,i have  invented railroads1  
,i feel myself weak again because ,i    
cannot yet sail  through the skies like 
the bird2 and1 if ,i have solved a      
problem whose  obscurity disturbed my   
mind1 at once there await me innumerable
 others1  whose perplexities impede my  
progress1 dim my free gaze1 make the    
limits  of my freedom painfully sensible
 to me4 ,now that you have become free  
from sin1 you have become servants of   
righteousness4#ajf ,republicans  in     
their broad freedom1 do they not become 
servants of the law8 ,how true          

,christian hearts at all times longed to
 become free1 how they pined to  see    
themselves delivered from the bonds of  
this earth-life6 they  looked out toward
 the land of freedom4 7,the ,jerusalem  
that is above is  the freewoman2 she is 
the mother of us all4 ,gal4 #d4 #bf47   
,being free from anything--means only   
being clear or rid4 ,he is free  from   
headache is equal to he is rid of it4   
,he is free from this  prejudice is     
equal to he has never conceived it or he
 has got rid of  it4 ,in less we        
complete the freedom recommended by     
,christianity1 in  sinless1 godless1    
moralityless1 etc4    ,freedom is the   
doctrine of ,christianity4 ,ye1 dear    
brethren1 are called  to freedom4#ajg   
,so speak and so do1 as those who are to
 be judged by  the law of freedom4#ajh  
,must we then1 because freedom betrays  
itself as a ,christian ideal1 give  it  
up8 ,no1 nothing is to be lost1 freedom 
no more than the rest2 but it  is to    
become our own1 and in the form of      

freedom it cannot4    ,what a difference
 between freedom and ownness6 ,one can  
get rid of a  great many things1 one yet
 does not get rid of all2 one becomes   
free  from much1 not from everything4   
,inwardly one may be free in spite of   
the  condition of slavery1 although1    
too1 it is again only from all sorts of 
things1 not from everything2 but from   
the whip1 the domineering temper1  etc41
 of the master1 one does not as slave   
become free4 ,freedom lives  only in the
 realm of dreams6 ,ownness1 on the      
contrary1 is my whole  being and        
existence1 it is ,i myself4 ,i am free  
from what ,i am rid of1  owner of what  
,i have in my power or what ,i control4 
,my own ,i am at  all times and under   
all circumstances1 if ,i know how to    
have myself and  do not throw myself    
away on others4 ,to be free is something
 that ,i  cannot truly will1 because ,i 
cannot make it1 cannot create it3 ,i can
  only wish it and--aspire toward it1   
for it remains an ideal1 a spook4  ,the 

fetters of reality cut the sharpest     
welts in my flesh every moment4  ,but my
 own ,i remain4 ,given up as serf to a  
master1 ,i think only of  myself and my 
advantage2 his blows strike me indeed1  
,i am not free  from them2 but ,i endure
 them only for my benefit1 perhaps in   
order to  deceive him and make him      
secure by the semblance of patience1 or1
  again1 not to draw worse upon myself  
by contumacy4 ,but1 as ,i keep my eye   
on myself and my selfishness1 ,i take by
 the forelock the first good            
opportunity to trample the slaveholder  
into the dust4 ,that ,i then become     
free from him and his whip is only the  
consequence of my antecedent  egoism4   
,here one perhaps says ,i was free even 
in the condition of  slavery1--to wit1  
intrinsically or inwardly4 ,but         
intrinsically  free is not really free1 
and inwardly is not outwardly4 ,i was   
own1 on the other hand1 my own1         
altogether1 inwardly and outwardly4     
,under the dominion of a cruel master my

 body is not free from torments  and    
lashes2 but it is my bones that moan    
under the torture1 my  fibres that      
quiver under the blows1 and ,i moan     
because my body  moans4 ,that ,i sigh   
and shiver proves that ,i have not yet  
lost  myself1 that ,i am still my own4  
,my leg is not free from the  master's  
stick1 but it is my leg and is          
inseparable4 ,let him tear it  off me   
and look and see if he still has my leg6
 ,he retains in his hand  nothing but   
the--corpse of my leg1 which is as      
little my leg as a dead  dog is still a 
dog3 a dog has a pulsating heart1 a     
so-called dead dog  has none and is     
therefore no longer a dog4    ,if one   
opines that a slave may yet be inwardly 
free1 he says in fact  only the most    
indisputable and trivial thing4 ,for who
 is going to assert  that any man is    
wholly without freedom8 ,if ,i am an    
eye-servant1 can ,i  therefore not be   
free from innumerable things1 e4 g4 from
 faith in  ,zeus1 from the desire for   

fame1 and the like8 ,why then should not
 a  whipped slave also be able to be    
inwardly free from unchristian          
sentiments1 from hatred1 of his enemy1  
etc48 ,he then has ,christian  freedom1 
is rid of the unchristian2 but has he   
absolute freedom1  freedom from         
everything1 e4 g4 from the ,christian   
delusion1 or from  bodily pain1 etc48   
,in the meantime1 all this seems to be  
said more against names than  against   
the thing4 ,but is the name indifferent1
 and has not a word1 a  shibboleth1     
always inspired and--fooled men8 ,yet   
between freedom and  ownness there lies 
still a deeper chasm than the mere      
difference of the  words4    ,all the   
world desires freedom1 all long for its 
reign to come4 ,o  enchantingly         
beautiful dream of a blooming reign of  
freedom1 a free  human race6--who has   
not dreamed it8 ,so men shall become    
free1 entirely  free1 free from all     
constraint6 ,from all constraint1 really
 from all8  ,are they never to put      

constraint on themselves any more8 ,oh  
yes1 that1  of course2 don't you see1   
that is no constraint at all8 ,well1    
then at  any rate they are to become    
free from religious faith1 from the     
strict  duties of morality1 from the    
inexorability of the law1 from--,what a 
fearful misunderstanding6 ,well1 what   
are they to be free from then1  and what
 not8    ,the lovely dream is           
dissipated2 awakened1 one rubs his      
half-opened eyes  and stares at the     
prosaic questioner4 ,what men are to be 
free  from8--,from blind credulity1     
cries one4 ,what's that8 exclaims       
another1  all faith is blind credulity2 
they must become free from all faith4   
,no1  no1 for ,god's sake1--inveighs the
 first again1--do not cast all faith    
from you1 else the power of brutality   
breaks in4 ,we must have the            
republic1--a third makes himself        
heard1--and become--free from all       
commanding lords4 ,there is no help in  
that1 says a fourth3 we only get a  new 

lord then1 a dominant majority2 let us  
rather free ourselves from  this        
dreadful inequality4--,o hapless        
equality1 already ,i hear your  plebeian
 roar again6 ,how ,i had dreamed so     
beautifully just now of a  paradise of  
freedom1 and what impudence and         
licentiousness now raises  its wild     
clamor6 ,thus the first laments1 and    
gets on his feet to grasp  the sword    
against unmeasured freedom4 ,soon we no 
longer hear anything  but the clashing  
of the swords of the disagreeing        
dreamers of freedom4    ,what the       
craving for freedom has always come to  
has been the desire for  a particular   
freedom1 e4 g4 freedom of faith2 i4 e41 
the believing  man wanted to be free and
 independent2 of what8 of faith perhaps8
 no6  but of the inquisitors of faith4  
,so now political or civil freedom4     
,the citizen wants to become free not   
from citizenhood1 but from  bureaucracy1
 the arbitrariness of princes1 and the  
like4 ,prince  ,metternich once said he 

had found a way that was adapted to     
guide men  in the path of genuine       
freedom for all the future4 ,the ,count 
of  ,provence ran away from ,france     
precisely at the time when she was      
preparing the reign of freedom1 and     
said3 ,my imprisonment had become       
intolerable to me2 ,i had only one      
passion1 the desire for--freedom2 ,i    
thought only of it4    ,the craving for 
a particular freedom always includes the
 purpose of a  new dominion1 as it was  
with the ,revolution1 which indeed could
 give  its defenders the uplifting      
feeling that they were fighting for     
freedom1 but in truth only because they 
were after a particular  freedom1       
therefore a new dominion1 the dominion  
of the law4    ,freedom you all want1   
you want freedom4 ,why then do you      
higgle  over a more or less8 ,freedom   
can only be the whole of freedom2 a     
piece of freedom is not freedom4 ,you   
despair of the possibility of  obtaining
 the whole of freedom1 freedom from     

everything1--yes1 you  consider it      
insanity even to wish this8--,well1 then
 leave off chasing  after the phantom1  
and spend your pains on something better
 than  the--unattainable4    ,ah1 but   
there is nothing better than freedom6   
,what have you then when you have       
freedom1 viz41--for ,i will not speak   
here of your piecemeal bits of          
freedom1--complete freedom8 ,then you   
are  rid of everything that embarrasses 
you1 everything1 and there is  probably 
nothing that does not once in your life 
embarrass you and cause  you            
inconvenience4 ,and for whose sake1     
then1 did you want to be rid of  it8    
,doubtless for your sake1 because it is 
in your way6 ,but1 if  something were   
not inconvenient to you2 if1 on the     
contrary1 it were  quite to your mind   
7e4 g4 the gently but irresistibly      
commanding  look of your loved          
one71--then you would not want to be rid
 of it and  free from it4 ,why not8 ,for
 your sake again6 ,so you take          

yourselves  as measure and judge over   
all4 ,you gladly let freedom go when    
unfreedom1  the sweet service of love1  
suits you2 and you take up your freedom 
again on occasion when it begins to suit
 you better1--that is1  supposing1 which
 is not the point here1 that you are not
 afraid of such  a ,repeal of the ,union
 for other 7perhaps religious7 reasons4 
,why will you not take courage now to   
really make yourselves the  central     
point and the main thing altogether8    
,why grasp in the air at  freedom1 your 
dream8 ,are you your dream8 ,do not     
begin by inquiring of  your dreams1 your
 notions1 your thoughts1 for that is all
 hollow  theory4 ,ask yourselves and ask
 after yourselves--that is practical    
and you know you want very much to be   
practical4 ,but there the one  hearkens 
what his ,god 7of course what he thinks 
of at the name ,god is  his ,god7 may be
 going to say to it1 and another what   
his moral feelings1  his conscience1 his
 feeling of duty1 may determine about   

it1 and a third  calculates what folks  
will think of it1--and1 when each has   
thus asked  his ,lord ,god 7folks are a 
,lord ,god just as good as1 nay1 even   
more  compact than1 the other-worldly   
and imaginary one3 vox populi1 vox      
dei71 then he accommodates himself to   
his ,lord's will and listens no  more at
 all for what he himself would like to  
say and decide4    ,therefore turn to   
yourselves rather than to your gods or  
idols4 ,bring  out from yourselves what 
is in you1 bring it to the light1 bring 
yourselves to revelation4    ,how one   
acts only from himself1 and asks after  
nothing further1 the  ,christians have  
realized in the notion ,god4 ,he acts as
 it pleases  him4 ,and foolish man1 who 
could do just so1 is to act as it       
pleases  ,god instead4--,if it is said  
that even ,god proceeds according to    
eternal  laws1 that too fits me1 since  
,i too cannot get out of my skin1 but   
have  my law in my whole nature1 i4 e4  
in myself4    ,but one needs only       

admonish you of yourselves to bring you 
to despair  at once4 ,what am ,i8 each  
of you asks himself4 ,an abyss of       
lawless and  unregulated impulses1      
desires1 wishes1 passions1 a chaos      
without light  or guiding star6 ,how am 
,i to obtain a correct answer1 if1      
without regard  to ,god's commandments  
or to the duties which morality         
prescribes1  without regard to the voice
 of reason1 which in the course of      
history1  after bitter experiences1 has 
exalted the best and most reasonable    
thing  into law1 ,i simply appeal to    
myself8 ,my passion would advise me to  
do  the most senseless thing            
possible4--,thus each deems himself     
the--devil2 for1 if1 so far as he is    
unconcerned about religion1 etc41  he   
only deemed himself a beast1 he would   
easily find that the beast1  which does 
follow only its impulse 7as it were1 its
 advice71 does not  advise and impel    
itself to do the most senseless things1 
but takes  very correct steps4 ,but the 

habit of the religious way of thinking  
has  biased our mind so grievously that 
we are--terrified at ourselves in  our  
nakedness and naturalness2 it has       
degraded us so that we deem  ourselves  
depraved by nature1 born devils4 ,of    
course it comes into your  head at once 
that your calling requires you to do the
 good1 the moral1  the right4 ,now1 if  
you ask yourselves what is to be done1  
how can the  right voice sound forth    
from you1 the voice which points the way
 of the  good1 the right1 the true1     
etc48 ,what concord have ,god and       
,belial8    ,but what would you think if
 one answered you by saying3 ,that one  
is to  listen to ,god1 conscience1      
duties1 laws1 etc41 is flim-flam with   
which  people have stuffed your head and
 heart and made you crazy8 ,and if he   
asked you how it is that you know so    
surely that the voice of nature is  a   
seducer8 ,and if he even demanded of you
 to turn the thing about and  actually  
to deem the voice of ,god and conscience

 to be the devil's work8  ,there are    
such graceless men2 how will you settle 
them8 ,you cannot  appeal to your       
parsons1 parents1 and good men1 for     
precisely these are  designated by them 
as your seducers1 as the true seducers  
and  corrupters of youth1 who busily sow
 broadcast the tares of self-contempt   
and reverence to ,god1 who fill young   
hearts with mud and young heads  with   
stupidity4    ,but now those people go  
on and ask3 ,for whose sake do you care 
about  ,god's and the other             
commandments8 ,you surely do not suppose
 that this is  done merely out of       
complaisance toward ,god8 ,no1 you are  
doing it--for  your sake again4--,here  
too1 therefore1 you are the main thing1 
and  each must say to himself1 ,i am    
everything to myself and ,i do          
everything on my account4 ,if it ever   
became clear to you that ,god1 the      
commandments1 etc41 only harm you1 that 
they reduce and ruin you1 to a          
certainty you would throw them from you 

just as the ,christians once  condemned 
,apollo or ,minerva or heathen morality4
 ,they did indeed put in  the place of  
these ,christ and afterward ,mary1 as   
well as a ,christian  morality2 but they
 did this for the sake of their souls'  
welfare too1  therefore out of egoism or
 ownness4    ,and it was by this egoism1
 this ownness1 that they got rid of the 
old  world of gods and became free from 
it4 ,ownness created a new  freedom2 for
 ownness is the creator of everything1  
as genius 7a  definite ownness71 which  
is always originality1 has for a long   
time  already been looked upon as the   
creator of new productions that have a  
place in the history of the world4      
,if your efforts are ever to make       
freedom the issue1 then exhaust         
freedom's demands4 ,who is it that is to
 become free8 ,you1 ,i1 we4 ,free  from 
what8 ,from everything that is not you1 
not ,i1 not we4 ,i1 therefore1  am the  
kernel that is to be delivered from all 
wrappings and--freed from  all cramping 

shells4 ,what is left when ,i have been 
freed from everything  that is not ,i8  
,only ,i2 nothing but ,i4 ,but freedom  
has nothing to offer  to this ,i        
himself4 ,as to what is now to happen   
further after ,i have  become free1     
freedom is silent1--as our governments1 
when the prisoner's  time is up1 merely 
let him go1 thrusting him out into      
abandonment4    ,now why1 if freedom is 
striven after for love of the ,i after  
all1--why  not choose the ,i himself as 
beginning1 middle1 and end8 ,am ,i not  
worth  more than freedom8 ,is it not ,i 
that make myself free1 am not ,i the    
first8 ,even unfree1 even laid in a     
thousand fetters1 ,i yet am2 and ,i am  
not1 like freedom1 extant only in the   
future and in hopes1 but even as  the   
most abject of slaves ,i am--present4   
,think that over well1 and decide       
whether you will place on your banner   
the dream of freedom or the resolution  
of egoism1 of ownness4  ,freedom awakens
 your rage against everything that is   

not you2  egoism calls you to joy over  
yourselves1 to self-enjoyment2  freedom 
is and remains a longing1 a romantic    
plaint1 a ,christian  hope for          
unearthliness and futurity2 ownness is a
 reality1 which of  itself removes just 
so much unfreedom as by barring your own
 way  hinders you4 ,what does not       
disturb you1 you will not want to       
renounce2  and1 if it begins to disturb 
you1 why1 you know that you must obey   
yourselves rather than men6    ,freedom 
teaches only3 ,get yourselves rid1      
relieve yourselves1 of  everything      
burdensome2 it does not teach you who   
you yourselves are4  ,rid1 rid6 so rings
 its rallying-cry1 and you1 eagerly     
following its  call1 get rid even of    
yourselves1 deny yourselves4 ,but       
ownness calls  you back to yourselves1  
it says ,come to yourself6 ,under the   
gis of  freedom you get rid of many     
kinds of things1 but something new      
pinches  you again3 you are rid of the  
,evil ,one2 evil is left4#aji ,as own   

you are really rid of everything1 and   
what clings to you you have  accepted2  
it is your choice and your pleasure4    
,the own man is the  freeborn1 the man  
free to begin with2 the free man1 on the
 contrary1  is only the eleutheromaniac1
 the dreamer and enthusiast4    ,the    
former is originally free1 because he   
recognizes nothing but  himself2 he does
 not need to free himself first1 because
 at the start he  rejects everything    
outside himself1 because he prizes      
nothing more than  himself1 rates       
nothing higher1 because1 in short1 he   
starts from himself  and comes to       
himself4 ,constrained by childish       
respect1 he is  nevertheless already    
working at freeing himself from this    
constraint4  ,ownness works in the      
little egoist1 and procures him the     
desired--freedom4    ,thousands of years
 of civilization have obscured to you   
what you are1  have made you believe you
 are not egoists but are called to be   
idealists 7good men74 ,shake that off6  

,do not seek for freedom1 which  does   
precisely deprive you of yourselves1 in 
self-denial2 but seek for  yourselves1  
become egoists1 become each of you an   
almighty ego4 ,or1  more clearly3 ,just 
recognize yourselves again1 just        
recognize what you  really are1 and let 
go your hypocritical endeavors1 your    
foolish mania  to be something else than
 you are4 ,hypocritical ,i call them    
because you  have yet remained egoists  
all these thousands of years1 but       
sleeping1  self-deceiving1 crazy        
egoists1 you ,heautontimorumenoses1 you 
self-tormentors4 ,never yet has a       
religion been able to dispense with     
promises1 whether they referred us to   
the other world or to this  7long life1 
etc472 for man is mercenary and does    
nothing gratis4  ,but how about that    
doing the good for the good's sake      
without prospect  of reward8 ,as if here
 too the pay was not contained in the   
satisfaction  that it is to afford4     
,even religion1 therefore1 is founded on

 our egoism  and--exploits it2          
calculated for our desires1 it stifles  
many others  for the sake of one4 ,this 
then gives the phenomenon of cheated    
egoism1  where ,i satisfy1 not myself1  
but one of my desires1 e4 g4 the impulse
  toward blessedness4 ,religion promises
 me the--supreme good2 to gain  this ,i 
no longer regard any other of my        
desires1 and do not slake  them4--,all  
your doings are unconfessed1 secret1    
covert1 and concealed  egoism4 ,but     
because they are egoism that you are    
unwilling to confess to  yourselves1    
that you keep secret from yourselves1   
hence not manifest  and public egoism1  
consequently unconscious                
egoism1--therefore they are  not egoism1
 but thraldom1 service1                 
self-renunciation2 you are egoists1  and
 you are not1 since you renounce egoism4
 ,where you seem most to be  such1 you  
have drawn upon the word                
egoist--loathing and contempt4    ,i    
secure my freedom with regard to the    

world in the degree that ,i make  the   
world my own1 i4 e4 gain it and take    
possession of it for  myself1 by        
whatever might1 by that of persuasion1  
of petition1 of  categorical demand1    
yes1 even by hypocrisy1 cheating1 etc42 
for the  means that ,i use for it are   
determined by what ,i am4 ,if ,i am     
weak1 ,i  have only weak means1 like the
 aforesaid1 which yet are good enough   
for  a considerable part of the world4  
,besides1 cheating1 hypocrisy1 lying1   
look worse than they are4 ,who has not  
cheated the police1 the law8 who  has   
not quickly taken on an air of honorable
 loyalty before the  sheriff's officer  
who meets him1 in order to conceal an   
illegality that  may have been          
committed1 etc48 ,he who has not done it
 has simply let  violence be done to    
him2 he was a weakling from--conscience4
 ,i know  that my freedom is diminished 
even by my not being able to carry out  
my  will on another object1 be this     
other something without will1 like a    

rock1 or something with will1 like a    
government1 an individual1 etc42 ,i     
deny my ownness when--in presence of    
another--,i give myself up1 i4 e4  give 
way1 desist1 submit2 therefore by       
loyalty1 submission4 ,for it  is one    
thing when ,i give up my previous course
 because it does not lead  to the goal1 
and therefore turn out of a wrong road2 
it is another when  ,i yield myself a   
prisoner4 ,i get around a rock that     
stands in my way1  till ,i have powder  
enough to blast it2 ,i get around the   
laws of a  people1 till ,i have gathered
 strength to overthrow them4 ,because ,i
  cannot grasp the moon1 is it therefore
 to be sacred to me1 an ,astarte8  ,if  
,i only could grasp you1 ,i surely      
would1 and1 if ,i only find a means  to 
get up to you1 you shall not frighten   
me6 ,you inapprehensible one1  you shall
 remain inapprehensible to me only till 
,i have acquired the  might for         
apprehension and call you my own2 ,i do 
not give myself up  before you1 but only

 bide my time4 ,even if for the present 
,i put up with  my inability to touch   
you1 ,i yet remember it against you4    
,vigorous men have always done so4 ,when
 the loyal had exalted an  unsubdued    
power to be their master and had adored 
it1 when they had  demanded adoration   
from all1 then there came some such son 
of nature who  would not loyally submit1
 and drove the adored power from its    
inaccessible ,olympus4 ,he cried his    
,stand still to the rolling sun1 and    
made the earth go round2 the loyal had  
to make the best of it2 he laid  his axe
 to the sacred oaks1 and the loyal were 
astonished that no  heavenly fire       
consumed him2 he threw the pope off     
,peter's chair1 and the  loyal had no   
way to hinder it2 he is tearing down the
 divine-right  business1 and the loyal  
croak in vain1 and at last are silent4  
,my freedom becomes complete only when  
it is my--might2 but by this ,i  cease  
to be a merely free man1 and become an  
own man4 ,why is the freedom  of the    

peoples a hollow word8 ,because the     
peoples have no might6 ,with  a breath  
of the living ego ,i blow peoples over1 
be it the breath of a  ,nero1 a ,chinese
 emperor1 or a poor writer4 ,why is it  
that the  ,g44444#aaj legislatures pine 
in vain for freedom1 and are lectured   
for  it by the cabinet ministers8       
,because they are not of the mighty6    
,might  is a fine thing1 and useful for 
many purposes2 for one goes further     
with a handful of might than with a     
bagful of right4 ,you long for  freedom8
 ,you fools6 ,if you took might1 freedom
 would come of itself4  ,see1 he who has
 might stands above the law4 ,how does  
this prospect  taste to you1 you        
law-abiding people8 ,but you have no    
taste6    ,the cry for freedom rings    
loudly all around4 ,but is it felt  and 
known what a donated or chartered       
freedom must mean8 ,it is not           
recognized in the full amplitude of the 
word that all freedom is                
essentially--self-liberation1--i4 e41   

that ,i can have only so much  freedom  
as ,i procure for myself by my ownness4 
,of what use is it to  sheep that no one
 abridges their freedom of speech8 ,they
 stick to  bleating4 ,give one who is   
inwardly a ,mohammedan1 a ,jew1 or a    
,christian1  permission to speak what he
 likes3 he will yet utter only          
narrow-minded  stuff4 ,if1 on the       
contrary1 certain others rob you of the 
freedom of  speaking and hearing1 they  
know quite rightly wherein lies their   
temporary advantage1 as you would       
perhaps be able to say and hear         
something whereby those certain persons 
would lose their credit4    ,if they    
nevertheless give you freedom1 they are 
simply knaves who give  more than they  
have4 ,for then they give you nothing of
 their own1 but  stolen wares3 they give
 you your own freedom1 the freedom that 
you must  take for yourselves2 and they 
give it to you only that you may not    
take it and call the thieves and cheats 
to an account to boot4 ,in their        

slyness they know well that given       
7chartered7 freedom is no freedom1      
since only the freedom one takes for    
himself1 therefore the egoist's         
freedom1 rides with full sails4 ,donated
 freedom strikes its sails as  soon as  
there comes a storm--or calm2 it        
requires always a--gentle and  moderate 
breeze4    ,here lies the difference    
between self-liberation and emancipation
  7manumission1 setting free74 ,those   
who to-day stand in the opposition  are 
thirsting and screaming to be set free4 
,the princes are to  declare their      
peoples of age1 i4 e4 emancipate them6  
,behave as if  you were of age1 and you 
are so without any declaration of       
majority2 if  you do not behave         
accordingly1 you are not worthy of it1  
and would never  be of age even by a    
declaration of majority4 ,when the      
,greeks were of  age1 they drove out    
their tyrants1 and1 when the son is of  
age1 he makes  himself independent of   
his father4 ,if the ,greeks had waited  

till their  tyrants graciously allowed  
them their majority1 they might have    
waited  long4 ,a sensible father throws 
out a son who will not come of age1 and 
keeps the house to himself2 it serves   
the noodle right4    ,the man who is set
 free is nothing but a freedman1 a      
libertinus1 a dog  dragging a piece of  
chain with him3 he is an unfree man in  
the garment  of freedom1 like the ass in
 the lion's skin4 ,emancipated ,jews are
  nothing bettered in themselves1 but   
only relieved as ,jews1 although he  who
 relieves their condition is certainly  
more than a churchly  ,christian1 as the
 latter cannot do this without          
inconsistency4 ,but1  emancipated or not
 emancipated1 ,jew remains ,jew2 he who 
is not  self-freed is merely            
an--emancipated man4 ,the ,protestant   
,state can  certainly set free          
7emancipate7 the ,catholics2 but1       
because they do not  make themselves    
free1 they remain simply--,catholics4   
,selfishness and unselfishness have     

already been spoken of4 ,the friends  of
 freedom are exasperated against        
selfishness because in their  religious 
striving after freedom they cannot--free
 themselves from that  sublime thing1   
self-renunciation4 ,the liberal's anger 
is directed  against egoism1 for the    
egoist1 you know1 never takes trouble   
about a  thing for the sake of the      
thing1 but for his sake3 the thing must 
serve  him4 ,it is egoistic to ascribe  
to no thing a value of its own1 an      
absolute value1 but to seek its value in
 me4 ,one often hears that  pot-boiling 
study which is so common counted among  
the most repulsive  traits of egoistic  
behavior1 because it manifests the most 
shameful  desecration of science2 but   
what is science for but to be consumed8 
,if  one does not know how to use it for
 anything better than to keep the pot   
boiling1 then his egoism is a petty one 
indeed1 because this egoist's  power is 
a limited power2 but the egoistic       
element in it1 and the  desecration of  

science1 only a possessed man can blame4
    ,because ,christianity1 incapable of
 letting the individual count as an     
ego1#aaa thought of him only as a       
dependent1 and was properly nothing  but
 a social theory1--a doctrine of living 
together1 and that of man  with ,god as 
well as of man with man1--therefore in  
it everything own  must fall into most  
woeful disrepute3 selfishness1          
self-will1 ownness1  self-love1 etc4    
,the ,christian way of looking at things
 has on all sides  gradually re-stamped 
honorable words into dishonorable2 why  
should they  not be brought into honor  
again8 ,so ,schimpf 7contumely7 is in   
its old  sense equivalent to jest1 but  
for ,christian seriousness pastime      
became a  dishonor1#aab for that        
seriousness cannot take a joke2 frech   
7impudent7 formerly meant only bold1    
brave2 ,frevel 7wanton outrage7  was    
only daring4 ,it is well known how      
askance the word reason was  looked at  
for a long time4    ,our language has   

settled itself pretty well to the       
,christian standpoint1  and the general 
consciousness is still too ,christian   
not to shrink in  terror from everything
 unchristian as from something          
incomplete or evil4  ,therefore         
selfishness is in a bad way too4        
,selfishness1#aac in the ,christian     
sense1 means something like this3 ,i    
look only to see whether anything is of 
use to me as a sensual man4 ,but  is    
sensuality then the whole of my ownness8
 ,am ,i in my own senses when ,i  am    
given up to sensuality8 ,do ,i follow   
myself1 my own determination1  when ,i  
follow that8 ,i am my own only when ,i  
am master of myself1  instead of being  
mastered either by sensuality or by     
anything else 7,god1  man1 authority1   
law1 ,state1 ,church1 etc472 what is of 
use to me1 this  self-owned or          
self-appertaining one1 my selfishness   
pursues4    ,besides1 one sees himself  
every moment compelled to believe in    
that  constantly-blasphemed selfishness 

as an all-controlling power4 ,in the    
session of ,february #aj1 #ahdd1        
,welcker argues a motion on the         
dependence  of the judges1 and sets     
forth in a detailed speech that         
removable1  dismissable1 transferable1  
and pensionable judges--in short1 such  
members of a court of justice as can by 
mere administrative process be  damaged 
and endangered1--are wholly without     
reliability1 yes1 lose all  respect and 
all confidence among the people4 ,the   
whole bench1 ,welcker  cries1 is        
demoralized by this dependence6 ,in     
blunt words this means  nothing else    
than that the judges find it more to    
their advantage to  give judgment as the
 ministers would have them than to give 
it as the  law would have them4 ,how is 
that to be helped8 ,perhaps by bringing 
home  to the judges' hearts the         
ignominiousness of their venality1 and  
then  cherishing the confidence that    
they will repent and henceforth prize   
justice more highly than their          

selfishness8 ,no1 the people does not   
soar  to this romantic confidence1 for  
it feels that selfishness is mightier   
than any other motive4 ,therefore the   
same persons who have been judges       
hitherto may remain so1 however         
thoroughly one has convinced himself    
that they behaved as egoists2 only they 
must not any longer find their          
selfishness favored by the venality of  
justice1 but must stand so  independent 
of the government that by a judgment in 
conformity with the  facts they do not  
throw into the shade their own cause1   
their  well-understood interest1 but    
rather secure a comfortable combination 
of a good salary with respect among the 
citizens4    ,so ,welcker and the       
commoners of ,baden consider themselves 
secured only  when they can count on    
selfishness4 ,what is one to think1     
then1 of the  countless phrases of      
unselfishness with which their mouths   
overflow at  other times8    ,to a cause
 which ,i am pushing selfishly ,i have  

another relation than to  one which ,i  
am serving unselfishly4 ,the following  
criterion might be  cited for it3       
against the one ,i can sin or commit a  
sin1 the other ,i  can only trifle away1
 push from me1 deprive myself of1--i4 e4
 commit  an imprudence4 ,free trade is  
looked at in both ways1 being regarded  
partly as a freedom which may under     
certain circumstances be granted  or    
withdrawn1 partly as one which is to be 
held sacred under all  circumstances4   
,if ,i am not concerned about a thing in
 and for itself1 and do not desire  it  
for its own sake1 then ,i desire it     
solely as a means to an end1 for  its   
usefulness2 for the sake of another end2
 e4 g41 oysters for a  pleasant flavor4 
,now will not every thing whose final   
end he himself is  serve the egoist as  
means8 and is he to protect a thing that
 serves him  for nothing1--e4 g41 the   
proletarian to protect the ,state8      
,ownness includes in itself everything  
own1 and brings to honor again  what    

,christian language dishonored4 ,but    
ownness has not any alien  standard     
either1 as it is not in any sense an    
idea like freedom1  morality1 humanity1 
and the like3 it is only a description  
of  the--owner4          ,,ii    ,,the  
,,owner      ,i--do ,i come to myself   
and mine through liberalism8    ,whom   
does the liberal look upon as his equal8
 ,man6 ,be only man1 and that  you are  
anyway1--and the liberal calls you his  
brother4 ,he asks very  little about    
your private opinions and private       
follies1 if only he can  espy ,man in   
you4    ,but1 as he takes little heed of
 what you are privatim1--nay1 in a      
strict following out of his principle   
sets no value at all on it1--he  sees in
 you only what you are generatim4 ,in   
other words1 he sees in  you1 not you1  
but the species2 not ,tom or ,jim1 but  
,man2 not the real  or unique one1#aad  
but your essence or your concept2 not   
the bodily  man1 but the spirit4    ,as 
,tom you would not be his equal1 because

 he is ,jim1 therefore not ,tom2  as man
 you are the same that he is4 ,and1     
since as ,tom you virtually do  not     
exist at all for him 7so far1 to wit1 as
 he is a liberal and not  unconsciously 
an egoist71 he has really made          
brother-love very easy  for himself3 he 
loves in you not ,tom1 of whom he knows 
nothing and wants  to know nothing1 but 
,man4    ,to see in you and me nothing  
further than men1 that is running the   
,christian way of looking at things1    
according to which one is for the  other
 nothing but a concept 7e4 g4 a man     
called to salvation1 etc471  into the   
ground4    ,christianity properly so    
called gathers us under a less utterly  
general  concept3 there we are sons of  
,god and led by the ,spirit of ,god4#aae
  ,yet not all can boast of being ,god's
 sons1 but the same ,spirit which       
witnesses to our spirit that we are sons
 of ,god reveals also who are the  sons 
of the devil4#aaf ,consequently1 to be a
 son of ,god one must not  be a son of  

the devil2 the sonship of ,god excluded 
certain men4 ,to be  sons of men1--i4 e4
 men1--on the contrary1 we need nothing 
but to  belong to the human species1    
need only to be specimens of the same   
species4 ,what ,i am as this ,i is no   
concern of yours as a good liberal1  but
 is my private affair alone2 enough that
 we are both sons of one  and the same  
mother1 to wit1 the human species3 as a 
son of man ,i am  your equal4    ,what  
am ,i now to you8 ,perhaps this bodily  
,i as ,i walk and stand8  ,anything but 
that4 ,this bodily ,i1 with its         
thoughts1 decisions1 and  passions1 is  
in your eyes a private affair which is  
no concern of  yours3 it is an affair by
 itself4 ,as an affair for you there    
exists  only my concept1 my generic     
concept1 only the ,man1 who1 as he is   
called ,tom1 could just as well be ,joe 
or ,dick4 ,you see in me not me1 the    
bodily man1 but an unreal thing1 the    
spook1 i4 e4 a ,man4    ,in the course  
of the ,christian centuries we declared 

the most various  persons to be our     
equals1 but each time in the measure of 
that  spirit which we expected from     
them1--e4 g4 each one in whom the       
spirit of the need of redemption may be 
assumed1 then later each one who  has   
the spirit of integrity1 finally each   
one who shows a human spirit  and a     
human face4 ,thus the fundamental       
principle of equality varied4           
,equality being now conceived as        
equality of the human spirit1 there  has
 certainly been discovered an equality  
that includes all men2 for  who could   
deny that we men have a human spirit1 i4
 e4 no other than a  human6    ,but are 
we on that account further on now than  
in the beginning of  ,christianity8     
,then we were to have a divine spirit1  
now a human2  but1 if the divine did not
 exhaust us1 how should the human wholly
  express what we are8 ,feuerbach1 e4   
g41 thinks that1 if he humanizes  the   
divine1 he has found the truth4 ,no1 if 
,god has given us pain1 ,man  is capable

 of pinching us still more torturingly4 
,the long and the short  of it is this3 
that we are men is the slightest thing  
about us1 and has  significance only in 
so far as it is one of our              
qualities1#aag  i4 e4 our property4#aah 
,i am indeed among other things a man1  
as ,i  am1 e4 g41 a living being1       
therefore an animal1 or a ,european1 a  
,berliner1 and the like2 but he who     
chose to have regard for me only as a   
man1 or as a ,berliner1 would pay me a  
regard that would be very  unimportant  
to me4 ,and wherefore8 ,because he would
 have regard only for  one of my        
qualities1 not for me4    ,it is just so
 with the spirit too4 ,a ,christian     
spirit1 an upright  spirit1 and the like
 may well be my acquired quality1 i4 e4 
my  property1 but ,i am not this spirit3
 it is mine1 not ,i its4    ,hence we   
have in liberalism only the continuation
 of the old ,christian  depreciation of 
the ,i1 the bodily ,tom4 ,instead of    
taking me as ,i am1 one  looks solely at

 my property1 my qualities1 and enters  
into marriage  bonds with me only for   
the sake of my--possessions2 one        
marries1 as it  were1 what ,i have1 not 
what ,i am4 ,the ,christian takes hold  
of my spirit1  the liberal of my        
humanity4    ,but1 if the spirit1 which 
is not regarded as the property of the  
bodily ego but as the proper ego itself1
 is a ghost1 then the ,man too1  who is 
not recognized as my quality but as the 
proper ,i1 is nothing but  a spook1 a   
thought1 a concept4    ,therefore the   
liberal too revolves in the same circle 
as the ,christian4  ,because the spirit 
of mankind1 i4 e4 ,man1 dwells in you1  
you are a  man1 as when the spirit of   
,christ dwells in you you are a         
,christian2  but1 because it dwells in  
you only as a second ego1 even though it
 be as  your proper or better ego1 it   
remains otherworldly to you1 and you    
have to strive to become wholly man4 ,a 
striving just as fruitless as the       
,christian's to become wholly a blessed 

spirit6    ,one can now1 after          
liberalism has proclaimed ,man1 declare 
openly that  herewith was only completed
 the consistent carrying out of         
,christianity1  and that in truth       
,christianity set itself no other task  
from the start  than to realize man1 the
 true man4 ,hence1 then1 the illusion   
that  ,christianity ascribes an infinite
 value to the ego 7as e4 g4 in the      
doctrine of immortality1 in the cure of 
souls1 etc47 comes to light4 ,no1  it   
assigns this value to ,man alone4 ,only 
,man is immortal1 and only  because ,i  
am man am ,i too immortal4 ,in fact1    
,christianity had to teach  that no one 
is lost1 just as liberalism too puts all
 on an equality as  men2 but that       
eternity1 like this equality1 applied   
only to the ,man in  me1 not to me4     
,only as the bearer and harborer of ,man
 do ,i not die1 as  notoriously the king
 never dies4 ,louis dies1 but the king  
remains2 ,i  die1 but my spirit1 ,man1  
remains4 ,to identify me now entirely   

with ,man  the demand has been invented1
 and stated1 that ,i must become a real 
generic being4#aai    ,the ,,human      
religion is only the last metamorphosis 
of the ,christian  religion4 ,for       
liberalism is a religion because it     
separates my essence  from me and sets  
it above me1 because it exalts ,man to  
the same extent  as any other religion  
does its ,god or idol1 because it makes 
what is  mine into something            
otherworldly1 because in general it     
makes out of  what is mine1 out of my   
qualities and my property1 something    
alien1--to  wit1 an essence2 in short1  
because it sets me beneath ,man1 and    
thereby  creates for me a vocation4 ,but
 liberalism declares itself a religion  
in form too when it demands for this    
supreme being1 ,man1 a zeal of  faith1 a
 faith that some day will at last prove 
its fiery zeal too1 a  zeal that will be
 invincible4#abj ,but1 as liberalism is 
a human  religion1 its professor takes a
 tolerant attitude toward the professor 

of any other 7,catholic1 ,jewish1 etc471
 as ,frederick the ,great did  toward   
every one who performed his duties as a 
subject1 whatever fashion  of becoming  
blest he might be inclined toward4 ,this
 religion is now to  be raised to the   
rank of the generally customary one1 and
 separated from  the others as mere     
private follies1 toward which1 besides1 
one takes a  highly liberal attitude on 
account of their unessentialness4       
,one may call it the ,state-religion1   
the religion of the free ,state1  not in
 the sense hitherto current that it is  
the one favored or  privileged by the   
,state1 but as that religion which the  
free ,state not  only has the right1 but
 is compelled1 to demand from each of   
those who  belong to it1 let him be     
privatim a ,jew1 a ,christian1 or       
anything  else4 ,for it does the same   
service to the ,state as filial piety to
 the  family4 ,if the family is to be   
recognized and maintained1 in its       
existing condition1 by each one of those

 who belong to it1 then to him  the tie 
of blood must be sacred1 and his feeling
 for it must be that of  piety1 of      
respect for the ties of blood1 by which 
every blood-relation  becomes to him a  
consecrated person4 ,so also to every   
member of the  ,state-community this    
community must be sacred1 and the       
concept which is  the highest to the    
,state must likewise be the highest to  
him4    ,but what concept is the highest
 to the ,state8 ,doubtless that of being
 a  really human society1 a society in  
which every one who is really a man1  i4
 e4 not an un-man1 can obtain admission 
as a member4 ,let a ,state's  tolerance 
go ever so far1 toward an un-man and    
toward what is inhuman it  ceases4 ,and 
yet this un-man is a man1 yet the       
inhuman itself is  something human1 yes1
 possible only to a man1 not to any     
beast2 it is1  in fact1 something       
possible to man4 ,but1 although every   
un-man is a  man1 yet the ,state        
excludes him2 i4 e41 it locks him up1 or

 transforms  him from a fellow of the   
,state into a fellow of the prison      
7fellow of  the lunatic asylum or       
hospital1 according to ,communism74     
,to say in blunt words what an un-man is
 is not particularly hard3 it is  a man 
who does not correspond to the concept  
man1 as the inhuman is  something human 
which is not conformed to the concept of
 the human4  ,logic calls this a        
self-contradictory judgment4 ,would it  
be  permissible for one to pronounce    
this judgment1 that one can be a man    
without being a man1 if he did not admit
 the hypothesis that the concept  of man
 can be separated from the existence1   
the essence from the  appearance8 ,they 
say1 he appears indeed as a man1 but is 
not a man4    ,men have passed this     
self-contradictory judgment through a   
long line  of centuries6 ,nay1 what is  
still more1 in this long time there were
  only--un-men4 ,what individual can    
have corresponded to his concept8       
,christianity knows only one ,man1 and  

this one--,christ--is at once an  un-man
 again in the reverse sense1 to wit1 a  
superhuman man1 a ,god4  ,only          
the--un-man is a real man4    ,men that 
are not men1 what should they be but    
ghosts8 ,every real man1  because he    
does not correspond to the concept man1 
or because he is  not a generic man1 is 
a spook4 ,but do ,i still remain an     
un-man even if  ,i bring ,man 7who      
towered above me and remained           
otherworldly to me only  as my ideal1 my
 task1 my essence or concept7 down to be
 my quality1  my own and inherent in me2
 so that ,man is nothing else than my   
humanity1  my human existence1 and      
everything that ,i do is human precisely
 because  ,i do it1 but not because it  
corresponds to the concept man8 ,i am   
really ,man and the un-man in one2 for  
,i am a man and at the same time  more  
than a man2 i4 e41 ,i am the ego of this
 my mere quality4    ,it had to come to 
this at last1 that it was no longer     
merely demanded of  us to be            

,christians1 but to become men2 for1    
though we could never  really become    
even ,christians1 but always remained   
poor sinners 7for  the ,christian was an
 unattainable ideal too71 yet in this   
the  contradictoriness did not come     
before our consciousness so1 and the    
illusion was easier than now when of us1
 who are men and act humanly  7yes1     
cannot do otherwise than be such and act
 so71 the demand is made  that we are to
 be men1 real men4    ,our ,states of   
to-day1 because they still have all     
sorts of things  sticking to them1 left 
from their churchly mother1 do indeed   
load those  who belong to them with     
various obligations 7e4 g4 churchly     
religiousness7 which properly do not a  
bit concern them1 the ,states2 yet  on  
the whole they do not deny their        
significance1 since they want to be     
looked upon as human societies1 in which
 man as man can be a member1  even if he
 is less privileged than other members2 
most of them admit  adherents of every  

religious sect1 and receive people      
without  distinction of race or nation3 
,jews1 ,turks1 ,moors1 etc41 can become 
,french citizens4 ,in the act of        
reception1 therefore1 the ,state looks  
only to see whether one is a man4 ,the  
,church1 as a society of  believers1    
could not receive every man into her    
bosom2 the ,state1 as a  society of men1
 can4 ,but1 when the ,state has carried 
its principle clear  through1 of        
presupposing in its constituents nothing
 but that they are  men 7even the ,north
 ,americans still presuppose in theirs  
that they have  religion1 at least the  
religion of integrity1 of               
respectability71 then  it has dug its   
grave4 ,while it will fancy that those  
whom it possesses  are without exception
 men1 these have meanwhile become       
without exception  egoists1 each of whom
 utilizes it according to his egoistic  
powers and  ends4 ,against the egoists  
human society is wrecked2 for they no   
longer  have to do with each other as   

men1 but appear egoistically as an ,i   
against a ,you altogether different from
 me and in opposition to me4    ,if the 
,state must count on our humanity1 it is
 the same if one says it  must count on 
our morality4 ,seeing ,man in each      
other1 and acting as  men toward each   
other1 is called moral behavior4 ,this  
is every whit the  spiritual love of    
,christianity4 ,for1 if ,i see ,man in  
you1 as in myself  ,i see ,man and      
nothing but ,man1 then ,i care for you  
as ,i would care for  myself2 for we    
represent1 you see1 nothing but the     
mathematical  proposition3 ,a  ,c and ,b
  ,c1 consequently ,a  ,b1--i4 e41 ,i   
nothing  but man and you nothing but    
man1 consequently ,i and you the same4  
,morality is incompatible with egoism1  
because the former does not allow       
validity to me1 but only to the ,man in 
me4 ,but1 if the ,state is a  society of
 men1 not a union of egos each of whom  
has only himself  before his eyes1 then 
it cannot last without morality1 and    

must insist  on morality4    ,therefore 
we two1 the ,state and ,i1 are enemies4 
,i1 the egoist1 have not  at heart the  
welfare of this human society1 ,i       
sacrifice nothing to it1  ,i only       
utilize it2 but to be able to utilize it
 completely ,i transform  it rather into
 my property and my creature1--i4 e4 ,i 
annihilate it1  and form in its place   
the ,union of ,egoists4    ,so the      
,state betrays its enmity to me by      
demanding that ,i be a man1  which      
presupposes that ,i may also not be a   
man1 but rank for it as an  un-man2 it  
imposes being a man upon me as a duty4  
,further1 it  desires me to do nothing  
along with which it cannot last2 so its 
permanence is to be sacred for me4 ,then
 ,i am not to be an egoist1 but a       
respectable1 upright1 i4 e4 moral1 man4 
,enough1 before it and its  permanence  
,i am to be impotent and                
respectful1--etc4    ,this ,state1 not a
 present one indeed1 but still in need  
of being first  created1 is the ideal of

 advancing liberalism4 ,there is to come
 into  existence a true society of men1 
in which every man finds room4          
,liberalism means to realize ,man1 i4 e4
 create a world for him2 and  this      
should be the human world or the general
 7,communistic7 society of  men4 ,it was
 said1 ,the ,church could regard only   
the spirit1 the ,state is  to regard the
 whole man4#aba ,but is not ,man spirit8
 ,the kernel of  the ,state is simply   
,man1 this unreality1 and it itself is  
only a  society of men4 ,the world which
 the believer 7believing spirit7        
creates is called ,church1 the world    
which the man 7human or humane  spirit7 
creates is called ,state4 ,but that is  
not my world4 ,i never  execute anything
 human in the abstract1 but always my   
own things2  i4 e41 my human act is     
diverse from every other human act1 and 
only  by this diversity is it a real act
 belonging to me4 ,the human in it is   
an abstraction1 and1 as such1 spirit1 i4
 e4 abstracted essence4    ,br4 ,bauer  

states 7e4 g4 ,judenfrage1 p4 #hd7 that 
the truth of  criticism is the final    
truth1 and in fact the truth sought for 
by  ,christianity itself1--to wit1 ,man4
 ,he says1 ,the history of the          
,christian world is the history of the  
supreme fight for truth1 for in  it--and
 in it only6--the thing at issue is the 
discovery of the final or  the primal   
truth--man and freedom4    ,all right1  
let us accept this gain1 and let us take
 man as the  ultimately found result of 
,christian history and of the religious 
or  ideal efforts of man in general4    
,now1 who is ,man8 ,i am6 ,man1 the end 
and outcome of ,christianity1 is1 as ,i1
 the beginning and raw material  of the 
new history1 a history of enjoyment     
after the history of  sacrifices1 a     
history not of man or humanity1 but     
of--me4 ,man ranks  as the general4 ,now
 then1 ,i and the egoistic are the      
really general1  since every one is an  
egoist and of paramount importance to   
himself4 ,the  ,jewish is not the purely

 egoistic1 because the ,jew still       
devotes  himself to ,jehovah2 the       
,christian is not1 because the          
,christian lives  on the grace of ,god  
and subjects himself to him4 ,as ,jew   
and as  ,christian alike a man satisfies
 only certain of his wants1 only a      
certain need1 not himself3 a            
half-egoism1 because the egoism of a    
half-man1 who is half he1 half ,jew1 or 
half his own proprietor1 half a  slave4 
,therefore1 too1 ,jew and ,christian    
always half-way exclude each  other2 i4 
e41 as men they recognize each other1 as
 slaves they  exclude each other1       
because they are servants of two        
different masters4  ,if they could be   
complete egoists1 they would exclude    
each other  wholly and hold together so 
much the more firmly4 ,their ignominy is
  not that they exclude each other1 but 
that this is done only half-way4  ,br4  
,bauer1 on the contrary1 thinks ,jews   
and ,christians cannot regard and  treat
 each other as men till they give up the

 separate essence which  parts them and 
obligates them to eternal separation1   
recognize the  general essence of ,man1 
and regard this as their true essence4  
,according to his representation the    
defect of the ,jews and the  ,christians
 alike lies in their wanting to be and  
have something  particular instead of   
only being men and endeavoring after    
what is  human1--to wit1 the general    
rights of man4 ,he thinks their         
fundamental  error consists in the      
belief that they are privileged1 possess
  prerogatives2 in general1 in the      
belief in prerogative4#abb ,in          
opposition to this he holds up to them  
the general rights of man4 ,the  rights 
of man6--    ,man is man in general1 and
 in so far every one who is a man4 ,now 
every  one is to have the eternal rights
 of man1 and1 according to the opinion  
of ,communism1 enjoy them in the        
complete democracy1 or1 as it ought     
more correctly to be                    
called1--anthropocracy4 ,but it is ,i   

alone who have  everything that         
,i--procure for myself2 as man ,i have  
nothing4 ,people  would like to give    
every man an affluence of all good1     
merely because  he has the title man4   
,but ,i put the accent on me1 not on my 
being  man4    ,man is something only as
 my quality#abc 7property#abd71 like    
masculinity or femininity4 ,the ancients
 found the ideal in one's being  male in
 the full sense2 their virtue is virtus 
and arete1--i4 e4  manliness4 ,what is  
one to think of a woman who should want 
only to be  perfectly woman8 ,that is   
not given to all1 and many a one would  
therein be fixing for herself an        
unattainable goal4 ,feminine1 on the    
other hand1 she is anyhow1 by nature2   
femininity is her quality1 and she  does
 not need true femininity4 ,i am a man  
just as the earth is a star4  ,as       
ridiculous as it would be to set the    
earth the task of being a  thorough     
star1 so ridiculous it is to burden me  
with the call to be a  thorough man4    

,when ,fichte says1 ,the ego is all1    
this seems to harmonize perfectly  with 
my theses4 ,but it is not that the ego  
is all1 but the ego  destroys all1 and  
only the self-dissolving ego1 the       
never-being ego1  the--finite ego is    
really ,i4 ,fichte speaks of the        
absolute ego1 but  ,i speak of me1 the  
transitory ego4    ,how natural is the  
supposition that man and ego mean the   
same6 and  yet one sees1 e4 g41 by      
,feuerbach1 that the expression man is  
to  designate the absolute ego1 the     
species1 not the transitory1  individual
 ego4 ,egoism and humanity 7humaneness7 
ought to mean the same1  but according  
to ,feuerbach the individual can only   
lift himself above  the limits of his   
individuality1 but not above the laws1  
the positive  ordinances1 of his        
species4#abe ,but the species is        
nothing1 and1 if  the individual lifts  
himself above the limits of his         
individuality1 this  is rather his very 
self as an individual2 he exists only in

 raising  himself1 he exists only in not
 remaining what he is2 otherwise he     
would  be done1 dead4 ,man with the     
great ,m is only an ideal1 the species  
only  something thought of4 ,to be a man
 is not to realize the ideal of  ,man1  
but to present oneself1 the individual4 
,it is not how ,i realize  the generally
 human that needs to be my task1 but how
 ,i satisfy  myself4 ,i am my species1  
am without norm1 without law1 without   
model1  and the like4 ,it is possible   
that ,i can make very little out of     
myself2  but this little is everything1 
and is better than what ,i allow to be  
made out of me by the might of others1  
by the training of custom1  religion1   
the laws1 the ,state1 etc4 ,better--if  
the talk is to be of  better at         
all--better an unmannerly child than an 
old head on young  shoulders1 better a  
mulish man than a man compliant in      
everything4 ,the  unmannerly and mulish 
fellow is still on the way to form      
himself  according to his own will2 the 

prematurely knowing and compliant one is
  determined by the species1 the general
 demands1 etc41--the species is  law to 
him4 ,he is determined#abf by it2 for   
what else is the species  to him but his
 destiny1#abg his calling8 ,whether ,i  
look to  humanity1 the species1 in order
 to strive toward this ideal1 or to ,god
  and ,christ with like endeavor1 where 
is the essential dissimilarity8 ,at     
most the former is more washed-out than 
the latter4 ,as the individual  is the  
whole of nature1 so he is the whole of  
the species too4    ,everything that ,i 
do1 think1 etc41--in short1 my          
expression or  manifestation--is indeed 
conditioned by what ,i am4 ,the ,jew1 e4
 g41  can will only thus or thus1 can   
present himself only thus2 the          
,christian can present and manifest     
himself only christianly1 etc4 ,if it   
were possible that you could be a ,jew  
or ,christian1 you would indeed  bring  
out only what was ,jewish or ,christian2
 but it is not possible2 in  the most   

rigorous conduct you yet remain an      
egoist1 a sinner against  that          
concept--i4 e41 you are not the precise 
equivalent of ,jew4 ,now1  because the  
egoistic always keeps peeping through1  
people have inquired  for a more perfect
 concept which should really wholly     
express what you  are1 and which1       
because it is your true nature1 should  
contain all the  laws of your activity4 
,the most perfect thing of the kind has 
been  attained in ,man4 ,as a ,jew you  
are too little1 and the ,jewish is not  
your task2 to be a ,greek1 a ,german1   
does not suffice4 ,but be a--man1  then 
you have everything2 look upon the human
 as your calling4    ,now ,i know what  
is expected of me1 and the new catechism
 can be written4  ,the subject is again 
subjected to the predicate1 the         
individual to  something general2 the   
dominion is again secured to an idea1   
and the  foundation laid for a new      
religion4 ,this is a step forward in the
  domain of religion1 and in particular 

of ,christianity2 not a step out  beyond
 it4    ,the step out beyond it leads   
into the unspeakable4 ,for me paltry    
language has no word1 and the ,word1 the
 ,logos1 is to me a mere  word4    ,my  
essence is sought for4 ,if not the ,jew1
 the ,german1 etc41 then at  any rate it
 is--the man4 ,man is my essence4    ,i 
am repulsive or repugnant to myself2 ,i 
have a horror and loathing of  myself1  
,i am a horror to myself1 or1 ,i am     
never enough for myself and  never do   
enough to satisfy myself4 ,from such    
feelings springs  self-dissolution or   
self-criticism4 ,religiousness begins   
with  self-renunciation1 ends with      
completed criticism4    ,i am possessed1
 and want to get rid of the evil spirit4
 ,how do ,i set  about it8 ,i fearlessly
 commit the sin that seems to the       
,christian the  direst1 the sin and     
blasphemy against the ,holy ,spirit4 ,he
 who  blasphemes the ,holy ,spirit has  
no forgiveness forever1 but is liable to
  the eternal judgment6#abh ,i want no  

forgiveness1 and am not afraid of  the  
judgment4    ,man is the last evil      
spirit or spook1 the most deceptive or  
most  intimate1 the craftiest liar with 
honest mien1 the father of lies4    ,the
 egoist1 turning against the demands and
 concepts of the present1  executes     
pitilessly the most                     
measureless--desecration4 ,nothing is   
holy  to him6    ,it would be foolish to
 assert that there is no power above    
mine4 ,only  the attitude that ,i take  
toward it will be quite another than    
that of  the religious age3 ,i shall be 
the enemy of every higher power1 while  
religion teaches us to make it our      
friend and be humble toward it4    ,the 
desecrator puts forth his strength      
against every fear of ,god1  for fear of
 ,god would determine him in everything 
that he left standing  as sacred4       
,whether it is the ,god or the ,man that
 exercises the hallowing  power in the  
,god-man1--whether1 therefore1 anything 
is held sacred for  ,god's sake or for  

,man's 7,humanity's71--this does not    
change the fear of  ,god1 since ,man is 
revered as supreme essence1 as much as  
on the  specifically religious          
standpoint ,god as supreme essence calls
 for our  fear and reverence2 both      
overawe us4    ,the fear of ,god in the 
proper sense was shaken long ago1 and a 
more or  less conscious atheism1        
externally recognizable by a wide-spread
  unchurchliness1 has involuntarily     
become the mode4 ,but what was taken    
from ,god has been superadded to ,man1  
and the power of humanity grew  greater 
in just the degree that that of piety   
lost weight3 ,man is the  ,god of       
to-day1 and fear of ,man has taken the  
place of the old fear of  ,god4    ,but1
 because ,man represents only another   
,supreme ,being1 nothing has in  fact   
taken place but a metamorphosis in the  
,supreme ,being1 and the fear  of ,man  
is merely an altered form of the fear of
 ,god4    ,our atheists are pious       
people4    ,if in the so-called feudal  

times we held everything as a fief from 
,god1  in the liberal period the same   
feudal relation exists with ,man4 ,god  
was  the ,lord1 now ,man is the ,lord2  
,god was the ,mediator1 now ,man is2    
,god was  the ,spirit1 now ,man is4 ,in 
this threefold regard the feudal        
relation has  experienced a             
transformation4 ,for now1 firstly1 we   
hold as a fief from  all-powerful ,man  
our power1 which1 because it comes from 
a higher1 is  not called power or might1
 but right1--the rights of man2 we      
further  hold as a fief from him our    
position in the world1 for he1 the      
mediator1  mediates our intercourse with
 others1 which therefore may not be     
otherwise than human2 finally1 we hold  
as a fief from him  ourselves1--to wit1 
our own value1 or all that we are       
worth1--inasmuch  as we are worth       
nothing when he does not dwell in us1   
and when or  where we are not human4    
,the power is ,man's1 the world is      
,man's1 ,i am  ,man's4    ,but am ,i not

 still unrestrained from declaring      
myself the entitler1  the mediator1 and 
the own self8 ,then it runs thus3    ,my
 power is my property4    ,my power     
gives me property4    ,my power am ,i   
myself1 and through it am ,i my         
property4      ,i4--,,my ,,power        
,right#abi is the spirit of society4 ,if
 society has a will1 this  will is      
simply right3 society exists only       
through right4 ,but1 as it  endures only
 by exercising a sovereignty over       
individuals1 right is  its ,,sovereign  
,,will4 ,aristotle says justice is the  
advantage of  society4    ,all existing 
right is--foreign law2 some one makes me
 out to be in the  right1 does right by 
me4 ,but should ,i therefore be in the  
right if all  the world made me out so8 
,and yet what else is the right that ,i 
obtain  in the ,state1 in society1 but a
 right of those foreign to me8 ,when a  
blockhead makes me out in the right1 ,i 
grow distrustful of my rightness2  ,i   
don't like to receive it from him4 ,but1

 even when a wise man makes me  out in  
the right1 ,i nevertheless am not in the
 right on that account4  ,whether ,i am 
in the right is completely independent  
of the fool's  making out and of the    
wise man's4    ,all the same1 we have   
coveted this right till now4 ,we seek   
for right1  and turn to the court for   
that purpose4 ,to what8 ,to a royal1 a  
papal1 a  popular court1 etc4 ,can a    
sultanic court declare another right    
than that  which the sultan has ordained
 to be right8 ,can it make me out in the
  right if ,i seek for a right that does
 not agree with the sultan's law8  ,can 
it1 e4 g41 concede to me high treason as
 a right1 since it is  assuredly not a  
right according to the sultan's mind8   
,can it as a court  of censorship allow 
me the free utterance of opinion as a   
right1 since  the sultan will hear      
nothing of this my right8 ,what am ,i   
seeking for  in this court1 then8 ,i am 
seeking for sultanic right1 not my      
right2 ,i  am seeking for--foreign      

right4 ,as long as this foreign right   
harmonizes with mine1 to be sure1 ,i    
shall find in it the latter too4    ,the
 ,state does not permit pitching into   
each other man to man2 it  opposes the  
duel4 ,even every ordinary appeal to    
blows1 notwithstanding  that neither of 
the fighters calls the police to it1 is 
punished2 except  when it is not an ,i  
whacking away at a you1 but1 say1 the   
head of a  family at the child4 ,the    
family is entitled to this1 and in its  
name  the father2 ,i as ,ego am not4    
,the ,vossische ,zeitung presents to us 
the commonwealth of right4  ,there      
everything is to be decided by the judge
 and a court4 ,it ranks  the supreme    
court of censorship as a court where    
right is declared  ,what sort of a      
right8 ,the right of the censorship4 ,to
 recognize the  sentences of that court 
as right one must regard the censorship 
as  right4 ,but it is thought           
nevertheless that this court offers a   
protection4 ,yes1 protection against an 

individual censor's error3 it  protects 
only the censorship-legislator against  
false interpretation of  his will1 at   
the same time making his statute1 by the
 sacred power of  right1 all the firmer 
against writers4    ,whether ,i am in   
the right or not there is no judge but  
myself4 ,others  can judge only whether 
they endorse my right1 and whether it   
exists as  right for them too4    ,in   
the meantime let us take the matter yet 
another way4 ,i am to  reverence        
sultanic law in the sultanate1 popular  
law in republics1 canon  law in         
,catholic communities1 etc4 ,to these   
laws ,i am to subordinate  myself2 ,i am
 to regard them as sacred4 ,a sense of  
right and  law-abiding mind of such a   
sort is so firmly planted in people's   
heads  that the most revolutionary      
persons of our days want to subject us  
to a  new sacred law1 the law of        
society1 the law of mankind1 the right  
of all1 and the like4 ,the right of all 
is to go before my right4 ,as  a right  

of all it would indeed be my right among
 the rest1 since ,i1 with  the rest1 am 
included in all2 but that it is at the  
same time a right of  others1 or even of
 all others1 does not move me to its    
upholding4 ,not as  a right of all will 
,i defend it1 but as my right2 and then 
every  other may see to it how he shall 
likewise maintain it for himself4 ,the  
right of all 7e4 g4 to eat7 is a right  
of every individual4 ,let each  keep    
this right unabridged for himself1 then 
all exercise it  spontaneously2 let him 
not take care for all though1--let him  
not grow  zealous for it as for a right 
of all4    ,but the social reformers    
preach to us a law of society4 ,there   
the  individual becomes society's slave1
 and is in the right only when  society 
makes him out in the right1 i4 e4 when  
he lives according to  society's        
statutes and so is--loyal4 ,whether ,i  
am loyal under a  despotism or in a     
society  la ,weitling1 it is the same   
absence of  right in so far as in both  

cases ,i have not my right but foreign  
right4    ,in considerations of right   
the question is always asked1 ,what or  
who  gives me the right to it8 ,answer3 
,god1 love1 reason1 nature1 humanity1   
etc4 ,no1 only your might1 your power   
gives you the right 7your  reason1 e4   
g41 may give it to you74    ,communism1 
which assumes that men have equal rights
 by nature1  contradicts its own        
proposition till it comes to this1 that 
men have no  right at all by nature4    
,for it is not willing to recognize1 e4 
g41  that parents have by nature rights 
as against their children1 or the       
children as against the parents3 it     
abolishes the family4 ,nature gives     
parents1 brothers1 etc41 no right at    
all4 ,altogether1 this entire           
revolutionary or ,babouvist             
principle#acj rests on a religious1 i4  
e4  false1 view of things4 ,who can ask 
after right if he does not occupy  the  
religious standpoint himself8 ,is not   
right a religious concept1  i4 e4       

something sacred8 ,why1 equality of     
rights1 as the ,revolution  propounded  
it1 is only another name for ,christian 
equality1 the  equality of the brethren1
 of ,god's children1 of ,christians1    
etc43  in short fraternit4 ,each and    
every inquiry after right deserves to be
  lashed with ,schillers words3         
,many a year ,i've used my nose    ,to  
smell the onion and the rose2    ,is    
there any proof which shows    ,that    
,i've a right to that same nose8        
,when the ,revolution stamped equality  
as a right1 it took flight into  the    
religious domain1 into the region of the
 sacred1 of the ideal4  ,hence1 since   
then1 the fight for the sacred1         
inalienable rights of  man4 ,against the
 eternal rights of man the well-earned  
rights of the  established order are    
quite naturally1 and with equal right1  
brought to  bear3 right against right1  
where of course one is decried by the   
other  as wrong4 ,this has been the     
contest of rights#aca since the         

