,friedrich ,nietzsche ,human ,all-,too-,human ,a ,book ,for ,free ,spirits ,part ,,ii ,translated ,by ,paul ,v4 ,cohn1 ,b4,a4 ,new ,york ,the ,mac,millan ,company #aiac ,,contents ,translator's ,introduction4 ,preface4 ,part ,i4 ,miscellaneous ,maxims ,and ,opinions4 ,part ,,ii4 ,the ,wanderer ,and ,his ,shadow4 ,footnotes ,,translator',s ,,introduction4 ,the publication of ,human1 all-too-,human extends over the period #ahgh-ahhj4 ,of the two divisions which constitute the ,second ,part1 8,miscellaneous ,maxims and ,opinions0 appeared in #ahgi1 and 8,the ,wanderer and his ,shadow0 in #ahhj1 ,nietzsche being then in his thirty-sixth year4 ,the ,preface was added in #ahhf4 ,the whole book forms ,nietzsche's first lengthy contribution to literature4 ,his previous works comprise only the philological treatises1 ,the ,birth of ,tragedy1 and the essays on ,strauss1 ,schopenhauer1 and ,wagner in ,thoughts out of ,season4 ,with the volumes of ,human1 all-too-,human ,nietzsche appears for the first time in his true colours as philosopher4 ,his purely scholarly publications1 his essays in literary and musical criticism--especially the essay on ,richard ,wagner at ,bayreuth--had1 of course1 foreshadowed his work as a thinker4 ,these efforts1 however1 had been mere fragments1 from which hardly any one could observe that a new philosophical star had arisen on the horizon4 ,but by #ahgh the period of transition had definitely set in4 ,outwardly1 the new departure is marked by ,nietzsche's resignation in that year of his professorship at ,ble--a resignation due partly to ill-health1 and partly to his conviction that his was a voice that should speak not merely to students of philology1 but to all mankind4 ,nietzsche himself characterises ,human1 all-too-,human as 8the monument of a crisis40 ,he might as fitly have called it the first-fruits of a new harvest4 ,now1 for the first time1 he practises the form which he was to make so peculiarly his own4 ,we are told--and we may well believe--that the book came as a surprise even to his most intimate friends4 ,wagner had already seen how matters stood at the publication of the first part1 and the gulf between the two probably widened on the appearance of the ,second ,part4 ,several aphorisms are here1 varying in length as in subject1 and ranging over the whole human province--the emotions and aspirations1 the religions and cultures and philosophies1 the arts and literatures and politics of mankind4 ,equally varied is the range of style1 the incisive epigram and the passage of pure poetry jostling each other on the same page4 ,in this curious power of alternating between cynicism and lyricism1 ,nietzsche appears as the prose counterpart of ,heine4 ,one or two of the aphorisms are of peculiar interest to ,english readers4 ,the essay 7as it may almost be called7 on ,sterne 7p4 #fj1 ,no4 #aac7 does ample justice1 if not more than justice1 to that wayward genius4 ,the allusion to ,milton 7p4 #gg1 ,no4 #aej7 will come as somewhat of a shock to ,english readers1 especially to those who hold that in ,milton ,art triumphed over ,puritanism4 ,it should be remembered1 however1 that ,nietzsche's view coincides with ,goethe's4 ,the dictum that ,shakespeare's gold is to be valued for its quantity rather than its quality 7p4 #ha1 ,no4 #afb7 also betrays a certain exclusiveness--a legacy from that eighteenth-century ,france which appealed so strongly to ,nietzsche on its intellectual side4 ,to ,nietzsche1 as to ,voltaire1 ,shakespeare is after all 8the great barbarian40 ,the title of the book may be explained from a phrase in ,thus ,spake ,zarathustra3 8,verily1 even the greatest ,i found--all-too-human40 ,the keynote of these volumes is indeed disillusion and destruction4 ,nor is this to be wondered at1 for all men must sweep away the rubbish before they can build4 ,hence we find here little of the constructive philosophy of ,nietzsche--so far as he had a constructive philosophy4 ,the ,superman appears but faintly1 the doctrine of ,eternal ,recurrence not at all4 ,for this very reason1 ,human1 all-too-,human is perhaps the best starting-point for the study of ,nietzsche4 ,the difficulties in style and thought of the later work--difficulties that at times become well-nigh insuperable in ,thus ,spake ,zarathustra--are here practically absent4 ,the book may1 in fact1 almost be described as 8popular10 bearing the same relation to ,nietzsche's later productions as ,wagner's ,tannhuser and ,lohengrin bear to the ,ring4 ,the translator's thanks are due to ,mr4 ,thomas ,common for his careful revision of the manuscript and many valuable suggestions4 ,p4 ,v4 ,c4 ,,preface4 #a4 ,one should only speak where one cannot remain silent1 and only speak of what one has conquered--the rest is all chatter1 8literature10 bad breeding4 ,my writings speak only of my conquests1 8,i0 am in them1 with all that is hostile to me1 ego ipsissimus1 or1 if a more haughty expression be permitted1 ego ipsissimum4 ,it may be guessed that ,i have many below me4444 ,but first ,i always needed time1 convalescence1 distance1 separation1 before ,i felt the stirrings of a desire to flay1 despoil1 lay bare1 8represent0 7or whatever one likes to call it7 for the additional knowledge of the world1 something that ,i had lived through and outlived1 something done or suffered4 ,hence all my writings1--with one exception1 important1 it is true1--must be ante-dated--they always tell of a 8behind-me40 ,some even1 like the first three ,thoughts out of ,season1 must be thrown back before the period of creation and experience of a previously published book 7,the ,birth of ,tragedy in the case cited1 as any one with subtle powers of observation and comparison could not fail to perceive74 ,that wrathful outburst against the ,germanism1 smugness1 and raggedness of speech of old ,david ,strauss1 the contents of the first ,thought out of ,season1 gave a vent to feelings that had inspired me long before1 as a student1 in the midst of ,german culture and cultured ,philistinism 7,i claim the paternity of the now much used and misused phrase 8cultured ,philistinism074 ,what ,i said against the 8historical disease0 ,i said as one who had slowly and laboriously recovered from that disease1 and who was not at all disposed to renounce 8history0 in the future because he had suffered from her in the past4 ,when in the third ,thought out of ,season ,i gave expression to my reverence for my first and only teacher1 the great ,arthur ,schopenhauer--,i should now give it a far more personal and emphatic voice--,i was for my part already in the throes of moral scepticism and dissolution1 that is1 as much concerned with the criticism as with the study of all pessimism down to the present day4 ,i already did not believe in 8a blessed thing10 as the people say1 not even in ,schopenhauer4 ,it was at this very period that an unpublished essay of mine1 8,on ,truth and ,falsehood in an ,extra-,moral ,sense10 came into being4 ,even my ceremonial oration in honour of ,richard ,wagner1 on the occasion of his triumphal celebration at ,bayreuth in #ahgf--;,bayreuth signifies the greatest triumph that an artist has ever won--a work that bears the strongest stamp of 8individuality10 was in the background an act of homage and gratitude to a bit of the past in me1 to the fairest but most perilous calm of my sea-voyage 444 and as a matter of fact a severance and a farewell4 7,was ,richard ,wagner mistaken on this point8 ,i do not think so4 ,so long as we still love1 we do not paint such pictures1 we do not yet 8examine10 we do not place ourselves so far away as is essential for one who 8examines40 8,examining needs at least a secret antagonism1 that of an opposite point of view10 it is said on page #df of the above-named work itself1 with an insidious1 melancholy application that was perhaps understood by few47 ,the composure that gave me the power to speak after many intervening years of solitude and abstinence1 first came with the book1 ,human1 ,all-too ,human1 to which this second preface and apologia7#a7 is dedicated4 ,as a book for 8free spirits0 it shows some trace of that almost cheerful and inquisitive coldness of the psychologist1 who has behind him many painful things that he keeps under him1 and moreover establishes them for himself and fixes them firmly as with a needle-point4 ,is it to be wondered at that at such sharp1 ticklish work blood flows now and again1 that indeed the psychologist has blood on his fingers and not only on his fingers8 #b4 ,the ,miscellaneous ,maxims and ,opinions were in the first place1 like ,the ,wanderer and ,his ,shadow1 published separately as continuations and appendices to the above-mentioned human1 all-too human ,book for ,free ,spirits3 and at the same time1 as a continuation and confirmation of an intellectual cure1 consisting in a course of anti-romantic self-treatment1 such as my instinct1 which had always remained healthy1 had itself discovered and prescribed against a temporary attack of the most dangerous form of romantics4 ,after a convalescence of six years ,i may well be permitted to collect these same writings and publish them as a second volume of ,human1 ,all-too ,human4 ,perhaps1 if surveyed together1 they will more clearly and effectively teach their lesson--a lesson of health that may be recommended as a disciplina voluntatis to the more intellectual natures of the rising generation4 ,here speaks a pessimist who has often leaped out of his skin but has always returned into it1 thus1 a pessimist with goodwill towards pessimism--at all events a romanticist no longer4 ,and has not a pessimist1 who possesses this serpentine knack of changing his skin1 the right to read a lecture to our pessimists of to-day1 who are one and all still in the toils of romanticism8 ,or at least to show them how it is--done8 #c4 ,it was then1 in fact1 high time to bid farewell1 and ,i soon received proof4 ,richard ,wagner1 who seemed all-conquering1 but was in reality only a decayed and despairing romantic1 suddenly collapsed1 helpless and broken1 before the ,christian ,cross4444 ,was there not a single ,german with eyes in his head and sympathy in his heart for this appalling spectacle8 ,was ,i the only one whom he caused--suffering8 ,in any case1 the unexpected event illumined for me in one lightning flash the place that ,i had abandoned1 and also the horror that is felt by every one who is unconscious of a great danger until he has passed through it4 ,as ,i went forward alone1 ,i shuddered1 and not long afterwards ,i was ill1 or rather more than ill--weary3 weary from my ceaseless disappointment about all that remained to make us modern men enthusiastic1 at the thought of the power1 work1 hope1 youth1 love1 flung to all the winds3 weary from disgust at the effeminacy and undisciplined rhapsody of this romanticism1 at the whole tissue of idealistic lies and softening of conscience1 which here again had won the day over one of the bravest of men3 last1 and not least1 weary from the bitterness of an inexorable suspicion--that after this disappointment ,i was doomed to mistrust more thoroughly1 to despise more thoroughly1 to be alone more thoroughly than ever before4 ,my task--whither had it flown8 ,did it not look now as if my task were retreating from me and as if ,i should for a long future period have no more right to it8 ,what was ,i to do to endure this most terrible privation8--,i began by entirely forbidding myself all romantic music1 that ambiguous1 pompous1 stifling art1 which robs the mind of its sternness and its joyousness and provides a fertile soil for every kind of vague yearning and spongy sensuality4 8,cave musicam0 is even to-day my advice to all who are enough of men to cling to purity in matters of the intellect4 ,such music enervates1 softens1 feminises1 its 8eternal feminine0 draws us--down67#b7 ,my first suspicion1 my most immediate precaution1 was directed against romantic music4 ,if ,i hoped for anything at all from music1 it was in the expectation of the coming of a musician bold1 subtle1 malignant1 southern1 healthy enough to take an immortal revenge upon that other music4 #d4 ,lonely now and miserably self-distrustful1 ,i took sides1 not without resentment1 against myself and for everything that hurt me and was hard to me4 ,thus ,i once more found the way to that courageous pessimism that is the antithesis of all romantic fraud1 and1 as it seems to me to-day1 the way to 8myself10 to my task4 ,that hidden masterful ,something1 for which we long have no name until at last it shows itself as our task--that tyrant in us exacts a terrible price for every attempt that we make to escape him or give him the slip1 for every premature act of self-constraint1 for every reconciliation with those to whom we do not belong1 for every activity1 however reputable1 which turns us aside from our main purpose1 yes1 even for every virtue that would fain protect us from the cruelty of our most individual responsibility4 8,disease0 is always the answer when we wish to have doubts of our rights to our own task1 when we begin to make it easier for ourselves in any way4 ,how strange and how terrible6 ,it is our very alleviations for which we have to make the severest atonement6 ,and if we want to return to health1 we have no choice left--we must load ourselves more heavily than we were ever laden before4 #e4 ,it was then that ,i learnt the hermitical habit of speech acquired only by the most silent and suffering4 ,i spoke without witnesses1 or rather indifferent to the presence of witnesses1 so as not to suffer from silence1 ,i spoke of various things that did not concern me in a style that gave the impression that they did4 ,then1 too1 ,i learnt the art of showing myself cheerful1 objective1 inquisitive in the presence of all that is healthy and evil--is this1 in an invalid1 as it seems to me1 his 8good taste08 ,nevertheless1 a more subtle eye and sympathy will not miss what perhaps gives a charm to these writings--the fact that here speaks one who has suffered and abstained in such a way as if he had never suffered or abstained4 ,here equipoise1 composure1 even gratitude towards life shall be maintained1 here rules a stern1 proud1 ever vigilant1 ever susceptible will1 which has undertaken the task of defending life against pain and snapping off all conclusions that are wont to grow like poisonous fungi from pain1 disappointment1 satiety1 isolation and other morasses4 ,perhaps this gives our pessimists a hint to self-examination8 ,for it was then that ,i hit upon the aphorism1 8a sufferer has as yet no right to pessimism10 and that ,i engaged in a tedious1 patient campaign against the unscientific first principles of all romantic pessimism1 which seeks to magnify and interpret individual1 personal experiences into 8general judgments10 universal condemnations--it was then1 in short1 that ,i sighted a new world4 ,optimism for the sake of restitution1 in order at some time to have the right to become a pessimist--do you understand that8 ,just as a physician transfers his patient to totally strange surroundings1 in order to displace him from his entire 8past10 his troubles1 friends1 letters1 duties1 stupid mistakes and painful memories1 and teaches him to stretch out hands and senses towards new nourishment1 a new sun1 a new future3 so ,i1 as physician and invalid in one1 forced myself into an utterly different and untried zone of the soul1 and particularly into an absorbing journey to a strange land1 a strange atmosphere1 into a curiosity for all that was strange4 ,a long process of roaming1 seeking1 changing followed1 a distaste for fixity of any kind--a dislike for clumsy affirmation and negation3 and at the same time a dietary and discipline which aimed at making it as easy as possible for the soul to fly high1 and above all constantly to fly away4 ,in fact a minimum of life1 an unfettering from all coarser forms of sensuality1 an independence in the midst of all marks of outward disfavour1 together with the pride in being able to live in the midst of all this disfavour3 a little cynicism perhaps1 a little of the 8tub of ,diogenes10 a good deal of whimsical happiness1 whimsical gaiety1 much calm1 light1 subtle folly1 hidden enthusiasm--all this produced in the end a great spiritual strengthening1 a growing joy and exuberance of health4 ,life itself rewards us for our tenacious will to life1 for such a long war as ,i waged against the pessimistic weariness of life1 even for every observant glance of our gratitude1 glances that do not miss the smallest1 most delicate1 most fugitive gifts4444 ,in the end we receive ,life's great gifts1 perhaps the greatest it can bestow--we regain our task4 #f4 ,should my experience--the history of an illness and a convalescence1 for it resulted in a convalescence--be only my personal experience8 and merely just my 8,human1 ,all-too-human08 ,to-day ,i would fain believe the reverse1 for ,i am becoming more and more confident that my books of travel were not penned for my sole benefit1 as appeared for a time to be the case4 ,may ,i1 after six years of growing assurance1 send them once more on a journey for an experiment8--,may ,i commend them particularly to the ears and hearts of those who are afflicted with some sort of a 8past10 and have enough intellect left to suffer even intellectually from their past8 ,but above all would ,i commend them to you whose burden is heaviest1 you choice spirits1 most encompassed with perils1 most intellectual1 most courageous1 who must be the conscience of the modern soul and as such be versed in its science37#c7 in whom is concentrated all of disease1 poison or danger that can exist to-day3 whose lot decrees that you must be more sick than any individual because you are not 8mere individuals03 whose consolation it is to know and1 ah6 to walk the path to a new health1 a health of to-morrow and the day after3 you men of destiny1 triumphant1 conquerors of time1 the healthiest and the strongest1 you good ,europeans6 #g4 ,to express finally in a single formula my opposition to the romantic pessimism of the abstinent1 the unfortunate1 the conquered3 there is a will to the tragic and to pessimism1 which is a sign as much of the severity as of the strength of the intellect 7taste1 emotion1 conscience74 ,with this will in our hearts we do not fear1 but we investigate ourselves the terrible and the problematical elements characteristic of all existence4 ,behind such a will stand courage and pride and the desire for a really great enemy4 ,that was my pessimistic outlook from the first--a new outlook1 methinks1 an outlook that even at this day is new and strange8 ,to this moment ,i hold to it firmly and 7if it will be believed7 not only for myself but occasionally against myself4444 ,you would prefer to have that proved first8 ,well1 what else does all this long preface--prove8 ,,sils-,,maria1 ,,upper ,,engadine1 ,september1 #ahhf4 ,,part ,i4 ,,miscellaneous ,,maxims ,,and ,,opinions4 #a4 ,,to ,,the ,,disillusioned ,,in ,,philosophy4--,if you hitherto believed in the highest value of life and now find yourselves disillusioned1 must you immediately get rid of life at the lowest possible price8 #b4 ,,overnice4--,one can even become overnice as regards the clearness of concepts4 ,how disgusted one is then at having truck with the half-clear1 the hazy1 the aspiring1 the doubting6 ,how ridiculous and yet not mirth-provoking is their eternal fluttering and straining without ever being able to fly or to grasp6 #c4 ,,the ,,wooers ,,of ,,reality4--,he who realises at last how long and how thoroughly he has been befooled1 embraces out of spite even the ugliest reality4 ,so that in the long run of the world's history the best men have always been wooers of reality1 for the best have always been longest and most thoroughly deceived4 #d4 ,,advance ,,of ,,freethinking4--,the difference between past and present freethinking cannot better be characterised than by that aphorism for the recognition and expression of which all the fearlessness of the eighteenth century was needed1 and which even then1 if measured by our modern view1 sinks into an unconscious navet4 ,i mean ,voltaire's aphorism1 8croyez-moi1 mon ami1 l'erreur aussi a son mrite40 #e4 ,a ,,hereditary ,,sin ,,of ,,philosophers4--,philosophers have at all times appropriated and corrupted the maxims of censors of men 7moralists71 by taking them over without qualification and trying to prove as necessary what the moralists only meant as a rough indication or as a truth suited to their fellow-countrymen or fellow-townsmen for a single decade4 ,moreover1 the philosophers thought that they were thereby raising themselves above the moralists6 ,thus it will be found that the celebrated teachings of ,schopenhauer as to the supremacy of the will over the intellect1 of the immutability of character1 the negativity of pleasure--all errors1 in the sense in which he understands them--rest upon principles of popular wisdom enunciated by the moralists4 ,take the very word 8will10 which ,schopenhauer twisted so as to become a common denotation of several human conditions and with which he filled a gap in the language 7to his own great advantage1 in so far as he was a moralist1 for he became free to speak of the will as ,pascal had spoken of it74 ,in the hands of its creator1 ,schopenhauer's 8will10 through the philosophic craze for generalisation1 already turned out to be a bane to knowledge4 ,for this will was made into a poetic metaphor1 when it was held that all things in nature possess will4 ,finally1 that it might be applied to all kinds of disordered mysticism1 the word was misused by a fraudulent convention4 ,so now all our fashionable philosophers repeat it and seem to be perfectly certain that all things have a will and are in fact ,one ,will4 ,according to the description generally given of this ,all-,one-,will1 this is much as if one should positively try to have the stupid ,devil for one's ,god4 #f4 ,,against ,,visionaries4--,the visionary denies the truth to himself1 the liar only to others4 #g4 ,,enmity ,,to ,,light4--,if we make it clear to any one that1 strictly1 he can never speak of truth1 but only of probability and of its degrees1 we generally discover1 from the undisguised joy of our pupil1 how greatly men prefer the uncertainty of their intellectual horizon1 and how in their heart of hearts they hate truth because of its definiteness4--,is this due to a secret fear felt by all that the light of truth may at some time be turned too brightly upon themselves8 ,to their wish to be of some consequence1 and accordingly their concealment from the world of what they are8 ,or is it to be traced to their horror of the all-too brilliant light1 to which their crepuscular1 easily dazzled1 bat-like souls are not accustomed1 so that hate it they must8 #h4 ,,christian ,,scepticism4--,pilate1 with his question1 8,what is ,truth80 is now gleefully brought on the scene as an advocate of ,christ1 in order to cast suspicion on all that is known or knowable as being mere appearance1 and to erect the ,cross on the appalling background of the ,impossibility of ,knowledge4 #i4 8,,natural ,,law10 ,a ,,phrase ,,of ,,superstition4--,when you talk so delightedly of ,nature acting according to law1 you must either assume that all things in ,nature follow their law from a voluntary obedience imposed by themselves--in which case you admire the morality of ,nature3 or you are enchanted with the idea of a creative mechanician1 who has made a most cunning watch with human beings as accessory ornaments4--,necessity1 through the expression1 8conformity to law10 then becomes more human and a coign of refuge in the last instance for mythological reveries4 #aj4 ,,fallen ,,forfeit ,,to ,,history4--,all misty philosophers and obscurers of the world1 in other words all metaphysicians of coarse or refined texture are seized with eyeache1 earache1 and toothache when they begin to suspect that there is truth in the saying3 8,all philosophy has from now fallen forfeit to history40 ,in view of their aches and pains we may pardon them for throwing stones and filth at him who talks like this1 but this teaching may itself thereby become dirty and disreputable for a time and lose in effect4 #aa4 ,,the ,,pessimist ,,of ,,the ,,intellect4--,he whose intellect is really free will think freely about the intellect itself1 and will not shut his eyes to certain terrible aspects of its source and tendency4 ,for this reason others will perhaps designate him the bitterest opponent of free thought and give him that dreadful1 abusive name of 8pessimist of the intellect03 accustomed as they are to typify a man not by his strong point1 his pre-eminent virtue1 but by the quality that is most foreign to his nature4 #ab4 ,,the ,,metaphysicians' ,,knapsack4--,to all who talk so boastfully of the scientific basis of their metaphysics it is best to make no reply4 ,it is enough to tug at the bundle that they rather shyly keep hidden behind their backs4 ,if one succeeds in lifting it1 the results of that 8scientific basis0 come to light1 to their great confusion3 a dear little 8,god10 a genteel immortality1 perhaps a little spiritualism1 and in any case a complicated mass of poor-sinners'-misery and pharisee-arrogance4 #ac4 ,,occasional ,,harmfulness ,,of ,,knowledge4--,the utility involved in the unchecked investigation of knowledge is so constantly proved in a hundred different ways that one must remember to include in the bargain the subtler and rarer damage which individuals must suffer on that account4 ,the chemist cannot avoid occasionally being poisoned or burnt at his experiments4 ,what applies to the chemist1 is true of the whole of our culture4 ,this1 it may be added1 clearly shows that knowledge should provide itself with healing balsam against burns and should always have antidotes ready against poisons4 #ad4 ,,the ,,craving ,,of ,,the ,,philistine4--,the ,philistine thinks that his most urgent need is a purple patch or turban of metaphysics1 nor will he let it slip4 ,yet he would look less ridiculous without this adornment4 #ae4 ,,enthusiasts4--,with all that enthusiasts say in favour of their gospel or their master they are defending themselves1 however much they comport themselves as the judges and not the accused3 because they are involuntarily reminded almost at every moment that they are exceptions and have to assert their legitimacy4 #af4 ,,the ,,good ,,seduces ,,to ,,life4--,all good things1 even all good books that are written against life1 are strong means of attraction to life4 #ag4 ,,the ,,happiness ,,of ,,the ,,historian4--8,when we hear the hair-splitting metaphysicians and prophets of the after-world speak1 we others feel indeed that we are the #8poor in spirit1' but that ours is the heavenly kingdom of change1 with spring and autumn1 summer and winter1 and theirs the after-world1 with its grey1 everlasting frosts and shadows40 ,thus soliloquised a man as he walked in the morning sunshine1 a man who in his pursuit of history has constantly changed not only his mind but his heart4 ,in contrast to the metaphysicians1 he is happy to harbour in himself not an 8immortal soul0 but many mortal souls4 #ah4 ,,three ,,varieties ,,of ,,thinkers4--,there are streaming1 flowing1 trickling mineral springs1 and three corresponding varieties of thinkers4 ,the layman values them by the volume of the water1 the expert by the contents of the water--in other words1 by the elements in them that are not water4 #ai4 ,,the ,,picture ,,of ,,life4--,the task of painting the picture of life1 often as it has been attempted by poets and philosophers1 is nevertheless irrational4 ,even in the hands of the greatest artist-thinkers1 pictures and miniatures of one life only--their own--have come into being1 and indeed no other result is possible4 ,while in the process of developing1 a thing that develops1 cannot mirror itself as fixed and permanent1 as a definite object4 #bj4 ,,truth ,,will ,,have ,,no ,,gods ,,before ,,it4--,the belief in truth begins with the doubt of all truths in which one has previously believed4 #ba4 ,,where ,,silence ,,is ,,required4--,if we speak of freethinking as of a highly dangerous journey over glaciers and frozen seas1 we find that those who do not care to travel on this track are offended1 as if they had been reproached with cowardice and weak knees4 ,the difficult1 which we find to be beyond our powers1 must not even be mentioned in our presence4 #bb4 ,historia in ,nuce4--,the most serious parody ,i ever heard was this3 8,in the beginning was the nonsense1 and the nonsense was with ,god1 and the nonsense was ,god407#d7 #bc4 ,,incurable4--,the idealist is incorrigible3 if he be thrown out of his ,heaven1 he makes himself a suitable ideal out of ,hell4 ,disillusion him1 and lo6 he will embrace disillusionment with no less ardour than he recently embraced hope4 ,in so far as his impulse belongs to the great incurable impulses of human nature1 he can bring about tragic destinies and later become a subject for tragedy himself1 for such tragedies as deal with the incurable1 implacable1 inevitable in the lot and character of man4 #bd4 ,,applause ,,itself ,,as ,,the ,,continuation ,,of ,,the ,,play4--,sparkling eyes and an amiable smile are the tributes of applause paid to all the great comedy of world and existence--but this applause is a comedy within a comedy1 meant to tempt the other spectators to a plaudite amici4 #be4 ,,courage ,,for ,,tedium4--,he who has not the courage to allow himself and his work to be considered tedious1 is certainly no intellect of the first rank1 whether in the arts or in the sciences4--,a scoffer1 who happened for once in a way to be a thinker1 might add1 with a glance at the world and at history3 8,god did not possess this courage1 for he wanted to make and he made all things so interesting40 #bf4 ,,from ,,the ,,most ,,intimate ,,experience ,,of ,,the ,,thinker4--,nothing is harder for a man than to conceive of an object impersonally1 ,i mean to see in it an object and not a person4 ,one may even ask whether it is possible for him to dispense for a single moment with the machinery of his instinct to create and construct a personality4 ,after all1 he associates with his thoughts1 however abstract they may be1 as with individuals1 against whom he must fight or to whom he must attach himself1 whom he must protect1 support and nourish4 ,let us watch or listen to ourselves at the moment when we hear or discover a new idea4 ,perhaps it displeases us because it is so defiant and so autocratic1 and we unconsciously ask ourselves