,revolution4    ,you want to be in the  
right as against the rest4 ,that you    
cannot2 as  against them you remain     
forever in the wrong2 for they surely   
would  not be your opponents if they    
were not in their right too2 they will  
always make you out in the wrong4 ,but1 
as against the right of the  rest1 yours
 is a higher1 greater1 more powerful    
right1 is it not8 ,no  such thing6 ,your
 right is not more powerful if you are  
not more  powerful4 ,have ,chinese      
subjects a right to freedom8 ,just      
bestow it on  them1 and then look how   
far you have gone wrong in your attempt3
 because  they do not know how to use   
freedom they have no right to it1 or1 in
  clearer terms1 because they have not  
freedom they have not the right to  it4 
,children have no right to the condition
 of majority because they are  not of   
age1 i4 e4 because they are children4   
,peoples that let  themselves be kept in
 nonage have no right to the condition  
of majority2  if they ceased to be in   

nonage1 then only would they have the   
right to  be of age4 ,this means nothing
 else than ,what you have the power to  
be  you have the right to4 ,i derive all
 right and all warrant from me2  ,i am  
entitled to everything that ,i have in  
my power4 ,i am entitled to  overthrow  
,zeus1 ,jehovah1 ,god1 etc41 if ,i can2 
if ,i cannot1 then these  gods will     
always remain in the right and in power 
as against me1 and  what ,i do will be  
to fear their right and their power in  
impotent  god-fearingness1 to keep their
 commandments and believe that ,i do    
right in everything that ,i do according
 to their right1 about as the  ,russian 
boundary-sentinels think themselves     
rightfully entitled to shoot  dead the  
suspicious persons who are escaping1    
since they murder by  superior          
authority1 i4 e4 with right4 ,but ,i am 
entitled by myself  to murder if ,i     
myself do not forbid it to myself1 if ,i
 myself do not  fear murder as a wrong4 
,this view of things lies at the        

foundation of  ,chamisso's poem1 ,the   
,valley of ,murder1 where the           
gray-haired ,indian  murderer compels   
reverence from the white man whose      
brethren he has  murdered4 ,the only    
thing ,i am not entitled to is what ,i  
do not do with  a free cheer1 i4 e4 what
 ,i do not entitle myself to4    ,i     
decide whether it is the right thing in 
me2 there is no right  outside me4 ,if  
it is right for me1#acb it is right4    
,possibly this  may not suffice to make 
it right for the rest2 that is their    
care1 not  mine3 let them defend        
themselves4 ,and if for the whole world 
something  were not right1 but it were  
right for me1 i4 e4 ,i wanted it1 then  
,i  would ask nothing about the whole   
world4 ,so every one does who knows how 
to value himself1 every one in the      
degree that he is an egoist2 for  might 
goes before right1 and that--with       
perfect right4    ,because ,i am by     
nature a man ,i have an equal right to  
the enjoyment of  all goods1 says       

,babeuf4 ,must he not also say3 because 
,i am by nature a  first-born prince ,i 
have a right to the throne8 ,the rights 
of man and  the well-earned rights come 
to the same thing in the end1 to wit1 to
  nature1 which gives me a right1 i4 e4 
to birth 7and1 further1  inheritance1   
etc474 ,i am born as a man is equal to  
,i am born as a  king's son4 ,the       
natural man has only a natural right    
7because he has  only a natural power7  
and natural claims3 he has right of     
birth and  claims of birth4 ,but nature 
cannot entitle me1 i4 e4 give me        
capacity or might1 to that to which only
 my act entitles me4 ,that the  king's  
child sets himself above other children1
 even this is his act1  which secures to
 him the precedence2 and that the other 
children approve  and recognize this act
 is their act1 which makes them worthy  
to  be--subjects4    ,whether nature    
gives me a right1 or whether ,god1 the  
people's choice1  etc41 does so1 all of 
that is the same foreign right1 a right 

that ,i  do not give or take to myself4 
,thus the ,communists say1 equal labor  
entitles man to equal enjoyment4        
,formerly the question was raised       
whether the virtuous man must not be    
happy on earth4 ,the ,jews actually drew
 this inference3 ,that it may go  well  
with thee on earth4 ,no1 equal labor    
does not entitle you to it1  but equal  
enjoyment alone entitles you to equal   
enjoyment4 ,enjoy1 then  you are        
entitled to enjoyment4 ,but1 if you have
 labored and let the  enjoyment be taken
 from you1 then--it serves you right4   
,if you take the enjoyment1 it is your  
right2 if1 on the contrary1 you  only   
pine for it without laying hands on it1 
it remains as before1 a  well-earned    
right of those who are privileged for   
enjoyment4 ,it is  their right1 as by   
laying hands on it it would become your 
right4    ,the conflict over the right  
of property wavers in vehement          
commotion4  ,the ,communists affirm#acc 
that the earth belongs rightfully to him

 who  tills it1 and its products to     
those who bring them out4 ,i think it   
belongs to him who knows how to take it1
 or who does not let it be taken  from  
him1 does not let himself be deprived of
 it4 ,if he appropriates it1  then not  
only the earth1 but the right to it too1
 belongs to him4 ,this  is egoistic     
right3 i4 e41 it is right for me1       
therefore it is  right4    ,aside from  
this1 right does have a wax nose4 ,the  
tiger that assails me  is in the right1 
and ,i who strike him down am also in   
the right4 ,i  defend against him not my
 right1 but myself4    ,as human right  
is always something given1 it always in 
reality reduces  to the right which men 
give4 i4 e4 concede1 to each other4 ,if 
the  right to existence is conceded to  
new-born children1 then they have the   
right2 if it is not conceded to them1 as
 was the case among the ,spartans  and  
ancient ,romans1 then they do not have  
it4 ,for only society can give  or      
concede it to them2 they themselves     

cannot take it1 or give it to           
themselves4 ,it will be objected1 the   
children had nevertheless by  nature the
 right to exist2 only the ,spartans     
refused recognition to  this right4 ,but
 then they simply had no right to this  
recognition1--no  more than they had to 
recognition of their life by the wild   
beasts to  which they were thrown4      
,people talk so much about birthright1  
and complain3      ,there is--alas6--no 
mention of the rights    ,that were born
 with us4#acd    ,what sort of right1   
then1 is there that was born with me8   
,the right to  receive an entailed      
estate1 to inherit a throne1 to enjoy a 
princely or  noble education2 or1 again1
 because poor parents begot me1 to--get 
free  schooling1 be clothed out of      
contributions of alms1 and at last earn 
my  bread and my herring in the         
coal-mines or at the loom8 ,are these   
not  birthrights1 rights that have come 
down to me from my parents through      
birth8 ,you think--no2 you think these  

are only rights improperly so  called1  
it is just these rights that you aim to 
abolish through the  real birthright4   
,to give a basis for this you go back to
 the simplest  thing and affirm that    
every one is by birth equal to          
another1--to wit1  a man4 ,i will grant 
you that every one is born as man1 hence
 the  new-born are therein equal to each
 other4 ,why are they8 ,only because    
they do not yet show and exert          
themselves as anything but              
bare--children of men1 naked little     
human beings4 ,but thereby they are  at 
once different from those who have      
already made something out of           
themselves1 who thus are no longer bare 
children of men1 but--children  of their
 own creation4 ,the latter possess more 
than bare birthrights3  they have earned
 rights4 ,what an antithesis1 what a    
field of combat6  ,the old combat of the
 birthrights of man and well-earned     
rights4 ,go  right on appealing to your 
birthrights2 people will not fail to    

oppose  to you the well-earned4 ,both   
stand on the ground of right2 for each  
of  the two has a right against the     
other1 the one the birthright or        
natural right1 the other the earned or  
well-earned right4    ,if you remain on 
the ground of right1 you remain         
in--,rechthaberei4#ace ,the other cannot
 give you your right2 he cannot  mete   
out right to you4 ,he who has might     
has--right2 if you have not  the former1
 neither have you the latter4 ,is this  
wisdom so hard to  attain8 ,just look at
 the mighty and their doings6 ,we are   
talking here  only of ,china and ,japan1
 of course4 ,just try it once1 you      
,chinese and  ,japanese1 to make them   
out in the wrong1 and learn by          
experience how  they throw you into     
jail4 7,only do not confuse with this   
the  well-meaning counsels which--in    
,china and ,japan--are permitted1       
because they do not hinder the mighty   
one1 but possibly help him on47  ,for   
him who should want to make them out in 

the wrong there would stand  open only  
one way thereto1 that of might4 ,if he  
deprives them of their  might1 then he  
has really made them out in the wrong1  
deprived them  of their right2 in any   
other case he can do nothing but clench 
his  little fist in his pocket1 or fall 
a victim as an obtrusive fool4    ,in   
short1 if you ,chinese and ,japanese did
 not ask after right1 and in  particular
 if you did not ask after the rights    
that were born with  you1 then you would
 not need to ask at all after the       
well-earned rights  either4    ,you     
start back in fright before others1     
because you think you see beside  them  
the ghost of right1 which1 as in the    
,homeric combats1 seems to  fight as a  
goddess at their side1 helping them4    
,what do you do8 ,do you  throw the     
spear8 ,no1 you creep around to gain the
 spook over to  yourselves1 that it may 
fight on your side3 you woo for the     
ghost's  favor4 ,another would simply   
ask thus3 ,do ,i will what my opponent  

wills8  ,no6 ,now then1 there may fight 
for him a thousand devils or gods1 ,i go
  at him all the same6    ,the          
commonwealth of right1 as the ,vossische
 ,zeitung among others  stands for it1  
asks that office-holders be removable   
only by the  judge1 not by the          
administration4 ,vain illusion6 ,if it  
were settled  by law that an            
office-holder who is once seen drunken  
shall lose his  office1 then the judges 
would have to condemn him on the word of
 the  witnesses1 etc4 ,in short1 the    
lawgiver would only have to state       
precisely all the possible grounds which
 entail the loss of office1  however    
laughable they might be 7e4 g4 he who   
laughs in his superiors'  faces1 who    
does not go to church every ,sunday1 who
 does not take the  communion every four
 weeks1 who runs in debt1 who has       
disreputable  associates1 who shows no  
determination1 etc41 shall be removed4  
,these  things the lawgiver might take  
it into his head to prescribe1 e4 g41   

for a court of honor72 then the judge   
would solely have to investigate        
whether the accused had become guilty of
 those offences1 and1 on  presentation  
of the proof1 pronounce sentence of     
removal against him in  the name of the 
law4    ,the judge is lost when he      
ceases to be mechanical1 when he is     
forsaken by the rules of evidence4 ,then
 he no longer has anything but  an      
opinion like everybody else2 and1 if he 
decides according to this  opinion1 his 
action is no longer an official action4 
,as judge he  must decide only according
 to the law4 ,commend me rather to the  
old  ,french parliaments1 which wanted  
to examine for themselves what was to   
be matter of right1 and to register it  
only after their own approval4  ,they at
 least judged according to a right of   
their own1 and were not  willing to give
 themselves up to be machines of the    
lawgiver1 although  as judges they must1
 to be sure1 become their own machines4 
,it is said that punishment is the      

criminal's right4 ,but impunity is just 
as much his right4 ,if his undertaking  
succeeds1 it serves him right1  and1 if 
it does not succeed1 it likewise serves 
him right4 ,you make your  bed and lie  
in it4 ,if some one goes foolhardily    
into dangers and  perishes in them1 we  
are apt to say1 ,it serves him right2 he
 would have  it so4 ,but1 if he         
conquered the dangers1 i4 e4 if his     
might was  victorious1 then he would be 
in the right too4 ,if a child plays with
  the knife and gets cut1 it is served  
right2 but1 if it doesn't get cut1  it  
is served right too4 ,hence right       
befalls the criminal1 doubtless1  when  
he suffers what he risked2 why1 what did
 he risk it for1 since he  knew the     
possible consequences8 ,but the         
punishment that we decree  against him  
is only our right1 not his4 ,our right  
reacts against his1  and he is in the   
wrong at last because--we get the upper 
hand4           99       99       99    
99       99    ,but what is right1 what 

is matter of right in a society1 is     
voiced  too--in the law4#acf            
,whatever the law may be1 it must be    
respected by the--loyal citizen4  ,thus 
the law-abiding mind of ,old ,england is
 eulogized4 ,to this that  ,euripidean  
sentiment 7,orestes1 #dah7 entirely     
corresponds3 ,we serve the  gods1       
whatever the gods are4 ,law as such1    
,god as such1 thus far we  are to-day4  
,people are at pains to distinguish law 
from arbitrary orders1 from  an         
ordinance3 the former comes from a duly 
entitled authority4 ,but a law  over    
human action 7ethical law1 ,state law1  
etc47 is always a  declaration of will1 
and so an order4 ,yes1 even if ,i myself
 gave  myself the law1 it would yet be  
only my order1 to which in the next     
moment ,i can refuse obedience4 ,one may
 well enough declare what he will  put  
up with1 and so deprecate the opposite  
by a law1 making known that  in the     
contrary case he will treat the         
transgressor as his enemy2 but no  one  

has any business to command my actions1 
to say what course ,i shall  pursue and 
set up a code to govern it4 ,i must put 
up with it that he  treats me as his    
enemy1 but never that he makes free with
 me as his  creature1 and that he makes 
his reason1 or even unreason1 my        
plumb-line4    ,states last only so long
 as there is a ruling will and this     
ruling  will is looked upon as          
tantamount to the own will4 ,the lord's 
will  is--law4 ,what do your laws amount
 to if no one obeys them8 what your     
orders1 if nobody lets himself be       
ordered8 ,the ,state cannot forbear the 
claim to determine the individual's     
will1 to speculate and count on  this4  
,for the ,state it is indispensable that
 nobody have an own will2  if one had1  
the ,state would have to exclude 7lock  
up1 banish1 etc47 this  one2 if all had1
 they would do away with the ,state4    
,the ,state is not  thinkable without   
lordship and servitude 7subjection72 for
 the ,state  must will to be the lord of

 all that it embraces1 and this will is 
called the will of the ,state4    ,he   
who1 to hold his own1 must count on the 
absence of will in others is  a thing   
made by these others1 as the master is a
 thing made by the  servant4 ,if        
submissiveness ceased1 it would be all  
over with lordship4    ,the own will of 
,me is the ,state's destroyer2 it is    
therefore branded  by the ,state as     
self-will4 ,own will and the ,state are 
powers in deadly  hostility1 between    
which no eternal peace is possible4 ,as 
long as the  ,state asserts itself1 it  
represents own will1 its ever-hostile   
opponent1  as unreasonable1 evil1 etc42 
and the latter lets itself be talked    
into  believing this1--nay1 it really is
 such1 for no more reason than this1    
that it still lets itself be talked into
 such belief3 it has not yet  come to   
itself and to the consciousness of its  
dignity2 hence it is  still incomplete1 
still amenable to fine words1 etc4      
,every ,state is a despotism1 be the    

despot one or many1 or 7as one is       
likely to imagine about a republic7 if  
all be lords1 i4 e4 despotize  one over 
another4 ,for this is the case when the 
law given at any time1  the expressed   
volition of 7it may be7 a popular       
assembly1 is thenceforth  to be law for 
the individual1 to which obedience is   
due from him1 or  toward which he has   
the duty of obedience4 ,if one were even
 to  conceive the case that every       
individual in the people had expressed  
the  same will1 and hereby a complete   
collective will had come into being1    
the matter would still remain the same4 
,would ,i not be bound to-day and       
henceforth to my will of yesterday8 ,my 
will would in this case be  frozen4     
,wretched stability6 ,my creature--to   
wit1 a particular  expression of        
will--would have become my commander4   
,but ,i in my will1 ,i  the creator1    
should be hindered in my flow and my    
dissolution4 ,because ,i  was a fool    
yesterday ,i must remain such my life   

long4 ,so in the  ,state-life ,i am at  
best--,i might just as well say1 at     
worst--a bondman  of myself4 ,because ,i
 was a willer yesterday1 ,i am to-day   
without will3  yesterday voluntary1     
to-day involuntary4    ,how change it8  
,only by recognizing no duty1 i4 e4 not 
binding  myself nor letting myself be   
bound4 ,if ,i have no duty1 then ,i know
 no  law either4    ,but they will bind 
me6 ,my will nobody can bind1 and my    
disinclination  remains free4    ,why1  
everything must go topsy-turvy if every 
one could do what he  would6 ,well1 who 
says that every one can do everything8  
,what are you  there for1 pray1 you who 
do not need to put up with everything8  
,defend  yourself1 and no one will do   
anything to you6 ,he who would break    
your  will has to do with you1 and is   
your enemy4 ,deal with him as such4 ,if 
there stand behind you for your         
protection some millions more1 then you 
are an imposing power and will have an  
easy victory4 ,but1 even if as a  power 

you overawe your opponent1 still you are
 not on that account a  hallowed        
authority to him1 unless he be a        
simpleton4 ,he does not owe you  respect
 and regard1 even though he will have to
 consider your might4    ,we are        
accustomed to classify ,states according
 to the different ways in  which the    
supreme might is distributed4 ,if an    
individual has  it--monarchy2 if all    
have it--democracy2 etc4 ,supreme might 
then6 ,might  against whom8 ,against the
 individual and his self-will4 ,the     
,state  practises violence1 the         
individual must not do so4 ,the ,state's
  behavior is violence1 and it calls its
 violence law2 that of the  individual1 
crime4 ,crime1#acg then1--so the        
individual's violence is  called2 and   
only by crime does he overcome#ach the  
,state's violence  when he thinks that  
the ,state is not above him1 but he     
above the ,state4    ,now1 if ,i wanted 
to act ridiculously1 ,i might1 as a     
well-meaning person1  admonish you not  

to make laws which impair my            
self-development1  self-activity1       
self-creation4 ,i do not give this      
advice4 ,for1 if you  should follow it1 
you would be unwise1 and ,i should have 
been cheated of  my entire profit4 ,i   
request nothing at all from you2 for1   
whatever ,i  might demand1 you would    
still be dictatorial lawgivers1 and must
 be so1  because a raven cannot sing1   
nor a robber live without robbery4      
,rather  do ,i ask those who would be   
egoists what they think the more        
egoistic1--to let laws be given them by 
you1 and to respect those that  are     
given1 or to practise refractoriness1   
yes1 complete disobedience4             
,good-hearted people think the laws     
ought to prescribe only what is         
accepted in the people's feeling as     
right and proper4 ,but what concern  is 
it of mine what is accepted in the      
nation and by the nation8 ,the  nation  
will perhaps be against the blasphemer2 
therefore a law against  blasphemy4 ,am 

,i not to blaspheme on that account8 ,is
 this law to be more  than an order to  
me8 ,i put the question4    ,solely from
 the principle that all right and all   
authority belong to  the collectivity of
 the people do all forms of government  
arise4 ,for  none of them lacks this    
appeal to the collectivity1 and the     
despot1 as  well as the president or any
 aristocracy1 etc41 acts and commands in
  the name of the ,state4 ,they are in  
possession of the authority of the      
,state1 and it is perfectly indifferent 
whether1 were this possible1 the  people
 as a collectivity 7all individuals7    
exercise this  ,state-authority1 or     
whether it is only the representatives  
of this  collectivity1 be there many of 
them as in aristocracies or one as in   
monarchies4 ,always the collectivity is 
above the individual1 and has a  power  
which is called legitimate1 i4 e4 which 
is law4    ,over against the sacredness 
of the ,state1 the individual is only a 
vessel of dishonor1 in which exuberance1

 malevolence1 mania for  ridicule and   
slander1 frivolity1 etc41 are left as   
soon as he does not  deem that object of
 veneration1 the ,state1 to be worthy of
 recognition4  ,the spiritual           
haughtiness of the servants and subjects
 of the ,state  has fine penalties      
against unspiritual exuberance4    ,when
 the government designates as punishable
 an play of mind against  the ,state1   
the moderate liberals come and opine    
that fun1 satire1 wit1  humor1 etc41    
must have free play anyhow1 and genius  
must enjoy  freedom4 ,so not the        
individual man indeed1 but still genius1
 is to  be free4 ,here the ,state1 or in
 its name the government1 says with     
perfect right3 ,he who is not for me is 
against me4 ,fun1 wit1 etc41--in  short1
 the turning of ,state affairs into a   
comedy1--have undermined  ,states from  
of old3 they are not innocent4 ,and1    
further1 what  boundaries are to be     
drawn between guilty and innocent wit1  
etc48 ,at  this question the moderates  

fall into great perplexity1 and         
everything  reduces itself to the prayer
 that the ,state 7government7 would     
please  not be so sensitive1 so         
ticklish2 that it would not immediately 
scent malevolence in harmless things1   
and would in general be a little  more  
tolerant4 ,exaggerated sensitiveness is 
certainly a weakness1 its  avoidance may
 be a praiseworthy virtue2 but in time  
of war one cannot be  sparing1 and what 
may be allowed under peaceable          
circumstances ceases to  be permitted as
 soon as a state of siege is declared4  
,because the  well-meaning liberals feel
 this plainly1 they hasten to declare   
that1  considering the devotion of the  
people1 there is assuredly no danger  to
 be feared4 ,but the government will be 
wiser1 and not let itself be  talked    
into believing anything of that sort4   
,it knows too well how  people stuff one
 with fine words1 and will not let      
itself be satisfied  with this          
,barmecide dish4    ,but they are bound 

to have their play-ground1 for they are 
children1 you  know1 and cannot be so   
staid as old folks2 boys will be boys4  
,only for this play-ground1 only for a  
few hours of jolly running about1  they 
bargain4 ,they ask only that the ,state 
should not1 like a splenetic  papa1 be  
too cross4 ,it should permit some       
,processions of the ,ass and  plays of  
fools1 as the church allowed them in the
 ,middle ,ages4 ,but the  times when it 
could grant this without danger are     
past4 ,children that  now once come into
 the open1 and live through an hour     
without the rod  of discipline1 are no  
longer willing to go into the cell4 ,for
 the open  is now no longer a supplement
 to the cell1 no longer a refreshing    
recreation1 but its opposite1 an        
aut--aut4 ,in short1 the ,state  must   
either no longer put up with anything1  
or put up with everything  and perish2  
it must be either sensitive through and 
through1 or1 like a  dead man1          
insensitive4 ,tolerance is done with4   

,if the ,state but gives a  finger1 they
 take the whole hand at once4 ,there can
 be no more  jesting1 and all jest1 such
 as fun1 wit1 humor1 etc41 becomes      
bitter  earnest4    ,the clamor of the  
,liberals for freedom of the press runs 
counter to  their own principle1 their  
proper will4 ,they will what they do not
  will1 i4 e4 they wish1 they would     
like4 ,hence it is too that they  fall  
away so easily when once so-called      
freedom of the press appears2  then they
 would like censorship4 ,quite          
naturally4 ,the ,state is sacred  even  
to them2 likewise morals1 etc4 ,they    
behave toward it only as  ill-bred      
brats1 as tricky children who seek to   
utilize the weaknesses of  their        
parents4 ,papa ,state is to permit them 
to say many things that do  not please  
him1 but papa has the right1 by a stern 
look1 to blue-pencil  their impertinent 
gabble4 ,if they recognize in him their 
papa1 they must  in his presence put up 
with the censorship of speech1 like     

every child4           99       99      
99       99       99    ,if you let     
yourself be made out in the right by    
another1 you must no  less let yourself 
be made out in the wrong by him2 if     
justification and  reward come to you   
from him1 expect also his arraignment   
and punishment4  ,alongside right goes  
wrong1 alongside legality crime4 ,what  
are  you8--,you are a----criminal6      
,the criminal is in the utmost degree   
the ,state's own crime6 says            
,bettina4#aci ,one may let this         
sentiment pass1 even if ,bettina herself
  does not understand it exactly so4    
,for in the ,state the unbridled ,i--,i1
  as ,i belong to myself alone--cannot  
come to my fulfilment and  realization4 
,every ego is from birth a criminal to  
begin with against  the people1 the     
,state4 ,hence it is that it does really
 keep watch over  all2 it sees in each  
one an--egoist1 and it is afraid of the 
egoist4 ,it  presumes the worst about   
each one1 and takes care1 police-care1  

that no  harm happens to the ,state1 ne 
quid respublica detrimenti capiat4 ,the 
unbridled ego--and this we originally   
are1 and in our secret inward  parts we 
remain so always--is the never-ceasing  
criminal in the ,state4  ,the man whom  
his boldness1 his will1 his             
inconsiderateness and  fearlessness lead
 is surrounded with spies by the ,state1
 by the people4  ,i say1 by the people6 
,the people 7think it something         
wonderful1 you  good-hearted folks1 what
 you have in the people7--the people is 
full of  police sentiments through and  
through4--,only he who renounces his    
ego1  who practises self-renunciation1  
is acceptable to the people4    ,in the 
book cited ,bettina is throughout       
good-natured enough to regard  the      
,state as only sick1 and to hope for its
 recovery1 a recovery which  she would  
bring about through the demagogues2#adj 
but it is not sick2  rather is it in its
 full strength1 when it puts from it the
 demagogues  who want to acquire        

something for the individuals1 for all4 
,in its  believers it is provided with  
the best demagogues 7leaders of the     
people74 ,according to ,bettina1 the    
,state is to#ada develop mankind's  germ
 of freedom2 otherwise it is a          
raven-mother#adb and caring for         
raven-fodder6 ,it cannot do otherwise1  
for in its very caring for  mankind     
7which1 besides1 would have to be the   
humane or free ,state  to begin with7   
the individual is raven-fodder for it4  
,how rightly  speaks the burgomaster1 on
 the other hand3#adc ,what8 the ,state  
has no  other duty than to be merely the
 attendant of incurable invalids8--,that
  isn't to the point4 ,from of old the  
healthy ,state has relieved itself of   
the diseased matter1 and not mixed      
itself with it4 ,it does not need to  be
 so economical with its juices4 ,cut off
 the robber-branches without            
hesitation1 that the others may         
bloom4--,do not shiver at the ,state's  
harshness2 its morality1 its policy and 

religion1 point it to that4  ,accuse it 
of no want of feeling2 its sympathy     
revolts against this1 but  its          
experience finds safety only in this    
severity6 ,there are diseases in  which 
only drastic remedies will help4 ,the   
physician who recognizes the  disease as
 such1 but timidly turns to palliatives1
 will never remove the  disease1 but may
 well cause the patient to succumb after
 a shorter or  longer sickness6 ,frau   
,rat's question1 ,if you apply death as 
a drastic  remedy1 how is the cure to be
 wrought then8 isn't to the point4 ,why1
  the ,state does not apply death       
against itself1 but against an offensive
  member2 it tears out an eye that      
offends it1 etc4    ,for the invalid    
,state the only way of salvation is to  
make man flourish  in it4#add ,if one   
here1 like ,bettina1 understands by man 
the concept  ,man1 she is right2 the    
invalid ,state will recover by the      
flourishing of ,man1 for1 the more      
infatuated the individuals are with     

,man1 the better it serves the ,state's 
turn4 ,but1 if one referred it to  the  
individuals1 to all 7and the authoress  
half does this too1 because  about ,man 
she is still involved in vagueness71    
then it would sound  somewhat like the  
following3 ,for an invalid band of      
robbers the only way  of salvation is to
 make the loyal citizen flourish in it6 
,why1 thereby  the band of robbers would
 simply go to ruin as a band of robbers2
 and1  because it perceives this1 it    
prefers to shoot every one who has a    
leaning toward becoming a steady man4   
,in this book ,bettina is a patriot1 or1
 what is little more1 a  philanthropist1
 a worker for human happiness4 ,she is  
discontented with  the existing order in
 quite the same way as is the           
title-ghost of her  book1 along with all
 who would like to bring back the good  
old faith and  what goes with it4 ,only 
she thinks1 contrariwise1 that the      
politicians1  place-holders1 and        
diplomats ruined the ,state1 while those

 lay it at the  door of the malevolent1 
the seducers of the people4    ,what is 
the ordinary criminal but one who has   
committed the fatal  mistake of         
endeavoring after what is the people's  
instead of seeking for  what is his8 ,he
 has sought despicable alien goods1 has 
done what  believers do who seek after  
what is ,god's4 ,what does the priest   
who  admonishes the criminal do8 ,he    
sets before him the great wrong of      
having  desecrated by his act what was  
hallowed by the ,state1 its property 7in
  which1 of course1 must be included    
even the life of those who belong to    
the ,state72 instead of this1 he might  
rather hold up to him the fact  that he 
has befouled himself in not despising   
the alien thing1 but  thinking it worth 
stealing2 he could1 if he were not a    
parson4 ,talk with  the so-called       
criminal as with an egoist1 and he will 
be ashamed1 not  that he transgressed   
against your laws and goods1 but that he
 considered  your laws worth evading1   

your goods worth desiring2 he will be   
ashamed  that he did not--despise you   
and yours together1 that he was too     
little  an egoist4 ,but you cannot talk 
egoistically with him1 for you are not  
so  great as a criminal1 you--commit no 
crime6 ,you do not know that an ego  who
 is his own cannot desist from being a  
criminal1 that crime is his  life4 ,and 
yet you should know it1 since you       
believe that we are all  miserable      
sinners2 but you think surreptitiously  
to get beyond sin1 you  do not          
comprehend--for you are                 
devil-fearing--that guilt is the value  
of  a man4 ,oh1 if you were guilty6 ,but
 now you are righteous4#ade             
,well1--just put every thing nicely to  
rights#adf for your master6    ,when the
 ,christian consciousness1 or the       
,christian man1 draws up a  criminal    
code1 what can the concept of crime be  
there but  simply--heartlessness8 ,each 
severing and wounding of a heart        
relation1 each heartless behavior toward

 a sacred being1 is crime4  ,the more   
heartfelt the relation is supposed to   
be1 the more scandalous  is the deriding
 of it1 and the more worthy of          
punishment the crime4  ,every one who is
 subject to the lord should love him2 to
 deny this love  is a high treason      
worthy of death4 ,adultery is a         
heartlessness worthy  of punishment2 one
 has no heart1 no enthusiasm1 no        
pathetic feeling for  the sacredness of 
marriage4 ,so long as the heart or soul 
dictates laws1  only the heartful or    
soulful man enjoys the protection of the
 laws4 ,that  the man of soul makes laws
 means properly only that the moral man 
makes them3 what contradicts these men's
 moral feeling1 this they  penalize4    
,how1 e4 g41 should disloyalty1         
secession1 breach of  oaths1--in short1 
all radical breaking off1 all tearing   
asunder of  venerable ties1--not be     
flagitious and criminal in their eyes8  
,he who  breaks with these demands of   
the soul has for enemies all the moral1 

all  the men of soul4 ,only ,krummacher 
and his mates are the right people to   
set up consistently a penal code of the 
heart1 as a certain bill  sufficiently  
proves4 ,the consistent legislation of  
the ,christian ,state  must be placed   
wholly in the hands of the--parsons1 and
 will not  become pure and coherent so  
long as it is worked out only by--the   
parson-ridden1 who are always only      
half-parsons4 ,only then will  every    
lack of soulfulness1 every              
heartlessness1 be certified as an       
unpardonable crime1 only then will every
 agitation of the soul become           
condemnable1 every objection of         
criticism and doubt be anathematized2   
only then is the own man1 before the    
,christian consciousness1 a             
convicted--criminal to begin with4      
,the men of the ,revolution often talked
 of the people's just revenge as  its   
right4 ,revenge and right coincide here4
 ,is this an attitude of an  ego to an  
ego8 ,the people cries that the opposite

 party has committed  crimes against it4
 ,can ,i assume that one commits a crime
 against me1  without assuming that he  
has to act as ,i see fit8 ,and this     
action ,i  call the right1 the good1    
etc42 the divergent action1 a crime4 ,so
 ,i  think that the others must aim at  
the same goal with me2 i4 e41 ,i do  not
 treat them as unique beings#adg who    
bear their law in themselves  and live  
according to it1 but as beings who are  
to obey some rational  law4 ,i set up   
what ,man is and what acting in a truly 
human way is1  and ,i demand of every   
one that this law become norm and ideal 
to him2  otherwise he will expose       
himself as a sinner and criminal4 ,but  
upon  the guilty falls the penalty of   
the law6    ,one sees here how it is    
,man again who sets on foot even the    
concept of  crime1 of sin1 and therewith
 that of right4 ,a man in whom ,i do not
  recognize ,man is a sinner1 a guilty  
one4    ,only against a sacred thing are
 there criminals2 you against me can    

never be a criminal1 but only an        
opponent4 ,but not to hate him who      
injures a sacred thing is in itself a   
crime1 as ,st4 ,just cries out  against 
,danton3 ,are you not a criminal and    
responsible for not having  hated the   
enemies of the fatherland8--    ,if1 as 
in the ,revolution1 what ,man is is     
apprehended as good  citizen1 then from 
this concept of ,man we have the        
well-known  political offences and      
crimes4    ,in all this the individual1 
the individual man1 is regarded as      
refuse1  and on the other hand the      
general man1 ,man1 is honored4 ,now1    
according  to how this ghost is         
named1--as ,christian1 ,jew1 ,mussulman1
 good  citizen1 loyal subject1 freeman1 
patriot1 etc41--just so do those who    
would like to carry through a divergent 
concept of man1 as well as those  who   
want to put themselves through1 fall    
before victorious ,man4    ,and with    
what unction the butchery goes on here  
in the name of the law1  of the         

sovereign people1 of ,god1 etc46        
,now1 if the persecuted trickily conceal
 and protect themselves from the  stern 
parsonical judges1 people stigmatize    
them as hypocrites1 as ,st4  ,just1 e4  
g41 does those whom he accuses in the   
speech against  ,danton4#adh ,one is to 
be a fool1 and deliver himself up to    
their  ,moloch4    ,crimes spring from  
fixed ideas4 ,the sacredness of marriage
 is a fixed  idea4 ,from the sacredness 
it follows that infidelity is a crime1  
and  therefore a certain marriage law   
imposes upon it a shorter or longer     
penalty4 ,but by those who proclaim     
freedom as sacred this penalty  must be 
regarded as a crime against freedom1 and
 only in this sense has  public opinion 
in fact branded the marriage law4       
,society would have every one come to   
his right indeed1 but yet only to  that 
which is sanctioned by society1 to the  
society-right1 not really to  his right4
 ,but ,i give or take to myself the     
right out of my own  plenitude of power1

 and against every superior power ,i am 
the most  impenitent criminal4 ,owner   
and creator of my right1 ,i recognize no
 other  source of right than--me1       
neither ,god nor the ,state nor nature  
nor even  man himself with his eternal  
rights of man1 neither divine nor human 
right4    ,right in and for itself4     
,without relation to me1 therefore6     
,absolute  right4 ,separated from me1   
therefore6 ,a thing that exists in and  
for  itself6 ,an absolute6 ,an eternal  
right1 like an eternal truth6           
,according to the liberal way of        
thinking1 right is to be obligatory for 
me because it is thus established by    
human reason1 against which my  reason  
is unreason4 ,formerly people inveighed 
in the name of divine  reason against   
weak human reason2 now1 in the name of  
strong human  reason1 against egoistic  
reason1 which is rejected as unreason4  
,and  yet none is real but this very    
unreason4 ,neither divine nor human     
reason1 but only your and my reason     

existing at any given time1 is real1  as
 and because you and ,i are real4       
,the thought of right is originally my  
thought2 or1 it has its origin in  me4  
,but1 when it has sprung from me1 when  
the ,word is out1 then it has  become   
flesh1 it is a fixed idea4 ,now ,i no   
longer get rid of the  thought2 however 
,i turn1 it stands before me4 ,thus men 
have not become  masters again of the   
thought right1 which they themselves    
created2  their creature is running away
 with them4 ,this is absolute right1    
that  which is absolved or unfastened   
from me4 ,we1 revering it as absolute1  
cannot devour it again1 and it takes    
from us the creative power2 the         
creature is more than the creator1 it is
 in and for itself4    ,once you no     
longer let right run around free1 once  
you draw it back into  its origin1 into 
you1 it is your right2 and that is right
 which suits  you4           99       99
       99       99       99    ,right   
has had to suffer an attack within      

itself1 i4 e4 from the  standpoint of   
right2 war being declared on the part of
 liberalism  against privilege4#adi     
,privileged and endowed with equal      
rights--on these two concepts  turns a  
stubborn fight4 ,excluded or            
admitted--would mean the same4 ,but     
where should there be a power--be it an 
imaginary one like ,god1 law1 or  a real
 one like ,i1 you--of which it should   
not be true that before it  all are     
endowed with equal rights1 i4 e4 no     
respect of persons  holds8 ,every one is
 equally dear to ,god if he adores him1 
equally  agreeable to the law if only he
 is a law-abiding person2 whether the   
lover of ,god and the law is humpbacked 
and lame1 whether poor or rich1  and the
 like1 that amounts to nothing for ,god 
and the law2 just so1 when  you are at  
the point of drowning1 you like a negro 
as rescuer as well as  the most         
excellent ,caucasian1--yes1 in this     
situation you esteem a dog  not less    
than a man4 ,but to whom will not every 

one be also1  contrariwise1 a preferred 
or disregarded person8 ,god punishes the
 wicked  with his wrath1 the law        
chastises the lawless1 you let one visit
 you  every moment and show the other   
the door4    ,the equality of right is a
 phantom just because right is nothing  
more  and nothing less than admission1  
i4 e4 a matter of grace1 which1 be  it  
said1 one may also acquire by his       
desert2 for desert and grace are  not   
contradictory1 since even grace wishes  
to be deserved and our  gracious smile  
falls only to him who knows how to force
 it from us4    ,so people dream of all 
citizens of the ,state having to stand  
side by  side1 with equal rights4 ,as   
citizens of the ,state they are         
certainly  all equal for the ,state4    
,but it will divide them1 and advance   
them or  put them in the rear1 according
 to its special ends1 if on no other    
account2 and still more must it         
distinguish them from one another as    
good and bad citizens4    ,bruno ,bauer 

disposes of the ,jew question from the  
standpoint that  privilege is not       
justified4 ,because ,jew and ,christian 
have each some  point of advantage over 
the other1 and in having this point of  
advantage  are exclusive1 therefore     
before the critic's gaze they crumble   
into  nothingness4 ,with them the ,state
 lies under the like blame1 since it    
justifies their having advantages and   
stamps it as a privilege or             
prerogative1 but thereby derogates from 
its calling to become a free  ,state4   
,but now every one has something of     
advantage over another1--viz41  himself 
or his individuality2 in this everybody 
remains exclusive4    ,and1 again1      
before a third party every one makes his
 peculiarity count  for as much as      
possible1 and 7if he wants to win him at
 all7 tries to  make it appear          
attractive before him4    ,now1 is the  
third party to be insensible to the     
difference of the one  from the other8  
,do they ask that of the free ,state or 

of humanity8 ,then  these would have to 
be absolutely without self-interest1 and
 incapable  of taking an interest in any
 one whatever4 ,neither ,god 7who       
divides his  own from the wicked7 nor   
the ,state 7which knows how to separate 
good  citizens from bad7 was thought of 
as so indifferent4    ,but they are     
looking for this very third party that  
bestows no more  privilege4 ,then it is 
called perhaps the free ,state1 or      
humanity1 or  whatever else it may be4  
,as ,christian and ,jew are ranked low  
by ,br4 ,bauer on account of their      
asserting privileges1 it must be that   
they could and should free  themselves  
from their narrow standpoint by         
self-renunciation or  unselfishness4 ,if
 they threw off their egoism1 the mutual
 wrong would  cease1 and with it        
,christian and ,jewish religiousness in 
general2 it  would be necessary only    
that neither of them should any longer  
want to  be anything peculiar4    ,but1 
if they gave up this exclusiveness1 with

 that the ground on which  their        
hostilities were waged would in truth   
not yet be forsaken4 ,in case  of need  
they would indeed find a third thing on 
which they could unite1  a general      
religion1 a religion of humanity1 and   
the like2 in short1  an equalization1   
which need not be better than that which
 would result  if all ,jews became      
,christians1 by which likewise the      
privilege of one  over the other would  
have an end4 ,the tension#aej would     
indeed be  done away1 but in this       
consisted not the essence of the two1   
but only  their neighborhood4 ,as being 
distinguished from each other they must 
necessarily be mutually resistant1#aea  
and the disparity will always  remain4  
,truly it is not a failing in you that  
you stiffen#aeb yourself  against me and
 assert your distinctness or            
peculiarity3 you need not  give way or  
renounce yourself4    ,people conceive  
the significance of the opposition too  
formally and  weakly when they want only

 to dissolve it in order to make room   
for a  third thing that shall unite4    
,the opposition deserves rather to be   
sharpened4 ,as ,jew and ,christian you  
are in too slight an opposition1  and   
are contending only about religion1 as  
it were about the emperor's  beard1     
about a fiddlestick's end4 ,enemies in  
religion indeed1 in the  rest you still 
remain good friends1 and equal to each  
other1 e4 g4 as  men4 ,nevertheless the 
rest too is unlike in each2 and the time
 when you  no longer merely dissemble   
your opposition will be only when you   
entirely recognize it1 and everybody    
asserts himself from top to toe as      
unique4#aec ,then the former opposition 
will assuredly be dissolved1  but only  
because a stronger has taken it up into 
itself4    ,our weakness consists not in
 this1 that we are in opposition to     
others1  but in this1 that we are not   
completely so2 i4 e4 that we are not    
entirely severed from them1 or that we  
seek a communion1 a bond1  that in      

communion we have an ideal4 ,one faith1 
one ,god1 one idea1 one  hat1 for all6  
,if all were brought under one hat1     
certainly no one would  any longer need 
to take off his hat before another4     
,the last and most decided opposition1  
that of unique against unique1 is  at   
bottom beyond what is called opposition1
 but without having sunk back  into     
unity and unison4 ,as unique you have   
nothing in common with the  other any   
longer1 and therefore nothing divisive  
or hostile either2 you  are not seeking 
to be in the right against him before a 
third party1  and are standing with him 
neither on the ground of right nor on   
any  other common ground4 ,the          
opposition vanishes in                  
complete--severance or  singleness4#aed 
,this might indeed be regarded as the   
new point in  common or a new parity1   
but here the parity consists precisely  
in the  disparity1 and is itself nothing
 but disparity1 a par of disparity1 and 
that only for him who institutes a      

comparison4    ,the polemic against     
privilege forms a characteristic feature
 of  liberalism1 which fumes against    
privilege because it itself appeals to  
right4 ,further than to fuming it cannot
 carry this2 for privileges do  not fall
 before right falls1 as they are only   
forms of right4 ,but right  falls apart 
into its nothingness when it is         
swallowed up by might1  i4 e4 when one  
understands what is meant by ,might goes
 before right4  ,all right explains     
itself then as privilege1 and privilege 
itself as  power1 as--superior power4   
,but must not the mighty combat against 
superior power show quite another  face 
than the modest combat against          
privilege1 which is to be fought out    
before a first judge1 ,right1 according 
to the judge's mind8           99       
99       99       99       99    ,now1  
in conclusion1 ,i have still to take    
back the half-way form of  expression of
 which ,i was willing to make use only  
so long as ,i was  still rooting among  

the entrails of right1 and letting the  
word at least  stand4 ,but1 in fact1    
with the concept the word too loses its 
meaning4  ,what ,i called my right is no
 longer right at all1 because right can 
be bestowed only by a spirit1 be it the 
spirit of nature or that of the         
species1 of mankind1 the ,spirit of ,god
 or that of ,his ,holiness or ,his      
,highness1 etc4 ,what ,i have without an
 entitling spirit ,i have without       
right2 ,i have it solely and alone      
through my power4    ,i do not demand   
any right1 therefore ,i need not        
recognize any either4  ,what ,i can get 
by force ,i get by force1 and what ,i do
 not get by force ,i  have no right to1 
nor do ,i give myself airs1 or          
consolation1 with my  imprescriptible   
right4    ,with absolute right1 right   
itself passes away2 the dominion of the 
concept of right is canceled at the same
 time4 ,for it is not to be  forgotten  
that hitherto concepts1 ideas1 or       
principles ruled us1 and  that among    

these rulers the concept of right1 or of
 justice1 played one  of the most       
important parts4    ,entitled or        
unentitled--that does not concern me2 if
 ,i am only  powerful1 ,i am of myself  
empowered1 and need no other empowering 
or  entitling4    ,right--is a wheel in 
the head1 put there by a spook2         
power--that am ,i  myself1 ,i am the    
powerful one and owner of power4 ,right 
is above me1 is  absolute1 and exists in
 one higher1 as whose grace it flows to 
me3 right  is a gift of grace from the  
judge2 power and might exist only in me 
the  powerful and mighty4               
,,ii4--,,my ,,intercourse    ,in society
 the human demand at most can be        
satisfied1 while the egoistic  must     
always come short4    ,because it can   
hardly escape anybody that the present  
shows no such  living interest in any   
question as in the social1 one has to   
direct  his gaze especially to society4 
,nay1 if the interest felt in it were   
less passionate and dazzled1 people     

would not so much1 in looking at        
society1 lose sight of the individuals  
in it1 and would recognize that a       
society cannot become new so long as    
those who form and constitute it  remain
 the old ones4 ,if1 e4 g41 there was to 
arise in the ,jewish  people a society  
which should spread a new faith over the
 earth1 these  apostles could in no case
 remain ,pharisees4    ,as you are1 so  
you present yourself1 so you behave     
toward men3 a  hypocrite as a hypocrite1
 a ,christian as a ,christian4          
,therefore the  character of a society  
is determined by the character of its   
members3  they are its creators4 ,so    
much at least one must perceive even if 
one  were not willing to put to the test
 the concept society itself4    ,ever   
far from letting themselves come to     
their full development and  consequence1
 men have hitherto not been able to     
found their societies on  themselves2 or
 rather1 they have been able only to    
found societies  and to live in         

societies4 ,the societies were always   
persons1 powerful  persons1 so-called   
moral persons1 i4 e4 ghosts1 before     
which the  individual had the           
appropriate wheel in his head1 the fear 
of ghosts4 ,as  such ghosts they may    
most suitably be designated by the      
respective names  people and peoplet3   
the people of the patriarchs1 the people
 of the  ,hellenes1 etc41 at last       
the--people of men1 ,mankind            
7,anacharsis ,clootz  was enthusiastic  
for the nation of mankind72 then every  
subdivision  of this people1 which could
 and must have its special societies1   
the  ,spanish1 ,french people1 etc42    
within it again classes1 cities1 in     
short  all kinds of corporations2       
lastly1 tapering to the finest point1   
the  little people of the--family4      
,hence1 instead of saying that the      
person  that walked as ghost in all     
societies hitherto has been the people1 
there might also have been named the two
 extremes1--to wit1 either  mankind or  

the family1 both the most natural-born  
units4 ,we choose  the word people#aee  
because its derivation has been brought 
into  connection with the ,greek polloi1
 the many or the masses1 but  still more
 because national efforts are at present
 the order of the  day1 and because even
 the newest mutineers have not yet      
shaken off this  deceptive person1      
although on the other hand the latter   
consideration  must give the preference 
to the expression mankind1 since on all 
sides  they are going in for enthusiasm 
over mankind4    ,the people1           
then1--mankind or the family1--have     
hitherto1 as it seems1  played history3 
no egoistic interest was to come up in  
these  societies1 but solely general    
ones1 national or popular interests1    
class  interests1 family interests1 and 
general human interests4 ,but who has   
brought to their fall the peoples whose 
decline history relates8 ,who but  the  
egoist1 who was seeking his             
satisfaction6 ,if once an egoistic      

interest crept in1 the society was      
corrupted and moved toward its          
dissolution1 as ,rome1 e4 g41 proves    
with its highly developed system  of    
private rights1 or ,christianity with   
the incessantly-breaking-in  rational   
self-determination1 self-consciousness1 
the autonomy of  the spirit1 etc4       
,the ,christian people has produced two 
societies whose duration will keep      
equal measure with the permanence of    
that people3 these are the  societies   
,state and ,church4 ,can they be called 
a union of egoists8  ,do we in them     
pursue an egoistic1 personal1 own       
interest1 or do we  pursue a popular 7i4
 e4 an interest of the ,christian       
people71 to  wit1 a ,state and ,church  
interest8 ,can ,i and may ,i be myself  
in them8 ,may  ,i think and act as ,i   
will1 may ,i reveal myself1 live myself 
out1 busy  myself8 ,must ,i not leave   
untouched the majesty of the ,state1 the
  sanctity of the ,church8    ,well1 ,i 
may not do as ,i will4 ,but shall ,i    

find in any society such an  unmeasured 
freedom of maying8 ,certainly no6       
,accordingly we might be  content8 ,not 
a bit6 ,it is a different thing whether 
,i rebound from an  ego or from a       
people1 a generalization4 ,there ,i am  
my opponent's  opponent1 born his equal2
 here ,i am a despised opponent1 bound  
and under  a guardian3 there ,i stand   
man to man2 here ,i am a schoolboy who  
can  accomplish nothing against his     
comrade because the latter has called   
father and mother to aid and has crept  
under the apron1 while ,i am well       
scolded as an ill-bred brat1 and ,i must
 not argue3 there ,i fight  against a   
bodily enemy2 here against mankind1     
against a generalization1  against a    
majesty1 against a spook4 ,but to me no 
majesty1 nothing  sacred1 is a limit2   
nothing that ,i know how to overpower4  
,only that  which ,i cannot overpower   
still limits my might2 and ,i of limited
 might  am temporarily a limited ,i1 not
 limited by the might outside me1 but   

limited by my own still deficient might1
 by my own impotence4  ,however1 the    
,guard dies1 but does not surrender6    
,above all1 only a  bodily opponent6    
,i dare meet every foeman    ,whom ,i   
can see and measure with my eye1        
,whose mettle fires my mettle for the   
fight1--etc4    ,many privileges have   
indeed been cancelled with time1 but    
solely for the  sake of the common weal1
 of the ,state and the ,state's weal1 by
 no means  for the strengthening of me4 
,vassalage1 e4 g41 was abrogated only   
that  a single liege lord1 the lord of  
the people1 the monarchical power1      
might be strengthened3 vassalage under  
the one became yet more rigorous        
thereby4 ,only in favor of the monarch1 
be he called prince or law1  have       
privileges fallen4 ,in ,france the      
citizens are not1 indeed1 vassals  of   
the king1 but are instead vassals of the
 law 7the ,charter74  ,subordination was
 retained1 only the ,christian ,state   
recognized that  man cannot serve two   

masters 7the lord of the manor and the  
prince1  etc472 therefore one obtained  
all the prerogatives2 now he can again  
place one above another1 he can make men
 in high place4    ,but of what concern 
to me is the common weal8 ,the common   
weal as such is  not my weal1 but only  
the furthest extremity of               
self-renunciation4  ,the common weal may
 cheer aloud while ,i must down2#aef the
 ,state may  shine while ,i starve4 ,in 
what lies the folly of the political    
liberals  but in their opposing the     
people to the government and talking of 
people's rights8 ,so there is the people
 going to be of age1 etc4 ,as if  one   
who has no mouth could be muendig6#aeg  
,only the individual is  able to be     
muendig4 ,thus the whole question of the
 liberty of the  press is turned upside 
down when it is laid claim to as a right
 of the  people4 ,it is only a right1 or
 better the might1 of the individual4   
,if a people has liberty of the press1  
then ,i1 although in the midst of  this 

people1 have it not2 a liberty of the   
people is not my liberty1  and the      
liberty of the press as a liberty of the
 people must have at its  side a press  
law directed against me4    ,this must  
be insisted on all around against the   
present-day efforts for  liberty3       
,liberty of the people is not my        
liberty6    ,let us admit these         
categories1 liberty of the people and   
right of the  people3 e4 g4 the right of
 the people that everybody may bear     
arms4  ,does one not forfeit such a     
right8 ,one cannot forfeit his own      
right1 but  may well forfeit a right    
that belongs not to me but to the       
people4 ,i may  be locked1 up for the   
sake of the liberty of the people2 ,i   
may1 under  sentence1 incur the loss of 
the right to bear arms4    ,liberalism  
appears as the last attempt at a        
creation of the liberty of  the people1 
a liberty of the commune1 of society1 of
 the general1 of  mankind2 the dream of 
a humanity1 a people1 a commune1 a      

society1  that shall be of age4    ,a   
people cannot be free otherwise than at 
the individual's expense2 for  it is not
 the individual that is the main point  
in this liberty1 but the  people4 ,the  
freer the people1 the more bound the    
individual2 the  ,athenian people1      
precisely at its freest time1 created   
ostracism1  banished the atheists1      
poisoned the most honest thinker4       
,how they do praise ,socrates for his   
conscientiousness1 which makes nun      
resist the advice to get away from the  
dungeon6 ,he is a fool that he  concedes
 to the ,athenians a right to condemn   
him4 ,therefore it certainly  serves him
 right2 why then does he remain standing
 on an equal footing  with the          
,athenians8 ,why does he not break with 
them8 ,had he known1 and  been able to  
know1 what he was1 he would have        
conceded to such judges no  claim1 no   
right4 ,that he did not escape was just 
his weakness1 his  delusion of still    
having something in common with the     

,athenians1 or the  opinion that he was 
a member1 a mere member of this people4 
,but he was  rather this people itself  
in person1 and could only be his own    
judge4  ,there was no judge over him1 as
 he himself had really pronounced a     
public sentence on himself and rated    
himself worthy of the ,prytaneum4 ,he   
should have stuck to that1 and1 as he   
had uttered no sentence of death        
against himself1 should have despised   
that of the ,athenians too and  escaped4
 ,but he subordinated himself and       
recognized in the people his  judge2 he 
seemed little to himself before the     
majesty of the people4  ,that he        
subjected himself to might 7to which    
alone he could succumb7  as to a right  
was treason against himself3 it was     
virtue4 ,to  ,christ1 who1 it is        
alleged1 refrained from using the power 
over his  heavenly legions1 the same    
scrupulousness is thereby ascribed by   
the  narrators4 ,luther did very well   
and wisely to have the safety of his    

journey to ,worms warranted to him in   
black and white1 and ,socrates  should  
have known that the ,athenians were his 
enemies1 he alone his  judge4 ,the      
self-deception of a reign of law1 etc41 
should have given  way to the perception
 that the relation was a relation of    
might4    ,it was with pettifoggery and 
intrigues that ,greek liberty ended4    
,why8  ,because the ordinary ,greeks    
could still less attain that logical    
conclusion which not even their hero of 
thought1 ,socrates1 was able to  draw4  
,what then is pettifoggery but a way of 
utilizing something  established without
 doing away with it8 ,i might add for   
one's own  advantage1 but1 you see1 that
 lies in utilizing4 ,such pettifoggers  
are the theologians who wrest and force 
,god's word2 what would they  have to   
wrest if it were not for the established
 ,word of ,god8 ,so those  liberals who 
only shake and wrest the established    
order4 ,they are all  perverters1 like  
those perverters of the law4 ,socrates  

recognized law1  right2 the ,greeks     
constantly retained the authority of    
right and law4 ,if  with this           
recognition they wanted nevertheless to 
assert their  advantage1 every one his  
own1 then they had to seek it in        
perversion of  the law1 or intrigue4    
,alcibiades1 an intriguer of genius1    
introduces the  period of ,athenian     
decay2 the ,spartan ,lysander and others
 show that  intrigue had become         
universally ,greek4 ,greek law1 on which
 the ,greek  ,states rested1 had to be  
perverted and undermined by the egoists 
within these ,states1 and the ,states   
went down that the individuals  might   
become free1 the ,greek people fell     
because the individuals cared  less for 
this people than for themselves4 ,in    
general1 all ,states1  constitutions1   
churches1 etc41 have sunk by the        
secession of  individuals2 for the      
individual is the irreconcilable enemy  
of every  generality1 every tie1 i4 e4  
every fetter4 ,yet people fancy to  this

 day that man needs sacred ties3 he1 the
 deadly enemy of every  tie4 ,the       
history of the world shows that no tie  
has yet remained  unrent1 shows that man
 tirelessly defends himself against ties
 of every  sort2 and yet1 blinded1      
people think up new ties again and      
again1 and  think1 e4 g41 that they have
 arrived at the right one if one puts   
upon  them the tie of a so-called free  
constitution1 a beautiful1              
constitutional tie2 decoration ribbons1 
the ties of confidence between  ----    
---- ----1 do seem gradually to have    
become somewhat infirm1 but  people have
 made no further progress than from     
apron-strings to garters  and collars4  
,everything sacred is a tie1 a fetter4  
,everything sacred is and must be       
perverted by perverters of the law2     
therefore our present time has          
multitudes of such perverters in all    
spheres4 ,they are preparing the way for
 the break-up of law1 for  lawlessness4 
,poor ,athenians who are accused of     

pettifoggery and sophistry6 poor        
,alcibiades1 of intrigue6 ,why1 that was
 just your best point1 your first  step 
in freedom4 ,your schylus1 ,herodotus1  
etc41 only wanted to have a  free ,greek
 people2 you were the first to surmise  
something of your  freedom4    ,a people
 represses those who tower above its    
majesty1 by ostracism  against          
too-powerful citizens1 by the           
,inquisition against the heretics  of   
the ,church1 by the--,inquisition       
against traitors in the ,state1 etc4    
,for the people is concerned only with  
its self-assertion2 it demands          
patriotic self-sacrifice from everybody4
 ,to it1 accordingly1 every one  in     
himself is indifferent1 a nothing1 and  
it cannot do1 not even  suffer1 what the
 individual and he alone must do1--to   
wit1 turn him to  account4 ,every       
people1 every ,state1 is unjust toward  
the egoist4    ,as long as there still  
exists even one institution which the   
individual  may not dissolve1 the       

ownness and self-appurtenance of ,me is 
still very  remote4 ,how can ,i1 e4 g41 
be free when ,i must bind myself by oath
 to a  constitution1 a charter1 a law1  
vow body and soul to my people8 ,how    
can ,i be my own when my faculties may  
develop only so far as they do  not     
disturb the harmony of society          
7,weitling78    ,the fall of peoples and
 mankind will invite me to my rise4     
,listen1 even as ,i am writing this1 the
 bells begin to sound1 that they  may   
jingle in for to-morrow the festival of 
the thousand years existence  of our    
dear ,germany4 ,sound1 sound its knell6 
,you do sound solemn enough1  as if your
 tongue was moved by the presentiment   
that it is giving convoy  to a corpse4  
,the ,german people and ,german peoples 
have behind them a  history of a        
thousand years3 what a long life6 ,o1 go
 to rest1 never to  rise again1--that   
all may become free whom you so long    
have held in  fetters4--,the people is  
dead4--,up with me6    ,o thou my       

much-tormented ,german people--what was 
thy torment8 ,it was the  torment of a  
thought that cannot create itself a     
body1 the torment of a  walking spirit  
that dissolves into nothing at every    
cock-crow and yet  pines for deliverance
 and fulfilment4 ,in me too thou hast   
lived long1  thou dear--thought1 thou   
dear--spook4 ,already ,i almost fancied 
,i had  found the word of thy           
deliverance1 discovered flesh and bones 
for the  wandering spirit2 then ,i hear 
them sound1 the bells that usher thee   
into  eternal rest2 then the last hope  
fades out1 then the notes of the last   
love die away1 then ,i depart from the  
desolate house of those who now  are    
dead and enter at the door of           
the--living one3      ,for only he who  
is alive is in the right4    ,farewell1 
thou dream of so many millions2         
farewell1 thou who hast  tyrannized over
 thy children for a thousand years6     
,to-morrow they carry thee to the grave2
 soon thy sisters1 the peoples1  will   

follow thee4 ,but1 when they have all   
followed1 then----mankind is  buried1   
and ,i am my own1 ,i am the laughing    
heir6           99       99       99    
99       99    ,the word ,gesellschaft  
7society7 has its origin in the word    
,sal  7hall74 ,if one hall encloses many
 persons1 then the hall causes these    
persons to be in society4 ,they are in  
society1 and at most constitute  a      
parlor-society by talking in the        
traditional forms of parlor speech4     
,when it comes to real intercourse1 this
 is to be regarded as  independent of   
society3 it may occur or be lacking1    
without altering  the nature of what is 
named society4 ,those who are in the    
hall are a  society even as mute        
persons1 or when they put each other off
 solely  with empty phrases of courtesy4
 ,intercourse is mutuality1 it is the   
action1 the commercium1 of individuals2 
society is only community of  the hall1 
and even the statues of a museum-hall   
are in society1 they are  grouped4      

,people are accustomed to say they haben
 inne#aeh this  hall in common1 but the 
case is rather that the hall has us inne
 or  in it4 ,so far the natural         
signification of the word society4 ,in  
this it  comes out that society is not  
generated by me and you1 but by a third 
factor which makes associates out of us 
two1 and that it is just this  third    
factor that is the creative one1 that   
which creates society4    ,just so a    
prison society or prison companionship  
7those who enjoy#aei  the same prison74 
,here we already hit upon a third factor
 fuller of  significance than was that  
merely local one1 the hall4 ,prison no  
longer  means a space only1 but a space 
with express reference to its           
inhabitants3 for it is a prison only    
through being destined for  prisoners1  
without whom it would be a mere         
building4 ,what gives a common  stamp to
 those who are gathered in it8          
,evidently the prison1 since it is  only
 by means of the prison that they are   

prisoners4 ,what1 then1  determines the 
manner of life of the prison society8   
,the prison6 ,what  determines their    
intercourse8 ,the prison too1 perhaps8  
,certainly they  can enter upon         
intercourse only as prisoners1 i4 e4    
only so far as  the prison laws allow   
it2 but that they themselves hold       
intercourse1 ,i  with you1 this the     
prison cannot bring to pass2 on the     
contrary1 it must  have an eye to       
guarding against such egoistic1 purely  
personal  intercourse 7and only as such 
is it really intercourse between me and 
you74 ,that we jointly execute a job1   
run a machine1 effectuate  anything in  
general1--for this a prison will indeed 
provide2 but that ,i  forget that ,i am 
a prisoner1 and engage in intercourse   
with you who  likewise disregard it1    
brings danger to the prison1 and not    
only cannot  be caused by it1 but must  
not even be permitted4 ,for this reason 
the  saintly and moral-minded ,french   
chamber decides to introduce solitary   

confinement1 and other saints will do   
the like in order to cut off            
demoralizing intercourse4 ,imprisonment 
is the established and--sacred          
condition1 to injure which no attempt   
must be made4 ,the slightest push  of   
that kind is punishable1 as is every    
uprising against a sacred thing  by     
which man is to be charmed and chained4 
,like the hall1 the prison does form a  
society1 a companionship1 a  communion  
7e4 g4 communion of labor71 but no      
intercourse1 no  reciprocity1 no union4 
,on the contrary1 every union in the    
prison  bears within it the dangerous   
seed of a plot1 which under favorable   
circumstances might spring up and bear  
fruit4    ,yet one does not usually     
enter the prison voluntarily1 and seldom
  remains in it voluntarily either1 but 
cherishes the egoistic desire for       
liberty4 ,here1 therefore1 it sooner    
becomes manifest that personal          
intercourse is in hostile relations to  
the prison society and tends to  the    

dissolution of this very society1 this  
joint incarceration4    ,let us         
therefore look about for such communions
 as1 it seems1 we remain  in gladly and 
voluntarily1 without wanting to endanger
 them by our  egoistic impulses4    ,as 
a communion of the required sort the    
family offers itself in the  first      
place4 ,parents1 husband and wife1      
children1 brothers and sisters1         
represent a whole or form a family1 for 
the further widening of which  the      
collateral relatives also may be made to
 serve if taken into  account4 ,the     
family is a true communion only when the
 law of the family1  piety#afj or family
 love1 is observed by its members4 ,a   
son to whom  parents1 brothers1 and     
sisters have become indifferent has been
 a son2  for1 as the sonship no longer  
shows itself efficacious1 it has no     
greater significance than the long-past 
connection of mother and child  by the  
navel-string4 ,that one has once lived  
in this bodily juncture  cannot as a    

fact be undone2 and so far one remains  
irrevocably this  mother's son and the  
brother of the rest of her children2 but
 it would  come to a lasting connection 
only by lasting piety1 this spirit of   
the  family4 ,individuals are members of
 a family in the full sense only when   
they make the persistence of the family 
their task2 only as  conservative do    
they keep aloof from doubting their     
basis1 the family4  ,to every member of 
the family one thing must be fixed and  
sacred1--viz41 the family itself1 or1   
more expressively1 piety4 ,that  the    
family is to persist remains to its     
member1 so long as he keeps  himself    
free from that egoism which is hostile  
to the family1 an  unassailable truth4  
,in a word3--,if the family is sacred1  
then nobody who  belongs to it may      
secede from it2 else he becomes a       
criminal against  the family3 he may    
never pursue an interest hostile to the 
family1  e4 g4 form a misalliance4 ,he  
who does this has dishonored the        

family1 put it to shame1 etc4    ,now1  
if in an individual the egoistic impulse
 has not force enough1 he  complies and 
makes a marriage which suits the claims 
of the family1  takes a rank which      
harmonizes with its position1 and the   
like2 in short1  he does honor to the   
family4    ,if1 on the contrary1 the    
egoistic blood flows fierily enough in  
his  veins1 he prefers to become a      
criminal against the family and to throw
  off its laws4    ,which of the two    
lies nearer my heart1 the good of the   
family or my  good8 ,in innumerable     
cases both go peacefully together2 the  
advantage of  the family is at the same 
time mine1 and vice versa4 ,then it is  
hard  to decide whether ,i am thinking  
selfishly or for the common benefit1    
and perhaps ,i complacently flatter     
myself with my unselfishness4 ,but      
there comes the day when a necessity of 
choice makes me tremble1 when ,i  have  
it in mind to dishonor my family tree1  
to affront parents1  brothers1 and      

kindred4 ,what then8 ,now it will appear
 how ,i am disposed  at the bottom of my
 heart2 now it will be revealed whether 
piety ever  stood above egoism for me1  
now the selfish one can no longer skulk 
behind the semblance of unselfishness4  
,a wish rises in my soul1 and1  growing 
from hour to hour1 becomes a passion4   
,to whom does it occur at  first blush  
that the slightest thought which may    
result adversely to the  spirit of the  
family 7piety7 bears within it a        
transgression against  this8 nay1 who at
 once1 in the first moment1 becomes     
completely  conscious of the matter8 ,it
 happens so with ,juliet in ,romeo and  
,juliet4 ,the unruly passion can at last
 no longer be tamed1 and  undermines the
 building of piety4 ,you will say1      
indeed1 it is from  self-will that the  
family casts out of its bosom those     
wilful ones that  grant more of a       
hearing to their passion than to piety2 
the good  ,protestants used the same    
excuse with much success against the    