whether we cannot place a contradiction of it by its side as an enemy1 or fasten on to it a 8perhaps0 or a 8sometimes03 the mere little word 8probably0 gives us a feeling of satisfaction1 for it shatters the oppressive tyranny of the unconditional4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the new idea enters in gentle shape1 sweetly patient and humble1 and falling at once into the arms of contradiction1 we put our autocracy to the test in another way4 ,can we not come to the aid of this weak creature1 stroke it and feed it1 give it strength and fulness1 and truth and even unconditionality8 ,is it possible for us to show ourselves parental or chivalrous or compassionate towards our idea8--,then again1 we see here a judgment and there a judgment1 sundered from each other1 never looking at or making any movement towards each other4 ,so we are tickled by the thought1 whether it be not here feasible to make a match1 to draw a conclusion1 with the anticipation that if a consequence follows this conclusion it is not only the two judgments united in wedlock but the matchmakers that will gain honour4 ,if1 however1 we cannot acquire a hold upon that thought either on the path of defiance and ill-will or on that of good-will 7if we hold it to be true7--then we submit to it and do homage to it as a leader and a prince1 give it a chair of honour1 and speak not of it without a flourish of trumpets3 for we are bright in its brightness4 ,woe to him who tries to dim this brightness6 ,perhaps we ourselves one day grow suspicious of our idea4 ,then we1 the indefatigable 8king-makers0 of the history of the intellect1 cast it down from its throne and immediately exalt its adversary4 ,surely if this be considered and thought out a little further1 no one will speak of an 8absolute impulse to knowledge06 ,why1 then1 does man prefer the true to the untrue1 in this secret combat with thought-personalities1 in this generally clandestine match-making of thoughts1 constitution-founding of thoughts1 child-rearing of thoughts1 nursing and almsgiving of thoughts8 ,for the same reason that he practises honesty in intercourse with real persons3 now from habit1 heredity1 and training1 originally because the true1 like the fair and the just1 is more expedient and more reputable than the untrue4 ,for in the realm of thought it is difficult to assume a power and glory that are built on error or on falsehood4 ,the feeling that such an edifice might at some time collapse is humiliating to the self-esteem of the architect--he is ashamed of the fragility of the material1 and1 as he considers himself more important than the rest of the world1 he would fain construct nothing that is less durable than the rest of the world4 ,in his longing for truth he embraces the belief in a personal immortality1 the most arrogant and defiant idea that exists1 closely allied as it is to the underlying thought1 pereat mundus1 dum ego salvus sim6 ,his work has become his 8ego10 he transforms himself into the ,imperishable with its universal challenge4 ,it is his immeasurable pride that will only employ the best and hardest stones for the work--truths1 or what he holds for such4 ,arrogance has always been justly called the 8vice of the sage02 yet without this vice1 fruitful in impulses1 ,truth and her status on earth would be in a parlous plight4 ,in our propensity to fear our thoughts1 concepts and words1 and yet to honour ourselves in them1 unconsciously to ascribe to them the power of rewarding1 despising1 praising1 and blaming us1 and so to associate with them as with free intellectual personalities1 as with independent powers1 as with our equals--herein lie the roots of the remarkable phenomenon which ,i have called 8intellectual conscience40 ,thus something of the highest moral species has bloomed from a black root4 #bg4 ,,the ,,obscurantists4--,the essential feature of the black art of obscurantism is not its intention of clouding the brain1 but its attempt to darken the picture of the world and cloud our idea of existence4 ,it often employs the method of thwarting all illumination of the intellect1 but at times it uses the very opposite means1 seeking by the highest refinement of the intellect to induce a satiety of the intellect's fruits4 ,hair-splitting metaphysicians1 who pave the way for scepticism and by their excessive acumen provoke a distrust of acumen1 are excellent instruments of the more subtle form of obscurantism4--,is it possible that even ,kant may be applied to this purpose8 ,did he even intend something of the sort1 for a time at least1 to judge from his own notorious exposition3 8to clear the way for belief by setting limitations to knowledge08--,certainly he did not succeed1 nor did his followers1 on the wolf and fox tracks of this highly refined and dangerous form of obscurantism--the most dangerous of all1 for the black art here appears in the garb of light4 #bh4 ,,by ,,what ,,kind ,,of ,,philosophy ,,art ,,is ,,corrupted4--,when the mists of a metaphysical-mystical philosophy succeed in making all sthetic phenomena opaque1 it follows that these phenomena cannot be comparatively valued1 inasmuch as each becomes individually inexplicable4 ,but when once they cannot be compared for the sake of valuation1 there arises an entire absence-of-criticism1 a blind indulgence4 ,from this source springs a continual diminution of the enjoyment of art 7which is only distinguished from the crude satisfaction of a need by the highest refinement of taste and appreciation74 ,the more taste diminishes1 the more does the desire for art change and revert to a vulgar hunger1 which the artist henceforth seeks to appease by ever coarser fare4 #bi4 ,,on ,,gethsemane4--,the most painful thing a thinker can say to artists is3 8,could ye not watch with me one hour80 #cj4 ,,at ,,the ,,loom4--,there are many 7artists and women1 for instance7 who work against the few that take a pleasure in untying the knot of things and unravelling their woof4 ,the former always want to weave the woof together again and entangle it and so turn the conceived into the unconceived and if possible inconceivable4 ,whatever the result may be1 the woof and knot always look rather untidy1 because too many hands are working and tugging at them4 #ca4 ,,in ,,the ,,desert ,,of ,,science4--,as the man of science proceeds on his modest and toilsome wanderings1 which must often enough be journeys in the desert1 he is confronted with those brilliant mirages known as 8philosophic systems40 ,with magic powers of deception they show him that the solution of all riddles and the most refreshing draught of true water of life are close at hand4 ,his weary heart rejoices1 and he well-nigh touches with his lips the goal of all scientific endurance and hardship1 so that almost unconsciously he presses forward4 ,other natures stand still1 as if spellbound by the beautiful illusion3 the desert swallows them up1 they become lost to science4 ,other natures1 again1 that have often experienced these subjective consolations1 become very disheartened and curse the salty taste which these mirages leave behind in the mouth and from which springs a raging thirst--without one's having come one step nearer to any sort of a spring4 #cb4 ,,the ,,so-,,called 8,,real ,,reality40--,when the poet depicts the various callings--such as those of the warrior1 the silk-weaver1 the sailor--he feigns to know all these things thoroughly1 to be an expert4 ,even in the exposition of human actions and destinies he behaves as if he had been present at the spinning of the whole web of existence4 ,in so far he is an impostor4 ,he practises his frauds on pure ignoramuses1 and that is why he succeeds4 ,they praise him for his deep1 genuine knowledge1 and lead him finally into the delusion that he really knows as much as the individual experts and creators1 yes1 even as the great world-spinners themselves4 ,in the end1 the impostor becomes honest1 and actually believes in his own sincerity4 ,emotional people say to his very face that he has the 8higher0 truth and sincerity--for they are weary of reality for the time being1 and accept the poetic dream as a pleasant relaxation and a night's rest for head and heart4 ,the visions of the dream now appear to them of more value1 because1 as has been said1 they find them more beneficial1 and mankind has always held that what is apparently of more value is more true1 more real4 ,all that is generally called reality1 the poets1 conscious of this power1 proceed with intention to disparage and to distort into the uncertain1 the illusory1 the spurious1 the impure1 the sinful1 sorrowful1 and deceitful4 ,they make use of all doubts about the limits of knowledge1 of all sceptical excesses1 in order to spread over everything the rumpled veil of uncertainty4 ,for they desire that when this darkening process is complete their wizardry and soul-magic may be accepted without hesitation as the path to 8true truth0 and 8real reality40 #cc4 ,,the ,,wish ,,to ,,be ,,just ,,and ,,the ,,wish ,,to ,,be ,a ,,judge4--,schopenhauer1 whose profound understanding of what is human and all-too-human and original sense for facts was not a little impaired by the bright leopard-skin of his metaphysic 7the skin must first be pulled off him if one wants to find the real moralist genius beneath7--,schopenhauer makes this admirable distinction1 wherein he comes far nearer the mark than he would himself dare to admit3 8,insight into the stern necessity of human actions is the boundary line that divides philosophic from other brains40 ,he worked against that wonderful insight of which he was sometimes capable by the prejudice that he had in common with the moral man 7not the moralist71 a prejudice that he expresses quite guilelessly and devoutly as follows3 8,the ultimate and true explanation of the inner being of the entirety of things must of necessity be closely connected with that about the ethical significance of human actions40 ,this connection is not 8necessary0 at all3 such a connection must rather be rejected by that principle of the stern necessity of human actions1 that is1 the unconditioned non-freedom and non-responsibility of the will4 ,philosophic brains will accordingly be distinguished from others by their disbelief in the metaphysical significance of morality4 ,this must create between the two kinds of brain a gulf of a depth and unbridgeableness of which the much-deplored gulf between 8cultured0 and 8uncultured0 scarcely gives a conception4 ,it is true that many back doors1 which the 8philosophic brains10 like ,schopenhauer's own1 have left for themselves1 must be recognised as useless4 ,none leads into the open1 into the fresh air of the free will1 but every door through which people had slipped hitherto showed behind it once more the gleaming brass wall of fate4 ,for we are in a prison1 and can only dream of freedom1 not make ourselves free4 ,that the recognition of this fact cannot be resisted much longer is shown by the despairing and incredible postures and grimaces of those who still press against it and continue their wrestling-bout with it4 ,their attitude at present is something like this3 8,so no one is responsible for his actions8 ,and all is full of guilt and the consciousness of guilt8 ,but some one must be the sinner4 ,if it is no longer possible or permissible to accuse and sentence the individual1 the one poor wave in the inevitable rough-and-tumble of the waves of development--well1 then1 let this stormy sea1 this development itself1 be the sinner4 ,here is free will3 this totality can be accused and sentenced1 can atone and expiate4 ,so let ,god be the sinner and man his redeemer4 ,let the world's history be guilt1 expiation1 and self-murder4 ,let the evil-doer be his own judge1 the judge his own hangman40 ,this ,christianity strained to its limits--for what else is it8--is the last thrust in the fencing-match between the teaching of unconditioned morality and the teaching of unconditioned non-freedom4 ,it would be quite horrible if it were anything more than a logical pose1 a hideous grimace of the underlying thought1 perhaps the death-convulsion of the heart that seeks a remedy in its despair1 the heart to which delirium whispers3 8,behold1 thou art the lamb which taketh away the sin of ,god40 ,this error lies not only in the feeling1 8,i am responsible10 but just as much in the contradiction1 8,i am not responsible1 but some one must be40 ,that is simply not true4 ,hence the philosopher must say1 like ,christ1 8,judge not10 and the final distinction between the philosophic brains and the others would be that the former wish to be just and the latter wish to be judges4 #cd4 ,sacrifice4--,you hold that sacrifice is the hallmark of moral action8--,just consider whether in every action that is done with deliberation1 in the best as in the worst1 there be not a sacrifice4 #ce4 ,,against ,,the 8,,triers ,,of ,,the ,,reins0 ,,of ,,morality4--,one must know the best and the worst that a man is capable of in theory and in practice before one can judge how strong his moral nature is and can be4 ,but this is an experiment that one can never carry out4 #cf4 ,,serpent',s ,,tooth4--,whether we have a serpent's tooth or not we cannot know before some one has set his heel upon our necks4 ,a wife or a mother could say3 until some one has put his heel upon the neck of our darling1 our child4--,our character is determined more by the absence of certain experiences than by the experiences we have undergone4 #cg4 ,,deception ,,in ,,love4--,we forget and purposely banish from our minds a good deal of our past4 ,in other words1 we wish our picture1 that beams at us from the past1 to belie us1 to flatter our vanity--we are constantly engaged in this self-deception4 ,and you who talk and boast so much of 8self-oblivion in love10 of the 8absorption of the ego in the other person0--you hold that this is something different8 ,so you break the mirror1 throw yourselves into another personality that you admire1 and enjoy the new portrait of your ego1 though calling it by the other person's name--and this whole proceeding is not to be thought self-deception1 self-seeking1 you marvellous beings8--,it seems to me that those who hide something of themselves from themselves1 or hide their whole selves from themselves1 are alike committing a theft from the treasury of knowledge4 ,it is clear1 then1 against what transgression the maxim 8,know thyself0 is a warning4 #ch4 ,,to ,,the ,,denier ,,of ,,his ,,vanity4--,he who denies his own vanity usually possesses it in so brutal a form that he instinctively shuts his eyes to avoid the necessity of despising himself4 #ci4 ,,why ,,the ,,stupid ,,so ,,often ,,become ,,malignant4--,to those arguments of our adversary against which our head feels too weak our heart replies by throwing suspicion on the motives of his arguments4 #dj4 ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,moral ,,exceptions4--,an art that points out and glorifies the exceptional cases of morality--where the good becomes bad and the unjust just--should rarely be given a hearing3 just as now and again we buy something from gipsies1 with the fear that they are diverting to their own pockets much more than their mere profit from the purchase4 #da4 ,,enjoyment ,,and ,,non-,,enjoyment ,,of ,,poisons4--,the only decisive argument that has always deterred men from drinking a poison is not that it is deadly1 but that it has an unpleasant taste4 #db4 ,,the ,,world ,,without ,,consciousness ,,of ,,sin4--,if men only committed such deeds as do not give rise to a bad conscience1 the human world would still look bad and rascally enough1 but not so sickly and pitiable as at present4--,enough wicked men without conscience have existed at all times1 and many good honest folk lack the feeling of pleasure in a good conscience4 #dc4 ,,the ,,conscientious4--,it is more convenient to follow one's conscience than one's intelligence1 for at every failure conscience finds an excuse and an encouragement in itself4 ,that is why there are so many conscientious and so few intelligent people4 #dd4 ,,opposite ,,means ,,of ,,avoiding ,,bitterness4--,one temperament finds it useful to be able to give vent to its disgust in words1 being made sweeter by speech4 ,another reaches its full bitterness only by speaking out3 it is more advisable for it to have to gulp down something--the restraint that men of this stamp place upon themselves in the presence of enemies and superiors improves their character and prevents it from becoming too acrid and sour4 #de4 ,,not ,,to ,,be ,,too ,,dejected4--,to get bed-sores is unpleasant1 but no proof against the merits of the cure that prescribes that you should take to your bed4 ,men who have long lived outside themselves1 and have at last devoted themselves to the inward philosophic life1 know that one can also get sores of character and intellect4 ,this1 again1 is on the whole no argument against the chosen way of life1 but necessitates a few small exceptions and apparent relapses4 #df4 ,,the ,,human 8,,thing ,,in ,,itself40--,the most vulnerable and yet most unconquerable of things is human vanity3 nay1 through being wounded its strength increases and can grow to giant proportions4 #dg4 ,,the ,,farce ,,of ,,many ,,industrious ,,persons4--,by an excess of effort they win leisure for themselves1 and then they can do nothing with it but count the hours until the tale is ended4 #dh4 ,,the ,,possession ,,of ,,joy ,,abounding4--,he that has joy abounding must be a good man1 but perhaps he is not the cleverest of men1 although he has reached the very goal towards which the cleverest man is striving with all his cleverness4 #di4 ,,in ,,the ,,mirror ,,of ,,nature4--,is not a man fairly well described1 when we are told that he likes to walk between tall fields of golden corn3 that he prefers the forest and flower colours of sere and chilly autumn to all others1 because they point to something more beautiful than ,nature has ever attained3 that he feels as much at home under big broad-leaved walnut trees as among his nearest kinsfolk3 that in the mountains his greatest joy is to come across those tiny distant lakes from which the very eyes of solitude seem to peer at him3 that he loves that grey calm of the misty twilight that steals along the windows on autumn and early winter evenings and shuts out all soulless sounds as with velvet curtains3 that in unhewn stones he recognises the last remaining traces of the primeval age1 eager for speech1 and honours them from childhood upwards3 that1 lastly1 the sea with its shifting serpent skin and wild-beast beauty is1 and remains to him1 unfamiliar8--,yes1 something of the man is described herewith1 but the mirror of ,nature does not say that the same man1 with 7and not even 8in spite of07 all his idyllic sensibilities1 might be disagreeable1 stingy1 and conceited4 ,horace1 who was a good judge of such matters1 in his famous beatus ille qui procul negotiis puts the tenderest feeling for country life into the mouth of a ,roman money-lender4 #ej4 ,,power ,,without ,,victory4--,the strongest cognition 7that of the complete non-freedom of the human will7 is yet the poorest in results1 for it has always had the mightiest of opponents--human vanity4 #ea4 ,,pleasure ,,and ,,error4--,a beneficial influence on friends is exerted by one man unconsciously1 through his nature2 by another consciously1 through isolated actions4 ,although the former nature is held to be the higher1 the latter alone is allied to good conscience and pleasure--the pleasure in justification by good works1 which rests upon a belief in the volitional character of our good and evil doing--that is to say1 upon a mistake4 #eb4 ,,the ,,folly ,,of ,,committing ,,injustice4--,the injustice we have inflicted ourselves is far harder to bear than the injustice inflicted upon us by others 7not always from moral grounds1 be it observed74 ,after all1 the doer is always the sufferer--that is1 if he be capable of feeling the sting of conscience or of perceiving that by his action he has armed society against himself and cut himself off4 ,for this reason we should beware still more of doing than of suffering injustice1 for the sake of our own inward happiness--so as not to lose our feeling of well-being--quite apart from any consideration of the precepts of religion and morality4 ,for in suffering injustice we have the consolation of a good conscience1 of hope and of revenge1 together with the sympathy and applause of the just1 nay of the whole of society1 which is afraid of the evil-doer4 ,not a few are skilled in the impure self-deception that enables them to transform every injustice of their own into an injustice inflicted upon them from without1 and to reserve for their own acts the exceptional right to the plea of self-defence4 ,their object1 of course1 is to make their own burden lighter4 #ec4 ,,envy ,,with ,,or ,,without ,a ,,mouthpiece4--,ordinary envy is wont to cackle when the envied hen has laid an egg1 thereby relieving itself and becoming milder4 ,but there is a yet deeper envy that in such a case becomes dead silent1 desiring that every mouth should be sealed and always more and more angry because this desire is not gratified4 ,silent envy grows in silence4 #ed4 ,,anger ,,as ,a ,,spy4--,anger exhausts the soul and brings its very dregs to light4 ,hence1 if we know no other means of gaining certainty1 we must understand how to arouse anger in our dependents and adversaries1 in order to learn what is really done and thought to our detriment4 #ee4 ,,defence ,,morally ,,more ,,difficult ,,than ,,attack4--,the true heroic deed and masterpiece of the good man does not lie in attacking opinions and continuing to love their propounders1 but in the far harder task of defending his own position without causing or intending to cause bitter heartburns to his opponent4 ,the sword of attack is honest and broad1 the sword of defence usually runs out to a needle point4 #ef4 ,,honest ,,towards ,,honesty4--,one who is openly honest towards himself ends by being rather conceited about this honesty4 ,he knows only too well why he is honest--for the same reason that another man prefers outward show and hypocrisy4 #eg4 ,,coals ,,of ,,fire4--,the heaping of coals of fire on another's head is generally misunderstood and falls flat1 because the other knows himself to be just as much in the right1 and on his side too has thought of collecting coals4 #eh4 ,,dangerous ,,books4--,a man says3 8,judging from my own case1 ,i find that this book is harmful40 ,let him but wait1 and perhaps one day he will confess that the book did him a great service by thrusting forward and bringing to light the hidden disease of his soul4--,altered opinions alter not at all 7or very little7 the character of a man3 but they illuminate individual facets of his personality1 which hitherto1 in another constellation of opinions1 had remained dark and unrecognisable4 #ei4 ,,simulated ,,pity4--,we simulate pity when we wish to show ourselves superior to the feeling of animosity1 but generally in vain4 ,this point is not noticed without a considerable enhancement of that feeling of animosity4 #fj4 ,,open ,,contradiction ,,often ,,conciliatory4--,at the moment when a man openly makes known his difference of opinion from a well-known party leader1 the whole world thinks that he must be angry with the latter4 ,sometimes1 however1 he is just on the point of ceasing to be angry with him4 ,he ventures to put himself on the same plane as his opponent1 and is free from the tortures of suppressed envy4 #fa4 ,,seeing ,,our ,,light ,,shining4--,in the darkest hour of depression1 sickness1 and guilt1 we are still glad to see others taking a light from us and making use of us as of the disk of the moon4 ,by this roundabout route we derive some light from our own illuminating faculty4 #fb4 ,,fellowship ,,in ,,joy47#e7--,the snake that stings us means to hurt us and rejoices in so doing3 the lowest animal can picture to itself the pain of others4 ,but to picture to oneself the joy of others and to rejoice thereat is the highest privilege of the highest animals1 and again1 amongst them1 is the property only of the most select specimens--accordingly a rare 8human thing40 ,hence there have been philosophers who denied fellowship in joy4 #fc4 ,supplementary ,pregnancy4--,those who have arrived at works and deeds are in an obscure way1 they know not how1 all the more pregnant with them1 as if to prove supplementarily that these are their children and not those of chance4 #fd4 ,,hard-,,hearted ,,from ,,vanity4--,just as justice is so often a cloak for weakness1 so men who are fairly intelligent1 but weak1 sometimes attempt dissimulation from ambitious motives and purposely show themselves unjust and hard1 in order to leave behind them the impression of strength4 #fe4 ,,humiliation4--,if in a large sack of profit we find a single grain of humiliation we still make a wry face even at our good luck4 #ff4 ,,extreme ,,herostratism47#f7--,there might be ,herostratuses who set fire to their own temple1 in which their images are honoured4 #fg4 ,a ,,world ,,of ,,diminutives4--,the fact that all that is weak and in need of help appeals to the heart induces in us the habit of designating by diminutive and softening terms all that appeals to our hearts--and accordingly making such things weak and clinging to our imaginations4 #fh4 ,,the ,,bad ,,characteristic ,,of ,,sympathy4--,sympathy has a peculiar impudence for its companion4 ,for1 wishing to help at all costs1 sympathy is in no perplexity either as to the means of assistance or as to the nature and cause of the disease1 and goes on courageously administering all its quack medicines to restore the health and reputation of the patient4 #fi4 ,,importunacy4--,there is even an importunacy in relation to works1 and the act of associating oneself from early youth on an intimate footing with the illustrious works of all times evinces an entire absence of shame4--,others are only importunate from ignorance1 not knowing with whom they have to do--for instance classical scholars young and old in relation to the works of the ,greeks4 #gj4 ,,the ,,will ,,is ,,ashamed ,,of ,,the ,,intellect4--,in all coolness we make reasonable plans against our passions4 ,but we make the most serious mistake in this connection in being often ashamed1 when the design has to be carried out1 of the coolness and calculation with which we conceived it4 ,so we do just the unreasonable thing1 from that sort of defiant magnanimity that every passion involves4 #ga4 ,,why ,,the ,,sceptics ,,offend ,,morality4--,he who takes his morality solemnly and seriously is enraged against the sceptics in the domain of morals4 ,for where he lavishes all his force1 he wishes others to marvel but not to investigate and doubt4 ,then there are natures whose last shred of morality is just the belief in morals4 ,they behave in the same way towards sceptics1 if possible still more passionately4 #gb4 ,,shyness4--,all moralists are shy1 because they know they are confounded with spies and traitors1 so soon as their penchant is noticed4 ,besides1 they are generally conscious of being impotent in action1 for in the midst of work the motives of their activity almost withdraw their attention from the work4 #gc4 ,a ,,danger ,,to ,,universal ,,morality4--,people who are at the same time noble and honest come to deify every devilry that brings out their honesty1 and to suspend for a time the balance of their moral judgment4 #gd4 ,,the ,,saddest ,,error4--,it is an unpardonable offence when one discovers that where one was convinced of being loved1 one is only regarded as a household utensil and decoration1 whereby the master of the house can find an outlet for his vanity before his guests4 #ge4 ,,love ,,and ,,duality4--,what else is love but understanding and rejoicing that another lives1 works1 and feels in a different and opposite way to ourselves8 ,that love may be able to bridge over the contrasts by joys1 we must not remove or deny those contrasts4 ,even self-love presupposes an irreconcileable duality 7or plurality7 in one person4 #gf4 ,,signs ,,from ,,dreams4--,what one sometimes does not know and feel accurately in waking hours--whether one has a good or a bad conscience as regards some person--is revealed completely and unambiguously by dreams4 #gg4 ,,debauchery4--,not joy but joylessness is the mother of debauchery4 #gh4 ,,reward ,,and ,,punishment4--,no one accuses without an underlying notion of punishment and revenge1 even when he accuses his fate or himself4 ,all complaint is accusation1 all self-congratulation is praise4 ,whether we do one or the other1 we always make some one responsible4 #gi4 ,,doubly ,,unjust4--,we sometimes advance truth by a twofold injustice3 when we see and represent consecutively the two sides of a case which we are not in a position to see together1 but in such a way that every time we mistake or deny the other side1 fancying that what we see is the whole truth4 #hj4 ,,mistrust4--,self-mistrust does not always proceed uncertainly and shyly1 but sometimes in a furious rage1 having worked itself into a frenzy in order not to tremble4 #ha4 ,,philosophy ,,of ,,parvenus4--,if you want to be a personality you must even hold your shadow in honour4 #hb4 ,,knowing ,,how ,,to ,,wash ,,oneself ,,clean4--,we must know how to emerge cleaner from unclean conditions1 and1 if necessary1 how to wash ourselves even with dirty water4 #hc4 ,,letting ,,yourself ,,go4--,the more you let yourself go1 the less others let you go4 #hd4 ,,the ,,innocent ,,rogue4--,there is a slow1 gradual path to vice and rascality of every description4 ,in the end1 the traveller is quite abandoned by the insect-swarms of a bad conscience1 and although a thorough scoundrel he walks in innocence4 #he4 ,,making ,,plans4--,making plans and conceiving projects involves many agreeable sentiments4 ,he that had the strength to be nothing but a contriver of plans all his life would be a happy man4 ,but one must occasionally have a rest from this activity by carrying a plan into execution1 and then comes anger and sobriety4 #hf4 ,,wherewith ,,we ,,see ,,the ,,ideal4--,every efficient man is blocked by his efficiency and cannot look out freely from its prison4 ,had he not also a goodly share of imperfection1 he could1 by reason of his virtue1 never arrive at an intellectual or moral freedom4 ,our shortcomings are the eyes with which we see the ideal4 #hg4 ,,dishonest ,,praise4--,dishonest praise causes many more twinges of conscience than dishonest blame1 probably only because we have