,catholics1 and believed in it          
themselves4 ,but it is just a subterfuge
 to  roll the fault off oneself1 nothing
 more4 ,the ,catholics had regard for   
the common bond of the church1 and      
thrust those heretics from them only    
because these did not have so much      
regard for the bond of the church as  to
 sacrifice their convictions to it2 the 
former1 therefore1 held the  bond fast1 
because the bond1 the ,catholic 7i4 e4  
common and united7  church1 was sacred  
to them2 the latter1 on the contrary1   
disregarded the  bond4 ,just so those   
who lack piety4 ,they are not thrust    
out1 but thrust  themselves out1 prizing
 their passion1 their wilfulness1 higher
 than the  bond of the family4    ,but  
now sometimes a wish glimmers in a less 
passionate and wilful heart  than       
,juliet's4 ,the pliable girl brings     
herself as a sacrifice to the  peace of 
the family4 ,one might say that here too
 selfishness prevailed1  for the        
decision came from the feeling that the 

pliable girl felt  herself more         
satisfied by the unity of the family    
than by the fulfilment  of her wish4    
,that might be2 but what if there       
remained a sure sign that  egoism had   
been sacrificed to piety8 ,what if1 even
 after the wish that  had been directed 
against the peace of the family was     
sacrificed1 it  remained at least as a  
recollection of a sacrifice brought to a
 sacred  tie8 ,what if the pliable girl 
were conscious of having left her       
self-will unsatisfied and humbly        
subjected herself to a higher power8    
,subjected and sacrificed1 because the  
superstition of piety exercised  its    
dominion over her6    ,there egoism won1
 here piety wins and the egoistic heart 
bleeds2 there  egoism was strong1 here  
it was--weak4 ,but the weak1 as we have 
long  known1 are the--unselfish4 ,for   
them1 for these its weak members1 the   
family cares1 because they belong to the
 family1 do not belong to  themselves   
and care for themselves4 ,this weakness 

,hegel1 e4 g41  praises when he wants to
 have match-making left to the choice of
 the  parents4    ,as a sacred communion
 to which1 among the rest1 the          
individual owes  obedience1 the family  
has the judicial function too vested in 
it2 such a  family court is described e4
 g4 in the ,cabanis of ,wilibald        
,alexis4  ,there the father1 in the name
 of the family council1 puts the        
intractable son among the soldiers and  
thrusts him out of the family1 in  order
 to cleanse the smirched family again by
 means of this act of  punishment4--,the
 most consistent development of family  
responsibility is  contained in ,chinese
 law1 according to which the whole      
family has to  expiate the individual's 
fault4    ,to-day1 however1 the arm of  
family power seldom reaches far enough  
to  take seriously in hand the          
punishment of apostates 7in most cases  
the  ,state protects even against       
disinheritance74 ,the criminal against  
the  family 7family-criminal7 flees into

 the domain of the ,state and is free1  
as the ,state-criminal who gets away to 
,america is no longer reached by  the   
punishments of his ,state4 ,he who has  
shamed his family1 the  graceless son1  
is protected against the family's       
punishment because the  ,state1 this    
protecting lord1 takes away from family 
punishment its  sacredness and profanes 
it1 decreeing that it is only--revenge3 
it  restrains punishment1 this sacred   
family right1 because before its1 the   
,state's1 sacredness the subordinate    
sacredness of the family always  pales  
and loses its sanctity as soon as it    
comes in conflict with this  higher     
sacredness4 ,without the conflict1 the  
,state lets pass the lesser  sacredness 
of the family2 but in the opposite case 
it even commands  crime against the     
family1 charging1 e4 g41 the son to     
refuse obedience  to his parents as soon
 as they want to beguile him to a crime 
against  the ,state4    ,well1 the      
egoist has broken the ties of the family

 and found in the  ,state a lord to     
shelter him against the grievously      
affronted spirit of  the family4 ,but   
where has he run now8 ,straight into a  
new society1 in  which his egoism is    
awaited by the same snares and nets that
 it has just  escaped4 ,for the ,state  
is likewise a society1 not a union2 it  
is the  broadened family 7,father of the
 ,country--,mother of the               
,country--children of the country74     
99       99       99       99       99  
,what is called a ,state is a tissue and
 plexus of dependence and  adherence2 it
 is a belonging together1 a holding     
together1 in which  those who are placed
 together fit themselves to each other1 
or1 in  short1 mutually depend on each  
other3 it is the order of this          
dependence4 ,suppose the king1 whose    
authority lends authority to all  down  
to the beadle1 should vanish3 still all 
in whom the will for order  was awake   
would keep order erect against the      
disorders of bestiality4 ,if  disorder  

were victorious1 the ,state would be at 
an end4    ,but is this thought of love1
 to fit ourselves to each other1 to     
adhere  to each other and depend on each
 other1 really capable of winning us8   
,according to this the ,state would be  
love realized1 the being for each  other
 and living for each other of all4 ,is  
not self-will being lost  while we      
attend to the will for order8 ,will     
people not be satisfied when  order is  
cared for by authority1 i4 e4 when      
authority sees to it that  no one gets  
in the way of another2 when1 then1 the  
herd is  judiciously distributed or     
ordered8 ,why1 then everything is in the
 best  order1 and it is this best order 
that is called--,state6    ,our         
societies and ,states are without our   
making them1 are united  without our    
uniting1 are predestined and            
established1 or have an  independent    
standing#afa of their own1 are the      
indissolubly established  against us    
egoists4 ,the fight of the world to-day 

is1 as it is said1  directed against the
 established4 ,yet people are wont to   
misunderstand  this as if it were only  
that what is now established was to be  
exchanged for another1 a better1        
established system4 ,but war might      
rather be declared against establishment
 itself1 i4 e4 the ,state1  not a       
particular ,state1 not any such thing as
 the mere condition of the  ,state at   
the time2 it is not another ,state 7such
 as a people's ,state7  that men aim at1
 but their union1 uniting1 this         
ever-fluid uniting of  everything       
standing4--,a ,state exists even without
 my co-operation3 ,i am  born in it1    
brought up in it1 under obligations to  
it1 and must do it  homage4#afb ,it     
takes me up into its favor1#afc and ,i  
live by its  grace4 ,thus the           
independent establishment of the ,state 
founds my lack  of independence2 its    
condition as a natural growth1 its      
organism1  demands that my nature do not
 grow freely1 but be cut to fit it4     

,that  it may be able to unfold in      
natural growth1 it applies to me the    
shears of civilization2 it gives me an  
education and culture adapted  to it1   
not to me1 and teaches me e4 g4 to      
respect the laws1 to refrain  from      
injury to ,state property 7i4 e4 private
 property71 to reverence  divine and    
earthly highness1 etc42 in short1 it    
teaches me to  be--unpunishable1        
sacrificing my ownness to sacredness    
7everything  possible is sacred1 e4 g4  
property1 others' life1 etc474 ,in this 
consists the sort of civilization and   
culture that the ,state is able to  give
 me3 it brings me up to be a serviceable
 instrument1 a  serviceable member of   
society4    ,this every ,state must do1 
the people's ,state as well as the      
absolute or  constitutional one4 ,it    
must do so as long as we rest in the    
error that  it is an ,i1 as which it    
then applies to itself the name of a    
moral1  mystical1 or political person4  
,i1 who really am ,i1 must pull off this

  lion-skin of the ,i from the stalking 
thistle-eater4 ,what manifold  robbery  
have ,i not put up with in the history  
of the world6 ,there ,i let  sun1 moon1 
and stars1 cats and crocodiles1 receive 
the honor of ranking  as ,i2 there      
,jehovah1 ,allah1 and ,our ,father came 
and were invested with  the ,i2 there   
families1 tribes1 peoples1 and at last  
actually mankind1  came and were honored
 as ,i's2 there the ,church1 the ,state1
 came with the  pretension to be        
,i1--and ,i gazed calmly on all4 ,what  
wonder if then  there was always a real 
,i too that joined the company and      
affirmed in my  face that it was not my 
you but my real ,i4 ,why1 the ,son of   
,man  par excellence had done the like2 
why should not a son of man do it  too8 
,so ,i saw my ,i always above me and    
outside me1 and could never  really come
 to myself4    ,i never believed in     
myself2 ,i never believed in my present1
 ,i saw myself  only in the future4 ,the
 boy believes he will be a proper ,i1 a 

proper  fellow1 only when he has become 
a man2 the man thinks1 only in the other
  world will he be something proper4    
,and1 to enter more closely upon        
reality at once1 even the best are      
to-day still persuading each other  that
 one must have received into himself the
 ,state1 his people1 mankind1  and what 
not1 in order to be a real ,i1 a free   
burgher1 a citizen1 a  free or true man2
 they too see the truth and reality of  
me in the  reception of an alien ,i and 
devotion to it4 ,and what sort of an ,i8
 ,an ,i  that is neither an ,i nor a    
you1 a fancied ,i1 a spook4    ,while in
 the ,middle ,ages the church could well
 brook many ,states living  united in   
it1 the ,states learned after the       
,reformation1 especially after  the     
,thirty ,years' ,war1 to tolerate many  
churches 7confessions7 gathering  under 
one crown4 ,but all ,states are         
religious and1 as the case may be1      
,christian ,states1 and make it their   
task to force the intractable1 the      

egoists1 under the bond of the          
unnatural1 i4 e4 ,christianize them4    
,all arrangements of the ,christian     
,state have the object of               
,christianizing the people4 ,thus the   
court has the object of forcing  people 
to justice1 the school that of forcing  
them to mental  culture1--in short1 the 
object of protecting those who act      
,christianly  against those who act     
unchristianly1 of bringing ,christian   
action to  dominion1 of making it       
powerful4 ,among these means of force   
the  ,state counted the ,church1 too1 it
 demanded a--particular religion from   
everybody4 ,dupin said lately against   
the clergy1 ,instruction and  education 
belong to the ,state4    ,certainly     
everything that regards the principle of
 morality is a ,state  affair4 ,hence it
 is that the ,chinese ,state meddles so 
much in family  concerns1 and one is    
nothing there if one is not first of all
 a good  child to his parents4 ,family  
concerns are altogether ,state concerns 

with  us too1 only that our ,state--puts
 confidence in the families without     
painful oversight2 it holds the family  
bound by the marriage tie1 and  this tie
 cannot be broken without it4    ,but   
that the ,state makes me responsible for
 my principles1 and demands  certain    
ones from me1 might make me ask1 what   
concern has it with the  wheel in my    
head 7principle78 ,very much1 for the   
,state is the--ruling  principle4 ,it is
 supposed that in divorce matters1 in   
marriage law in  general1 the question  
is of the proportion of rights between  
,church and  ,state4 ,rather1 the       
question is of whether anything sacred  
is to rule  over man1 be it called faith
 or ethical law 7morality74 ,the ,state 
behaves as the same ruler that the      
,church was4 ,the latter rests on       
godliness1 the former on morality4      
,people talk of the tolerance1 the      
leaving opposite tendencies free1 and   
the like1 by which civilized ,states are
 distinguished4 ,certainly some  are    

strong enough to look with complacency  
on even the most unrestrained  meetings1
 while others charge their catchpolls to
 go hunting for  tobacco-pipes4 ,yet for
 one ,state as for another the play of  
individuals  among themselves1 their    
buzzing to and fro1 their daily life1 is
 an  incident which it must be content  
to leave to themselves because it  can  
do nothing with this4 ,many1 indeed1    
still strain out gnats and  swallow     
camels1 while others are shrewder4      
,individuals are freer in  the latter1  
because less pestered4 ,but ,i am free  
in no ,state4 ,the  lauded tolerance of 
,states is simply a tolerating of the   
harmless1 the  not dangerous2 it is only
 elevation above pettymindedness1 only a
 more  estimable1 grander1              
prouder--despotism4 ,a certain ,state   
seemed for a  while to mean to be pretty
 well elevated above literary combats1  
which  might be carried on with all     
heat2 ,england is elevated above popular
  turmoil and--tobacco-smoking4 ,but woe

 to the literature that deals  blows at 
the ,state itself1 woe to the mobs that 
endanger the ,state4  ,in that certain  
,state they dream of a free science1 in 
,england of a  free popular life4       
,the ,state does let individuals play as
 freely as possible1 only they  must not
 be in earnest1 must not forget it4 ,man
 must not carry on  intercourse with man
 unconcernedly1 not without superior    
oversight  and mediation4 ,i must not   
execute all that ,i am able to1 but only
 so  much as the ,state allows2 ,i must 
not turn to account my thoughts1 nor  my
 work1 nor1 in general1 anything of     
mine4    ,the ,state always has the sole
 purpose to limit1 tame1 subordinate1   
the  individual--to make him subject to 
some generality or other2 it lasts  only
 so long as the individual is not all in
 all1 and it is only the  clearly-marked
 restriction of me1 my limitation1 my   
slavery4 ,never  does a ,state aim to   
bring in the free activity of           
individuals1 but  always that which is  

bound to the purpose of the ,state4     
,through the  ,state nothing in common  
comes to pass either1 as little as one  
can  call a piece of cloth the common   
work of all the individual parts of a   
machine2 it is rather the work of the   
whole machine as a unit1 machine  work4 
,in the same style everything is done by
 the ,state machine too2  for it moves  
the clockwork of the individual minds1  
none of which follow  their own impulse4
 ,the ,state seeks to hinder every free 
activity by its  censorship1 its        
supervision1 its police1 and holds this 
hindering to be  its duty1 because it is
 in truth a duty of self-preservation4  
,the ,state  wants to make something out
 of man1 therefore there live in it only
  made men2 every one who wants to be   
his own self is its opponent and  is    
nothing4 ,he is nothing means as much   
as1 ,the ,state does not make  use of   
him1 grants him no position1 no office1 
no trade1 and the like4    ,e4          
,bauer1#afd in the ,liberale            

,bestrebungen1 ,,ii1 #ej1 is still      
dreaming of a government which1         
proceeding out of the people1 can never 
stand in opposition to it4 ,he does     
indeed 7p4 #fi7 himself take back the   
word government3 ,in the republic no    
government at all obtains1 but  only an 
executive authority4 ,an authority which
 proceeds purely and  alone out of the  
people2 which has not an independent    
power1 independent  principles1         
independent officers1 over against the  
people2 but which has  its foundation1  
the fountain of its power and of its    
principles1 in the  sole1 supreme       
authority of the ,state1 in the people4 
,the concept  government1 therefore1 is 
not at all suitable in the people's     
,state4  ,but the thing remains the     
same4 ,that which has proceeded1 been   
founded1  sprung from the fountain      
becomes something independent and1 like 
a  child delivered from the womb1 enters
 upon opposition at once4 ,the          
government1 if it were nothing          

independent and opposing1 would be      
nothing at all4    ,in the free ,state  
there is no government1 etc4 7p4 #id74  
,this surely  means that the people1    
when it is the sovereign1 does not let  
itself  be conducted by a superior      
authority4 ,is it perchance different in
  absolute monarchy8 ,is there there for
 the sovereign1 perchance1 a  government
 standing over him8 ,over the sovereign1
 be he called prince  or people1 there  
never stands a government3 that is      
understood of  itself4 ,but over me     
there will stand a government in every  
,state1 in  the absolute as well as in  
the republican or free4 ,i am as badly  
off  in one as in the other4    ,the    
republic is nothing whatever            
but--absolute monarchy2 for it makes no 
difference whether the monarch is called
 prince or people1 both being a         
majesty4 ,constitutionalism itself      
proves that nobody is able and  willing 
to be only an instrument4 ,the ministers
 domineer over their  master the prince1

 the deputies over their master the     
people4 ,here1  then1 the parties at    
least are already free1--videlicet1 the 
office-holders' party 7so-called        
people's party74 ,the prince must       
conform to the will of the ministers1   
the people dance to the pipe of  the    
chambers4 ,constitutionalism is further 
than the republic1 because it  is the   
,state in incipient dissolution4    ,e4 
,bauer denies 7p4 #ef7 that the people  
is a personality in the  constitutional 
,state2 per contra1 then1 in the        
republic8 ,well1 in the  constitutional 
,state the people is--a party1 and a    
party is surely a  personality if one is
 once resolved to talk of a political   
7p4 #gf7  moral person anyhow4 ,the fact
 is that a moral person1 be it called   
people's party or people or even the    
,lord1 is in no wise a person1 but  a   
spook4    ,further1 ,e4 ,bauer goes on  
7p4 #fi73 guardianship is the           
characteristic  of a government4 ,truly1
 still more that of a people and        

people's  ,state2 it is the             
characteristic of all dominion4 ,a      
people's ,state1  which unites in itself
 all completeness of power1 the absolute
  master1 cannot let me become powerful4
 ,and what a chimera1 to be no  longer  
willing to call the people's officials  
servants1 instruments1  because they    
execute the free1 rational law-will of  
the people6 7p4  #gc74 ,he thinks 7p4   
#gd73 ,only by all official circles     
subordinating  themselves to the        
government's views can unity be brought 
into the  ,state2 but his people's      
,state is to have unity too2 how will a 
lack  of subordination be allowable     
there8 subordination to the--people's   
will4    ,in the constitutional ,state  
it is the regent and his disposition    
that  the whole structure of government 
rests on in the end4 7,ibid41 p4  #acj47
 ,how would that be otherwise in the    
people's ,state8 ,shall ,i not  there be
 governed by the people's disposition   
too1 and does it make a  difference for 

me whether ,i see myself kept in        
dependence by the  prince's disposition 
or by the people's disposition1         
so-called public  opinion8 ,if          
dependence means as much as religious   
relation1 as ,e4  ,bauer rightly        
alleges1 then in the people's ,state the
 people remains  for me the superior    
power1 the majesty 7for ,god and prince 
have  their proper essence in majesty7  
to which ,i stand in religious          
relations4--,like the sovereign regent1 
the sovereign people too would be       
reached by no law4 ,e4 ,bauer's whole   
attempt comes to a change of  masters4  
,instead of wanting to make the people  
free1 he should have  had his mind on   
the sole realizable freedom1 his own4   
,in the constitutional ,state absolutism
 itself has at last come in  conflict   
with itself1 as it has been shattered   
into a duality2 the  government wants to
 be absolute1 and the people wants to be
 absolute4  ,these two absolutes will   
wear out against each other4    ,e4     

,bauer inveighs against the             
determination of the regent by birth1 by
  chance4 ,but1 when the people have    
become the sole power in the  ,state 7p4
 #acb71 have we not then in it a master 
from chance8 ,why1  what is the people8 
,the people has always been only the    
body of the  government3 it is many     
under one hat 7a prince's hat7 or many  
under one  constitution4 ,and the       
constitution is the--prince4 ,princes   
and peoples  will persist so long as    
both do not collapse1 i4 e4 fall        
together4  ,if under one constitution   
there are many peoples1--e4 g4 in the   
ancient ,persian monarchy and           
to-day1--then these peoples rank only as
  provinces4 ,for me the people is in   
any case an--accidental power1 a  force 
of nature1 an enemy that ,i must        
overcome4    ,what is one to think of   
under the name of an organized people   
7ibid41 p4 #acb78 ,a people that no     
longer has a government1 that  governs  
itself4 ,in which1 therefore1 no ego    

stands out prominently2 a  people       
organized by ostracism4 ,the banishment 
of egos1 ostracism1 makes  the people   
autocrat4    ,if you speak of the       
people1 you must speak of the prince2   
for the  people1 if it is to be a       
subject#afe and make history1 must1 like
  everything that acts1 have a head1 its
 supreme head4 ,weitling sets  this     
forth in the ,trio1 and ,proudhon       
declares1 une socit1 pour  ainsi dire   
acphale1 ne peut vivre4#aff    ,the vox 
populi is now always held up to us1 and 
public opinion is to  rule our princes4 
,certainly the vox populi is at the same
 time vox  dei2 but is either of any    
use1 and is not the vox principis also  
vox  dei8    ,at this point the         
,nationals may be brought to mind4 ,to  
demand of the  thirty-eight ,states of  
,germany that they shall act as one     
nation can  only be put alongside the   
senseless desire that thirty-eight      
swarms of  bees1 led by thirty-eight    
queen-bees1 shall unite themselves into 

one  swarm4 ,bees they all remain2 but  
it is not the bees as bees that  belong 
together and can join themselves        
together1 it is only that the  subject  
bees are connected with the ruling      
queens4 ,bees and peoples  are destitute
 of will1 and the instinct of their     
queens leads them4    ,if one were to   
point the bees to their beehood1 in     
which at any rate  they are all equal to
 each other1 one would be doing the same
 thing that  they are now doing so      
stormily in pointing the ,germans to    
their  ,germanhood4 ,why1 ,germanhood is
 just like beehood in this very thing1  
that it bears in itself the necessity of
 cleavages and separations1 yet  without
 pushing on to the last separation1     
where1 with the complete  carrying      
through of the process of separating1   
its end appears3 ,i mean1  to the       
separation of man from man4 ,germanhood 
does indeed divide itself  into         
different peoples and tribes1 i4 e4     
beehives2 but the individual  who has   

the quality of being a ,german is still 
as powerless as the  isolated bee4 ,and 
yet only individuals can enter into     
union with each  other1 and all         
alliances and leagues of peoples are and
 remain  mechanical compoundings1       
because those who come together1 at     
least so  far as the peoples are        
regarded as the ones that have come     
together1  are destitute of will4 ,only 
with the last separation does separation
  itself end and change to unification4 
,now the ,nationals are exerting        
themselves to set up the abstract1      
lifeless unity of beehood2 but the      
self-owned are going to fight for the   
unity willed by their own will1 for     
union4 ,this is the token of all        
reactionary wishes1 that they want to   
set up something general1  abstract1 an 
empty1 lifeless concept1 in distinction 
from which the  self-owned aspire to    
relieve the robust1 lively particular   
from the  trashy burden of generalities4
 ,the reactionaries would be glad to    

smite  a people1 a nation1 forth from   
the earth2 the self-owned have before   
their eyes only themselves4 ,in         
essentials the two efforts that are just
  now the order of the day--to wit1 the 
restoration of provincial rights  and of
 the old tribal divisions 7,franks1     
,bavarians1 etc41 ,lusatia1  etc471 and 
the restoration of the entire           
nationality--coincide in one4  ,but the 
,germans will come into unison1 i4 e4   
unite themselves1 only  when they knock 
over their beehood as well as all the   
beehives2 in other  words1 when they are
 more than--,germans3 only then can they
 form a  ,german ,union4 ,they must not 
want to turn back into their            
nationality1  into the womb1 in order to
 be born again1 but let every one turn  
in to  himself4 ,how ridiculously       
sentimental when one ,german grasps     
another's  hand and presses it with     
sacred awe because he too is a ,german6 
,with  that he is something great6 ,but 
this will certainly still be thought    

touching as long as people are          
enthusiastic for brotherliness1 i4 e4   
as long as they have a family           
disposition4 ,from the superstition of  
piety1 from brotherliness or            
childlikeness or however else the       
soft-hearted piety-phrases run1--from   
the family spirit1--the  ,nationals1 who
 want to have a great family of         
,germans1 cannot liberate  themselves4  
,aside from this1 the so-called         
,nationals would only have to understand
  themselves rightly in order to lift   
themselves out of their juncture  with  
the good-natured ,teutomaniacs4 ,for the
 uniting for material ends  and         
interests1 which they demand of the     
,germans1 comes to nothing else  than a 
voluntary union4 ,carriere1 inspired1   
cries out1#afg ,railroads  are to the   
more penetrating eye the way to a life  
of the people such  as has not yet      
anywhere appeared in such significance4 
,quite right1 it  will be a life of the 
people that has nowhere appeared1       

because it is  not a--life of the       
people4--,so ,carriere then combats     
himself 7p4 #aj73  ,pure humanity or    
manhood cannot be better represented    
than by a people  fulfilling its        
mission4 ,why1 by this nationality only 
is represented4  ,washed-out generality 
is lower than the form complete in      
itself1 which  is itself a whole1 and   
lives as a living member of the truly   
general1  the organized4 ,why1 the      
people is this very washed-out          
generality1  and it is only a man that  
is the form complete in itself4    ,the 
impersonality of what they call people1 
nation1 is clear also from  this3 that a
 people which wants to bring its ,i into
 view to the best of  its power puts at 
its head the ruler without will4 ,it    
finds itself in  the alternative either 
to be subjected to a prince who realizes
 only  himself1 his individual          
pleasure--then it does not recognize in 
the  absolute master its own will1 the  
so-called will of the people--1 or  to  

seat on the throne a prince who gives   
effect to no will of his  own--then it  
has a prince without will1 whose place  
some ingenious  clockwork would perhaps 
fill just as well4--,therefore insight  
need go  only a step farther2 then it   
becomes clear of itself that the ,i of  
the  people is an impersonal1 spiritual 
power1 the--law4 ,the people's ,i1      
therefore1 is a--spook1 not an ,i4 ,i am
 ,i only by this1 that ,i make  myself2 
i4 e4 that it is not another who makes  
me1 but ,i must be my  own work4 ,but   
how is it with this ,i of the people8   
,chance plays it  into the people's     
hand1 chance gives it this or that born 
lord1  accidents procure it the chosen  
one2 he is not its 7the sovereign       
people's7 product1 as ,i am my product4 
,conceive of one wanting to talk  you   
into believing that you were not your   
,i1 but ,tom or ,jack was your ,i6  ,but
 so it is with the people1 and rightly4 
,for the people has an ,i as  little as 
the eleven planets counted together have

 an ,i1 though they  revolve around a   
common centre4    ,bailly's utterance is
 representative of the slave-disposition
 that folks  manifest before the        
sovereign people1 as before the prince4 
,i have1  says he1 no longer any extra  
reason when the general reason has      
pronounced itself4 ,my first law was the
 nation's will2 as soon as it had       
assembled ,i knew nothing beyond its    
sovereign will4 ,he would have no  extra
 reason1 and yet this extra reason alone
 accomplishes everything4  ,just so     
,mirabeau inveighs in the words1 ,no    
power on earth has the  right to say to 
the nation's representatives1 ,it is my 
will6    ,as with the ,greeks1 there is 
now a wish to make man a zoon politicon1
  a citizen of the ,state or political  
man4 ,so he ranked for a long time as  a
 citizen of heaven4 ,but the ,greek fell
 into ignominy along with his  ,state1  
the citizen of heaven likewise falls    
with heaven2 we1 on the  other hand1 are
 not willing to go down along with the  

people1 the  nation and nationality1 not
 willing to be merely political men or  
politicians4 ,since the ,revolution they
 have striven to make the people  happy1
 and in making the people happy1 great1 
and the like1 they make  ,us unhappy3   
the people's good hap is--my mishap4    
,what empty talk the political liberals 
utter with emphatic decorum is  well    
seen again in ,nauwerk's ,on ,taking    
,part in the ,state4 ,there  complaint  
is made of those who are indifferent and
 do not take part1 who  are not in the  
full sense citizens1 and the author     
speaks as if one  could not be man at   
all if one did not take a lively part in
 ,state  affairs1 i4 e4 if one were not 
a politician4 ,in this he is right2 for1
  if the ,state ranks as the warder of  
everything human1 we can have  nothing  
human without taking part in it4 ,but   
what does this make out  against the    
egoist8 ,nothing at all1 because the    
egoist is to himself the  warder of the 
human1 and has nothing to say to the    

,state except ,get out  of my sunshine4 
,only when the ,state comes in contact  
with his ownness  does the egoist take  
an active interest in it4 ,if the       
condition of the  ,state does not bear  
hard on the closet-philosopher1 is he to
 occupy  himself with it because it is  
his most sacred duty8 ,so long as the   
,state does according to his wish1 what 
need has he to look up from his         
studies8 ,let those who from an interest
 of their own want to have  conditions  
otherwise busy themselves with them4    
,not now1 nor evermore1  will sacred    
duty bring folks to reflect about the   
,state1--as little as  they become      
disciples of science1 artists1 etc41    
from sacred duty4  ,egoism alone can    
impel them to it1 and will as soon as   
things have  become much worse4 ,if you 
showed folks that their egoism demanded 
that  they busy themselves with ,state  
affairs1 you would not have to call on  
them long2 if1 on the other hand1 you   
appeal to their love of fatherland  and 

the like1 you will long preach to deaf  
hearts in behalf of this  service of    
love4 ,certainly1 in your sense the     
egoists will not  participate in ,state 
affairs at all4    ,nauwerk utters a    
genuine liberal phrase on p4 #af3 ,man  
completely  fulfils his calling only in 
feeling and knowing himself as a member 
of  humanity1 and being active as such4 
,the individual cannot realize the  idea
 of manhood if he does not stay himself 
upon all humanity1 if he  does not draw 
his powers from it like ,antus4    ,in  
the same place it is said3 ,man's       
relation to the res publica is  degraded
 to a purely private matter by the      
theological view2 is1  accordingly1 made
 away with by denial4 ,as if the        
political view did  otherwise with      
religion6 ,there religion is a private  
matter4    ,if1 instead of sacred duty1 
man's destiny1 the calling to full      
manhood1 and similar commandments1 it   
were held up to people that their       
self-interest was infringed on when they

 let everything in the ,state  go as it 
goes1 then1 without declamations1 they  
would be addressed as  one will have to 
address them at the decisive moment if  
he wants to  attain his end4 ,instead of
 this1 the theology-hating author says1 
,if  there has ever been a time when the
 ,state laid claim to all that are      
hers1 such a time is ours4--,the        
thinking man sees in participation in   
the theory and practice of the ,state a 
duty1 one of the most sacred  duties    
that rest upon him--and then takes under
 closer consideration  the unconditional
 necessity that everybody participate in
 the ,state4    ,he in whose head or    
heart or both the ,state is seated1 he  
who is  possessed by the ,state1 or the 
believer in the ,state1 is a politician1
  and remains such to all eternity4     
,the ,state is the most necessary means 
for the complete development of         
mankind4 ,it assuredly has been so as   
long as we wanted to develop  mankind2  
but1 if we want to develop ourselves1 it

 can be to us only a  means of          
hindrance4    ,can ,state and people    
still be reformed and bettered now8 ,as 
little as  the nobility1 the clergy1 the
 church1 etc43 they can be abrogated1   
annihilated1 done away with1 not        
reformed4 ,can ,i change a piece of     
nonsense into sense by reforming it1 or 
must ,i drop it outright8    ,henceforth
 what is to be done is no longer about  
the ,state 7the form  of the ,state1    
etc471 but about me4 ,with this all     
questions about the  prince's power1 the
 constitution1 etc41 sink into their    
true abyss and  their true nothingness4 
,i1 this nothing1 shall put forth my    
creations  from myself4    ,to the      
chapter of society belongs also the     
party1 whose praise has of  late been   
sung4    ,in the ,state the party is    
current4 ,party1 party1 who should not  
join  one6 ,but the individual is       
unique1#afh not a member of the party4  
,he  unites freely1 and separates freely
 again4 ,the party is nothing but a     

,state in the ,state1 and in this       
smaller bee-,state peace is also to     
rule just as in the greater4 ,the very  
people who cry loudest that there  must 
be an opposition in the ,state inveigh  
against every discord in  the party4 ,a 
proof that they too want only a--,state4
 ,all parties are  shattered not against
 the ,state1 but against the ego4#afi   
,one hears nothing oftener now than the 
admonition to remain true to his  party2
 party men despise nothing so much as a 
mugwump4 ,one must run with  his party  
through thick and thin1 and             
unconditionally approve and  represent  
its chief principles4 ,it does not      
indeed go quite so badly  here as with  
closed societies1 because these bind    
their members to fixed  laws or statutes
 7e4 g4 the orders1 the ,society of     
,jesus1 etc474 ,but  yet the party      
ceases to be a union at the same moment 
at which it makes  certain principles   
binding and wants to have them assured  
against  attacks2 but this moment is the

 very birth-act of the party4 ,as party 
it  is already a born society1 a dead   
union1 an idea that has become  fixed4  
,as party of absolutism it cannot will  
that its members should  doubt the      
irrefragable truth of this principle2   
they could cherish this  doubt only if  
they were egoistic enough to want still 
to be something  outside their party1 i4
 e4 non-partisans4 ,non-partisan they   
cannot be  as party-men1 but only as    
egoists4 ,if you are a ,protestant and  
belong to  that party1 you must only    
justify ,protestantism1 at most purge   
it1 not  reject it2 if you are a        
,christian and belong among men to the  
,christian  party1 you cannot go beyond 
this as a member of this party1 but only
  when your egoism1 i4 e4               
non-partisanship1 impels you to it4     
,what  exertions the ,christians1 down  
to ,hegel and the ,communists1 have put 
forth to make their party strong6 they  
stuck to it that ,christianity  must    
contain the eternal truth1 and that one 

needs only to get at it1  make sure of  
it1 and justify it4    ,in short1 the   
party cannot bear non-partisanship1 and 
it is in this that  egoism appears4     
,what matters the party to me8 ,i shall 
find enough anyhow  who unite with me   
without swearing allegiance to my flag4 
,he who passes over from one party to   
another is at once abused as a          
turncoat4 ,certainly morality demands   
that one stand by his party1  and to    
become apostate from it is to spot      
oneself with the stain of               
faithlessness2 but ownness knows no     
commandment of faithfulness1  adhesion1 
etc41 ownness permits everything1 even  
apostasy1 defection4  ,unconsciously    
even the moral themselves let themselves
 be led by this  principle when they    
have to judge one who passes over to    
their  party1--nay1 they are likely to  
be making proselytes2 they should only  
at the same time acquire a consciousness
 of the fact that one must  commit      
immoral actions in order to commit his  

own1--i4 e4 here1 that  one must break  
faith1 yes1 even his oath1 in order to  
determine himself  instead of being     
determined by moral considerations4 ,in 
the eyes of  people of strict moral     
judgment an apostate always shimmers in 
equivocal  colors1 and will not easily  
obtain their confidence2 for there      
sticks to  him the taint of             
faithlessness1 i4 e4 of an immorality4  
,in the lower  man this view is found   
almost generally2 advanced thinkers fall
 here  too1 as always1 into an          
uncertainty and bewilderment1 and the   
contradiction necessarily founded in the
 principle of morality does not1  on    
account of the confusion of their       
concepts1 come clearly to their         
consciousness4 ,they do not venture to  
call the apostate immoral  downright1   
because they themselves entice to       
apostasy1 to defection from  one        
religion to another1 etc42 still1 they  
cannot give up the standpoint  of       
morality either4 ,and yet here the      

occasion was to be seized to step       
outside of morality4    ,are the ,own or
 ,unique#agj perchance a party8 ,how    
could they be own if  they were such as 
belonged to a party8    ,or is one to   
hold with no party8 ,in the very act of 
joining them and  entering their circle 
one forms a union with them that lasts  
as long  as party and ,i pursue one and 
the same goal4 ,but to-day ,i still     
share  the party's tendency1 and by     
to-morrow ,i can do so no longer and ,i 
become untrue to it4 ,the party has     
nothing binding 7obligatory7 for  me1   
and ,i do not have respect for it2 if it
 no longer pleases me1 ,i  become its   
foe4    ,in every party that cares for  
itself and its persistence1 the members 
are unfree 7or better1 unown7 in that   
degree1 they lack egoism in that        
degree1 in which they serve this desire 
of the party4 ,the independence  of the 
party conditions the lack of            
independence in the party-members4    ,a
 party1 of whatever kind it may be1 can 

never do without a confession  of faith4
 ,for those who belong to the party must
 believe in its  principle1 it must not 
be brought in doubt or put in question  
by them1  it must be the certain1       
indubitable thing for the party-member4 
,that is3  ,one must belong to a party  
body and soul1 else one is not truly a  
party-man1 but more or less--an egoist4 
,harbor a doubt of ,christianity1  and  
you are already no longer a true        
,christian1 you have lifted yourself  to
 the effrontery of putting a question   
beyond it and haling  ,christianity     
before your egoistic judgment-seat4 ,you
 have--sinned  against ,christianity1   
this party cause 7for it is surely not  
e4 g4 a  cause for the ,jews1 another   
party74 ,but well for you if you do not 
let  yourself be affrighted3 your       
effrontery helps you to ownness4    ,so 
then an egoist could never embrace a    
party or take up with a party8  ,oh1    
yes1 only he cannot let himself be      
embraced and taken up by the  party4    

,for him the party remains all the time 
nothing but a gathering3  he is one of  
the party1 he takes part4           99  
99       99       99       99    ,the   
best ,state will clearly be that which  
has the most loyal citizens1  and the   
more the devoted mind for legality is   
lost1 so much the more  will the ,state1
 this system of morality1 this moral    
life itself1 be  diminished in force and
 quality4 ,with the good citizens the   
good ,state  too perishes and dissolves 
into anarchy and lawlessness4 ,respect  
for  the law6 ,by this cement the total 
of the ,state is held together4 ,the    
law is sacred1 and he who affronts it a 
criminal4 ,without crime no  ,state3 the
 moral world--and this the ,state is--is
 crammed full of  scamps1 cheats1 liars1
 thieves1 etc4 ,since the ,state is the 
lordship of  law1 its hierarchy1 it     
follows that the egoist1 in all cases   
where  his advantage runs against the   
,state's1 can satisfy himself only by   
crime4    ,the ,state cannot give up the

 claim that its laws and ordinances are 
sacred4#aga ,at this the individual     
ranks as the unholy#agb  7barbarian1    
natural man1 egoist7 over against the   
,state1 exactly as he  was once regarded
 by the ,church2 before the individual  
the ,state takes  on the nimbus of a    
saint4#agc ,thus it issues a law against
 dueling4 ,two  men who are both at one 
in this1 that they are willing to stake 
their  life for a cause 7no matter      
what71 are not to be allowed this1      
because  the ,state will not have it3 it
 imposes a penalty on it4 ,where is the 
liberty of self-determination then8 ,it 
is at once quite another  situation if1 
as e4 g4 in ,north ,america1 society    
determines to let the  duelists bear    
certain evil consequences of their act1 
e4 g4  withdrawal of the credit hitherto
 enjoyed4 ,to refuse credit is          
everybody's affair1 and1 if a society   
wants to withdraw it for this or  that  
reason1 the man who is hit cannot       
therefore complain of  encroachment on  

his liberty3 the society is simply      
availing itself of  its own liberty4    
,that is no penalty for sin1 no penalty 
for a crime4  ,the duel is no crime     
there1 but only an act against which the
 society  adopts counter-measures1      
resolves on a defence4 ,the ,state1 on  
the  contrary1 stamps the duel as a     
crime1 i4 e4 as an injury to its sacred 
law3 it makes it a criminal case4 ,the  
society leaves it to the  individual's  
decision whether he will draw upon      
himself evil  consequences and          
inconveniences by his mode of action1   
and hereby  recognizes his free         
decision2 the ,state behaves in exactly 
the reverse  way1 denying all right to  
the individual's decision and1 instead1 
ascribing the sole right to its own     
decision1 the law of the ,state1 so     
that he who transgresses the ,state's   
commandment is looked upon as if he     
were acting against ,god's              
commandment1--a view which likewise was 
once  maintained by the ,church4 ,here  

,god is the ,holy in and of himself1 and
  the commandments of the ,church1 as of
 the ,state1 are the commandments of    
this ,holy ,one1 which he transmits to  
the world through his anointed and      
,lords-by-the-,grace-of-,god4 ,if the   
,church had deadly sins1 the ,state  has
 capital crimes2 if the one had         
heretics1 the other has  traitors2 the  
one ecclesiastical penalties1 the other 
criminal  penalties2 the one            
inquisitorial processes1 the other      
fiscal2 in  short1 there sins1 here     
crimes1 there sinners1 here criminals1  
there  inquisition and                  
here--inquisition4 ,will the sanctity of
 the ,state not  fall like the          
,church's8 ,the awe of its laws1 the    
reverence for its  highness1 the        
humility of its subjects1 will this     
remain8 ,will the  saint's face not be  
stripped of its adornment8    ,what a   
folly1 to ask of the ,state's authority 
that it should enter into  an honorable 
fight with the individual1 and1 as they 

express themselves  in the matter of    
freedom of the press1 share sun and wind
 equally6 ,if  the ,state1 this thought1
 is to be a de facto power1 it simply   
must be  a superior power against the   
individual4 ,the ,state is sacred and   
must  not expose itself to the impudent 
attacks of individuals4 ,if the ,state  
is sacred1 there must be censorship4    
,the political liberals admit the       
former and dispute the inference4 ,but  
in any case they concede  repressive    
measures to it1 for--they stick to this1
 that ,state is more  than the          
individual and exercises a justified    
revenge1 called  punishment4            
,punishment has a meaning only when it  
is to afford expiation for the  injuring
 of a sacred thing4 ,if something is    
sacred to any one1 he  certainly        
deserves punishment when he acts as its 
enemy4 ,a man who lets  a man's life    
continue in existence because to him it 
is sacred and he  has a dread of        
touching it is simply a--religious man4 

,weitling lays crime at the door of     
social disorder1 and lives in the       
expectation that under ,communistic     
arrangements crimes will become         
impossible1 because the temptations to  
them1 e4 g4 money1 fall away4  ,as1     
however1 his organized society is also  
exalted into a sacred and  inviolable   
one1 he miscalculates in that           
good-hearted opinion4 ,such as  with    
their mouth professed allegiance to the 
,communistic society1 but  worked       
underhand for its ruin1 would not be    
lacking4 ,besides1 ,weitling  has to    
keep on with curative means against the 
natural remainder of  human diseases and
 weaknesses1 and curative means always  
announce to  begin with that individuals
 will be looked upon as called to a     
particular salvation and hence treated  
according to the requirements  of this  
human calling4 ,curative means or       
healing is only the  reverse side of    
punishment1 the theory of cure runs     
parallel with  the theory of punishment2

 if the latter sees in an action a sin  
against right1 the former takes it for a
 sin of the man against  himself1 as a  
decadence from his health4 ,but the     
correct thing is that  ,i regard it     
either as an action that suits me or as 
one that does not  suit me1 as hostile  
or friendly to me1 i4 e4 that ,i treat  
it as my  property1 which ,i cherish or 
demolish4 ,crime or disease are not     
either of them an egoistic view of the  
matter1 i4 e4 a judgment  starting from 
me1 but starting from another1--to wit1 
whether it  injures right1 general      
right1 or the health partly of the      
individual  7the sick one71 partly of   
the generality 7society74 ,crime is     
treated  inexorably1 disease with loving
 gentleness1 compassion1 and the  like4 
,punishment follows crime4 ,if crime    
falls because the sacred vanishes1      
punishment must not less be drawn into  
its fall2 for it too has  significance  
only over against something sacred4     
,ecclesiastical  punishments have been  

abolished4 ,why8 ,because how one       
behaves toward the  holy ,god is his own
 affair4 ,but1 as this one punishment1  
ecclesiastical punishment1 has fallen1  
so all punishments must fall4  ,as sin  
against the so-called ,god is a man's   
own affair1 so that against  every kind 
of the so-called sacred4 ,according to  
our theories of penal  law1 with whose  
improvement in conformity to the times  
people are  tormenting themselves in    
vain1 they want to punish men for this  
or  that inhumanity2 and therein they   
make the silliness of these  theories   
especially plain by their consistency1  
hanging the little  thieves and letting 
the big ones run4 ,for injury to        
property they have  the house of        
correction1 and for violence to thought1
 suppression of  natural rights of man1 
only--representations and petitions4    
,the criminal code has continued        
existence only through the sacred1 and  
perishes of itself if punishment is     
given up4 ,now they want to create      

everywhere a new penal law1 without     
indulging in a misgiving about          
punishment itself4 ,but it is exactly   
punishment that must make room for      
satisfaction1 which1 again1 cannot aim  
at satisfying right or justice1  but at 
procuring us a satisfactory outcome4 ,if
 one does to us what we  will not put up
 with1 we break his power and bring our 
own to bear3 we  satisfy ourselves on   
him1 and do not fall into the folly of  
wanting to  satisfy right 7the spook74  
,it is not the sacred that is to defend 
itself against man1 but man against man2
 as ,god too1 you know1 no  longer      
defends himself against man1 ,god to    
whom formerly 7and in part1  indeed1    
even now7 all the servants of ,god      
offered their hands to  punish the      
blasphemer1 as they still at this very  
day lend their hands  to the sacred4    
,this devotion to the sacred brings it  
to pass also that1  without lively      
participation of one's own1 one only    
delivers misdoers  into the hands of the

 police and courts3 a non-participating 
making over  to the authorities1 who1 of
 course1 will best administer sacred    
matters4 ,the people is quite crazy for 
hounding the police on against          
everything that seems to it to be       
immoral1 often only unseemly1 and this  
popular rage for the moral protects the 
police institution more than  the       
government could in any way protect it4 
,in crime the egoist has hitherto       
asserted himself and mocked at the      
sacred2 the break with the sacred1 or   
rather of the sacred1 may become        
general4 ,a revolution never returns1   
but a mighty1 reckless1 shameless1      
conscienceless1 proud--crime1 does it   
not rumble in distant thunders1  and do 
you not see how the sky grows           
presciently silent and gloomy8          
99       99       99       99       99  
,he who refuses to spend his powers for 
such limited societies as family1       
party1 nation1 is still always longing  
for a worthier society1 and  thinks he  

has found the true object of love1      
perhaps1 in human society  or mankind1  
to sacrifice himself to which           
constitutes his honor2 from  now on he  
lives for and serves mankind4    ,people
 is the name of the body1 ,state of the 
spirit1 of that ruling  person that has 
hitherto suppressed me4 ,some have      
wanted to transfigure  peoples and      
,states by broadening them out to       
mankind and general  reason2 but        
servitude would only become still more  
intense with this  widening1 and        
philanthropists and humanitarians are as
 absolute masters  as politicians and   
diplomats4    ,modern critics inveigh   
against religion because it sets ,god1  
the divine1  moral1 etc41 outside of    
man1 or makes them something objective1 
in  opposition to which the critics     
rather transfer these very subjects     
into man4 ,but those critics none the   
less fall into the proper error  of     
religion1 to give man a destiny1 in that
 they too want to have him  divine1     

human1 and the like3 morality1 freedom  
and humanity1 etc41 are  his essence4   
,and1 like religion1 politics too wanted
 to educate man1  to bring him to the   
realization of his essence1 his destiny1
 to  make something out of him1--to wit1
 a true man1 the one in the form  of the
 true believer1 the other in that of the
 true citizen or  subject4 ,in fact1 it 
comes to the same whether one calls the 
destiny  the divine or human4    ,under 
religion and politics man finds himself 
at the standpoint of  should3 he should 
become this and that1 should be so and  
so4 ,with  this postulate1 this         
commandment1 every one steps not only in
 front of  another but also in front of 
himself4 ,those critics say3 ,you should
 be a  whole1 free man4 ,thus they too  
stand in the temptation to proclaim a   
new  religion1 to set up a new absolute1
 an ideal1--to wit1 freedom4 ,men       
should be free4 ,then there might even  
arise missionaries of freedom1  as      
,christianity1 in the conviction that   

all were properly destined to  become   
,christians1 sent out missionaries of   
the faith4 ,freedom would  then 7as have
 hitherto faith as ,church1 morality as 
,state7 constitute  itself as a new     
community and carry on a like propaganda
 therefrom4  ,certainly no objection can
 be raised against a getting together2  
but so  much the more must one oppose   
every renewal of the old care for us1 of
  culture directed toward an end1--in   
short1 the principle of making          
something out of us1 no matter whether  
,christians1 subjects1 or freemen  and  
men4    ,one may well say with          
,feuerbach and others that religion has 
displaced  the human from man1 and has  
transferred it so into another world    
that1  unattainable1 it went on with its
 own existence there as something       
personal in itself1 as a ,god3 but the  
error of religion is by no means        
exhausted with this4 ,one might very    
well let fall the personality of the    
displaced human1 might transform ,god   

into the divine1 and still remain       
religious4 ,for the religious consists  
in discontent with the present  man1 i4 
e4 in the setting up of a perfection to 
be striven for1 in  man wrestling for   
his completion4#agd 7,ye therefore      
should be  perfect as your father in    
heaven is perfect4 ,matt4 #e4 #dh73 it  
consists  in the fixation of an ideal1  
an absolute4 ,perfection is the supreme 
good1 the finis bonorum2 every one's    
ideal is the perfect man1 the  true1 the
 free man1 etc4    ,the efforts of      
modern times aim to set up the ideal of 
the free man4  ,if one could find it1   
there would be a new--religion1 because 
a new  ideal2 there would be a new      
longing1 a new torment1 a new devotion1 
a  new deity1 a new contrition4    ,with
 the ideal of absolute liberty1 the same
 turmoil is made as with  everything    
absolute1 and according to ,hess1 e4 g41
 it is said to be  realizable in        
absolute human society4#age ,nay1 this  
realization is  immediately afterward   

styled a vocation2 just so he then      
defines  liberty as morality3 the       
kingdom of justice 7i4 e4 equality7 and 
morality 7i4 e4 liberty7 is to begin1   
etc4    ,ridiculous is he who1 while    
fellows of his tribe1 family1 nation1   
etc41  rank high1 is--nothing but puffed
 up over the merit of his fellows2  but 
blinded too is he who wants only to be  
man4 ,neither of them puts  his worth in
 exclusiveness1 but in connectedness1 or
 in the tie  that conjoins him with     
others1 in the ties of blood1 of        
nationality1 of  humanity4    ,through  
the ,nationals of to-day the conflict   
has again been stirred up  between those
 who think themselves to have merely    
human blood and human  ties of blood1   
and the others who brag of their special
 blood and the  special ties of blood4  
,if we disregard the fact that pride may
 mean conceit1 and take it for          
consciousness alone1 there is found to  
be a vast difference between  pride in  
belonging to a nation and therefore     

being its property1 and  that in calling
 a nationality one's property4          
,nationality is my quality1  but the    
nation my owner and mistress4 ,if you   
have bodily strength1 you  can apply it 
at a suitable place and have a          
self-consciousness or pride  of it2 if1 
on the contrary1 your strong body has   
you1 then it pricks you  everywhere1 and
 at the most unsuitable place1 to show  
its strength3 you  can give nobody your 
hand without squeezing his4    ,the     
perception that one is more than a      
member of the family1 more than a       
fellow of the tribe1 more than an       
individual of the people1 etc41 has     
finally led to saying1 one is more than 
all this because one is man1 or1  the   
man is more than the ,jew1 ,german1 etc4
 ,therefore be every one  wholly and    
solely--man6 ,could one not rather say3 
,because we are more  than what has been
 stated1 therefore we will be this1 as  
well as that  more also8 ,man and       
,german1 then1 man and ,guelph1 etc48   

,the ,nationals  are in the right2 one  
cannot deny his nationality3 and the    
humanitarians are in the right2 one must
 not remain in the narrowness of  the   
national4 ,in uniqueness#agf the        
contradiction is solved2 the  national  
is my quality4 ,but ,i am not swallowed 
up in my quality1--as the  human too is 
my quality1 but ,i give to man his      
existence first through  my uniqueness4 
,history seeks for ,man3 but he is ,i1  
you1 we4 ,sought as a mysterious        
essence1 as the divine1 first as ,god1  
then as ,man 7humanity1  humaneness1 and
 mankind71 he is found as the           
individual1 the finite1 the  unique one4
    ,i am owner of humanity1 am         
humanity1 and do nothing for the good of
  another humanity4 ,fool1 you who are a
 unique humanity1 that you make a  merit
 of wanting to live for another than you
 are4    ,the hitherto-considered       
relation of me to the world of men      
offers such  a wealth of phenomena that 
it will have to be taken up again and   

again  on other occasions1 but here1    
where it was only to have its chief     
outlines made clear to the eye1 it must 
be broken off to make place for  an     
apprehension of two other sides toward  
which it radiates4 ,for1 as ,i  find    
myself in relation not merely to men so 
far as they present in  themselves the  
concept man or are children of men      
7children of ,man1  as children of ,god 
are spoken of71 but also to that which  
they have of  man and call their own1   
and as therefore ,i relate myself not   
only to  that which they are through    
man1 but also to their human            
possessions3 so1 besides the world of   
men1 the world of the senses  and of    
ideas will have to be included in our   
survey1 and somewhat said  of what men  
call their own of sensuous goods1 and of
 spiritual as well4    ,according as one
 had developed and clearly grasped the  
concept of man1  he gave it to us to    
respect as this or that person of       
respect1 and  from the broadest         

understanding of this concept there     
proceeded at last  the command to       
respect ,man in every one4 ,but1 if ,i  
respect ,man1 my  respect must likewise 
extend to the human1 or what is ,man's4 
,men have somewhat of their own1 and ,i 
am to recognize this own and  hold it   
sacred4 ,their own consists partly in   
outward1 partly in inward  possessions4 
,the former are things1 the latter      
spiritualities1  thoughts1 convictions1 
noble feelings1 etc4 ,but ,i am always  
to respect  only rightful or human      
possessions2 the wrongful and unhuman ,i
 need  not spare1 for only ,man's own is
 men's real own4 ,an inward possession  
of this sort is1 e4 g41 religion2       
because religion is free1 i4 e4  is     
,man's1 ,i must not strike at it4 ,just 
so honor is an inward  possession2 it is
 free and must not be struck at by me4  
7,action for  insult1 caricatures1 etc47
 ,religion and honor are spiritual      
property4  ,in tangible property the    
person stands foremost3 my person is my 

first  property4 ,hence freedom of the  
person2 but only the rightful or human  
person is free1 the other is locked up4 
,your life is your property2 but  it is 
sacred for men only if it is not that of
 an inhuman monster4    ,what a man as  
such cannot defend of bodily goods1 we  
may take from him3  this is the meaning 
of competition1 of freedom of           
occupation4 ,what he  cannot defend of  
spiritual goods falls a prey to us      
likewise3 so far  goes the liberty of   
discussion1 of science1 of criticism4   
,but consecrated goods are inviolable4  
,consecrated and guaranteed by  whom8   
,proximately by the ,state1 society1 but
 properly by man or the  concept1 the   
concept of the thing3 for the concept of
 consecrated  goods is this1 that they  
are truly human1 or rather that the     
holder  possesses them as man and not as
 un-man4#agg    ,on the spiritual side  
man's faith is such goods1 his honor1   
his moral  feeling1--yes1 his feeling of
 decency1 modesty1 etc4 ,actions        

7speeches1  writings7 that touch honor  
are punishable2 attacks on the          
foundation of  all religion2 attacks on 
political faith2 in short1 attacks on   
everything that a man rightly has4      
,how far critical liberalism would      
extend1 the sanctity of goods1--on  this
 point it has not yet made any          
pronouncement1 and doubtless fancies    
itself to be ill-disposed toward all    
sanctity2 but1 as it combats  egoism1 it
 must set limits to it1 and must not let
 the un-man pounce on  the human4 ,to   
its theoretical contempt for the masses 
there must  correspond a practical snub 
if it should get into power4    ,what   
extension the concept man receives1 and 
what comes to the  individual man       
through it1--what1 therefore1 man and   
the human are1--on  this point the      
various grades of liberalism differ1 and
 the political1  the social1 the humane 
man are each always claiming more than  
the other  for man4 ,he who has best    
grasped this concept knows best what is 

man's4 ,the ,state still grasps this    
concept in political restriction1       
society in social2 mankind1 so it is    
said1 is the first to comprehend it     
entirely1 or the history of mankind     
develops it4 ,but1 if man is            
discovered1 then we know also what      
pertains to man as his own1 man's       
property1 the human4    ,but let the    
individual man lay claim to ever so many
 rights because ,man  or the concept man
 entitles him to them1 i4 e4 because his
 being man  does it3 what do ,i care for
 his right and his claim8 ,if he has his
  right only from ,man and does not have
 it from me1 then for me he has  no     
right4 ,his life1 e4 g41 counts to me   
only for what it is worth  to me4 ,i    
respect neither a so-called right of    
property 7or his claim to  tangible     
goods7 nor yet his right to the         
sanctuary of his inner nature  7or his  
right to have the spiritual goods and   
divinities1 his gods1  remain           
unaggrieved74 ,his goods1 the sensuous  

as well as the spiritual1  are mine1 and
 ,i dispose of them as proprietor1 in   
the measure of  my--might4    ,in the   
property question lies a broader meaning
 than the limited  statement of the     
question allows to be brought out4      
,referred solely to  what men call our  
possessions1 it is capable of no        
solution2 the  decision is to be found  
only in him from whom we have           
everything4  ,property depends on the   
owner4    ,the ,revolution directed its 
weapons against everything which came   
from  the grace of ,god1 e4 g41 against 
divine right1 in whose place the  human 
was confirmed4 ,to that which is granted
 by the grace of ,god1  there is opposed
 that which is derived from the essence 
of man4    ,now1 as men's relation to   
each other1 in opposition to the        
religious  dogma which commands a ,love 
one another for ,god's sake1 had to     
receive  its human position by a ,love  
each other for man's sake1 so the       
revolutionary teaching could not do     

otherwise than1 first as to what        
concerns the relation of men to the     
things of this world1 settle it that    
the world1 which hitherto was arranged  
according to ,god's ordinance1          
henceforth belongs to ,man4    ,the     
world belongs to ,man1 and is to be     
respected by me as his  property4       
,property is what is mine6    ,property 
in the civic sense means sacred         
property1 such that ,i must  respect    
your property4 ,respect for property6   
,hence the politicians  would like to   
have every one possess his little bit of
 property1 and  they have in part       
brought about an incredible parcellation
 by this  effort4 ,each must have his   
bone on which he may find something to  
bite4    ,the position of affairs is    
different in the egoistic sense4 ,i do  
not  step shyly back from your property1
 but look upon it always as my          
property1 in which ,i need to respect   
nothing4 ,pray do the like with  what   
you call my property6    ,with this view

 we shall most easily come to an        
understanding with each  other4    ,the 
political liberals are anxious that1 if 
possible1 all servitudes be  dissolved1 
and every one be free lord on his       
ground1 even if this ground  has only so
 much area as can have its requirements 
adequately filled by  the manure of one 
person4 7,the farmer in the story       
married even in his  old age that he    
might profit by his wife's dung47 ,be it
 ever so  little1 if one only has       
somewhat of his own1--to wit1 a         
respected  property6 ,the more such     
owners1 such cotters1#agh the more free 
people  and good patriots has the       
,state4    ,political liberalism1 like  
everything religious1 counts on respect1
  humaneness1 the virtues of love4      
,therefore does it live in incessant    
vexation4 ,for in practice people       
respect nothing1 and every day the      
small possessions are bought up again by
 greater proprietors1 and the  free     
people change into day-laborers4    ,if1

 on the contrary1 the small proprietors 
had reflected that the  great property  
was also theirs1 they would not have    
respectfully shut  themselves out from  
it1 and would not have been shut out4   
,property as the civic liberals         
understand it deserves the attacks of   
the  ,communists and ,proudhon3 it is   
untenable1 because the civic proprietor 
is in truth nothing but a propertyless  
man1 one who is everywhere shut  out4   
,instead of owning the world1 as he     
might1 he does not own even the  paltry 
point on which he turns around4         
,proudhon wants not the propritaire but 
the possesseur or  usufruitier4#agi     
,what does that mean8 ,he wants no one  
to own the  land2 but the benefit of    
it--even though one were allowed only   
the  hundredth part of this benefit1    
this fruit--is at any rate one's        
property1 which he can dispose of at    
will4 ,he who has only the benefit  of a
 field is assuredly not the proprietor  
of it2 still less he who1 as  ,proudhon 

would have it1 must give up so much of  
this benefit as is not  required for his
 wants2 but he is the proprietor of the 
share that is  left him4 ,proudhon1     
therefore1 denies only such and such    
property1 not  property itself4 ,if we  
want no longer to leave the land to the 
landed  proprietors1 but to appropriate 
it to ourselves1 we unite ourselves to  
this end1 form a union1 a socit1 that   
makes itself proprietor2 if  we have    
good luck in this1 then those persons   
cease to be landed  proprietors4 ,and1  
as from the land1 so we can drive them  
out of many  another property yet1 in   
order to make it our property1 the      
property  of the--conquerors4 ,the      
conquerors form a society which one may 
imagine so great that it by degrees     
embraces all humanity2 but so-called    
humanity too is as such only a thought  
7spook72 the individuals are its        
reality4 ,and these individuals as a    
collective mass will treat land and     
earth not less arbitrarily than an      

isolated individual or so-called        
propritaire4 ,even so1 therefore1       
property remains standing1 and  that as 
exclusive too1 in that humanity1 this   
great society1  excludes the individual 
from its property 7perhaps only leases  
to him1  gives him as a fief1 a piece of
 it7 as it besides excludes everything  
that is not humanity1 e4 g4 does not    
allow animals to have  property4--,so   
too it will remain1 and will grow to be4
 ,that in which  all want to have a     
share will be withdrawn from that       
individual who  wants to have it for    
himself alone3 it is made a common      
estate4 ,as a  common estate every one  
has his share in it1 and this share is  
his  property4 ,why1 so in our old      
relations a house which belongs to five 
heirs is their common estate2 but the   
fifth part of the revenue is each  one's
 property4 ,proudhon might spare his    
prolix pathos if he said3  ,there are   
some things that belong only to a few1  
and to which we others  will from now on

 lay claim or--siege4 ,let us take them1
 because one  comes to property by      
taking1 and the property of which for   
the present  we are still deprived came 
to the proprietors likewise only by     
taking4  ,it can be utilized better if  
it is in the hands of us all than if the
  few control it4 ,let us therefore     
associate ourselves for the purpose of  
this robbery 7vol74--,instead of this1  
he tries to get us to believe  that     
society is the original possessor and   
the sole proprietor1 of  imprescriptible
 right2 against it the so-called        
proprietors have become  thieves 7,la   
proprit c'est le vol72 if it now        
deprives of his  property the present   
proprietor1 it robs him of nothing1 as  
it is only  availing itself of its      
imprescriptible right4--,so far one     
comes with the  spook of society as a   
moral person4 ,on the contrary1 what man
 can  obtain belongs to him3 the world  
belongs to me4 ,do you say anything     
else by your opposite proposition1 ,the 

world belongs to all8 ,all are  ,i and  
again ,i1 etc4 ,but you make out of the 
all a spook1 and make it  sacred1 so    
that then the all become the            
individual's fearful master4  ,then the 
ghost of right places itself on their   
side4    ,proudhon1 like the            
,communists1 fights against egoism4     
,therefore they  are continuations and  
consistent carryings-out of the         
,christian  principle1 the principle of 
love1 of sacrifice for something        
general1  something alien4 ,they        
complete in property1 e4 g41 only what  
has long  been extant as a matter of    
fact1--viz41 the propertylessness of the
  individual4 ,when the law says1 ,ad   
reges potestas omnium pertinet1 ad      
singulos proprietas2 omnia rex imperio  
possidet1 singuli dominio1  this means3 
,the king is proprietor1 for he alone   
can control and  dispose of everything1 
he has potestas and imperium over it4   
,the ,communists make this clearer1     
transferring that imperium to the       

society of all4 ,therefore3 ,because    
enemies of egoism1 they are on  that    
account--,christians1 or1 more generally
 speaking1 religious men1  believers in 
ghosts1 dependents1 servants of some    
generality 7,god1  society1 etc474 ,in  
this too ,proudhon is like the          
,christians1 that he  ascribes to ,god  
that which he denies to men4 ,he names  
him 7e4 g41 page  #ij7 the ,propritaire 
of the earth4 ,herewith he proves that  
he cannot  think away the proprietor as 
such2 he comes to a proprietor at last1 
but removes him to the other world4     
,neither ,god nor ,man 7human society7  
is proprietor1 but the individual4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,proudhon 7,weitling too7 thinks he is  
telling the worst about property  when  
he calls it theft 7vol74 ,passing quite 
over the embarrassing  question1 what   
well-founded objection could be made    
against theft1 we  only ask3 ,is the    
concept theft at all possible unless one
 allows  validity to the concept        

property8 ,how can one steal if property
 is not  already extant8 ,what belongs  
to no one cannot be stolen2 the water   
that one draws out of the sea he does   
not steal4 ,accordingly property  is not
 theft1 but a theft becomes possible    
only through property4  ,weitling has to
 come to this too1 as he does regard    
everything as the  property of all3 if  
something is the property of all1 then  
indeed  the individual who appropriates 
it to himself steals4    ,private       
property lives by grace of the law4     
,only in the law has it its             
warrant--for possession is not yet      
property1 it becomes mine only by       
assent of the law--2 it is not a fact1  
not un fait as ,proudhon thinks1  but a 
fiction1 a thought4 ,this is legal      
property1 legitimate property1          
guaranteed property4 ,it is mine not    
through me but through the--law4        
,nevertheless1 property is the          
expression for unlimited dominion over  
somewhat 7thing1 beast1 man7 which ,i   

can judge and dispose of as seems  good 
to me4 ,according to ,roman law1 indeed1
 jus utendi et abutendi re  sua1        
quatenus juris ratio patitur1 an        
exclusive and unlimited  right2 but     
property is conditioned by might4 ,what 
,i have in my power1  that is my own4   
,so long as ,i assert myself as holder1 
,i am the  proprietor of the thing2 if  
it gets away from me again1 no matter by
  what power1 e4 g4 through my          
recognition of a title of others to the 
thing1--then the property is extinct4   
,thus property and possession  coincide4
 ,it is not a right lying outside my    
might that legitimizes me1  but solely  
my might3 if ,i no longer have this1 the
 thing vanishes away  from me4 ,when the
 ,romans no longer had any might against
 the ,germans1  the world-empire of     
,rome belonged to the latter1 and it    
would sound  ridiculous to insist that  
the ,romans had nevertheless remained   
properly  the proprietors4 ,whoever     
knows how to take and to defend the     

thing1 to  him it belongs till it is    
again taken from him1 as liberty belongs
 to  him who takes it4--    ,only might 
decides about property1 and1 as the     
,state 7no matter whether  ,state of    
well-to-do citizens or of ragamuffins or
 of men in the  absolute7 is the sole   
mighty one1 it alone is proprietor2 ,i1 
the  unique1#ahj have nothing1 and am   
only enfeoffed1 am vassal and1 as  such1
 servitor4 ,under the dominion of the   
,state there is no property of  mine4   
,i want to raise the value of myself1   
the value of ownness1 and should ,i     
cheapen property8 ,no1 as ,i was not    
respected hitherto because people1      
mankind1 and a thousand other           
generalities were put higher1 so        
property  too has to this day not yet   
been recognized in its full value4      
,property  too was only the property of 
a ghost1 e4 g4 the people's property2 my
  whole existence belonged to the       
fatherland3 ,i belonged to the          
fatherland1 the people1 the ,state1 and 

therefore also everything that ,i       
called my own4 ,it is demanded of       
,states that they make away with        
pauperism4 ,it seems to me this is      
asking that the ,state should cut off   
its own head and lay it at its feet2 for
 so long as the ,state is the ego  the  
individual ego must remain a poor devil1
 a non-ego4 ,the ,state has an  interest
 only in being itself rich2 whether     
,michael is rich and ,peter  poor is    
alike to it2 ,peter might also be rich  
and ,michael poor4 ,it looks  on        
indifferently as one grows poor and the 
other rich1 unruffled by this           
alternation4 ,as individuals they are   
really equal before its face2 in  this  
it is just3 before it both of them      
are--nothing1 as we are  altogether     
sinners before ,god2 on the other hand1 
it has a very great  interest in this1  
that those individuals who make it their
 ego should  have a part in its wealth2 
it makes them partakers in its property4
  ,through property1 with which it      

rewards the individuals1 it tames them2 
but this remains its property1 and every
 one has the usufruct of it  only so    
long as he bears in himself the ego of  
the ,state1 or is a loyal  member of    
society2 in the opposite case the       
property is confiscated1 or  made to    
melt away by vexatious lawsuits4 ,the   
property1 then1 is and  remains ,state  
property1 not property of the ego4 ,that
 the ,state does  not arbitrarily       
deprive the individual of what he has   
from the ,state  means simply that the  
,state does not rob itself4 ,he who is a
 ,state-ego1  i4 e4 a good citizen or   
subject1 holds his fief undisturbed as  
such  an ego1 not as being an ego of his
 own4 ,according to the code1 property  
is what ,i call mine by virtue of ,god  
and law4 ,but it is mine by virtue  of  
,god and law only so long as--the ,state
 has nothing against it4    ,in         
expropriations1 disarmaments1 and the   
like 7as1 e4 g41 the  exchequer         
confiscates inheritances if the heirs do

 not put in an  appearance early enough7
 how plainly the else-veiled principle  
that only  the people1 the ,state1 is   
proprietor1 while the individual is     
feoffee1 strikes the eye6    ,the       
,state1 ,i mean to say1 cannot intend   
that anybody should for his own  sake   
have property or actually be rich1 nay1 
even well-to-do2 it can  acknowledge    
nothing1 grant nothing to me as me4 ,the
 ,state cannot check  pauperism1 because
 the poverty of possession is a poverty 
of me4 ,he who  is nothing but what     
chance or another--to wit1 the          
,state--makes out  of him also has quite
 rightly nothing but what another gives 
him4 ,and  this other will give him only
 what he deserves1 i4 e4 what he is     
worth by service4 ,it is not he that    
realizes a value from himself2 the      
,state realizes a value from him4       
,national economy busies itself much    
with this subject4 ,it lies far out     
beyond the national1 however1 and goes  
beyond the concepts and horizon  of the 

,state1 which knows only ,state property
 and can distribute nothing  else4 ,for 
this reason it binds the possession of  
property to  conditions1--as it binds   
everything to them1 e4 g4 marriage1     
allowing validity only to the marriage  
sanctioned by it1 and wresting  this out
 of my power4 ,but property is my       
property only when ,i hold it           
unconditionally3 only ,i1 as            
unconditioned ego1 have property1 enter 
a relation of love1 carry on free trade4
    ,the ,state has no anxiety about me 
and mine1 but about itself and its3 ,i  
count for something to it only as its   
child1 as a son of the  country2 as ego 
,i am nothing at all for it4 ,for the   
,state's  understanding1 what befalls me
 as ego is something accidental1 my     
wealth  as well as my impoverishment4   
,but1 if ,i with all that is mine am an 
accident in the ,state's eyes1 this     
proves that it cannot comprehend  me3 ,i
 go beyond its concepts1 or1 its        
understanding is too limited  to        

comprehend me4 ,therefore it cannot do  
anything for me either4    ,pauperism is
 the valuelessness of me1 the phenomenon
 that ,i cannot  realize value from     
myself4 ,for this reason ,state and     
pauperism are one  and the same4 ,the   
,state does not let me come to my value1
 and continues  in existence only       
through my valuelessness3 it is forever 
intent on  getting benefit from me1 i4  
e4 exploiting me1 turning me to account1
  using me up1 even if the use it gets  
from me consists only in my  supplying a
 proles 7proltariat72 it wants me to be 
its creature4    ,pauperism can be      
removed only when ,i as ego realize     
value from myself1  when ,i give my own 
self value1 and make my price myself4 ,i
 must rise in  revolt to rise in the    
world4    ,what ,i produce1 flour1      
linen1 or iron and coal1 which ,i       
toilsomely win  from the earth1 etc41 is
 my work that ,i want to realize value  
from4  ,but then ,i may long complain   
that ,i am not paid for my work         

according to  its value3 the payer will 
not listen to me1 and the ,state        
likewise will  maintain an apathetic    
attitude so long as it does not think it
 must  appease me that ,i may not break 
out with my dreaded might4 ,but this    
appeasing will be all1 and1 if it comes 
into my head to ask for more1  the      
,state turns against me with all the    
force of its lion-paws and  eagle-claws3
 for it is the king of beasts1 it is    
lion and eagle4 ,if ,i  refuse to be    
content with the price that it fixes for
 my ware and labor1  if ,i rather aspire
 to determine the price of my ware      
myself1 i4 e4 to  pay myself1 in the    
first place ,i come into a conflict with
 the buyers  of the ware4 ,if this were 
stilled by a mutual understanding1 the  
,state  would not readily make          
objections2 for how individuals get     
along with  each other troubles it      
little1 so long as therein they do not  
get in its  way4 ,its damage and its    
danger begin only when they do not      

agree1 but1  in the absence of a        
settlement1 take each other by the hair4
 ,the ,state  cannot endure that man    
stand in a direct relation to man2 it   
must step  between as--mediator1        
must--intervene4 ,what ,christ was1 what
 the  saints1 the ,church were1 the     
,state has become1--to wit1 mediator4   
,it  tears man from man to put itself   
between them as spirit4 ,the laborers   
who ask for higher pay are treated as   
criminals as soon as they want to       
compel it4 ,what are they to do8        
,without compulsion they don't get it1  
and in compulsion the ,state sees a     
self-help1 a determination of price  by 
the ego1 a genuine1 free realization of 
value from his property1  which it      
cannot admit of4 ,what then are the     
laborers to do8 ,look to  themselves and
 ask nothing about the ,state8-- --     
,but1 as is the situation with regard to
 my material work1 so it is with  my    
intellectual too4 ,the ,state allows me 
to realize value from all my  thoughts  

and to find customers for them 7,i do   
realize value from them1  e4 g41 in the 
very fact that they bring me honor from 
the listeners1  and the like72 but only 
so long as my thoughts are--its         
thoughts4 ,if1  on the other hand1 ,i   
harbor thoughts that it cannot approve  
7i4 e4  make its own71 then it does not 
allow me at all to realize value from   
them1 to bring them into exchange1 into 
commerce4 ,my thoughts are  free only if
 they are granted to me by the ,state's 
grace1 i4 e4 if  they are the ,state's  
thoughts4 ,it lets me philosophize      
freely only so  far as ,i approve myself
 a philosopher of ,state2 against the   
,state ,i  must not philosophize1 gladly
 as it tolerates my helping it out of   
its  deficiencies1 furthering           
it4--,therefore1 as ,i may behave only  
as an  ego most graciously permitted by 
the ,state1 provided with its           
testimonial of legitimacy and police    
pass1 so too it is not granted me  to   
realize value from what is mine1 unless 

this proves to be its1 which  ,i hold as
 fief from it4 ,my ways must be its     
ways1 else it distrains me2  my thoughts
 its thoughts1 else it stops my mouth4  
,the ,state has nothing to be more      
afraid of than the value of me1 and     
nothing must it more carefully guard    
against than every occasion that  offers
 itself to me for realizing value from  
myself4 ,i am the deadly  enemy of the  
,state1 which always hovers between the 
alternatives1 it or  ,i4 ,therefore it  
strictly insists not only on not letting
 me have a  standing1 but also on       
keeping down what is mine4 ,in the      
,state there is  no--property1 i4 e4 no 
property of the individual1 but only    
,state  property4 ,only through the     
,state have ,i what ,i have1 as ,i am   
only  through it what ,i am4 ,my private
 property is only that which the ,state 
leaves to me of its1 cutting off others 
from it 7depriving them1  making it     
private72 it is ,state property4        
,but1 in opposition to the ,state1 ,i   

feel more and more clearly that there   
is still left me a great might1 the     
might over myself1 i4 e4 over           
everything that pertains only to me and 
that exists only in being my  own4      
,what do ,i do if my ways are no longer 
its ways1 my thoughts no longer  its    
thoughts8 ,i look to myself1 and ask    
nothing about it6 ,in my  thoughts1     
which ,i get sanctioned by no assent1   
grant1 or grace1 ,i have  my real       
property1 a property with which ,i can  
trade4 ,for as mine they  are my        
creatures1 and ,i am in a position to   
give them away in return  for other     
thoughts3 ,i give them up and take in   
exchange for them  others1 which then   
are my new purchased property4    ,what 
then is my property8 ,nothing but what  
is in my power6 ,to what  property am ,i
 entitled8 ,to every property to which  
,i--empower  myself4#aha ,i give myself 
the right of property in taking property
 to  myself1 or giving myself the       
proprietor's power1 full power1         

empowerment4    ,everything over which  
,i have might that cannot be torn from  
me remains  my property2 well1 then let 
might decide about property1 and ,i will
  expect everything from my might6      
,alien might1 might that ,i leave to    
another1 makes me an owned slave3 then  
let my own might make me an  owner4 ,let
 me then withdraw the might that ,i have
 conceded to others out  of ignorance   
regarding the strength of my own might6 
,let me say to  myself1 what my might   
reaches to is my property2 and let me   
claim as  property everything that ,i   
feel myself strong enough to attain1 and
 let  me extend my actual property as   
far as ,i entitle1 i4 e4--empower1      
myself to take4    ,here egoism1        
selfishness1 must decide2 not the       
principle of love1 not  love-motives    
like mercy1 gentleness1 good-nature1 or 
even justice and  equity 7for justitia  
too is a phenomenon of--love1 a product 
of love73  love knows only sacrifices   
and demands self-sacrifice4    ,egoism  

does not think of sacrificing anything1 
giving away anything that  it wants2 it 
simply decides1 ,what ,i want ,i must   
have and will procure4    ,all attempts 
to enact rational laws about property   
have put out from the  bay of love into 
a desolate sea of regulations4 ,even    
,socialism and  ,communism cannot be    
excepted from this4 ,every one is to be 
provided with  adequate means1 for which
 it is little to the point whether one  
socialistically finds them still in a   
personal property1 or  communistically  
draws them from the community of goods4 
,the individual's  mind in this remains 
the same2 it remains a mind of          
dependence4 ,the  distributing board of 
equity lets me have only what the sense 
of  equity1 its loving care for all1    
prescribes4 ,for me1 the individual1    
there lies no less of a check in        
collective wealth than in that of       
individual others2 neither that is mine1
 nor this3 whether the wealth  belongs  
to the collectivity1 which confers part 

of it on me1 or to  individual          
possessors1 is for me the same          
constraint1 as ,i cannot decide  about  
either of the two4 ,on the contrary1    
,communism1 by the abolition of  all    
personal property1 only presses me back 
still more into dependence  on another1 
viz41 on the generality or collectivity2
 and1 loudly as it  always attacks the  
,state1 what it intends is itself again 
a ,state1 a  status1 a condition        
hindering my free movement1 a sovereign 
power over  me4 ,communism rightly      
revolts against the pressure that ,i    
experience  from individual proprietors2
 but still more horrible is the might   
that  it puts in the hands of the       
collectivity4    ,egoism takes another  
way to root out the non-possessing      
rabble4 ,it does  not say3 ,wait for    
what the board of equity will--bestow on
 you in the  name of the collectivity   
7for such bestowal took place in ,states
 from  the most ancient times1 each     
receiving according to his desert1 and  

therefore according to the measure in   
which each was able to deserve  it1 to  
acquire it by service71 but3 ,take hold1
 and take what you  require6 ,with this 
the war of all against all is declared4 
,i alone  decide what ,i will have4     
,now1 that is truly no new wisdom1 for  
self-seekers have acted so at all       
times6 ,not at all necessary either that
 the thing be new1 if only              
consciousness of it is present4 ,but    
this latter will not be able to  claim  
great age1 unless perhaps one counts in 
the ,egyptian and ,spartan  law2 for how
 little current it is appears even from 
the stricture above1  which speaks with 
contempt of self-seekers4 ,one is to    
know just this1  that the procedure of  
taking hold is not contemptible1 but    
manifests the  pure deed of the egoist  
at one with himself4    ,only when ,i   
expect neither from individuals nor from
 a collectivity what  ,i can give to    
myself1 only then do ,i slip out of the 
snares of--love2  the rabble ceases to  

be rabble only when it takes hold4 ,only
 the dread  of taking hold1 and the     
corresponding punishment thereof1 makes 
it a  rabble4 ,only that taking hold is 
sin1 crime1--only this dogma creates  a 
rabble4 ,for the fact that the rabble   
remains what it is1 it 7because  it     
allows validity to that dogma7 is to    
blame as well as1 more  especially1     
those who self-seekingly 7to give them  
back their favorite  word7 demand that  
the dogma be respected4 ,in short1 the  
lack of  consciousness of that new      
wisdom1 the old consciousness of sin1   
alone bears the blame4    ,if men reach 
the point of losing respect for         
property1 every one will  have property1
 as all slaves become free men as soon  
as they no longer  respect the master as
 master4 ,unions will then1 in this     
matter too1  multiply the individual's  
means and secure his assailed property4 
,according to the ,communists' opinion  
the commune should be proprietor4  ,on  
the contrary1 ,i am proprietor1 and ,i  

only come to an understanding  with     
others about my property4 ,if the       
commune does not do what suits me1  ,i  
rise against it and defend my property4 
,i am proprietor1 but property  is not  
sacred4 ,i should be merely possessor8  
,no1 hitherto one was only  possessor1  
secured in the possession of a parcel by
 leaving others also  in possession of a
 parcel2 but now everything belongs to  
me1 ,i am  proprietor of everything that
 ,i require and can get possession of4  
,if  it is said socialistically1 society
 gives me what ,i require1--then the    
egoist says1 ,i take what ,i require4   
,if the ,communists conduct themselves  
as ragamuffins1 the egoist behaves as   
proprietor4    ,all                     
swan-fraternities1#ahb and attempts at  
making the rabble happy1  that spring   
from the principle of love1 must        
miscarry4 ,only from egoism  can the    
rabble get help1 and this help it must  
give to itself and--will  give to       
itself4 ,if it does not let itself be   

coerced into fear1 it is a  power4      
,people would lose all respect if one   
did not coerce them so into  fear1 says 
bugbear ,law in ,der gestiefelte ,kater4
    ,property1 therefore1 should not and
 cannot be abolished2 it must rather  be
 torn from ghostly hands and become my  
property2 then the erroneous            
consciousness1 that ,i cannot entitle   
myself to as much as ,i require1  will  
vanish4--    ,but what cannot man       
require6 ,well1 whoever requires much1  
and  understands how to get it1 has at  
all times helped himself to it1 as      
,napoleon did with the ,continent and   
,france with ,algiers4 ,hence the exact 
point is that the respectful rabble     
should learn at last to help  itself to 
what it requires4 ,if it reaches out too
 far for you1 why1 then  defend         
yourselves4 ,you have no need at all to 
good-heartedly--bestow  anything on it2 
and1 when it learns to know itself1     
it--or rather3  whoever of the rabble   
learns to know himself1 he--casts off   

the  rabble-quality in refusing your    
alms with thanks4 ,but it remains       
ridiculous that you declare the rabble  
sinful and criminal if it is  not       
pleased to live from your favors because
 it can do something in its  own favor4 
,your bestowals cheat it and put it off4
 ,defend your property1  then you will  
be strong2 if1 on the other hand1 you   
want to retain your  ability to bestow1 
and perhaps actually have the more      
political rights  the more alms         
7poor-rates7 you can give1 this will    
work just as long as  the recipients let
 you work it4#ahc    ,in short1 the     
property question cannot be solved so   
amicably as the  ,socialists1 yes1 even 
the ,communists1 dream4 ,it is solved   
only by the  war of all against all4    
,the poor become free and proprietors   
only when  they--rise4 ,bestow ever so  
much on them1 they will still always    
want  more2 for they want nothing less  
than that at last--nothing more be      
bestowed4    ,it will be asked1 ,but how

 then will it be when the have-nots take
 heart8  ,of what sort is the settlement
 to be8 ,one might as well ask that ,i  
cast  a child's nativity4 ,what a slave 
will do as soon as he has broken his    
fetters1 one must--await4    ,in        
,kaiser's pamphlet1 worthless for lack  
of form as well as substance  7,die     
,persoenlichkeit des ,eigentuemers in   
,bezug auf den ,socialismus und         
,communismus1 etc471 he hopes from the  
,state that it will bring about  a      
leveling of property4 ,always the       
,state6 ,herr ,papa6 ,as the ,church was
  proclaimed and looked upon as the     
mother of believers1 so the ,state  has 
altogether the face of the provident    
father4           99       99       99  
99       99    ,competition shows itself
 most strictly connected with the       
principle of  civism4 ,is it anything   
else than equality 7galit78 ,and is not 
equality a product of that same         
,revolution which was brought on by the 
commonalty1 the middle classes8 ,as no  

one is barred from competing with  all  
in the ,state 7except the prince1       
because he represents the ,state        
itself7 and working himself up to their 
height1 yes1 overthrowing or  exploiting
 them for his own advantage1 soaring    
above them and by  stronger exertion    
depriving them of their favorable       
circumstances1--this  serves as a clear 
proof that before the ,state's          
judgment-seat every one  has only the   
value of a simple individual and may not
 count on any  favoritism4 ,outrun and  
outbid each other as much as you like   
and can2  that shall not trouble me1 the
 ,state6 ,among yourselves you are free 
in  competing1 you are competitors2 that
 is your social position4 ,but  before  
me1 the ,state1 you are nothing but     
simple individuals6#ahd    ,what in the 
form of principle or theory was         
propounded as the equality  of all has  
found here in competition its           
realization and practical  carrying out2
 for galit is--free competition4 ,all   

are1 before the  ,state1--simple        
individuals2 in society1 or in relation 
to each  other1--competitors4    ,i need
 be nothing further than a simple       
individual to be able to compete  with  
all others aside from the prince and his
 family3 a freedom which  formerly was  
made impossible by the fact that only by
 means of one's  corporation1 and within
 it1 did one enjoy any freedom of       
effort4    ,in the guild and feudality  
the ,state is in an intolerant and      
fastidious  attitude1 granting          
privileges2 in competition and          
liberalism it is in  a tolerant and     
indulgent attitude1 granting only       
patents 7letters  assuring the applicant
 that the business stands open patent to
 him7 or  concessions4 ,now1 as the     
,state has thus left everything to the  
applicants1 it must come in conflict    
with all1 because each and all  are     
entitled to make application4 ,it will  
be stormed1 and will go down  in this   
storm4    ,is free competition then     

really free8 nay1 is it really a        
competition1--to wit1 one of            
persons1--as it gives itself out to be  
because on this title it bases its      
right8 ,it originated1 you know1 in     
persons becoming free of all personal   
rule4 ,is a competition free  which the 
,state1 this ruler in the civic         
principle1 hems in by a  thousand       
barriers8 ,there is a rich manufacturer 
doing a brilliant  business1 and ,i     
should like to compete with him4 ,go    
ahead1 says the  ,state1 ,i have no     
objection to make to your person as     
competitor4  ,yes1 ,i reply1 but for    
that ,i need a space for buildings1 ,i  
need money6  ,that's bad2 but1 if you   
have no money1 you cannot compete4 ,you 
must not  take anything from anybody1   
for ,i protect property and grant it    
privileges4 ,free competition is not    
free1 because ,i lack the ,,things  for 
competition4 ,against my person no      
objection can be made1 but  because ,i  
have not the things my person too must  

step to the rear4 ,and  who has the     
necessary things8 ,perhaps that         
manufacturer8 ,why1 from him ,i  could  
take them away6 ,no1 the ,state has them
 as property1 the  manufacturer only as 
fief1 as possession4    ,but1 since it  
is no use trying it with the            
manufacturer1 ,i will compete  with that
 professor of jurisprudence2 the man is 
a booby1 and ,i1 who  know a hundred    
times more than he1 shall make his      
class-room empty4  ,have you studied and
 graduated1 friend8 ,no1 but what of    
that8 ,i  understand abundantly what is 
necessary for instruction in that       
department4 ,sorry1 but competition is  
not 'free' here4 ,against your  person  
there is nothing to be said1 but the    
thing1 the doctor's  diploma1 is        
lacking4 ,and this diploma ,i1 the      
,state1 demand4 ,ask me for  it         
respectfully first2 then we will see    
what is to be done4    ,this1 therefore1
 is the freedom of competition4 ,the    
,state1 my lord1  first qualifies me to 

compete4    ,but do persons really      
compete8 ,no1 again things only6 ,moneys
 in the  first place1 etc4    ,in the   
rivalry one will always be left behind  
another 7e4 g4 a  poetaster behind a    
poet74 ,but it makes a difference       
whether the means  that the unlucky     
competitor lacks are personal or        
material1 and likewise  whether the     
material means can be won by personal   
energy or are to be  obtained only by   
grace1 only as a present2 as when1 e4   
g41 the  poorer man must leave1 i4 e4   
present1 to the rich man his riches4    
,but1  if ,i must all along wait for the
 ,state's approval to obtain or to use  
7e4 g4 in the case of graduation7 the   
means1 ,i have the means by the  grace  
of the ,state4#ahe    ,free competition1
 therefore1 has only the following      
meaning3 ,to the  ,state all rank as its
 equal children1 and every one can scud 
and run to  earn the ,state's goods and 
largess4 ,therefore all do chase after  
havings1 holdings1 possessions 7be it of

 money or offices1 titles of  honor1    
etc471 after the things4    ,in the mind
 of the commonalty every one is         
possessor or owner4 ,now1  whence comes 
it that the most have in fact next to   
nothing8 ,from this1  that the most are 
already joyful over being possessors at 
all1 even  though it be of some rags1 as
 children are joyful in their first     
trousers or even the first penny that is
 presented to them4 ,more  precisely1   
however1 the matter is to be taken as   
follows4 ,liberalism  came forward at   
once with the declaration that it       
belonged to man's  essence not to be    
property1 but proprietor4 ,as the       
consideration here  was about man1 not  
about the individual1 the how-much      
7which formed  exactly the point of the 
individual's special interest7 was left 
to him4  ,hence the individual's egoism 
retained room for the freest play in    
this  how-much1 and carried on an       
indefatigable competition4    ,however1 
the lucky egoism had to become a snag in

 the way of the less  fortunate1 and the
 latter1 still keeping its feet planted 
on the  principle of humanity1 put      
forward the question as to the how-much 
of  possession1 and answered it to the  
effect that man must have as much as  he
 requires4    ,will it be possible for  
my egoism to let itself be satisfied    
with  that8 ,what man requires furnishes
 by no means a scale for measuring me   
and my needs2 for ,i may have use for   
less or more4 ,i must rather have so    
much as ,i am competent to appropriate4 
,competition suffers from the           
unfavorable circumstance that the means 
for competing are not at every one's    
command1 because they are not taken     
from personality1 but from accident4    
,most are without means1 and for  this  
reason without goods4    ,hence the     
,socialists demand the means for all1   
and aim at a society  that shall offer  
means4 ,your money value1 say they1 we  
no longer  recognize as your competence2
 you must show another competence1--to  

wit1 your working force4 ,in the        
possession of a property1 or as         
possessor1 man does certainly show      
himself as man2 it was for this  reason 
that we let the possessor1 whom we      
called proprietor1 keep his  standing so
 long4 ,yet you possess the things only 
so long as you are not  put out of this 
property4    ,the possessor is          
competent1 but only so far as the others
 are  incompetent4 ,since your ware     
forms your competence only so long as   
you  are competent to defend it 7i4 e41 
as we are not competent to do  anything 
with it71 look about you for another    
competence2 for we now1 by  our might1  
surpass your alleged competence4    ,it 
was an extraordinarily large gain made1 
when the point of being  regarded as    
possessors was put through4 ,therein    
bondservice was  abolished1 and every   
one who till then had been bound to the 
lord's  service1 and more or less had   
been his property1 now became a lord4   
,but henceforth your having1 and what   

you have1 are no longer adequate  and no
 longer recognized2 per contra1 your    
working and your work rise  in value4   
,we now respect your subduing things1 as
 we formerly did your  possessing them4 
,your work is your competence6 ,you are 
lord or possessor  only of what comes by
 work1 not by inheritance4 ,but as at   
the time  everything has come by        
inheritance1 and every copper that you  
possess  bears not a labor-stamp but an 
inheritance stamp1 everything must be   
melted over4    ,but is my work then    
really1 as the ,communists suppose1 my  
sole  competence8 or does not this      
consist rather in everything that ,i am 
competent for8 ,and does not the workers
 society itself have to concede  this1  
e4 g4 in supporting also the sick1      
children1 old men1--in short1  those who
 are incapable of work8 ,these are still
 competent for a good  deal1 e4 g4 to   
preserve their life instead of taking   
it4 ,if they are  competent to cause you
 to desire their continued existence1   

they have a  power over you4 ,to him who
 exercised utterly no power over you1   
you  would vouchsafe nothing2 he might  
perish4    ,therefore1 what you are     
competent for is your competence6 ,if   
you are  competent to furnish pleasure  
to thousands1 then thousands will pay   
you  an honorarium for it2 for it would 
stand in your power to forbear doing    
it1 hence they must purchase your deed4 
,if you are not competent to  captivate 
any one1 you may simply starve4    ,now 
am ,i1 who am competent for much1       
perchance to have no advantage over  the
 less competent8    ,we are all in the  
midst of abundance2 now shall ,i not    
help myself as  well as ,i can1 but only
 wait and see how much is left me in an 
equal  division8    ,against competition
 there rises up the principle of        
ragamuffin  society1--partition4    ,to 
be looked upon as a mere part1 part of  
society1 the individual  cannot         
bear--because he is more2 his uniqueness
 puts from it this  limited conception4 

,hence he does not await his competence 
from the ,i sharing of others1 and  even
 in the workers' society there arises   
the misgiving that in an equal          
partition the strong will be exploited  
by the weak2 he awaits his  competence  
rather from himself1 and says now1 ,what
 ,i am competent to  have1 that is my   
competence4 ,what competence does not   
the child possess  in its smiling1 its  
playing1 its screaming6 in short1 in its
 mere  existence6 ,are you capable of   
resisting its desire8 or do you not hold
  out to it1 as mother1 your breast2 as 
father1 as much of your  possessions as 
it needs8 ,it compels you1 therefore it 
possesses what you  call yours4    ,if  
your person is of consequence to me1 you
 pay me with your very  existence2 if ,i
 am concerned only with one of your     
qualities1 then your  compliance1       
perhaps1 or your aid1 has a value 7a    
money value7 for me1  and ,i purchase   
it4    ,if you do not know how to give  
yourself any other than a money value in

  my estimation1 there may arise the    
case of which history tells us1 that    
,germans1 sons of the fatherland1 were  
sold to ,america4 ,should those who  let
 themselves be traded in be worth more  
to the seller8 ,he preferred  the cash  
to this living ware that did not        
understand how to make itself  precious 
to him4 ,that he discovered nothing more
 valuable in it was  assuredly a defect 
of his competence2 but it takes a rogue 
to give more  than he has4 ,how should  
he show respect when he did not have it1
 nay1  hardly could have it for such a  
pack6    ,you behave egoistically when  
you respect each other neither as       
possessors nor as ragamuffins or        
workers1 but as a part of your          
competence1 as useful bodies4 ,then you 
will neither give anything to  the      
possessor 7proprietor7 for his          
possessions1 nor to him who works1  but 
only to him whom you require4 ,the      
,north ,americans ask themselves1  ,do  
we require a king8 and answer1 ,not a   

farthing are he and his work  worth to  
us4    ,if it is said that competition  
throws every thing open to all1 the     
expression is not accurate1 and it is   
better put thus3 competition makes      
everything purchasable4 ,in             
abandoning#ahf it to them1 competition  
leaves it to their appraisal#ahg or     
their estimation1 and demands a         
price#ahh for it4    ,but the would-be  
buyers mostly lack the means to make    
themselves buyers3  they have no money4 
,for money1 then1 the purchasable things
 are indeed  to be had 7,for money      
everything is to be had671 but it is    
exactly  money that is lacking4 ,where  
is one to get money1 this current or    
circulating property8 ,know then1 you   
have as much money#ahi as you           
have--might2 for you count#aij for as   
much as you make yourself count  for4   
,one pays not with money1 of which there
 may come a lack1 but with his          
competence1 by which alone we are       
competent2#aia for one is  proprietor   

only so far as the arm of our power     
reaches4    ,weitling has thought out a 
new means of payment1--work4 ,but the   
true  means of payment remains1 as      
always1 competence4 ,with what you have 
within your competence you pay4         
,therefore think on the enlargement of  
your competence4    ,this being         
admitted1 they are nevertheless right on
 hand again with the  motto1 ,to each   
according to his competence6 ,who is to 
give to me  according to my competence8 
,society8 ,then ,i should have to put up
 with  its estimation4 ,rather1 ,i shall
 take according to my competence4       
,all belongs to all6 ,this proposition  
springs from the same  unsubstantial    
theory4 ,to each belongs only what he is
 competent for4 ,if  ,i say1 ,the world 
belongs to me1 properly that too is     
empty talk1 which  has a meaning only in
 so far as ,i respect no alien property4
 ,but to me  belongs only as much as ,i 
am competent for1 or have within my     
competence4    ,one is not worthy to    

have what one1 through weakness1 lets be
 taken from  him2 one is not worthy of  
it because one is not capable of it4    
,they raise a mighty uproar over the    
wrong of a thousand years which is      
being committed by the rich against the 
poor4 ,as if the rich were to  blame for
 poverty1 and the poor were not in like 
manner responsible for  riches6 ,is     
there another difference between the two
 than that of  competence and           
incompetence1 of the competent and      
incompetent8 ,wherein1  pray1 does the  
crime of the rich consist8 ,in their    
hardheartedness4  ,but who then have    
maintained the poor8 who have cared for 
their  nourishment8 who have given alms1
 those alms that have even their name   
from mercy 7eleemosyne78 ,have not the  
rich been merciful at all  times8 are   
they not to this day tender-hearted1 as 
poor-taxes1  hospitals1 foundations of  
all sorts1 etc41 prove8    ,but all this
 does not satisfy you6 ,doubtless1 then1
 they are to share  with the poor8 ,now 

you are demanding that they shall       
abolish poverty4  ,aside from the point 
that there might be hardly one among you
 who would  act so1 and that this one   
would be a fool for it1 do ask          
yourselves3 why  should the rich let go 
their fleeces and give up themselves1   
thereby  pursuing the advantage of the  
poor rather than their own8 ,you1 who   
have  your thaler daily1 are rich above 
thousands who live on four groschen4    
,is it for your interest to share with  
the thousands1 or is it not rather  for 
theirs8-- --    ,with competition is    
connected less the intention to do the  
thing best  than the intention to make  
it as profitable1 as productive1 as     
possible4 ,hence people study to get    
into the civil service 7pot-boiling     
study71 study cringing and flattery1    
routine and acquaintance with  business1
 work for appearances4 ,hence1 while it 
is apparently a  matter of doing good   
service1 in truth only a good business  
and  earning of money are looked out    

for4 ,the job is done only ostensibly   
for  the job's sake1 but in fact on     
account of the gain that it yields4 ,one
  would indeed prefer not to be censor1 
but one wants to be--advanced2 one      
would like to judge1 administer1 etc41  
according to his best  convictions1 but 
one is afraid of transference or even   
dismissal2 one  must1 above all         
things1--live4    ,thus these goings-on 
are a fight for dear life1 and1 in      
gradation  upward1 for more or less of a
 good living4    ,and yet1 withal1 their
 whole round of toil and care brings in 
for most  only bitter life and bitter   
poverty4 ,all the bitter painstaking for
  this6    ,restless acquisition does   
not let us take breath1 take a calm     
enjoyment3 we do not get the comfort of 
our possessions4    ,but the            
organization of labor touches only such 
labors as others can do  for us1 e4 g4  
slaughtering1 tillage1 etc42 the rest   
remain egoistic1  because1 e4 g41 no one
 can in your stead elaborate your       

musical  compositions1 carry out your   
projects of painting1 etc42 nobody can  
replace ,raphael's labors4 ,the latter  
are labors of a unique person1#aib      
which only he is competent to achieve1  
while the former deserved to be  called 
human1 since what is anybody's own in   
them is of slight  account1 and almost  
any man can be trained to it4    ,now1  
as society can regard only labors for   
the common benefit1 human  labors1 he   
who does anything unique remains without
 its care2 nay1 he  may find himself    
disturbed by its intervention4 ,the     
unique person will  work himself forth  
out of society all right1 but society   
brings forth no  unique person4         
,hence it is at any rate helpful that we
 come to an agreement about  human      
labors1 that they may not1 as under     
competition1 claim all our  time and    
toil4 ,so far ,communism will bear its  
fruits4 ,for before the  dominion of the
 commonalty even that for which all men 
are qualified1 or  can be qualified1 was

 tied up to a few and withheld from the 
rest3 it  was a privilege4 ,to the      
commonalty it looked equitable to leave 
free all  that seemed to exist for every
 man4 ,but1 because left#aic free1 it   
was yet given to no one1 but rather left
 to each to be got hold of by  his human
 power4 ,by this the mind was turned to 
the acquisition of the  human1 which    
henceforth beckoned to every one2 and   
there arose a  movement which one hears 
so loudly bemoaned under the name of    
materialism4    ,communism seeks to     
check its course1 spreading the belief  
that the human  is not worth so much    
discomfort1 and1 with sensible          
arrangements1 could  be gained without  
the great expense of time and powers    
which has  hitherto seemed requisite4   
,but for whom is time to be gained8 ,for
 what does man require more time  than  
is necessary to refresh his wearied     
powers of labor8 ,here ,communism  is   
silent4    ,for what8 ,to take comfort  
in himself as the unique1 after he has  

done  his part as man6    ,in the first 
joy over being allowed to stretch out   
their hands toward  everything human1   
people forgot to want anything else2 and
 they competed  away vigorously1 as if  
the possession of the human were the    
goal of all  our wishes4    ,but they   
have run themselves tired1 and are      
gradually noticing that  possession does
 not give happiness4 ,therefore they are
 thinking of  obtaining the necessary by
 an easier bargain1 and spending on it  
only so  much time and toil as its      
indispensableness exacts4 ,riches fall  
in  price1 and contented poverty1 the   
care-free ragamuffin1 becomes the       
seductive ideal4    ,should such human  
activities1 that every one is confident 
of his  capacity for1 be highly         
salaried1 and sought for with toil and  
expenditure of all life-forces8 ,even in
 the every-day form of speech1  ,if ,i  
were minister1 or even the 4441 then it 
should go quite  otherwise1 that        
confidence expresses itself1--that one  

holds himself  capable of playing the   
part of such a dignitary2 one does get a
  perception that to things of this sort
 there belongs not uniqueness1 but  only
 a culture which is attainable1 even if 
not exactly by all1 at any  rate by     
many2 i4 e4 that for such a thing one   
need only be an ordinary  man4    ,if we
 assume that1 as order belongs to the   
essence of the ,state1 so  subordination
 too is founded in its nature1 then we  
see that the  subordinates1 or those who
 have received preferment1              
disproportionately  overcharge and      
overreach those who are put in the lower
 ranks4 ,but  the latter take heart     
7first from the ,socialist standpoint1  
but  certainly with egoistic            
consciousness later1 of which we will   
therefore  at once give their speech    
some coloring7 for the question1 ,by    
what then  is your property secure1 you 
creatures of preferment8--and give      
themselves the answer1 ,by our          
refraining from interference6 ,and so by

  our protection6 ,and what do you give 
us for it8 ,kicks and disdain you  give 
to the common people2 police            
supervision1 and a catechism with  the  
chief sentence ,respect what is not     
yours1 what belongs to  others6 respect 
others1 and especially your superiors6  
,but we reply1  ,if you want our        
respect1 buy it for a price agreeable to
 us4 ,we will  leave you your property1 
if you give a due equivalent for this   
leaving4  ,really1 what equivalent does 
the general in time of peace give for   
the  many thousands of his yearly       
income8 another for the sheer           
hundred-thousands and millions yearly8  
,what equivalent do you give for  our   
chewing potatoes and looking calmly on  
while you swallow oysters8  ,only buy   
the oysters of us as dear as we have to 
buy the potatoes of  you1 then you may  
go on eating them4 ,or do you suppose   
the oysters do  not belong to us as much
 as to you8 ,you will make an outcry    
over  violence if we reach out our hands

 and help consume them1 and you are     
right4 ,without violence we do not get  
them1 as you no less have them by  doing
 violence to us4    ,but take the       
oysters and have done with it1 and let  
us consider our  nearer property1 labor2
 for the other is only possession4 ,we  
distress  ourselves twelve hours in the 
sweat of our face1 and you offer us a   
few  groschen for it4 ,then take the    
like for your labor too4 ,are you not   
willing8 ,you fancy that our labor is   
richly repaid with that wage1 while     
yours on the other hand is worth a wage 
of many thousands4 ,but1 if you  did not
 rate yours so high1 and gave us a      
better chance to realize value  from    
ours1 then we might well1 if the case   
demanded it1 bring to pass  still more  
important things than you do for the    
many thousand thalers2  and1 if you got 
only such wages as we1 you would soon   
grow more  industrious in order to      
receive more4 ,but1 if you render any   
service  that seems to us worth ten and 

a hundred times more than our own labor1
  why1 then you shall get a hundred     
times more for it too2 we1 on the  other
 hand1 think also to produce for you    
things for which you will  requite us   
more highly than with the ordinary day's
 wages4 ,we shall be  willing to get    
along with each other all right1 if only
 we have first  agreed on this1--that   
neither any longer needs to--present    
anything to  the other4 ,then we may    
perhaps actually go so far as to pay    
even the  cripples and sick and old an  
appropriate price for not parting from  
us  by hunger and want2 for1 if we want 
them to live1 it is fitting also  that  
we--purchase the fulfilment of our will4
 ,i say purchase1 and  therefore do not 
mean a wretched alms4 ,for their life is
 the property  even of those who cannot 
work2 if we 7no matter for what reason7 
want  them not to withdraw this life    
from us1 we can mean to bring this to   
pass only by purchase2 nay1 we shall    
perhaps 7maybe because we like to  have 

friendly faces about us7 even want a    
life of comfort for them4 ,in  short1 we
 want nothing presented by you1 but     
neither will we present you  with       
anything4 ,for centuries we have handed 
alms to you from                        
good-hearted--stupidity1 have doled out 
the mite of the poor and given  to the  
masters the things that are--not the    
masters'2 now just open your  wallet1   
for henceforth our ware rises in price  
quite enormously4 ,we do  not want to   
take from you anything1 anything at all1
 only you are to pay  better for what   
you want to have4 ,what then have you8  
,i have an estate  of a thousand acres4 
,and ,i am your plowman1 and will       
henceforth attend  to your fields only  
for one thaler a day wages4 ,then ,i'll 
take  another4 ,you won't find any1 for 
we plowmen are no longer doing          
otherwise1 and1 if one puts in an       
appearance who takes less1 then let  him
 beware of us4 ,there is the housemaid1 
she too is now demanding as  much1 and  

you will no longer find one below this  
price4 ,why1 then it is  all over with  
me4 ,not so fast6 ,you will doubtless   
take in as much as  we2 and1 if it      
should not be so1 we will take off so   
much that you shall  have wherewith to  
live like us4 ,but ,i am accustomed to  
live better4 ,we  have nothing against  
that1 but it is not our lookout2 if you 
can clear  more1 go ahead4 ,are we to   
hire out under rates1 that you may have 
a good  living8 ,the rich man always    
puts off the poor with the words1 ,what 
does your want concern me8 ,see to it   
how you make your way through the       
world2 that is your affair1 not mine4   
,well1 let us let it be our  affair1    
then1 and let us not let the means that 
we have to realize value  from ourselves
 be pilfered from us by the rich4 ,but  
you uncultured  people really do not    
need so much4 ,well1 we are taking      
somewhat more in  order that for it we  
may procure the culture that we perhaps 
need4 ,but1  if you thus bring down the 

rich1 who is then to support the arts   
and  sciences hereafter8 ,oh1 well1 we  
must make it up by numbers2 we club     
together1 that gives a nice little      
sum1--besides1 you rich men now buy     
only the most tasteless books and the   
most lamentable ,madonnas or a pair  of 
lively dancer's legs4 ,o ill-starred    
equality6 ,no1 my good old sir1  nothing
 of equality4 ,we only want to count for
 what we are worth1 and1  if you are    
worth more1 you shall count for more    
right along4 ,we only  want to be worth 
our price1 and think to show ourselves  
worth the  price that you will pay4     
,is the ,state likely to be able to     
awaken so secure a temper and so        
forceful a self-consciousness in the    
menial8 ,can it make man feel  himself8 
nay1 may it even do so much as set this 
goal for itself8 ,can it  want the      
individual to recognize his value and   
realize this value from  himself8 ,let  
us keep the parts of the double question
 separate1 and see  first whether the   

,state can bring about such a thing4 ,as
 the unanimity  of the plowmen is       
required1 only this unanimity can bring 
it to pass1  and a ,state law would be  
evaded in a thousand ways by competition
 and in  secret4 ,but can the ,state    
bear with it8 ,the ,state cannot        
possibly bear  with people's suffering  
coercion from another than it2 it could 
not1  therefore1 admit the self-help of 
the unanimous plowmen against those  who
 want to engage for lower wages4        
,suppose1 however1 that the ,state  made
 the law1 and all the plowmen were in   
accord with it3 could the  ,state bear  
with it then8    ,in the isolated       
case--yes2 but the isolated case is more
 than that1 it  is a case of principle4 
,the question therein is of the whole   
range of  the ego's self-realization of 
value from himself1 and therefore also  
of his self-consciousness against the   
,state4 ,so far the ,communists  keep   
company2 but1 as self-realization of    
value from self necessarily  directs    

itself against the ,state1 so it does   
against society too1 and  therewith     
reaches out beyond the commune and the  
communistic--out of  egoism4            
,communism makes the maxim of the       
commonalty1 that every one is a         
possessor 7proprietor71 into an         
irrefragable truth1 into a reality1     
since the anxiety about obtaining now   
ceases and every one has from  the start
 what he requires4 ,in his labor-force  
he has his competence1  and1 if he makes
 no use of it1 that is his fault4 ,the  
grasping and  hounding is at an end1 and
 no competition is left 7as so often    
now7  without fruit1 because with every 
stroke of labor an adequate supply of   
the needful is brought into the house4  
,now for the first time one is a  real  
possessor1 because what one has in his  
labor-force can no longer  escape from  
him as it was continually threatening to
 do under the system  of competition4   
,one is a care-free and assured         
possessor4 ,and one is  this precisely  

by seeking his competence no longer in a
 ware1 but in his  own labor1 his       
competence for labor2 and therefore by  
being a  ragamuffin1 a man of only ideal
 wealth4 ,i1 however1 cannot content    
myself with the little that ,i scrape up
 by my competence for labor1  because my
 competence does not consist merely in  
my labor4    ,by labor ,i can perform   
the official functions of a president1 a
  minister1 etc42 these offices demand  
only a general culture1--to wit1  such a
 culture as is generally attainable 7for
 general culture is not  merely that    
which every one has attained1 but       
broadly that which every  one can       
attain1 and therefore every special     
culture1 e4 g4 medical1  military1      
philological1 of which no cultivated man
 believes that they  surpass his        
powers71 or1 broadly1 only a skill      
possible to all4    ,but1 even if these 
offices may vest in every one1 yet it is
 only the  individual's unique force1   
peculiar to him alone1 that gives them1 

so to  speak1 life and significance4    
,that he does not manage his office like
 an  ordinary man1 but puts in the      
competence of his uniqueness1 this he is
  not yet paid for when he is paid only 
in general as an official or a          
minister4 ,if he has done it so as to   
earn your thanks1 and you wish to       
retain this thankworthy force of the    
unique one1 you must not pay him  like a
 mere man who performed only what was   
human1 but as one who  accomplishes what
 is unique4 ,do the like with your      
labor1 do6    ,there cannot be a general
 schedule-price fixed for my uniqueness 
as  there can for what ,i do as man4    
,only for the latter can a              
schedule-price  be set4    ,go right on1
 then1 setting up a general appraisal   
for human labors1 but  do not deprive   
your uniqueness of its desert4    ,human
 or general needs can be satisfied      
through society2 for  satisfaction of   
unique needs you must do some seeking4  
,a friend and a  friendly service1 or   

even an individual's service1 society   
cannot  procure you4 ,and yet you will  
every moment be in need of such a       
service1  and on the slightest occasions
 require somebody who is helpful to you4
  ,therefore do not rely on society1 but
 see to it that you have the            
wherewithal to--purchase the fulfiment  
of your wishes4    ,whether money is to 
be retained among egoists8--,to the old 
stamp an  inherited possession adheres4 
,if you no longer let yourselves be paid
  with it1 it is ruined3 if you do      
nothing for this money1 it loses all    
power4 ,cancel the inheritance1 and you 
have broken off the executor's          
court-seal4 ,for now everything is an   
inheritance1 whether it be already      
inherited or await its heir4 ,if it is  
yours1 wherefore do you let it be       
sealed up from you8 why do you respect  
the seal8    ,but why should you not    
create a new money8 ,do you then        
annihilate the  ware in taking from it  
the hereditary stamp8 ,now1 money is a  

ware1 and  an essential means or        
competence4 ,for it protects against the
  ossification of resources1 keeps them 
in flux and brings to pass their        
exchange4 ,if you know a better medium  
of exchange1 go ahead2 yet it will  be a
 money again4 ,it is not the money that 
does you damage1 but your  incompetence 
to take it4 ,let your competence take   
effect1 collect  yourselves1 and there  
will be no lack of money--of your money1
 the money  of your stamp4 ,but working 
,i do not call letting your competence  
take effect4 ,those who are only looking
 for work and willing to work  hard are 
preparing for their own selves the      
infallible upshot--to be  out of work4  
,good and bad luck depend on money4 ,it 
is a power in the bourgeois  period for 
this reason1 that it is only wooed on   
all hands like a girl1  indissolubly    
wedded by nobody4 ,all the romance and  
chivalry of wooing  for a dear object   
come to life again in competition4      
,money1 an object of  longing1 is       

carried off by the bold knights of      
industry4#aid    ,he who has luck takes 
home the bride4 ,the ragamuffin has     
luck2 he takes  her into his household1 
society1 and destroys the virgin4 ,in   
his house  she is no longer bride1 but  
wife2 and with her virginity her family 
name  is also lost4 ,as housewife the   
maiden ,money is called ,labor1 for     
,labor is her husband's name4 ,she is a 
possession of her husband's4    ,to     
bring this figure to an end1 the child  
of ,labor and ,money is again a  girl1  
an unwedded one and therefore ,money1   
but with the certain descent  from      
,labor1 her father4 ,the form of the    
face1 the effigy1 bears  another stamp4 
,finally1 as regards competition once   
more1 it has a continued existence  by  
this very means1 that all do not attend 
to their affair and come to  an         
understanding with each other about it4 
,bread1 e4 g41 is a need  of all the    
inhabitants of a city2 therefore they   
might easily agree on  setting up a     

public bakery4 ,instead of this1 they   
leave the furnishing  of the needful to 
the competing bakers4 ,just so meat to  
the butchers1  wine to the wine-dealers1
 etc4    ,abolishing competition is not 
equivalent to favoring the guild4 ,the  
difference is this3 ,in the guild       
baking1 etc41 is the affair of the      
guild-brothers2 in competition1 the     
affair of chance competitors2 in  the   
union1 of those who require baked goods1
 and therefore my affair1  yours1 the   
affair of neither the guildic nor the   
concessionary baker1  but the affair of 
the united4    ,if ,i do not trouble    
myself about my affair1 ,i must be      
content with  what it pleases others to 
vouchsafe me4 ,to have bread is my      
affair1 my  wish and desire1 and yet    
people leave that to the bakers and hope
 at  most to obtain through their       
wrangling1 their getting ahead of each  
other1 their rivalry1--in short1 their  
competition1--an advantage which  one   
could not count on in the case of the   

guild-brothers who were lodged  entirely
 and alone in the proprietorship of the 
baking  franchise4--,what every one     
requires1 every one should also take a  
hand  in procuring and producing2 it is 
his affair1 his property1 not the       
property of the guildic or concessionary
 master4    ,let us look back once more4
 ,the world belongs to the children of  
this  world1 the children of men2 it is 
no longer ,god's world1 but man's4 ,as  
much as every man can procure of it1 let
 him call his2 only the true  man1 the  
,state1 human society or mankind1 will  
look to it that each  shall make nothing
 else his own than what he appropriates 
as man1  i4 e4 in human fashion4        
,unhuman appropriation is that which is 
not  consented to by man1 i4 e4 it is a 
criminal appropriation1 as the  human1  
vice versa1 is a rightful one1 one      
acquired in the way of  law4    ,so they
 talk since the ,revolution4    ,but my 
property is not a thing1 since this has 
an existence independent  of me2 only my

 might is my own4 ,not this tree1 but my
 might or control  over it1 is what is  
mine4    ,now1 how is this might        
perversely expressed8 ,they say ,i have 
a right  to this tree1 or it is my      
rightful property4 ,so ,i have earned it
 by  might4 ,that the might must last in
 order that the tree may also be        
held1--or better1 that the might is not 
a thing existing of itself1  but has    
existence solely in the mighty ego1 in  
me the mighty1--is  forgotten4 ,might1  
like other of my qualities 7e4 g4       
humanity1  majesty1 etc471 is exalted to
 something existing of itself1 so that  
it  still exists long after it has      
ceased to be my might4 ,thus transformed
  into a ghost1 might is--right4 ,this  
eternalized might is not  extinguished  
even with my death1 but is transferred  
or bequeathed4    ,things now really    
belong not to me1 but to right4    ,on  
the other side1 this is nothing but a   
hallucination of vision4 ,for  the      
individual's might becomes permanent and

 a right only by others  joining their  
might with his4 ,the delusion consists  
in their believing  that they cannot    
withdraw their might4 ,the same         
phenomenon over again2  might is        
separated from me4 ,i cannot take back  
the might that ,i gave to  the          
possessor4 ,one has granted power of    
attorney1 has given away his  power1 has
 renounced coming to a better mind4     
,the proprietor can give up his might   
and his right to a thing by giving  the 
thing away1 squandering it1 and the     
like4 ,and we should not be  able       
likewise to let go the might that we    
lend to him8    ,the rightful man1 the  
just1 desires to call nothing his own   
that he  does not have rightly or have  
the right to1 and therefore only        
legitimate property4    ,now1 who is to 
be judge1 and adjudge his right to him8 
,at last1 surely1  ,man1 who imparts to 
him the rights of man3 then he can say1 
in an  infinitely broader sense than    
,terence1 humani nihil a me alienum     

puto1  i4 e4 the human is my property4  
,however he may go about it1 so long  as
 he occupies this standpoint he cannot  
get clear of a judge2 and in  our time  
the multifarious judges that had been   
selected have set  themselves against   
each other in two persons at deadly     
enmity1--to wit1  in ,god and ,man4 ,the
 one party appeal to divine right1 the  
other to human  right or the rights of  
man4    ,so much is clear1 that in      
neither case does the individual do the 
entitling himself4    ,just pick me out 
an action to-day that would not be a    
violation of  right6 ,every moment the  
rights of man are trampled under foot by
 one  side1 while their opponents cannot
 open their mouth without uttering a    
blasphemy against divine right4 ,give an
 alms1 you mock at a right of  man1     
because the relation of beggar and      
benefactor is an inhuman  relation2     
utter a doubt1 you sin against a divine 
right4 ,eat dry bread  with contentment1
 you violate the right of man by your   

equanimity2 eat  it with discontent1 you
 revile divine right by your repining4  
,there is  not one among you who does   
not commit a crime at every moment2 your
  speeches are crimes1 and every        
hindrance to your freedom of speech is  
no  less a crime4 ,ye are criminals     
altogether6    ,yet you are so only in  
that you all stand on the ground of     
right2  i4 e41 in that you do not even  
know1 and understand how to value1 the  
fact that you are criminals4            
,inviolable or sacred property has grown
 on this very ground3 it is a  juridical
 concept4    ,a dog sees the bone in    
another's power1 and stands off only if 
it feels  itself too weak4 ,but man     
respects the other's right to his bone4 
,the  latter action1 therefore1 ranks as
 human1 the former as brutal or         
egoistic4    ,and as here1 so in        
general1 it is called human when one    
sees in  everything something spiritual 
7here right71 i4 e4 makes everything  a 
ghost and takes his attitude toward it  

as toward a ghost1 which one  can indeed
 scare away at its appearance1 but      
cannot kill4 ,it is human to  look at   
what is individual not as individual1   
but as a generality4    ,in nature as   
such ,i no longer respect anything1 but 
know myself to be  entitled to          
everything against it2 in the tree in   
that garden1 on the  other hand1 ,i must
 respect alienness 7they say in         
one-sided fashion  property71 ,i must   
keep my hand off it4 ,this comes to an  
end only when  ,i can indeed leave that 
tree to another as ,i leave my stick1   
etc41 to  another1 but do not in advance
 regard it as alien to me1 i4 e4 sacred4
  ,rather1 ,i make to myself no crime of
 felling it if ,i will1 and it  remains 
my property1 however long ,i resign it  
to others3 it is and  remains mine4 ,in 
the banker's fortune ,i as little see   
anything alien  as ,napoleon did in the 
territories of kings3 we have no dread  
of  conquering it1 and we look about us 
also for the means thereto4 ,we  strip  

off from it1 therefore1 the spirit of   
alienness1 of which we  had been afraid4
    ,therefore it is necessary that ,i  
do not lay claim to anything more as    
man1 but to everything as ,i1 this ,i2  
and accordingly to nothing human1  but  
to mine2 i4 e4 nothing that pertains to 
me as man1 but--what ,i  will and       
because ,i will it4    ,rightful1 or    
legitimate1 property of another will be 
only that which  you are content to     
recognize as such4 ,if your content     
ceases1 then  this property has lost    
legitimacy for you1 and you will laugh  
at  absolute right to it4    ,besides   
the hitherto discussed property in the  
limited sense1 there is  held up to our 
reverent heart another property against 
which we are far  less to sin4 ,this    
property consists in spiritual goods1 in
 the  sanctuary of the inner nature4    
,what a man holds sacred1 no other is to
  gibe at2 because1 untrue as it may be1
 and zealously as one may in  loving and
 modest wise seek to convince of a true 

sanctity the man who  adheres to it and 
believes in it1 yet the sacred itself is
 always to  be honored in it3 the       
mistaken man does believe in the sacred1
 even  though in an incorrect essence of
 it1 and so his belief in the sacred    
must at least be respected4    ,in ruder
 times than ours it was customary to    
demand a particular faith1  and devotion
 to a particular sacred essence1 and    
they did not take the  gentlest way with
 those who believed otherwise2 since1   
however1  freedom of belief spread      
itself more and more abroad1 the jealous
 ,god  and sole ,lord gradually melted  
into a pretty general supreme being1    
and it satisfied humane tolerance if    
only every one revered something        
sacred4    ,reduces to the human        
expression1 this sacred essence is man  
himself  and the human4 ,with the       
deceptive semblance as if the human were
  altogether our own1 and free from all 
the otherworldliness with which  that   
divine is tainted1--yes1 as if ,man were

 as much as ,i or you1--there  may arise
 even the proud fancy that the talk is  
no longer of a sacred  essence and that 
we now feel ourselves everywhere at home
 and no longer  in the uncanny1#aie i4  
e4 in the sacred and in sacred awe3 in  
the  ecstasy over ,man discovered at    
last the egoistic cry of pain passes    
unheard1 and the spook that has become  
so intimate is taken for our true  ego4 
,but ,humanus is the saint's name 7see  
,goethe71 and the humane is only  the   
most clarified sanctity4    ,the egoist 
makes the reverse declaration4 ,for this
 precise reason1  because you hold      
something sacred1 ,i gibe at you2 and1  
even if ,i  respected everything in you1
 your sanctuary is precisely what ,i    
should  not respect4    ,with these     
opposed views there must also be assumed
 a contradictory  relation to spiritual 
goods3 the egoist insults them1 the     
religious man  7i4 e4 every one who puts
 his essence above himself7 must        
consistently--protect them4 ,but what   

kind of spiritual goods are to be       
protected1 and what left unprotected1   
depends entirely on the concept  that   
one forms of the supreme being2 and he  
who fears ,god1 e4 g41  has more to     
shelter than he 7the liberal7 who fears 
,man4    ,in spiritual goods we are 7in 
distinction from the sensuous7 injured  
in  a spiritual way1 and the sin against
 them consists in a direct  desecration1
 while against the sensuous a purloining
 or alienation  takes place2 the goods  
themselves are robbed of value and of   
consecration1 not merely taken away2 the
 sacred is immediately  compromised4    
,with the word irreverence or flippancy 
is designated  everything that can be   
committed as crime against spiritual    
goods1  i4 e4 against everything that is
 sacred for us2 and scoffing1  reviling1
 contempt1 doubt1 and the like1 are only
 different shades of  criminal          
flippancy4    ,that desecration can be  
practised in the most manifold wise is  
here to  be passed over1 and only that  

desecration is to be preferentially     
mentioned which threatens the sacred    
with danger through an  unrestricted    
press4    ,as long as respect is        
demanded even for one spiritual essence1
 speech  and the press must be          
enthralled in the name of this essence2 
for just  so long the egoist might      
trespass against it by his utterances1  
from  which thing he must be hindered by
 due punishment at least1 if one  does  
not prefer to take up the more correct  
means against it1 the  preventive use of
 police authority1 e4 g4 censorship4    
,what a sighing for liberty of the      
press6 ,what then is the press to be    
liberated from8 ,surely from a          
dependence1 a belonging1 and a liability
  to service6 ,but to liberate himself  
from that is every one's affair1  and it
 may with safety be assumed that1 when  
you have delivered yourself  from       
liability to service1 that which you    
compose and write will also  belong to  
you as your own instead of having been  

thought and indited  in the service of  
some power4 ,what can a believer in     
,christ say and  have printed1 that     
should be freer from that belief in     
,christ than he  himself is8 ,if ,i     
cannot or may not write something1      
perhaps the primary  fault lies with me4
 ,little as this seems to hit the point1
 so near is  the application            
nevertheless to be found4 ,by a         
press-law ,i draw a  boundary for my    
publications1 or let one be drawn1      
beyond which wrong  and its punishment  
follows4 ,i myself limit myself4    ,if 
the press was to be free1 nothing would 
be so important as precisely  its       
liberation from every coercion that     
could be put on it in the name  of a    
law4 ,and1 that it might come to that1  
,i my own self should have to  have     
absolved myself from obedience to the   
law4    ,certainly1 the absolute liberty
 of the press is like every absolute    
liberty1 a nonentity4 ,the press can    
become free from full many a thing1  but

 always only from what ,i too am free   
from4 ,if we make ourselves free  from  
the sacred1 if we have become graceless 
and lawless1 our words  too will become 
so4    ,as little as we can be declared 
clear of every coercion in the world1   
so little can our writing be withdrawn  
from it4 ,but as free as we are1  so    
free we can make it too4    ,it must    
therefore become our own1 instead of1 as
 hitherto1 serving a  spook4    ,people 
do not yet know what they mean by their 
cry for liberty of the  press4 ,what    
they ostensibly ask is that the ,state  
shall set the press  free2 but what they
 are really after1 without knowing it   
themselves1 is  that the press become   
free from the ,state1 or clear of the   
,state4 ,the  former is a petition to   
the ,state1 the latter an insurrection  
against the ,state4 ,as a petition for  
right1 even as a serious  demanding of  
the right of liberty of the press1 it   
presupposes the ,state  as the giver1   
and can hope only for a present1 a      

permission1 a  chartering4 ,possible1 no
 doubt1 that a ,state acts so           
senselessly as to  grant the demanded   
present2 but you may bet everything that
 those who  receive the present will not
 know how to use it so long as they     
regard  the ,state as a truth3 they will
 not trespass against this sacred       
thing1 and will call for a penal        
press-law against every one who would   
be willing to dare this4    ,in a word1 
the press does not become free from what
 ,i am not free from4    ,do ,i perhaps 
hereby show myself an opponent of the   
liberty of the press8  ,on the contrary1
 ,i only assert that one will never get 
it if one wants  only it1 the liberty of
 the press2 i4 e4 if one sets out only  
for an  unrestricted permission4 ,only  
beg right along for this permission3 you
  may wait forever for it1 for there is 
no one in the world who could give  it  
to you4 ,as long as you want to have    
yourselves entitled to the use  of the  
press by a permission1 i4 e4 liberty of 

the press1 you live in  vain hope and   
complaint4    ,nonsense6 ,why1 you      
yourself1 who harbor such thoughts as   
stand in your  book1 can unfortunately  
bring them to publicity only through a  
lucky  chance or by stealth2            
nevertheless you will inveigh against   
one's  pressing and importuning his own 
,state till it gives the refused        
permission to print8 ,but an author thus
 addressed would perhaps--for  the      
impudence of such people goes far--give 
the following reply3  ,consider well    
what you say6 ,what then do ,i do to    
procure myself liberty  of the press for
 my book8 ,do ,i ask for permission1 or 
do ,i not rather1  without any question 
of legality1 seek a favorable occasion  
and grasp it  in complete recklessness  
of the ,state and its wishes8 ,i--the   
terrifying  word must be uttered--,i    
cheat the ,state4 ,you unconsciously do 
the same4  ,from your tribunes you talk 
it into the idea that it must give up   
its  sanctity and inviolability1 it must

 lay itself bare to the attacks of      
writers1 without needing on that account
 to fear danger4 ,but you are  imposing 
on it2 for its existence is done for as 
soon as it loses its                    
unapproachableness4 ,to you indeed it   
might well accord liberty of  writing1  
as ,england has done2 you are believers 
in the ,state and  incapable of writing 
against the ,state1 however much you    
would like to  reform it and 'remedy its
 defects4' ,but what if opponents of the
 ,state  availed themselves of free     
utterance1 and stormed out against      
,church1  ,state1 morals1 and everything
 'sacred' with inexorable reasons8 ,you 
would then be the first1 in terrible    
agonies1 to call into life the          
,september laws4 ,too late would you    
then rue the stupidity that earlier     
made you so ready to fool and palaver   
into compliance the ,state1 or the      
government of the ,state4--,but ,i prove
 by my act only two things4 ,this  for  
one1 that the liberty of the press is   

always bound to 'favorable              
opportunities1' and accordingly will    
never be an absolute liberty2 but       
secondly this1 that he who would enjoy  
it must seek out and1 if  possible1     
create the favorable opportunity1       
availing himself of his own  advantage  
against the ,state1 and counting himself
 and his will more  than the ,state and 
every 'superior' power4 ,not in the     
,state1 but only  against it1 can the   
liberty of the press be carried through2
 if it is to  be established1 it is to  
be obtained not as the consequence of a 
petition but as the work of an          
insurrection4 ,every petition and  every
 motion for liberty of the press is     
already an insurrection1 be it          
conscious or unconscious3 a thing which 
,philistine halfness alone will  not and
 cannot confess to itself until1 with a 
shrinking shudder1 it  shall see it     
clearly and irrefutably by the outcome4 
,for the requested  liberty of the press
 has indeed a friendly and well-meaning 

face at the  beginning1 as it is not in 
the least minded ever to let the        
'insolence  of the press' come into     
vogue2 but little by little its heart   
grows more  hardened1 and the inference 
flatters its way in that really a       
liberty is  not a liberty if it stands  
in the service of the ,state1 of morals1
 or  of the law4 ,a liberty indeed from 
the coercion of censorship1 it is yet   
not a liberty from the coercion of law4 
,the press1 once seized by the  lust for
 liberty1 always wants to grow freer1   
till at last the writer  says to        
himself1 ,really ,i am not wholly free  
till ,i ask about nothing2  and writing 
is free only when it is my own1 dictated
 to me by no power  or authority1 by no 
faith1 no dread2 the press must not be  
free--that is  too little--it must be   
mine3--ownness of the press or property 
in  the press1 that is what ,i will     
take4    ,why1 liberty of the press is  
only permission of the press1 and the   
,state never will or can voluntarily    

permit me to grind it to nothingness  by
 the press4    ,let us now1 in          
conclusion1 bettering the above         
language1 which is still  vague1 owing  
to the phrase 'liberty of the press1'   
rather put it thus3  ,liberty of the    
press1 the liberals' loud demand1 is    
assuredly possible  in the ,state2 yes1 
it is possible only in the ,state1      
because it is a  permission1 and        
consequently the permitter 7the ,state7 
must not be  lacking4 ,but as permission
 it has its limit in this very ,state1  
which  surely should not in reason      
permit more than is compatible with     
itself  and its welfare3 the ,state     
fixes for it this limit as the law of   
its  existence and of its extension4    
,that one ,state brooks more than       
another  is only a quantitative         
distinction1 which alone1 nevertheless1 
lies at  the heart of the political     
liberals3 they want in ,germany1 e4 g41 
only  a 'more extended1 broader         
accordance of free utterance4' ,the     

liberty  of the press which is sought   
for is an affair of the people's1 and   
before the people 7the ,state7 possesses
 it ,i may make no use of it4 ,from  the
 standpoint of property in the press1   
the situation is different4 ,let  my    
people1 if they will1 go without liberty
 of the press1 ,i will manage  to print 
by force or ruse2 ,i get my permission  
to print only  from--myself and my      
strength4    ,if the press is my own1 ,i
 as little need a permission of the     
,state  for employing it as ,i seek that
 permission in order to blow my nose4   
,the  press is my property from the     
moment when nothing is more to me than  
myself2 for from this moment ,state1    
,church1 people1 society1 and the  like1
 cease1 because they have to thank for  
their existence only the  disrespect    
that ,i have for myself1 and with the   
vanishing of this  undervaluation they  
themselves are extinguished3 they exist 
only when  they exist above me1 exist   
only as powers and power-holders4 ,or   

can  you imagine a ,state whose citizens
 one and all think nothing of it8 it    
would be as certainly a dream1 an       
existence in seeming1 as 'united        
,germany4'    ,the press is my own as   
soon as ,i myself am my own1 a          
self-owned man3 to  the egoist belongs  
the world1 because he belongs to no     
power of the  world4    ,with this my   
press might still be very unfree1 as e4 
g41 at this  moment4 ,but the world is  
large1 and one helps himself as well as 
he can4  ,if ,i were willing to abate   
from the property of my press1 ,i could 
easily attain the point where ,i might  
everywhere have as much printed as  my  
fingers produced4 ,but1 as ,i want to   
assert my property1 ,i must  necessarily
 swindle my enemies4 ',would you not    
accept their permission  if it were     
given you8' ,certainly1 with joy2 for   
their permission would  be to me a proof
 that ,i had fooled them and started    
them on the road to  ruin4 ,i am not    
concerned for their permission1 but so  

much the more for  their folly and their
 overthrow4 ,i do not sue for their     
permission as if  ,i flattered myself   
7like the political liberals7 that we   
both1 they and  ,i1 could make out      
peaceably alongside and with each other1
 yes1 probably  raise and prop each     
other2 but ,i sue for it in order to    
make them bleed  to death by it1 that   
the permitters themselves may cease at  
last4 ,i act  as a conscious enemy1     
overreaching them and utilizing their   
heedlessness4    ,the press is mine when
 ,i recognize outside myself no judge   
whatever  over its utilization1 i4 e4   
when my writing is no longer determined 
by  morality or religion or respect for 
the ,state laws or the like1 but by  me 
and my egoism6--    ,now1 what have you 
to reply to him who gives you so        
impudent an  answer8--,we shall perhaps 
put the question most strikingly by     
phrasing  it as follows3 ,whose is the  
press1 the people's 7,state's7 or mine8 
,the  politicals on their side intend   

nothing further than to liberate the    
press from personal and arbitrary       
interferences of the possessors of      
power1 without thinking of the point    
that to be really open for  everybody it
 would also have to be free from the    
laws1 i4 e4 from the  people's          
7,state's7 will4 ,they want to make a   
people's affair of it4    ,but1 having  
become the people's property1 it is     
still far from being  mine2 rather1 it  
retains for me the subordinate          
significance of a  permission4 ,the     
people plays judge over my thoughts2 it 
has the right  of calling me to account 
for them1 or1 ,i am responsible to it   
for them4  ,jurors1 when their fixed    
ideas are attacked1 have just as hard   
heads and  hearts as the stiffest       
despots and their servile officials4    
,in the ,liberale ,bestrebungen#aif ,e4 
,bauer asserts that liberty of  the     
press is impossible in the absolutist   
and the constitutional ,state1  whereas 
in the free ,state it finds its place4  