exposed our capacity for judgment far more completely through excessive praise than through excessive and unjust blame4 #hh4 ,,how ,,one ,,dies ,,is ,,indifferent4--,the whole way in which a man thinks of death during the prime of his life and strength is very expressive and significant for what we call his character4 ,but the hour of death itself1 his behaviour on the death-bed1 is almost indifferent4 ,the exhaustion of waning life1 especially when old people die1 the irregular or insufficient nourishment of the brain during this last period1 the occasionally violent pain1 the novel and untried nature of the whole position1 and only too often the ebb and flow of superstitious impressions and fears1 as if dying were of much consequence and meant the crossing of bridges of the most terrible kind--all this forbids our using death as a testimony concerning the living4 ,nor is it true that the dying man is generally more honest than the living4 ,on the contrary1 through the solemn attitude of the bystanders1 the repressed or flowing streams of tears and emotions1 every one is inveigled into a comedy of vanity1 now conscious1 now unconscious4 ,the serious way in which every dying man is treated must have been to many a poor despised devil the highest joy of his whole life and a sort of compensation and repayment for many privations4 #hi4 ,,morality ,,and ,,its ,,sacrifice4--,the origin of morality may be traced to two ideas3 8,the community is of more value than the individual10 and 8,the permanent interest is to be preferred to the temporary40 ,the conclusion drawn is that the permanent interest of the community is unconditionally to be set above the temporary interest of the individual1 especially his momentary well-being1 but also his permanent interest and even the prolongation of his existence4 ,even if the individual suffers by an arrangement that suits the mass1 even if he is depressed and ruined by it1 morality must be maintained and the victim brought to the sacrifice4 ,such a trend of thought arises1 however1 only in those who are not the victims--for in the victim's case it enforces the claim that the individual might be worth more than the many1 and that the present enjoyment1 the 8moment in paradise107#g7 should perhaps be rated higher than a tame succession of untroubled or comfortable circumstances4 ,but the philosophy of the sacrificial victim always finds voice too late1 and so victory remains with morals and morality3 which are really nothing more than the sentiment for the whole concept of morals under which one lives and has been reared--and reared not as an individual but as a member of the whole1 as a cipher in a majority4 ,hence it constantly happens that the individual makes himself into a majority by means of his morality4 #ij4 ,,the ,,good ,,and ,,the ,,good ,,conscience4--,you hold that all good things have at all times had a good conscience8 ,science1 which is certainly a very good thing1 has come into the world without such a conscience and quite free from all pathos1 rather clandestinely1 by roundabout ways1 walking with shrouded or masked face like a sinner1 and always with the feeling at least of being a smuggler4 ,good conscience has bad conscience for its stepping-stone1 not for its opposite4 ,for all that is good has at one time been new and consequently strange1 against morals1 immoral1 and has gnawed like a worm at the heart of the fortunate discoverer4 #ia4 ,,success ,,sanctifies ,,the ,,intentions4--,we should not shrink from treading the road to a virtue1 even when we see clearly that nothing but egotism1 and accordingly utility1 personal comfort1 fear1 considerations of health1 reputation1 or glory1 are the impelling motives4 ,these motives are styled ignoble and selfish4 ,very well1 but if they stimulate us to some virtue--for example1 self-denial1 dutifulness1 order1 thrift1 measure1 and moderation--let us listen to them1 whatever their epithets may be6 ,for if we reach the goal to which they summon us1 then the virtue we have attained1 by means of the pure air it makes us breathe and the spiritual well-being it communicates1 ennobles the remoter impulses of our action1 and afterwards we no longer perform those actions from the same coarse motives that inspired us before4--,education should therefore force the virtues on the pupil1 as far as possible1 according to his disposition4 ,then virtue1 the sunshine and summer atmosphere of the soul1 can contribute her own share of work and add mellowness and sweetness4 #ib4 ,,dabblers ,,in ,,christianity1 ,,not ,,christians4--,so that is your ,christianity6--,to annoy humanity you praise 8,god and ,his ,saints10 and again when you want to praise humanity you go so far that ,god and ,his ,saints must be annoyed4--,i wish you would at least learn ,christian manners1 as you are so deficient in the civility of the ,christian heart4 #ic4 ,,the ,,religious ,,and ,,irreligious ,,impression ,,of ,,nature4--,a true believer must be to us an object of veneration1 but the same holds good of a true1 sincere1 convinced unbeliever4 ,with men of the latter stamp we are near to the high mountains where mighty rivers have their source1 and with believers we are under vigorous1 shady1 restful trees4 #id4 ,,judicial ,,murder4--,the two greatest judicial murders7#h7 in the world's history are1 to speak without exaggeration1 concealed and well-concealed suicide4 ,in both cases a man willed to die1 and in both cases he let his breast be pierced by the sword in the hand of human injustice4 #ie4 8,,love40--,the finest artistic conception wherein ,christianity had the advantage over other religious systems lay in one word--,love4 ,hence it became the lyric religion 7whereas in its two other creations ,semitism bestowed heroico-epical religions upon the world74 ,in the word 8love0 there is so much meaning1 so much that stimulates and appeals to memory and hope1 that even the meanest intelligence and the coldest heart feel some glimmering of its sense4 ,the cleverest woman and the lowest man think of the comparatively unselfish moments of their whole life1 even if with them ,eros never soared high3 and the vast number of beings who miss love from their parents or children or sweethearts1 especially those whose sexual instincts have been refined away1 have found their heart's desire in ,christianity4 #if4 ,,the ,,fulfilment ,,of ,,christianity4--,in ,christianity there is also an ,epicurean trend of thought1 starting from the idea that ,god can only demand of man1 his creation and his image1 what it is possible for man to fulfil1 and accordingly that ,christian virtue and perfection are attainable and often attained4 ,now1 for instance1 the belief in loving one's enemies--even if it is only a belief or fancy1 and by no means a psychological reality 7a real love7--gives unalloyed happiness1 so long as it is genuinely believed4 7,as to the reason of this1 psychologist and ,christian might well differ47 ,hence earthly life1 through the belief1 ,i mean the fancy1 that it satisfies not only the injunction to love our enemies1 but all the other injunctions of ,christianity1 and that it has really assimilated and embodied in itself the ,divine perfection according to the command1 8,be perfect as your ,father in heaven is perfect10 might actually become a holy life4 ,thus error can make ,christ's promise come true4 #ig4 ,,of ,,the ,,future ,,of ,,christianity4--,we may be allowed to form a conjecture as to the disappearance of ,christianity and as to the places where it will be the slowest to retreat1 if we consider where and for what reasons ,protestantism spread with such startling rapidity4 ,as is well known1 ,protestantism promised to do far more cheaply all that the old ,church did1 without costly masses1 pilgrimages1 and priestly pomp and circumstance4 ,it spread particularly among the ,northern nations1 which were not so deeply rooted as those of the ,south in the old ,church's symbolism and love of ritual4 ,in the ,south the more powerful pagan religion survived in ,christianity1 whereas in the ,north ,christianity meant an opposition to and a break with the old-time creed1 and hence was from the first more thoughtful and less sensual1 but for that very reason1 in times of peril1 more fanatical and more obstinate4 ,if from the standpoint of thought we succeed in uprooting ,christianity1 we can at once know the point where it will begin to disappear--the very point at which it will be most stubborn in defence4 ,in other places it will bend but not break1 lose its leaves but burst into leaf afresh1 because the senses1 and not thought1 have gone over to its side4 ,but it is the senses that maintain the belief that with all its expensive outlay the ,church is more cheaply and conveniently managed than under the stern conditions of work and wages4 ,yet what does one hold leisure 7or semi-idleness7 to be worth1 when once one has become accustomed to it8 ,the senses plead against a dechristianised world1 saying that there would be too much work to do in it and an insufficient supply of leisure4 ,they take the part of magic--that is1 they let ,god work himself 7oremus nos1 ,deus laboret74 #ih4 ,,theatricality ,,and ,,honesty ,,of ,,unbelievers4--,there is no book that contains in such abundance or expresses so faithfully all that man occasionally finds salutary--ecstatic inward happiness1 ready for sacrifice or death in the belief in and contemplation of his truth--as the book that tells of ,christ4 ,from that book a clever man may learn all the means whereby a book can be made into a world-book1 a vade-mecum for all1 and especially that master-means of representing everything as discovered1 nothing as future and uncertain4 ,all influential books try to leave the same impression1 as if the widest intellectual horizon were circumscribed here and as if about the sun that shines here every constellation visible at present or in the future must revolve4--,must not then all purely scientific books be poor in influence on the same grounds as such books are rich in influence8 ,is not the book fated to live humble and among humble folk1 in order to be crucified in the end and never resurrected8 ,in relation to what the religious inform us of their 8knowledge0 and their 8holy spirit10 are not all upright men of science 8poor in spirit08 ,can any religion demand more self-denial and draw the selfish out of themselves more inexorably than science8--,this and similar things we may say1 in any case with a certain theatricality1 when we have to defend ourselves against believers1 for it is impossible to conduct a defence without a certain amount of theatricality4 ,but between ourselves our language must be more honest1 and we employ a freedom that those believers are not even allowed1 in their own interests1 to understand4 ,away1 then1 with the monastic cowl of self-denial1 with the appearance of humility6 ,much more and much better--so rings our truth6 ,if science were not linked with the pleasure of knowledge1 the utility of the thing known1 what should we care for science8 ,if a little faith1 love1 and hope did not lead our souls to knowledge1 what would attract us to science8 ,and if in science the ego means nothing1 still the inventive1 happy ego1 every upright and industrious ego1 means a great deal in the republic of the men of science4 ,the homage of those who pay homage1 the joy of those whom we wish well or honour1 in some cases glory and a fair share of immortality1 is the personal reward for every suppression of personality3 to say nothing here of meaner views and rewards1 although it is just on this account that the majority have sworn and always continue to swear fidelity to the laws of the republic and of science4 ,if we had not remained in some degree unscientific1 what would science matter to us8 ,taking everything together and speaking in plain language3 8,to a purely knowing being knowledge would be indifferent40--,not the quality but the quantity of faith and devoutness distinguishes us from the pious1 the believers4 ,we are content with less4 ,but should one of them cry out to us3 8,be content and show yourselves contented60 we could easily answer3 8,as a matter of fact1 we do not belong to the most discontented class4 ,but you1 if your faith makes you happy1 show yourselves to be happy4 ,your faces have always done more harm to your faith than our reasons6 ,if that glad message of your ,bible were written in your faces1 you would not need to demand belief in the authority of that book in such stiff-necked fashion4 ,your words1 your actions should continually make the ,bible superfluous--in fact1 through you a new ,bible should continually come into being4 ,as it is1 your apologia for ,christianity is rooted in your unchristianity1 and with your defence you write your own condemnation4 ,if you1 however1 should wish to emerge from your dissatisfaction with ,christianity1 you should ponder over the experience of two thousand years1 which1 clothed in the modest form of a question1 may be voiced as follows3 #8,if ,christ really intended to redeem the world1 may he not be said to have failed8' 0 #ii4 ,,the ,,poet ,,as ,,guide ,,to ,,the ,,future4--,all the surplus poetical force that still exists in modern humanity1 but is not used under our conditions of life1 should 7without any deduction7 be devoted to a definite goal--not to depicting the present nor to reviving and summarising the past1 but to pointing the way to the future4 ,nor should this be so done as if the poet1 like an imaginative political economist1 had to anticipate a more favourable national and social state of things and picture their realisation4 ,rather will he1 just as the earlier poets portrayed the images of the ,gods1 portray the fair images of men4 ,he will divine those cases where1 in the midst of our modern world and reality 7which will not be shirked or repudiated in the usual poetic fashion71 a great1 noble soul is still possible1 where it may be embodied in harmonious1 equable conditions1 where it may become permanent1 visible1 and representative of a type1 and so1 by the stimulus to imitation and envy1 help to create the future4 ,the poems of such a poet would be distinguished by appearing secluded and protected from the heated atmosphere of the passions4 ,the irremediable failure1 the shattering of all the strings of the human instrument1 the scornful laughter and gnashing of teeth1 and all tragedy and comedy in the usual old sense1 would appear by the side of this new art as mere archaic lumber1 a blurring of the outlines of the world-picture4 ,strength1 kindness1 gentleness1 purity1 and an unsought1 innate moderation in the personalities and their action3 a levelled soil1 giving rest and pleasure to the foot3 a shining heaven mirrored in faces and events3 science and art welded into a new unity3 the mind living together with her sister1 the soul1 without arrogance or jealousy1 and enticing from contrasts the grace of seriousness1 not the impatience of discord--all this would be the general environment1 the background on which the delicate differences of the embodied ideals would make the real picture1 that of ever-growing human majesty4 ,many roads to this poetry of the future start from ,goethe1 but the quest needs good pathfinders and above all a far greater strength than is possessed by modern poets1 who unscrupulously represent the half-animal and the immaturity and intemperance that are mistaken by them for power and naturalness4 #ajj4 ,,the ,,muse ,,as ,,penthesilea47#i7--8;,better to rot than to be a woman without charm40 ,when once the ,muse thinks thus1 the end of her art is again at hand4 ,but it can be a tragic and also a comic finale4 #aja4 ,,the ,,circuitous ,,path ,,to ,,the ,,beautiful4--,if the beautiful is to be identified with that which gives pleasure--and thus sang the ,muses once--the useful is often the necessary circuitous path to the beautiful1 and has a perfect right to spurn the short-sighted censure of men who live for the moment1 who will not wait1 and who think that they can reach all good things without ever taking a circuitous path4 #ajb4 ,,an ,,excuse ,,for ,,many ,a ,,transgression4--,the ceaseless desire to create1 the eternal looking outward of the artist1 hinders him from becoming better and more beautiful as a personality3 unless his craving for glory be great enough to compel him to exhibit in his relations with other men a growth corresponding to the growing beauty and greatness of his works4 ,in any case he has but a limited measure of strength1 and how could the proportion of strength that he spends on himself be of any benefit to his work--or vice versa8 #ajc4 ,,satisfying ,,the ,,best ,,people4--,if we have satisfied the best people of our time with our art1 it is a sign that we shall not satisfy the best people of the succeeding period4 ,we have indeed 8lived for all time10 and the applause of the best people ensures our fame47#aj7 #ajd4 ,,of ,,one ,,substance4--,if we are of one substance with a book or a work of art1 we think in our heart of hearts that it must be excellent1 and are offended if others find it ugly1 over-spiced1 or pretentious4 #aje4 ,,speech ,,and ,,emotion4--,that speech is not given to us to communicate our emotions may be seen from the fact that all simple men are ashamed to seek for words to express their deeper feelings4 ,these feelings are expressed only in actions1 and even here such men blush if others seem to divine their motives4 ,after all1 among poets1 to whom ,god generally denies this shame1 the more noble are more monosyllabic in the language of emotion1 and evince a certain constraint3 whereas the real poets of emotion are for the most part shameless in practical life4 #ajf4 ,a ,,mistake ,,about ,a ,,privation4--,he that has not for a long time been completely weaned from an art1 and is still always at home in it1 has no idea how small a privation it is to live without that art4 #ajg4 ,,three-,,quarter ,,strength4--,a work that is meant to give an impression of health should be produced with three-quarters1 at the most1 of the strength of its creator4 ,if he has gone to his farthest limit1 the work excites the observer and disconcerts him by its tension4 ,all good things have something lazy about them and lie like cows in the meadow4 #ajh4 ,,refusing ,,to ,,have ,,hunger ,,as ,a ,,guest4--,as refined fare serves a hungry man as well as and no better than coarser food1 the more pretentious artist will not dream of inviting the hungry man to his meal4 #aji4 ,,living ,,without ,,art ,,and ,,wine4--,it is with works of art as with wine--it is better if one can do without both and keep to water1 and if from the inner fire and inner sweetness of the soul the water spontaneously changes again into wine4 #aaj4 ,,the ,,pirate-,,genius4--,the pirate-genius in art1 who even knows how to deceive subtle minds1 arises when some one unscrupulously and from youth upwards regards all good things1 that are not protected by law1 as the property of a particular person1 as his legitimate spoil4 ,now all the good things of past ages and masters lie free around us1 hedged about and protected by the reverential awe of the few who know them4 ,to these few our robber-genius1 by the force of his impudence1 bids defiance and accumulates for himself a wealth that once more calls forth homage and awe4 #aaa4 ,,to ,,the ,,poets ,,of ,,great ,,towns4--,in the gardens of modern poetry it will clearly be observed that the sewers of great towns are too near4 ,with the fragrance of flowers is mingled something that betrays abomination and putrescence4 ,with pain ,i ask3 8,must you poets always request wit and dirt to stand godfather1 when an innocent and beautiful sensation has to be christened by you8 ,are you obliged to dress your noble goddess in a hood of devilry and caricature8 ,but whence this necessity1 this obligation80 ,the reason is--because you live too near the sewers4 #aab4 ,,of ,,the ,,salt ,,of ,,speech4--,no one has ever explained why the ,greek writers1 having at command such an unparalleled wealth and power of language1 made so sparing a use of their resources that every post-classical ,greek book appears by comparison crude1 over-coloured1 and extravagant4 ,it is said that towards the ,north ,polar ice and in the hottest countries salt is becoming less and less used1 whereas on the other hand the dwellers on the plains and by the coast in the more temperate zones use salt in great abundance4 ,is it possible that the ,greeks from a twofold reason--because their intellect was colder and clearer but their fundamental passionate nature far more tropical than ours--did not need salt and spice to the same extent that we do8 #aac4 ,,the ,,freest ,,writer4--,in a book for free spirits one cannot avoid mention of ,laurence ,sterne1 the man whom ,goethe honoured as the freest spirit of his century4 ,may he be satisfied with the honour of being called the freest writer of all times1 in comparison with whom all others appear stiff1 square-toed1 intolerant1 and downright boorish6 ,in his case we should not speak of the clear and rounded but of 8the endless melody0--if by this phrase we arrive at a name for an artistic style in which the definite form is continually broken1 thrust aside and transferred to the realm of the indefinite1 so that it signifies one and the other at the same time4 ,sterne is the great master of double entendre1 this phrase being naturally used in a far wider sense than is commonly done when one applies it to sexual relations4 ,we may give up for lost the reader who always wants to know exactly what ,sterne thinks about a matter1 and whether he be making a serious or a smiling face 7for he can do both with one wrinkling of his features2 he can be and even wishes to be right and wrong at the same moment1 to interweave profundity and farce74 ,his digressions are at once continuations and further developments of the story1 his maxims contain a satire on all that is sententious1 his dislike of seriousness is bound up with a disposition to take no matter merely externally and on the surface4 ,so in the proper reader he arouses a feeling of uncertainty whether he be walking1 lying1 or standing1 a feeling most closely akin to that of floating in the air4 ,he1 the most versatile of writers1 communicates something of this versatility to his reader4 ,yes1 ,sterne unexpectedly changes the parts1 and is often as much reader as author1 his book being like a play within a play1 a theatre audience before another theatre audience4 ,we must surrender at discretion to the mood of ,sterne1 although we can always expect it to be gracious4 ,it is strangely instructive to see how so great a writer as ,diderot has affected this double entendre of ,sterne's--to be equally ambiguous throughout is just the ,sternian super-humour4 ,did ,diderot imitate1 admire1 ridicule1 or parody ,sterne in his ,jacques le ,fataliste8 ,one cannot be exactly certain1 and this uncertainty was perhaps intended by the author4 ,this very doubt makes the ,french unjust to the work of one of their first masters1 one who need not be ashamed of comparison with any of the ancients or moderns4 ,for humour 7and especially for this humorous attitude towards humour itself7 the ,french are too serious4 ,is it necessary to add that of all great authors ,sterne is the worst model1 in fact the inimitable author1 and that even ,diderot had to pay for his daring8 ,what the worthy ,frenchmen and before them some ,greeks and ,romans aimed at and attained in prose is the very opposite of what ,sterne aims at and attains4 ,he raises himself as a masterly exception above all that artists in writing demand of themselves--propriety1 reserve1 character1 steadfastness of purpose1 comprehensiveness1 perspicuity1 good deportment in gait and feature4 ,unfortunately ,sterne the man seems to have been only too closely related to ,sterne the writer4 ,his squirrel-soul sprang with insatiable unrest from branch to branch2 he knew what lies between sublimity and rascality2 he had sat on every seat1 always with unabashed watery eyes and mobile play of feature4 ,he was--if language does not revolt from such a combination--of a hard-hearted kindness1 and in the midst of the joys of a grotesque and even corrupt imagination he showed the bashful grace of innocence4 ,such a carnal and spiritual hermaphroditism1 such untrammelled wit penetrating into every vein and muscle1 was perhaps never possessed by any other man4 #aad4 ,a ,,choice ,,reality4--,just as the good prose writer only takes words that belong to the language of daily intercourse1 though not by a long way all its words--whence arises a choice style--so the good poet of the future will only represent the real and turn his eyes away from all fantastic1 superstitious1 half-voiced1 forgotten stories1 to which earlier poets devoted their powers4 ,only reality1 though by a long way not every reality--but a choice reality4 #aae4 ,,degenerate ,,species ,,of ,,art4--,side by side with the genuine species of art1 those of great repose and great movement1 there are degenerate species--weary1 blas art and excited art4 ,both would have their weakness taken for strength and wish to be confounded with the genuine species4 #aaf4 ,a ,,hero ,,impossible ,,from ,,lack ,,of ,,colour4--,the typical poets and artists of our age like to compose their pictures upon a background of shimmering red1 green1 grey1 and gold1 on the background of nervous sensuality--a condition well understood by the children of this century4 ,the drawback comes when we do not look at these pictures with the eyes of our century4 ,then we see that the great figures painted by these artists have something flickering1 tremulous1 and dizzy about them1 and accordingly we do not ascribe to them heroic deeds1 but at best mock-heroic1 swaggering misdeeds4 #aag4 ,,overladen ,,style4--,the overladen style is a consequence of the impoverishment of the organising force together with a lavish stock of expedients and intentions4 ,at the beginnings of art the very reverse conditions sometimes appear4 #aah4 ,,pulchrum ,,est ,,paucorum ,,hominum4--,history and experience tell us that the significant grotesqueness that mysteriously excites the imagination and carries one beyond everyday reality1 is older and grows more luxuriantly than the beautiful and reverence for the beautiful in art3 and that it begins to flourish exceedingly when the sense for beauty is on the wane4 ,for the vast majority of mankind this grotesque seems to be a higher need than the beautiful1 presumably because it contains a coarser narcotic4 #aai4 ,,origins ,,of ,,taste ,,in ,,works ,,of ,,art4--,if we consider the primary germs of the artistic sense1 and ask ourselves what are the various kinds of joy produced by the firstlings of art--as1 for example1 among savage tribes--we find first of all the joy of understanding what another means4 ,art in this case is a sort of conundrum1 which causes its solver pleasure in his own quick and keen perceptions4--,then the roughest works of art remind us of the pleasant things we have actually experienced1 and so give joy--as1 for example1 when the artist alludes to a chase1 a victory1 a wedding4--,again1 the representation may cause us to feel excited1 touched1 inflamed1 as for instance in the glorification of revenge and danger4 ,here the enjoyment lies in the excitement itself1 in the victory over tedium4--,the memory1 too1 of unpleasant things1 so far as they have been overcome or make us appear interesting to the listener as subjects for art 7as when the singer describes the mishaps of a daring seaman71 can inspire great joy1 the credit for which is given to art4--,a more subtle variety is the joy that arises at the sight of all that is regular and symmetrical in lines1 points1 and rhythms4 ,for by a certain analogy is awakened the feeling for all that is orderly and regular in life1 which one has to thank alone for all well-being4 ,so in the cult of symmetry we unconsciously do homage to rule and proportion as the source of our previous happiness1 and the joy in this case is a kind of hymn of thanksgiving4 ,only when a certain satiety of the last-mentioned joy arises does a more subtle feeling step in1 that enjoyment might even lie in a violation of the symmetrical and regular4 ,this feeling1 for example1 impels us to seek reason in apparent unreason1 and the sort of sthetic riddle-guessing that results is in a way the higher species of the first-named artistic joy4--,he who pursues this speculation still further will know what kind of hypotheses for the explanation of sthetic phenomena are hereby fundamentally rejected4 #abj4 ,,not ,,too ,,near4--,it is a disadvantage for good thoughts when they follow too closely on one another1 for they hide the view from each other4 ,that is why great artists and writers have made an abundant use of the mediocre4 #aba4 ,,roughness ,,and ,,weakness4--,artists of all periods have made the discovery that in roughness lies a certain strength1 and that not every one can be rough who wants to be3 also that many varieties of weakness have a powerful effect on the emotions4 ,from this source are derived many artistic substitutes1 which not even the greatest and most conscientious artists can abstain from using4 #abb4 ,,good ,,memory4--,many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason that his memory is too good4 #abc4 ,,arousing ,,instead ,,of ,,appeasing ,,hunger4--,great artists fancy that they have taken full possession of a soul4 ,in reality1 and often to their painful disappointment1 that soul has only been made more capacious and insatiable1 so that a dozen greater artists could plunge into its depths without filling it up4 #abd4 ,,artists' ,,anxiety4--,the anxiety lest people may not believe that their figures are alive can mislead many artists of declining taste to portray these figures so that they appear as if mad4 ,from the same anxiety1 on the other hand1 ,greek artists of the earliest ages gave even dead and sorely wounded men that smile which they knew as the most vivid sign of life--careless of the actual forms bestowed by nature on life at its last gasp4 #abe4 ,,the ,,circle ,,must ,,be ,,completed4--,he who follows a philosophy or a genre of art to the end of its career and beyond1 understands from inner experience why the masters and disciples who come after have so often turned1 with a depreciatory gesture1 into a new groove4 ,the circle must be described--but the individual1 even the greatest1 sits firm on his point of the circumference1 with an inexorable look of obstinacy1 as if