,here1 the statement  is1 it is         
recognized that the individual1 because 
he is no longer an  individual but a    
member of a true and rational           
generality1 has the right  to utter his 
mind4 ,so not the individual1 but the   
member1 has liberty  of the press4 ,but1
 if for the purpose of liberty of the   
press the  individual must first give   
proof of himself regarding his belief in
 the  generality1 the people2 if he does
 not have this liberty through might  of
 his own1--then it is a people's        
liberty1 a liberty that he is  invested 
with for the sake of his faith1 his     
membership4 ,the reverse  is the case3  
it is precisely as an individual that   
every one has open to  him the liberty  
to utter his mind4 ,but he has not the  
right3 that  liberty is assuredly not   
his sacred right4 ,he has only the      
might2  but the might alone makes him   
owner4 ,i need no concession for the    
liberty of the press1 do not need the   
people's consent to it1 do not  need the

 right to it1 nor any justification4    
,the liberty of the  press too1 like    
every liberty1 ,i must take2 the people1
 as being the  sole judge1 cannot give  
it to me4 ,it can put up with the       
liberty that  ,i take1 or defend itself 
against it2 give1 bestow1 grant it it   
cannot4 ,i  exercise it despite the     
people1 purely as an individual2 i4 e4  
,i get  it by fighting the people1      
my--enemy1 and obtain it only when ,i   
really  get it by such fighting1 i4 e4  
take it4 ,but ,i take it because it is  
my  property4    ,sander1 against whom  
,e4 ,bauer writes1 lays claim 7page #ii7
 to the  liberty of the press as the    
right and the liberty of the citizen in 
the ,state4 ,what else does ,e4 ,bauer  
do8 ,to him also it is only a right  of 
the free citizen4    ,the liberty of the
 press is also demanded under the name  
of a general  human right4 ,against this
 the objection was well-founded that not
 every  man knew how to use it rightly1 
for not every individual was truly man4 

,never did a government refuse it to    
,man as such2 but ,man writes  nothing1 
for the reason that he is a ghost4 ,it  
always refused it to  individuals only1 
and gave it to others1 e4 g4 its organs4
 ,if then  one would have it for all1   
one must assert outright that it is due 
to  the individual1 me1 not to man or to
 the individual so far as he is man4    
,besides1 another than a man 7e4 g4 a   
beast7 can make no use of it4 ,the      
,french government1 e4 g41 does not     
dispute the liberty of the press as  a  
right of man1 but demands from the      
individual a security for his  really   
being man2 for it assigns liberty of the
 press not to the  individual1 but to   
man4    ,under the exact pretence that  
it was not human1 what was mine was     
taken from me6 what was human was left  
to me undiminished4    ,liberty of the  
press can bring about only a responsible
 press2 the  irresponsible proceeds     
solely from property in the press4      
99       99       99       99       99  

,for intercourse with men an express law
 7conformity to which one may  venture  
at times sinfully to forget1 but the    
absolute value of which one  at no time 
ventures to deny7 is placed foremost    
among all who live  religiously3 this is
 the law--of love1 to which not even    
those who  seem to fight against its    
principle1 and who hate its name1 have  
as yet  become untrue2 for they also    
still have love1 yes1 they love with a  
deeper and more sublimated love1 they   
love man and mankind4    ,if we         
formulate the sense of this law1 it will
 be about as follows3  ,every man must  
have a something that is more to him    
than himself4 ,you  are to put your     
private interest in the background when 
it is a  question of the welfare of     
others1 the weal of the fatherland1 of  
society1 the common weal1 the weal of   
mankind1 the good cause1 and the  like6 
,fatherland1 society1 mankind1 etc41    
must be more to you than  yourself1 and 
as against their interest your private  

interest must  stand back2 for you must 
not be an--egoist4    ,love is a        
far-reaching religious demand1 which is 
not1 as might be  supposed1 limited to  
love to ,god and man1 but stands        
foremost in every  regard4 ,whatever we 
do1 think1 will1 the ground of it is    
always to be  love4 ,thus we may indeed 
judge1 but only with love4 ,the ,bible  
may  assuredly be criticised1 and that  
very thoroughly1 but the critic must    
before all things love it and see in it 
the sacred book4 ,is this  anything else
 than to say he must not criticise it to
 death1 he must  leave it standing1 and 
that as a sacred thing that cannot be   
upset8--,in  our criticism on men too1  
love must remain the unchanged key-note4
  ,certainly judgments that hatred      
inspires are not at all our own         
judgments1 but judgments of the hatred  
that rules us1 rancorous  judgments4    
,but are judgments that love inspires in
 us any more our  own8 ,they are        
judgments of the love that rules us1    

they are loving1  lenient judgments1    
they are not our own1 and accordingly   
not real  judgments at all4 ,he who     
burns with love for justice cries out1  
fiat  justitia1 pereat mundus6 ,he can  
doubtless ask and investigate what      
justice properly is or demands1 and in  
what it consists1 but not  whether it is
 anything4    ,it is very true1 ,he who 
abides in love abides in ,god1 and ,god 
in him4  7,i ,john #d4 #af47 ,god abides
 in him1 he does not get rid of ,god1   
does not  become godless2 and he abides 
in ,god1 does not come to himself and   
into  his own home1 abides in love to   
,god and does not become loveless4      
,god is love6 ,all times and all races  
recognize in this word the central      
point of ,christianity4 ,god1 who is    
love1 is an officious ,god3 he cannot   
leave the world in peace1 but wants to  
make it blest4 ,god became man  to make 
men divine4#aig ,he has his hand in the 
game everywhere1 and  nothing happens   
without it2 everywhere he has his best  

purposes1 his  incomprehensible plans   
and decrees4 ,reason1 which he himself  
is1 is to  be forwarded and realized in 
the whole world4 ,his fatherly care     
deprives  us of all independence4 ,we   
can do nothing sensible without its     
being  said1 ,god did that6 and can     
bring upon ourselves no misfortune      
without  hearing1 ,god ordained that2 we
 have nothing that we have not from him1
  he gave everything4 ,but1 as ,god     
does1 so does ,man4 ,god wants perforce 
to make the world blest1 and ,man wants 
to make it happy1 to make all  men      
happy4 ,hence every man wants to awaken 
in all men the reason which  he supposes
 his own self to have3 everything is to 
be rational  throughout4 ,god torments  
himself with the devil1 and the         
philosopher  does it with unreason and  
the accidental4 ,god lets no being go   
its  own gait1 and ,man likewise wants  
to make us walk only in human wise4     
,but whoso is full of sacred 7religious1
 moral1 humane7 love loves only  the    

spook1 the true man1 and persecutes with
 dull mercilessness the  individual1 the
 real man1 under the phlegmatic legal   
title of measures  against the un-man4  
,he finds it praiseworthy and           
indispensable to  exercise pitilessness 
in the harshest measure2 for love to the
 spook or  generality commands him to   
hate him who is not ghostly1 i4 e4 the  
egoist or individual2 such is the       
meaning of the renowned  love-phenomenon
 that is called justice4    ,the        
criminally arraigned man can expect no  
forbearance1 and no one  spreads a      
friendly veil over his unhappy          
nakedness4 ,without emotion the  stern  
judge tears the last rags of excuse from
 the body of the poor  accused2 without 
compassion the jailer drags him into his
 damp abode2  without placability1 when 
the time of punishment has expired1 he  
thrusts  the branded man again among    
men1 his good1 ,christian1 loyal        
brethren6  who contemptuously spit on   
him4 ,yes1 without grace a criminal     

deserving  of death is led to the       
scaffold1 and before the eyes of a      
jubilating  crowd the appeased moral law
 celebrates its sublime--revenge4 ,for  
only  one can live1 the moral law or the
 criminal4 ,where criminals live        
unpunished1 the moral law has fallen2   
and1 where this prevails1 those  must go
 down4 ,their enmity is indestructible4 
,the ,christian age is precisely that of
 mercy1 love1 solicitude to have  men   
receive what is due them1 yes1 to bring 
them to fulfil their human  7divine7    
calling4 ,therefore the principle has   
been put foremost for  intercourse1 that
 this and that is man's essence and     
consequently his  calling1 to which     
either ,god has called him or 7according
 to the  concepts of to-day7 his being  
man 7the species7 calls him4 ,hence the 
zeal for conversion4 ,that the          
,communists and the humane expect from  
man  more than the ,christians do does  
not change the standpoint in the least4 
,man shall get what is human6 ,if it was

 enough for the pious that what  was    
divine became his part1 the humane      
demand that he be not curtailed  of what
 is human4 ,both set themselves against 
what is egoistic4 ,of  course2 for what 
is egoistic cannot be accorded to him or
 vested in him  7a fief72 he must       
procure it for himself4 ,love imparts   
the former1 the  latter can be given to 
me by myself alone4    ,intercourse     
hitherto has rested on love1 regardful  
behavior1 doing for  each other4 ,as one
 owed it to himself to make himself     
blessed1 or owed  himself the bliss of  
taking up into himself the supreme      
essence and  bringing it to a vrit 7a   
truth and reality71 so one owed it to   
others to help them realize their       
essence and their calling3 in both      
cases one owed it to the essence of man 
to contribute to its  realization4      
,but one owes it neither to himself to  
make anything out of himself1 nor  to   
others to make anything out of them2 for
 one owes nothing to his  essence and   

that of others4 ,intercourse resting on 
essence is an  intercourse with the     
spook1 not with anything real4 ,if ,i   
hold  intercourse with the supreme      
essence1 ,i am not holding intercourse  
with  myself1 and1 if ,i hold           
intercourse with the essence of man1 ,i 
am not  holding intercourse with men4   
,the natural man's love becomes through 
culture a commandment4 ,but as          
commandment it belongs to ,man as such1 
not to me2 it is my  essence1#aih about 
which much ado#aii is made1 not my      
property4  ,man1 i4 e4 humanity1        
presents that demand to me2 love is     
demanded1  it is my duty4 ,instead1     
therefore1 of being really won for me1  
it  has been won for the generality1    
,man1 as his property or peculiarity3   
it becomes man1 i4 e4 every man1 to     
love2 love is the duty and  calling of  
man1 etc4    ,consequently ,i must again
 vindicate love for myself1 and deliver 
it  out of the power of ,man with the   
great ,m4    ,what was originally mine1 

but accidentally mine1 instinctively    
mine1  ,i was invested with as the      
property of ,man2 ,i became feoffee in  
loving1  ,i became the retainer of      
mankind1 only a specimen of this        
species1 and  acted1 loving1 not as ,i1 
but as man1 as a specimen of man1 i4 e4 
humanly4 ,the whole condition of        
civilization is the feudal system1 the  
property being ,man's or mankind's1 not 
mine4 ,a monstrous feudal ,state  was   
founded1 the individual robbed of       
everything1 everything left to  man4    
,the individual had to appear at last as
 a sinner through and  through4    ,am  
,i perchance to have no lively interest 
in the person of another1 are  his joy  
and his weal not to lie at my heart1 is 
the enjoyment that ,i  furnish him not  
to be more to me than other enjoyments  
of my own8 ,on the  contrary1 ,i can    
with joy sacrifice to him numberless    
enjoyments1 ,i can  deny myself         
numberless things for the enhancement of
 his pleasure1 and  ,i can hazard for   

him what without him was the dearest to 
me1 my life1 my  welfare1 my freedom4   
,why1 it constitutes my pleasure and my 
happiness to  refresh myself with his   
happiness and his pleasure4 ,but myself1
 my own  self1 ,i do not sacrifice to   
him1 but remain an egoist and--enjoy    
him4  ,if ,i sacrifice to him everything
 that but for my love to him ,i should  
keep1 that is very simple1 and even more
 usual in life than it seems to  be2 but
 it proves nothing further than that    
this one passion is more  powerful in me
 than all the rest4 ,christianity too   
teaches us to  sacrifice all other      
passions to this4 ,but1 if to one       
passion ,i sacrifice  others1 ,i do not 
on that account go so far as to         
sacrifice myself1 nor  sacrifice        
anything of that whereby ,i truly am    
myself2 ,i do not sacrifice  my peculiar
 value1 my ownness4 ,where this bad case
 occurs1 love cuts  no better figure    
than any other passion that ,i obey     
blindly4 ,the  ambitious man1 who is    

carried away by ambition and remains    
deaf to every  warning that a calm      
moment begets in him1 has let this      
passion grow up  into a despot against  
whom he abandons all power of           
dissolution3 he has  given up himself1  
because he cannot dissolve himself1 and 
consequently  cannot absolve himself    
from the passion3 he is possessed4    ,i
 love men too1--not merely individuals1 
but every one4 ,but ,i love them  with  
the consciousness of egoism2 ,i love    
them because love makes me  happy1 ,i   
love because loving is natural to me1   
because it pleases me4 ,i  know no      
commandment of love4 ,i have a          
fellow-feeling with every  feeling      
being1 and their torment torments1 their
 refreshment refreshes  me too2 ,i can  
kill them1 not torture them4 ,per       
contra1 the  high-souled1 virtuous      
,philistine prince ,rudolph in ,the     
,mysteries of  ,paris1 because the      
wicked provoke his indignation1 plans   
their  torture4 ,that fellow-feeling    

proves only that the feeling of those   
who  feel is mine too1 my property2 in  
opposition to which the pitiless        
dealing of the righteous man 7e4 g4     
against notary ,ferrand7 is like  the   
unfeelingness of that robber who cut off
 or stretched his prisoners'  legs to   
the measure of his bedstead3 ,rudolph's 
bedstead1 which he cuts  men to fit1 is 
the concept of the good4 ,the feeling   
for right1 virtue1  etc41 makes people  
hard-hearted and intolerant4 ,rudolph   
does not feel  like the notary1 but the 
reverse2 he feels that it serves the    
rascal  right2 that is no               
fellow-feeling4    ,you love man1       
therefore you torture the individual    
man1 the egoist2 your  philanthropy     
7love of men7 is the tormenting of men4 
,if ,i see the loved one suffer1 ,i     
suffer with him1 and ,i know no rest    
till ,i have tried everything to comfort
 and cheer him2 if ,i see him  glad1 ,i 
too become glad over his joy4 ,from this
 it does not follow that  suffering or  

joy is caused in me by the same thing   
that brings out this  effect in him1 as 
is sufficiently proved by every bodily  
pain which ,i do  not feel as he does2  
his tooth pains him1 but his pain pains 
me4    ,but1 because ,i cannot bear the 
troubled crease on the beloved          
forehead1 for that reason1 and therefore
 for my sake1 ,i kiss it away4 ,if  ,i  
did not love this person1 he might go   
right on making creases1 they  would not
 trouble me2 ,i am only driving away my 
trouble4    ,how now1 has anybody or    
anything1 whom and which ,i do not love1
 a  right to be loved by me8 ,is my love
 first1 or is his right first8          
,parents1 kinsfolk1 fatherland1 nation1 
native town1 etc41 finally  fellow-men  
in general 7brothers1 fraternity71      
assert that they have a  right to my    
love1 and lay claim to it without       
further ceremony4 ,they  look upon it as
 their property1 and upon me1 if ,i do  
not respect this1  as a robber who takes
 from them what pertains to them and is 

theirs4 ,i  should love4 ,if love is a  
commandment and law1 then ,i must be    
educated  into it1 cultivated up to it1 
and1 if ,i trespass against it1         
punished4  ,hence people will exercise  
as strong a moral influence as possible 
on  me to bring me to love4 ,and there  
is no doubt that one can work up and    
seduce men to love as one can to other  
passions1--e4 g41 if you like1  to hate4
 ,hate runs through whole races merely  
because the ancestors of  the one       
belonged to the ,guelphs1 those of the  
other to the ,ghibellines4    ,but love 
is not a commandment1 but1 like each of 
my feelings1 my  property4 ,acquire1 i4 
e4 purchase1 my property1 and then ,i   
will  make it over to you4 ,a church1 a 
nation1 a fatherland1 a family1 etc41   
that does not know how to acquire my    
love1 ,i need not love2 and ,i fix  the 
purchase price of my love quite at my   
pleasure4    ,selfish love is far       
distant from unselfish1 mystical1 or    
romantic love4  ,one can love everything

 possible1 not merely men1 but an object
 in  general 7wine1 one's fatherland1   
etc474 ,love becomes blind and crazy by 
a must taking it out of my power        
7infatuation71 romantic by a  should    
entering into it1 i4 e4 the object's    
becoming sacred for  me1 or my becoming 
bound to it by duty1 conscience1 oath4  
,now the object  no longer exists for   
me1 but ,i for it4    ,love is a        
possessedness1 not as my feeling--as    
such ,i rather keep it in  my possession
 as property--1 but through the         
alienness of the object4  ,for religious
 love consists in the commandment to    
love in the beloved a  holy one1 or to  
adhere to a holy one2 for unselfish love
 there are  objects absolutely lovable  
for which my heart is to beat1--e4 g4   
fellow-men1 or my wedded mate1 kinsfolk1
 etc4 ,holy love loves the holy  in the 
beloved1 and therefore exerts itself    
also to make of the beloved  more and   
more a holy one 7e4 g4 a man74    ,the  
beloved is an object that should be     

loved by me4 ,he is not an  object of my
 love on account of1 because of1 or by1 
my loving him1 but  is an object of love
 in and of himself4 ,not ,i make him an 
object of  love1 but he is such to begin
 with2 for it is here irrelevant that he
  has become so by my choice1 if so it  
be 7as with a fiance1 a spouse1  and the
 like71 since even so he has in any     
case1 as the person once  chosen1       
obtained a right of his own to my love1 
and ,i1 because ,i have  loved him1 am  
under obligation to love him forever4   
,he is therefore not  an object of my   
love1 but of love in general3 an object 
that should  be loved4 ,love appertains 
to him1 is due to him1 or is his right1 
while ,i am under obligation to love    
him4 ,my love1 i4 e4 the toll of  love  
that ,i pay him1 is in truth his love1  
which he only collects from  me as toll4
    ,every love to which there clings   
but the smallest speck of obligation  is
 an unselfish love1 and1 so far as this 
speck reaches1 a  possessedness4 ,he who

 believes that he owes the object of his
 love  anything loves romantically or   
religiously4    ,family love1 e4 g41 as 
it is usually understood as piety1 is a 
religious love2 love of fatherland1     
preached as patriotism1 likewise4  ,all 
our romantic love moves in the same     
pattern3 everywhere the  hypocrisy1 or  
rather self-deception1 of an unselfish  
love1 an interest  in the object for the
 object's sake1 not for my sake and mine
 alone4    ,religious or romantic love  
is distinguished from sensual love by   
the  difference of the object indeed1   
but not by the dependence of the        
relation to it4 ,in the latter regard   
both are possessedness2 but in the      
former the one object is profane1 the   
other sacred4 ,the dominion of the      
object over me is the same in both      
cases1 only that it is one time a       
sensuous one1 the other time a spiritual
 7ghostly7 one4 ,my love is my  own only
 when it consists altogether in a       
selfish and egoistic interest1  and when

 consequently the object of my love is  
really my object or my  property4 ,i owe
 my property nothing1 and have no duty  
to it1 as little  as ,i might have a    
duty to my eye2 if nevertheless ,i guard
 it with the  greatest care1 ,i do so on
 my account4    ,antiquity lacked love  
as little as do ,christian times2 the   
god of love  is older than the ,god of  
,love4 ,but the mystical possessedness  
belongs to  the moderns4    ,the        
possessedness of love lies in the       
alienation of the object1 or in my      
powerlessness as against its alienness  
and superior power4 ,to the egoist      
nothing is high enough for him to humble
 himself before it1 nothing so          
independent that he would live for love 
of it1 nothing so sacred that he  would 
sacrifice himself to it4 ,the egoist's  
love rises in selfishness1  flows in the
 bed of selfishness1 and empties into   
selfishness again4    ,whether this can 
still be called love8 ,if you know      
another word for it1  go ahead and      

choose it2 then the sweet word love may 
wither with the  departed world2 for the
 present ,i at least find none in our   
,christian  language1 and hence stick to
 the old sound and love my object1      
my--property4    ,only as one of my     
feelings do ,i harbor love2 but as a    
power above me1 as  a divine power      
7,feuerbach71 as a passion that ,i am   
not to cast off1 as a  religious and    
moral duty1 ,i--scorn it4 ,as my feeling
 it is mine2 as a  principle to which ,i
 consecrate and vow my soul it is a     
dominator and  divine1 just as hatred as
 a principle is diabolical2 one not     
better  than the other4 ,in short1      
egoistic love1 i4 e41 my love1 is       
neither  holy nor unholy1 neither divine
 nor diabolical4    ,a love that is     
limited by faith is an untrue love4 ,the
 sole limitation  that does not         
contradict the essence of love is the   
self-limitation of  love by reason1     
intelligence4 ,love that scorns the     
rigor1 the law1 of  intelligence1 is    

theoretically a false love1 practically 
a ruinous  one4#bjj ,so love is in its  
essence rational6 ,so thinks ,feuerbach2
  the believer1 on the contrary1 thinks1
 ,love is in its essence  believing4    
,the one inveighs against irrational1   
the other against  unbelieving1 love4   
,to both it can at most rank as a       
splendidum  vitium4 ,do not both leave  
love standing1 even in the form of      
unreason  and unbelief8 ,they do not    
dare to say1 irrational or unbelieving  
love is  nonsense1 is not love2 as      
little as they are willing to say1      
irrational  or unbelieving tears are not
 tears4 ,but1 if even irrational love1  
etc41  must count as love1 and if they  
are nevertheless to be unworthy of man1 
there follows simply this3 love is not  
the highest thing1 but reason or  faith2
 even the unreasonable and the          
unbelieving can love2 but love has      
value only when it is that of a rational
 or believing person4 ,it is an         
illusion when ,feuerbach calls the      

rationality of love its                 
self-limitation2 the believer might with
 the same right call belief  its        
self-limitation4 ,irrational love is    
neither false nor ruinous2  it does its 
service as love4    ,toward the world1  
especially toward men1 ,i am to assume a
 particular  feeling1 and meet them with
 love1 with the feeling of love1 from   
the  beginning4 ,certainly1 in this     
there is revealed far more free-will and
  self-determination than when ,i let   
myself be stormed1 by way of the  world1
 by all possible feelings1 and remain   
exposed to the most  checkered1 most    
accidental impressions4 ,i go to the    
world rather with a  preconceived       
feeling1 as if it were a prejudice and a
 preconceived  opinion3 ,i have         
prescribed to myself in advance my      
behavior toward it1  and1 despite all   
its temptations1 feel and think about it
 only as ,i  have once determined to4   
,against the dominion of the world ,i   
secure  myself by the principle of love2

 for1 whatever may come1 ,i--love4 ,the 
ugly--e4 g4--makes a repulsive          
impression on me2 but1 determined to    
love1 ,i master this impression as ,i do
 every antipathy4    ,but the feeling to
 which ,i have determined and--condemned
 myself from  the start is a narrow     
feeling1 because it is a predestined    
one1 of  which ,i myself am not able to 
get clear or to declare myself clear4   
,because preconceived1 it is a          
prejudice4 ,i no longer show myself in  
face of the world1 but my love shows    
itself4 ,the world indeed does not  rule
 me1 but so much the more inevitably    
does the spirit of love rule  me4 ,i    
have overcome the world to become a     
slave of this spirit4    ,if ,i first   
said1 ,i love the world1 ,i now add     
likewise3 ,i do not love it1  for ,i    
annihilate it as ,i annihilate myself2  
,i dissolve it4 ,i do not  limit myself 
to one feeling for men1 but give free   
play to all that ,i am  capable of4 ,why
 should ,i not dare speak it out in all 

its glaringness8  ,yes1 ,i utilize the  
world and men6 ,with this ,i can keep   
myself open to  every impression without
 being torn away from myself by one of  
them4 ,i  can love1 love with a full    
heart1 and let the most consuming glow  
of  passion burn in my heart1 without   
taking the beloved one for anything     
else than the nourishment of my passion1
 on which it ever refreshes  itself     
anew4 ,all my care for him applies only 
to the object of my  love1 only to him  
whom my love requires1 only to him1 the 
warmly  loved4 ,how indifferent would he
 be to me without this--my love6 ,i feed
  only my love with him1 ,i utilize him 
for this only3 ,i enjoy him4    ,let us 
choose another convenient example4 ,i   
see how men are fretted in  dark        
superstition by a swarm of ghosts4 ,if  
to the extent of my powers ,i  let a bit
 of daylight fall in on the nocturnal   
spookery1 is it  perchance because love 
to you inspires this in me8 ,do ,i write
 out of  love to men8 ,no1 ,i write     

because ,i want to procure for my       
thoughts an  existence in the world2    
and1 even if ,i foresaw that these      
thoughts would  deprive you of your rest
 and your peace1 even if ,i saw the     
bloodiest  wars and the fall of many    
generations springing up from this seed 
of  thought1--,i would nevertheless     
scatter it4 ,do with it what you will   
and  can1 that is your affair and does  
not trouble me4 ,you will perhaps have  
only trouble1 combat1 and death from it1
 very few will draw joy from it4  ,if   
your weal lay at my heart1 ,i should act
 as the church did in  withholding the  
,bible from the laity1 or ,christian    
governments1 which  make it a sacred    
duty for themselves to protect the      
common people from  bad books4    ,but  
not only not for your sake1 not even for
 truth's sake either do ,i  speak out   
what ,i think4 ,no--      ,i sing as the
 bird sings      ,that on the bough     
alights2    ,the song that from me      
springs      ,is pay that well requites4

    ,i sing because--,i am a singer4    
,but ,i use#bja you for it because      
,i--need#bjb ears4    ,where the world  
comes in my way--and it comes in my way 
everywhere--,i  consume it to quiet the 
hunger of my egoism4 ,for me you are    
nothing  but--my food1 even as ,i too am
 fed upon and turned to use by you4 ,we 
have only one relation to each other1   
that of usableness1 of utility1  of use4
 ,we owe each other nothing1 for what ,i
 seem to owe you ,i owe  at most to     
myself4 ,if ,i show you a cheery air in 
order to cheer you  likewise1 then your 
cheeriness is of consequence to me1 and 
my air  serves my wish2 to a thousand   
others1 whom ,i do not aim to cheer1 ,i 
do  not show it4           99       99  
99       99       99    ,one has to be  
educated up to that love which founds   
itself on the  essence of man1 or1 in   
the ecclesiastical and moral period1    
lies upon  us as a commandment4 ,in what
 fashion moral influence1 the chief     
ingredient of our education1 seeks to   

regulate the intercourse of men  shall  
here be looked at with egoistic eyes in 
one example at least4    ,those who     
educate us make it their concern early  
to break us of lying  and to inculcate  
the principle that one must always tell 
the truth4 ,if  selfishness were made   
the basis for this rule1 every one would
 easily  understand how by lying he     
fools away that confidence in him which 
he  hopes to awaken in others1 and how  
correct the maxim proves1 ,nobody       
believes a liar even when he tells the  
truth4 ,yet1 at the same time1 he  would
 also feel that he had to meet with     
truth only him whom he  authorized to   
hear the truth4 ,if a spy walks in      
disguise through the  hostile camp1 and 
is asked who he is1 the askers are      
assuredly entitled  to inquire after his
 name1 but the disguised man does not   
give them the  right to learn the truth 
from him2 he tells them what he likes1  
only not  the fact4 ,and yet morality   
demands1 ,thou shalt not lie6 ,by       

morality  those persons are vested with 
the right to expect the truth2 but by me
  they are not vested with that right1  
and ,i recognize only the right  that ,i
 impart4 ,in a gathering of             
revolutionists the police force their   
way in and ask the orator for his name2 
everybody knows that the police  have   
the right to do so1 but they do not have
 it from the  revolutionist1 since he is
 their enemy2 he tells them a false name
  and--cheats them with a lie4 ,the     
police do not act so foolishly either   
as to count on their enemies' love of   
truth2 on the contrary1 they do  not    
believe without further ceremony1 but   
have the questioned individual          
identified if they can4 ,nay1 the ,state
 everywhere proceeds  incredulously with
 individuals1 because in their egoism it
 recognizes  its natural enemy2 it      
invariably demands a voucher1 and he who
 cannot  show vouchers falls a prey to  
its investigating inquisition4 ,the     
,state  does not believe nor trust the  

individual1 and so of itself places     
itself with him in the convention of    
lying2 it trusts me only when it  has   
convinced itself of the truth of my     
statement1 for which there  often       
remains to it no other means than the   
oath4 ,how clearly1 too1 this  7the     
oath7 proves that the ,state does not   
count on our credibility and  love of   
truth1 but on our interest1 our         
selfishness3 it relies on our  not      
wanting to fall foul of ,god by a       
perjury4    ,now1 let one imagine a     
,french revolutionist in the year #aghh1
 who among  friends let fall the now    
well-known phrase1 the world will have  
no rest  till the last king is hanged   
with the guts of the last priest4 ,the  
king  then still had all power1 and1    
when the utterance is betrayed by an    
accident1 yet without its being possible
 to produce witnesses1  confession is   
demanded from the accused4 ,is he to    
confess or not8 ,if he  denies1 he lies 
and--remains unpunished2 if he          

confesses1 he is candid  and--is        
beheaded4 ,if truth is more than        
everything else to him1 all  right1 let 
him die4 ,only a paltry poet could try  
to make a tragedy out  of the end of his
 life2 for what interest is there in    
seeing how a man  succumbs from         
cowardice8 ,but1 if he had the courage  
not to be a slave of  truth and         
sincerity1 he would ask somewhat thus3  
,why need the judges  know what ,i have 
spoken among friends8 ,if ,i had wished 
them to know1 ,i  should have said it to
 them as ,i said it to my friends4 ,i   
will not have  them know it4 ,they force
 themselves into my confidence without  
my having  called them to it and made   
them my confidants2 they will learn what
 ,i  will keep secret4 ,come on then1   
you who wish to break my will by your   
will1 and try your arts4 ,you can       
torture me by the rack1 you can         
threaten me with hell and eternal       
damnation1 you can make me so  nerveless
 that ,i swear a false oath1 but the    

truth you shall not press  out of me1   
for ,i will lie to you because ,i have  
given you no claim and  no right to my  
sincerity4 ,let ,god1 who is truth1 look
 down ever so  threateningly on me1 let 
lying come ever so hard to me1 ,i have  
nevertheless the courage of a lie2 and1 
even if ,i were weary of my life1  even 
if nothing appeared to me more welcome  
than your executioner's  sword1 you     
nevertheless should not have the joy of 
finding in me a slave  of truth1 whom by
 your priestly arts you make a traitor  
to his will4  ,when ,i spoke those      
treasonable words1 ,i would not have had
 you know  anything of them2 ,i now     
retain the same will1 and do not let    
myself be  frightened by the curse of   
the lie4    ,sigismund is not a         
miserable caitiff because he broke his  
princely word1  but he broke the word   
because he was a caitiff2 he might have 
kept his  word and would still have been
 a caitiff1 a priest-ridden man4        
,luther1  driven by a higher power1     

became unfaithful to his monastic vow3  
he  became so for ,god's sake4 ,both    
broke their oath as possessed persons3  
,sigismund1 because he wanted to appear 
as a sincere professor of the  divine   
truth1 i4 e4 of the true1 genuinely     
,catholic faith2 ,luther1  in order to  
give testimony for the gospel sincerely 
and with entire  truth1 with body and   
soul2 both became perjured in order to  
be sincere  toward the higher truth4    
,only1 the priests absolved the one1 the
 other  absolved himself4 ,what else did
 both observe than what is contained in 
those apostolic words1 ,thou hast not   
lied to men1 but to ,god8 ,they  lied to
 men1 broke their oath before the       
world's eyes1 in order not to  lie to   
,god1 but to serve him4 ,thus they show 
us a way to deal with truth  before men4
 ,for ,god's glory1 and for ,god's sake1
 a--breach of oath1 a  lie1 a prince's  
word broken6    ,how would it be1 now1  
if we changed the thing a little and    
wrote1 ,a  perjury and lie for--my sake8

 ,would not that be pleading for every  
baseness8 ,it seems so assuredly1 only  
in this it is altogether like the  for  
,god's sake4 ,for was not every baseness
 committed for ,god's sake1  were not   
all the scaffolds filled for his sake   
and all the auto-da-fes  held for his   
sake1 was not all stupefaction          
introduced for his sake8 and  do they   
not to-day still for ,god's sake fetter 
the mind in tender  children by         
religious education8 ,were not sacred   
vows broken for his  sake1 and do not   
missionaries and priests still go around
 every day to  bring ,jews1 heathen1    
,protestants or ,catholics1 etc41 to    
treason against  the faith of their     
fathers1--for his sake8 ,and that should
 be worse with  the for my sake8 ,what  
then does on my account mean8 ,there    
people  immediately think of filthy     
lucre4 ,but he who acts from love of    
filthy  lucre does it on his own account
 indeed1 as there is nothing anyhow that
  one does not do for his own           

sake1--among other things1 everything   
that  is done for ,god's glory2 yet he1 
for whom he seeks the lucre1 is a slave 
of lucre1 not raised above lucre2 he is 
one who belongs to lucre1 the           
money-bag1 not to himself2 he is not his
 own4 ,must not a man whom the  passion 
of avarice rules follow the commands of 
this master8 and1 if a  weak            
good-naturedness once beguiles him1 does
 this not appear as simply  an          
exceptional case of precisely the same  
sort as when pious believers  are       
sometimes forsaken by their ,lord's     
guidance and ensnared by the arts  of   
the devil8 ,so an avaricious man is not 
a self-owned man1 but a  servant2 and he
 can do nothing for his own sake without
 at the same time  doing it for his     
lord's sake1--precisely like the godly  
man4    ,famous is the breach of oath   
which ,francis ,,ii committed against   
,emperor  ,charles ,v4 ,not later1 when 
he ripely weighed his promise1 but at   
once1  when he swore the oath1 ,king    

,francis took it back in thought as well
 as  by a secret protestation           
documentarily subscribed before his     
councillors2 he uttered a perjury       
aforethought4 ,francis did not show     
himself disinclined to buy his release1 
but the price that ,charles put  on it  
seemed to him too high and unreasonable4
 ,even though ,charles  behaved himself 
in a sordid fashion when he sought to   
extort as much as  possible1 it was yet 
shabby of ,francis to want to purchase  
his freedom  for a lower ransom2 and his
 later dealings1 among which there      
occurs yet  a second breach of his word1
 prove sufficiently how the huckster    
spirit  held him enthralled and made him
 a shabby swindler4 ,however1 what shall
  we say to the reproach of perjury     
against him8 ,in the first place1       
surely1 this again3 that not the        
perjury1 but his sordidness1 shamed     
him2 that he did not deserve contempt   
for his perjury1 but made himself       
guilty of perjury because he was a      

contemptible man4 ,but ,francis's       
perjury1 regarded in itself1 demands    
another judgment4 ,one might say        
,francis did not respond to the         
confidence that ,charles put in him in  
setting him free4 ,but1 if ,charles had 
really favored him with  confidence1 he 
would have named to him the price that  
he considered the  release worth1 and   
would then have set him at liberty and  
expected  ,francis to pay the           
redemption-sum4 ,charles harbored no    
such trust1 but  only believed in       
,francis's impotence and credulity1     
which would not  allow him to act       
against his oath2 but ,francis deceived 
only  this--credulous calculation4 ,when
 ,charles believed he was assuring      
himself of his enemy by an oath1 right  
there he was freeing him from  every    
obligation4 ,charles had given the king 
credit for a piece of  stupidity1 a     
narrow conscience1 and1 without         
confidence in ,francis1  counted only on
 ,francis's stupidity1 i4 e4            

conscientiousness3 he let  him go from  
the ,madrid prison only to hold him the 
more securely in the  prison of         
conscientiousness1 the great jail built 
about the mind of man  by religion3 he  
sent him back to ,france locked fast in 
invisible chains1  what wonder if       
,francis sought to escape and sawed the 
chains apart8 ,no  man would have taken 
it amiss of him if he had secretly fled 
from  ,madrid1 for he was in an enemy's 
power2 but every good ,christian cries  
out upon him1 that he wanted to loose   
himself from ,god's bonds too4 7,it  was
 only later that the pope absolved him  
from his oath47    ,it is despicable to 
deceive a confidence that we voluntarily
 call forth2  but it is no shame to     
egoism to let every one who wants to get
 us into  his power by an oath bleed to 
death by the unsuccessfulness of his    
untrustful craft4 ,if you have wanted to
 bind me1 then learn that ,i know  how  
to burst your bonds4    ,the point is   
whether ,i give the confider the right  

to confidence4 ,if  the pursuer of my   
friend asks me where he has fled to1 ,i 
shall surely  put him on a false trail4 
,why does he ask precisely me1 the      
pursued  man's friend8 ,in order not to 
be a false1 traitorous friend1 ,i prefer
 to  be false to the enemy4 ,i might    
certainly1 in courageous                
conscientiousness1 answer ,i will not   
tell 7so ,fichte decides the  case72 by 
that ,i should salve my love of truth   
and do for my friend as  much           
as--nothing1 for1 if ,i do not mislead  
the enemy1 he may  accidentally take the
 right street1 and my love of truth     
would have  given up my friend as a     
prey1 because it hindered me from       
the--courage  for a lie4 ,he who has in 
the truth an idol1 a sacred thing1 must 
humble himself before it1 must not defy 
its demands1 not resist  courageously2  
in short1 he must renounce the heroism  
of the lie4 ,for  to the lie belongs not
 less courage than to the truth3 a      
courage that  young men are most apt to 

be defective in1 who would rather       
confess the  truth and mount the        
scaffold for it than confound the       
enemy's power by  the impudence of a    
lie4 ,to them the truth is sacred1 and  
the sacred at  all times demands blind  
reverence1 submission1 and              
self-sacrifice4 ,if  you are not        
impudent1 not mockers of the sacred1 you
 are tame and its  servants4 ,let one   
but lay a grain of truth in the trap for
 you1 you peck  at it to a certainty1   
and the fool is caught4 ,you will not   
lie8 ,well1  then1 fall as sacrifices to
 the truth and become--martyrs6         
,martyrs6--for  what8 ,for yourselves1  
for self-ownership8 ,no1 for your       
goddess1--the  truth4 ,you know only two
 services1 only two kinds of servants3  
servants of the truth and servants of   
the lie4 ,then in ,god's name serve  the
 truth6    ,others1 again1 serve the    
truth also2 but they serve it in        
moderation1  and make1 e4 g41 a great   
distinction between a simple lie and a  

lie  sworn to4 ,and yet the whole       
chapter of the oath coincides with that 
of  the lie1 since an oath1 everybody   
knows1 is only a strongly assured       
statement4 ,you consider yourselves     
entitled to lie1 if only you do not     
swear to it besides8 ,one who is        
particular about it must judge and      
condemn a lie as sharply as a false     
oath4 ,but now there has been kept up   
in morality an ancient point of         
controversy1 which is customarily       
treated of under the name of the lie of 
necessity4 ,no one who dares  plead for 
this can consistently put from him an   
oath of necessity4 ,if  ,i justify my   
lie as a lie of necessity1 ,i should not
 be so pusillanimous  as to rob the     
justified lie of the strongest          
corroboration4 ,whatever ,i  do1 why    
should ,i not do it entirely and without
 reservation  7reservatio mentalis78 ,if
 ,i once lie1 why then not lie          
completely1  with entire consciousness  
and all my might8 ,as a spy ,i should   

have to  swear to each of my false      
statements at the enemy's demand2       
determined  to lie to him1 should ,i    
suddenly become cowardly and undecided  
in face  of an oath8 ,then ,i should    
have been ruined in advance for a liar  
and  spy2 for1 you see1 ,i should be    
voluntarily putting into the enemy's    
hands a means to catch me4--,the ,state 
too fears the oath of necessity1  and   
for this reason does not give the       
accused a chance to swear4 ,but you  do 
not justify the ,state's fear2 you lie1 
but do not swear falsely4 ,if1  e4 g41  
you show some one a kindness1 and he is 
not to know it1 but he  guesses it and  
tells you so to your face1 you deny2 if 
he insists1 you  say honestly1 no6 ,if  
it came to swearing1 then you would     
refuse2 for1  from fear of the sacred1  
you always stop half way4 ,against the  
sacred  you have no will of your own4   
,you lie in--moderation1 as you are free
  in moderation1 religious in moderation
 7the clergy are not to  encroach2 over 

this point the most vapid of            
controversies is now being  carried on1 
on the part of the university against   
the church71  monarchically disposed in 
moderation 7you want a monarch limited  
by  the constitution1 by a fundamental  
law of the ,state71 everything nicely   
tempered1 lukewarm1 half ,god's1 half   
the devil's4    ,there was a university 
where the usage was that every word of  
honor that  must be given to the        
university judge was looked upon by the 
students as  null and void4 ,for the    
students saw in the demanding of it     
nothing but  a snare1 which they could  
not escape otherwise than by taking away
 all  its significance4 ,he who at that 
same university broke his word of honor 
to one of the fellows was infamous2 he  
who gave it to the university  judge    
derided1 in union with these very       
fellows1 the dupe who fancied  that a   
word had the same value among friends   
and among foes4 ,it was less  a correct 
theory than the constraint of practice  

that had there taught  the students to  
act so1 as1 without that means of       
getting out1 they  would have been      
pitilessly driven to treachery against  
their comrades4  ,but1 as the means     
approved itself in practice1 so it has  
its theoretical  probation too4 ,a word 
of honor1 an oath1 is one only for him  
whom ,i  entitle to receive it2 he who  
forces me to it obtains only a forced1  
i4 e4 a hostile word1 the word of a foe1
 whom one has no right to  trust2 for   
the foe does not give us the right4     
,aside from this1 the courts of the     
,state do not even recognize the        
inviolability of an oath4 ,for1 if ,i   
had sworn to one who comes under        
examination that ,i would not declare   
anything against him1 the court  would  
demand my declaration in spite of the   
fact that an oath binds me1  and1 in    
case of refusal1 would lock me up till  
,i decided to become--an  oath-breaker4 
,the court absolves me from my          
oath2--how magnanimous6 ,if  any power  

can absolve me from the oath1 ,i myself 
am surely the very  first power that has
 a claim to4    ,as a curiosity1 and to 
remind us of customary oaths of all     
sorts1 let  place be given here to that 
which ,emperor ,paul commanded the      
captured  ,poles 7,kosciusko1 ,potocki1 
,niemcewicz1 etc47 to take when he      
released  them3 ,we not merely swear    
fidelity and obedience to the emperor1  
but  also further promise to pour out   
our blood for his glory2 we obligate    
ourselves to discover everything        
threatening to his person or his empire 
that we ever learn2 we declare finally  
that1 in whatever part of the  earth we 
may be1 a single word of the emperor    
shall suffice to make us  leave         
everything and repair to him at once4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,in one domain the principle of love    
seems to have been long outsoared by    
egoism1 and to be still in need only of 
sure consciousness1 as it were  of      
victory with a good conscience4 ,this   

domain is speculation1 in its  double   
manifestation as thinking and as trade4 
,one thinks with a will1  whatever may  
come of it2 one speculates1 however many
 may suffer under  our speculative      
undertakings4 ,but1 when it finally     
becomes serious1 when  even the last    
remnant of religiousness1 romance1 or   
humanity is to be  done away1 then the  
pulse of religious conscience beats1 and
 one at  least professes humanity4 ,the 
avaricious speculator throws some       
coppers into the poor-box and does good1
 the bold thinker consoles  himself with
 the fact that he is working for the    
advancement of the  human race and that 
his devastation turns to the good of    
mankind1 or1  in another case1 that he  
is serving the idea2 mankind1 the idea1 
is to  him that something of which he   
must say1 ,it is more to me than myself4
    ,to this day thinking and trading   
have been done for--,god's sake4 ,those 
who for six days were trampling down    
everything by their selfish aims        

sacrificed on the seventh to the ,lord2 
and those who destroyed a  hundred good 
causes by their reckless thinking still 
did this in the  service of another good
 cause1 and had yet to think of         
another--besides themselves--to whose   
good their self-indulgence should  turn3
 of the people1 mankind1 and the like4  
,but this other thing is a  being above 
them1 a higher or supreme being2 and    
therefore ,i say1 they  are toiling for 
,god's sake4    ,hence ,i can also say  
that the ultimate basis of their actions
  is--love4 ,not a voluntary love       
however1 not their own1 but a tributary 
love1 or the higher being's own 7i4 e4  
,god's1 who himself is love72 in  short1
 not the egoistic1 but the religious2 a 
love that springs from  their fancy that
 they must discharge a tribute of love1 
i4 e4 that  they must not be egoists4   
,if we want to deliver the world from   
many kinds of unfreedom1 we want  this  
not on its account but on ours2 for1 as 
we are not world-liberators  by         

profession and out of love1 we only want
 to win it away from  others4 ,we want  
to make it our own2 it is not to be any 
longer owned as  serf by ,god 7the      
church7 nor by the law 7,state71 but to 
be our own2  therefore we seek to win   
it1 to captivate it1 and1 by meeting it 
half-way and devoting ourselves to it as
 to ourselves as soon as it  belongs to 
us1 to complete and make superfluous the
 force that it turns  against us4 ,if   
the world is ours1 it no longer attempts
 any force  against us1 but only with   
us4 ,my selfishness has an interest in  
the  liberation of the world1 that it   
may become--my property4    ,not        
isolation or being alone1 but society1  
is man's original state4 ,our  existence
 begins with the most intimate          
conjunction1 as we are already  living  
with our mother before we breathe2 when 
we see the light of the  world1 we at   
once lie on a human being's breast      
again1 her love cradles  us in the lap1 
leads us in the go-cart1 and chains us  

to her person with  a thousand ties4    
,society is our state of nature4 ,and   
this is why1 the  more we learn to feel 
ourselves1 the connection that was      
formerly most  intimate becomes ever    
looser and the dissolution of the       
original society  more unmistakable4 ,to
 have once again for herself the child  
that once  lay under her heart1 the     
mother must fetch it from the street and
 from  the midst of its playmates4 ,the 
child prefers the intercourse that it   
enters into with its fellows to the     
society that it has not entered  into1  
but only been born in4    ,but the      
dissolution of society is intercourse or
 union4 ,a society  does assuredly arise
 by union too1 but only as a fixed idea 
arises by a  thought1--to wit1 by the   
vanishing of the energy of the thought  
7the  thinking itself1 this restless    
taking back all thoughts that make      
themselves fast7 from the thought4 ,if a
 union#bjc has crystallized into  a     
society1 it has ceased to be a          

coalition2#bjd for coalition is an      
incessant self-uniting2 it has become a 
unitedness1 come to a  standstill1      
degenerated into a fixity2 it is--dead  
as a union1 it is  the corpse of the    
union or the coalition1 i4 e4 it        
is--society1  community4 ,a striking    
example of this kind is furnished by the
 party4    ,that a society 7e4 g4 the   
society of the ,state7 diminishes my    
liberty offends me little4 ,why1 ,i have
 to let my liberty be limited by  all   
sorts of powers and by every one who is 
stronger2 nay1 by every  fellow-man2    
and1 were ,i the autocrat of all the    
,r4444441 ,i yet should  not enjoy      
absolute liberty4 ,but ownness ,i will  
not have taken from me4  ,and ownness is
 precisely what every society has       
designs on1 precisely  what is to       
succumb to its power4    ,a society     
which ,i join does indeed take from me  
many liberties1 but in  return it       
affords me other liberties2 neither does
 it matter if ,i myself  deprive myself 

of this and that liberty 7e4 g4 by any  
contract74 ,on  the other hand1 ,i want 
to hold jealously to my ownness4 ,every 
community  has the propensity1 stronger 
or weaker according to the fulness of   
its  power1 to become an authority to   
its members and to set limits for  them3
 it asks1 and must ask1 for a subject's 
limited understanding2 it  asks that    
those who belong to it be subject to it1
 be its subjects2 it  exists only by    
subjection4 ,in this a certain tolerance
 need by no  means be excluded2 on the  
contrary1 the society will welcome      
improvements1 corrections1 and blame1 so
 far as such are calculated for  its    
gain3 but the blame must be             
well-meaning1 it may not be insolent    
and disrespectful1--in other words1 one 
must leave uninjured1 and hold  sacred1 
the substance of the society4 ,the      
society demands that those who  belong  
to it shall not go beyond it and exalt  
themselves1 but remain  within the      
bounds of legality1 i4 e4 allow         

themselves only so much  as the society 
and its law allow them4    ,there is a  
difference whether my liberty or my     
ownness is limited by a  society4 ,if   
the former only is the case1 it is a    
coalition1 an  agreement1 a union2 but1 
if ruin is threatened to ownness1 it is 
a  power of itself1 a power above me1 a 
thing unattainable by me1 which  ,i can 
indeed admire1 adore1 reverence1        
respect1 but cannot subdue and  consume1
 and that for the reason that ,i am     
resigned4 ,it exists by my  resignation1
 my self-renunciation1 my               
spiritlessness1#bje                     
called--,,humility4#bjf ,my humility    
makes its courage1#bjg my               
submissiveness gives it its dominion4   
,but in reference to liberty ,state and 
union are subject to no  essential      
difference4 ,the latter can just as     
little come into existence1  or continue
 in existence1 without liberty's being  
limited in all sorts  of ways1 as the   
,state is compatible with unmeasured    

liberty4 ,limitation  of liberty is     
inevitable everywhere1 for one cannot   
get rid of  everything2 one cannot fly  
like a bird merely because one would    
like to  fly so1 for one does not get   
free from his own weight2 one cannot    
live  under water as long as he likes1  
like a fish1 because one cannot do      
without air and cannot get free from    
this indispensable necessity2 and  the  
like4 ,as religion1 and most decidedly  
,christianity1 tormented man  with the  
demand to realize the unnatural and     
self-contradictory1 so it  is to be     
looked upon only as the true logical    
outcome of that religious  overstraining
 and overwroughtness that finally       
liberty itself1 absolute  liberty1 was  
exalted into an ideal1 and thus the     
nonsense of the  impossible had to come 
glaringly to the light4--,the union will
 assuredly  offer a greater measure of  
liberty1 as well as 7and especially     
because  by it one escapes all the      
coercion peculiar to ,state and society 

life7  admit of being considered as a   
new liberty2 but nevertheless it will   
still contain enough of unfreedom and   
involuntariness4 ,for its object is  not
 this--liberty 7which on the contrary it
 sacrifices to ownness71 but  only      
ownness4 ,referred to this1 the         
difference between ,state and union  is 
great enough4 ,the former is an enemy   
and murderer of ownness1 the  latter a  
son and co-worker of it2 the former a   
spirit that would be  adored in spirit  
and in truth1 the latter my work1 my    
product2 the  ,state is the lord of my  
spirit1 who demands faith and prescribes
 to me  articles of faith1 the creed of 
legality2 it exerts moral influence1    
dominates my spirit1 drives away my ego 
to put itself in its place as  my true  
ego1--in short1 the ,state is sacred1   
and as against me1 the  individual man1 
it is the true man1 the spirit1 the     
ghost2 but the union  is my own         
creation1 my creature1 not sacred1 not a
 spiritual power above  my spirit1 as   

little as any association of whatever   
sort4 ,as ,i am not  willing to be a    
slave of my maxims1 but lay them bare to
 my continual  criticism without any    
warrant1 and admit no bail at all for   
their  persistence1 so still less do ,i 
obligate myself to the union for my     
future and pledge my soul to it1 as is  
said to be done with the devil  and is  
really the case with the ,state and all 
spiritual authority2 but ,i  am and     
remain more to myself than ,state1      
,church1 ,god1 and the like2            
consequently infinitely more than the   
union too4    ,that society which       
,communism wants to found seems to stand
 nearest to  coalition4 ,for it is to   
aim at the welfare of all1 oh1 yes1 of  
all1  cries ,weitling innumerable times1
 of all6 ,that does really look as if   
in it no one needed to take a back seat4
 ,but what then will this welfare  be8  
,have all one and the same welfare1 are 
all equally well off with one  and the  
same thing8 ,if that be so1 the question

 is of the true  welfare4 ,do we not    
with this come right to the point where 
religion  begins its dominion of        
violence8 ,christianity says1 ,look not 
on earthly  toys1 but seek your true    
welfare1 become--pious ,christians2     
being  ,christians is the true welfare4 
,it is the true welfare of all1 because 
it is the welfare of ,man as such 7this 
spook74 ,now1 the welfare of all  is    
surely to be your and my welfare too8   
,but1 if you and ,i do not  look upon   
that welfare as our welfare1 will care  
then be taken for  that in which we feel
 well8 ,on the contrary1 society has    
decreed a  welfare as the true welfare2 
and1 if this welfare were called e4 g4  
enjoyment honestly worked for1 but you  
preferred enjoyable laziness1  enjoyment
 without work1 then society1 which cares
 for the welfare of  all1 would wisely  
avoid caring for that in which you are  
well off4  ,communism1 in proclaiming   
the welfare of all1 annuls outright the 
well-being of those who hitherto lived  

on their income from investments  and   
apparently felt better in that than in  
the prospect of ,weitling's  strict     
hours of labor4 ,hence the latter       
asserts that with the welfare of        
thousands the welfare of millions cannot
 exist1 and the former must give  up    
their special welfare for the sake of   
the general welfare4 ,no1  let people   
not be summoned to sacrifice their      
special welfare for the  general1 for   
this ,christian admonition will not     
carry you through2 they  will better    
understand the opposite admonition1 not 
to let their own  welfare be snatched   
from them by anybody1 but to put it on a
 permanent  foundation4 ,then they are  
of themselves led to the point that they
 care  best for their welfare if they   
unite with others for this purpose1  i4 
e4 sacrifice a part of their liberty1   
yet not to the welfare of  others1 but  
to their own4 ,an appeal to men's       
self-sacrificing  disposition and       
self-renouncing love ought at last to   

have lost its  seductive plausibility   
when1 after an activity of thousands of 
years1 it  has left nothing behind but  
the--misre of to-day4 ,why then still   
fruitlessly expect self-sacrifice to    
bring us better times8 why not  rather  
hope for them from usurpation8          
,salvation comes no longer from  the    
giver1 the bestower1 the loving one1 but
 from the taker1 the  appropriater      
7usurper71 the owner4 ,communism1 and1  
consciously or  unconsciously1          
egoism-reviling humanism1 still count on
 love4    ,if community is once a need  
of man1 and he finds himself furthered  
by it  in his aims1 then very soon1     
because it has become his principle1 it 
prescribes to him its laws too1 the laws
 of--society4 ,the principle of  men    
exalts itself into a sovereign power    
over them1 becomes their  supreme       
essence1 their ,god1 and1 as            
such1--lawgiver4 ,communism gives  this 
principle the strictest effect1 and     
,christianity is the religion of        

society1 for1 as ,feuerbach rightly says
 although he does not mean it  rightly1 
love is the essence of man2 i4 e4 the   
essence of society or  of societary     
7,communistic7 man4 ,all religion is a  
cult of society1 this  principle by     
which societary 7cultivated7 man is     
dominated2 neither is  any god an ego's 
exclusive god1 but always a society's or
 community's1  be it of the society     
family 7,lar1 ,penates7 or of a people  
7national  god7 or of all men 7he is a  
,father of all men74    ,consequently   
one has a prospect of extirpating       
religion down to the  ground only when  
one antiquates society and everything   
that flows from  this principle4 ,but it
 is precisely in ,communism that this   
principle  seeks to culminate1 as in it 
everything is to become common for the  
establishment of--equality4 ,if this    
equality is won1 liberty too  is not    
lacking4 ,but whose liberty8 ,society's6
 ,society is then all in  all1 and men  
are only for each other4 ,it would be   

the glory of  the--love-,state4    ,but 
,i would rather be referred to men's    
selfishness than to their               
kindnesses1#bjh their mercy1 pity1 etc4 
,the former demands  reciprocity 7as    
thou to me1 so ,i to thee71 does nothing
 gratis1 and  may be won and--bought4   
,but with what shall ,i obtain the      
kindness8 ,it  is a matter of chance    
whether ,i am at the time having to do  
with a  loving person4 ,the affectionate
 one's service can be had only          
by--begging1 be it by my lamentable     
appearance1 by my need of help1 my      
misery1 my--suffering4 ,what can ,i     
offer him for his assistance8  ,nothing6
 ,i must accept it as a--present4 ,love 
is unpayable1 or rather1  love can      
assuredly be paid for1 but only by      
counter-love 7,one good turn  deserves  
another74 ,what paltriness and          
beggarliness does it not take to  accept
 gifts year in and year out without     
service in return1 as they are          
regularly collected e4 g4 from the poor 

day-laborer8 ,what can the  receiver do 
for him and his donated pennies1 in     
which his wealth  consists8 ,the        
day-laborer would really have more      
enjoyment if the  receiver with his     
laws1 his institutions1 etc41 all of    
which the  day-laborer has to pay for   
though1 did not exist at all4 ,and yet1 
with  it all1 the poor wight loves his  
master4    ,no1 community1 as the goal  
of history hitherto1 is impossible4 ,let
 us  rather renounce every hypocrisy of 
community1 and recognize that1 if we    
are equal as men1 we are not equal for  
the very reason that we are not  men4   
,we are equal only in thoughts1 only    
when we are thought1 not  as we really  
and bodily are4 ,i am ego1 and you are  
ego3 but ,i am not  this thought-of ego2
 this ego in which we are all equal is  
only my  thought4 ,i am man1 and you are
 man3 but man is only a thought1 a      
generality2 neither you nor ,i are      
speakable1 we are unutterable1  because 
only thoughts are speakable and consist 

in speaking4    ,let us therefore not   
aspire to community1 but to             
one-sidedness4 ,let us  not seek the    
most comprehensive commune1 human       
society1 but let us  seek in others only
 means and organs which we may use as   
our property6  ,as we do not see our    
equals in the tree1 the beast1 so the   
presupposition that others are our      
equals springs from a hypocrisy4 ,no    
one is my equal1 but ,i regard him1     
equally with all other beings1 as  my   
property4 ,in opposition to this ,i am  
told that ,i should be a man  among     
fellow-men 7,judenfrage1 p4 #fj72 ,i    
should respect the  fellow-man in them4 
,for me no one is a person to be        
respected1 not even  the fellow-man1 but
 solely1 like other beings1 an object in
 which ,i  take an interest or else do  
not1 an interesting or uninteresting    
object1 a usable or unusable person4    
,and1 if ,i can use him1 ,i doubtless   
come to an understanding and make       
myself at one with him1 in order1 by the

 agreement1 to strengthen my  power1 and
 by combined force to accomplish more   
than individual force  could effect4 ,in
 this combination ,i see nothing        
whatever but a  multiplication of my    
force1 and ,i retain it only so long as 
it is my  multiplied force4 ,but thus it
 is a--union4    ,neither a natural     
ligature nor a spiritual one holds the  
union together1  and it is not a        
natural1 not a spiritual league4 ,it is 
not brought about  by one blood1 not by 
one faith 7spirit74 ,in a natural       
league--like a  family1 a tribe1 a      
nation1 yes1 mankind--the individuals   
have only the  value of specimens of the
 same species or genus2 in a spiritual  
league--like a commune1 a church--the   
individual signifies only a  member of  
the same spirit2 what you are in both   
cases as a unique  person must          
be--suppressed4 ,only in the union can  
you assert yourself as  unique1 because 
the union does not possess you1 but you 
possess it or  make it of use to you4   