the circle ought never to be completed4 #abf4 ,,the ,,older ,,art ,,and ,,the ,,soul ,,of ,,the ,,present4--,since every art becomes more and more adapted to the expression of spiritual states1 of the more lively1 delicate1 energetic1 and passionate states1 the later masters1 spoilt by these means of expression1 do not feel at their ease in the presence of the old-time works of art4 ,they feel as if the ancients had merely been lacking in the means of making their souls speak clearly1 also perhaps in some necessary technical preliminaries4 ,they think that they must render some assistance in this quarter1 for they believe in the similarity or even unity of all souls4 ,in truth1 however1 measure1 symmetry1 a contempt for graciousness and charm1 an unconscious severity and morning chilliness1 an evasion of passion1 as if passion meant the death of art--such are the constituents of sentiment and morality in all old masters1 who selected and arranged their means of expression not at random but in a necessary connection with their morality4 ,knowing this1 are we to deny those that come after the right to animate the older works with their soul8 ,no1 for these works can only survive through our giving them our soul1 and our blood alone enables them to speak to us4 ,the real 8historic0 discourse would talk ghostly speech to ghosts4 ,we honour the great artists less by that barren timidity that allows every word1 every note to remain intact than by energetic endeavours to aid them continually to a new life4--,true1 if ,beethoven were suddenly to come to life and hear one of his works performed with that modern animation and nervous refinement that bring glory to our masters of execution1 he would probably be silent for a long while1 uncertain whether he should raise his hand to curse or to bless1 but perhaps say at last3 8,well1 well6 ,that is neither ,i nor not-,i1 but a third thing--it seems to me1 too1 something right1 if not just the right thing4 ,but you must know yourselves what to do1 as in any case it is you who have to listen4 ,as our ,schiller says1 #8the living man is right4' ,so have it your own way1 and let me go down again40 #abg4 ,,against ,,the ,,disparagers ,,of ,,brevity4--,a brief dictum may be the fruit and harvest of long reflection4 ,the reader1 however1 who is a novice in this field and has never considered the case in point1 sees something embryonic in all brief dicta1 not without a reproachful hint to the author1 requesting him not to serve up such raw and ill-prepared food4 #abh4 ,,against ,,the ,,short-,,sighted4--,do you think it is piece-work because it is 7and must be7 offered you in pieces8 #abi4 ,,readers ,,of ,,aphorisms4--,the worst readers of aphorisms are the friends of the author1 if they make a point of referring the general to the particular instance to which the aphorism owes its origin4 ,this namby-pamby attitude brings all the author's trouble to naught1 and instead of a philosophic lesson and a philosophic frame of mind1 they deservedly gain nothing but the satisfaction of a vulgar curiosity4 #acj4 ,,readers' ,,insults4--,the reader offers a two-fold insult to the author by praising his second book at the expense of his first 7or vice versa7 and by expecting the author to be grateful to him on that account4 #aca4 ,,the ,,exciting ,,element ,,in ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,art4--,we fall into a state of terrible tension when we follow the history of an art--as1 for example1 that of ,greek oratory--and1 passing from master to master1 observe their increasing precautions to obey the old and the new laws and all these self-imposed limitations4 ,we see that the bow must snap1 and that the so-called 8loose0 composition1 with the wonderful means of expression smothered and concealed 7in this particular case the florid style of ,asianism71 was once necessary and almost beneficial4 #acb4 ,,to ,,the ,,great ,,in ,,art4--,that enthusiasm for some object which you1 ,o great man1 introduce into this world causes the intelligence of the many to be stunted4 ,the knowledge of this fact spells humiliation4 ,but the enthusiast wears his hump with pride and pleasure1 and you have the consolation of feeling that you have increased the world's happiness4 #acc4 ,,conscienceless ,,sthetes4--,the real fanatics of an artistic school are perhaps those utterly inartistic natures that are not even grounded in the elements of artistic study and creation1 but are impressed with the strongest of all the elementary influences of an art4 ,for them there is no sthetic conscience--hence nothing to hold them back from fanaticism4 #acd4 ,,how ,,the ,,soul ,,should ,,be ,,moved ,,by ,,the ,,new ,,music4--,the artistic purpose followed by the new music1 in what is now forcibly but none too lucidly termed 8endless melody10 can be understood by going into the sea1 gradually losing one's firm tread on the bottom1 and finally surrendering unconditionally to the fluid element4 ,one has to swim4 ,in the previous1 older music one was forced1 with delicate or stately or impassioned movement1 to dance4 ,the measure necessary for dancing1 the observance of a distinct balance of time and force in the soul of the hearer1 imposed a continual self-control4 ,through the counteraction of the cooler draught of air which came from this caution and the warmer breath of musical enthusiasm1 that music exercised its spell4--,richard ,wagner aimed at a different excitation of the soul1 allied1 as above said1 to swimming and floating4 ,this is perhaps the most essential of his innovations4 ,his famous method1 originating from this aim and adapted to it--the 8endless melody0--strives to break and sometimes even to despise all mathematical equilibrium of time and force4 ,he is only too rich in the invention of such effects1 which sound to the old school like rhythmic paradoxes and blasphemies4 ,he dreads petrifaction1 crystallisation1 the development of music into the architectural4 ,he accordingly sets up a three-time rhythm in opposition to the double-time1 not infrequently introduces five-time and seven-time1 immediately repeats a phrase1 but with a prolation1 so that its time is again doubled and trebled4 ,from an easy-going imitation of such art may arise a great danger to music1 for by the side of the superabundance of rhythmic emotion demoralisation and decadence lurk in ambush4 ,the danger will become very great if such music comes to associate itself more and more closely with a quite naturalistic art of acting and pantomime1 trained and dominated by no higher plastic models2 an art that knows no measure in itself and can impart no measure to the kindred element1 the all-too-womanish nature of music4 #ace4 ,,poet ,,and ,,reality4--,the ,muse of the poet who is not in love with reality will not be reality1 and will bear him children with hollow eyes and all too tender bones4 #acf4 ,,means ,,and ,,end4--,in art the end does not justify the means1 but holy means can justify the end4 #acg4 ,,the ,,worst ,,readers4--,the worst readers are those who act like plundering soldiers4 ,they take out some things that they might use1 cover the rest with filth and confusion1 and blaspheme about the whole4 #ach4 ,,signs ,,of ,a ,,good ,,writer4--,good writers have two things in common3 they prefer being understood to being admired1 and they do not write for the critical and over-shrewd reader4 #aci4 ,,the ,,mixed ,,species4--,the mixed species in art bear witness to their authors' distrust of their own strength4 ,they seek auxiliary powers1 advocates1 hiding-places--such is the case with the poet who calls in philosophy1 the musician who calls in the drama1 and the thinker who calls in rhetoric to his aid4 #adj4 ,,shutting ,,one',s ,,mouth4--,when his book opens its mouth1 the author must shut his4 #ada4 ,,badges ,,of ,,rank4--,all poets and men of letters who are in love with the superlative want to do more than they can4 #adb4 ,,cold ,,books4--,the deep thinker reckons on readers who feel with him the happiness that lies in deep thinking4 ,hence a book that looks cold and sober1 if seen in the right light1 may seem bathed in the sunshine of spiritual cheerfulness and become a genuine soul-comforter4 #adc4 ,a ,,knack ,,of ,,the ,,slow-,,witted4--,the slow-witted thinker generally allies himself with loquacity and ceremoniousness4 ,by the former he thinks he is gaining mobility and fluency1 by the latter he gives his peculiarity the appearance of being a result of free will and artistic purpose1 with a view to dignity1 which needs slow movement4 #add4 ,,le ,,style ,,baroque47#aa7--;,he who as thinker and writer is not born or trained to dialectic and the consecutive arrangement of ideas1 will unconsciously turn to the rhetoric and dramatic forms4 ,for1 after all1 his object is to make himself understood and to carry the day by force1 and he is indifferent whether1 as shepherd1 he honestly guides to himself the hearts of his fellow-men1 or1 as robber1 he captures them by surprise4 ,this is true of the plastic arts as of music3 where the feeling of insufficient dialectic or a deficiency in expression or narration1 together with an urgent1 over-powerful impulse to form1 gives birth to that species of style known as 8baroque40 ,only the ill-educated and the arrogant will at once find a depreciatory force in this word4 ,the baroque style always arises at the time of decay of a great art1 when the demands of art in classical expression have become too great4 ,it is a natural phenomenon which will be observed with melancholy--for it is a forerunner of the night--but at the same time with admiration for its peculiar compensatory arts of expression and narration4 ,to this style belongs already a choice of material and subjects of the highest dramatic tension1 at which the heart trembles even when there is no art1 because heaven and hell are all too near the emotions3 then1 the oratory of strong passion and gestures1 of ugly sublimity1 of great masses1 in fact of absolute quantity per se 7as is shown in ,michael ,angelo1 the father or grandfather of the ,italian baroque stylists73 the lights of dusk1 illumination and conflagration playing upon those strongly moulded forms3 ever-new ventures in means and aims1 strongly underscored by artists for artists1 while the layman must fancy he sees an unconscious overflowing of all the horns of plenty of an original nature-art3 all these characteristics that constitute the greatness of that style are neither possible nor permitted in the earlier ante-classical and classical periods of a branch of art4 ,such luxuries hang long on the tree like forbidden fruit4 ,just now1 when music is passing into this last phase1 we may learn to know the phenomenon of the baroque style in peculiar splendour1 and1 by comparison1 find much that is instructive for earlier ages4 ,for from ,greek times onward there has often been a baroque style1 in poetry1 oratory1 prose writing1 sculpture1 and1 as is well known1 in architecture4 ,this style1 though wanting in the highest nobility1--the nobility of an innocent1 unconscious1 triumphant perfection1--has nevertheless given pleasure to many of the best and most serious minds of their time4 ,hence1 as aforesaid1 it is presumptuous to depreciate it without reserve1 however happy we may feel because our taste for it has not made us insensible to the purer and greater style4 #ade4 ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,honest ,,books4--,honest books make the reader honest1 at least by exciting his hatred and aversion1 which otherwise cunning cleverness knows so well how to conceal4 ,against a book1 however1 we let ourselves go1 however restrained we may be in our relations with men4 #adf4 ,,how ,,art ,,makes ,,partisans4--,individual fine passages1 an exciting general tenor1 a moving and absorbing finale--so much of a work of art is accessible even to most laymen4 ,in an art period when it is desired to win over the great majority of the laymen to the side of the artists and to make a party perhaps for the very preservation of art1 the creative artist will do well to offer nothing more than the above4 ,then he will not be a squanderer of his strength1 in spheres where no one is grateful to him4 ,for to perform the remaining functions1 the imitation of ,nature in her organic development and growth1 would in that case be like sowing seeds in water4 #adg4 ,,becoming ,,great ,,to ,,the ,,detriment ,,of ,,history4--,every later master who leads the taste of art-lovers into his channel unconsciously gives rise to a selection and revaluation of the older masters and their works4 ,whatever in them is conformable and akin to him1 and anticipates and foreshadows him1 appears henceforth as the only important element in them and their works--a fruit in which a great error usually lies hidden like a worm4 #adh4 ,,how ,,an ,,epoch ,,becomes ,,lured ,,to ,,art4--,if we teach people by all the enchantments of artists and thinkers to feel reverence for their defects1 their intellectual poverty1 their absurd infatuations and passions 7as it is quite possible to do72 if we show them only the lofty side of crime and folly1 only the touching and appealing element in weakness and flabbiness and blind devotion 7that too has often enough been done73--we have employed the means for inspiring even an unphilosophical and inartistic age with an ecstatic love of philosophy and art 7especially of thinkers and artists as personalities7 and1 in the worst case1 perhaps with the only means of defending the existence of such tender and fragile beings4 #adi4 ,,criticism ,,and ,,joy4--,criticism1 one-sided and unjust as well as intelligent criticism1 gives so much pleasure to him who exercises it that the world is indebted to every work and every action that inspires much criticism and many critics4 ,for criticism draws after it a glittering train of joyousness1 wit1 self-admiration1 pride1 instruction1 designs of improvement4--,the ,god of joy created the bad and the mediocre for the same reason that he created the good4 #aej4 ,,beyond ,,his ,,limits4--,when an artist wants to be more than an artist--for example1 the moral awakener of his people--he at last falls in love1 as a punishment1 with a monster of moral substance4 ,the ,muse laughs1 for1 though a kind-hearted ,goddess1 she can also be malignant from jealousy4 ,milton and ,klopstock are cases in point4 #aea4 ,a ,,glass ,,eye4--,the tendency of a talent towards moral subjects1 characters1 motives1 towards the 8beautiful soul0 of the work of art1 is often only a glass eye put on by the artist who lacks a beautiful soul4 ,it may result1 though rarely1 that his eye finally becomes living ,nature1 if indeed it be ,nature with a somewhat troubled look4 ,but the ordinary result is that the whole world thinks it sees ,nature where there is only cold glass4 #aeb4 ,,writing ,,and ,,desire ,,for ,,victory4--,writing should always indicate a victory1 indeed a conquest of oneself which must be communicated to others for their behoof4 ,there are1 however1 dyspeptic authors who only write when they cannot digest something1 or when something has remained stuck in their teeth4 ,through their anger they try unconsciously to disgust the reader too1 and to exercise violence upon him--that is1 they desire victory1 but victory over others4 #aec4 ,a ,,good ,,book ,,needs ,,time4--,every good book tastes bitter when it first comes out1 for it has the defect of newness4 ,moreover1 it suffers damage from its living author1 if he is well known and much talked about4 ,for all the world is accustomed to confuse the author with his work4 ,whatever of profundity1 sweetness1 and brilliance the work may contain must be developed as the years go by1 under the care of growing1 then old1 and lastly traditional reverence4 ,many hours must pass1 many a spider must have woven its web about the book4 ,a book is made better by good readers and clearer by good opponents4 #aed4 ,,extravagance ,,as ,,an ,,artistic ,,means4--,artists well understand the idea of using extravagance as an artistic means in order to convey an impression of wealth4 ,this is one of those innocent wiles of soul-seduction that the artist must know1 for in his world1 which has only appearance in view1 the means to appearance need not necessarily be genuine4 #aee4 ,,the ,,hidden ,,barrel-,,organ4--,genius1 by virtue of its more ample drapery1 knows better than talent how to hide its barrel-organ4 ,yet after all it too can only play its seven old pieces over and over again4 #aef4 ,,the ,,name ,,on ,,the ,,title-,,page4--,it is now a matter of custom and almost of duty for the author's name to appear on the book1 and this is a main cause of the fact that books have so little influence4 ,if they are good1 they are worth more than the personalities of their authors1 of which they are the quintessences4 ,but as soon as the author makes himself known on the title-page1 the quintessence1 from the reader's point of view1 becomes diluted with the personal1 the most personal element1 and the aim of the book is frustrated4 ,it is the ambition of the intellect no longer to appear individual4 #aeg4 ,,the ,,most ,,cutting ,,criticism4--,we make the most cutting criticism of a man or a book when we indicate his or its ideal4 #aeh4 ,,little ,,or ,,no ,,love4--,every good book is written for a particular reader and men of his stamp1 and for that very reason is looked upon unfavourably by all other readers1 by the vast majority4 ,its reputation accordingly rests on a narrow basis and must be built up by degrees4--,the mediocre and bad book is mediocre and bad because it seeks to please1 and does please1 a great number4 #aei4 ,,music ,,and ,,disease4--,the danger of the new music lies in the fact that it puts the cup of rapture and exaltation to the lips so invitingly1 and with such a show of moral ecstasy1 that even the noble and temperate man always drinks a drop too much4 ,this minimum of intemperance1 constantly repeated1 can in the end bring about a deeper convulsion and destruction of mental health than any coarse excess could do4 ,hence nothing remains but some day to fly from the grotto of the nymph1 and through perils and billowy seas to forge one's way to the smoke of ,ithaca and the embraces of a simpler and more human spouse4 #afj4 ,,advantage ,,for ,,opponents4--,a book full of intellect communicates something thereof even to its opponents4 #afa4 ,,youth ,,and ,,criticism4--,to criticise a book means1 for the young1 not to let oneself be touched by a single productive thought therefrom1 and to protect one's skin with hands and feet4 ,the youngster lives in opposition to all novelty that he cannot love in the lump1 in a position of self-defence1 and in this connection he commits1 as often as he can1 a superfluous sin4 #afb4 ,,effect ,,of ,,quantity4--,the greatest paradox in the history of poetic art lies in this3 that in all that constitutes the greatness of the old poets a man may be a barbarian1 faulty and deformed from top to toe1 and still remain the greatest of poets4 ,this is the case with ,shakespeare1 who1 as compared with ,sophocles1 is like a mine of immeasurable wealth in gold1 lead1 and rubble1 whereas ,sophocles is not merely gold1 but gold in its noblest form1 one that almost makes us forget the money-value of the metal4 ,but quantity in its highest intensity has the same effect as quality4 ,that is a good thing for ,shakespeare4 #afc4 ,,all ,,beginning ,,is ,,dangerous4--,the ,poet can choose whether to raise emotion from one grade to another1 and so finally to exalt it to a great height--or to try a surprise attack1 and from the start to pull the bell-rope with might and main4 ,both processes have their danger--in the first case his hearer may run away from him through boredom1 in the second through terror4 #afd4 ,,in ,,favour ,,of ,,critics4--,insects sting1 not from malice1 but because they too want to live4 ,it is the same with our critics--they desire our blood1 not our pain4 #afe4 ,,success ,,of ,,aphorisms4--,the inexperienced1 when an aphorism at once illuminates their minds with its naked truth1 always think that it is old and well known4 ,they look askance at the author1 as if he had wanted to steal the common property of all1 whereas they enjoy highly spiced half-truths1 and give the author to understand as much4 ,he knows how to appreciate the hint1 and easily guesses thereby where he has succeeded and failed4 #aff4 ,,the ,,desire ,,for ,,victory4--,an artist who exceeds the limit of his strength in all that he undertakes will end by carrying the multitude along with him through the spectacle of violent wrestling that he affords4 ,success is not always the accompaniment only of victory1 but also of the desire for victory4 #afg4 ,,sibi ,,scribere4--,the sensible author writes for no other posterity than his own--that is1 for his age--so as to be able even then to take pleasure in himself4 #afh4 ,,praise ,,of ,,the ,,aphorism4--,a good aphorism is too hard for the tooth of time1 and is not worn away by all the centuries1 although it serves as food for every epoch4 ,hence it is the greatest paradox in literature1 the imperishable in the midst of change1 the nourishment which always remains highly valued1 as salt does1 and never becomes stupid like salt4 #afi4 ,,the ,,art-,,need ,,of ,,the ,,second ,,order4--,the people may have something of what can be called art-need1 but it is small1 and can be cheaply satisfied4 ,on the whole1 the remnant of art 7it must be honestly confessed7 suffices for this need4 ,let us consider1 for example1 the kind of melodies and songs in which the most vigorous1 unspoiled1 and true-hearted classes of the population find genuine delight2 let us live among shepherds1 cowherds1 peasants1 huntsmen1 soldiers1 and sailors1 and give ourselves the answer4 ,and in the country town1 just in the houses that are the homes of inherited civic virtue1 is it not the worst music at present produced that is loved and1 one might say1 cherished8 ,he who speaks of deeper needs and unsatisfied yearnings for art among the people1 as it is1 is a crank or an impostor4 ,be honest6 ,only in exceptional men is there now an art-need in the highest sense--because art is once more on the down-grade1 and human powers and hopes are for the time being directed to other matters4--,apart from this1 outside the populace1 there exists indeed1 in the higher and highest strata of society1 a broader and more comprehensive art-need1 but of the second order4 ,here there is a sort of artistic commune1 which possibly means to be sincere4 ,but let us look at the elements6 ,they are in general the more refined malcontents1 who attain no genuine pleasure in themselves2 the cultured1 who have not become free enough to dispense with the consolations of religion1 and yet do not find its incense sufficiently fragrant2 the half-aristocratic1 who are too weak to combat by a heroic conversion or renunciation the one fundamental error of their lives or the pernicious bent of their characters2 the highly gifted1 who think themselves too dignified to be of service by modest activity1 and are too lazy for real1 self-sacrificing work2 girls who cannot create for themselves a satisfactory sphere of duties2 women who have tied themselves by a light-hearted or nefarious marriage1 and know that they are not tied securely enough2 scholars1 physicians1 merchants1 officials who specialised too early and never gave their lives a free enough scope--who do their work efficiently1 it is true1 but with a worm gnawing at their hearts2 finally1 all imperfect artists--these are nowadays the true needers of art6 ,what do they really desire from art8 ,art is to drive away hours and moments of discomfort1 boredom1 half-bad conscience1 and1 if possible1 transform the faults of their lives and characters into faults of world-destiny4 ,very different were the ,greeks1 who realised in their art the outflow and overflow of their own sense of well-being and health1 and loved to see their perfection once more from a standpoint outside themselves4 ,they were led to art by delight in themselves2 our contemporaries--by disgust of themselves4 #agj4 ,,the ,,germans ,,in ,,the ,,theatre4--,the real theatrical talent of the ,germans was ,kotzebue4 ,he and his ,germans1 those of higher as well as those of middle-class society1 were necessarily associated1 and his contemporaries should have said of him in all seriousness1 8in him we live and move and have our being40 ,here was nothing--no constraint1 pretence1 or half-enjoyment3 what he could and would do was understood4 ,yes1 until now the honest theatrical success on the ,german stage has been in the hands of the shamefaced or unashamed heirs of ,kotzebue's methods and influence--that is1 as far as comedy still flourishes at all4 ,the result is that much of the ,germanism of that age1 sometimes far off from the great towns1 still survives4 ,good-natured2 incontinent in small pleasures2 always ready for tears2 with the desire1 in the theatre at any rate1 to be able to get rid of their innate sobriety and strict attention to duty and exercise2 a smiling1 nay1 a laughing indulgence2 confusing goodness and sympathy and welding them into one1 as is the essential characteristic of ,german sentimentality2 exceedingly happy at a noble1 magnanimous action2 for the rest1 submissive towards superiors1 envious of each other1 and yet in their heart of hearts thoroughly self-satisfied--such were they and such was he4--,the second dramatic talent was ,schiller4 ,he discovered a class of hearers which had hitherto never been taken into consideration3 among the callow ,german youth of both sexes4 ,his poetry responded to their higher1 nobler1 more violent if more confused emotions1 their delight in the jingle of moral words 7a delight that begins to disappear when we reach the thirties74 ,thus he won for himself1 by virtue of the passionateness and partisanship of the young1 a success which gradually reacted with advantage upon those of riper years4 ,generally speaking1 ,schiller rejuvenated the ,germans4 ,goethe stood and still stands above the ,germans in every respect4 ,to them he will never belong4 ,how could a nation in well-being and well-wishing come up to the intellectuality of ,goethe8 ,beethoven composed and ,schopenhauer philosophised above the heads of the ,germans1 and it was above their heads1 in the same way1 that ,goethe wrote his ,tasso1 his ,iphigenie4 ,he was followed by a small company of highly cultured persons1 who were educated by antiquity1 life1 and travel1 and had grown out of ,german ways of thought4 ,he himself did not wish it to be otherwise4--,when the ,romantics set up their well-conceived ,goethe cult2 when their amazing skill in appreciation was passed on to the disciples of ,hegel1 the real educators of the ,germans of this century2 when the awakening national ambition turned out advantageous to the fame of the ,german poets2 when the real standard of the nation1 as to whether it could honestly find enjoyment in anything1 became inexorably subordinated to the judgment of individuals and to that national ambition1--that is1 when people began to enjoy by compulsion1--then arose that false1 spurious ,german culture which was ashamed of ,kotzebue2 which brought ,sophocles1 ,calderon1 and even the ,second ,part of ,goethe's ,faust on the stage2 and which1 on account of its foul tongue and congested stomach1 no longer knows now what it likes and what it finds tedious4--,happy are those who have taste1 even if it be a bad taste6 ,only by this characteristic can one be wise as well as happy4 ,hence the ,greeks1 who were very refined in such matters1 designated the sage by a word that means 8man of taste10 and called wisdom1 artistic as well as scientific1 8taste0 7sophia74 #aga4 ,,music ,,as ,a ,,late-,,comer ,,in ,,every ,,culture4--,among all the arts that are accustomed to grow on a definite culture-soil and under definite social and political conditions1 music is the last plant to come up1 arising in the autumn and fading-season of the culture to which it belongs4 ,at the same time1 the first signs and harbingers of a new spring are usually already noticeable1 and sometimes music1 like the language of a forgotten age1 rings out into a new1 astonished world1 and comes too late4 ,in the art of the ,dutch and ,flemish musicians the soul of the ,christian middle ages at last found its fullest tone3 their sound-architecture is the posthumous but legitimate and equal sister of ,gothic4 ,not until ,handel's music was heard the note of the best in the soul of ,luther and his kin1 the great ,judo-heroical impulse that created the whole ,reformation movement4 ,mozart first expressed in golden melody the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 and the art of ,racine and ,claude ,lorrain4 ,the eighteenth century--that century of rhapsody1 of broken ideals and transitory happiness--only sang itself out in the music of ,beethoven and ,rossini4 ,a lover of sentimental similes might say that all really important music was a swan-song4--,music is1 in fact1 not a universal language for all time1 as is so often said in its praise1 but responds exactly to a particular period and warmth of emotion which involves a quite definite1 individual culture1 determined by time and place1 as its inner law4 ,the music of ,palestrina would be quite unintelligible to a ,greek2 and again1 what would the music of ,rossini convey to ,palestrina8--,it may be that our most modern ,german music1 with all its pre-eminence and desire of pre-eminence1 will soon be no longer understood4 ,for this music sprang from a culture that is undergoing a rapid decay1 from the soil of that epoch of reaction and restoration in which a certain ,catholicism of feeling1 as well as a delight in all indigenous1 national1 primitive manners1 burst into bloom and scattered a blended perfume over ,europe4 ,these two emotional tendencies1 adopted in their greatest strength and carried to their farthest limits1 found final expression in the music of ,wagner4 ,wagner's predilection for the old native sagas1 his free idealisation of their unfamiliar gods and heroes1--who are really sovereign beasts of prey with occasional fits of thoughtfulness1 magnanimity1 and boredom1--his re-animation of those figures1 to which he gave in addition the medival ,christian thirst for ecstatic sensuality and spiritualisation--all this ,wagnerian give-and-take with regard to materials1 souls1 figures1 and words--would clearly express the spirit of his music1 if it could not1 like all music1 speak quite unambiguously