,property is recognized in the union1   
and only in the union1 because one  no  
longer holds what is his as a fief from 
any being4 ,the ,communists are  only   
consistently carrying further what had  
already been long present  during       
religious evolution1 and especially in  
the ,state2 to wit1  propertylessness1  
i4 e4 the feudal system4    ,the ,state 
exerts itself to tame the desirous man2 
in other words1 it  seeks to direct his 
desire to it alone1 and to content that 
desire  with what it offers4 ,to sate   
the desire for the desirous man's sake  
does  not come into its mind3 on the    
contrary1 it stigmatizes as an egoistic 
man the man who breathes out unbridled  
desire1 and the egoistic man  is its    
enemy4 ,he is this for it because the   
capacity to agree with him  is wanting  
to the ,state2 the egoist is precisely  
what it cannot  comprehend4 ,since the  
,state 7as nothing else is possible7 has
 to do  only for itself1 it does not    
take care for my needs1 but takes care  

only  of how it shall make away with me1
 i4 e4 make out of me another ego1 a    
good citizen4 ,it takes measures for the
 improvement of morals4--,and  with what
 does it win individuals for itself8    
,with itself1 i4 e4 with  what is the   
,state's1 with ,state property4 ,it will
 be unremittingly  active in making all 
participants in its goods1 providing all
 with the  good things of culture3 it   
presents them its education1 opens to   
them  the access to its institutions of 
culture1 capacitates them to come to    
property 7i4 e4 to a fief7 in the way of
 industry1 etc4 ,for all these  fiefs it
 demands only the just rent of continual
 thanks4 ,but the  unthankful forget to 
pay these thanks4--,now1 neither can    
society do  essentially otherwise than  
the ,state4    ,you bring into a union  
your whole power1 your competence1 and  
make  yourself count2 in a society you  
are employed1 with your working  power2 
in the former you live egoistically1 in 
the latter humanly1  i4 e4 religiously1 

as a member in the body of this ,lord2  
to a  society you owe what you have1 and
 are in duty bound to it1               
are--possessed by social duties2 a union
 you utilize1 and give it up            
undutifully and unfaithfully when you   
see no way to use it further4 ,if  a    
society is more than you1 then it is    
more to you than yourself2 a  union is  
only your instrument1 or the sword with 
which you sharpen and  increase your    
natural force2 the union exists for you 
and through you1  the society conversely
 lays claim to you for itself and exists
 even  without you2 in short1 the       
society is sacred1 the union your own2  
the society consumes you1 you consume   
the union4    ,nevertheless people will 
not be backward with the objection that 
the  agreement which has been concluded 
may again become burdensome to us and   
limit our freedom2 they will say1 we too
 would at last come to this1  that every
 one must sacrifice a part of his       
freedom for the sake of the  generality4

 ,but the sacrifice would not be made   
for the generality's  sake a bit1 as    
little as ,i concluded the agreement for
 the  generality's or even1 for any     
other man's sake2 rather ,i came into it
  only for the sake of my own benefit1  
from selfishness4#bji ,but1 as  regards 
the sacrificing1 surely ,i sacrifice    
only that which does not  stand in my   
power1 i4 e4 ,i sacrifice nothing at    
all4    ,to come back to property1 the  
lord is proprietor4 ,choose then whether
  you want to be lord1 or whether       
society shall be6 ,on this depends      
whether you are to be an owner or a     
ragamuffin6 ,the egoist is owner1  the  
,socialist a ragamuffin4 ,but           
ragamuffinism or propertylessness is the
  sense of feudalism1 of the feudal     
system1 which since the last century    
has only changed its overlord1 putting  
,man in the place of ,god1 and          
accepting as a fief from ,man what had  
before been a fief from the grace  of   
,god4 ,that the ragamuffinism of        

,communism is carried out by the humane 
principle into the absolute or most     
ragamuffinly ragamuffinism has been     
shown above2 but at the same time also1 
how ragamuffinism can only thus  swing  
around into ownness4 ,the old feudal    
system was so thoroughly  trampled into 
the ground in the ,revolution that since
 then all  reactionary craft has        
remained fruitless1 and will always     
remain  fruitless1 because the dead     
is--dead2 but the resurrection too had  
to  prove itself a truth in ,christian  
history1 and has so proved itself3 for  
in another world feudalism is risen     
again with a glorified body1 the  new   
feudalism under the suzerainty of ,man4 
,christianity is not annihilated1 but   
the faithful are right in having        
hitherto trustfully assumed of every    
combat against it that this could  serve
 only for the purgation and confirmation
 of ,christianity2 for it  has really   
only been glorified1 and ,christianity  
exposed is  the--human ,christianity4   

,we are still living entirely in the    
,christian  age1 and the very ones who  
feel worst about it are the most        
zealously  contributing to complete it4 
,the more human1 the dearer has         
feudalism  become to us2 for we the less
 believe that it still is feudalism1 we 
take it the more confidently for ownness
 and think we have found what is  most  
absolutely our own when we discover the 
human4    ,liberalism wants to give me  
what is mine1 but it thinks to procure  
it  for me not under the title of mine1 
but under that of the human4 ,as if  it 
were attainable under this mask6 ,the   
rights of man1 the precious  work of the
 ,revolution1 have the meaning that the 
,man in me  entitles#baj me to this and 
that2 ,i as individual1 i4 e4 as this   
man1 am not entitled1 but ,man has the  
right and entitles me4 ,hence as  man ,i
 may well be entitled2 but1 as ,i am    
more than man1 to wit1 a  special man1  
it may be refused to this very me1 the  
special one4 ,if on  the other hand you 

insist on the value of your gifts1 keep 
up their  price1 do not let yourselves  
be forced to sell out below price1 do   
not  let yourselves be talked into the  
idea that your ware is not worth its    
price1 do not make yourselves ridiculous
 by a ridiculous price1 but  imitate the
 brave man who says1 ,i will sell my    
life 7property7 dear1  the enemy shall  
not have it at a cheap bargain2 then you
 have  recognized the reverse of        
,communism as the correct thing1 and the
 word  then is not ,give up your        
property6 but ,get the value out of your
  property6    ,over the portal of our  
time stands not that ,know thyself of   
,apollo1  but a ,get the value out of   
thyself6    ,proudhon calls property    
robbery 7le vol74 ,but alien            
property--and he  is talking of this    
alone--is not less existent by          
renunciation1 cession1  and humility2 it
 is a present4 ,why so sentimentally    
call for  compassion as a poor victim of
 robbery1 when one is just a foolish1   

cowardly giver of presents8 ,why here   
again put the fault on others as if     
they were robbing us1 while we ourselves
 do bear the fault in leaving  the      
others1 unrobbed8 ,the poor are to blame
 for there being rich men4              
,universally1 no one grows indignant at 
his1 but at alien property4  ,they do   
not in truth attack property1 but the   
alienation of property4  ,they want to  
be able to call more1 not less1 theirs2 
they want to  call everything theirs4   
,they are fighting1 therefore1 against  
alienness1 or1 to form a word similar to
 property1 against alienty4  ,and how do
 they help themselves therein8 ,instead 
of transforming the  alien into own1    
they play impartial and ask only that   
all property be  left to a third party  
7e4 g4 human society74 ,they revendicate
 the  alien not in their own name but in
 a third party's4 ,now the egoistic     
coloring is wiped off1 and everything is
 so clean and--human6                   
,propertylessness or ragamuffinism1 this

 then is the essence of  ,christianity1 
as it is the essence of all             
religiousness 7i4 e4  godliness1        
morality1 humanity71 and only announced 
itself most clearly1  and1 as glad      
tidings1 became a gospel capable of     
development1 in the  absolute religion4 
,we have before us the most striking    
development in  the present fight       
against property1 a fight which is to   
bring ,man to  victory and make         
propertylessness complete3 victorious   
humanity is the  victory                
of--,christianity4 ,but the             
,christianity exposed thus is  feudalism
 completed1 the most all-embracing      
feudal system1 i4 e4  perfect           
ragamuffinism4    ,once more then1      
doubtless1 a revolution against the     
feudal system8--    ,revolution and     
insurrection must not be looked upon as 
synonymous4 ,the  former consists in an 
overturning of conditions1 of the       
established  condition or status1 the   
,state or society1 and is accordingly a 

political or social act2 the latter has 
indeed for its unavoidable  consequence 
a transformation of circumstances1 yet  
does not start from  it but from men's  
discontent with themselves1 is not an   
armed rising1  but a rising of          
individuals1 a getting up1 without      
regard to the  arrangements that spring 
from it4 ,the ,revolution aimed at new  
arrangements2 insurrection leads us no  
longer to let ourselves be  arranged1   
but to arrange ourselves1 and sets no   
glittering hopes on  institutions4 ,it  
is not a fight against the established1 
since1 if it  prospers1 the established 
collapses of itself2 it is only a       
working  forth of me out of the         
established4 ,if ,i leave the           
established1 it is  dead and passes into
 decay4 ,now1 as my object is not the   
overthrow of an  established order but  
my elevation above it1 my purpose and   
deed are not  a political or social but 
7as directed toward myself and my       
ownness  alone7 an egoistic purpose and 

deed4    ,the revolution commands one to
 make arrangements1 the                 
insurrection#baa demands that he rise or
 exalt himself4#bab ,what  constitution 
was to be chosen1 this question busied  
the revolutionary  heads1 and the whole 
political period foams with             
constitutional fights  and              
constitutional questions1 as the social 
talents too were uncommonly  inventive  
in societary arrangement 7phalansteries 
and the like74 ,the  insurgent#bac      
strives to become constitutionless4     
,while1 to get greater clearness1 ,i am 
thinking up a comparison1 the  founding 
of ,christianity comes unexpectedly into
 my mind4 ,on the liberal  side it is   
noted as a bad point in the first       
,christians that they  preached         
obedience to the established heathen    
civil order1 enjoined  recognition of   
the heathen authorities1 and confidently
 delivered a  command1 ,give to the     
emperor that which is the emperor's4    
,yet how much  disturbance arose at the 

same time against the ,roman supremacy1 
how  mutinous did the ,jews and even the
 ,romans show themselves against their  
own temporal government6 in short1 how  
popular was political  discontent6      
,those ,christians would hear nothing of
 it2 would not side  with the liberal   
tendencies4 ,the time was politically so
 agitated  that1 as is said in the      
gospels1 people thought they could not  
accuse  the founder of ,christianity    
more successfully than if they arraigned
 him  for political intrigue1 and yet   
the same gospels report that he was     
precisely the one who took least part in
 these political doings4 ,but why  was  
he not a revolutionist1 not a demagogue1
 as the ,jews would gladly  have seen   
him8 why was he not a liberal8 ,because 
he expected no  salvation from a change 
of conditions1 and this whole business  
was  indifferent to him4 ,he was not a  
revolutionist like e4 g4 ,csar1 but  an 
insurgent2 not a ,state-overturner1 but 
one who straightened himself  up4 ,that 

was why it was for him only a matter of 
,be ye wise as  serpents1 which         
expresses the same sense as1 in the     
special case1 that  ,give to the emperor
 that which is the emperor's2 for he was
 not  carrying on any liberal or        
political fight against the established 
authorities1 but wanted to walk his own 
way1 untroubled about1 and  undisturbed 
by1 these authorities4 ,not less        
indifferent to him than the  government 
were its enemies1 for neither understood
 what he wanted1 and  he had only to    
keep them off from him with the wisdom  
of the serpent4  ,but1 even though not a
 ringleader of popular mutiny1 not a    
demagogue or  revolutionist1 he 7and    
every one of the ancient ,christians7   
was so much  the more an insurgent1 who 
lifted himself above everything that    
seemed  sublime to the government and   
its opponents1 and absolved himself from
  everything that they remained bound   
to1 and who at the same time cut off    
the sources of life of the whole heathen

 world1 with which the  established     
,state must wither away as a matter of  
course2 precisely  because he put from  
him the upsetting of the established1 he
 was its  deadly enemy and real         
annihilator2 for he walled it in1       
confidently and  recklessly carrying up 
the building of his temple over it1     
without  heeding the pains of the       
immured4    ,now1 as it happened to the 
heathen order of the world1 will the    
,christian order fare likewise8 ,a      
revolution certainly does not bring on  
the end if an insurrection is not       
consummated first6    ,my intercourse   
with the world1 what does it aim at8 ,i 
want to have the  enjoyment of it1      
therefore it must be my property1 and   
therefore ,i want  to win it4 ,i do not 
want the liberty of men1 nor their      
equality2 ,i want  only my power over   
them1 ,i want to make them my property1 
i4 e4  material for enjoyment4 ,and1 if 
,i do not succeed in that1 well1 then ,i
  call even the power over life and     

death1 which ,church and ,state         
reserved to themselves1--mine4 ,brand   
that officer's widow who1 in the  flight
 in ,russia1 after her leg has been shot
 away1 takes the garter  from it1       
strangles her child therewith1 and then 
bleeds to death  alongside the          
corpse1--brand the memory of            
the--infanticide4 ,who knows1  if this  
child had remained alive1 how much it   
might have been of use to  the world6   
,the mother murdered it because she     
wanted to die satisfied  and at rest4   
,perhaps this case still appeals to your
 sentimentality1 and  you do not know   
how to read out of it anything further4 
,be it so2 ,i on  my part use it as an  
example for this1 that my satisfaction  
decides  about my relation to men1 and  
that ,i do not renounce1 from any access
 of  humility1 even the power over life 
and death4    ,as regards social duties 
in general1 another does not give me my 
position toward others1 therefore       
neither ,god nor humanity prescribes to 

me my relation to men1 but ,i give      
myself this position4 ,this is more     
strikingly said thus3 ,i have no duty to
 others1 as ,i have a duty even  to     
myself 7e4 g4 that of self-preservation1
 and therefore not suicide7  only so    
long as ,i distinguish myself from      
myself 7my immortal soul from  my       
earthly existence1 etc474    ,i no      
longer humble myself before any power1  
and ,i recognize that all  powers are   
only my power1 which ,i have to subject 
at once when they  threaten to become a 
power against or above me2 each of them 
must be  only one of my means to carry  
my point1 as a hound is our power       
against game1 but is killed by us if it 
should fall upon us ourselves4  ,all    
powers that dominate me ,i then reduce  
to serving me4 ,the idols  exist through
 me2 ,i need only refrain from creating 
them anew1 then  they exist no longer3  
higher powers exist only through my     
exalting  them and abasing myself4      
,consequently my relation to the world  

is this3 ,i no longer do anything  for  
it for ,god's sake1 ,i do nothing for   
man's sake1 but what ,i do ,i  do for my
 sake4 ,thus alone does the world       
satisfy me1 while it is  characteristic 
of the religious standpoint1 in which ,i
 include the moral  and humane also1    
that from it everything remains a pious 
wish 7pium  desiderium71 i4 e4 an       
other-world matter1 something           
unattained4 ,thus  the general salvation
 of men1 the moral world of a general   
love1 eternal  peace1 the cessation of  
egoism1 etc4 ,nothing in this world is  
perfect4  ,with this miserable phrase   
the good part from it1 and take flight  
into  their closet to ,god1 or into     
their proud self-consciousness4 ,but we 
remain in this imperfect world1 because 
even so we can use it for               
our--self-enjoyment4    ,my intercourse 
with the world consists in my enjoying  
it1 and so  consuming it for my         
self-enjoyment4 ,intercourse is the     
enjoyment of  the world1 and belongs to 

my--self-enjoyment4      ,,iii4--,,my   
,,self-,,enjoyment    ,we stand at the  
boundary of a period4 ,the world        
hitherto took thought  for nothing but  
the gain of life1 took care for--life4  
,for whether all  activity is put on the
 stretch for the life of this world or  
of the  other1 for the temporal or for  
the eternal1 whether one hankers for    
daily bread 7,give us our daily bread7  
or for holy bread 7the true  bread from 
heaven2 the bread of ,god1 that comes   
from heaven and gives  life to the      
world2 the bread of life1 ,john #f71    
whether one takes  care for dear life or
 for life to eternity1--this does not   
change  the object of the strain and    
care1 which in the one case as in the   
other  shows itself to be life4 ,do the 
modern tendencies announce themselves   
otherwise8 ,people now want nobody to be
 embarrassed for the most  indispensable
 necessaries of life1 but want every one
 to feel secure as  to these2 and on the
 other hand they teach that man has this

 life to  attend to and the real world  
to adapt himself to1 without vain care  
for  another4    ,let us take up the    
same thing from another side4 ,when one 
is anxious  only to live1 he easily1 in 
this solicitude1 forgets the enjoyment  
of life4 ,if his only concern is for    
life1 and he thinks if ,i only have  my 
dear life1 he does not apply his full   
strength to using1 i4 e4  enjoying1     
life4 ,but how does one use life8 ,in   
using it up1 like the  candle1 which one
 uses in burning it up4 ,one uses life1 
and consequently  himself the living    
one1 in consuming it and himself4       
,enjoyment of  life is using life up4   
,now--we are in search of the enjoyment 
of life6 ,and what did the  religious   
world do8 ,it went in search of life4   
,wherein consists the  true life1 the   
blessed life1 etc48 ,how is it to be    
attained8 ,what must  man do and become 
in order to become a truly living man8  
,how does he  fulfil this calling8      
,these and similar questions indicate   

that the  askers were still seeking for 
themselves1--to wit1 themselves in the  
true sense1 in the sense of true living4
 ,what ,i am is foam and shadow2  what  
,i shall be is my true self4 ,to chase  
after this self1 to produce  it1 to     
realize it1 constitutes the hard task of
 mortals1 who die only to  rise again1  
live only to die1 live only to find the 
true life4    ,not till ,i am certain of
 myself1 and no longer seeking for      
myself1 am ,i  really my property2 ,i   
have myself1 therefore ,i use and enjoy 
myself4 ,on  the other hand1 ,i can     
never take comfort in myself so long as 
,i think  that ,i have still to find my 
true self and that it must come to this1
  that not ,i but ,christ or some other 
spiritual1 i4 e4 ghostly1 self  7e4 g4  
the true man1 the essence of man1 and   
the like7 lives in me4    ,a vast       
interval separates the two views4 ,in   
the old ,i go toward myself1  in the new
 ,i start from myself2 in the former ,i 
long for myself1 in the  latter ,i have 

myself and do with myself as one does   
with any other  property1--,i enjoy     
myself at my pleasure4 ,i am no longer  
afraid for my  life1 but squander it4   
,henceforth the question runs1 not how  
one can acquire life1 but how one  can  
squander1 enjoy it2 or1 not how one is  
to produce the true self in  himself1   
but how one is to dissolve himself1 to  
live himself out4    ,what else should  
the ideal be but the sought-for1        
ever-distant self8 ,one  seeks for      
himself1 consequently one does not yet  
have himself2 one  aspires toward what  
one ought to be1 consequently one is not
 it4 ,one  lives in longing and has     
lived thousands of years in it1 in hope4
  ,living is quite another thing        
in--enjoyment6    ,does this perchance  
apply only to the so-called pious8 ,no1 
it applies to  all who belong to the    
departing period of history1 even to its
 men of  pleasure4 ,for them too the    
work-days were followed by a ,sunday1   
and the  rush of the world by the dream 

of a better world1 of a general         
happiness  of humanity2 in short1 by an 
ideal4 ,but philosophers especially are 
contrasted with the pious4 ,now1 have   
they been thinking of anything else     
than the ideal1 been planning for       
anything else than the absolute self8   
,longing and hope everywhere1 and       
nothing but these4 ,for me1 call it     
romanticism4    ,if the enjoyment of    
life is to triumph over the longing for 
life or  hope of life1 it must vanquish 
this in its double significance1 which  
,schiller introduces in his ,ideal and  
,life2 it must crush spiritual and      
secular poverty1 exterminate the ideal  
and--the want of daily bread4 ,he  who  
must expend his life to prolong life    
cannot enjoy it1 and he who is  still   
seeking for his life does not have it   
and can as little enjoy it3  both are   
poor1 but blessed are the poor4         
,those who are hungering for the true   
life have no power over their  present  
life1 but must apply it for the purpose 

of thereby gaining that  true life1 and 
must sacrifice it entirely to this      
aspiration and this  task4 ,if in the   
case of those devotees who hope for a   
life in the other  world1 and look upon 
that in this world as merely a          
preparation for it1  the tributariness  
of their earthly existence1 which they  
put solely into  the service of the     
hoped-for heavenly existence1 is pretty 
distinctly  apparent2 one would yet go  
far wrong if one wanted to consider the 
most  rationalistic and enlightened as  
less self-sacrificing4 ,oh1 there is to 
be found in the true life a much more   
comprehensive significance than  the    
heavenly is competent to express4 ,now1 
is not--to introduce the  liberal       
concept of it at once--the human and    
truly human life the  true one8 ,and is 
every one already leading this truly    
human life from  the start1 or must he  
first raise himself to it with hard     
toil8 ,does he  already have it as his  
present life1 or must he struggle for it

 as his  future life1 which will become 
his part only when he is no longer      
tainted with any egoism8 ,in this view  
life exists only to gain life1  and one 
lives only to make the essence of man   
alive in oneself1 one  lives for the    
sake of this essence4 ,one has his life 
only in order to  procure by means of it
 the true life cleansed of all egoism4  
,hence one  is afraid to make any use he
 likes of his life3 it is to serve only 
for  the right use4    ,in short1 one   
has a calling in life1 a task in life2  
one has something  to realize and       
produce by his life1 a something for    
which our life is  only means and       
implement1 a something that is worth    
more than this life1  a something to    
which one owes his life4 ,one has a ,god
 who asks a  living sacrifice4 ,only the
 rudeness of human sacrifice has been   
lost  with time2 human sacrifice itself 
has remained unabated1 and criminals    
hourly fall sacrifices to justice1 and  
we poor sinners slay our own  selves as 

sacrifices for the human essence1 the   
idea of mankind1  humanity1 and whatever
 the idols or gods are called besides4  
,but1 because we owe our life to that   
something1 therefore--this is the  next 
point--we have no right to take it from 
us4    ,the conservative tendency of    
,christianity does not permit thinking  
of  death otherwise than with the       
purpose to take its sting from it       
and--live on and preserve oneself       
nicely4 ,the ,christian lets everything 
happen and come upon him if he--the     
arch-,jew--can only haggle and  smuggle 
himself into heaven2 he must not kill   
himself1 he must  only--preserve himself
 and work at the preparation of a future
 abode4  ,conservatism or conquest of   
death lies at his heart2 the last enemy 
that is abolished is death4#bad ,christ 
has taken the power from death  and     
brought life and imperishable being to  
light by the gospel4#bae                
,imperishableness1 stability4    ,the   
moral man wants the good1 the right2    

and1 if he takes to the means  that lead
 to this goal1 really lead to it1 then  
these means are not  his means1 but     
those of the good1 right1 etc41 itself4 
,these means are  never immoral1 because
 the good end itself mediates itself    
through them3  the end sanctifies the   
means4 ,they call this maxim jesuitical1
 but it is  moral through and through4  
,the moral man acts in the service of an
  end or an idea3 he makes himself the  
tool of the idea of the good1 as  the   
pious man counts it his glory to be a   
tool or instrument of ,god4 ,to  await  
death is what the moral commandment     
postulates as the good2 to  give it to  
oneself is immoral and bad3 suicide     
finds no excuse before  the             
judgment-seat of morality4 ,if the      
religious man forbids it because  you   
have not given yourself life1 but ,god1 
who alone can also take it  from you    
again 7as if1 even talking in this      
conception1 ,god did not  take it from  
me just as much when ,i kill myself as  

when a tile from the  roof1 or a hostile
 bullet1 fells me2 for he would have    
aroused the  resolution of death in me  
too671 the moral man forbids it because 
,i owe  my life to the fatherland1 etc41
 because ,i do not know whether ,i may  
not yet accomplish good by my life4 ,of 
course1 for in me good loses a  tool1 as
 ,god does an instrument4 ,if ,i am     
immoral1 the good is served in  my      
amendment2 if ,i am ungodly1 ,god has   
joy in my penitence4  ,suicide1         
therefore1 is ungodly as well as        
nefarious4 ,if one whose  standpoint is 
religiousness takes his own life1 he    
acts in forgetfulness  of ,god2 but1 if 
the suicide's standpoint is morality1 he
 acts in  forgetfulness of duty1        
immorally4 ,people worried themselves   
much with  the question whether ,emilia 
,galotti's death can be justified before
  morality 7they take it as if it were  
suicide1 which it is too in  substance74
 ,that she is so infatuated with        
chastity1 this moral good1 as  to yield 

up even her life for it is certainly    
moral2 but1 again1 that  she fears the  
weakness of her flesh is immoral4#baf   
,such  contradictions form the tragic   
conflict universally in the moral drama2
  and one must think and feel morally to
 be able to take an interest in  it4    
,what holds good of piety and morality  
will necessarily apply to humanity      
also1 because one owes his life likewise
 to man1 mankind or the species4  ,only 
when ,i am under obligation to no being 
is the maintaining of  life--my affair4 
,a leap from this bridge makes me free6 
,but1 if we owe the maintaining of our  
life to that being that we are to  make 
alive in ourselves1 it is not less our  
duty not to lead this life  according to
 our pleasure1 but to shape it in       
conformity to that  being4 ,all my      
feeling1 thinking1 and willing1 all my  
doing and  designing1 belongs to--him4  
,what is in conformity to that being is 
to be inferred from his concept2  and   
how differently has this concept been   

conceived6 or how differently  has that 
being been imagined6 ,what demands the  
,supreme ,being makes on  the           
,mohammedan2 what different ones the    
,christian1 again1 thinks he  hears from
 him2 how divergent1 therefore1 must the
 shaping of the lives  of the two turn  
out6 ,only this do all hold fast1 that  
the ,supreme ,being  is to judge#bag our
 life4    ,but the pious who have their 
judge in ,god1 and in his word a book of
  directions for their life1 ,i         
everywhere pass by only reminiscently1  
because they belong to a period of      
development that has been lived         
through1 and as petrifactions they may  
remain in their fixed place right       
along2 in our time it is no longer the  
pious1 but the liberals1 who  have the  
floor1 and piety itself cannot keep from
 reddening its pale  face with liberal  
coloring4 ,but the liberals do not adore
 their judge in  ,god1 and do not unfold
 their life by the directions of the    
divine word1  but regulate#bah          

themselves by man3 they want to be not  
divine but  human1 and to live so4      
,man is the liberal's supreme being1 man
 the judge of his life1  humanity his   
directions1 or catechism4 ,god is       
spirit1 but man is the  most perfect    
spirit1 the final result of the long    
chase after the  spirit or of the       
searching in the depths of the ,godhead1
 i4 e4 in  the depths of the spirit4    
,every one of your traits is to be      
human2 you yourself are to be so from   
top to toe1 in the inward as in the     
outward2 for humanity is your  calling4 
,calling--destiny--task6--    ,what one 
can become he does become4 ,a born poet 
may well be hindered by  the disfavor of
 circumstances from standing on the high
 level of his  time1 and1 after the     
great studies that are indispensable for
 this1  producing consummate works of   
art2 but he will make poetry1 be he a   
plowman or so lucky as to live at the   
court of ,weimar4 ,a born musician  will
 make music1 no matter whether on all   

instruments or only on an  oaten pipe4  
,a born philosophical head can give     
proof of itself as  university          
philosopher or as village philosopher4  
,finally1 a born dolt1  who1 as is very 
well compatible with this1 may at the   
same time be a  sly-boots1 will 7as     
probably every one who has visited      
schools is in a  position to exemplify  
to himself by many instances of         
fellow-scholars7  always remain a       
blockhead1 let him have been drilled and
 trained into  the chief of a bureau1 or
 let him serve that same chief as       
bootblack4  ,nay1 the born shallow-pates
 indisputably form the most numerous    
class of  men4 ,and why1 indeed1 should 
not the same distinctions show          
themselves  in the human species that   
are unmistakable in every species of    
beasts8  ,the more gifted and the less  
gifted are to be found everywhere4      
,only a few1 however1 are so imbecile   
that one could not get ideas into  them4
 ,hence people usually consider all men 

capable of having religion4  ,in a      
certain degree they may be trained to   
other ideas too1 e4 g4 to  some musical 
intelligence1 even some philosophy1 etc4
 ,at this point then  the priesthood of 
religion1 of morality1 of culture1 of   
science1 etc41  takes its start1 and the
 ,communists1 e4 g41 want to make       
everything  accessible to all by their  
public school4 ,there is heard a common 
assertion that this great mass cannot   
get along without religion2 the         
,communists broaden it into the         
proposition that not only the great     
mass1 but absolutely all1 are called to 
everything4    ,not enough that the     
great mass has been trained to religion1
 now it is  actually to have to occupy  
itself with everything human4 ,training 
is  growing ever more general and more  
comprehensive4    ,you poor beings who  
could live so happily if you might skip 
according to  your mind1 you are to     
dance to the pipe of schoolmasters and  
bear-leaders1 in order to perform tricks

 that you yourselves would never  use   
yourselves for4 ,and you do not even    
kick out of the traces at last  against 
being always taken otherwise than you   
want to give yourselves4  ,no1 you      
mechanically recite to yourselves the   
question that is recited  to you3 ,what 
am ,i called to8 ,what ought ,i to do8  
,you need only ask  thus1 to have       
yourselves told what you ought to do and
 ordered to do  it1 to have your calling
 marked out for you1 or else to order   
yourselves and impose it on yourselves  
according to the spirit's  prescription4
 ,then in reference to the will the word
 is1 ,i will to do  what ,i ought4    ,a
 man is called to nothing1 and has no   
calling1 no destiny1 as  little as a    
plant or a beast has a calling4 ,the    
flower does not follow  the calling to  
complete itself1 but it spends all its  
forces to enjoy  and consume the world  
as well as it can1--i4 e4 it sucks in as
 much of  the juices of the earth1 as   
much air of the ether1 as much light of 

the  sun1 as it can get and lodge4 ,the 
bird lives up to no calling1 but it     
uses its forces as much as is           
practicable2 it catches beetles and     
sings  to its heart's delight4 ,but the 
forces of the flower and the bird are   
slight in comparison to those of a man1 
and a man who applies his forces  will  
affect the world much more powerfully   
than flower and beast4 ,a  calling he   
has not1 but he has forces that manifest
 themselves where  they are because     
their being consists solely in their    
manifestation1 and  are as little able  
to abide inactive as life1 which1 if it 
stood still  only a second1 would no    
longer be life4 ,now1 one might call out
 to the  man1 use your force4 ,yet to   
this imperative would be given the      
meaning  that it was man's task to use  
his force4 ,it is not so4 ,rather1 each 
one  really uses his force without first
 looking upon this as his calling3 at   
all times every one uses as much force  
as he possesses4 ,one does say of  a    

beaten man that he ought to have exerted
 his force more2 but one  forgets that1 
if in the moment of succumbing he had   
had the force to  exert his forces 7e4  
g4 bodily forces71 he would not have    
failed to do  it3 even if it was only   
the discouragement of a minute1 this was
 yet  a--destitution of force1 a minute 
long4 ,forces may assuredly be          
sharpened and redoubled1 especially by  
hostile resistance or friendly          
assistance2 but where one misses their  
application one may be sure of  their   
absence too4 ,one can strike fire out of
 a stone1 but without the  blow none    
comes out2 in like manner a man too     
needs impact4    ,now1 for this reason  
that forces always of themselves show   
themselves  operative1 the command to   
use them would be superfluous and       
senseless4  ,to use his forces is not   
man's calling and task1 but is his act1 
real and extant at all times4 ,force is 
only a simpler word for  manifestation  
of force4    ,now1 as this rose is a    

true rose to begin with1 this           
nightingale always  a true nightingale1 
so ,i am not for the first time a true  
man when ,i  fulfil my calling1 live up 
to my destiny1 but ,i am a true man from
 the  start4 ,my first babble is the    
token of the life of a true man1 the    
struggles of my life are the outpourings
 of his force1 my last breath is  the   
last exhalation of the force of the man4
    ,the true man does not lie in the   
future1 an object of longing1 but lies1 
existent and real1 in the present4      
,whatever and whoever ,i may be1 joyous 
and suffering1 a child or a graybeard1  
in confidence or doubt1 in sleep  or in 
waking1 ,i am it1 ,i am the true man4   
,but1 if ,i am ,man1 and have really    
found in myself him whom religious      
humanity designated as the distant goal1
 then everything truly human  is also my
 own4 ,what was ascribed to the idea of 
humanity belongs to  me4 ,that freedom  
of trade1 e4 g41 which humanity has yet 
to  attain1--and which1 like an         

enchanting dream1 people remove to      
humanity's golden future1--,i take by   
anticipation as my property1 and  carry 
it on for the time in the form of       
smuggling4 ,there may indeed be  but few
 smugglers who have sufficient          
understanding to thus account to        
themselves for their doings1 but the    
instinct of egoism replaces their       
consciousness4 ,above ,i have shown the 
same thing about freedom of the  press4 
,everything is my own1 therefore ,i     
bring back to myself what wants to      
withdraw from me2 but above all ,i      
always bring myself back when ,i have   
slipped away from myself to any         
tributariness4 ,but this too is not my  
calling1 but my natural act4    ,enough1
 there is a mighty difference whether ,i
 make myself the  starting-point or the 
goal4 ,as the latter ,i do not have     
myself1 am  consequently still alien to 
myself1 am my essence1 my true essence1 
and this true essence1 alien to me1 will
 mock me as a spook of a  thousand      

different names4 ,because ,i am not yet 
,i1 another 7like ,god1 the  true man1  
the truly pious man1 the rational man1  
the freeman1 etc47 is  ,i1 my ego4      
,still far from myself1 ,i separate     
myself into two halves1 of which one1   
the one unattained and to be fulfilled1 
is the true one4 ,the one1 the  untrue1 
must be brought as a sacrifice2 to wit1 
the unspiritual one4 ,the  other1 the   
true1 is to be the whole man2 to wit1   
the spirit4 ,then it is  said1 ,the     
spirit is man's proper essence1 or1 man 
exists as man only  spiritually4 ,now   
there is a greedy rush to catch the     
spirit1 as if one  would then have      
bagged himself2 and so1 in chasing after
 himself1 one  loses sight of himself1  
whom he is4    ,and1 as one stormily    
pursues his own self1 the               
never-attained1 so one  also despises   
shrewd people's rule to take men as they
 are1 and prefers  to take them as they 
should be2 and1 for this reason1 hounds 
every one  on after his should-be self  

and endeavors to make all into equally  
entitled1 equally respectable1 equally  
moral or rational men4#bai    ,yes1 if  
men were what they should be1 could be1 
if all men were  rational1 all loved    
each other as brothers1 then it would be
 a  paradisiacal life4#bbj--;,all right1
 men are as they should be1 can be4     
,what should they be8 ,surely not more  
than they can be6 ,and what can they    
be8 ,not more1 again1 than they--can1 i4
 e4 than they have the  competence1 the 
force1 to be4 ,but this they really are1
 because what  they are not they are    
incapable of being2 for to be capable   
means--really to be4 ,one is not capable
 for anything that one really is  not2  
one is not capable of anything that one 
does not really do4 ,could a  man       
blinded by cataract see8 ,oh1 yes1 if he
 had his cataract  successfully removed4
 ,but now he cannot see because he does 
not see4  ,possibility and reality      
always coincide4 ,one can do nothing    
that one  does not1 as one does nothing 

that one cannot4    ,the singularity of 
this assertion vanishes when one        
reflects that the  words it is possible 
that 444 almost never contain another   
meaning  than ,i can imagine that 4441  
e4 g41 ,it is possible for all men to   
live rationally1 i4 e4 ,i can imagine   
that all1 etc4 ,now1--since my  thinking
 cannot1 and accordingly does not1 cause
 all men to live  rationally1 but this  
must still be left to the men           
themselves1--general  reason is for me  
only thinkable1 a thinkableness1 but as 
such in fact a  reality that is called a
 possibility only in reference to what  
,i can  not bring to pass1 to wit1 the  
rationality of others4 ,so far as       
depends  on you1 all men might be       
rational1 for you have nothing against  
it2 nay1  so far as your thinking       
reaches1 you perhaps cannot discover any
  hindrance either1 and accordingly     
nothing does stand in the way of the    
thing in your thinking2 it is thinkable 
to you4    ,as men are not all rational1

 though1 it is probable that            
they--cannot be  so4    ,if something   
which one imagines to be easily possible
 is not1 or does  not happen1 then one  
may be assured that something stands in 
the way of  the thing1 and that it      
is--impossible4 ,our time has its art1  
science1  etc42 the art may be bad in   
all conscience2 but may one say that we 
deserved to have a better1 and could    
have it if we only would8 ,we have  just
 as much art as we can have4 ,our art of
 to-day is the only art  possible1 and  
therefore real1 at the time4    ,even in
 the sense to which one might at last   
still reduce the word  possible1 that it
 should mean future1 it retains the full
 force of  the real4 ,if one says1 e4   
g41 ,it is possible that the sun will   
rise  to-morrow1--this means only1 for  
to-day to-morrow is the real future2    
for ,i suppose there is hardly need of  
the suggestion that a future is  real   
future only when it has not yet         
appeared4    ,yet wherefore this        

dignifying of a word8 ,if the most      
prolific  misunderstanding of thousands 
of years were not in ambush behind it1  
if  this single concept of the little   
word possible were not haunted by  all  
the spooks of possessed men1 its        
contemplation should trouble us  little 
here4    ,the thought1 it was just now  
shown1 rules the possessed world4 ,well1
  then1 possibility is nothing but      
thinkableness1 and innumerable          
sacrifices have hitherto been made to   
hideous thinkableness4 ,it was          
thinkable that men might become         
rational2 thinkable1 that they might    
know ,christ2 thinkable1 that they might
 become moral and enthusiastic  for the 
good2 thinkable1 that they might all    
take refuge in the ,church's  lap2      
thinkable1 that they might meditate1    
speak1 and do1 nothing  dangerous to the
 ,state2 thinkable1 that they might be  
obedient  subjects2 but1 because it was 
thinkable1 it was--so ran the           
inference--possible1 and further1       

because it was possible to men 7right   
here lies the deceptive point3 because  
it is thinkable to me1 it is  possible  
to men71 therefore they ought to be so1 
it was their  calling2 and finally--one 
is to take men only according to this   
calling1 only as called men1 not as they
 are1 but as they ought to  be4    ,and 
the further inference8 ,man is not the  
individual1 but man is a  thought1 an   
ideal1 to which the individual is       
related not even as  the child to the   
man1 but as a chalk point to a point    
thought of1 or as  a--finite creature to
 the eternal ,creator1 or1 according to 
modern  views1 as the specimen to the   
species4 ,here then comes to light the  
glorification of humanity1 the eternal1 
immortal1 for whose glory  7in majorem  
humanitatis gloriam7 the individual must
 devote himself  and find his immortal  
renown in having done something for the 
spirit  of humanity4    ,thus the       
thinkers rule in the world as long as   
the age of priests or  of schoolmasters 

lasts1 and what they think of is        
possible1 but what is  possible must be 
realized4 ,they think an ideal of man1  
which for the  time is real only in     
their thoughts2 but they also think the 
possibility  of carrying it out1 and    
there is no chance for dispute1 the     
carrying out  is really--thinkable1 it  
is an--idea4    ,but you and ,i1 we may 
indeed be people of whom a ,krummacher  
can think  that we might yet become good
 ,christians2 if1 however1 he wanted to 
labor with us1 we should soon make it   
palpable to him that our  ,christianity 
is only thinkable1 but in other respects
 impossible2 if  he grinned on and on at
 us with his obtrusive thoughts1 his    
good  belief1 he would have to learn    
that we do not at all need to become    
what we do not like to become4    ,and  
so it goes on1 far beyond the most pious
 of the pious4 ,if all men  were        
rational1 if all did right1 if all were 
guided by philanthropy1  etc46 ,reason1 
right1 philanthropy1 etc41 are put      

before the eyes of  men as their        
calling1 as the goal of their           
aspiration4 ,and what does  being       
rational mean8 ,giving oneself a        
hearing8#bba ,no1 reason is a book  full
 of laws1 which are all enacted against 
egoism4    ,history hitherto is the     
history of the intellectual man4 ,after 
the  period of sensuality1 history      
proper begins2 i4 e41 the period of     
intellectuality1#bbb spirituality1#bbc  
non-sensuality1  supersensuality1       
nonsensicality4 ,man now begins to want 
to be and become  something4 ,what8     
,good1 beautiful1 true2 more precisely1 
moral1 pious1  agreeable1 etc4 ,he wants
 to make of himself a proper man1       
something  proper4 ,man is his goal1 his
 ought1 his destiny1 calling1 task1     
his--ideal2 he is to himself a future1  
otherworldly he4 ,and what  makes a     
proper fellow of him8 ,being true1 being
 good1 being moral1 and  the like4 ,now 
he looks askance at every one who does  
not recognize the  same what1 seek the  

same morality1 have the same faith2 he  
chases out  separatists1 heretics1      
sects1 etc4    ,no sheep1 no dog1 exerts
 itself to become a proper sheep1 a     
proper  dog2 no beast has its essence   
appear to it as a task1 i4 e4 as a      
concept that it has to realize4 ,it     
realizes itself in living itself out1   
i4 e4 dissolving itself1 passing away4  
,it does not ask to be or to  become    
anything other than it is4    ,do ,i    
mean to advise you to be like the       
beasts8 ,that you ought to become       
beasts is an exhortation which ,i       
certainly cannot give you1 as that      
would again be a task1 an ideal 7,how   
doth the little busy bee improve  each  
shining hour4444 ,in works of labor or  
of skill ,i would be busy  too1 for     
,satan finds some mischief still for    
idle hands to do74 ,it  would be the    
same1 too1 as if one wished for the     
beasts that they should  become human   
beings4 ,your nature is1 once for all1 a
 human one2 you are  human natures1 i4  

e4 human beings4 ,but1 just because you 
already are  so1 you do not still need  
to become so4 ,beasts too are trained1  
and a  trained beast executes many      
unnatural things4 ,but a trained dog is 
no  better for itself than a natural    
one1 and has no profit from it1 even if 
it is more companionable for us4        
,exertions to form all men into moral1  
rational1 pious1 human1 etc41  beings   
7i4 e4 training7 were in vogue from of  
yore4 ,they are wrecked  against the    
indomitable quality of ,i1 against own  
nature1 against  egoism4 ,those who are 
trained never attain their ideal1 and   
only profess  with their mouth the      
sublime principles1 or make a           
profession1 a  profession of faith4 ,in 
face of this profession they must in    
life  acknowledge themselves sinners    
altogether1 and they fall short of      
their ideal1 are weak men1 and bear with
 them the consciousness of  human       
weakness4    ,it is different if you do 
not chase after an ideal as your        

destiny1  but dissolve yourself as time 
dissolves everything4 ,the dissolution  
is  not your destiny1 because it is     
present time4    ,yet the culture1 the  
religiousness1 of men has assuredly made
 them  free1 but only free from one     
lord1 to lead them to another4 ,i have  
learned by religion to tame my appetite1
 ,i break the world's resistance  by the
 cunning that is put in my hand by      
science2 ,i even serve no man3  ,i am1  
no man's lackey4 ,but then it comes1    
,you must obey ,god more than  man4     
,just so ,i am indeed free from         
irrational determination by my          
impulses1 but obedient to the master    
,reason4 ,i have gained spiritual       
freedom1 freedom of the spirit4 ,but    
with that ,i have then become  subject  
to that very spirit4 ,the spirit gives  
me orders1 reason guides  me1 they are  
my leaders and commanders4 ,the         
rational1 the servants of  the spirit1  
rule4 ,but1 if ,i am not flesh1 ,i am in
 truth not spirit  either4 ,freedom of  

the spirit is servitude of me1 because  
,i am more than  spirit or flesh4       
,without doubt culture has made me      
powerful4 ,it has given me power over   
all motives1 over the impulses of my    
nature as well as over the  exactions   
and violences of the world4 ,i know1 and
 have gained the force  for it by       
culture1 that ,i need not let myself be 
coerced by any of my  appetites1        
pleasures1 emotions1 etc42 ,i am        
their--master2 in like  manner ,i       
become1 through the sciences and arts1  
the master of the  refractory world1    
whom sea and earth obey1 and to whom    
even the stars  must give an account of 
themselves4 ,the spirit has made me     
master4--,but ,i have no power over the 
spirit itself4 ,from religion  7culture7
 ,i do learn the means for the          
vanquishing of the world1 but  not how  
,i am to subdue ,god too and become     
master of him2 for ,god is  the spirit4 
,and this same spirit1 of which ,i am   
unable to become  master1 may have the  

most manifold shapes3 he may be called  
,god or  ,national ,spirit1 ,state1     
,family1 ,reason1 also--,liberty1       
,humanity1 ,man4    ,i receive with     
thanks what the centuries of culture    
have acquired for  me2 ,i am not willing
 to throw away and give up anything of  
it3 ,i have  not lived in vain4 ,the    
experience that ,i have power over my   
nature1  and need not be the slave of my
 appetites1 shall not be lost to me2 the
  experience that ,i can subdue the     
world by culture's means is too         
dear-bought for me to be able to forget 
it4 ,but ,i want still more4    ,people 
ask1 what can man do8 what can he       
accomplish8 what goods procure8  and put
 down the highest of everything as a    
calling4 ,as if everything  were        
possible to me6    ,if one sees somebody
 going to ruin in a mania1 a passion1   
etc4 7e4 g4  in the huckster-spirit1 in 
jealousy71 the desire is stirred to     
deliver  him out of this possession and 
to help him to self-conquest4 ,we want  

to make a man of him6 ,that would be    
very fine if another possession  were   
not immediately put in the place of the 
earlier one4 ,but one frees  from the   
love of money him who is a thrall to it1
 only to deliver him  over to piety1    
humanity1 or some principle else1 and to
 transfer him to  a fixed standpoint    
anew4    ,this transference from a      
narrow standpoint to a sublime one is   
declared  in the words that the sense   
must not be directed to the perishable1 
but  to the imperishable alone3 not to  
the temporal1 but to the eternal1       
absolute1 divine1 purely human1         
etc41--to the spiritual4    ,people very
 soon discerned that it was not         
indifferent what one set his  affections
 on1 or what one occupied himself with2 
they recognized the  importance of the  
object4 ,an object exalted above the    
individuality of  things is the essence 
of things2 yes1 the essence is alone the
  thinkable in them1 it is for the      
thinking man4 ,therefore direct no      

longer your sense to the things1 but    
your thoughts to the  essence4 ,blessed 
are they who see not1 and yet believe2  
i4 e41  blessed are the thinkers for    
they have to do with the invisible and  
believe in it4 ,yet even an object of   
thought1 that constituted an  essential 
point of contention centuries long1     
comes at last to the point  of being no 
longer worth speaking of4 ,this was     
discerned1 but  nevertheless people     
always kept before their eyes again a   
self-valid  importance of the object1 an
 absolute value of it1 as if the doll   
were  not the most important thing to   
the child1 the ,koran to the ,turk4 ,as 
long as ,i am not the sole important    
thing to myself1 it is indifferent  of  
what object ,i make much1 and only my   
greater or lesser  delinquency against  
it is of value4 ,the degree of my       
attachment and  devotion marks the      
standpoint of my liability to service1  
the degree of  my sinning shows the     
measure of my ownness4    ,but finally1 

and in general1 one must know how to put
 everything out of  his mind1 if only so
 as to be able to--go to sleep4 ,nothing
 may occupy  us with which we do not    
occupy ourselves3 the victim of ambition
  cannot run away from his ambitious    
plans1 nor the ,god-fearing man from    
the thought of ,god2 infatuation and    
possessedness coincide4    ,to want to  
realize his essence or live conformably 
to his concept 7which  with believers in
 ,god signifies as much as to be pious1 
and with  believers in humanity means   
living humanly7 is what only the sensual
  and sinful man can propose to himself1
 the man so long as he has the  anxious 
choice between happiness of sense and   
peace of soul1 so long as  he is a poor 
sinner4 ,the ,christian is nothing but a
 sensual man who1  knowing of the sacred
 and being conscious that he violates   
it1 sees in  himself a poor sinner3     
sensualness1 recognized as sinfulness1  
is  ,christian consciousness1 is the    
,christian himself4 ,and if sin and     

sinfulness are now no longer taken into 
the mouths of moderns1 but1  instead of 
that1 egoism1 self-seeking1 selfishness1
 and the like1  engage them2 if the     
devil has been translated into the      
un-man or  egoistic man1--is the        
,christian less present then than       
before8 ,is not  the old discord between
 good and evil1--is not a judge over us1
 man1--is  not a calling1 the calling to
 make oneself man--left8 ,if they no    
longer  name it calling1 but task or1   
very likely1 duty1 the change of name   
is quite correct1 because man is not1   
like ,god1 a personal being that  can   
call2 but outside the name the thing    
remains as of old4           99       99
       99       99       99    ,every   
one has a relation to objects1 and more1
 every one is differently  related to   
them4 ,let us choose as an example that 
book to which millions  of men had a    
relation for two thousand years1 the    
,bible4 ,what is it1  what was it1 to   
each8 ,absolutely1 only what he made out

 of it6 ,for him  who makes to himself  
nothing at all out of it1 it is nothing 
at all2 for  him who uses it as an      
amulet1 it has solely the value1 the    
significance1  of a means of sorcery2   
for him who1 like children1 plays with  
it1 it is  nothing but a plaything2 etc4
    ,now1 ,christianity asks that it    
shall be the same for all3 say1 the     
sacred book or the sacred ,scriptures4  
,this means as much as that the         
,christian's view shall also be that of 
other men1 and that no one may  be      
otherwise related to that object4 ,and  
with this the ownness of the  relation  
is destroyed1 and one mind1 one         
disposition1 is fixed as the  true1 the 
only true one4 ,in the limitation of the
 freedom to make  of the ,bible what ,i 
will1 the freedom of making in general  
is limited2  and the coercion of a view 
or a judgment is put in its place4 ,he  
who  should pass the judgment that the  
,bible was a long error of mankind      
would judge--criminally4    ,in fact1   

the child who tears it to pieces or     
plays with it1 the ,inca  ,atahualpa who
 lays his ear to it and throws it away  
contemptuously when  it remains dumb1   
judges just as correctly about the      
,bible as the priest  who praises in it 
the ,word of ,god1 or the critic who    
calls it a job of  men's hands4 ,for how
 we toss things about is the affair of  
our option1  our free will3 we use them 
according to our heart's pleasure1 or1  
more clearly1 we use them just as we    
can4 ,why1 what do the parsons  scream  
about when they see how ,hegel and the  
speculative theologians  make           
speculative thoughts out of the contents
 of the ,bible8 ,precisely  this1 that  
they deal with it according to their    
heart's pleasure1 or  proceed           
arbitrarily with it4    ,but1 because we
 all show ourselves arbitrary in the    
handling of objects1  i4 e4 do with them
 as we like best1 at our liking 7the    
philosopher  likes nothing so well as   
when he can trace out an idea in        

everything1  as the ,god-fearing man    
likes to make ,god his friend by        
everything1 and  so1 e4 g41 by keeping  
the ,bible sacred71 therefore we nowhere
 meet  such grievous arbitrariness1 such
 a frightful tendency to violence1  such
 stupid coercion1 as in this very domain
 of our--own free will4 ,if  we proceed 
arbitrarily in taking the sacred objects
 thus or so1 how is  it then that we    
want to take it ill of the              
parson-spirits if they take  us just as 
arbitrarily in their fashion1 and esteem
 us worthy of the  heretic's fire or of 
another punishment1 perhaps of          
the--censorship8    ,what a man is1 he  
makes out of things2 as you look at the 
world1 so it  looks at you again4 ,then 
the wise advice makes itself heard again
 at  once1 ,you must only look at it    
rightly1 unbiasedly1 etc4 ,as if the    
child did not look at the ,bible rightly
 and unbiasedly when it makes  it a     
plaything4 ,that shrewd precept is given
 us1 e4 g41 by ,feuerbach4  ,one does   

look at things rightly when one makes of
 them what one will  7by things objects 
in general are here understood1 such as 
,god1 our  fellow-men1 a sweetheart1 a  
book1 a beast1 etc474 ,and therefore the
  things and the looking at them are not
 first1 but ,i am1 my will is4 ,one     
will bring thoughts out of the things1  
will discover reason in the  world1 will
 have sacredness in it3 therefore one   
shall find them4  ,seek and ye shall    
find4 ,what ,i will seek1 ,i determine3 
,i want1  e4 g41 to get edification from
 the ,bible2 it is to be found2  ,i want
 to read and test the ,bible thoroughly2
 my outcome will be  a thorough         
instruction and criticism--to the extent
 of my powers4  ,i elect for myself what
 ,i have a fancy for1 and in electing ,i
 show  myself--arbitrary4    ,connected 
with this is the discernment that every 
judgment which ,i pass  upon an object  
is the creature of my will2 and that    
discernment again  leads me to not      
losing myself in the creature1 the      

judgment1 but  remaining the creator1   
the judger1 who is ever creating anew4  
,all  predicates of objects are my      
statements1 my judgments1 my--creatures4
 ,if  they want to tear themselves loose
 from me and be something for           
themselves1 or actually overawe me1 then
 ,i have nothing more pressing to  do   
than to take them back into their       
nothing1 i4 e4 into me the  creator4    
,god1 ,christ1 trinity1 morality1 the   
good1 etc41 are such  creatures1 of     
which ,i must not merely allow myself to
 say that they are  truths1 but also    
that they are deceptions4 ,as ,i once   
willed and decreed  their existence1 so 
,i want to have license to will their   
non-existence  too2 ,i must not let them
 grow over my head1 must not have the   
weakness  to let them become something  
absolute1 whereby they would be         
eternalized and withdrawn from my power 
and decision4 ,with that ,i should  fall
 a prey to the principle of stability1  
the proper life-principle  of religion1 

which concerns itself with creating     
sanctuaries that must  not be touched1  
eternal truths1--in short1 that which   
shall be  sacred1--and depriving you of 
what is yours4    ,the object makes us  
into possessed men in its sacred form   
just as in its  profane2 as a           
supersensuous object1 just as it does as
 a sensuous one4  ,the appetite or mania
 refers to both1 and avarice and longing
 for heaven  stand on a level4 ,when the
 rationalists wanted to win people for  
the  sensuous world1 ,lavater preached  
the longing for the invisible4 ,the one 
party wanted to call forth emotion1 the 
other motion1 activity4    ,the         
conception of objects is altogether     
diverse1 even as ,god1 ,christ1  the    
world1 etc41 were and are conceived of  
in the most manifold wise4 ,in  this    
every one is a dissenter1 and after     
bloody combats so much has at  last been
 attained1 that opposite views about one
 and the same object  are no longer     
condemned as heresies worthy of death4  

,the dissenters  reconcile themselves to
 each other4 ,but why should ,i only    
dissent 7think  otherwise7 about a      
thing8 why not push the thinking        
otherwise to its  last extremity1 viz41 
that of no longer having any regard at  
all for  the thing1 and therefore       
thinking its nothingness1 crushing it8  
,then the  conception itself has an end1
 because there is no longer anything to 
conceive of4 ,why am ,i to say1 let us  
suppose1 ,god is not ,allah1 not        
,brahma1 not ,jehovah1 but--,god2 but   
not1 ,god is nothing but a  deception8  
,why do people brand me if ,i am an     
atheist8 ,because they  put the creature
 above the creator 7,they honor and     
serve the creature  more than the       
,creator#bbd7 and require a ruling      
object1 that the  subject may be right  
submissive4 ,i am to bend beneath the   
absolute1  ,i ought to4    ,by the realm
 of thoughts ,christianity has completed
 itself2 the  thought is that inwardness
 in which all the world's lights go out1

 all  existence becomes existenceless1  
the inward man 7the heart1 the head7 is 
all in all4 ,this realm of thoughts     
awaits its deliverance1 awaits1 like    
the ,sphinx1 ,oedipus's key-word to the 
riddle1 that it may enter in at  last to
 its death4 ,i am the annihilator of its
 continuance1 for in the  creator's     
realm it no longer forms a realm of its 
own1 not a ,state in  the ,state1 but a 
creature of my                          
creative--thoughtlessness4 ,only        
together  and at the same time with the 
benumbed thinking world can the world of
  ,christians1 ,christianity and        
religion itself1 come to its downfall2  
only  when thoughts run out are there no
 more believers4 ,to the thinker his    
thinking is a sublime labor1 a sacred   
activity1 and it rests on a firm  faith1
 the faith in truth4 ,at first praying  
is a sacred activity1 then  this sacred 
devotion passes over into a rational and
 reasoning  thinking1 which1 however1   
likewise retains in the sacred truth its

  un-derangeable basis of faith1 and is 
only a marvelous machine that the       
spirit of truth winds up for its        
service4 ,free thinking and free science
  busy me--for it is not ,i that am     
free1 not ,i that busy myself1 but      
thinking is free and busies me--with    
heaven and the heavenly or  divine2 that
 is1 properly1 with the world and the   
worldly1 not this  world but another    
world2 it is only the reversing and     
deranging of the  world1 a busying with 
the essence of the world1 therefore a   
derangement4 ,the thinker is blind to   
the immediateness of things1 and        
incapable of mastering them3 he does not
 eat1 does not drink1 does not  enjoy2  
for the eater and drinker is never the  
thinker1 nay1 the latter  forgets eating
 and drinking1 his getting on in life1  
the cares of  nourishment1 etc41 over   
his thinking2 he forgets it as the      
praying man  too forgets it4 ,this is   
why he appears to the forceful son of   
nature as  a queer ,dick1 a fool1--even 

if he does look upon him as holy1 just  
as  lunatics appeared so to the         
ancients4 ,free thinking is lunacy1     
because  it is pure movement of the     
inwardness1 of the merely inward man1   
which guides and regulates the rest of  
the man4 ,the shaman and the            
speculative philosopher mark the bottom 
and top rounds on the ladder of  the    
inward man1 the--,mongol4 ,shaman and   
philosopher fight with ghosts1  demons1 
spirits1 gods4    ,totally different    
from this free thinking is own thinking1
 my  thinking1 a thinking which does not
 guide me1 but is guided1 continued1  or
 broken off1 by me at my pleasure4 ,the 
distinction of this own  thinking from  
free thinking is similar to that of own 
sensuality1 which  ,i satisfy at        
pleasure1 from free1 unruly sensuality  
to which ,i succumb4    ,feuerbach1 in  
the ,principles of the ,philosophy of   
the ,future1 is  always harping upon    
being4 ,in this he too1 with all his    
antagonism to  ,hegel and the absolute  

philosophy1 is stuck fast in            
abstraction2 for  being is abstraction1 
as is even the ,i4 ,only ,i am not      
abstraction  alone3 ,i am all in all1   
consequently even abstraction or        
nothing2  ,i am all and nothing2 ,i am  
not a mere thought1 but at the same time
  ,i am full of thoughts1 a             
thought-world4 ,hegel condemns the own1 
mine1#bbe--opinion4#bbf ,absolute       
thinking is that thinking which  forgets
 that it is my thinking1 that ,i think1 
and that it exists only  through me4    
,but ,i1 as ,i1 swallow up again what is
 mine1 am its master2  it is only my    
opinion1 which ,i can at any moment     
change1 i4 e4  annihilate1 take back    
into myself1 and consume4 ,feuerbach    
wants to smite  ,hegel's absolute       
thinking with unconquered being4 ,but in
 me being is  as much conquered as      
thinking is4 ,it is my being1 as the    
other is  my thinking4    ,with this1 of
 course1 ,feuerbach does not get further
 than to the proof1  trivial in itself1 

that ,i require the senses for          
everything1 or that ,i  cannot entirely 
do without these organs4 ,certainly ,i  
cannot think if ,i  do not exist        
sensuously4 ,but for thinking as well as
 for feeling1 and so  for the abstract  
as well as for the sensuous1 ,i need    
above all things  myself1 this quite    
particular myself1 this unique myself4  
,if ,i were  not this one1 e4 g4 ,hegel1
 ,i should not look at the world as ,i  
do look  at it1 ,i should not pick out  
of it that philosophical system which   
just  ,i as ,hegel do1 etc4 ,i should   
indeed have senses1 as do other people  
too1  but ,i should not utilize them as 
,i do4    ,thus the reproach is brought 
up against ,hegel by ,feuerbach#bbg that
 he  misuses language1 understanding by 
many words something else than what     
natural consciousness takes them for2   
and yet he too commits the same  fault  
when he gives the sensuous a sense of   
unusual eminence4 ,thus it  is said1 p4 
#fi1 the sensuous is not the profane1   

the destitute of  thought1 the obvious1 
that which is understood of itself4     
,but1 if it is  the sacred1 the full of 
thought1 the recondite1 that which can  
be  understood only through             
mediation1--well1 then it is no longer  
what  people call the sensuous4 ,the    
sensuous is only that which exists for  
the senses2 what1 on the other hand1 is 
enjoyable only to those who  enjoy with 
more than the senses1 who go beyond     
sense-enjoyment or  sense-reception1 is 
at most mediated or introduced by the   
senses1  i4 e4 the senses constitute a  
condition for obtaining it1 but it is   
no longer anything sensuous4 ,the       
sensuous1 whatever it may be1 when      
taken up into me becomes something      
non-sensuous1 which1 however1 may  again
 have sensuous effects1 e4 g4 by the    
stirring of my emotions and  my blood4  
,it is well that ,feuerbach brings      
sensuousness to honor1 but the only     
thing he is able to do with it is to    
clothe the materialism of his new       

philosophy with what had hitherto been  
the property of idealism1 the  absolute 
philosophy4 ,as little as people let it 
be talked into them  that one can live  
on the spiritual alone without bread1 so
 little will  they believe his word that
 as a sensuous being one is already     
everything1 and so spiritual1 full of   
thoughts1 etc4    ,nothing at all is    
justified by being4 ,what is thought of 
is as well  as what is not thought of2  
the stone in the street is1 and my      
notion  of it is too4 ,both are only in 
different spaces1 the former in airy    
space1 the latter in my head1 in me2 for
 ,i am space like the street4    ,the   
professionals1 the privileged1 brook no 
freedom of thought1 i4 e4  no thoughts  
that do not come from the ,giver of all 
good1 be he called  ,god1 pope1 church1 
or whatever else4 ,if anybody has such  
illegitimate  thoughts1 he must whisper 
them into his confessor's ear1 and have 
himself chastised by him till the       
slave-whip becomes unendurable to the   

free thoughts4 ,in other ways too the   
professional spirit takes care that     
free thoughts shall not come at all3    
first and foremost1 by a wise           
education4 ,he on whom the principles of
 morality have been duly  inculcated    
never becomes free again from moralizing
 thoughts1 and  robbery1 perjury1       
overreaching1 and the like1 remain to   
him fixed ideas  against which no       
freedom of thought protects him4 ,he has
 his thoughts  from above1 and gets no  
further4    ,it is different with the   
holders of concessions or patents4      
,every one  must be able to have and    
form thoughts as he will4 ,if he has the
 patent1  or the concession1 of a       
capacity to think1 he needs no special  
privilege4 ,but1 as all men are         
rational1 it is free to every one to    
put into his head any thoughts whatever1
 and1 to the extent of the  patent of   
his natural endowment1 to have a greater
 or less wealth of  thoughts4 ,now one  
hears the admonitions that one is to    

honor all  opinions and convictions1    
that every conviction is authorized1    
that  one must be tolerant to the views 
of others1 etc4    ,but your thoughts   
are not my thoughts1 and your ways are  
not my ways4  ,or rather1 ,i mean the   
reverse3 ,your thoughts are my thoughts1
 which ,i  dispose of as ,i will1 and   
which ,i strike down unmercifully2 they 
are my  property1 which ,i annihilate as
 ,i list4 ,i do not wait for            
authorization  from you first1 to       
decompose and blow away your thoughts4  
,it does not  matter to me that you call
 these thoughts yours too1 they remain  
mine  nevertheless1 and how ,i will     
proceed with them is my affair1 not a   
usurpation4 ,it may please me to leave  
you in your thoughts2 then ,i keep      
still4 ,do you believe thoughts fly     
around free like birds1 so that every   
one may get himself some which he may   
then make good against me as his        
inviolable property8 ,what is flying    
around is all--mine4    ,do you believe 

you have your thoughts for yourselves   
and need answer to  no one for them1 or1
 as you do also say1 you have to give an
 account of  them to ,god only8 ,no1    
your great and small thoughts belong to 
me1 and ,i  handle them at my pleasure4 
,the thought is my own only when ,i have
 no misgiving about bringing it  in     
danger of death every moment1 when ,i do
 not have to fear its loss as  a loss   
for me1 a loss of me4 ,the thought is my
 own only when ,i can  indeed subjugate 
it1 but it never can subjugate me1 never
 fanaticizes  me1 makes me the tool of  
its realization4    ,so freedom of      
thought exists when ,i can have all     
possible thoughts2 but  the thoughts    
become property only by not being able  
to become masters4  ,in the time of     
freedom of thought1 thoughts 7ideas7    
rule2 but1 if ,i  attain to property in 
thought1 they stand as my creatures4    
,if the hierarchy had not so penetrated 
men to the innermost as to take  from   
them all courage to pursue free         

thoughts1 i4 e4 thoughts perhaps        
displeasing to ,god1 one would have to  
consider freedom of thought just  as    
empty a word as1 say1 a freedom of      
digestion4    ,according to the         
professionals' opinion1 the thought is  
given to me2  according to the          
freethinkers'1 ,i seek the thought4     
,there the truth  is already found and  
extant1 only ,i must--receive it from   
its ,giver by  grace2 here the truth is 
to be sought and is my goal1 lying in   
the  future1 toward which ,i have to    
run4    ,in both cases the truth 7the   
true thought7 lies outside me1 and ,i   
aspire  to get it1 be it by presentation
 7grace71 be it by earning 7merit of  my
 own74 ,therefore1 7#a7 ,the truth is a 
privilege1 7#b7 ,no1 the way to  it is  
patent to all1 and neither the ,bible   
nor the holy fathers nor  the church nor
 any one else is in possession of the   
truth2 but one can  come into possession
 of it by--speculating4    ,both1 one   
sees1 are propertyless in relation to   

the truth3 they have  it either as a    
fief 7for the holy father1 e4 g41 is not
 a unique  person2 as unique he is this 
,sixtus1 ,clement1 etc41 but he does not
 have  the truth as ,sixtus1 ,clement1  
etc41 but as holy father1 i4 e4 as a    
spirit7 or as an ideal4 ,as a fief1 it  
is only for a few 7the  privileged72 as 
an ideal1 for all 7the patentees74      
,freedom of thought1 then1 has the      
meaning that we do indeed all walk in   
the dark and in the paths of error1 but 
every one can on this path  approach the
 truth and is accordingly on the right  
path 7,all roads  lead to ,rome1 to the 
world's end1 etc474 ,hence freedom of   
thought means  this much1 that the true 
thought is not my own2 for1 if it were  
this1  how should people want to shut me
 off from it8    ,thinking has become   
entirely free1 and has laid down a lot  
of truths  which ,i must accommodate    
myself to4 ,it seeks to complete itself 
into a  system and to bring itself to an
 absolute constitution4 ,in the ,state  

e4 g4 it seeks for the idea1 say1 till  
it has brought out the  rational ,state1
 in which ,i am then obliged to be      
suited2 in man  7anthropology71 till it 
has found man4    ,the thinker is       
distinguished from the believer only by 
believing much  more than the latter1   
who on his part thinks of much less as  
signified  by his faith 7creed74 ,the   
thinker has a thousand tenets of faith  
where  the believer gets along with few2
 but the former brings coherence into   
his tenets1 and takes the coherence in  
turn for the scale to estimate  their   
worth by4 ,if one or the other does not 
fit into his budget1 he  throws it out4 
,the thinkers run parallel to the       
believers in their pronouncements4      
,instead of ,if it is from ,god you will
 not root it out1 the word is ,if  it is
 from the truth1 is true1 etc42 instead 
of ,give ,god the  glory1--,give truth  
the glory4 ,but it is very much the same
 to me  whether ,god or the truth wins2 
first and foremost ,i want to win4      