of itself4 ,this spirit wages the last campaign of reaction against the spirit of illumination which passed into this century from the last1 and also against the super-national ideas of ,french revolutionary romanticism and of ,english and ,american insipidity in the reconstruction of state and society4--,but is it not evident that the spheres of thought and emotion apparently suppressed by ,wagner and his school have long since acquired fresh strength1 and that his late musical protest against them generally rings into ears that prefer to hear different and opposite notes2 so that one day that high and wonderful art will suddenly become unintelligible and will be covered by the spider's web of oblivion8--,in considering this state of affairs we must not let ourselves be led astray by those transitory fluctuations which arise like a reaction within a reaction1 as a temporary sinking of the mountainous wave in the midst of the general upheaval4 ,thus1 this decade of national war1 ultramontane martyrdom1 and socialistic unrest may1 in its remoter after-effect1 even aid the ,wagnerian art to acquire a sudden halo1 without guaranteeing that it 8has a future0 or that it has the future4 ,it is in the very nature of music that the fruits of its great culture-vintage should lose their taste and wither earlier than the fruits of the plastic arts or those that grow on the tree of knowledge4 ,among all the products of the human artistic sense ideas are the most solid and lasting4 #agb4 ,,the ,,poet ,,no ,,longer ,a ,,teacher4--,strange as it may sound to our time1 there were once poets and artists whose soul was above the passions with their delights and convulsions1 and who therefore took their pleasure in purer materials1 worthier men1 more delicate complications and dnouements4 ,if the artists of our day for the most part unfetter the will1 and so are under certain circumstances for that very reason emancipators of life1 those were tamers of the will1 enchanters of animals1 creators of men4 ,in fact1 they moulded1 re-moulded1 and new-moulded life1 whereas the fame of poets of our day lies in unharnessing1 unchaining1 and shattering4--,the ancient ,greeks demanded of the poet that he should be the teacher of grown men4 ,how ashamed the poet would be now if this demand were made of him6 ,he is not even a good student of himself1 and so never himself becomes a good poem or a fine picture4 ,under the most favourable circumstances he remains the shy1 attractive ruin of a temple1 but at the same time a cavern of cravings1 overgrown like a ruin with flowers1 nettles1 and poisonous weeds1 inhabited and haunted by snakes1 worms1 spiders1 and birds2 an object for sad reflection as to why the noblest and most precious must grow up at once like a ruin1 without the past and future of perfection4 #agc4 ,,looking ,,forward ,,and ,,backward4--,an art like that which streams out of ,homer1 ,sophocles1 ,theocritus1 ,calderon1 ,racine1 ,goethe1 as the superabundance of a wise and harmonious conduct of life--that is the true art1 at which we grasp when we have ourselves become wiser and more harmonious4 ,it is not that barbaric1 if ever so delightful1 outpouring of hot and highly coloured things from an undisciplined1 chaotic soul1 which is what we understood by 8art0 in our youth4 ,it is obvious from the nature of the case that for certain periods of life an art of overstrain1 excitement1 antipathy to the orderly1 monotonous1 simple1 logical1 is an inevitable need1 to which artists must respond1 lest the soul of such periods should unburden itself in other ways1 through all kinds of disorder and impropriety4 ,hence youths as they generally are1 full1 fermenting1 tortured above all things by boredom1 and women who lack work that fully occupies their soul1 require that art of delightful disorder4 ,all the more violently on that account are they inflamed with a desire for satisfaction without change1 happiness without stupor and intoxication4 #agd4 ,,against ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,works ,,of ,,art4--,art is above all and first of all meant to embellish life1 to make us ourselves endurable and if possible agreeable in the eyes of others4 ,with this task in view1 art moderates us and holds us in restraint1 creates forms of intercourse1 binds over the uneducated to laws of decency1 cleanliness1 politeness1 well-timed speech and silence4 ,hence art must conceal or transfigure everything that is ugly--the painful1 terrible1 and disgusting elements which in spite of every effort will always break out afresh in accordance with the very origin of human nature4 ,art has to perform this duty especially in regard to the passions and spiritual agonies and anxieties1 and to cause the significant factor to shine through unavoidable or unconquerable ugliness4 ,to this great1 super-great task the so-called art proper1 that of works of art1 is a mere accessary4 ,a man who feels within himself a surplus of such powers of embellishment1 concealment1 and transfiguration will finally seek to unburden himself of this surplus in works of art4 ,the same holds good1 under special circumstances1 of a whole nation4--,but as a rule we nowadays begin art at the end1 hang on to its tail1 and think that works of art constitute art proper1 and that life should be improved and transformed by this means--fools that we are6 ,if we begin a dinner with dessert1 and try sweet after sweet1 small wonder that we ruin our digestions and even our appetites for the good1 hearty1 nourishing meal to which art invites us6 #age4 ,,continued ,,existence ,,of ,,art4--,why1 really1 does a creative art nowadays continue to exist8 ,because the majority who have hours of leisure 7and such an art is for them only7 think that they cannot fill up their time without music1 theatres and picture-galleries1 novels and poetry4 ,granted that one could keep them from this indulgence1 either they would strive less eagerly for leisure1 and the invidious sight of the rich would be less common 7a great gain for the stability of society71 or they would have leisure1 but would learn to reflect on what can be learnt and unlearnt3 on their work1 for instance1 their associations1 the pleasure they could bestow4 ,all the world1 with the exception of the artist1 would in both cases reap the advantage4--,certainly1 there are many vigorous1 sensible readers who could take objection to this4 ,still1 it must be said on behalf of the coarse and malignant that the author himself is concerned with this protest1 and that there is in his book much to be read that is not actually written down therein4 #agf4 ,,the ,,mouthpiece ,,of ,,the ,,gods4--,the poet expresses the universal higher opinions of the nation1 he is its mouthpiece and flute2 but by virtue of metre and all other artistic means he so expresses them that the nation regards them as something quite new and wonderful1 and believes in all seriousness that he is the mouthpiece of the ,gods4 ,yes1 under the clouds of creation the poet himself forgets whence he derives all his intellectual wisdom--from father and mother1 from teachers and books of all kinds1 from the street and particularly from the priest4 ,he is deceived by his own art1 and really believes1 in a nave period1 that a ,god is speaking through him1 that he is creating in a state of religious inspiration4 ,as a matter of fact1 he is only saying what he has learnt1 a medley of popular wisdom and popular foolishness4 ,hence1 so far as a poet is really vox populi he is held to be vox dei4 #agg4 ,,what ,,all ,,art ,,wants ,,to ,,do ,,and ,,cannot4--,the last and hardest task of the artist is the presentment of what remains the same1 reposes in itself1 is lofty and simple and free from the bizarre4 ,hence the noblest forms of moral perfection are rejected as inartistic by weaker artists1 because the sight of these fruits is too painful for their ambition4 ,the fruit gleams at them from the topmost branches of art1 but they lack the ladder1 the courage1 the grip to venture so high4 ,in himself a ,phidias is quite possible as a poet1 but1 if modern strength be taken into consideration1 almost solely in the sense that to ,god nothing is impossible4 ,the desire for a poetical ,claude ,lorrain is already an immodesty at present1 however earnestly one man's heart may yearn for such a consummation4--,the presentment of the highest man1 the most simple and at the same time the most complete1 has hitherto been beyond the scope of all artists4 ,perhaps1 however1 the ,greeks1 in the ideal of ,athene1 saw farther than any men did before or after their time4 #agh4 ,,art ,,and ,,restoration4--,the retrograde movements in history1 the so-called periods of restoration1 which try to revive intellectual and social conditions that existed before those immediately preceding1--and seem really to succeed in giving them a brief resurrection1--have the charm of sentimental recollection1 ardent longing for what is almost lost1 hasty embracing of a transitory happiness4 ,it is on account of this strange trend towards seriousness that in such transient and almost dreamy periods art and poetry find a natural soil1 just as the tenderest and rarest plants grow on mountain-slopes of steep declivity4--,thus many a good artist is unwittingly impelled to a 8restoration0 way of thinking in politics and society1 for which1 on his own account1 he prepares a quiet little corner and garden4 ,here he collects about himself the human remains of the historical epoch that appeals to him1 and plays his lyre to many who are dead1 half-dead1 and weary to death1 perhaps with the above-mentioned result of a brief resurrection4 #agi4 ,,happiness ,,of ,,the ,,age4--,in two respects our age is to be accounted happy4 ,with respect to the past1 we enjoy all cultures and their productions1 and nurture ourselves on the noblest blood of all periods4 ,we stand sufficiently near to the magic of the forces from whose womb these periods are born to be able in passing to submit to their spell with pleasure and terror2 whereas earlier cultures could only enjoy themselves1 and never looked beyond themselves1 but were rather overarched by a bell of broader or narrower dome1 through which indeed light streamed down to them1 but which their gaze could not pierce4 ,with respect to the future1 there opens out to us for the first time a mighty1 comprehensive vista of human and economic purposes engirdling the whole inhabited globe4 ,at the same time1 we feel conscious of a power ourselves to take this new task in hand without presumption1 without requiring supernatural aids4 ,yes1 whatever the result of our enterprise1 however much we may have overestimated our strength1 at any rate we need render account to no one but ourselves1 and mankind can henceforth begin to do with itself what it will4--,there are1 it is true1 peculiar human bees1 who only know how to suck the bitterest and worst elements from the chalice of every flower4 ,it is true that all flowers contain something that is not honey1 but these bees may be allowed to feel in their own way about the happiness of our time1 and continue to build up their hive of discomfort4 #ahj4 ,a ,,vision4--,hours of instruction and meditation for adults1 even the most mature1 and such institutions visited without compulsion but in accordance with the moral injunction of the whole community2 the churches as the meeting-places most worthy and rich in memories for the purpose2 at the same time daily festivals in honour of the reason that is attained and attainable by man2 a newer and fuller budding and blooming of the ideal of the teacher1 in which the clergyman1 the artist and the physician1 the man of science and the sage are blended1 and their individual virtues should come to the fore as a collective virtue in their teaching itself1 in their discourses1 in their method--this is my ever-recurring vision1 of which ,i firmly believe that it has raised a corner of the veil of the future4 #aha4 ,,education ,a ,,distortion4--,the extraordinary haphazardness of the whole system of education1 which leads every adult to say nowadays that his sole educator was chance1 and the weathercock-nature of educational methods and aims1 may be explained as follows4 ,the oldest and the newest culture-powers1 as in a turbulent mass-meeting1 would rather be heard than understood1 and wish to prove at all costs by their outcries and clamourings that they still exist or already exist4 ,the poor teachers and educators are first dazed by this senseless noise1 then become silent and finally apathetic1 allowing anything to be done to them just as they in their turn allow anything to be done to their pupils4 ,they are not trained themselves1 so how are they to train others8 ,they are themselves no straight-growing1 vigorous1 succulent trees1 and he who wishes to attach himself to them must wind and bend himself and finally become distorted and deformed as they4 #ahb4 ,,philosophers ,,and ,,artists ,,of ,,the ,,age4--,rhapsody and frigidity1 burning desires and waning of the heart's glow--this wretched medley is to be found in the picture of the highest ,european society of the present day4 ,there the artist thinks that he is achieving a great deal when through his art he lights the torch of the heart as well as the torch of desire4 ,the philosopher has the same notion1 when in the chilliness of his heart1 which he has in common with his age1 he cools hot desires in himself and his following by his world-denying judgments4 #ahc4 ,,not ,,to ,,be ,a ,,soldier ,,of ,,culture ,,without ,,necessity4--,at last people are learning what it costs us so dear not to know in our youth--that we must first do superior actions and secondly seek the superior wherever and under whatever names it is to be found2 that we must at once go out of the way of all badness and mediocrity without fighting it2 and that even doubt as to the excellence of a thing 7such as quickly arises in one of practised taste7 should rank as an argument against it and a reason for completely avoiding it4 ,we must not shrink from the danger of occasionally making a mistake and confounding the less accessible good with the bad and imperfect4 ,only he who can do nothing better should attack the world's evils as the soldier of culture4 ,but those who should support culture and spread its teachings ruin themselves if they go about armed1 and by precautions1 night-watches1 and bad dreams turn the peace of their domestic and artistic life into sinister unrest4 #ahd4 ,,how ,,natural ,,history ,,should ,,be ,,expounded4--,natural history1 like the history of the war and victory of moral and intellectual forces in the campaign against anxiety1 self-delusion1 laziness1 superstition1 folly1 should be so expounded that every reader or listener may be continually aroused to strive after mental and physical health and soundness1 after the feeling of joy1 and be awakened to the desire to be the heir and continuator of mankind1 to an ever nobler adventurous impulse4 ,hitherto natural history has not found its true language1 because the inventive and eloquent artists--who are needed for this purpose--never rid themselves of a secret mistrust of it1 and above all never wish to learn from it a thorough lesson4 ,nevertheless it must be conceded to the ,english that their scientific manuals for the lower strata of the people have made admirable strides towards that ideal4 ,but then such books are written by their foremost men of learning1 full1 complete1 and inspiring natures1 and not1 as among us1 by mediocre investigators4 #ahe4 ,,genius ,,in ,,humanity4--,if genius1 according to ,schopenhauer's observation1 lies in the coherent and vivid recollection of our own experience1 a striving towards genius in humanity collectively might be deduced from the striving towards knowledge of the whole historic past--which is beginning to mark off the modern age more and more as compared with earlier ages and has for the first time broken down the barriers between nature and spirit1 men and animals1 morality and physics4 ,a perfectly conceived history would be cosmic self-consciousness4 #ahf4 ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,culture4--,on great minds is bestowed the terrifying all-too-human of their natures1 their blindnesses1 deformities1 and extravagances1 so that their more powerful1 easily all-too-powerful influence may be continually held within bounds through the distrust aroused by such qualities4 ,for the sum-total of all that humanity needs for its continued existence is so comprehensive1 and demands powers so diverse and so numerous1 that for every one-sided predilection1 whether in science or politics or art or commerce1 to which such natures would persuade us1 mankind as a whole has to pay a heavy price4 ,it has always been a great disaster to culture when human beings are worshipped4 ,in this sense we may understand the precept of ,mosaic law which forbids us to have any other gods but ,god4--,side by side with the cult of genius and violence we must always place1 as its complement and remedy1 the cult of culture4 ,this cult can find an intelligent appreciation even for the material1 the inferior1 the mean1 the misunderstood1 the weak1 the imperfect1 the one-sided1 the incomplete1 the untrue1 the apparent1 even the wicked and horrible1 and can grant them the concession that all this is necessary4 ,for the continued harmony of all things human1 attained by amazing toil and strokes of luck1 and just as much the work of ,cyclopes and ants as of geniuses1 shall never be lost4 ,how1 indeed1 could we dispense with that deep1 universal1 and often uncanny bass1 without which1 after all1 melody cannot be melody8 #ahg4 ,,the ,,antique ,,world ,,and ,,pleasure4--,the man of the antique world understood better how to rejoice1 we understand better how to grieve less4 ,they continually found new motives for feeling happy1 for celebrating festivals1 being inventive with all their wealth of shrewdness and reflection4 ,we1 on the other hand1 concentrate our intellect rather on the solving of problems which have in view painlessness and the removal of sources of discomfort4 ,with regard to suffering existence1 the ancients sought to forget or in some way to convert the sensation into a pleasant one1 thus trying to supply palliatives4 ,we attack the causes of suffering1 and on the whole prefer to use prophylactics4--,perhaps we are only building upon a foundation whereon a later age will once more set up the temple of joy4 #ahh4 ,,the ,,muses ,,as ,,liars4--8,we know how to tell many lies10 so sang the ,muses once1 when they revealed themselves to ,hesiod4--,the conception of the artist as deceiver1 once grasped1 leads to important discoveries4 #ahi4 ,,how ,,paradoxical ,,homer ,,can ,,be4--,is there anything more desperate1 more horrible1 more incredible1 shining over human destiny like a winter sun1 than that idea of ,homer's3 8,so the decree of the ,gods willed it1 and doomed man to perish1 that it might be a matter for song even to distant generations08 ,in other words1 we suffer and perish so that poets may not lack material1 and this is the dispensation of those very ,gods of ,homer who seem much concerned about the joyousness of generations to come1 but very little about us men of the present4 ,to think that such ideas should ever have entered the head of a ,greek6 #aij4 ,,supplementary ,,justification ,,of ,,existence4--,many ideas have come into the world as errors and fancies but have turned out truths1 because men have afterwards given them a genuine basis to rest upon4 #aia4 ,,pro ,,and ,,con ,,necessary4--,he who has not realised that every great man must not only be encouraged but also1 for the sake of the common welfare1 opposed1 is certainly still a great child--or himself a great man4 #aib4 ,,injustice ,,of ,,genius4--,genius is most unjust towards geniuses1 if they be contemporary4 ,either it thinks it has no need of them and considers them superfluous 7for it can do without them71 or their influence crosses the path of its electric current1 in which case it even calls them pernicious4 #aic4 ,,the ,,saddest ,,destiny ,,of ,a ,,prophet4--,he has worked twenty years to convince his contemporaries1 and succeeds at last1 but in the meantime his adversaries have also succeeded--he is no longer convinced of himself4 #aid4 ,,three ,,thinkers ,,like ,,one ,,spider4--,in every philosophical school three thinkers follow one another in this relation3 the first produces from himself sap and seed1 the second draws it out in threads and spins a cunning web1 the third waits in this web for the victims who are caught in it--and tries to live upon this philosophy4 #aie4 ,,from ,,association ,,with ,,authors4--,it is as bad a habit to go about with an author grasping him by the nose as grasping him by the horn 7and every author has his horn74 #aif4 ,a ,,team ,,of ,,two4--,vagueness of thought and outbursts of sentimentality are as often wedded to the reckless desire to have one's own way by hook or by crook1 to make oneself alone of any consequence1 as a genuinely helpful1 gracious1 and kindly spirit is wedded to the impulse towards clearness and purity of thought and towards emotional moderation and self-restraint4 #aig4 ,,binding ,,and ,,separating ,,forces4--,surely it is in the heads of men that there arises the force that binds them--an understanding of their common interest or the reverse2 and in their hearts the force that separates them--a blind choosing and groping in love and hate1 a devotion to one at the expense of all1 and a consequent contempt for the common utility4 #aih4 ,,marksmen ,,and ,,thinkers4--,there are curious marksmen who miss their mark1 but leave the shooting-gallery with secret pride in the fact that their bullet at any rate flew very far 7beyond the mark1 it is true71 or that it did not hit the mark but hit something else4 ,there are thinkers of the same stamp4 #aii4 ,,attack ,,from ,,two ,,sides4--,we act as enemies towards an intellectual tendency or movement when we are superior to it and disapprove of its aim1 or when its aim is too high and unrecognisable to our eye--in other words1 when it is superior to us4 ,so the same party may be attacked from two sides1 from above and from below4 ,not infrequently the assailants1 from common hatred1 form an alliance which is more repulsive than all that they hate4 #bjj4 ,,original4--,original minds are distinguished not by being the first to see a new thing1 but by seeing the old1 well-known thing1 which is seen and overlooked by every one1 as something new4 ,the first discoverer is usually that quite ordinary and unintellectual visionary--chance4 #bja4 ,,error ,,of ,,philosophers4--,the philosopher believes that the value of his philosophy lies in the whole1 in the structure4 ,posterity finds it in the stone with which he built and with which1 from that time forth1 men will build oftener and better--in other words1 in the fact that the structure may be destroyed and yet have value as material4 #bjb4 ,,wit4--,wit is the epitaph of an emotion4 #bjc4 ,,the ,,moment ,,before ,,solution4--,in science it occurs every day and every hour that a man1 immediately before the solution1 remains stuck1 being convinced that his efforts have been entirely in vain--like one who1 in untying a noose1 hesitates at the moment when it is nearest to coming loose1 because at that very moment it looks most like a knot4 #bjd4 ,,among ,,the ,,visionaries4--,the thoughtful man1 and he who is sure of his intelligence1 may profitably consort with visionaries for a decade and abandon himself in their torrid zone to a moderate insanity4 ,he will thus have travelled a good part of the road towards that cosmopolitanism of the intellect which can say without presumption1 8,nothing intellectual is alien to me40 #bje4 ,,keen ,,air4--,the best and healthiest element in science as amid the mountains is the keen air that plays about it4--,intellectual molly-coddles 7such as artists7 dread and abuse science on account of this atmosphere4 #bjf4 ,,why ,,savants ,,are ,,nobler ,,than ,,artists4--,science requires nobler natures than does poetry2 natures that are more simple1 less ambitious1 more restrained1 calmer1 that think less of posthumous fame and can bury themselves in studies which1 in the eye of the many1 scarcely seem worthy of such a sacrifice of personality4 ,there is another loss of which they are conscious4 ,the nature of their occupation1 its continual exaction of the greatest sobriety1 weakens their will2 the fire is not kept up so vigorously as on the hearths of poetic minds4 ,as such1 they often lose their strength and prime earlier than artists do--and1 as has been said1 they are aware of their danger4 ,under all circumstances they seem less gifted because they shine less1 and thus they will always be rated below their value4 #bjg4 ,,how ,,far ,,piety ,,obscures4--,in later centuries the great man is credited with all the great qualities and virtues of his century4 ,thus all that is best is continually obscured by piety1 which treats the picture as a sacred one1 to be surrounded with all manner of votive offerings4 ,in the end the picture is completely veiled and covered by the offerings1 and thenceforth is more an object of faith than of contemplation4 #bjh4 ,,standing ,,on ,,one',s ,,head4--,if we make truth stand on its head1 we generally fail to notice that our own head1 too1 is not in its right position4 #bji4 ,,origin ,,and ,,utility ,,of ,,fashion4--,the obvious satisfaction of the individual with his own form excites imitation and gradually creates the form of the many--that is1 fashion4 ,the many desire1 and indeed attain1 that same comforting satisfaction with their own form4 ,consider how many reasons every man has for anxiety and shy self-concealment1 and how1 on this account1 three-fourths of his energy and goodwill is crippled and may become unproductive6 ,so we must be very grateful to fashion for unfettering that three-fourths and communicating self-confidence and the power of cheerful compromise to those who feel themselves bound to each other by its law4 ,even foolish laws give freedom and calm of the spirit1 so long as many persons have submitted to their sway4 #baj4 ,,looseners ,,of ,,tongues4--,the value of many men and books rests solely on their faculty for compelling all to speak out the most hidden and intimate things4 ,they are looseners of tongues and crowbars to open the most stubborn teeth4 ,many events and misdeeds which are apparently only sent as a curse to mankind possess this value and utility4 #baa4 ,,intellectual ,,freedom ,,of ,,domicile47#ab7--,who of us could dare to call himself a 8free spirit0 if he could not render homage after his fashion1 by taking on his own shoulders a portion of that burden of public dislike and abuse1 to men to whom this name is attached as a reproach8 ,we might as well call ourselves in all seriousness 8spirits free of domicile0 7,freizgig7 7and without that arrogant or high-spirited defiance7 because we feel the impulse to freedom 7,zug zur ,freiheit7 as the strongest instinct of our minds and1 in contrast to fixed and limited minds1 practically see our ideal in an intellectual nomadism--to use a modest and almost depreciatory expression4 #bab4 ,,yes1 ,,the ,,favour ,,of ,,the ,,muses6--,what ,homer says on this point goes right to our heart1 so true1 so terrible is it3 8,the ,muse loved him with all her heart and gave him good and evil1 for she took away his eyes and vouchsafed him sweet song40 ,this is an endless text for thinking men3 she gives good and evil1 that is her manner of loving with all her heart and soul6 ,and each man will interpret specially for himself why we poets and thinkers have to give up our eyes in her service47#ac7 #bac4 ,,against ,,the ,,cultivation ,,of ,,music4--,the artistic training of the eye from childhood upwards by means of drawing1 painting1 landscape-sketching1 figures1 scenes1 involves an estimable gain in life1 making the eyesight keen1 calm1 and enduring in the observation of men and circumstances4 ,no similar secondary advantage arises from the artistic cultivation of the ear1 whence public schools will generally do well to give the art of the eye a preference over that of the ear4 #bad4 ,,the ,,discoverers ,,of ,,trivialities4--,subtle minds1 from which nothing is farther than trivialities1 often discover a triviality after taking all manner of circuitous routes and mountain paths1 and1 to the astonishment of the non-subtle1 rejoice exceedingly4 #bae4 ,,morals ,,of ,,savants4--,a regular and rapid advance in the sciences is only possible when the individual is compelled to be not so distrustful as to test every calculation and assertion of others1 in fields which are remote from his own4 ,a necessary condition1 however1 is that every man should have competitors in his own sphere1 who are extremely distrustful and keep a sharp eye upon him4 ,from this juxtaposition of 8not too distrustful0 and 8extremely distrustful0 arises sincerity in the republic of learning4 #baf4 ,,reasons ,,for ,,sterility4--,there are highly gifted minds which are always sterile only because1 from temperamental weakness1 they are too impatient to wait for their pregnancy4 #bag4 ,,the ,,perverted ,,world ,,of ,,tears4--,the manifold discomforts which the demands of higher culture cause to man finally pervert his nature to such an extent that he usually keeps himself stoical and unbending4 ,thus he has tears in reserve only for rare occasions of happiness1 so that many must weep even at the enjoyment of painlessness--only when happy does his heart still beat4 #bah4 ,,the ,,greeks ,,as ,,interpreters4--,when we speak of the ,greeks we unwittingly speak of to-day and yesterday2 their universally known history is a blank mirror1 always reflecting something that is not in the mirror itself4 ,we enjoy the freedom of speaking about them in order to have the right of being silent about others--so that these ,greeks themselves may whisper something in the ear of the reflective reader4 ,thus the ,greeks facilitate to modern men the communication of much that is debatable and hard to communicate4 #bai4 ,,of ,,the ,,acquired ,,character ,,of ,,the ,,greeks4--,we are easily led astray by the renowned ,greek clearness1 transparency1 simplicity1 and order1 by their crystal-like naturalness and crystal-like art1 into believing that all these gifts were bestowed on the ,greeks--for instance1 that they could not but write well1 as ,lichtenberg expressed it on one occasion4 ,yet no statement could be more hasty and more untenable4 ,the history