,aside from this1 how is an unlimited   
freedom to be thinkable inside of  the  
,state or society8 ,the ,state may well 
protect one against another1  but yet it
 must not let itself be endangered by an
 unmeasured freedom1 a  so-called       
unbridledness4 ,thus in freedom of      
instruction the ,state  declares only   
this1--that it is suited with every one 
who instructs as  the ,state 7or1       
speaking more comprehensibly1 the       
political power7 would  have it4 ,the   
point for the competitors is this as the
 ,state would have  it4 ,if the clergy1 
e4 g41 does not will as the ,state does1
 then it  itself excludes itself from   
competition 7vid4 ,france74 ,the limit  
that is necessarily drawn in the ,state 
for any and all competition is  called  
the oversight and superintendence of the
 ,state4 ,in bidding  freedom of        
instruction keep within the due bounds1 
the ,state at the same  time fixes the  
scope of freedom of thought2 because1 as
 a rule1 people  do not think farther   

than their teachers have thought4       
,hear ,minister ,guizot3 ,the great     
difficulty of to-day is the guiding  and
 dominating of the mind4 ,formerly the  
church fulfilled this mission2  now it  
is not adequate to it4 ,it is from the  
university that this great  service must
 be expected1 and the university will   
not fail to perform  it4 ,we1 the       
government1 have the duty of supporting 
it therein4 ,the  charter calls for the 
freedom of thought and that of          
conscience4#bbh  ,so1 in favor of       
freedom of thought and conscience1 the  
minister demands  the guiding and       
dominating of the mind4    ,catholicism 
haled the examinee before the forum of  
ecclesiasticism1  ,protestantism before 
that of biblical ,christianity4 ,it     
would be but  little bettered if one    
haled him before that of reason1 as     
,ruge1  e4 g41 wants to4#bbi ,whether   
the church1 the ,bible1 or reason 7to   
which1 moreover1 ,luther and ,huss      
already appealed7 is the sacred         

authority makes no difference in        
essentials4    ,the question of our time
 does not become soluble even when one  
puts it  thus3 ,is anything general     
authorized1 or only the individual8 ,is 
the  generality 7such as ,state1 law1   
custom1 morality1 etc47 authorized1 or  
individuality8 ,it becomes soluble for  
the first time when one no longer  asks 
after an authorization at all1 and does 
not carry on a mere fight  against      
privileges4--,a rational freedom of     
teaching1 which  recognizes only the    
conscience of reason1#bcj does not bring
 us to  the goal2 we require an egoistic
 freedom of teaching rather1 a freedom  
of teaching for all ownness1 wherein ,i 
become audible and can  announce myself 
unchecked4 ,that ,i make myself         
audible1#bca this  alone is reason1#bcb 
be ,i ever so irrational2 in my making  
myself  heard1 and so hearing myself1   
others as well as ,i myself enjoy me1   
and  at the same time consume me4       
,what would be gained if1 as formerly   

the orthodox ,i1 the loyal ,i1 the      
moral ,i1 etc41 was free1 now the       
rational ,i should become free8 ,would  
this be the freedom of me8    ,if ,i am 
free as rational ,i1 then the rational  
in me1 or reason1 is  free2 and this    
freedom of reason1 or freedom of the    
thought1 was the  ideal of the          
,christian world from of old4 ,they     
wanted to make  thinking--and1 as       
aforesaid1 faith is also thinking1 as   
thinking is  faith--free2 the thinkers1 
i4 e4 the believers as well as the      
rational1 were to be free2 for the rest 
freedom was impossible4 ,but the        
freedom of thinkers is the freedom of   
the children of ,god1 and at the  same  
time the most merciless--hierarchy or   
dominion of the thought2 for  ,i succumb
 to the thought4 ,if thoughts are free1 
,i am their slave2 ,i  have no power    
over them1 and am dominated by them4    
,but ,i want to have  the thought1 want 
to be full of thoughts1 but at the same 
time ,i want to  be thoughtless1 and1   

instead of freedom of thought1 ,i       
preserve for  myself thoughtlessness4   
,if the point is to have myself         
understood and to make communications1  
then assuredly ,i can make use only of  
human means1 which are at my  command   
because ,i am at the same time man4 ,and
 really ,i have thoughts  only as man2  
as ,i1 ,i am at the same time           
thoughtless4#bcc ,he who  cannot get rid
 of a thought is so far only man1 is a  
thrall of  language1 this human         
institution1 this treasury of human     
thoughts4  ,language or the word        
tyrannizes hardest over us1 because it  
brings up  against us a whole army of   
fixed ideas4 ,just observe yourself in  
the  act of reflection1 right now1 and  
you will find how you make progress     
only by becoming thoughtless and        
speechless every moment4 ,you are not   
thoughtless and speechless merely in    
7say7 sleep1 but even in the  deepest   
reflection2 yes1 precisely then most so4
 ,and only by this  thoughtlessness1    

this unrecognized freedom of thought or 
freedom from  the thought1 are you your 
own4 ,only from it do you arrive at     
putting  language to use as your        
property4    ,if thinking is not my     
thinking1 it is merely a spun-out       
thought2 it is  slave work1 or the work 
of a servant obeying at the word4 ,for  
not a  thought1 but ,i1 am the beginning
 for my thinking1 and therefore ,i am   
its  goal too1 even as its whole course 
is only a course of my  self-enjoyment2 
for absolute or free thinking1 on the   
other hand1  thinking itself is the     
beginning1 and it plagues itself with   
propounding  this beginning as the      
extremest abstraction 7e4 g4 as being74 
,this  very abstraction1 or this        
thought1 is then spun out further4      
,absolute thinking is the affair of the 
human spirit1 and this is a holy        
spirit4 ,hence this thinking is an      
affair of the parsons1 who have a  sense
 for it1 a sense for the highest        
interests of mankind1 for the  spirit4  

,to the believer1 truths are a settled  
thing1 a fact2 to the  freethinker1 a   
thing that is still to be settled4 ,be  
absolute thinking  ever so unbelieving1 
its incredulity has its limits1 and     
there does  remain a belief in the      
truth1 in the spirit1 in the idea and   
its final  victory3 this thinking does  
not sin against the holy spirit4 ,but   
all  thinking that does not sin against 
the holy spirit is belief in spirits  or
 ghosts4    ,i can as little renounce   
thinking as feeling1 the spirit's       
activity as  little as the activity of  
the senses4 ,as feeling is our sense for
  things1 so thinking is our sense for  
essences 7thoughts74 ,essences have     
their existence in everything sensuous1 
especially in the word4 ,the  power of  
words follows that of things3 first one 
is coerced by the rod1  afterward by    
conviction4 ,the might of things        
overcomes our courage1 our  spirit2     
against the power of a conviction1 and  
so of the word1 even the  rack and the  

sword lose their overpoweringness and   
force4 ,the men of  conviction are the  
priestly men1 who resist every          
enticement of ,satan4    ,christianity  
took away from the things of this world 
only their  irresistibleness1 made us   
independent of them4 ,in like manner ,i 
raise  myself above truths and their    
power3 as ,i am supersensual1 so ,i am  
supertrue4 ,before me truths are as     
common and as indifferent as  things2   
they do not carry me away1 and do not   
inspire me with  enthusiasm4 ,there     
exists not even one truth1 not right1   
not freedom1  humanity1 etc41 that has  
stability before me1 and to which ,i    
subject  myself4 ,they are words1       
nothing but words1 as all things are to 
the  ,christian nothing but vain things4
 ,in words and truths 7every word is  a 
truth1 as ,hegel asserts that one cannot
 tell a lie7 there is no  salvation for 
me1 as little as there is for the       
,christian in things and  vanities4 ,as 
the riches of this world do not make me 

happy1 so neither  do its truths4 ,it is
 now no longer ,satan1 but the spirit1  
that plays the  story of the temptation2
 and he does not seduce by the things of
 this  world1 but by its thoughts1 by   
the glitter of the idea4    ,along with 
worldly goods1 all sacred goods too must
 be put away as no  longer valuable4    
,truths are phrases1 ways of speaking1  
words 7,greek3 logos72 brought  into    
connection1 or into an articulate       
series1 they form logic1 science1       
philosophy4    ,for thinking and        
speaking ,i need truths and words1 as ,i
 do foods for  eating2 without them ,i  
cannot think nor speak4 ,truths are     
men's  thoughts1 set down in words and  
therefore just as extant as other       
things1 although extant only for the    
mind or for thinking1 they are  human   
institutions and human creatures1 and1  
even if they are given out  for divine  
revelations1 there still remains in them
 the quality of  alienness for me2 yes1 
as my own creatures they are already    

alienated  from me after the act of     
creation4    ,the ,christian man is the 
man with faith in thinking1 who believes
 in the  supreme dominion of thoughts   
and wants to bring thoughts1 so-called  
principles1 to dominion4 ,many a one    
does indeed test the thoughts1 and      
chooses none of them for his master     
without criticism1 but in this he is    
like the dog who sniffs at people to    
smell out his master3 he is  always     
aiming at the ruling thought4 ,the      
,christian may reform and  revolt an    
infinite deal1 may demolish the ruling  
concepts of centuries2  he will always  
aspire to a new principle or new master 
again1 always  set up a higher or deeper
 truth again1 always call forth a cult  
again1  always proclaim a spirit called 
to dominion1 lay down a law for all4    
,if there is even one truth only to     
which man has to devote his life and    
his powers because he is man1 then he is
 subjected to a rule1 dominion1  law1   
etc42 he is a servingman4 ,it is        

supposed that1 e4 g41 man1  humanity1   
liberty1 etc41 are such truths4    ,on  
the other hand1 one can say thus3       
,whether you will further occupy        
yourself with thinking depends on you2  
only know that1 if in your  thinking you
 would like to make out anything worthy 
of notice1 many hard  problems are to be
 solved1 without vanquishing which you  
cannot get far4  ,there exists1         
therefore1 no duty and no calling for   
you to meddle with  thoughts 7ideas1    
truths72 but1 if you will do so1 you    
will do well to  utilize what the forces
 of others have already achieved toward 
clearing  up these difficult subjects4  
,thus1 therefore1 he who will think does
 assuredly have a task1 which  he       
consciously or unconsciously sets for   
himself in willing that2 but  no one has
 the task of thinking or of             
believing4--,in the former case it  may 
be said1 ,you do not go far enough1 you 
have a narrow and biased  interest1 you 
do not go to the bottom of the thing2 in

 short1 you do not  completely subdue   
it4 ,but1 on the other hand1 however far
 you may come  at any time1 you are     
still always at the end1 you have no    
call to step  farther1 and you can have 
it as you will or as you are able4 ,it  
stands  with this as with any other     
piece of work1 which you can give up    
when  the humor for it wears off4 ,just 
so1 if you can no longer believe a      
thing1 you do not have to force yourself
 into faith or to busy yourself         
lastingly as if with a sacred truth of  
the faith1 as theologians or            
philosophers do1 but you can tranquilly 
draw back your interest from it  and let
 it run4 ,priestly spirits will indeed  
expound this your lack of  interest as  
laziness1 thoughtlessness1 obduracy1    
self-deception1 and  the like4 ,but do  
you just let the trumpery lie1          
notwithstanding4 ,no  thing1#bcd no     
so-called highest interest of mankind1  
no sacred  cause1#bce is worth your     
serving it1 and occupying yourself with 

it  for its sake2 you may seek its worth
 in this alone1 whether it is  worth    
anything to you for your sake4 ,become  
like children1 the  biblical saying     
admonishes us4 ,but children have no    
sacred interest and  know nothing of a  
good cause4 ,they know all the more     
accurately what  they have a fancy for2 
and they think over1 to the best of     
their powers1  how they are to arrive at
 it4    ,thinking will as little cease  
as feeling4 ,but the power of thoughts  
and  ideas1 the dominion of theories and
 principles1 the sovereignty of the     
spirit1 in short the--hierarchy1 lasts  
as long as the parsons1 i4 e4           
theologians1 philosophers1 statesmen1   
philistines1 liberals1  schoolmasters1  
servants1 parents1 children1 married    
couples1 ,proudhon1  ,george ,sand1     
,bluntschli1 etc41 etc41 have the floor2
 the hierarchy will  endure as long as  
people believe in1 think of1 or even    
criticise1  principles2 for even the    
most inexorable criticism1 which        

undermines  all current principles1     
still does finally believe in the       
principle4    ,every one criticises1 but
 the criterion is different4 ,people run
 after  the right criterion4 ,the right 
criterion is the first presupposition4  
,the critic starts from a proposition1 a
 truth1 a belief4 ,this is not a        
creation of the critic1 but of the      
dogmatist2 nay1 commonly it is  actually
 taken up out of the culture of the time
 without further  ceremony1 like e4 g4  
liberty1 humanity1 etc4 ,the critic has 
not  discovered man1 but this truth has 
been established as man by the          
dogmatist1 and the critic 7who1 besides1
 may be the same person with  him7      
believes in this truth1 this article of 
faith4 ,in this faith1 and  possessed by
 this faith1 he criticises4    ,the     
secret of criticism is some truth or    
other3 this remains its  energizing     
mystery4    ,but ,i distinguish between 
servile and own criticism4 ,if ,i       
criticise  under the presupposition of a

 supreme being1 my criticism serves the 
being and is carried on for its sake3   
if1 e4 g41 ,i am possessed by the       
belief in a free ,state1 then everything
 that has a bearing on it ,i  criticise 
from the standpoint of whether it is    
suitable to this ,state1  for ,i love   
this ,state2 if ,i criticise as a pious 
man1 then for me  everything falls into 
the classes of divine and diabolical1   
and before  my criticism nature consists
 of traces of ,god or traces of the     
devil  7hence names like ,godsgift1     
,godmount1 the ,devil's ,pulpit1 etc471 
men of  believers and unbelievers1 etc42
 if ,i criticise while believing in man 
as the true essence1 then for me        
everything falls primarily into the     
classes of man and the un-man1 etc4     
,criticism has to this day remained a   
work of love3 for at all times we       
exercised it for the love of some being4
 ,all servile criticism is a  product of
 love1 a possessedness1 and proceeds    
according to that ,new  ,testament      

precept1 ,test everything and hold fast 
the good4#bcf ,the  good is the         
touchstone1 the criterion4 ,the good1   
returning under a  thousand names and   
forms1 remained always the              
presupposition1 remained  the dogmatic  
fixed point for this criticism1 remained
 the--fixed idea4    ,the critic1 in    
setting to work1 impartially presupposes
 the truth1 and  seeks for the truth in 
the belief that it is to be found4 ,he  
wants to  ascertain the true1 and has in
 it that very good4    ,presuppose means
 nothing else than put a thought in     
front1 or think  something before       
everything else and think the rest from 
the  starting-point of this that has    
been thought1 i4 e4 measure and         
criticise it by this4 ,in other words1  
this is as much as to say that  thinking
 is to begin with something already     
thought4 ,if thinking began  at all1    
instead of being begun1 if thinking were
 a subject1 an acting  personality of   
its own1 as even the plant is such1 then

 indeed there  would be no abandoning   
the principle that thinking must begin  
with  itself4 ,but it is just the       
personification of thinking that brings 
to  pass those innumerable errors4 ,in  
the ,hegelian system they always talk   
as if thinking or the thinking spirit   
7i4 e4 personified thinking1  thinking  
as a ghost7 thought and acted2 in       
critical liberalism it is  always said  
that criticism does this and that1 or   
else that  self-consciousness finds this
 and that4 ,but1 if thinking ranks as   
the  personal actor1 thinking itself    
must be presupposed2 if criticism ranks 
as such1 a thought must likewise stand  
in front4 ,thinking and criticism  could
 be active only starting from           
themselves1 would have to be  themselves
 the presupposition of their activity1  
as without being they  could not be     
active4 ,but thinking1 as a thing       
presupposed1 is a fixed  thought1 a     
dogma2 thinking and criticism1          
therefore1 can start only  from a dogma1

 i4 e4 from a thought1 a fixed idea1 a  
presupposition4    ,with this we come   
back again to what was enunciated above1
 that  ,christianity consists in the    
development of a world of thoughts1 or  
that  it is the proper freedom of       
thought1 the free thought1 the free     
spirit4 ,the true criticism1 which ,i   
called servile1 is therefore  just as   
much free criticism1 for it is not my   
own4    ,the case stands otherwise when 
what is yours is not made into something
  that is of itself1 not personified1   
not made independent an a spirit  to    
itself4 ,your thinking has for a        
presupposition not thinking1 but  you4  
,but thus you do presuppose yourself    
after all8 ,yes1 but not for  myself1   
but for my thinking4 ,before my         
thinking1 there is--,i4 ,from this  it  
follows that my thinking is not preceded
 by a thought1 or that my  thinking is  
without a presupposition4 ,for the      
presupposition which ,i  am for my      
thinking is not one made by thinking1   

not one thought of1  but it is posited  
thinking itself1 it is the owner of the 
thought1  and proves only that thinking 
is nothing more than--property1 i4 e4   
that an independent thinking1 a thinking
 spirit1 does not exist at  all4        
,this reversal of the usual way of      
regarding things might so resemble an   
empty playing with abstractions that    
even those against whom it is  directed 
would acquiesce in the harmless aspect  
,i give it1 if practical  consequences  
were not connected with it4    ,to bring
 these into a concise expression1 the   
assertion now made is that  man is not  
the measure of all things1 but ,i am    
this measure4 ,the servile  critic has  
before his eye another being1 an idea1  
which he means to  serve2 therefore he  
only slays the false idols for his ,god4
 ,what is done  for the love of this    
being1 what else should it be but       
a--work of love8  ,but ,i1 when ,i      
criticise1 do not even have myself      
before my eyes1 but am  only doing      

myself a pleasure1 amusing myself       
according to my taste2  according to my 
several needs ,i chew the thing up or   
only inhale its  odor4    ,the          
distinction between the two attitudes   
will come out still more  strikingly if 
one reflects that the servile critic1   
because love guides  him1 supposes he is
 serving the thing cause itself4    ,the
 truth1 or truth in general1 people are 
bound not to give up1 but  to seek for4 
,what else is it but the tre suprme1 the
 highest  essence8 ,even true criticism 
would have to despair if it lost faith  
in  the truth4 ,and yet the truth is    
only a--thought2 but it is not merely  a
 thought1 but the thought that is above 
all thoughts1 the  irrefragable thought2
 it is the thought itself1 which gives  
the first  hallowing to all others2 it  
is the consecration of thoughts1 the    
absolute1 the sacred thought4 ,the truth
 wears longer than all the  gods2 for it
 is only in the truth's service1 and for
 love of it1 that  people have          

overthrown the gods and at last ,god    
himself4 ,the truth  outlasts the       
downfall of the world of gods1 for it is
 the immortal soul  of this transitory  
world of gods1 it is ,deity itself4     
,i will answer ,pilate's question1 ,what
 is truth8 ,truth is the free  thought1 
the free idea1 the free spirit2 truth is
 what is free from you1  what is not    
your own1 what is not in your power4    
,but truth is also the  completely      
unindependent1 impersonal1 unreal1 and  
incorporeal2 truth  cannot step forward 
as you do1 cannot move1 change1 develop2
 truth  awaits and receives everything  
from you1 and itself is only through    
you2  for it exists only--in your head4 
,you concede that the truth is a        
thought1 but say that not every thought 
is a true one1 or1 as you are  also     
likely to express it1 not every thought 
is truly and really a  thought4 ,and by 
what do you measure and recognize the   
thought8 ,by your  impotence1 to wit1 by
 your being no longer able to make any  

successful  assault on it6 ,when it     
overpowers you1 inspires you1 and       
carries you  away1 then you hold it to  
be the true one4 ,its dominion over you 
certifies to you its truth2 and1 when it
 possesses you1 and you are  possessed  
by it1 then you feel well with it1 for  
then you have found  your--lord and     
master4 ,when you were seeking the      
truth1 what did your  heart then long   
for8 ,for your master6 ,you did not     
aspire to your  might1 but to a ,mighty 
,one1 and wanted to exalt a ,mighty ,one
 7,exalt ye  the ,lord our ,god674 ,the 
truth1 my dear ,pilate1 is--the ,lord1  
and all  who seek the truth are seeking 
and praising the ,lord4 ,where does the 
,lord exist8 ,where else but in your    
head8 ,he is only spirit1 and1  wherever
 you believe you really see him1 there  
he is a--ghost2 for the  ,lord is merely
 something that is thought of1 and it   
was only the  ,christian pains and agony
 to make the invisible visible1 the     
spiritual  corporeal1 that generated the

 ghost and was the frightful misery of  
the  belief in ghosts4    ,as long as   
you believe in the truth1 you do not    
believe in yourself1 and  you are       
a--servant1 a--religious man4 ,you alone
 are the truth1 or  rather1 you are more
 than the truth1 which is nothing at all
 before you4  ,you too do assuredly ask 
about the truth1 you too do assuredly   
criticise1 but you do not ask about a   
higher truth1--to wit1 one  that should 
be higher than you1--nor criticise      
according to the  criterion of such a   
truth4 ,you address yourself to thoughts
 and notions1  as you do to the         
appearances of things1 only for the     
purpose of making  them palatable to    
you1 enjoyable to you1 and your own3 you
 want only  to subdue them and become   
their owner1 you want to orient yourself
 and  feel at home in them1 and you find
 them true1 or see them in their true   
light1 when they can no longer slip away
 from you1 no longer have any  unseized 
or uncomprehended place1 or when they   

are right for you1 when  they are your  
property4 ,if afterward they become     
heavier again1 if  they wriggle         
themselves out of your power again1 then
 that is just their  untruth1--to wit1  
your impotence4 ,your impotence is their
 power1 your  humility their exaltation4
 ,their truth1 therefore1 is you1 or is 
the  nothing which you are for them and 
in which they dissolve3 their truth  is 
their nothingness4    ,only as the      
property of me do the spirits1 the      
truths1 get to rest2 and  they then for 
the first time really are1 when they    
have been deprived of  their sorry      
existence and made a property of mine1  
when it is no longer  said the truth    
develops itself1 rules1 asserts itself2 
history 7also a  concept7 wins the      
victory1 and the like4 ,the truth never 
has won a  victory1 but was always my   
means to the victory1 like the sword    
7the  sword of truth74 ,the truth is    
dead1 a letter1 a word1 a material that 
,i  can use up4 ,all truth by itself is 

dead1 a corpse2 it is alive only in  the
 same way as my lungs are alive1--to    
wit1 in the measure of my own  vitality4
 ,truths are material1 like vegetables  
and weeds2 as to whether  vegetable or  
weed1 the decision lies in me4          
,objects are to me only material that ,i
 use up4 ,wherever ,i put my hand ,i    
grasp a truth1 which ,i trim for myself4
 ,the truth is certain to me1 and  ,i do
 not need to long after it4 ,to do the  
truth a service is in no case  my       
intent2 it is to me only a nourishment  
for my thinking head1 as  potatoes are  
for my digesting stomach1 or as a friend
 is for my social  heart4 ,as long as ,i
 have the humor and force for thinking1 
every truth  serves me only for me to   
work it up according to my powers4 ,as  
reality  or worldliness is vain and a   
thing of naught for ,christians1 so is  
the  truth for me4 ,it exists1 exactly  
as much as the things of this world go  
on existing although the ,christian has 
proved their nothingness2 but it  is    

vain1 because it has its value not in   
itself but in me4 ,of  itself it is     
valueless4 ,the truth is a--creature4   
,as you produce innumerable things by   
your activity1 yes1 shape the  earth's  
surface anew and set up works of men    
everywhere1 so too you may  still       
ascertain numberless truths by your     
thinking1 and we will gladly  take      
delight in them4 ,nevertheless1 as ,i do
 not please to hand myself  over to     
serve your newly discovered machines    
mechanically1 but only help  to set them
 running for my benefit1 so too ,i will 
only use your truths1  without letting  
myself be used for their demands4       
,all truths beneath me are to my liking2
 a truth above me1 a truth  that ,i     
should have to direct myself by1 ,i am  
not acquainted with4 ,for  me there is  
no truth1 for nothing is more than ,i6  
,not even my essence1  not even the     
essence of man1 is more than ,i6 than   
,i1 this drop in the  bucket1 this      
insignificant man6    ,you believe that 

you have done the utmost when you boldly
 assert that1  because every time has   
its own truth1 there is no absolute     
truth4 ,why1  with this you nevertheless
 still leave to each time its truth1 and
 you  quite genuinely create an absolute
 truth1 a truth that no time lacks1     
because every time1 however its truth   
may be1 still has a truth4    ,is it    
meant only that people have been        
thinking in every time1 and so  have had
 thoughts or truths1 and that in the    
subsequent time these were  other than  
they were in the earlier8 ,no1 the word 
is to be that every  time had its truth 
of faith2 and in fact none has yet      
appeared in  which a higher truth has   
not been recognized1 a truth that people
  believed they must subject themselves 
to as highness and majesty4  ,every     
truth of a time is its fixed idea1 and1 
if people later found  another truth1   
this always happened only because they  
sought for  another2 they only reformed 
the folly and put a modern dress on it4 

,for they did want--who would dare doubt
 their justification for  this8--they   
wanted to be inspired by an idea4 ,they 
wanted to be  dominated1--possessed1 by 
a thought6 ,the most modern ruler of    
this  kind is our essence1 or man4      
,for all free criticism a thought was   
the criterion2 for own criticism ,i  am1
 ,i the unspeakable1 and so not the     
merely thought-of2 for what is  merely  
thought of is always speakable1 because 
word and thought  coincide4 ,that is    
true which is mine1 untrue that whose   
own ,i am2 true1  e4 g41 the union2     
untrue1 the ,state and society4 ,free   
and true  criticism takes care for the  
consistent dominion of a thought1 an    
idea1  a spirit2 own criticism1 for     
nothing but my self-enjoyment4 ,but in  
this the latter is in fact--and we will 
not spare it this  ignominy6--like the  
bestial criticism of instinct4 ,i1 like 
the  criticising beast1 am concerned    
only for myself1 not for the cause4  ,i 
am the criterion of truth1 but ,i am not

 an idea1 but more than idea1  i4 e4    
unutterable4 ,my criticism is not a free
 criticism1 not free  from me1 and not  
servile1 not in the service of an idea1 
but an own  criticism4    ,true or human
 criticism makes out only whether       
something is suitable  to man1 to the   
true man2 but by own criticism you      
ascertain whether it  is suitable to    
you4    ,free criticism busies itself   
with ideas1 and therefore is always     
theoretical4 ,however it may rage       
against ideas1 it still does not get    
clear of them4 ,it pitches into the     
ghosts1 but it can do this only as it   
holds them to be ghosts4 ,the ideas it  
has to do with do not fully  disappear2 
the morning breeze of a new day does not
 scare them away4    ,the critic may    
indeed come to ataraxy before ideas1 but
 he never gets  rid of them1 i4 e4 he   
will never comprehend that above the    
bodily  man there does not exist        
something higher1--to wit1 liberty1 his 
humanity1 etc4 ,he always has a calling 

of man still left1 humanity4  ,and this 
idea of humanity remains unrealized1    
just because it is an  idea and is to   
remain such4    ,if1 on the other hand1 
,i grasp the idea as my idea1 then it is
 already  realized1 because ,i am its   
reality2 its reality consists in the    
fact  that ,i1 the bodily1 have it4     
,they say1 the idea of liberty realizes 
itself in the history of the  world4    
,the reverse is the case2 this idea is  
real as a man thinks it1  and it is real
 in the measure in which it is idea1 i4 
e4 in which ,i  think it or have it4 ,it
 is not the idea of liberty that        
develops  itself1 but men develop       
themselves1 and1 of course1 in this     
self-development develop their thinking 
too4    ,in short1 the critic is not yet
 owner2 because he still fights with    
ideas as with powerful aliens1--as the  
,christian is not owner of his  bad     
desires so long as he has to combat     
them2 for him who contends  against     
vice1 vice exists4    ,criticism remains

 stuck fast in the freedom of knowing1  
the freedom of  the spirit1 and the     
spirit gains its proper freedom when it 
fills itself  with the pure1 true idea2 
this is the freedom of thinking1 which  
cannot  be without thoughts4            
,criticism smites one idea only by      
another1 e4 g4 that of privilege by     
that of manhood1 or that of egoism by   
that of unselfishness4    ,in general1  
the beginning of ,christianity comes on 
the stage again in  its critical end1   
egoism being combated here as there4 ,i 
am not to make  myself 7the individual7 
count1 but the idea1 the general4       
,why1 warfare of the priesthood with    
egoism1 of the spiritually-minded  with 
the worldly-minded1 constitutes the     
substance of all ,christian  history4   
,in the newest criticism this war only  
becomes all-embracing1  fanaticism      
complete4 ,indeed1 neither can it pass  
away till it passes  thus1 after it has 
had its life and its rage out4          
99       99       99       99       99  

,whether what ,i think and do is        
,christian1 what do ,i care8 ,whether it
 is  human1 liberal1 humane1 whether    
unhuman1 illiberal1 inhuman1 what do ,i 
ask about that8 ,if only it accomplishes
 what ,i want1 if only ,i satisfy       
myself in it1 then overlay it with      
predicates as you will2 it is all  alike
 to me4    ,perhaps ,i too1 in the very 
next moment1 defend myself against my   
former  thoughts2 ,i too am likely to   
change suddenly my mode of action2 but  
not  on account of its not corresponding
 to ,christianity1 not on account of    
its running counter to the eternal      
rights of man1 not on account of its    
affronting the idea of mankind1         
humanity1 and humanitarianism1          
but--because ,i am no longer all in it1 
because it no longer furnishes me  any  
full enjoyment1 because ,i doubt the    
earlier thought or no longer  please    
myself in the mode of action just now   
practised4    ,as the world as property 
has become a material with which ,i     

undertake  what ,i will1 so the spirit  
too as property must sink down into a   
material before which ,i no longer      
entertain any sacred dread4 ,then1      
firstly1 ,i shall shudder no more before
 a thought1 let it appear as            
presumptuous and devilish as it will1   
because1 if it threatens to  become too 
inconvenient and unsatisfactory for me1 
its end lies in my  power2 but neither  
shall ,i recoil from any deed because   
there dwells in  it a spirit of         
godlessness1 immorality1 wrongfulness1  
as little as ,st4  ,boniface pleased to 
desist1 through religious               
scrupulousness1 from  cutting down the  
sacred oak of the heathens4 ,if the     
things of the  world have once become   
vain1 the thoughts of the spirit must   
also  become vain4    ,no thought is    
sacred1 for let no thought rank as      
devotions2#bcg no  feeling is sacred 7no
 sacred feeling of friendship1 mother's 
feelings1  etc471 no belief is sacred4  
,they are all alienable1 my alienable   

property1 and are annihilated1 as they  
are created1 by me4    ,the ,christian  
can lose all things or objects1 the most
 loved persons1  these objects of his   
love1 without giving up himself 7i4 e41 
in the  ,christian sense1 his spirit1   
his soul7 as lost4 ,the owner can cast  
from  him all the thoughts that were    
dear to his heart and kindled his zeal1 
and will likewise gain a thousandfold   
again1 because he1 their  creator1      
remains4    ,unconsciously and          
involuntarily we all strive toward      
ownness1 and there  will hardly be one  
among us who has not given up a sacred  
feeling1 a  sacred thought1 a sacred    
belief2 nay1 we probably meet no one who
 could  not still deliver himself from  
one or another of his sacred thoughts4  
,all our contention against convictions 
starts from the opinion that  maybe we  
are capable of driving our opponent out 
of his intrenchments of  thought4 ,but  
what ,i do unconsciously ,i half do1 and
 therefore after  every victory over a  

faith ,i become again the prisoner      
7possessed7 of  a faith which then takes
 my whole self anew into its service1   
and  makes me an enthusiast for reason  
after ,i have ceased to be enthusiastic 
for the ,bible1 or an enthusiast for the
 idea of humanity after ,i have  fought 
long enough for that of ,christianity4  
,doubtless1 as owner of thoughts1 ,i    
shall cover my property with my  shield1
 just as ,i do not1 as owner of things1 
willingly let everybody  help himself to
 them2 but at the same time ,i shall    
look forward  smilingly to the outcome  
of the battle1 smilingly lay the shield 
on the  corpses of my thoughts and my   
faith1 smilingly triumph when ,i am     
beaten4  ,that is the very humor of the 
thing4 ,every one who has sublimer      
feelings is able to vent his humor on   
the pettinesses of men2 but to  let it  
play with all great thoughts1 sublime   
feelings1 noble  inspiration1 and sacred
 faith presupposes that ,i am the owner 
of all4    ,if religion has set up the  

proposition that we are sinners         
altogether1 ,i  set over against it the 
other3 we are perfect altogether6 ,for  
we are1  every moment1 all that we can  
be2 and we never need be more4 ,since no
  defect cleaves to us1 sin has no      
meaning either4 ,show me a sinner in the
  world still1 if no one any longer     
needs to do what suits a superior6 ,if  
,i only need do what suits myself1 ,i am
 no sinner if ,i do not do what  suits  
myself1 as ,i do not injure in myself a 
holy one2 if1 on the  other hand1 ,i am 
to be pious1 then ,i must do what suits 
,god2 if ,i am to  act humanly1 ,i must 
do what suits the essence of man1 the   
idea of  mankind1 etc4 ,what religion   
calls the sinner1 humanitarianism calls 
the egoist4 ,but1 once more3 if ,i need 
not do what suits any other1 is  the    
egoist1 in whom humanitarianism has     
borne to itself a new-fangled  devil1   
anything more than a piece of nonsense8 
,the egoist1 before whom  the humane    
shudder1 is a spook as much as the devil

 is3 he exists only  as a bogie and     
phantasm in their brain4 ,if they were  
not  unsophisticatedly drifting back and
 forth in the antediluvian opposition   
of good and evil1 to which they have    
given the modern names of human  and    
egoistic1 they would not have freshened 
up the hoary sinner into  an egoist     
either1 and put a new patch on an old   
garment4 ,but they  could not do        
otherwise1 for they hold it for their   
task to be men4  ,they are rid of the   
,good ,one2 good is left6#bch    ,we are
 perfect altogether1 and on the whole   
earth there is not one man  who is a    
sinner6 ,there are crazy people who     
imagine that they are ,god  the ,father1
 ,god the ,son1 or the man in the moon1 
and so too the world  swarms with fools 
who seem to themselves to be sinners2   
but1 as the  former are not the man in  
the moon1 so the latter are--not        
sinners4  ,their sin is imaginary4      
,yet1 it is insidiously objected1 their 
craziness or their possessedness  is at 

least their sin4 ,their possessedness is
 nothing but what  they--could achieve1 
the result of their development1 just as
 ,luther's  faith in the ,bible was all 
that he was--competent to make out4 ,the
 one  brings himself into the madhouse  
with his development1 the other brings  
himself therewith into the ,pantheon and
 to the loss of--,valhalla4    ,there is
 no sinner and no sinful egoism6    ,get
 away from me with your philanthropy6   
,creep in1 you philanthropist1  into the
 dens of vice1 linger awhile in the     
throng of the great city3  will you not 
everywhere find sin1 and sin1 and again 
sin8 ,will you not  wail over corrupt   
humanity1 not lament at the monstrous   
egoism8 ,will you  see a rich man       
without finding him pitiless and        
egoistic8 ,perhaps you  already call    
yourself an atheist1 but you remain true
 to the ,christian  feeling that a camel
 will sooner go through a needle's eye  
than a rich  man not be an un-man4 ,how 
many do you see anyhow that you would   

not  throw into the egoistic mass8      
,what1 therefore1 has your philanthropy 
love of man found8 ,nothing but         
unlovable men6 ,and where do they all   
come from8 ,from you1 from your         
philanthropy6 ,you brought the sinner   
with  you in your head1 therefore you   
found him1 therefore you inserted him   
everywhere4 ,do not call men sinners1   
and they are not3 you alone are the     
creator of sinners2 you1 who fancy that 
you love men1 are the very one  to throw
 them into the mire of sin1 the very one
 to divide them into  vicious and       
virtuous1 into men and un-men1 the very 
one to befoul them  with the slaver of  
your possessedness2 for you love not    
men1 but  man4 ,but ,i tell you1 you    
have never seen a sinner1 you have      
only--dreamed of him4    ,self-enjoyment
 is embittered to me by my thinking ,i  
must serve another1  by my fancying     
myself under obligation to him1 by my   
holding myself  called to               
self-sacrifice1 resignation1 enthusiasm4

 ,all right3 if ,i  no longer serve any 
idea1 any higher essence1 then it is    
clear of  itself that ,i no longer serve
 any man either1 but--under all         
circumstances--myself4 ,but thus ,i am  
not merely in fact or in being1  but    
also for my consciousness1              
the--unique4#bci    ,there pertains to  
you more than the divine1 the human1    
etc42 yours  pertains to you4    ,look  
upon yourself as more powerful than they
 give you out for1 and you  have more   
power2 look upon yourself as more1 and  
you have more4    ,you are then not     
merely called to everything divine1     
entitled to  everything human1 but owner
 of what is yours1 i4 e4 of all that you
  possess the force to make your        
own2#bdj i4 e4 you are  appropriate#bda 
and capacitated for everything that is  
yours4    ,people have always supposed  
that they must give me a destiny lying  
outside myself1 so that at last they    
demanded that ,i should lay claim to    
the human because ,i am  man4 ,this is  

the ,christian magic circle4  ,fichte's 
ego too is the same essence outside me1 
for every one is ego2  and1 if only this
 ego has rights1 then it is the ego1 it 
is not ,i4 ,but  ,i am not an ego along 
with other egos1 but the sole ego3 ,i am
 unique4  ,hence my wants too are       
unique1 and my deeds2 in short1         
everything about  me is unique4 ,and it 
is only as this unique ,i that ,i take  
everything for  my own1 as ,i set myself
 to work1 and develop myself1 only as   
this4 ,i do  not develop man1 nor as    
man1 but1 as ,i1 ,i develop--myself4    
,this is the meaning of the--unique one4
          ,,iii    ,,the ,,unique ,,one 
,pre-,christian and ,christian times    
pursue opposite goals2 the former  wants
 to idealize the real1 the latter to    
realize the ideal2 the former  seeks the
 holy spirit1 the latter the glorified  
body4 ,hence the  former closes with    
insensitiveness to the real1 with       
contempt for the  world2 the latter will
 end with the casting off of the ideal1 

with  contempt for the spirit4    ,the  
opposition of the real and the ideal is 
an irreconcilable one1 and  the one can 
never become the other3 if the ideal    
became the real1 it  would no longer be 
the ideal2 and1 if the real became the  
ideal1 the  ideal alone would be1 but   
not at all the real4 ,the opposition of 
the two  is not to be vanquished        
otherwise than if some one annihilates  
both4  ,only in this some one1 the third
 party1 does the opposition find its    
end2 otherwise idea and reality will    
ever fail to coincide4 ,the idea  cannot
 be so realized as to remain idea1 but  
is realized only when it  dies as idea2 
and it is the same with the real4       
,but now we have before us in the       
ancients adherents of the idea1 in the  
moderns adherents of reality4 ,neither  
can get clear of the opposition1  and   
both pine only1 the one party for the   
spirit1 and1 when this  craving of the  
ancient world seemed to be satisfied and
 this spirit to  have come1 the others  

immediately for the secularization of   
this spirit  again1 which must forever  
remain a pious wish4    ,the pious wish 
of the ancients was sanctity1 the pious 
wish of the  moderns is corporeity4     
,but1 as antiquity had to go down if its
 longing  was to be satisfied 7for it   
consisted only in the longing71 so too  
corporeity can never be attained within 
the ring of ,christianness4 ,as  the    
trait of sanctification or purification 
goes through the old world  7the        
washings1 etc471 so that of             
incorporation goes through the          
,christian world3 ,god plunges down into
 this world1 becomes flesh1 and  wants  
to redeem it1 i4 e4 fill it with        
himself2 but1 since he is the  idea or  
the spirit1 people 7e4 g4 ,hegel7 in the
 end introduce the  idea into           
everything1 into the world1 and prove   
that the idea is1 that  reason is1 in   
everything4 ,man corresponds in the     
culture of to-day to  what the heathen  
,stoics set up as the wise man2 the     

latter1 like the  former1 a--fleshless  
being4 ,the unreal wise man1 this       
bodiless holy  one of the ,stoics1      
became a real person1 a bodily ,holy    
,one1 in ,god  made flesh2 the unreal   
man1 the bodiless ego1 will become real 
in  the corporeal ego1 in me4    ,there 
winds its way through ,christianity the 
question about the  existence of ,god1  
which1 taken up ever and ever again1    
gives testimony  that the craving for   
existence1 corporeity1 personality1     
reality1 was  incessantly busying the   
heart because it never found a          
satisfying  solution4 ,at last the      
question about the existence of ,god    
fell1 but only  to rise up again in the 
proposition that the divine had         
existence  7,feuerbach74 ,but this too  
has no existence1 and neither will the  
last  refuge1 that the purely human is  
realizable1 afford shelter much  longer4
 ,no idea has existence1 for none is    
capable of corporeity4 ,the  scholastic 
contention of realism and nominalism has

 the same content2 in  short1 this spins
 itself out through all ,christian      
history1 and cannot  end in it4    ,the 
world of ,christians is working at      
realizing ideas in the  individual      
relations of life1 the institutions and 
laws of the ,church  and the ,state2 but
 they make resistance1 and always keep  
back something  unembodied              
7unrealizable74 ,nevertheless this      
embodiment is restlessly  rushed after1 
no matter in what degree corporeity     
constantly fails to  result4    ,for    
realities matter little to the realizer1
 but it matters everything  that they be
 realizations of the idea4 ,hence he is 
ever examining anew  whether the        
realized does in truth have the idea1   
its kernel1 dwelling  in it2 and in     
testing the real he at the same time    
tests the idea1  whether it is          
realizable as he thinks it1 or is only  
thought by him  incorrectly1 and for    
that reason unfeasibly4    ,the         
,christian is no longer to care for     

family1 ,state1 etc41 as  existences2   
,christians are not to sacrifice        
themselves for these  divine things like
 the ancients1 but these are only to be 
utilized to  make the spirit alive in   
them4 ,the real family has become       
indifferent1 and there is to arise out  
of it an ideal one which would  then be 
the truly real1 a sacred family1 blessed
 by ,god1 or1 according  to the liberal 
way of thinking1 a rational family4     
,with the ancients  family1 ,state1     
fatherland1 etc41 is divine as a thing  
extant2 with  the moderns it is still   
awaiting divinity1 as extant it is only 
sinful1  earthly1 and has still to be   
redeemed1 i4 e4 to become truly real4   
,this has the following meaning3 ,the   
family1 etc41 is not the extant and     
real1 but the divine1 the idea1 is      
extant and real2 whether this  family   
will make itself real by taking up the  
truly real1 the idea1 is  still         
unsettled4 ,it is not the individual's  
task to serve the family as  the divine1

 but1 reversely1 to serve the divine and
 to bring to it the  still undivine     
family1 i4 e4 to subject everything in  
the idea's name1  to set up the idea's  
banner everywhere1 to bring the idea to 
real  efficacy4    ,but1 since the      
concern of ,christianity1 as of         
antiquity1 is for the  divine1 they     
always come out at this again on their  
opposite ways4 ,at  the end of          
heathenism the divine becomes the       
extramundane1 at the end  of            
,christianity the intramundane4         
,antiquity does not succeed in  putting 
it entirely outside the world1 and1 when
 ,christianity  accomplishes this task1 
the divine instantly longs to get back  
into the  world and wants to redeem the 
world4 ,but within ,christianity it does
  not and cannot come to this1 that the 
divine as intramundane should  really   
become the mundane itself3 there is     
enough left that does and  must maintain
 itself unpenetrated as the bad1        
irrational1 accidental1  egoistic1 the  

mundane in the bad sense4 ,christianity 
begins with  ,god's becoming man1 and   
carries on its work of conversion and   
redemption  through all time in order to
 prepare for ,god a reception in all men
 and  in everything human1 and to       
penetrate everything with the spirit3 it
  sticks to preparing a place for the   
spirit4    ,when the accent was at last 
laid on ,man or mankind1 it was again   
the  idea that they pronounced eternal4 
,man does not die6 ,they thought  they  
had now found the reality of the idea3  
,man is the ,i of history1  of the      
world's history2 it is he1 this ideal1  
that really develops1  i4 e4 realizes1  
himself4 ,he is the really real and     
corporeal one1  for history is his body1
 in which individuals are only members4 
,christ  is the ,i of the world's       
history1 even of the pre-,christian2 in 
modern  apprehension it is man1 the     
figure of ,christ has developed into the
  figure of man3 man as such1 man       
absolutely1 is the central point of     

history4 ,in man the imaginary beginning
 returns again2 for man is as  imaginary
 as ,christ is4 ,man1 as the ,i of the  
world's history1 closes  the cycle of   
,christian apprehensions4               
,christianity's magic circle would be   
broken if the strained relation  between
 existence and calling1 i4 e4 between me
 as ,i am and me as ,i  should be1      
ceased2 it persists only as the longing 
of the idea for its  bodiliness1 and    
vanishes with the relaxing separation of
 the two3 only  when the idea           
remains--idea1 as man or mankind is     
indeed a bodiless  idea1 is             
,christianity still extant4 ,the        
corporeal idea1 the corporeal or        
completed spirit1 floats before the     
,christian as the end of the days  or as
 the goal of history2 it is not present 
time to him4    ,the individual can only
 have a part in the founding of the     
,kingdom of  ,god1 or1 according to the 
modern notion of the same thing1 in the 
development and history of humanity2 and

 only so far as he has a part  in it    
does a ,christian1 or according to the  
modern expression human1  value pertain 
to him2 for the rest he is dust and a   
worm-bag4    ,that the individual is of 
himself a world's history1 and possesses
 his  property in the rest of the       
world's history1 goes beyond what is    
,christian4 ,to the ,christian the      
world's history is the higher thing1    
because it is the history of ,christ or 
man2 to the egoist only his  history has
 value1 because he wants to develop only
 himself1 not the  mankind-idea1 not    
,god's plan1 not the purposes of        
,providence1 not  liberty1 and the like4
 ,he does not look upon himself as a    
tool of the  idea or a vessel of ,god1  
he recognizes no calling1 he does not   
fancy  that he exists for the further   
development of mankind and that he must 
contribute his mite to it1 but he lives 
himself out1 careless of how  well or   
ill humanity may fare thereby4 ,if it   
were not open to confusion  with the    

idea that a state of nature is to be    
praised1 one might recall  ,lenau's     
,three ,gypsies4--,what1 am ,i in the   
world to realize ideas8 ,to  do my part 
by my citizenship1 say1 toward the      
realization of the idea  ,state1 or by  
marriage1 as husband and father1 to     
bring the idea of the  family into an   
existence8 ,what does such a calling    
concern me6 ,i live  after a calling as 
little as the flower grows and gives    
fragrance after  a calling4    ,the     
ideal ,man is realized when the         
,christian apprehension turns  about and
 becomes the proposition1 ,i1 this      
unique one1 am man4 ,the  conceptual    
question1 what is man8--has then changed
 into the personal  question1 who is    
man8 ,with what the concept was sought  
for1 in order  to realize it2 with who  
it is no longer any question at all1 but
 the  answer is personally on hand at   
once in the asker3 the question answers 
itself4    ,they say of ,god1 ,names    
name thee not4 ,that holds good of me3  

no  concept expresses me1 nothing that  
is designated as my essence  exhausts   
me2 they are only names4 ,likewise they 
say of ,god that he is  perfect and has 
no calling to strive after perfection4  
,that too holds  good of me alone4    ,i
 am owner of my might1 and ,i am so when
 ,i know myself as unique4 ,in  the     
unique one the owner himself returns    
into his creative nothing1  out of which
 he is born4 ,every higher essence above
 me1 be it ,god1 be it  man1 weakens the
 feeling of my uniqueness1 and pales    
only before the sun  of this            
consciousness4 ,if ,i concern myself for
 myself1#bdb the unique  one1 then my   
concern rests on its transitory1 mortal 
creator1 who  consumes himself1 and ,i  
may say3    ,all things are nothing to  
me4#bdc      ,,the ,,end                
,,index      ,the following index to    
this translation of ,der ,einzige und   
sein  ,eigentum is intended to help one1
 after reading the book1 to find a      
passage which he remembers4 ,it is not a

 concordance to aid in analytical       
study4 ,hence the designations of the   
matter referred to are in a form        
intended to be recognized by the person 
who remembers the passage2 ,i  have     
generally preferred1 so far as          
convenience permitted1 to use the  words
 of the text itself1 being confident    
that a description of the               
subject-matter in words more appropriate
 to the summary form of the  index would
 never help any person to find his      
passage4 ,if the  designations are      
recognizable1 ,i have permitted them to 
be rough4    ,of necessity the index has
 been made hastily1 and ,i hereby       
confess it to  be guilty of all the     
faults that an index can possess1 though
 ,i hope  that the page numbers will    
prove to be accurate4 ,the faults that  
,i am  most ashamed of are the          
incompleteness which usually omits the  
shorter  occurrences of a given word or 
idea and the indefiniteness of the ff4  
which does not tell the reader how far  

the reference extends4 ,it has  actually
 not been in my power to avoid either of
 these faults1 and ,i  hope they will   
not prevent the index from being of very
 considerable use  to those who pay     
continued attention to the book4 ,these 
two faults will  be found least         
noticeable in the references to proper  
names and  quotations3 therefore the    
reader who wants to find a passage will 
do  best to remember1 if possible1 a    
conspicuous proper name or a quotation  
whose source is known--perhaps oftenest 
from the ,bible--and look up his        
passage by that4 ,in the indexing of    
quotations1 however1 ,i have omitted    
anonymous proverbs1 lines of ,german    
hymns1 and quotations of whose          
authorship ,i was 7whether pardonably or
 unpardonably7 ignorant4    ,the        
abbreviations are3 ftn41 footnote2 f41  
and next page2 ff41 and  following      
pages4                                  
,s4 ,t4 ,b4        ,age3 coming of age1 
#bbj4      ,alcibiades3 #bhb f4         

,alexis1 ,wilibald3 ,cabanis1 #bia4     
,algiers3 #cdc4      ,alien3 the same in
 ,german as strange1 #dg ftn4           
,america3      citizens presumed        
respectable1 #bcc4      duelists how    
treated1 #cad4      ,germans sold to1   
#cea4      kings not valued in1 #cea4   
,ananias and ,sapphira3 #ajb4           
,anarchism3 xv ff4      ,ancients3 #ag  
ff4      conquered the world1 #abj ff4  
,aristippus3 #bf4      ,aristotle3 zoon 
politicon1 #ef1 #cjg4      ,arnim3 see  
,bettina4      ,art3 support of1 #cfj4  
,atahualpa3 #ddh4      ,athanasius3 ,god
 making men divine1 #chb4               
,athenians3 age of their popular        
freedom1 #bha ff4      ,augsburg        
,confession3 ,art4 #aa1 #aag f4         
,authorization3 limits constitutional   
legislatures1 etc41 #adf f4      ,autun 
and ,barrre1 bishop of3 #aca4           
,babeuf1 ,babouvism1 #bde1 #bdh4        
,bacon3 clear head1 no philosopher1     
#aaa4      ,bailly3      no extra       
reason1 #cjf4      what is my property1 

#aca4      ,bauer1 ,bruno3              
,anekdota #b4aeb1 #ajh4                 
,denkwuerdigkeiten #f4f-g3 #if1 #ajb4   
,die gute ,sache der ,freiheit pp4      
#fb-fc3 #agh f4      ,judenfrage        
p4 #fj3 #ahj1 #dad4           #fa3 #bbi4
           #ff3 #agh4           #hd3    
#bce4          #aad3 #ahe4      ,lit4   
,ztg4         #e4ah3 #afd4        ,no4  
#h3 #aij ff4         #h4bb3 #cba4       
man just discovered1 #h1 #ahj1 #cbf1    
#dfg4      treats ,jew question as      
relating to privilege1 #bga ff4      who
 he was1 #afc ftn4      ,bauer1 ,e43    
,liberale ,bestrebungen                 
#b4ej-id3 #bii ff4        #b4ie ff43    
#cgh f4           #b4acj3 #cja4         
#b4acb3 #cjb4      ,bavaria3 its        
government worth more than a man1 #cde  
ftn4      ,beasts3 how they live1 #dce1 
#ddb f4      ,becker1 ,a43              
,volksphilosophie unserer ,tage p4 #bb  
f43 #ajc1 #bdi4                         
#cb3 #ajc4      ,bee3      in beehood1  
#cjc ff4      little busy1 #ddb4        

,being3      in ,feuerbach's philosophy1
 #dec ff4      same word in ,grennan as 
essence1 #da ftn4      see also         
,essence2 also ,supreme4      ,bettina3 
,this book belongs to the ,king pp4     
#cgd-che3 #bfa ff4      ,bible3         
,gen4 #bb4a-ab3 #aih4      ,ex4         
#bj4ac3 #fe4      ,deut4   #e4af3 #baf1 
#bdi4              #cb4c3 #dei4         
,ps4     #df4c3 #aba4                   
#ii4i3 #dga4      ,prov4    #c4b3 #baf4 
,is4     #ee4h3 #cch1 #def4             
#ee4i3 #bf4      ,jer4   #ac4af3 #dei4  
,matt4 #d4a-aa3 #dfd4                   
#e4ah3 #abe4              #e4bb3 #ef4   
#e4dh3 #cba4              #f4aa3 #dbf4  
#f4ac3 #aha4              #f4bd3 #bgi4  
#f4cd3 #aff4               #g4g3 #ddi4  
#h4bb3 #ai4              #i4aa3 #gj4    
#aj4af3 #bb1 #dbb4             #aj4ce3  
#aad4             #aa4bg3 #abb4         
#ab4cj3 #bei4             #ab4de3 #ajb4 
#ac4be3 #bac4             #af4bd3 #bae4 
#af4bf3 #cf4              #ah4c3 #dff4  
#ai4ba3 #ajb4             #ai4bd3 #dha4 

#bb4ba3 #cei1 #dbb4             #bc4bd3 
#big4             #bf4ec3 #bhb4         
,mark    #b4ba3 #dhj4                   
#c4bi3 #bdj4              #i4bc3 #abb4  
#aj4bi3 #aa1 #ai4      ,luke    #e4aa3  
#ajb4              #f4bj3 #dbh4         
#aj4g3 #aeg4             #aa4ac3 #ad4   
#ad4aa3 #df1 #aje4              #ag4f3  
#abb4              #bc4b3 #dbb4         
,john    #a4ad3 #bfi4        #a4ah      
,revised ,version margin3 #cd4          
#b4d3 #aad4               #c4d3 #cjd4   
#c4f3 #cd1 #ce4             #d4bd;a3    
#ad1 #bc1 #cc1 #ci1 #dj1 #fj1 #aab1     
#adj1 #dcc1 #ddd1 #dgb4                 
#d4bd;b3 #daj4           #f4cb-ce3 #dbf4
              #h4dd3 #bdj4              
#af4cc3 #cc4             #ah4cf3 #ac4   
#ah4ch3 #ac1 #bh1 #dga4                 
#bj4bb3 #db4             #bj4bi3 #ddf4  
,acts   #e4a-b3 #ajb4                   
#e4d3 #cih4              #e4bi3 #aa1    
#bae1 #ddd4              #e4ci3 #dei4   
,rom4    #a4be3 #dea4                   
#f4ah3 #bje4               #h4i3 #db4   

#h4ad1 #af3 #bbf4              #h4ba3   
#dfa4              #i4ba3 #bei4         
#ab4a3 #dbi4      #a ,cor4  #b4aj3 #c1  
#ac1 #cc1 #dcc4              #c4af3 #db4
               #h4d3 #acc4              
#ae4bf1 #ee3 #dcj4      #b ,cor4  #e4ag3
 #cj4              #f4ae3 #bab4         
,gal4    #b4bj3 #ff1 #ic1 #dbg4         
#d4bf3 #ai1 #bje4      ,phil4    #b4i3  
#agj4      #a ,thess4 #e4ba3 #dfh4      
#b ,tim4  #a4aj3 #dcj4      ,heb4       
#aa4ac3 #ah1 #cd4      ,james   #a4ag3  
#dee4              #b4ab3 #bjf4      #a 
,pet4 #b4af7873 #bje4                   
#e4b3 #cii4      #a ,john  #c4aj3 #bbf4 
#d4h3 #d1 #ea1 #fa1 #gd1 #chb4          
#d4af3 #chb4      different men's       
relation to1 #ddg ff4      quotations   
from1 xx4      ,birthright3 #bdh ff4    
,blanc1 ,louis3 ,histoire des ,dix ,ans 
,i4 #ach3 #aci4      ,bluntschli3 #dff4 
,body recognized in manhood3 #ad ff4    
,boniface1 ,st43      cuts down sacred  
oak1 #bah1 #dgh4      risks life as     
missionary1 #gg4      ,bourgeoisie3 see 

,commonalty4      ,burns1 ,robert3 #dcc4
        ,caitiff3 #cih4      ,calling3  
helping men to realize1 #chc f4      no 
calling1 one does what he can1 #dcc ff4 
,calvinism3 puritanical1 #abj4          
,capacities3      common to all1 #dcd4  
differ1 #dcc f41 #dch f4      ,carriere3
      ,koelner ,dom1 #cje4              
,catholicism3 lets the profane world    
stand1 #aaf ff4      ,catholics3 had    
regard for church1 #bij4      ,cause3   
mine and others1 #c ff4                 
,censorship3 more legal than murder1    
#fe4      ,chamisso3 ,valley of ,murder1
 #bdg4      ,charles ,v3 #cii ff4       
,children3 #i ff4      competent to get 
a living1 #cej f4      ,chinese3 family 
responsibilty1 #bia4      ,chinese ways3
 #hf ff4      ,christ3      no          
revolutionist1 #dbb4      would not call
 legions of angels1 #bhb4               
,christianity3      founding of1 #dbb f4
      liberalism completes1 #bbf ff4    
,christianizing3 #bif4      ,christians3
      asserting their distinctiveness1  

#bga ff4      trying to conquer the     
,spirit1 #abb ff4      ,cicero3 #bh4    
,clericalism3 #ih ff4      ,clootz1     
,anacharsis3 #bgf4      ,commonalty3    
holds that a man's a man1 #abi ff4      
magnifies desert1 #acf4      ,communism3
      see ,proudhon1 ,socialism1        
,weitling4      all for society1 #dab f4
      an advanced feudalism1 #dae ff4   
not advantageous to all1 #daj ff4       
runs to regulations1 #cdj4      useful1 
#cee f4      ,competence3 #cdh ff4      
,competition3      characteristic of    
bourgeois society1 #cdd4      how to    
abolish1 #cfd f4      produces poor     
work1 #ced4      restricted by control  
of opportunities1 #cde ff4              
,confidence3 breach of1 #djj ff4        
,conscience in ,protestantism1 #aae4    
,consequences are not penalties1 #cad f4
      ,constitutional ,monarchy3 #cjj   
ff4      ,corporeity the modern wish1   
#dhe ff4      ,cotters3 #cbg f4         
,crime3      a man's own affair1 #cag4  
results from the recognition of ,man and

 right1 #bff ff4      the only way to   
beat the law1 #beh4      treatment as   
disease1 #caf f4      ,criminal3        
how to make him ashamed1 #bfe4      ill 
treated1 #chc4      made by the ,state1 
#bfa ff4      ,cripples3 wages to1 #ceh 
f4      ,crispin1 ,st43 #fd f4          
,critical philosophy3 its new morality1 
#gb ff4      ,criticism3      limited by
 love1 #cha f4      makes progress1 #aij
 ff4      of ,bible1 #afc ftn1 #cha1    
#ddh f4      servile and own1 #dfg ff4  
starts from presuppositions1 #dfg ff4   
victorious1 #aie4      what it was1 #afc
 ftn4      ,crito3 #gb4      ,culture3  
its results1 #ddc ff4      ,cultured    
people3 #id ff4      ,curative means    
against crime3 #caf f4      ,curtius    
leaps into chasm1 #ii4      ,custom     
makes earth a heaven1 #hg ff4           
,daehnhardt1 ,marie3 xi4                
,descartes3 ,cogito1 ergo sum1 ,i think1
 therefore ,i am1 #be1 #aji f41         
#aab1 #agc4      ,despicable3 #dja4     
,desert1 watchword of bourgeoisie1 #acf4

      ,devil1 natural objects named     
after1 #dfg4      ,diogenes3 #bf4       
,get out of my sunshine1 #cjg4          
,directions for life3 #dcb f4           
,disgruntlement3 #aib4      ,dissolving3
 the price of liberty1 #ahh4            
,divine3 ancient and modern times are   
concerned for the1 #dhf ff4      ,dogma3
 #aid f4      ,dueling3      boycotted  
in ,america1 #cad f4      prohibited by 
,state1 #bdc4      ,dupin3 #bif4        
,education3 #cbj f4      ,ego3 in title 
of this book1 ix f4      ,egoism3       
everybody repudiates1 #ahe ff4          
exemplified in ,god1 races1 ,states1    
etc41 #c ff4      hypocritical1 #baf f4 
remains under democracy and ,socialism1 
#afc ff4      the enemy of liberalism1  
#ahe ff4      ,egoists3      all bodies 
of men are unjust to1 #bhd4      have   
brought peoples to ruin1 #bgg ff4       
involuntary1 #df4      ,einzige 7der73  
translation of the word1 ix f4          
,ends3 #gh f4      ,england3      allows
 free press1 #cgd4      disregards      

popular turmoil1 #big f4                
law-abiding1 #bed4      ,enjoyment3     
rather than life1 as object1 #dbf ff4   
,epicureans3 #bg f4      ,equal3 who are
 our equals8 #bbe ff4      ,equality3   
of political rights1 #acc ff4      to   
result from ,communism1 #aed ff4        
,essence3      essences are spooks1 #ej 
ff4      higher and highest essences1   
#dg ff4 ,see also ,supreme ,being4      
of man1 as supreme1 #dj f4              
recognized in men1 #eb ff4      same as 
being1 #da ftn4      ,established3 #bic 
f4      ,estates3 previous to           
,revolution1 #acd f4      ,euripides3   
,orestes1 #dah3 #bed4                   
,exclusiveness3      criticism excludes1
 #agf ff4      in ,jew and ,christian1  
#bga ff4        ,faith3 in morality1 #eg
 ff4      ,family3      as court judging
 son1 #bia4      depends on piety1 #bhh 
ff4      respect for idea of1 #aac f4   
self must be sacrificed to1 #bhi ff4    
,fellow-feeling3 #chf f4                
,feudalism3 ended by ,revolution1 #acb  

ff4      ,feuerbach3      ,anekdota     
#b4fd3 #fj4      ,essence of            
,christianity1 #dj ff4          p4 #cid3
 #cia f4             #dja3 #bch4        
#djb3 #da4        #djb1 #djc3 #gd4      
#djc3 #aah4             #djh3 #ge4      
,principles of the ,philosophy of the   
,future1 #dec ff4      humanizing the   
divine1 #bbg4      insists on being1    
#dec ff4      look rightly and          
unbiasedly1 #ddi4      love a divine    
power1 #cia4      love is the essence of
 man1 #dab4      man the supreme being1 
#h1 #ahi4      opposes ,hegel1 #dec ff4 
religion displaces the human1 #cbj4     
the divine exists1 #dhf4      theology  
is anthropology1 #gd4      the world a  
truth to the ancients1 #ah1 #cj4        
,fichte3      his ego is not ,i1 #dhb4  
on casuistry of lying1 #dja4      ,the  
ego is all1 #bcg4      ,fixed idea3 #ee 
ff4      ,forces3 man is to exert1 #dce 
f4      ,fortune3 weak point of present 
society1 #aeh ff4      ,france3 laws    
about education1 #dei f4      ,francis  

,,ii 7of ,france73 #cii f4      ,franke3
 #gg4      ,frederick the ,great3       
his cane1 #agf4      tolerant1 #bcj4    
,freedom3      all want freedom1 but not
 the same freedom1 #bjh ff4      an     
ignoble cause1 #bad4      if given1 is a
 sham1 #bai ff4      is riddance1 #bjc  
ff41 #bad f4      of press1 #bei ff4    
of thought1 #dee ff4      thirsting for1
 #bjc ff4      ,fun prohibited1 #bei ff4
        ,galotti1 ,emilia3 #gj1 #dca4   
,german unity3 #cjc ff4      a dream1   
#cgg4      ,germany3 millennial         
anniversary1 #bhd f4      ,god3      my 
,god and the ,god of all1 #ahi f4       
natural objects named after1 #dfg4      
,god-man3 #bjb1 #bda4      ,goethe3     
,faust1 #aei3   #ajh4        #afbd-e3   
#bej1 #beb4        #baed3 #aab1 #bae1   
#dhj4      ,vanitas6 vanitatum vanitas6 
#c1 #aif1 #cbh1 #ccj1 #cec1 #cgg1 #dij4 
,venetian ,epigrams1 #df4      ,humanus 
the saint's name1 #cgj4      ,the spirit
 'tis that builds itself the body1 #aaj4
      poet of bourgeoisie1 #acg4      in

 lucky circumstances1 #dcc4      ,good  
intentions3 as pavement 7proverbially71 
#if4      ,government3 everybody feels  
competent for1 #cef f4                  
,grandmother3 saw spirits1 #db4         
,greeks3      intrigue ended their      
liberty1 #bhb f4      their philosophy1 
#ai f4      ,guerrillas in ,spain3 #fe4 
,guizot3 #dfj4      ,gustavus ,adolphus3
 #agf4      ,gutenberg3 served mankind1 
#afd4        ,habit3 see ,custom4       
,half3 see ,hypocrisy4      ,hartmann1  
,eduard von3 xiii f4      ,heart3       
cultivated by ,socrates1 #bj ff4        
cultivated by the ,reformation1 #ca4    
,heartlessness3 is crime1 #bfe f4       
,heautontimorumenos3 #baf4              
,heaven-storming3 #hh f4      ,hegel3   
absolute philosophy1 #dec ff4           
condemns opinion and what is mine1 #dec4
      finds his own speculations in     
,bible1 #ddh4      in ,christian party1 
#caa4      insists on reality1 things1  
#ie4      it is impossible to tell a    
lie1 #dfd4      personifies thinking1   

#dfh4      philosopher of bourgeoisie1  
#acg4      proves philosophy religious1 
#fb4      puts the idea into everything1
 #dhe4      systematizes religion1 #abe4
      wants match-making left to        
parents1 #bia4      wants to remain     
,lutheran1 #abj4      ,henry ,,vii1     
,emperor3 #abj4      ,hess3      ,ein   
und zwanzig ,bogen1 p4 #ab3   #ach4     
#hi ff43   #cba4      ,triarchie1 p4    
#gf3   #bcd4      ,hierarchy3 #ie ff4   
,higher world3 introduction of1 #dc1    
#ia4      ,highest3 same as supreme1 #da
 ftn4      ,hinrichs3 ,politische       
,vorlesungen1 #a4bhj3 #cde ftn4         
,history3 as dominant thought1 #dgc1    
#dhh f4      ,holbach3 head of plot1    
#eg4      ,holy3 the same in ,german as 
sacred1 #ej ftn4      ,holy ,spirit3 has
 to be conquered by ,christians1 #abb   
ff4      ,horace3      impavidum ferient
 ruinae #aba4      nil admirari1 #aba4  
his philosophy1 #bh4      ,human3       
exclusive regard for general human      
interests1 #afh ff4      you are more   

than human being1 #aff f4      human    
beings desire democracy1 #abh4          
,humanism3 #cj4      ,humanity3         
labor must relate to1 #agj ff4          
laborers must be allowed to develop1    
#aeg ff4      ,hume3 clear head1 #aaa4  
,huss3 #dfj4      ,hypocrisy3 half moral
 and half egoist1 #ff ff4        ,idea3 
accepted as truth1 and fixed1 #dgd ff4  
as object of respect1 #aab ff4      see 
,fixed4      ,ideal3      constitutes   
religion1 #cba4      versus real1 #dhd  
ff4      ,immoral3 only class known to  
moralists besides moral1 #fi ff4        
,imparted feelings3 #hb ff4      ,inca3 
#ddh4      ,individual3 simple1 #cdd f4 
,inequality3 see ,equality4             
,infanticide3 #dbd4      ,insurrection3 
#dbj ff4      ,intercourse3      not    
made by a hall1 #bhe ff4      preferred 
to society1 #djg4      ,interests3 ideal
 and personal1 #ih ff4      ,ireland3   
suffrage in1 #cdc4        ,jesuits3     
substantially grant indulgences1 #aaf f4
      the end hallows the means1 #aah   

ff41 #adj1 #dcj4      ,jews3            
asserting their distinctiveness1 #bga   
ff4      emancipated1 #bbj f4           
heathen1 #bi1 #abc4      not altogether 
egoistic or exclusive1 #bce f4          
unspiritual1 #bd4      whether they are 
men1 #aff ff4      will not read this   
book1 #ce f4      ,judge3      ,supreme 
,being as1 #dcb f4      ,judges3        
mechanical3 #bec4      what makes them  
unreliable1 #bbc f4      ,juliet3 #bij4 
,justice3 a hate commanded by love1     
#chc4        ,kaiser3 worthless         
pamphlet1 #cdd4      ,kant3 #agf4       
,klopstock3 #hc4      ,koerner3 #gg4    
,kommunisten in der ,schweiz3           
report on1 p4 #c3 #bde4           pp4   
#bd1 #fc3 #dch4      ,kosciusko3 #djd4  
,kotzebue3 #fd f4      ,krummacher3 #eh1
 #bff1 #dda4        ,labor3             
fundamental in ,communist society1 #aef 
ff4      human vs4 unique1 #ced ff4     
lofty and petty1 #agd ff4      must be  
thoroughly human1 #agj ff4      must not
 be drudgery1 #aeg ff4      of the right

 kind develops man1 #agc ff4            
problem1 #adi ff4      too narrow1 #afc 
ff4      wanting higher pay1 #ccf f4    
,lais3 #hj4      ,lang1 ,ritter von3    
#fi4      ,lavater3 #dej4      ,law3    
common or general law1 same word in     
,german as right1 #bdb ftn4             
particular law1 not same word as right1 
#bed ftn4      how to break1 #beh4      
is a declaration of will1 #bee f4       
is impersonal1 #ada f4      paralyzes   
will1 #bef ff4      sacred in the       
,state1 #cac ff4      to be respected as
 such1 #bed ff4      ,leisure3      to  
be enjoyed humanly1 #afd f41 #agb4      
to be enjoyed uniquely1 #cef4           
,lenau3 ,three ,gypsies1 #dhi4          
,lessing3      ,emilia ,galotti1 #gj1   
#dca4      ,nathan der ,weise1 #ga4     
,level3 rascal and honest man on same1  
#fi f4      ,liberalism3      completes 
,christianity1 #bbf ff4      has made   
valuable gains1 #ahh f4      rational1  
#acg f4      sees only ,man in me1 #bbe 
ff4      ,liberals3 the most modern     

moderns1 #abg4      ,liberty3           
individual1 does not mean the individual
 is free1 #adj ff4      political1 means
 direct subjection ,state1 #ach ff4     
of the people1 is not mine1 #bhj ff4    
no objection to its diminution1 #djh ff4
      ,lie3 #cie ff4      ,life3        
caring for1 #dbe ff4      should conform
 to the ,supreme ,being1 #dcb ff4       
true1 #dbf ff4      ,lit4 ,ztg43        
#e4ab ff3 #ahe4      #e4ae1 #bc3 #ahe4  
#e4bd3 #agc1 #ahf4      #e4bf3 #aff4    
,no4 #h3 #aij ff4      see also ,bauer4 
,love3      as law of our intercourse1  
#chj ff4      how it goes wrong1 #chh   
ff4      how originated1 #chh4      in  
egoism1 #che ff4      ,lunatics3 see    
,fixed ,idea4      ,lusatia3 #cjd4      
,luther3      appealed to reason1 #dfj4 
broke his vow1 #cih4      demanded safe 
conduct to ,worms1 #bhb4      did his   
best1 #dha4      ,here ,i stand1 ,i     
cannot do otherwise1 #gh4      ,he who  
believes is a ,god1 #aji4      not      
understood at first1 #cj4      shows the

 way to truth1 #ajg ff4                 
,lutheranism3 goes beyond ,puritanism1  
#abj4        ,mackay1 ,john ,henry3 vii 
f41 xi1 xiii1 #afc ftn4      ,making    
something out of us3 #cbj f4      ,man  
7adult male73 #ad ff4      ,man 7with   
capital ,m73      by being man we are   
equal1 #bbe ff4      cared for to the   
disregard of men1 #ajj ff4              
criticism begins to gibe at1 #aid4      
every laborer must be1 #agj ff4      ,i 
am not1 #da4      ,i am the real1 #bcc  
ff4      ,i am true man1 #dcf ff4       
nothing else recognized in me1 #bbe ff4 
takes the place of ,god in the new      
morality1 #gb ff4      see also ,human1 
,humanity4      ,manlius3 #ii4          
,marat3 #ii4      ,marriage3 against    
will of family1 #bhi ff4      ,marx3    
,deutsch-franzoesische ,jahrbuecher p4  
#aig3 #bbi4      ,masses3      attacked 
by criticism1 #ahe ff4      attacked as 
a spiritual being by criticism1 #aia ff4
      ,maxim3 as fixed idea1 #hj f4     
,metternich3 path of genuine freedom1   

#bji4      ,middle class3 not           
idealistic1 #if f41 #ii1 #ajb4          
,might3 stereotyped into right1 #cff f4 
,mind3      in antiquity1 #ai ff4       
in youth1 #aa ff4      same ,german word
 as spirit1 #aj ftn4      ,mirabeau3    
#aca4      the people the source of     
right and power1 #aca4      no power may
 command the nation's representatives1  
#cjf4      ,misalliance3 #bhi ff4       
,moderation3 #djc4      ,moderns3 #cj   
ff4      ,monarchy3 ,revolution produces
 an absolute1 #acb ff4      ,money3 what
 we shall do about1 #cfc ff4            
,mongolism4 #he ff4      ,montgelas3    
#cde ftn4      ,moral influence3 #aje   
ff4      ,morality3      a form of      
faith1 and ,christian1 #eg ff4          
becomes a religion when critically      
completed1 #gc ff4      in critical     
philosophy1 #gb ff4      is religious1  
#ei ff4        ,napoleon3      did not  
object to conquering1 #cfi4      helped 
himself1 #cdc4      ,nationality3 #cbb4 
,nationals of ,germany3 #cjc ff4        

,nauwerk3 #cjg ff4      ,negroid age of 
,caucasian history3 #hf4      ,nero3 #fh
 ff4      ,nietzsche3 viii1 xiv ff4     
,ninon3 #hj4        ,oath3 #cii ff41    
#djb ff4      ,o',connell3 his motives1 
#gg f4      ,old3 wages to1 #ceh f4     
,opposition ends when completed1 #bgc f4
      ,opposition party3 #ff ff4        
,order3 in ,state1 #bic4      ,orders3  
must not be given1 #ada f4      ,origen3
 #ga4      ,ownness3      inalienable1  
#bjf ff4      meaning1 #bjc ftn4        
must be defended against society1 #djh  
ff4      served by union1 #daj ff4      
,pages cited3 xx4      ,parcellation3   
#cbg ff4      ,party3 #caj ff4          
,paul1 ,emperor of ,russia3 #djd4       
,pauperism a consequence of the ,state1 
#ccc ff4      ,penalty3 product of      
right1 #bff ff4      ,people3           
general name for societies1 #bgf f4     
,german1 its thousand years' history1   
#bhd f4      hound the police on1 #cah4 
its liberty is not mine1 #bhj ff4       
peoples have filled history1 #bgf ff4   

,periclean age3 #ai ff41 #bha ff4       
,personification3 #dfh f4               
,pettifoggery3 #bhb f4                  
,philanthropism3 #ajj f4                
,philanthropy3 hates men1 #dha f4       
,philosophy3      ,greek1 see ,ancients4
      modern1 #aji ff4      ,piety3     
family depends on1 #bhh ff4      meaning
 of word1 #bhh ftn4      ,pilate3 #ac1  
#bh1 #dga f4      ,plowmen3 wages for1  
#cei ff4      ,plumb-line3 xvii4        
,poles3 oath imposed upon1 #djd f4      
,poor-rates3 voting by1 #cdc4           
,possession3 the how much of1 #cdg f4   
,possessions3      depend on the ,state1
 #aej ff4      fundamental in bourgeois 
society1 #adg ff4      inward or        
spiritual1 #cbd ff41 #cfi ff4      to be
 respected1 #abf f41 #cbc ff4           
,possibility3      coincides with       
reality1 #dch ff4      means            
thinkableness1 #dci ff4      ,precepts3 
are ,mongoloid1 #hg ff4      ,press3    
why not left free1 #bei ff4      liberty
 of1 how to get1 #cga ff4               

,presupposition3 #aii f41 #dfg ff4      
,principle3 as fixed idea1 #hj f4       
,prison society and intercourse3 #bhf   
ff4      ,private3      criticism has to
 leave the private free1 #agh f4        
the private not recognized by           
liberalism1 #afh ff4      ,privilege3   
#bgj ff4      ,proltariat3 #adg ff4     
,propaganda3 #cbj4      ,property3      
civic and egoistic1 contrasted1 #cbf ff4
      definitions in ,roman law1 #cca   
ff4      derived from man through       
,right1 #cfe ff4      individual1       
opposed by ,socialism1 #aed ff4      is 
what men really want when they say      
freedom1 #bjd ff4      mine is what ,i  
make my might cover1 #cch ff4           
,proudhon on1 #cbh ff4      recognition 
of under egoism1 #cfi4      see         
,possessions4      ,proprietors1 small3 
#cbg ff4      ,protestantism3           
conscientious1 #aae ff4      consecrates
 everything1 #aaf ff4      ,proudhon3   
,cration de l',ordre1 #fj4        p4    
#dad3 #afb4           #dhe3 #cjb4       

,qu'est-ce que la ,proprit8        p4   
#hc3 #cbh4           #ij3 #cia4      as 
parson1 #dff4      property a fact1     
#ccb4      property is robbery1 #ajj1   
#ccj ff41 #dai4      substantially      
agrees with ,stirner1 xv4               
,provence1 ,count of3 #bji4             
,punishment3 involves sacredness1 #cae  
ff4      ,pyrrho3 #bh4        ,rabble3  
#cda ff4      ,ragamuffin3 #aeb ff4     
going beyond ragamuffinhood1 #ahd4      
,raphael3 #cee4      ,rational3         
etymology of rational in ,german1 #ha   
ftn4      ,reality3 versus ideality1    
#dhd ff4      ,realizing value from     
self3 #cce ff41 #cfj f4      ,reason3 as
 supreme1 #dfj f4      ,reciprocity3    
#dac f4      ,references to pages3 xx4  
,reform is ,mongoloid1 #hf ff4          
,reformation 7the ,protestant73         
takes hold of heart1 #ca4      alters   
hierarchy1 #ajg ff4      ,regulus3 #ii4 
,reimarus3 ,most ,notable ,truths of    
,natural ,religion1 #fb f4              
,reisach1 ,count von3 #cde ftn4         

,relation3 of different persons to      
objects1 #ddg ff4      ,religion3       
is freedom of mind1 #fb f4      morality
 is religious1 #ei ff4      of humanity1
 #bbi f4      tolerance in1 #bbi ff4    
,republic3 #bii f4      ,revenge3       
the people's just1 #bff ff4             
,reverence3 #ib ff4      ,revolution    
7the ,french73      began over property1
 #acj4      equality of rights1 #bdf4   
established absolute government1 #acb   
ff4      immoral1 #gb4      its true    
nature1 #adc ff4      made men citizens1
 #aee f4      ,revolutionist3 is to lie1
 #cif f4      ,rid3 freedom is being    
rid1 #bjc ff41 #bad f4      ,right3     
absolute1 #bfi4      as basis of        
property1 #cff ff4      commonwealth of 
7,rechtsstaat71 #bdd1 #bec4             
equality of1 #bgj ff4      is a law     
foreign to me1 #bdb ff4      my right   
derived from myself1 #bde ff4           
rights by birth1 #bdh ff4      same word
 in ,german as law1 #bdb ftn4           
serves him right1 #bed4      well-earned

 rights1 #bdh ff4      rights change    
hands at the ,revolution1 #acb ff4      
,robespierre3 #gg4      a priest1 #ii4  
consistent1 #ajb4      devoted to       
virtue1 #gg4      not serviceable to    
middle class1 #ajb f4      ,romans3     
in philosophy1 #bh4      killed         
children1 #bej4      ,romanticists3     
rehabilitate the idea of spirits1 #dc4  
,rome3 decline and fall of1 #bgg f4     
,rousseau3 hostile to culture1 #if ftn4 
,rudolph 7in ,sue's story73 #chg4       
,ruge3 ,anekdota #a4 #abj1 #abg3 #dfj4  
,russia3      boundary sentinels1 #bdg4 
flight of army in1 #dbd4      ,russians3
 as ,mongolian1 #hf4        ,sacred3    
gibing at1 #cfi ff4      the same in    
,german as holy1 #ej ftn4      things   
are sacred of themselves1 #aah ff4      
wherein the sacred consists1 #ib ff4    
,sacred things3      their diagnosis and
 extension1 #de ff4      ,sacrifice3    
when ,i sacrifice somebody else's       
comfort to my principles1               
etc41 #ig f4      ,saechsische          

,vaterlandsblaetter3 #eg4               
,saint-,just3 #ii4      ,political      
,speeches1 #aj1 p4 #aec3 #bfh4          
criminal for not hating1 #bfg4          
,sake3      acting for one's own sake1  
#baj ff4      immoralities for ,god's   
sake and for mine1 #cih f4      ,sand1  
,george3 #dff4      ,sand 7murderer of  
,kotzebue73 #fd f4      ,sander3 #cgi4  
,schiller3      ,ideal and ,life1 #dbh4 
,the ,maiden from a ,foreign ,land1 #ce4
      ,worte des ,glaubens1 #aaa4       
complete in his poems1 #age4      have  
,i a right to my nose8 #bdf4            
,swabian1 #agf4      ,schlemihl1 ,peter3
 #be4      ,schlosser3 ,achtzehntes     
,jahrhundert1 #eg4      ,scholarships at
 universities3 #cdg ftn4      ,seducing 
young people to morality1 #bab f4       
,self3      as starting-point or goal1  
#dbg f41 #dcg f4      ,self-discovery3  
first1 #aa4      second1 #ae4           
,selfishness3      groundlessly decried1
 #bba ff4      in unselfish acts1 #gg f4
      the only thing that is really     

trusted1 #bbc f4                        
,self-renunciation3 of holy and unholy  
men1 #ge ff4      ,self-sacrificing3    
discussion of the implications of the   
,german word1 #if ff4      literal force
 of the ,german word1 #ig ftn4          
,self-seekers always acted so3 #cda4    
,sensuality3 in ,protestantism and      
,catholicism1 #aaf ff4      ,september  
laws3 #cgd4      ,seriousness3 #he4     
,settled life3 necessary to             
respectability1 #adg f4                 
,shabbiness3 #djj4      ,shakspere3     
,romeo and ,juliet1 #bij4      ,sick3   
wages to1 #ceh f4      ,sigismund3 #cih4
      ,simonides3 #bf4      ,sinner3    
does not exist1 #dgi ff4      ,skeptics 
7,greek73 #bb1 #bh4      ,small         
properties3 #cbg ff4      ,socialism3   
#aeb ff4      ,society3      is to be   
sole owner1 #aec ff4      its character 
depends on its members1 #bgf f4         
made by a hall1 #bhe ff4      man's     
state of nature1 #djf ff4      may      
provide consequences where ,state       

provides penalties1 #cad f4             
,socrates3      in history of           
philosophy1 #bj f4      should not have 
respected the sentence of the court1    
#bha f4      too moral to break jail1   
#gb4      ,sophists3 #ai ff4            
,sordidness3 #djj4      ,spartans3      
killed children1 #bej4                  
,speculation3 #dje4      ,sphinx3 #dea4 
,spirit3      as the essential part of  
man1 #cf ff4      free from the world1  
#cb ff4      has to be conquered by     
moderns1 #abb ff4      same ,german word
 as mind1 #aj ftn4      the seat of     
equality1 #bbf ff4      ,spirits3 are   
all around us1 #db ff4      ,spiritual  
goods3 shall we hold them sacred8 #cfi  
ff4      ,spook3 essences are spooks1   
#ej ff4      ,spy3 #cie1 #djc4          
,standpoint3 as fixed idea1 #hj ff4     
,state3      a fellowship of human      
beings1 #abh ff4      cannot exist if ,i
 have a will of my own1 #bee ff4        
cares not for me1 but for itself1 #ccc  
ff4      ,christianizes people1 #bif4   

claims to be a person1 #bie f4          
criticism gives up1 #aij f4      has to 
be harsh1 #bei ff41 #bfb ff4      holds 
laws sacred1 #cac ff4      is the       
established1 #bic f4      its relation  
to property1 #ccc ff4      means order1 
#bic4      officials and plutocrats     
overcharge us1 #aea f41 #ceg f4         
sick1 #bfb4      taking part in1 #cjg   
ff4      ,stein3 his disloyalty to a    
simple individual1 #cde ftn4            
,stirner3 motives for writing1 #cic f41 
#djf4      ,stoics3 #bg f4      apathy1 
#aba4      wise man1 #aba1 #dhe4        
,strange3 the same in ,german as alien1 
#dg ftn4      ,strike3 #cei ff4         
,students3      are immature            
,philistines1 #add4      custom of1 as  
to word of honor1 #djc f4      ,sue3    
,mysteries of ,paris1 #chg4             
,suicide3 #dbi ff4      ,suit3 it suits 
me expressed in ,german by right1 #bdh  
ftn4      ,supreme3 same as highest1 #da
 ftn4      ,supreme ,being3             
according to ,feuerbach1 #dj ff4 7,see  

also ,feuerbach47      see also ,essence
 7highest74      ,swan-knights3 #cdb f4 
,tak ,kak3 vii1 xi ff4      ,terence3   
,heautontimorumenos1 #be1 #baf4         
humani nihil alienum puto1 #cfg4        
,theft3 #ii f4      depends on property1
 #cca f4      ,things3 essential in     
competition1 #cdf ff4      ,third3 end  
of opposition1 #dhd4      ,thinkable3   
real sense of possible1 #abb1 #dci ff4  
,thinker3 characteristics of #deb ff4   
,thought3      freedom of1 #dee ff4     
,i do not respect your independence of1 
#def f4      necessary conditions of1   
#dfe ff4      optional1 #dfe f4         
realm of1 #dea ff4      ,thoughts3      
as owned1 #dgg ff4      combated by     
disregard1 #aif ff4      combated by    
force1 #aig ff4      combated by        
thinking1 #aid ff4      criticism moves 
only in1 #aid ff4      ,tie3            
everything sacred is1 #bhc4      man the
 enemy of1 #bhc4      ,tieck3 ,der      
gestiefelte ,kater1 #cdb4      ,timon3  
#bh4      ,title of this book3 ix f4    

,tolerance3 #bbi ff4      ,training3    
#dcd f41 #ddc ff4      ,truth3          
telling1 #cie ff4      to possess truth 
you must be true1 #ajf ff4      what is1
 #dga ff4      ,i am above truths1 #dfc 
ff4        ,understanding3 in antiquity1
 #ai ff4      ,unhuman3 an artificial   
name for the real1 #aic4      ,union3   
distinction from society1 #djg ff41 #dae
 ff4      everything is mine in1 #dae   
ff4      ,uniqueness3 constitutes       
greatness1 #age f4      ,un-man3        
real man1 #bcj ff4      the devil of    
liberalism1 #ahd ff4                    
,unselfishness3      literal sense of   
the ,german word1 #gg ftn4              
supposed1 and real1 #gg ff4             
,vagabonds3 #adg ff4      ,value3       
of me1 #hf1 #ccc ff4      to be realized
 from self1 #cce ff41 #cfj f4      ,von 
,hartmann3 xiii f4      ,vossische      
,zeitung3 #bdd1 #bec4        ,wages3    
instead of alms1 #ceh f4      of the    
upper classes and the lower1 #aea f41   
#ceg ff4      ,walker1 ,james ,l43 vii1 

xi ff4      ,war of all against all3    
#cda1 #cdc4      ,weitling3      ,trio1 
on head of people #cjb4      ,communism 
seeks welfare of all1 #daj4      harmony
 of society1 #bhd4      hours of labor1 
#daa4      on crime and curative means1 
#caf f4      on property1 #cca f4       
preaches society1 #bde4      substitutes
 work for money1 #ceb4      ,welcker3 on
 dependence of judges1 #bbc f4          
,wheels in the head3      formal aspects
 of1 #ge ff4      what are such1 #ed ff4
      ,will3      incompatible with the 
,state1 #bee ff4      law is a          
declaration of1 #bee f4      law        
paralyzes1 #bee ff4      morality       
commands submission of1 #ff ff4      the
 only practical agency of reform1 #fh   
ff4      ,words3      power of1 #dfb ff4
      ,stirner's style of using1 xix f4 
,work3      for pay's sake1 #ced4       
is not the only competence1 #cdi ff4    
,world3      among ancients1 #ah ff4    
conquered by the ancients1 #abj ff4     
is haunted1 and is itself a ghost1 #dc  

f4      spirit free from1 #cb ff4       
,writing3 ,stirner's motives for1 #cic  
f41 #djf4        ,youth3 #aa ff4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,,footnotes          #a ,ich hab' ,mein'
 ,sach' auf ,nichts gestellt1 first     
line of ,goethe's poem1 ,vanitas6       
,vanitatum ,vanitas6          ,literal  
translation3 ,i have set my affair on   
nothing4        #b ,sache        #c     
,sache        #d der ,einzige        #e 
einzig        #f ,geist4 ,this word will
 be translated sometimes mind and       
sometimes spirit in the following pages4
        #g ,luke #aa4 #ac4        #h    
,heb4 #aa4 #ac4        #i ,mark #aj4    
#bi4       #aj ,italicized in the       
original for the sake of its            
etymology1 ,scharfsinn--sharp-sense4    
,compare next          paragraph4       
#aa #b ,cor4 #e4 #ag4 ,the words new and
 modern are the          same in        
,german4       #ab ,title of a poem by  
,schiller4       #ac ,the reader will   
remember 7it is to be hoped he has      

never forgotten7 that mind and spirit   
are one and the          same word in   
,german4 ,for several pages back the    
connection          of the discourse has
 seemed to require the almost exclusive 
use of the translation spirit1 but to   
complete the sense          it has often
 been necessary that the reader recall  
the          thought of its identity    
with mind1 as stated in a previous      
note4       #ad ,essence of             
,christianity4       #ae ,or1 highest   
essence4 ,the word ,wesen1 which means  
both essence and being1 will be         
translated now one way          and now 
the other in the following pages4 ,the  
reader must          bear in mind that  
these two words are identical in        
,german3          and so are supreme and
 highest4       #af ,cf4 e4 g4 ,essence 
of ,christianity1 p4 #djb4       #ag    
,that is1 the abstract conception of    
man1 as in the          preceding       
sentence4       #ah ,e4 g41 ,rom4 #h4   
#i1 #a ,cor4 #c4 #af1 ,john #bj4 #bb1   

and          innumerable other passages4
       #ai ,heil       #bj heilig       
#ba  ,how the priests tinkle6 how       
important they           ,would make it 
out1 that men should come their way     
,and babble1 just as yesterday1 to-day6 
,oh6 blame them not6 ,they know man's   
need1 ,i say2           ,for he takes   
all his happiness this way1             
,to babble just to-morrow as to-day4    
--,translated from ,goethe's ,venetian  
,epigrams4       #bb fremd       #bc    
fremd       #bd einzig       #be the    
supreme being4       #bf heilig         
#bg heilig       #bh einzig       #bi   
gefangen und befangen1 literally        
imprisoned and          prepossessed4   
#cj besessene       #ca versessen       
#cb ,achtzehntes ,jahrhundert1 ,,ii1    
#eai4       #cc ,de la ,cration de      
l',ordre etc41 p4 #cf4       #cd        
,anekdota1 ,,ii1 #fd4       #ce dieselbe
 ,phantastin wie die ,phantasie         
#cf ,the same word as intellectual as   
mind and spirit          are the same4  

#cg ,essence of ,christianity1 second   
edition1 p4 #djb4       #ch ,p4 #djc4   
#ci ,p4 #djh4       #dj ,literally the  
man4       #da ,uneigennuetzigkeit1     
literally un-self-benefitingness4       
#db vernuenftig1 derived from vernehmen1
 to hear4       #dc ,a ,german idiom for
 destructive radicalism4       #dd ,the 
same word that has been translated      
custom          several times in this   
section4       #de ,ehrfurcht       #df 
gefuerchtet       #dg geehrt       #dh  
,rousseau1 the ,philanthropists1 and    
others were hostile          to culture 
and intelligence1 but they overlooked   
the fact          that this is present  
in all men of the ,christian type1 and  
assailed only learned and refined       
culture4       #di ,literally1          
sacrificing2 the ,german word has not   
the          prefix self4       #ej     
,volksphilosophie unserer ,tage1 p4 #bb4
       #ea ,muth       #eb ,demuth      
#ec ,called in ,english theology        
original sin4       #ed ,goethe1 ,faust4

       #ee ,anekdota1 ,,ii1 #aeb4       
#ef ,schiller1 ,die ,worte des          
,glaubens4       #eg ,parodied from the 
words of ,mephistopheles in the         
witch's kitchen in ,faust4       #eh    
,john #b4 #d4       #ei ,matt4 #aj4 #ce4
       #fj heilig       #fa heilig      
#fb ,geistlicher1 literally spiritual   
man4       #fc ,essence of              
,christianity1 p4 #djc4       #fd ,mark 
#i4 #bc4       #fe ,herrlichkeit1 which1
 according to its derivation1           
means lordliness4       #ff ,or         
citizenhood4 ,the word 7das ,buergertum7
 means          either the condition of 
being a citizen1 or citizen-like        
principles1 or the body of citizens or  
of the middle or          business      
class1 the bourgeoisie4       #fg ,man  
hatte im ,staate die ungleiche ,person  
angesehen1          there had been      
respect of unequal persons in the       
,state4       #fh ,gewalt1 a word which 
is also commonly used like the          
,english violence1 denoting especially  

unlawful violence4       #fi ,vorrechte 
#gj ,rechte       #ga #a ,corinthians   
#h4d4       #gb ,ein und zwanzig ,bogen1
 p4 #ab4       #gc ,louis ,blanc says   
7,histoire des ,dix ,ans1 ,i1 p4 #ach7  
of the time of the ,restoration3 ,le    
protestantisme devint          le fond  
des ides et des moeurs4       #gd       
,sache1 which commonly means thing4     
#ge ,sache       #gf ,or righteous4     
,german rechtlich4       #gg gerecht    
#gh das ,geld gibt ,geltung4       #gi  
ausgebeutet       #hj ,kriegsbeute      
#ha ,in ,german an exact quotation of   
,luke #aj4g4       #hb ,proudhon        
7,cration de l',ordre7 cries out1 e4 g41
          p4 #dad1 ,in industry1 as in  
science1 the publication of an          
invention is the first and most sacred  
of duties6       #hc ,in his strictures 
on criticism ,stirner refers to a       
special movement known by that name in  
the early forties of          the last  
century1 of which ,bruno ,bauer was the 
principal          exponent4 ,after his 

official separation from the faculty of 
the university of ,bonn on account of   
his views in regard to          the     
,bible1 ,bruno ,bauer in #ahdc settled  
near ,berlin and          founded the   
,allgemeine ,literatur-,zeitung1 in     
which he and          his friends1 at   
war with their surroundings1 championed 
the          absolute emancipation of   
the individual within the limits        
of pure humanity and fought as their foe
 the mass1          comprehending in    
that term the radical aspirations of    
political liberalism and the communistic
 demands of the          rising         
,socialist movement of that time4 ,for a
 brief account          of ,bruno       
,bauer's movement of criticism1 see     
,john ,henry          ,mackay1 ,max     
,stirner4 ,sein ,leben und sein ,werk4  
#hd ,br4 ,bauer4 ,lit4 ,ztg4 ,v4 #ah4   
#he ,lit4 ,ztg4 ,v4 #bf4       #hf      
,eigentum1 owndom4       #hg            
,eigenwille1 own-will4       #hh        
,referring to minute subdivision of     

labor1 whereby the          single      
workman produces1 not a whole1 but a    
part4       #hi ,lit4 ,ztg4 ,v4 #bd4    
#ij ,lit4 ,ztg4 ibid4       #ia einziger
       #ib ,einzigkeit       #ic ,bruno 
,bauer1 ,judenfrage1 p4 #ff4       #id  
,bruno ,bauer1 ,die gute ,sache der     
,freiheit1 pp4          #fb-fc4         
#ie ,bruno ,bauer1 ,judenfrage1 p4 #fj4 
#if ,einzige       #ig einzig       #ih 
,it should be remembered that to be an  
,unmensch          7un-man7 one must be 
a man4 ,the word means an inhuman or    
unhuman man1 a man who is not man4 ,a   
tiger1 an avalanche1 a          drought1
 a cabbage1 is not an un-man4       #ii 
,lit4 ,ztg4 ,v4 #bc2 as comment1 ,v4 #ab
 ff4      #ajj ,lit4 ,ztg4 ,v4 #ae4     
#aja ,rechthaberei1 literally the       
character of always          insisting  
on making one's self out to be in the   
right4      #ajb einzig      #ajc des   
,einzigen      #ajd ,this is a literal  
translation of the ,german word         
,eigenheit1 which1 with its primitive   

eigen1 own1 is          used in this    
chapter in a way that the ,german       
dictionaries          do not quite      
recognize4 ,the author's conception     
being new1          he had to make an   
innovation in the ,german language to   
express it4 ,the translator is under the
 like necessity4 ,in          most      
passages self-ownership1 or else        
personality1 would          translate   
the word1 but there are some where the  
thought is          so eigen1 that is1  
so peculiar or so thoroughly the        
author's own1 that no ,english word ,i  
can think of would          express it4 
,it will explain itself to one who has  
read ,part          ,first              
intelligently4      #aje ,eigenheit     
#ajf ,rom4 #f4 #ah4      #ajg #a ,pet4  
#b4 #af4      #ajh ,james #b4 #ab4      
#aji ,see note1 p4 #aab4      #aaj      
,meaning ,german4 ,written in this form 
because of the          censorship4     
#aaa ,einzige4      #aab ,i take        
,entbehrung1 destitution1 to be a       

misprint          for ,entehrung4       
#aac ,eigennutz1 literally own-use4     
#aad ,einzigen      #aae ,rom4 #h4 #ad4 
#aaf ,cf4 #a ,john #c4 #aj with ,rom4   
#h4 #af4      #aag ,eigenschaften       
#aah ,eigentum      #aai ,e4 g4 ,marx in
 the ,deutsch-franzoesische             
,jahrbuecher1 p4 #aig4      #abj ,br4   
,bauer1 ,judenfrage1 p4 #fa4      #aba  
,hess1 ,triarchie1 p4 #gf4      #abb    
,vorrecht1 literally precedent right4   
#abc ,eigenschaft      #abd ,eigentum   
#abe ,essence of ,christianity1 #b;d    
ed41 p4 #dja4      #abf bestimmt        
#abg ,bestimmung      #abh ,mark #c4    
#bi4      #abi ,this word has also1 in  
,german1 the meaning of common          
law1 and will sometimes be translated   
law in the          following           
paragraphs4      #acj ,cf4 ,die         
,kommunisten in der ,schweiz1 committee 
report1 p4 #c4      #aca ,rechtsstreit1 
a word which usually means lawsuit4     
#acb ,a common ,german phrase for it    
suits me4      #acc ,a4 ,becker1        

,volksphilosophie1 p4 #bb f4      #acd  
,mephistopheles in ,faust4      #ace ,i 
beg you1 spare my lungs6 ,he who insists
 on proving          himself right1 if  
he but has one of these things called   
tongues1 can hold his own in all the    
world's despite6          ,faust's words
 to ,mephistopheles1 slightly           
misquoted4--,for          ,rechthaberei 
see note on p4 #ahe4      #acf ,gesetz1 
statute2 no longer the same ,german word
 as          right4      #acg           
,verbrechen      #ach brechen      #aci 
,this ,book ,belongs to the ,king1 p4   
#cgf4      #adj ,p4 #cgf4      #ada ,p4 
#cgd4      #adb ,an unnatural mother    
#adc ,p4 #cha4      #add ,p4 #che4      
#ade ,gerechte      #adf macht ,alles   
huebsch gerecht      #adg ,einzige      
#adh ,see ,political ,speeches1 #aj1 p4 
#aec4      #adi ,literally1 precedent   
right4      #aej ,spannung      #aea    
gespannt      #aeb spannen      #aec    
einzig      #aed ,einzigkeit      #aee  
,volk2 but the etymological remark      

following applies          equally to   
the ,english word people4 ,see ,liddell 
,scott's          ,greek lexicon1 under 
pimplemi4      #aef kuschen1 a word     
whose only use is in ordering dogs      
to keep quiet4      #aeg ,this is the   
word for of age2 but it is derived from 
,mund1 mouth1 and refers properly to the
 right of          speaking through     
one's own mouth1 not by a guardian4     
#aeh occupy2 literally1 have within     
#aei ,the word ,genosse1 companion1     
signifies originally          a         
companion in enjoyment4      #afj ,this 
word in ,german does not mean religion1 
but1 as          in ,latin1 faithfulness
 to family ties--as we speak of         
filial piety4 ,but the word elsewhere   
translated pious          7fromm7 means 
religious1 as usually in ,english4      
#afa ,it should be remembered that the  
words establish          and ,state are 
both derived from the root stand4       
#afb huldigen      #afc ,huld      #afd 
,what was said in the concluding remarks

 after ,humane          ,liberalism     
holds good of the following1--to wit1   
that it was          likewise written   
immediately after the appearance of the 
book cited4      #afe ,in the           
philosophical sense 7a thinking and     
acting being71          not in the      
political sense4      #aff ,cration de  
l',ordre1 p4 #dhe4      #afg ,koelner   
,dom1 p4 #d4      #afh einzig      #afi 
am ,einzigen      #agj ,einzigen        
#aga heilig      #agb unheilig      #agc
 ,heiliger      #agd ,b4 ,bauer4 ,lit4  
,ztg4 #h4bb4      #age ,e4 u4 ,z4 ,b41  
p4 #hi ff4      #agf ,einzigkeit        
#agg ,see note on p4 #ahd4      #agh    
,the words cot and dung are alike in    
,german4      #agi ,e4 g41 ,qu'est-ce   
que la ,proprit8 p4 #hc4      #ahj      
,einzige      #aha ,a ,german idiom for 
take upon myself1 assume4      #ahb     
,apparently some benevolent scheme of   
the day2 compare          note on p4    
#cdc4      #ahc ,in a registration bill 
for ,ireland the government made        

the proposal to let those be electors   
who pay #e sterling of                  
poor-rates4 ,he who gives alms1         
therefore1 acquires political           
rights1 or elsewhere becomes a          
swan-knight4 ,see p4 #cdb4      #ahd    
,minister ,stein used this expression   
about ,count von ,reisach1          when
 he cold-bloodedly left the latter at   
the mercy of the          ,bavarian     
government because to him1 as he said1 a
          government like ,bavaria must 
be worth more than a simple             
individual4 ,reisach had written against
 ,montgelas at          ,stein's        
bidding1 and ,stein later agreed to the 
giving up of          ,reisach1 which   
was demanded by ,montgelas on account of
 this          very book4 ,see          
,hinrichs1 ,politische ,vorlesungen1 ,i1
 #bhj4      #ahe ,in colleges and       
universities1 etc41 poor men compete    
with rich4 ,but they are able to do so  
in most cases only          through     
scholarships1 which--a significant point

 almost all          come down to us    
from a time when free competition was   
still          far from being a         
controlling principle4 ,the principle of
          competition founds no         
scholarship1 but says1 ,help yourself1  
i4 e4 provide yourself the means4 ,what 
the ,state gives for          such      
purposes it pays out from interested    
motives1 to          educate servants   
for itself4      #ahf preisgeben        
#ahg ,preis      #ahh ,preis      #ahi  
,geld      #aij gelten      #aia        
,equivalent in ordinary ,german use to  
our possessed          of a competence4 
#aib ,einzige      #aic ,literally1     
given4      #aid ,a ,german phrase for  
sharpers4      #aie ,literally1         
unhomely4      #aif ,,ii1 p4 #ia ff4    
7,see my note above47      #aig         
,athanasius4      #aih ,wesen      #aii 
,wesen      #bjj ,feuerbach1 ,essence of
 ,chr41 #cid4      #bja gebrauche       
#bjb brauche      #bjc ,verein      #bjd
 ,vereinigung      #bje ,muthlosigkeit  

#bjf ,demuth      #bjg ,muth      #bjh  
,literally1 love-services4      #bji    
,literally1 own-benefit4      #baj      
,literally1 furnishes me with a right4  
#baa ,empoerung      #bab sich auf-oder 
emporzurichten      #bac ,to secure     
myself against a criminal charge ,i     
superfluously          make the express 
remark that ,i choose the word          
insurrection          on account of its 
etymological sense1 and therefore am not
          using it in the limited sense 
which is disallowed by the              
penal code4      #bad #a ,cor4 #ae4 #bf4
      #bae #b ,tim4 #a4 #aj4      #baf  
,see the next to the last scene of the  
tragedy3            ,,odoardo4 ,under   
the pretext of a judicial investigation 
he          tears you out of our arms   
and takes you to ,grimaldi4444          
,,emilia4 ,give me that dagger1 father1 
me6444            ,,odoardo4 ,no1 no6   
,reflect--,you too have only one life to
          lose4            ,,emilia4    
,and only one innocence6                

,,odoardo4 ,which is above the reach of 
any violence4--            ,,emilia4    
,but not above the reach of any         
seduction4--,violence6                  
violence6 who cannot defy violence8     
,what is called violence          is    
nothing2 seduction is the true          
violence4--,i have blood1               
father2 blood as youthful and warm as   
anybody's4 ,my senses          are      
senses4--,i can warrant nothing4 ,i am  
sure of nothing4 ,i          know       
,grimaldi's house4 ,it is the house of  
pleasure4 ,an hour          there1 under
 my mother's eyes--and there arose in my
 soul so          much tumult as the    
strictest exercises of religion could   
hardly quiet in weeks4--,religion6 ,and 
what religion8--,to          escape     
nothing worse1 thousands sprang into the
 water and          are saints4--,give  
me that dagger1 father1 give it to      
me4444            ,,emilia4 ,once indeed
 there was a father who1 to save his    
daughter from shame1 drove into her     

heart whatever steel he          could  
quickest find--gave life to her for the 
second time4          ,but all such     
deeds are of the past6 ,of such fathers 
there          are no more6             
,,odoardo4 ,yes1 daughter1 yes6 7,stabs 
her47      #bag ,or1 regulate 7richten7 
#bah richten      #bai ,der ,kommunismus
 in der ,schweiz1 p4 #bd4      #bbj     
,ibid4 p4 #fc4      #bba ,cf4 note p4   
#ha4      #bbb ,geistigkeit      #bbc   
,geistlichkeit      #bbd ,rom4 #a4 #be4 
#bbe das ,meinige      #bbf             
die--,meinung      #bbg ,p4 #dg ff4     
#bbh ,chamber of peers1 ,apr4 #be1      
#ahdd4      #bbi ,anecdota1 #a4 #abj4   
#bcj ,anecdota1 #a4 #abg4      #bca     
vernehmbar      #bcb ,vernunft      #bcc
 ,literally thought-rid4      #bcd      
,sache      #bce ,sache      #bcf #a    
,thess4 #e4 #ba4      #bcg ,andacht1 a  
compound form of the word thought4      
#bch ,see note on p4 #aab4      #bci    
,einzige      #bdj eigen      #bda      
geeignet      #bdb ,stell' ,ich auf     

,mich meine ,sache4 ,literally1 if ,i   
set          my affair on myself4       
#bdc ,ich hab' ,mein' ,sach' auf ,nichts
 gestellt4 ,literally1          ,i have 
set my affair on nothing4 ,see note on  
p4 #c4           99       99       99   
99       99            ,send for        
,,benj4 ,r4 ,,tucker',s    ,unique      
,catalogue of    ,advanced ,literature  
,,the ,,literature    ,,that ,,makes    
,,for      ,,egoism ,,in ,,philosophy   
,,anarchism ,,in ,,politics             
,,iconoclasm ,,in ,,art    #abh pages1  
representing more than #djj authors and 
listing nearly #a1jjj  titles1 besides  
being enriched by about #fjj pithy and  
epigrammatic  quotations1 of an         
,anarchistic and ,egoistic character1   
from some of the  works catalogued4     
,benj4 ,r4 ,tucker carries the most     
complete line of advanced literature in 
the ,english language offered for sale  
at any one place in the entire  world4  
,all books listed in his catalogue are  
carried constantly in stock1 and  may be

 seen at      ,benj4 ,r4 ,tucker's      
,bookstore    #bbe ,fourth ,avenue1     
,room #ac    ,,new ,,york ,,city        
99       99       99       99       99  
,,liberty      ,,benj4 ,r4 ,,tucker1    
,editor    ,an ,anarchistic journal1    
expounding the doctrine that in ,equal  
,liberty is  to be found the most       
satisfactory solution of social         
questions1 and that  majority rule1 or  
democracy1 equally with monarchical     
rule1 is a denial  of ,equal ,liberty4  
,,appreciations        ,g4 ,,bernard    
,,shaw1 author of ,man and ,superman3   
,liberty is a lively paper1 in which the
 usual proportions of a                 
half-pennyworth of discussion to an     
intolerable deal of      balderdash are 
reversed4        ,,ernest ,h4 ,,crosby1 
author of ,captain ,jinks1 ,hero3       
,in these days of running after false   
gods1 it is refreshing to      find one 
,american remaining unflinchingly true  
to ,liberty1 and      using in her      
defence not his emotions1 but a         

peculiarly keen and      vigorous       
intellect and style4        ,,john      
,,cotton ,,dana1 ,librarian of the ,free
 ,public ,library1 ,newark1      ,n4,j43
      ,liberty is good for your         
intellectuals1 being full of plain1     
hard thinking4        ,,henry ,,bool1   
merchant1 manufacturer1 farmer1         
dairyman1      and florist1 ,ithaca1 ,n4
 ,y43      ,pursuing its policy of equal
 liberty with consummate ability        
and unswerving purpose1 ,liberty is the 
unrivaled exponent of      ,absolute    
,free ,trade4        ,,samuel ,w4       
,,cooper1 counsellor at law1            
,philadelphia3      ,liberty is a       
journal that ,thomas ,jefferson would   
have loved4        ,,edward ,,osgood    
,,brown1 ,judge of the ,illinois        
,circuit ,court3      ,i have seen much 
in ,liberty that ,i agreed with1 and    
much that ,i      disagreed with1 but ,i
 never saw any cant1 hypocrisy1 or      
insincerity in it1 which makes it an    
almost unique publication4              

,published ,bimonthly4 ,twelve ,issues1 
#a4jj    ,single ,copies1 #aj ,cents    
,,address3    ,,benj4 ,r4 ,,tucker1 ,p4 
,o4 ,box #acab1 ,,new ,,york ,,city     
99       99       99       99       99  
,,modern ,,marriage    ,,by    ,emile   
,zola      ,,translated ,,from ,,the    
,,french ,,by    ,,benj4 ,r4 ,,tucker   
,in this story ,zola takes four typical 
marriages1--one from the nobility1  one 
from the bourgeoisie1 one from the      
petite bourgeoisie1 and one  from the   
working people1--and describes1 with all
 the power of his  wondrous art1 how    
each originates1 by what motive each is 
inspired1 how  each is consummated1 and 
how each results4    ,a new edition from
 new plates1 and at a reduced price4    
,price1 #aj cents           99       99 
99       99       99      ,,carlotta    
,,cortina    ,,by    ,,francis ,,du     
,,bosque    ,a very remarkable story of 
,new ,york's ,italian quarter1--in fact1
 one of  the best short stories ever    
written in ,america4      ,price1 #aj   

cents           99       99       99    
99       99      ,here's ,luck to ,lora 
,,and    ,,other ,,poems      ,,by      
,,william ,,walstein ,,gordak    ,mr4   
,gordak comes entirely unannounced1 but 
his verse speaks well for  him4 ,he is a
 natural poet who writes evenly and     
melodiously of the  beauties of nature  
and the daintier side of love4 ,nothing 
in his little  book is cheap4 ,his muse 
has a lofty flight1 and his teachings   
uplift4--,oregonian1 ,portland1 ,ore4   
,,price1 ,,one ,,dollar           99    
99       99       99       99      ,the 
,anarchists      ,a ,picture of         
,civilization at the ,close    of the   
,nineteenth ,century      ,,by    ,,john
 ,,henry ,,mackay      ,translated from 
the ,german by    ,,george ,,schumm     
,,press ,,comments        ,new ,york    
,morning ,journal4--',the ,anarchists'  
is one of the      very few books that  
have a right to live4 ,for insight into 
life      and manners1 for dramatic     
strength1 for incisiveness of phrase1   

and for cold1 pitiless logic1 no book of
 this generation equals      it4        
,st4 ,louis ,republic4--,the book is a  
prose poem4      ,cloth1 ,one ,dollar2  
,paper1 ,fifty cents           99       
99       99       99       99           
,,josiah ,,warren    ,the ,first        
,american ,anarchist      ,a ,biography1
 with portrait      ,,by    ,,william   
,,bailie    ,the biography is preceded  
by an essay on ,the ,anarchist ,spirit1 
in  which ,mr4 ,bailie defines          
,anarchist belief in relation to other  
social  forces4      ,price1 ,one       
,dollar           99       99       99  
99       99      ,the ,philosophy of    
,egoism      ,,by    ,,james ,l4        
,,walker      7,tak ,kak7        ,my    
nose ,i've used for smelling1 and ,i've 
blown it3      ,but how to prove the    
,,right by which ,i own it8             
,,schiller1 freely translated        ,no
 more concise exposition of the         
philosophy of ,egoism has ever      been
 given to the world4 ,in this book      

,duty1 ,conscience1      ,moralism1     
,right1 and all the fetiches and        
superstitions which      have infested  
the human intellect since man ceased to 
walk on      four feet1 are annihilated1
 swept away1 relegated to the rubbish   
heap of the waste of human intelligence 
that has gone on through      the       
progress of the race from its           
infancy4--,liberty4      ,cloth1 #ge    
cents2 ,paper1 #ce cents           99   
99       99       99       99           
,slaves to ,duty      ,,by    ,,john    
,,badcock1 ,,jr4    ,assailing the      
morality superstition as the foundation 
of the various  schemes for the         
exploitation of mankind4 ,max ,stirner  
himself does not  expound the doctrine  
of ,egoism in bolder fashion4           
,price1 #e cents           99       99  
99       99       99      ,state        
,socialism    ,,and    ,anarchism       
,how ,far ,they ,agree and ,wherein     
,they ,differ      ,,by    ,,benj4 ,r4  
,,tucker    ,the opening chapter of     

,instead of a ,book1 reprinted          
separately4 ,the  best pamphlet with    
which to meet the demand for a compact  
exposition of  ,anarchism4      ,price1 
#e cents           99       99       99 
99       99      ,the ,attitude of      
,anarchism    ,,toward    ,industrial   
,combinations      ,,by    ,,benj4 ,r4  
,,tucker    ,an address delivered in    
,central ,music ,hall1 ,chicago1 on     
,september #ad1  #ahii1 before the      
,conference on ,trusts held under the   
auspices of the  ,civic ,federation4    
,chicago ,chronicle4--,the speech which 
roused the most intense      degree of  
enthusiasm and called forth the greatest
 applause at      yesterday's sessions  
of the trust conference fell in rounded 
periods and with polished utterance from
 the lips of a professed                
,anarchist4        ,prof4 ,edward ,w4   
,bemis in the ,new ,york                
,journal4--,benj4 ,r4      ,tucker1 the 
famous ,anarchist writer1 gave the most 
brilliant      literary effort of the   

conference thus far4        ,prof4 ,john
 ,r4 ,commons in the ,chicago           
,tribune4--,the most      brilliant     
piece of pure logic that has yet been   
heard4 ,it      probably cannot be      
equaled4 ,it was a marvel of audacity   
and      cogency4 ,the prolonged        
applause which followed was a           
magnificent      tribute to pure        
intellect4 ,that the undiluted doctrines
 of      ,anarchism should so transport 
a great gathering of all classes        
here in ,chicago would not have been    
predicted4      ,price1 #e cents        
99       99       99       99       99  
,,mutual ,,banking      ,,by            
,,william ,b4 ,,greene    ,showing the  
radical deficiency of the existing      
circulating medium1 and  the advantages 
of a free currency2 a plan whereby to   
abolish interest1  not by ,state        
intervention1 but by first abolishing   
,state intervention  itself4    ,a new  
edition1 from new plates1 of one of the 
most important works on  finance in the 

,english language1 and presenting1 for  
the first time1 a  portrait of the      
author4      ,price1 #aj cents          
99       99       99       99       99  
,,charles ,a4 ,,dana',s    ,,plea ,,for 
,,anarchy      ,proudhon    and    ,his 
,bank of the ,people      ,,by          
,,charles ,a4 ,,dana    ,a defence of   
the great ,french ,anarchist2 showing   
the evils of a specie  currency1 and    
that interest on capital can and ought  
to be abolished by  a system of free and
 mutual banking4    ,the series of      
newspaper articles composing this       
pamphlet appeared  originally in the    
,new ,york ,tribune1 of which ,mr4 ,dana
 was then  managing editor1 and a little
 later in ,the ,spirit of the ,age1 a   
weekly  paper published in ,new ,york in
 #ahdi by ,fowlers  ,wells and edited by
  ,rev4 ,william ,henry ,channing4      
,editor ,channing accompanied the       
publication  of the series by a         
foot-note1 in which he stated that the  
articles had  already appeared in the   

,tribune1 but that ,mr4 ,dana1 judging  
them  worthy of being preserved in a    
form convenient for binding1 has        
consented to revise them for our paper4 
,price1 #e cents2 in leatherette1 #aj   
cents           99       99       99    
99       99      ,the ,ballad of        
,reading ,gaol      ,,by ,c4 #c4 #c     
,,oscar ,,wilde    ,a poem of more than 
#fjj lines1 dedicated to the memory of a
 trooper of  the ,horse ,guards who was 
hanged in ,reading ,gaol during the     
poet's  confinement there4 ,an ,english 
classic4      ,cloth1 ,one ,dollar2     
,paper1 ,ten ,cents    ,the cloth       
edition has covers of blue and vellum1  
and is beautifully  printed from large  
type on hand-made antique deckle-edge   
paper4 ,it is a  sumptuous book of #if  
pages1 and should be in every library4  
,,press ,,comments        ,albany       
,press4--,strong writing1 almost too    
strong2 it is      horrible1 gruesome1  
uncanny1 and yet most fascinating and   
highly ethical4444 ,one of the greatest 

poems of the century1 a      permanent  
addition to ,english literature4444 ,it 
is the best      ,lenten and ,easter    
sermon of the year4        ,brooklyn    
,citizen4--,many of the stanzas are     
cries out of the      lowest hell4 ,the 
poem1 indeed1 takes rank with the most  
extraordinary psychological phenomena of
 this or any time4        ,indianapolis 
,journal4--,the work is one of singular 
power1      holding the reader          
fascinated to the last line4 ,nothing   
approaching it in strength has been     
produced in recent years4               
,philadelphia ,conservator4--,people who
 imagine themselves      superior to the
 prisoners in jails should read this    
poem4      ,people who love invasive    
laws should read this poem4 ,people who 
think existing governmental methods of  
meeting social invasion      civilized  
should read this poem4 ,people who do   
not know that      laws may make as well
 as punish crime should read this poem4 
,in      fact1 everybody should read    

this poem4 ,for somewhere it touches    
everybody1 accuses everybody1 appeals to
 everybody4           99       99       
99       99       99      ,god and the  
,state      ,,by    ,,michael           
,,bakounine      ,,translated ,,from    
,,the ,,french ,,by    ,,benj4 ,r4      
,,tucker        ,one of the most        
eloquent pleas for liberty ever written4
      ,paine's ',age of ,reason' and    
',rights of ,man' consolidated and      
improved4 ,it stirs the pulse like a    
trumpet-call4--,the ,truth      ,seeker4
      ,price1 #ae ,cents           99   
99       99       99       99      ,free
 ,political ,institutions    ,their     
,nature1 ,essence1 and ,maintenance     
,,an ,,abridgment ,,and ,,rearrangement 
,,of    ,,lysander ,,spooner',s ,,trial 
,,by ,,jury      ,,edited ,,by          
,,victor ,,yarros      ,one of the most 
important works in the propaganda of    
,anarchism        ,,chapters            
,i4--,legitimate ,government and        
,majority ,rule4 ,,ii4--,trial by ,jury 

as a ,palladium of ,liberty4            
,,iii4--,trial by ,jury as ,defined by  
,magna ,carta4 ,,iv4--,objections       
,answered4 ,v4--,the ,criminal ,intent4 
,,vi4--,moral ,considerations for       
,jurors4 ,,vii4--,free ,administration  
of ,justice4 ,,viii4--,juries of the    
,present ,day ,illegal4      ,price1 #ae
 cents           99       99       99   
99       99      ,a ,blow at ,trial by  
,jury      ,,by    ,,benj4 ,r4 ,,tucker 
,an examination of the special jury law 
passed by the ,new ,york  legislature in
 #ahif4 ,a speech delivered by the      
editor of ,liberty at a  mass meeting   
held in ,cooper ,union1 ,new ,york1     
,june #be1 #ahig1 under the  auspices of
 the ,central ,labor ,union1            
,typographical ,union ,no4 #f1 and      
other labor organizations4 ,distribution
 of this pamphlet among lawyers  and    
legislators will tend indirectly to     
interest them in ,anarchism4            
,price1 #e cents           99       99  
99       99       99      ,instead of a 

,book      ,,by ,a ,,man ,,too ,,busy   
,,to ,,write ,,one      ,a ,,fragmentary
 ,,exposition ,,of    ,,philosophical   
,,anarchism      ,culled from the       
writings of    ,,benj4 ,r4 ,,tucker     
,,editor ,,of ,,liberty      ,with a    
,full-,page ,half-,tone ,portrait of the
 ,author    ,a large1 well-printed1 and 
excessively cheap volume of #ebd pages1 
consisting of articles selected from    
,liberty and classified under the       
following headings3 7#a7 ,state         
,socialism and ,anarchism3 ,how ,far    
,they  ,agree1 and ,wherein ,they       
,differ2 7#b7 ,the ,individual1         
,society1 and the  ,state2 7#c7 ,money  
and ,interest2 7#d7 ,land and ,rent2    
7#e7 ,socialism2 7#f7  ,communism2 7#g7 
,methods2 7#h7 ,miscellaneous4 ,the     
whole elaborately  indexed4      ,cloth1
 ,one ,dollar2 ,paper1 ,fifty cents     
99       99       99       99       99  
,,mailed1 ,,post-,,paid1 ,,by    ,,benj4
 ,r4 ,,tucker1 ,p4 ,o4 ,box #acab1 ,,new
 ,,york ,,city           99       99    

99       99       99                    
,,transcriber',s ,,notes3      #a4      
,passages in italics are surrounded by  
underscores4    #b4 ,the original text  
includes ,greek characters4 ,for this   
text version  these letters have been   
replaced with transliterations4    #c4  
,certain words use oe ligature in the   
original text4    #d4 ,the following    
misprints have been corrected3      p4  
corrected to p4 #g1 7page #if7          
aristotocratic corrected to aristocratic
 7page #adc7      woful corrected to    
woeful 7page #bbb7      peoplet         
corrected to people 7page #bgg7         
heiling corrected to heilig 7footnote   
#bj7    #e4 ,other than the corrections 
listed above1 printer's inconsistencies 
in spelling1 punctuation1 hyphenation1  
and ligature usage have been  retained4