of prose from ,gorgias to ,demosthenes shows a course of toiling and wrestling towards light from the obscure1 overloaded1 and tasteless1 reminding one of the labour of heroes who had to construct the first roads through forest and bog4 ,the dialogue of tragedy was the real achievement of the dramatist1 owing to its uncommon clearness and precision1 whereas the national tendency was to riot in symbolism and innuendo1 a tendency expressly fostered by the great choral lyric4 ,similarly it was the achievement of ,homer to liberate the ,greeks from ,asiatic pomp and gloom1 and to have attained the clearness of architecture in details great and small4 ,nor was it by any means thought easy to say anything in a pure and illuminating style4 ,how else should we account for the great admiration for the epigram of ,simonides1 which shows itself so simple1 with no gilded points or arabesques of wit1 but says all that it has to say plainly and with the calm of the sun1 not with the straining after effect of the lightning4 ,since the struggle towards light from an almost native twilight is ,greek1 a thrill of jubilation runs through the people when they hear a laconic sentence1 the language of elegy or the maxims of the ,seven ,wise ,men4 ,hence they were so fond of giving precepts in verse1 a practice that we find objectionable4 ,this was the true ,apolline task of the ,hellenic spirit1 with the aim of rising superior to the perils of metre and the obscurity which is otherwise characteristic of poetry4 ,simplicity1 flexibility1 and sobriety were wrestled for and not given by nature to this people4 ,the danger of a relapse into ,asianism constantly hovered over the ,greeks1 and really overtook them from time to time like a murky1 overflowing tide of mystical impulses1 primitive savagery and darkness4 ,we see them plunge in2 we see ,europe1 as it were1 flooded1 washed away--for ,europe was very small then2 but they always emerge once more to the light1 good swimmers and divers that they are1 those fellow-countrymen of ,odysseus4 #bbj4 ,,the ,,pagan ,,characteristic4--,perhaps there is nothing more astonishing to the observer of the ,greek world than to discover that the ,greeks from time to time held festivals1 as it were1 for all their passions and evil tendencies alike1 and in fact even established a kind of series of festivals1 by order of the ,state1 for their 8all-too-human40 ,this is the pagan characteristic of their world1 which ,christianity has never understood and never can understand1 and has always combated and despised4--,they accepted this all-too-human as unavoidable1 and preferred1 instead of railing at it1 to give it a kind of secondary right by grafting it on to the usages of society and religion4 ,all in man that has power they called divine1 and wrote it on the walls of their heaven4 ,they do not deny this natural instinct that expresses itself in evil characteristics1 but regulate and limit it to definite cults and days1 so as to turn those turbulent streams into as harmless a course as possible1 after devising sufficient precautionary measures4 ,that is the root of all the moral broad-mindedness of antiquity4 ,to the wicked1 the dubious1 the backward1 the animal element1 as to the barbaric1 pre-,hellenic and ,asiatic1 which still lived in the depths of ,greek nature1 they allowed a moderate outflow1 and did not strive to destroy it utterly4 ,the whole system was under the domain of the ,state1 which was built up not on individuals or castes1 but on common human qualities4 ,in the structure of the ,state the ,greeks show that wonderful sense for typical facts which later on enabled them to become investigators of ,nature1 historians1 geographers1 and philosophers4 ,it was not a limited moral law of priests or castes1 which had to decide about the constitution of the ,state and ,state worship1 but the most comprehensive view of the reality of all that is human4 ,whence do the ,greeks derive this freedom1 this sense of reality8 ,perhaps from ,homer and the poets who preceded him4 ,for just those poets whose nature is generally not the most wise or just possess1 in compensation1 that delight in reality and activity of every kind1 and prefer not to deny even evil4 ,it suffices for them if evil moderates itself1 does not kill or inwardly poison everything--in other words1 they have similar ideas to those of the founders of ,greek constitutions1 and were their teachers and forerunners4 #bba4 ,,exceptional ,,greeks4--,in ,greece1 deep1 thorough1 serious minds were the exception4 ,the national instinct tended rather to regard the serious and thorough as a kind of grimace4 ,to borrow forms from a foreign source1 not to create but to transform into the fairest shapes--that is ,greek4 ,to imitate1 not for utility but for artistic illusion1 ever and anon to gain the mastery over forced seriousness1 to arrange1 beautify1 simplify--that is the continual task from ,homer to the ,sophists of the third and fourth centuries of our era1 who are all outward show1 pompous speech1 declamatory gestures1 and address themselves to shallow souls that care only for appearance1 sound1 and effect4 ,and now let us estimate the greatness of those exceptional ,greeks1 who created science6 ,whoever tells of them1 tells the most heroic story of the human mind6 #bbb4 ,,simplicity ,,not ,,the ,,first ,,nor ,,the ,,last ,,thing ,,in ,,point ,,of ,,time4--,in the history of religious ideas many errors about development and false gradations are made in matters which in reality are not consecutive outgrowths but contemporary yet separate phenomena4 ,in particular1 simplicity has still far too much the reputation of being the oldest1 the initial thing4 ,much that is human arises by subtraction and division1 and not merely by doubling1 addition1 and unification4--,for instance1 men still believe in a gradual development of the idea of ,god from those unwieldy stones and blocks of wood up to the highest forms of anthropomorphism4 ,yet the fact is that so long as divinity was attributed to and felt in trees1 logs of wood1 stones1 and beasts1 people shrank from humanising their forms as from an act of godlessness4 ,first of all1 poets1 apart from all considerations of cult and the ban of religious shame1 have had to make the inner imagination of man accustomed and compliant to this notion4 ,wherever more pious periods and phases of thought gained the upper hand1 this liberating influence of poets fell into the background1 and sanctity remained1 after as before1 on the side of the monstrous1 uncanny1 quite peculiarly inhuman4 ,and then1 much of what the inner imagination ventures to picture to itself would exert a painful influence if externally and corporeally represented4 ,the inner eye is far bolder and more shameless than the outer 7whence the well-known difficulty and1 to some extent1 impossibility1 of working epic material into dramatic form74 ,the religious imagination for a long time entirely refuses to believe in the identity of ,god with an image3 the image is meant to fix the numen of the ,deity1 actually and specifically1 although in a mysterious and not altogether intelligible way4 ,the oldest image of the ,gods is meant to shelter and at the same time to hide7#ad7 the ,god--to indicate him but not to expose him to view4 ,no ,greek really looked upon his ,apollo as a pointed pillar of wood1 his ,eros as a lump of stone4 ,these were symbols1 which were intended to inspire dread of the manifestation of the ,god4 ,it was the same with those blocks of wood out of which individual limbs1 generally in excessive number1 were fashioned with the scantiest of carving--as1 for instance1 a ,laconian ,apollo with four hands and four ears4 ,in the incomplete1 symbolical1 or excessive lies a terrible sanctity1 which is meant to prevent us from thinking of anything human or similar to humanity4 ,it is not an embryonic stage of art in which such things are made--as if they were not able to speak more plainly and portray more sensibly in the age when such images were honoured6 ,rather1 men are afraid of just one thing--direct speaking out4 ,just as the cella hides and conceals in a mysterious twilight1 yet not completely1 the holy of holies1 the real numen of the ,deity2 just as1 again1 the peripteric temple hides the cella1 protecting it from indiscreet eyes as with a screen and a veil1 yet not completely--so it is with the image of the ,deity1 and at the same time the concealment of the ,deity4--,only when outside the cult1 in the profane world of athletic contest1 the joy in the victor had risen so high that the ripples thus started reacted upon the lake of religious emotion1 was the statue of the victor set up before the temple4 ,then the pious pilgrim had to accustom his eye and his soul1 whether he would or no1 to the inevitable sight of human beauty and super-strength1 so that the worship of men and ,gods melted into each other from physical and spiritual contact4 ,then too for the first time the fear of really humanising the figures of the ,gods is lost1 and the mighty arena for great plastic art is opened--even now with the limitation that wherever there is to be adoration the primitive form and ugliness are carefully preserved and copied4 ,but the ,hellene1 as he dedicates and makes offerings1 may now with religious sanction indulge in his delight in making ,god become a man4 #bbc4 ,,whither ,,we ,,must ,,travel4--,immediate self-observation is not enough1 by a long way1 to enable us to learn to know ourselves4 ,we need history1 for the past continues to flow through us in a hundred channels4 ,we ourselves are1 after all1 nothing but our own sensation at every moment of this continued flow4 ,even here1 when we wish to step down into the stream of our apparently most peculiar and personal development1 ,heraclitus' aphorism1 8,you cannot step twice into the same river10 holds good4--,this is a piece of wisdom which has1 indeed1 gradually become trite1 but nevertheless has remained as strong and true as it ever was4 ,it is the same with the saying that1 in order to understand history1 we must scrutinise the living remains of historical periods2 that we must travel1 as old ,herodotus travelled1 to other nations1 especially to those so-called savage or half-savage races in regions where man has doffed or not yet donned ,european garb4 ,for they are ancient and firmly established steps of culture on which we can stand4 ,there is1 however1 a more subtle art and aim in travelling1 which does not always necessitate our passing from place to place and going thousands of miles away4 ,very probably the last three centuries1 in all their colourings and refractions of culture1 survive even in our vicinity1 only they have to be discovered4 ,in some families1 or even in individuals1 the strata are still superimposed on each other1 beautifully and perceptibly2 in other places there are dispersions and displacements of the structure which are harder to understand4 ,certainly in remote districts1 in less known mountain valleys1 circumscribed communities have been able more easily to maintain an admirable pattern of a far older sentiment1 a pattern that must here be investigated4 ,on the other hand1 it is improbable that such discoveries will be made in ,berlin1 where man comes into the world washed-out and sapless4 ,he who after long practice of this art of travel has become a hundred-eyed ,argus will accompany his ,io--,i mean his ego--everywhere1 and in ,egypt and ,greece1 ,byzantium and ,rome1 ,france and ,germany1 in the age of wandering or settled races1 in ,renaissance or ,reformation1 at home and abroad1 in sea1 forest1 plant1 and mountain1 will again light upon the travel-adventure of this ever-growing1 ever-altered ego4--,thus self-knowledge becomes universal knowledge as regards the entire past1 and1 by another chain of observation1 which can only be indicated here1 self-direction and self-training in the freest and most far-seeing spirits might become universal direction as regards all future humanity4 #bbd4 ,,balm ,,and ,,poison4--,we cannot ponder too deeply on this fact3 ,christianity is the religion of antiquity grown old2 it presupposes degenerate old culture-stocks1 and on them it had1 and still has1 power to work like balm4 ,there are periods when ears and eyes are full of slime1 so that they can no longer hear the voice of reason and philosophy or see the wisdom that walks in bodily shape1 whether it bears the name of ,epictetus or of ,epicurus4 ,then1 perhaps1 the erection of the martyr's cross and the 8trumpet of the last judgment0 may have the effect of still inspiring such races to end their lives decently4 ,if we think of ,juvenal's ,rome1 of that poisonous toad with the eyes of ,venus1 we understand what it means to make the sign of the ,cross before the world1 we honour the silent ,christian community and are grateful for its having stifled the ,greco-,roman ,empire4 ,if1 indeed1 most men were then born in spiritual slavery1 with the sensuality of old men1 what a pleasure to meet beings who were more soul than body1 and who seemed to realise the ,greek idea of the shades of the under-world--shy1 scurrying1 chirping1 kindly creatures1 with a reversion on the 8better life10 and therefore so unassuming1 so secretly scornful1 so proudly patient6--,this ,christianity1 as the evening chime of the good antiquity1 with cracked1 weary and yet melodious bell1 is balm in the ears even to one who only now traverses those centuries historically4 ,what must it have been to those men themselves6--,to young and fresh barbarian nations1 on the other hand1 ,christianity is a poison4 ,for to implant the teaching of sinfulness and damnation in the heroic1 childlike1 and animal soul of the old ,germans is nothing but poisoning4 ,an enormous chemical fermentation and decomposition1 a medley of sentiments and judgments1 a rank growth of adventurous legend1 and hence in the long run a fundamental weakening of such barbarian peoples1 was the inevitable result4 ,true1 without this weakening what should we have left of ,greek culture1 of the whole cultured past of the human race8 ,for the barbarians untouched by ,christianity knew very well how to make a clean sweep of old cultures1 as was only too clearly shown by the heathen conquerors of ,romanised ,britain4 ,thus ,christianity1 against its will1 was compelled to aid in making 8the antique world0 immortal4--,there remains1 however1 a counter-question and the possibility of a counter-reckoning4 ,without this weakening through the poisoning referred to1 would any of those fresh stocks--the ,germans1 for instance--have been in a position gradually to find by themselves a higher1 a peculiar1 a new culture1 of which the most distant conception would therefore have been lost to humanity8--,in this1 as in every case1 we do not know1 ,christianly speaking1 whether ,god owes the devil or the devil ,god more thanks for everything having turned out as it has4 #bbe4 ,,faith ,,makes ,,holy ,,and ,,condemns4--,a ,christian who happened upon forbidden paths of thought might well ask himself on some occasion whether it is really necessary that there should be a ,god1 side by side with a representative ,lamb1 if faith in the existence of these beings suffices to produce the same influences8 ,if they do exist after all1 are they not superfluous beings8 ,for all that is given by the ,christian religion to the human soul1 all that is beneficent1 consoling1 and edifying1 just as much as all that depresses and crushes1 emanates from that faith and not from the objects of that faith4 ,it is here as in another well-known case--there were indeed no witches1 but the terrible effects of the belief in witches were the same as if they really had existed4 ,for all occasions where the ,christian awaits the immediate intervention of a ,god1 though in vain 7for there is no ,god71 his religion is inventive enough to find subterfuges and reasons for tranquillity4 ,in so far ,christianity is an ingenious religion4--,faith1 indeed1 has up to the present not been able to move real mountains1 although ,i do not know who assumed that it could4 ,but it can put mountains where there are none4 #bbf4 ,,the ,,tragi-,,comedy ,,of ,,regensburg4--,here and there we see with terrible clearness the harlequinade of ,fortune1 how she fastens the rope1 on which she wills that succeeding centuries should dance1 on to a few days1 one place1 the condition and opinions of one brain4 ,thus the fate of modern ,german history lies in the days of that disputation at ,regensburg3 the peaceful settlement of ecclesiastical and moral affairs1 without religious wars or a counter-reformation1 and also the unity of the ,german nation1 seemed assured3 the deep1 gentle spirit of ,contarini hovered for one moment over the theological squabble1 victorious1 as representative of the riper ,italian piety1 reflecting the morning glory of intellectual freedom4 ,but ,luther's hard head1 full of suspicions and strange misgivings1 showed resistance4 ,because justification by grace appeared to him his greatest motto and discovery1 he did not believe the phrase in the mouth of ,italians2 whereas1 in point of fact1 as is well known1 they had invented it much earlier and spread it throughout ,italy in deep silence4 ,in this apparent agreement ,luther saw the tricks of the devil1 and hindered the work of peace as well as he could1 thereby advancing to a great extent the aims of the ,empire's foes4--,and now1 in order to have a still stronger idea of the dreadful farcicality of it all1 let us add that none of the principles about which men then disputed in ,regensburg--neither that of original sin1 nor that of redemption by proxy1 nor that of justification by faith--is in any way true or even has any connection with truth3 that they are now all recognised as incapable of being discussed4 ,yet on this account the world was set on fire--that is to say1 by opinions which correspond to no things or realities2 whereas as regards purely philological questions--as1 for instance1 that of the sacramental words in the ,eucharist--discussion at any rate is permitted1 because in this case the truth can be said4 ,but 8where nothing is1 even truth has lost her right407#ae7--,lastly1 it only remains to be said that it is true these principles give rise to sources of power so mighty that without them all the mills of the modern world could not be driven with such force4 ,and it is primarily a matter of force1 only secondarily of truth 7and perhaps not even secondarily7--is it not so1 my dear up-to-date friends8 #bbg4 ,,goethe',s ,,errors4--,goethe is a signal exception among great artists in that he did not live within the limited confines of his real capacity1 as if that must be the essential1 the distinctive1 the unconditional1 and the last thing in him and for all the world4 ,twice he intended to possess something higher than he really possessed--and went astray in the second half of his life1 where he seems quite convinced that he is one of the great scientific discoverers and illuminators4 ,so too in the first half of his life he demanded of himself something higher than the poetic art seemed to him--and here already he made a mistake4 ,that nature wished to make him a plastic artist1--this was his inwardly glowing and scorching secret1 which finally drove him to ,italy1 that he might give vent to his mania in this direction and make to it every possible sacrifice4 ,at last1 shrewd as he was1 and honestly averse to any mental perversion in himself1 he discovered that a tricksy elf of desire had attracted him to the belief in this calling1 and that he must free himself of the greatest passion of his heart and bid it farewell4 ,the painful conviction1 tearing and gnawing at his vitals1 that it was necessary to bid farewell1 finds full expression in the character of ,tasso4 ,over ,tasso1 that ,werther intensified1 hovers the premonition of something worse than death1 as when one says3 8,now it is over1 after this farewell3 how shall ,i go on living without going mad80 ,these two fundamental errors of his life gave ,goethe1 in face of a purely literary attitude towards poetry 7the only attitude then known to the world71 such an unembarrassed and apparently almost arbitrary position4 ,not to speak of the period when ,schiller 7poor ,schiller1 who had no time himself and left no time to others7 drove away his shy dread of poetry1 his fear of all literary life and craftsmanship1 ,goethe appears like a ,greek who now and then visits his beloved1 doubting whether she be not a ,goddess to whom he can give no proper name4 ,in all his poetry one notices the inspiring neighbourhood of plastic art and ,nature4 ,the features of these figures that floated before him--and perhaps he always thought he was on the track of the metamorphoses of one ,goddess--became1 without his will or knowledge1 the features of all the children of his art4 ,without the extravagances of error he would not have been ,goethe--that is1 the only ,german artist in writing who has not yet become out of date--just because he desired as little to be a writer as a ,german by vocation4 #bbh4 ,,travellers ,,and ,,their ,,grades4--,among travellers we may distinguish five grades4 ,the first and lowest grade is of those who travel and are seen--they become really travelled and are1 as it were1 blind4 ,next come those who really see the world4 ,the third class experience the results of their seeing4 ,the fourth weave their experience into their life and carry it with them henceforth4 ,lastly1 there are some men of the highest strength who1 as soon as they have returned home1 must finally and necessarily work out in their lives and productions all the things seen that they have experienced and incorporated in themselves4--,like these five species of travellers1 all mankind goes through the whole pilgrimage of life1 the lowest as purely passive1 the highest as those who act and live out their lives without keeping back any residue of inner experiences4 #bbi4 ,,in ,,climbing ,,higher4--,so soon as we climb higher than those who hitherto admired us1 we appear to them as sunken and fallen4 ,for they imagined that under all circumstances they were on the heights in our company 7maybe also through our agency74 #bcj4 ,,measure ,,and ,,moderation4--,of two quite lofty things1 measure and moderation1 it is best never to speak4 ,a few know their force and significance1 from the mysterious paths of inner experiences and conversions3 they honour in them something quite godlike1 and are afraid to speak aloud4 ,all the rest hardly listen when they are spoken about1 and think the subjects under discussion are tedium and mediocrity4 ,we must perhaps except those who have once heard a warning note from that realm but have stopped their ears against the sound4 ,the recollection of it makes them angry and exasperated4 #bca4 ,,humanity ,,of ,,friendship ,,and ,,comradeship4--8,if thou wilt take the left hand1 then ,i will go to the right107#af7 that feeling is the hall-mark of humanity in intimate intercourse1 and without that feeling every friendship1 every band of apostles or disciples1 sooner or later becomes a fraud4 #bcb4 ,,the ,,profound4--,men of profound thought appear to themselves in intercourse with others like comedians1 for in order to be understood they must always simulate superficiality4 #bcc4 ,,for ,,the ,,scorners ,,of 8,,herd-,,humanity40--,he who regards human beings as a herd1 and flies from them as fast as he can1 will certainly be caught up by them and gored upon their horns4 #bcd4 ,,the ,,main ,,transgression ,,against ,,the ,,vain4--,in society1 he who gives another an opportunity of favourably setting forth his knowledge1 sentiments1 and experience sets himself above him4 ,unless he is felt by the other to be a superior being without limitation1 he is guilty of an attack upon his vanity1 while what he aimed at was the gratification of the other man's vanity4 #bce4 ,,disappointment4--,when a long life of action distinguished by speeches and writings gives publicity to a man's personality1 personal intercourse with him is generally disappointing on two grounds4 ,firstly1 one expects too much from a brief period of intercourse 7namely1 all that the thousand and one opportunities of life can alone bring out74 ,secondly1 no recognised person gives himself the trouble to woo recognition in individual cases4 ,he is too careless1 and we are at too high a tension4 #bcf4 ,,two ,,sources ,,of ,,kindness4--,to treat all men with equal good-humour1 and to be kind without distinction of persons1 may arise as much from a profound contempt for mankind as from an ingrained love of humanity4 #bcg4 ,,the ,,wanderer ,,in ,,the ,,mountains ,,to ,,himself4--,there are certain signs that you have gone farther and higher4 ,there is a freer1 wider prospect before you1 the air blows cooler yet milder in your face 7you have unlearned the folly of confounding mildness with warmth71 your gait is more firm and vigorous1 courage and discretion have waxed together4 ,on all these grounds your journey may now be more lonely and in any case more perilous than heretofore1 if indeed not to the extent believed by those who from the misty valley see you1 the roamer1 striding on the mountains4 #bch4 ,,with ,,the ,,exception ,,of ,,our ,,neighbour4--,i admit that my head is set wrong on my neck only1 for every other man1 as is well known1 knows better than ,i what ,i should do or leave alone4 ,the only one who cannot help me is myself1 poor beggar6 ,are we not all like statues on which false heads have been placed8 ,eh1 dear neighbour8--,ah no2 you1 just you1 are the exception6 #bci4 ,,caution4--,we must either not go about at all with people who are lacking in the reverence for personalities1 or inexorably fetter them beforehand with the manacles of convention4 #bdj4 ,,the ,,wish ,,to ,,appear ,,vain4--,in conversation with strangers or little-known acquaintances1 to express only selected thoughts1 to speak of one's famous acquaintances1 and important experiences and travels1 is a sign that one is not proud1 or at least would not like to appear proud4 ,vanity is the polite mask of pride4 #bda4 ,,good ,,friendship4--,a good friendship arises when the one man deeply respects the other1 more even than himself2 loves him also1 though not so much as himself2 and finally1 to facilitate intercourse1 knows how to add the delicate bloom and veneer of intimacy1 but at the same time wisely refrains from a true1 real intimacy1 from the confounding of meum and tuum4 #bdb4 ,,friends ,,as ,,ghosts4--,if we change ourselves vitally1 our friends1 who have not changed1 become ghosts of our own past3 their voice sounds shadowy and dreadful to us1 as if we heard our own voice speaking1 but younger1 harder1 less mellow4 #bdc4 ,,one ,,eye ,,and ,,two ,,glances4--,the same people whose eyes naturally plead for favours and indulgences are accustomed1 from their frequent humiliations and cravings for revenge1 to assume a shameless glance as well4 #bdd4 ,,the ,,haze ,,of ,,distance4--,a child throughout life--that sounds very touching1 but is only the verdict from the distance4 ,seen and known close at hand1 he is always called 8puerile throughout life40 #bde4 ,,advantage ,,and ,,disadvantage ,,in ,,the ,,same ,,misunderstanding4--,the mute perplexity of the subtle brain is usually understood by the non-subtle as a silent superiority1 and is much dreaded whereas the perception of perplexity would produce good will4 #bdf4 ,,the ,,sage ,,giving ,,himself ,,out ,,to ,,be ,a ,,fool4--,the philanthropy of the sage sometimes makes him decide to pretend to be excited1 enraged1 or delighted1 so that he may not hurt his surroundings by the coldness and rationality of his true nature4 #bdg4 ,,forcing ,,oneself ,,to ,,attention4--,so soon as we note that any one in intercourse and conversation with us has to force himself to attention1 we have adequate evidence that he loves us not1 or loves us no longer4 #bdh4 ,,the ,,way ,,to ,a ,,christian ,,virtue4--,learning from one's enemies is the best way to love them1 for it inspires us with a grateful mood towards them4 #bdi4 ,,stratagem ,,of ,,the ,,importunate4--,the importunate man gives us gold coins as change for our convention coins1 and thereby tries to force us afterwards to treat our convention as an oversight and him as an exception4 #bej4 ,,reason ,,for ,,dislike4--,we become hostile to many an artist or writer1 not because we notice in the end that he has duped us1 but because he did not find more subtle means necessary to entrap us4 #bea4 ,,in ,,parting4--,not by the way one soul approaches another1 but by the way it separates1 do ,i recognise its relationship and homogeneity with the other4 #beb4 ,,silentium4--,we must not speak about our friends1 or we renounce the sentiment of friendship4 #bec4 ,,impoliteness4--,impoliteness is often the sign of a clumsy modesty1 which when taken by surprise loses its head and would fain hide the fact by means of rudeness4 #bed4 ,,honesty',s ,,miscalculation4--,our newest acquaintances are sometimes the first to learn what we have hitherto kept dark4 ,we have the foolish notion that our proof of confidence is the strongest fetter wherewith to hold them fast4 ,but they do not know enough about us to feel so strongly the sacrifice involved in our speaking out1 and betray our secrets to others without any idea of betrayal4 ,hereby we possibly lose our old friends4 #bee4 ,,in ,,the ,,ante-,,chamber ,,of ,,favour4--,all men whom we let stand long in the ante-chamber of our favour get into a state of fermentation or become bitter4 #bef4 ,,warning ,,to ,,the ,,despised4--,when we have sunk unmistakably in the estimation of mankind we should cling tooth and nail to modesty in intercourse1 or we shall betray to others that we have sunk in our own estimation as well4 ,cynicism in intercourse is a sign that a man1 when alone1 treats himself too as a dog4 #beg4 ,,ignorance ,,often ,,ennobles4--,with regard to the respect of those who pay respect1 it is an advantage ostensibly not to understand certain things4 ,ignorance1 too1 confers privileges4 #beh4 ,,the ,,opponent ,,of ,,grace4--,the impatient and arrogant man does not care for grace1 feeling it to be a corporeal1 visible reproach against himself4 ,for grace is heartfelt toleration in movement and gesture4 #bei4 ,,on ,,seeing ,,again4--,when old friends see each other again after a long separation1 it often happens that they affect an interest in matters to which they have long since become indifferent4 ,sometimes both remark this1 but dare not raise the veil--from a mournful doubt4 ,hence arise conversations as in the realm of the dead4 #bfj4 ,,making ,,friends ,,only ,,with ,,the ,,industrious4--,the man of leisure is dangerous to his friends1 for1 having nothing to do1 he talks of what his friends are doing or not doing1 interferes1 and finally makes himself a nuisance4 ,the clever man will only make friends with the industrious4 #bfa4 ,,one ,,weapon ,,twice ,,as ,,much ,,as ,,two4--,it is an unequal combat when one man defends his cause with head and heart1 the other with head alone4 ,the first has sun and wind against him1 as it were1 and his two weapons interfere with each other3 he loses the prize--in the eyes of truth4 ,true1 the victory of the second1 with his one weapon1 is seldom a victory after the hearts of all the other spectators1 and makes him unpopular4 #bfb4 ,,depth ,,and ,,troubled ,,waters4--,the public easily confounds him who fishes in troubled waters with him who pumps up from the depths4 #bfc4 ,,demonstrating ,,one',s ,,vanity ,,to ,,friend ,,and ,,foe4--,many a man1 from vanity1 maltreats even his friends1 when in the presence of witnesses to whom he wishes to make his own preponderance clear4 ,others exaggerate the merits of their enemies1 in order to point proudly to the fact that they are worthy of such foes4 #bfd4 ,,cooling ,,off4--,the over-heating of the heart is generally allied with illness of the head and judgment4 ,he who is concerned for a time with the health of his head must know what he has to cool1 careless of the future of his heart4 ,for if we are capable at all of giving warmth1 we are sure to become warm again and then have our summer4 #bfe4 ,,mingled ,,feelings4--,towards science women and self-seeking artists entertain a feeling that is composed of envy and sentimentality4 #bff4 ,,where ,,danger ,,is ,,greatest4--,we seldom break our leg so long as life continues a toilsome upward climb4 ,the danger comes when we begin to take things easily and choose the convenient paths4 #bfg4 ,,not ,,too ,,early4--,we must beware of becoming sharp too early1 or we shall also become thin too early4 #bfh4 ,,joy ,,in ,,refractoriness4--,the good teacher knows cases where he is proud that his pupil remains true to himself in opposition to him--at times when the youth must not understand the man or would be harmed by understanding him4 #bfi4 ,,the ,,experiment ,,of ,,honesty4--,young men1 who wish to be more honest than they have been1 seek as victim some one acknowledged to be honest1 attacking him first with an attempt to reach his height by abuse--with the underlying notion that this first experiment at any rate is void of danger4 ,for just such a one has no right to chastise the impudence of the honest man4 #bgj4 ,,the ,,eternal ,,child4--,we think1 short-sighted that we are1 that fairy-tales and games belong to childhood4 ,as if at any age we should care to live without fairy-tales and games6 ,our words and sentiments are indeed different1 but the essential fact remains the same1 as is proved by the child himself looking on games as his work and fairy-tales as his truth4 ,the shortness of life ought to preserve us from a pedantic distinction between the different ages--as if every age brought something new--and a poet ought one day to portray a man of two hundred1 who really lives without fairy-tales and games4 #bga4 ,,every ,,philosophy ,,is ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,a ,,period ,,of ,,life4--,the period of life in which a philosopher finds his teaching is manifested by his teaching2 he cannot avoid that1 however elevated above time and hour he may feel himself4 ,thus1 ,schopenhauer's philosophy remains a mirror of his hot and melancholy youth--it is no mode of thought for older men4 ,plato's philosophy reminds one of the middle thirties1 when a warm and a cold current generally rush together1 so that spray and delicate clouds and1 under favourable circumstances and glimpses of sunshine1 enchanting rainbow-pictures result4 #bgb4 ,,of ,,the ,,intellect ,,of ,,women4--,the intellectual strength of a woman is best proved by the fact that she offers her own intellect as a sacrifice out of love for a man and his intellect1 and that nevertheless in the new domain1 which was previously foreign to her nature1 a second intellect at once arises as an aftergrowth1 to which the man's mind impels her4 #bgc4 ,,raising ,,and ,,lowering ,,in ,,the ,,sexual ,,domain4--,the storm of desire will sometimes carry a man up to a height where all desire is silenced1 where he really loves and lives in a better state of being rather than in a better state of choice4 ,on the other hand1 a good woman1 from true love1 often climbs down to desire1 and lowers herself in her own eyes4 ,the latter action in particular is one of the most pathetic sensations which the idea of a good marriage can involve4 #bgd4 ,,man ,,promises1 ,,woman ,,fulfils4--,by woman ,nature shows how far she has hitherto achieved her task of fashioning humanity1 by man she shows what she has had to overcome and what she still proposes to do for humanity4--,the most perfect woman of every age is the holiday-task of the ,creator on every seventh day of culture1 the recreation of the artist from his work4 #bge4 ,,transplanting4--,if we have spent our intellect in order to gain mastery over the intemperance of the passions1 the sad result often follows that we transfer the intemperance to the intellect1 and from that time forth are extravagant in thought and desire of knowledge4 #bgf4 ,,laughter ,,as ,,treachery4--,how and when a woman laughs is a sign of her culture1 but in the ring of laughter her nature reveals itself1 and in highly cultured women perhaps even the last insoluble residue of their nature4 ,hence the psychologist will say with ,horace1 though from different reasons3 8,ridete puellae40 #bgg4 ,,from ,,the ,,youthful ,,soul4--,youths varyingly show devotion and impudence towards the same person1 because at bottom they only despise or admire themselves in that other person1 and between the two feelings but stagger to and fro in themselves1 so long as they have not found in experience the measure of their will and ability4 #bgh4 ,,for ,,the ,,amelioration ,,of ,,the ,,world4--,if we forbade the discontented1 the sullen1 and the atrabilious to propagate1 we might transform the world into a garden of happiness4--,this aphorism belongs to a practical philosophy for the female sex4 #bgi4 ,,not ,,to ,,distrust ,,your ,,emotions4--,the feminine phrase 8,do not distrust your emotions0 does not mean much more than 8,eat what tastes good to you40 ,this may also1 especially for moderate natures1 be a good everyday rule4 ,but other natures must live according to another maxim3 8,you must eat not only with your mouth but also with your brain1 in order that the greediness of your mouth may not prove your undoing40 #bhj4 ,a ,,cruel ,,fancy ,,of ,,love4--,every great love involves the cruel thought of killing the object of love1 so that it may be removed once for all from the mischievous play of change4 ,for love is more afraid of change than of destruction4 #bha4 ,,doors4--,in everything that is learnt or experienced1 the child1 just like the man1 sees doors2 but for the former they are places to go to1 for the latter to go through4 #bhb4 ,,sympathetic ,,women4--,the sympathy of women1 which is talkative1 takes the sick-bed to market4 #bhc4 ,,early ,,merit4--,he who acquires merit early in life tends to forget all reverence for age and old people1 and accordingly1 greatly to his disadvantage1 excludes himself from the society of the mature1 those who confer maturity4 ,thus in spite of his early merit he remains green1 importunate1 and boyish longer than others4 #bhd4 ,,souls ,,all ,,of ,a ,,piece4--,women and artists think that where we do not contradict them we cannot4 ,reverence on ten counts and silent disapproval on ten others appears to them an impossible combination1 because their souls are all of a piece4 #bhe4 ,,young ,,talents4--,with respect to young talents we must strictly follow ,goethe's maxim1 that we should often avoid harming error in order to avoid harming truth4 ,their condition is like the diseases of pregnancy1 and involves strange appetites4 ,these appetites should be satisfied and humoured as far as possible1 for the sake of the fruit they may be expected to produce4 ,it is true that1 as nurse of these remarkable invalids1 one must learn the difficult art of voluntary self-abasement4 #bhf4 ,,disgust ,,with ,,truth4--,women are so constituted that all truth 7in relation to men1 love1 children1 society1 aim of life7 disgusts them--and that they try to be revenged on every one who opens their eyes4 #bhg4 ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,great ,,love4--,whence arises the sudden passion of a man for a woman1 a passion so deep1 so vital8 ,least of all from sensuality only3 but when a man finds weakness1 need of help1 and high spirits united in the same creature1 he suffers a sort of overflowing of soul1 and is touched and offended at the same moment4 ,at this point arises the source of great love4 #bhh4 ,,cleanliness4--,in the child1 the sense for cleanliness should be fanned into a passion1 and then later on he will raise himself1 in ever new phases1 to almost every virtue1 and will finally appear1 in compensation for all talent1 as a shining cloud of purity1 temperance1 gentleness1 and character1 happy in himself and spreading happiness around4 #bhi4 ,,of ,,vain ,,old ,,men4--,profundity of thought belongs to youth1 clarity of thought to old age4 ,when1 in spite of this1 old men sometimes speak and write in the manner of the profound1 they do so from vanity1 imagining that they thereby assume the charm of juvenility1 enthusiasm1 growth1 apprehensiveness1 hopefulness4 #bij4 ,,enjoyment ,,of ,,novelty4--,men use a new lesson or experience later on as a ploughshare or perhaps also as a weapon1 women at once make it into an ornament4 #bia4 ,,how ,,both ,,sexes ,,behave ,,when ,,in ,,the ,,right4--,if it is conceded to a woman that she is right1 she cannot deny herself the triumph of setting her heel on the neck of the vanquished2 she must taste her victory to the full4 ,on the other hand1 man towards man in such a case is ashamed of being right4 ,but then man is accustomed to victory2 with woman it is an exception4 #bib4 ,,abnegation ,,in ,,the ,,will ,,to ,,beauty4--,in order to become beautiful1 a woman must not desire to be considered pretty4 ,that is to say1 in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases where she could please she must scorn and put aside all thoughts of pleasing4 ,only then can she ever reap the delight of him whose soul's portal is wide enough to admit the great4 #bic4 ,,unintelligible1 ,,unendurable4--,a youth cannot understand that an old man has also had his delights1 his dawns of feeling1 his changings and soarings of thought4 ,it offends him to think that such things have existed before4 ,but it makes him very bitter to hear that1 to become fruitful1 he must lose those buds and dispense with their fragrance4 #bid4 ,,the ,,party ,,with ,,the ,,air ,,of ,,martyrdom4--,every party that can assume an air of martyrdom wins good-natured souls over to its side and thereby itself acquires an air of good nature--greatly to its advantage4 #bie4 ,,assertions ,,surer ,,than ,,arguments4--,an assertion has1 with the majority of men at any rate1 more effect than an argument1 for arguments provoke mistrust4 ,hence demagogues seek to strengthen the arguments of their party by assertions4 #bif4 ,,the ,,best ,,concealers4--,all regularly successful men are profoundly cunning in making their faults and weaknesses look like manifestations of strength4 ,this proves that they must know their defects uncommonly well4 #big4 ,,from ,,time ,,to ,,time4--,he sat in the city gateway and said to one who passed through that this was the city gate4 ,the latter replied that this was true1 but that one must not be too much in the right if one expected to be thanked for it4 8,oh10 answered the other1 8,i don't want thanks1 but from time to time it is very pleasant not merely to be in the right but to remain in the right40 #bih4 ,,virtue ,,was ,,not ,,invented ,,by ,,the ,,germans4--,goethe's nobleness and freedom from envy1 ,beethoven's fine hermitical resignation1 ,mozart's cheerfulness and grace of heart1 ,handel's unbending manliness and freedom under the law1 ,bach's confident and luminous inner life1 such as does not even need to renounce glamour and success--are these qualities peculiarly ,german8--,if they are not1 they at least prove to what goal ,germans should strive and to what they can attain4 #bii4 ,,pia ,,fraus ,,or ,,something ,,else4--,i hope ,i am mistaken1 but ,i think that in ,germany of to-day a twofold sort of hypocrisy is set up as the duty of the moment for every one4 ,from imperial-political misgivings ,germanism is demanded1 and from social apprehensions ,christianity--but both only in words and gestures1 and particularly in ability to keep silent4 ,it is the veneer that nowadays costs so much and is paid for so highly2 and for the benefit of the spectators the face of the nation assumes ,german and ,christian wrinkles4 #cjj4 ,,how ,,far ,,even ,,in ,,the ,,good ,,the ,,half ,,may ,,be ,,more ,,than ,,the ,,whole4--,in all things that are constructed to last and demand the service of many hands1 much that is less good must be made a rule1 although the organiser knows what is better and harder very well4 ,he will calculate that there will never be a lack of persons who can correspond to the rule1 and he knows that the middling good is the rule4--,the youth seldom sees this point1 and as an innovator thinks how marvellously he is in the right and how strange is the blindness of others4 #cja4 ,,the ,,partisan4--,the true partisan learns nothing more1 he only experiences and judges4 ,it is significant that ,solon1 who was never a partisan but pursued his aims above and apart from parties or even against them1 was the father of that simple phrase wherein lies the secret of the health and vitality of ,athens3 8,i grow old1 but ,i am always learning40 #cjb4 ,,what ,,is ,,german ,,according ,,to ,,goethe4--,they are really intolerable people of whom one cannot even accept the good1 who have freedom of disposition but do not remark that they are lacking in freedom of taste and spirit4 ,yet just this1 according to ,goethe's well-weighed judgment1 is ,german4--,his voice and his example indicate that the ,german should be more than a ,german if he wishes to be useful or even endurable to other nations--and which direction his striving should take1 in order that he may rise above and beyond himself4 #cjc4 ,,when ,,it ,,is ,,necessary ,,to ,,remain ,,stationary4--,when the masses begin to rage1 and reason is under a cloud1 it is a good thing1 if the health of one's soul is not quite assured1 to go under a doorway and look out to see what the weather is like4 #cjd4 ,,the ,,revolution-,,spirit ,,and ,,the ,,possession-,,spirit4--,the only remedy against ,socialism that still lies in your power is to avoid provoking ,socialism--in other words1 to live in moderation and contentment1 to prevent as far as possible all lavish display1 and to aid the ,state as far as possible in its taxing of all superfluities and luxuries4 ,you do not like this remedy8 ,then1 you rich bourgeois who call yourselves 8,liberals10 confess that it is your own inclination that you find so terrible and menacing in ,socialists1 but allow to prevail in yourselves as unavoidable1 as if with you it were something different4 ,as you are constituted1 if you had not your fortune and the cares of maintaining it1 this bent of yours would make ,socialists of you4 ,possession alone differentiates you from them4 ,if you wish to conquer the assailants of your prosperity1 you must first conquer yourselves4--,and if that prosperity only meant well-being1 it would not be so external and provocative of envy2 it would be more generous1 more benevolent1 more compensatory1 more helpful4 ,but the spurious1 histrionic element in your pleasures1 which lie more in the feeling of contrast 7because others have them not1 and feel envious7 than in feelings of realised and heightened power--your houses1 dresses1 carriages1 shops1 the demands of your palates and your tables1 your noisy operatic and musical enthusiasm2 lastly your women1 formed and fashioned but of base metal1 gilded but without the ring of gold1 chosen by you for show and considering themselves meant for show--these are the things that spread the poison of that national disease1 which seizes the masses ever more and more as a ,socialistic heart-itch1 but has its origin and breeding-place in you4 ,who shall now arrest this epidemic8 #cje4 ,,party ,,tactics4--,when a party observes that a previous member has changed from an unqualified to a qualified adherent1 it endures it so ill that it irritates and mortifies him in every possible way with the object of forcing him to a decisive break and making him an opponent4 ,for the party suspects that the intention of finding a relative value in its faith1 a value which admits of pro and con1 of weighing and discarding1 is more dangerous than downright opposition4 #cjf4 ,,for ,,the ,,strengthening ,,of ,,parties4--,whoever wishes to strengthen a party internally should give it an opportunity of being forcibly treated with obvious injustice4 ,the party thus acquires a capital of good conscience1 which hitherto it perhaps lacked4 #cjg4 ,,to ,,provide ,,for ,,one',s ,,past4--,as men after all only respect the old-established and slowly developed1 he who would survive after his death must not only provide for posterity but still more for the past4 ,hence tyrants of every sort 7including tyrannical artists and politicians7 like to do violence to history1 so that history may seem a preparation and a ladder up to them4 #cjh4 ,,party ,,writers4--,the beating of drums1 which delights young writers who serve a party1 sounds to him who does not belong to the party like a rattling of chains1 and excites sympathy rather than admiration4 #cji4 ,,taking ,,sides ,,against ,,ourselves4--,our followers never forgive us for taking sides against ourselves1 for we seem in their eyes not only to be spurning their love but to be exposing them to the charge of lack of intelligence4 #caj4 ,,danger ,,in ,,wealth4--,only a man of intellect should hold property3 otherwise property is dangerous to the community4 ,for the owner1 not knowing how to make use of the leisure which his possessions might secure to him1 will continue to strive after more property4 ,this strife will be his occupation1 his strategy in the war with ennui4 ,so in the end real wealth is produced from the moderate property that would be enough for an intellectual man4 ,such wealth1 then1 is the glittering outcrop of intellectual dependence and poverty1 but it looks quite different from what its humble origin might lead one to expect1 because it can mask itself with culture and art--it can1 in fact1 purchase the mask4 ,hence it excites envy in the poor and uncultured--who at bottom always envy culture and see no mask in the mask--and gradually paves the way for a social revolution4 ,for a gilded coarseness and a histrionic blowing of trumpets in the pretended enjoyment of culture inspires that class with the thought1 8,it is only a matter of money10 whereas it is indeed to some extent a matter of money1 but far more of intellect4 #caa4 ,,joy ,,in ,,commanding ,,and ,,obeying4--,commanding is a joy1 like obeying2 the former when it has not yet become a habit1 the latter just when it has become a habit4 ,old servants under new masters advance each other mutually in giving pleasure4 #cab4 ,,ambition ,,for ,a ,,forlorn ,,hope4--,there is an ambition for a forlorn hope which forces a party to place itself at the post of extreme danger4 #cac4 ,,when ,,asses ,,are ,,needed4--,we shall not move the crowd to cry 8,hosanna60 until we have ridden into the city upon an ass4 #cad4 ,,party ,,usage4--,every party attempts to represent the important elements that have sprung up outside it as unimportant1 and if it does not succeed1 it attacks those elements the more bitterly1 the more excellent they are4 #cae4 ,,becoming ,,empty4--,of him who abandons himself to the course of events1 a smaller and smaller residue is continually left4 ,great politicians may therefore become quite empty men1 although they were once full and rich4 #caf4 ,,welcome ,,enemies4--,the ,socialistic movements are nowadays becoming more and more agreeable rather than terrifying to the dynastic governments1 because by these movements they are provided with a right and a weapon for making exceptional rules1 and can thus attack their real bogies1 democrats and anti-dynasts4--,towards all that such governments professedly detest they feel a secret cordiality and inclination4 ,but they are compelled to draw the veil over their soul4 #cag4 ,,possession ,,possesses4--,only up to a certain point does possession make men feel freer and more independent2 one step farther1 and possession becomes lord1 the possessor a slave4 ,the latter must sacrifice his time1 his thoughts to the former1 and feels himself compelled to an intercourse1 nailed to a spot1 incorporated with the ,state--perhaps quite in conflict with his real and essential needs4 #cah4 ,,of ,,the ,,mastery ,,of ,,them ,,that ,,know4--,it is easy1 ridiculously easy1 to set up a model for the choice of a legislative body4 ,first of all the honest and reliable men of the nation1 who at the same time are masters and experts in some one branch1 have to become prominent by mutual scenting-out and recognition4 ,from these1 by a narrower process of selection1 the learned and expert of the first rank in each individual branch must again be chosen1 also by mutual recognition and guarantee4 ,if the legislative body be composed of these1 it will finally be necessary1 in each individual case1 that only the voices and judgments of the most specialised experts should decide2 the honesty of all the rest should have become so great that it is simply a matter of decency to leave the voting also in the hands of these men4 ,the result would be that the law1 in the strictest sense1 would emanate from the intelligence of the most intelligent4--,as things now are1 voting is done by parties1 and at every division there must be hundreds of uneasy consciences among the ill-taught1 the incapable of judgment1 among those who merely repeat1 imitate1 and go with the tide4 ,nothing lowers the dignity of a new law so much as this inherent shamefaced feeling of insincerity that necessarily results at every party division4 ,but1 as has been said1 it is easy1 ridiculously easy1 to set up such a model3 no power on earth is at present strong enough to realise such an ideal--unless the belief in the highest utility of knowledge1 and of those that know1 at last dawns even upon the most hostile minds and is preferred to the prevalent belief in majorities4 ,in the sense of such a future may our watchword be3 8,more reverence for them that know1 and down with all parties60 #cai4 ,,of ,,the 8,,nation ,,of ,,thinkers0 7,,or ,,of ,,bad ,,thinking74--,the vague1 vacillating1 premonitory1 elementary1 intuitive elements--to choose obscure names for obscure things--that are attributed to the ,german nature would be1 if they really still existed1 a proof that our culture has remained several stages behind and is still surrounded by the spell and atmosphere of the ,middle ,ages4--,it is true that in this backwardness there are certain advantages3 by these qualities the ,germans 7if1 as has been said before1 they still possess them7 would possess the capacity1 which other nations have now lost1 for doing certain things and particularly for understanding certain things4 ,much undoubtedly is lost if the lack of sense--which is just the common factor in all those qualities--is lost4 ,here too1 however1 there are no losses without the highest compensatory gains1 so that no reason is left for lamenting1 granting that we do not1 like children1 and gourmands1 wish to enjoy at once the fruits of all seasons of the year4 #cbj4 ,,carrying ,,coals ,,to ,,newcastle4--,the governments of the great ,states have two instruments for keeping the people dependent1 in fear and obedience3 a coarser1 the army1 and a more refined1 the school4 ,with the aid of the former they win over to their side the ambition of the higher strata and the strength of the lower1 so far as both are characteristic of active and energetic men of moderate or inferior gifts4 ,with the aid of the latter they win over gifted poverty1 especially the intellectually pretentious semi-poverty of the middle classes4 ,above all1 they make teachers of all grades into an intellectual court looking unconsciously 8towards the heights40 ,by putting obstacle after obstacle in the way of private schools and the wholly distasteful individual tuition they secure the disposal of a considerable number of educational posts1 towards which numerous hungry and submissive eyes are turned to an extent five times as great as can ever be satisfied4 ,these posts1 however1 must support the holder but meagrely1 so that he maintains a feverish thirst for promotion and becomes still more closely attached to the views of the government4 ,for it is always more advantageous to foster moderate discontent than contentment1 the mother of courage1 the grandmother of free thought and exuberance4 ,by means of this physically and mentally bridled body of teachers1 the youth of the country is as far as possible raised to a certain level of culture that is useful to the ,state and arranged on a suitable sliding-scale4 ,above all1 the immature and ambitious minds of all classes are almost imperceptibly imbued with the idea that only a career which is recognised and hall-marked by the ,state can lead immediately to social distinction4 ,the effect of this belief in government examinations and titles goes so far that even men who have remained independent and have risen by trade or handicraft still feel a pang of discontent in their hearts until their position too is marked and acknowledged by a gracious bestowal of rank and orders from above--until one becomes a 8somebody40 ,finally the ,state connects all these hundreds of offices and posts in its hands with the obligation of being trained and hallmarked in these ,state schools if one ever wishes to enter this charmed circle4 ,honour in society1 daily bread1 the possibility of a family1 protection from above1 the feeling of community in a common culture--all this forms a network of hopes into which every young man walks3 how should he feel the slightest breath of mistrust8 ,in the end1 perhaps1 the obligation of being a soldier for one year has become with every one1 after the lapse of a few generations1 an unreflecting habit1 an understood thing1 with an eye to which we construct the plan of our lives quite early4 ,then the ,state can venture on the master-stroke of weaving together school and army1 talent1 ambition and strength by means of common advantages--that is1 by attracting the more highly gifted on favourable terms to the army and inspiring them with the military spirit of joyful obedience2 so that finally1 perhaps1 they become attached permanently to the flag and endow it by their talents with an ever new and more brilliant lustre4 ,then nothing more is wanted but an opportunity for great wars4 ,these are provided from professional reasons 7and so in all innocence7 by diplomats1 aided by newspapers and ,stock ,exchanges4 ,for 8the nation10 as a nation of soldiers1 need never be supplied with a good conscience in war--it has one already4 #cba4 ,,the ,,press4--,if we consider how even to-day all great political transactions glide upon the stage secretly and stealthily2 how they are hidden by unimportant events1 and seem small when close at hand2 how they only show their far-reaching effect1 and leave the soil still quaking1 long after they have taken place2--what significance can we attach to the ,press in its present position1 with its daily expenditure of lung-power in order to bawl1 to deafen1 to excite1 to terrify8 ,is it anything more than an everlasting false alarm1 which tries to lead our ears and our wits into a false direction8 #cbb4 ,,after ,a ,,great ,,event4--,a nation and a man whose soul has come to light through some great event generally feel the immediate need of some act of childishness or coarseness1 as much from shame as for purposes of recreation4 #cbc4 ,,to ,,be ,a ,,good ,,german ,,means ,,to ,,de-,,germanise ,,oneself4--,national differences consist1 far more than has hitherto been observed1 only in the differences of various grades of culture1 and are only to a very small extent permanent 7nor even that in a strict sense74 ,for this reason all arguments based on national character are so little binding on one who aims at the alteration of convictions--in other words1 at culture4 ,if1 for instance1 we consider all that has already been ,german1 we shall improve upon the hypothetical question1 8,what is ,german80 by the counter-question1 8,what is now ,german80 and every good ,german will answer it practically1 by overcoming his ,german characteristics4 ,for when a nation advances and grows1 it bursts the girdle previously given to it by its national outlook4 ,when it remains stationary or declines1 its soul is surrounded by a fresh girdle1 and the crust1 as it becomes harder and harder1 builds a prison around1 with walls growing ever higher4 ,hence if a nation has much that is firmly established1 this is a sign that it wishes to petrify and would like to become nothing but a monument4 ,this happened1 from a definite date1 in the case of ,egypt4 ,so he who is well-disposed towards the ,germans may for his part consider how he may more and more grow out of what is ,german4 ,the tendency to be un-,german has therefore always been a mark of efficient members of our nation4 #cbd4 ,,foreignisms4--,a foreigner who travelled in ,germany found favour or the reverse by certain assertions of his1 according to the districts in which he stayed4 ,all intelligent ,suabians1 he used to say1 are coquettish4--,the other ,suabians still believed that ,uhland was a poet and ,goethe immoral4--,the best about ,german novels now in vogue was that one need not read them1 for one knew already what they contained4--,the native of ,berlin seemed more good-humoured than the ,south ,german1 for he was all too fond of mocking1 and so could endure mockery himself1 which the ,south ,german could not4--,the intellect of the ,germans was kept down by their beer and their newspapers3 he recommended them tea and pamphlets1 of course as a cure4--,he advised us to contemplate the different nations of worn-out ,europe and see how well each displayed some particular quality of old age1 to the delight of those who sit before the great spectacle3 how the ,french successfully represent the cleverness and amiability of old age1 the ,english the experience and reserve1 the ,italians the innocence and candour4 ,can the other masks of old age be wanting8 ,where is the proud old man1 the domineering old man1 the covetous old man8--,the most dangerous region in ,germany was ,saxony and ,thuringia3 nowhere else was there more mental nimbleness1 more knowledge of men1 side by side with freedom of thought2 and all this was so modestly veiled by the ugly dialect and the zealous officiousness of the inhabitants that one hardly noticed that one here had to deal with the intellectual drill-sergeants of ,germany1 her teachers for good or evil4--,the arrogance of the ,north ,germans was kept in check by their tendency to obey1 that of the ,south ,germans by their tendency--to make themselves comfortable4--,it appeared to him that in their women ,german men possessed awkward but self-opinionated housewives1 who belauded themselves so perseveringly that they had almost persuaded the world1 and at any rate their husbands1 of their peculiarly ,german housewifely virtue4--,when the conversation turned on ,germany's home and foreign policy1 he used to say 7he called it 8betray the secret07 that ,germany's greatest statesman did not believe in great statesmen4--,the future of ,germany he found menaced and menacing1 for ,germans had forgotten how to enjoy themselves 7an art that the ,italians understood so well71 but1 by the great games of chance called wars and dynastic revolutions1 had accustomed themselves to emotionalism1 and consequently would one day have an meute4 ,for that is the strongest emotion that a nation can procure for itself4--,the ,german ,socialist was all the more dangerous because impelled by no definite necessity3 his trouble lay in not knowing what he wanted2 so1 even if he attained many of his objects1 he would still pine away from desire in the midst of delights1 just like ,faust1 but presumably like a very vulgar ,faust4 8,for the ,faust-,devil10 he finally exclaimed1 8by whom cultured ,germans were so much plagued1 was exorcised by ,bismarck2 but now the ,devil has entered into the swine17#ag7 and is worse than ever60 #cbe4 ,,opinions4--,most men are nothing and count for nothing until they have arrayed themselves in universal convictions and public opinions4 ,this is in accordance with the tailors' philosophy1 8,the apparel makes the man40 ,of exceptional men1 however1 it must be said1 8,the wearer primarily makes the apparel40 ,here opinions cease to be public1 and become something else than masks1 ornament1 and disguise4 #cbf4 ,,two ,,kinds ,,of ,,sobriety4--,in order not to confound the sobriety arising from mental exhaustion with that arising from moderation1 one must remark that the former is peevish1 the latter cheerful4 #cbg4 ,,debasement ,,of ,,joy4--,to call a thing good not a day longer than it appears to us good1 and above all not a day earlier--that is the only way to keep joy pure4 ,otherwise1 joy all too easily becomes insipid and rotten to the taste1 and counts1 for whole strata of the people1 among the adulterated foodstuffs4 #cbh4 ,,the ,,scapegoat ,,of ,,virtue4--,when a man does his very best1 those who mean well towards him1 but are not capable of appreciating him1 speedily seek a scapegoat to immolate1 thinking it is the scapegoat of sin--but it is the scapegoat of virtue4 #cbi4 ,,sovereignty4--,to honour and acknowledge even the bad1 when it pleases one1 and to have no conception of how one could be ashamed of being pleased thereat1 is the mark of sovereignty in things great and small4 #ccj4 ,,influence ,a ,,phantom1 ,,not ,a ,,reality4--,the man of mark gradually learns that so far as he has influence he is a phantom in other brains1 and perhaps he falls into a state of subtle vexation of soul1 in which he asks himself whether he must not maintain this phantom of himself for the benefit of his fellow-men4 #cca4 ,,giving ,,and ,,taking4--,when one takes away 7or anticipates7 the smallest thing that another possesses1 the latter is blind to the fact that he has been given something greater1 nay1 even the greatest thing4 #ccb4 ,,good ,,ploughland4--,all rejection and negation betoken a deficiency in fertility4 ,if we were good ploughland1 we should allow nothing to be unused or lost1 and in every thing1 event1 or person we should welcome manure1 rain1 or sunshine4 #ccc4 ,,intercourse ,,as ,,an ,,enjoyment4--,if a man renounces the world and intentionally lives in solitude1 he may come to regard intercourse with others1 which he enjoys but seldom1 as a special delicacy4 #ccd4 ,,to ,,know ,,how ,,to ,,suffer ,,in ,,public4--,we must advertise our misfortunes and from time to time heave audible sighs and show visible marks of impatience4 ,for if we could let others see how assured and happy we are in spite of pain and privation1 how envious and ill-tempered they would become at the sight6--,but we must take care not to corrupt our fellow-men2 besides1 if they knew the truth1 they would levy a heavy toll upon us4 ,at any rate our public misfortune is our private advantage4 #cce4 ,,warmth ,,on ,,the ,,heights4--,on the heights it is warmer than people in the valleys suppose1 especially in winter4 ,the thinker recognises the full import of this simile4 #ccf4 ,,to ,,will ,,the ,,good ,,and ,,be ,,capable ,,of ,,the ,,beautiful4--,it is not enough to practise the good one must have willed it1 and1 as the poet says1 include the ,godhead in our will4 ,but the beautiful we must not will1 we must be capable of it1 in innocence and blindness1 without any psychical curiosity4 ,he that lights his lantern to find perfect men should remember the token by which to know them4 ,they are the men who always act for the sake of the good and in so doing always attain to the beautiful without thinking of the beautiful4 ,many better and nobler men1 from impotence or from want of beauty in their souls1 remain unrefreshing and ugly to behold1 with all their good will and good works4 ,they rebuff and injure even virtue through the repulsive garb in which their bad taste arrays her4 #ccg4 ,,danger ,,of ,,renunciation4--,we must beware of basing our lives on too narrow a foundation of appetite4 ,for if we renounce all the joys involved in positions1 honours1 associations1 revels1 creature comforts1 and arts1 a day may come when we perceive that this repudiation has led us not to wisdom but to satiety of life4 #cch4 ,,final ,,opinion ,,on ,,opinions4--,either we should hide our opinions or hide ourselves behind our opinions4 ,whoever does otherwise1 does not know the way of the world1 or belongs to the order of pious fire-eaters4 #cci4 8,,gaudeamus ,,igitur40--,joy must contain edifying and healing forces for the moral nature of man4 ,otherwise1 how comes it that our soul1 as soon as it basks in the sunshine of joy1 unconsciously vows to itself1 8,i will be good60 8,i will become perfect60 and is at once seized by a premonition of perfection that is like a shudder of religious awe8 #cdj4 ,,to ,,one ,,who ,,is ,,praised4--,so long as you are praised1 believe that you are not yet on your own course but on that of another4 #cda4 ,,loving ,,the ,,master4--,the apprentice and the master love the master in different ways4 #cdb4 ,,all-,,too-,,beautiful ,,and ,,human4--8,nature is too beautiful for thee1 poor mortal10 one often feels4 ,but now and then1 at a profound contemplation of all that is human1 in its fulness1 vigour1 tenderness1 and complexity1 ,i have felt as if ,i must say1 in all humility1 8,man also is too beautiful for the contemplation of man60 ,nor did ,i mean the moral man alone1 but every one4 #cdc4 ,,real ,,and ,,personal ,,estate4--,when life has treated us in true robber fashion1 and has taken away all that it could of honour1 joys1 connections1 health1 and property of every kind1 we perhaps discover in the end1 after the first shock1 that we are richer than before4 ,for now we know for the first time what is so peculiarly ours that no robber hand can touch it1 and perhaps1 after all the plunder and devastation1 we come forward with the airs of a mighty real estate owner4 #cdd4 ,,involuntarily ,,idealised4--,the most painful feeling that exists is finding out that we are always taken for something higher than we really are4 ,for we must thereby confess to ourselves1 8,there is in you some element of fraud--your speech1 your expression1 your bearing1 your eye1 your dealings2 and this deceitful something is as necessary as your usual honesty1 but constantly destroys its effect and its value40 #cde4 ,,idealist ,,and ,,liar4--,we must not let ourselves be tyrannised even by that finest faculty of idealising things3 otherwise1 truth will one day part company from us with the insulting remark3 8,thou arch-liar1 what have ,i to do with thee80 #cdf4 ,,being ,,misunderstood4--,when one is misunderstood generally1 it is impossible to remove a particular misunderstanding4 ,this point must be recognised1 to save superfluous expenditure of energy in self-defence4 #cdg4 ,,the ,,water-,,drinker ,,speaks4--,go on drinking your wine1 which has refreshed you all your life--what affair is it of yours if ,i have to be a water-drinker8 ,are not wine and water peaceable1 brotherly elements1 that can live side by side without mutual recriminations8 #cdh4 ,,from ,,cannibal ,,country4--,in solitude the lonely man is eaten up by himself1 among crowds by the many4 ,choose which you prefer4 #cdi4 ,,the ,,freezing-,,point ,,of ,,the ,,will4--8,some time the hour will come at last1 the hour that will envelop you in the golden cloud of painlessness2 when the soul enjoys its own weariness and1 happy in patient playing with patience1 resembles the waves of a lake1 which on a quiet summer day1 in the reflection of a many-hued evening sky1 sip and sip at the shore and again are hushed--without end1 without purpose1 without satiety1 without need--all calm rejoicing in change1 all ebb and flow of ,nature's pulse40 ,such is the feeling and talk of all invalids1 but if they attain that hour1 a brief period of enjoyment is followed by ennui4 ,but this is the thawing-wind of the frozen will1 which awakes1 stirs1 and once more begets desire upon desire4--,desire is a sign of convalescence or recovery4 #cej4 ,,the ,,disclaimed ,,ideal4--,it happens sometimes by an exception that a man only reaches the highest when he disclaims his ideal4 ,for this ideal previously drove him onward too violently1 so that in the middle of the track he regularly got out of breath and had to rest4 #cea4 ,a ,,treacherous ,,inclination4--,it should be regarded as a sign of an envious but aspiring man1 when he feels himself attracted by the thought that with regard to the eminent there is but one salvation--love4 #ceb4 ,,staircase ,,happiness4--,just as the wit of many men does not keep pace with opportunity 7so that opportunity has already passed through the door while wit still waits on the staircase outside71 so others have a kind of staircase happiness1 which walks too slowly to keep pace with swift-footed ,time4 ,the best that it can enjoy of an experience1 of a whole span of life1 falls to its share long afterwards1 often only as a weak1 spicy fragrance1 giving rise to longing and sadness--as if 8it might have been possible0--some time or other--to drink one's fill of this element3 but now it is too late4 #cec4 ,,worms4--,the fact that an intellect contains a few worms does not detract from its ripeness4 #ced4 ,,the ,,seat ,,of ,,victory4--,a good seat on horseback robs an opponent of his courage1 the spectator of his heart--why attack such a man8 ,sit like one who has been victorious6 #cee4 ,,danger ,,in ,,admiration4--,from excessive admiration for the virtues of others one can lose the sense of one's own1 and finally1 through lack of practice1 lose these virtues themselves1 without retaining the alien virtues as compensation4 #cef4 ,,uses ,,of ,,sickliness4--,he who is often ill not only has a far greater pleasure in health1 on account of his so often getting well1 but acquires a very keen sense of what is healthy or sickly in actions and achievements1 both his own and others'4 ,thus1 for example1 it is just the writers of uncertain health--among whom1 unfortunately1 nearly all great writers must be classed--who are wont to have a far more even and assured tone of health in their writings1 because they are better versed than are the physically robust in the philosophy of psychical health and convalescence and in their teachers--morning1 sunshine1 forest1 and fountain4 #ceg4 ,,disloyalty ,a ,,condition ,,of ,,mastery4--,it cannot be helped--every master has but one pupil1 and he becomes disloyal to him1 for he also is destined for mastery4 #ceh4 ,,never ,,in ,,vain4--,in the mountains of truth you never climb in vain4 ,either you already reach a higher point to-day1 or you exercise your strength in order to be able to climb higher to-morrow4 #cei4 ,,through ,,grey ,,window-,,panes4--,is what you see through this window of the world so beautiful that you do not wish to look through any other window--ay1 and even try to prevent others from so doing8 #cfj4 ,a ,,sign ,,of ,,radical ,,changes4--,when we dream of persons long forgotten or dead1 it is a sign that we have suffered radical changes1 and that the soil on which we live has been completely undermined4 ,the dead rise again1 and our antiquity becomes modernity4 #cfa4 ,,medicine ,,of ,,the ,,soul4--,to lie still and think little is the cheapest medicine for all diseases of the soul1 and1 with the aid of good-will1 becomes pleasanter every hour that it is used4 #cfb4 ,,intellectual ,,order ,,of ,,precedence4--,you rank far below others when you try to establish the exception and they the rule4 #cfc4 ,,the ,,fatalist4--,you must believe in fate--science can compel you thereto4 ,all that develops in you out of that belief--cowardice1 devotion or loftiness1 and uprightness--bears witness to the soil in which the grain was sown1 but not to the grain itself1 for from that seed anything and everything can grow4 #cfd4 ,,the ,,reason ,,for ,,much ,,fretfulness4--,he that prefers the beautiful to the useful in life will undoubtedly1 like children who prefer sweetmeats to bread1 destroy his digestion and acquire a very fretful outlook on the world4 #cfe4 ,,excess ,,as ,a ,,remedy4--,we can make our own talent once more acceptable to ourselves by honouring and enjoying the opposite talent for some time to excess4--,using excess as a remedy is one of the more refined devices in the art of life4 #cff4 8,,will ,a ,,self40--,active1 successful natures act1 not according to the maxim1 8,know thyself10 but as if always confronted with the command1 8,will a self1 so you will become a self40--,fate seems always to have left them a choice4 ,inactive1 contemplative natures1 on the other hand1 reflect on how they have chosen their self 8once for all0 at their entry into life4 #cfg4 ,,to ,,live ,,as ,,far ,,as ,,possible ,,without ,a ,,following4--,how small is the importance of followers we first grasp when we have ceased to be the followers of our followers4 #cfh4 ,,obscuring ,,oneself4--,we must understand how to obscure ourselves in order to get rid of the gnat-swarms of pestering admirers4 #cfi4 ,,ennui4--,there is an ennui of the most subtle and cultured brains1 to which the best that the world can offer has become stale4 ,accustomed to eat ever more and more recherch fare and to feel disgust at coarser diet1 they are in danger of dying of hunger4 ,for the very best exists but in small quantities1 and has sometimes become inaccessible or hard as stone1 so that even good teeth can no longer bite it4 #cgj4 ,,the ,,danger ,,in ,,admiration4--,the admiration of a quality or of an art may be so strong as to deter us from aspiring to possess that quality or art4 #cga4 ,,what ,,is ,,required ,,of ,,art4--,one man wants to enjoy himself by means of art1 another for a time to get out of or above himself4--,to meet both requirements there exists a twofold species of artists4 #cgb4 ,,secessions4--,whoever secedes from us offends not us1 perhaps1 but certainly our adherents4 #cgc4 ,,after ,,death4--,it is only long after the death of a man that we find it inconceivable that he should be missed--in the case of really great men1 only after decades4 ,those who are honest usually think when any one dies that he is not much missed1 and that the pompous funeral oration is a piece of hypocrisy4 ,necessity first teaches the necessariness of an individual1 and the proper epitaph is a belated sigh4 #cgd4 ,,leaving ,,in ,,hades4--,we must leave many things in the ,hades of half-conscious feeling1 and not try to release them from their shadow-existence1 or else they will become1 as thoughts and words1 our demoniacal tyrants1 with cruel lust after our blood4 #cge4 ,,near ,,to ,,beggary4--,even the richest intellect sometimes mislays the key to the room in which his hoarded treasures repose4 ,he is then like the poorest of the poor1 who must beg to get a living4 #cgf4 ,,chain-,,thinkers4--,to him who has thought a great deal1 every new thought that he hears or reads at once assumes the form of a chain4 #cgg4 ,,pity4--,in the gilded sheath of pity is sometimes hidden the dagger of envy4 #cgh4 ,,what ,,is ,,genius8--,to aspire to a lofty aim and to will the means to that aim4 #cgi4 ,,vanity ,,of ,,combatants4--,he who has no hope of victory in a combat1 or who is obviously worsted1 is all the more desirous that his style of fighting should be admired4 #chj4 ,,the ,,philosophic ,,life ,,misinterpreted4--,at the moment when one is beginning to take philosophy seriously1 the whole world fancies that one is doing the reverse4 #cha4 ,,imitation4--,by imitation1 the bad gains1 the good loses credit--especially in art4 #chb4 ,,final ,,teaching ,,of ,,history4--8,oh that ,i had but lived in those times60 is the exclamation of foolish and frivolous men4 ,at every period of history that we seriously review1 even if it be the most belauded era of the past1 we shall rather cry out at the end1 8,anything but a return to that6 ,the spirit of that age would oppress you with the weight of a hundred atmospheres1 the good and beautiful in it you would not enjoy1 its evil you could not digest40 ,depend upon it1 posterity will pass the same verdict on our own epoch1 and say that it was unbearable1 that life under such conditions was intolerable4 8,and yet every one can endure his own times80 ,yes1 because the spirit of his age not only lies upon him but is in him4 ,the spirit of the age offers resistance to itself and can bear itself4 #chc4 ,,greatness ,,as ,a ,,mask4--,by greatness in our comportment we embitter our foes2 by envy that we do not conceal we almost reconcile them to us4 ,for envy levels and makes equal2 it is an unconscious1 plaintive variety of modesty4--,it may be indeed that here and there1 for the sake of the above-named advantage1 envy has been assumed as a mask by those who are not envious4 ,certainly1 however1 greatness in comportment is often used as the mask of envy by ambitious men who would rather suffer drawbacks and embitter their foes than let it be seen that they place them on an equal footing with themselves4 #chd4 ,,unpardonable4--,you gave him an opportunity of displaying the greatness of his character1 and he did not make use of the opportunity4 ,he will never forgive you for that4 #che4 ,,contrasts4--,the most senile thought ever conceived about men lies in the famous saying1 8,the ego is always hateful10 the most childish in the still more famous saying1 8,love thy neighbour as thyself40--,with the one knowledge of men has ceased1 with the other it has not yet begun4 #chf4 ,a ,,defective ,,ear4--8,we still belong to the mob so long as we always shift the blame on to others2 we are on the track of wisdom when we always make ourselves alone responsible2 but the wise man finds no one to blame1 neither himself nor others40--,who said that8 ,epictetus1 eighteen hundred years ago4--,the world has heard but forgotten the saying4--,no1 the world has not heard and not forgotten it3 everything is not forgotten4 ,but we had not the necessary ear1 the ear of ,epictetus4--,so he whispered it into his own ear8--,even so3 wisdom is the whispering of the sage to himself in the crowded market-place4 #chg4 ,a ,,defect ,,of ,,standpoint1 ,,not ,,of ,,vision4--,we always stand a few paces too near ourselves and a few paces too far from our neighbour4 ,hence we judge him too much in the lump1 and ourselves too much by individual1 occasional1 insignificant features and circumstances4 #chh4 ,,ignorance ,,about ,,weapons4--,how little we care whether another knows a subject or not6--whereas he perhaps sweats blood at the bare idea that he may be considered ignorant on the point4 ,yes1 there are exquisite fools1 who always go about with a quiverful of mighty1 excommunicatory utterances1 ready to shoot down any one who shows freely that there are matters in which their judgment is not taken into account4 #chi4 ,,at ,,the ,,drinking-,,table ,,of ,,experience4--,people whose innate moderation leads them to drink but the half of every glass1 will not admit that everything in the world has its lees and sediment4 #cij4 ,,singing-,,birds4--,the followers of a great man often put their own eyes out1 so that they may be the better able to sing his praise4 #cia4 ,,beyond ,,our ,,ken4--,the good generally displeases us when it is beyond our ken4 #cib4 ,,rule ,,as ,,mother ,,or ,,as ,,child4--,there is one condition that gives birth to rules1 another to which rules give birth4 #cic4 ,,comedy4--,we sometimes earn honour or love for actions and achievements which we have long since sloughed as the snake sloughs his skin4 ,we are hereby easily seduced into becoming the comic actors of our own past1 and into throwing the old skin once more about our shoulders--and that not merely from vanity1 but from good-will towards our admirers4 #cid4 ,a ,,mistake ,,of ,,biographers4--,the small force that is required to launch a boat into the stream must not be confounded with the force of the stream that carries the boat along4 ,yet this mistake is made in nearly all biographies4 #cie4 ,,not ,,buying ,,too ,,dear4--,the things that we buy too dear we generally turn to bad use1 because we have no love for them but only a painful recollection4 ,thus they involve a twofold drawback4 #cif4 ,,the ,,philosophy ,,that ,,society ,,always ,,needs4--,the pillars of the social structure rest upon the fundamental fact that every one cheerfully contemplates all that he is1 does1 and attempts1 his sickness or health1 his poverty or affluence1 his honour or insignificance1 and says to himself1 8,after all1 ,i would not change places with any one60--,whoever wishes to add a stone to the social structure should always try to implant in mankind this cheerful philosophy of contentment and refusal to change places4 #cig4 ,,the ,,mark ,,of ,a ,,noble ,,soul4--,a noble soul is not that which is capable of the highest flights1 but that which rises little and falls little1 living always in a free and bright atmosphere and altitude4 #cih4 ,,greatness ,,and ,,its ,,contemplator4--,the noblest effect of greatness is that it gives the contemplator a power of vision that magnifies and embellishes4 #cii4 ,,being ,,satisfied4--,we show that we have attained maturity of understanding when we no longer go where rare flowers lurk under the thorniest hedges of knowledge1 but are satisfied with gardens1 forests1 meadows1 and ploughlands1 remembering that life is too short for the rare and uncommon4 #djj4 ,,advantage ,,in ,,privation4--,he who always lives in the warmth and fulness of the heart1 and1 as it were1 in the summer air of the soul1 cannot form an idea of that fearful delight which seizes more wintry natures1 who for once in a way are kissed by the rays of love and the milder breath of a sunny ,february day4 #dja4 ,,recipe ,,for ,,the ,,sufferer4--,you find the burden of life too heavy8 ,then you must increase the burden of your life4 ,when the sufferer finally thirsts after and seeks the river of ,lethe1 then he must become a hero to be certain of finding it4 #djb4 ,,the ,,judge4--,he who has seen another's ideal becomes his inexorable judge1 and as it were his evil conscience4 #djc4 ,,the ,,utility ,,of ,,great ,,renunciation4--,the useful thing about great renunciation is that it invests us with that youthful pride through which we can thenceforth easily demand of ourselves small renunciations4 #djd4 ,,how ,,duty ,,acquires ,a ,,glamour4--,you can change a brazen duty into gold in the eyes of all by always performing something more than you have promised4 #dje4 ,,prayer ,,to ,,mankind4--8,forgive us our virtues0--so should we pray to mankind4 #djf4 ,,they ,,that ,,create ,,and ,,they ,,that ,,enjoy4--,every one who enjoys thinks that the principal thing to the tree is the fruit1 but in point of fact the principal thing to it is the seed4--,herein lies the difference between them that create and them that enjoy4 #djg4 ,,the ,,glory ,,of ,,all ,,great ,,men4--,what is the use of genius if it does not invest him who contemplates and reveres it with such freedom and loftiness of feeling that he no longer has need of genius8--,to make themselves superfluous is the glory of all great men4 #djh4 ,,the ,,journey ,,to ,,hades4--,i too have been in the underworld1 even as ,odysseus1 and ,i shall often be there again4 ,not sheep alone have ,i sacrificed1 that ,i might be able to converse with a few dead souls1 but not even my own blood have ,i spared4 ,there were four pairs who responded to me in my sacrifice3 ,epicurus and ,montaigne1 ,goethe and ,spinoza1 ,plato and ,rousseau1 ,pascal and ,schopenhauer4 ,with them ,i have to come to terms4 ,when ,i have long wandered alone1 ,i will let them prove me right or wrong2 to them will ,i listen1 if they prove each other right or wrong4 ,in all that ,i say1 conclude1 or think out for myself and others1 ,i fasten my eyes on those eight and see their eyes fastened on mine4--,may the living forgive me if ,i look upon them at times as shadows1 so pale and fretful1 so restless and1 alas6 so eager for life4 ,those eight1 on the other hand1 seem to me so living that ,i feel as if even now1 after their death1 they could never become weary of life4 ,but eternal vigour of life is the important point3 what matters 8eternal life10 or indeed life at all8 ,,part ,,ii4 ,,the ,,wanderer ,,and ,,his ,,shadow4 ,the ,shadow3 ,it is so long since ,i heard you speak that ,i should like to give you an opportunity of talking4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,i hear a voice--where8 whose8 ,i almost fancied that ,i heard myself speaking1 but with a voice yet weaker than my own4 ,the ,shadow 7after a pause73 ,are you not glad to have an opportunity of speaking8 ,the ,wanderer3 ,by ,god and everything else in which ,i disbelieve1 it is my shadow that speaks4 ,i hear it1 but ,i do not believe it4 ,the ,shadow3 ,let us assume that it exists1 and think no more about it4 ,in another hour all will be over4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,that is just what ,i thought when in a forest near ,pisa ,i saw first two and then five camels4 ,the ,shadow3 ,it is all the better if we are both equally forbearing towards each other when for once our reason is silent4 ,thus we shall avoid losing our tempers in conversation1 and shall not at once apply mutual thumb-screws in the event of any word sounding for once unintelligible to us4 ,if one does not know exactly how to answer1 it is enough to say something4 ,those are the reasonable terms on which ,i hold conversation with any person4 ,during a long talk the wisest of men becomes a fool once and a simpleton thrice4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,your moderation is not flattering to those to whom you confess it4 ,the ,shadow3 ,am ,i1 then1 to flatter8 ,the ,wanderer3 ,i thought a man's shadow was his vanity4 ,surely vanity would never say1 8,am ,i1 then1 to flatter80 ,the ,shadow3 ,nor does human vanity1 so far as ,i am acquainted with it1 ask1 as ,i have done twice1 whether it may speak4 ,it simply speaks4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,now ,i see for the first time how rude ,i am to you1 my beloved shadow4 ,i have not said a word of my supreme delight in hearing and not merely seeing you4 ,you must know that ,i love shadows even as ,i love light4 ,for the existence of beauty of face1 clearness of speech1 kindliness and firmness of character1 the shadow is as necessary as the light4 ,they are not opponents--rather do they hold each other's hands like good friends2 and when the light vanishes1 the shadow glides after it4 ,the ,shadow3 ,yes1 and ,i hate the same thing that you hate--night4 ,i love men because they are votaries of life4 ,i rejoice in the gleam of their eyes when they recognise and discover1 they who never weary of recognising and discovering4 ,that shadow which all things cast when the sunshine of knowledge falls upon them--that shadow too am ,i4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,i think ,i understand you1 although you have expressed yourself in somewhat shadowy terms4 ,you are right4 ,good friends give to each other here and there1 as a sign of mutual understanding1 an obscure phrase which to any third party is meant to be a riddle4 ,and we are good friends1 you and ,i4 ,so enough of preambles6 ,some few hundred questions oppress my soul1 and the time for you to answer them is perchance but short4 ,let us see how we may come to an understanding as quickly and peaceably as possible4 ,the ,shadow3 ,but shadows are more shy than men4 ,you will not reveal to any man the manner of our conversation8 ,the ,wanderer3 ,the manner of our conversation8 ,heaven preserve me from wire-drawn1 literary dialogues6 ,if ,plato had found less pleasure in spinning them out1 his readers would have found more pleasure in ,plato4 ,a dialogue that in real life is a source of delight1 when turned into writing and read1 is a picture with nothing but false perspectives4 ,everything is too long or too short4--,yet perhaps ,i may reveal the points on which we have come to an understanding8 ,the ,shadow3 ,with that ,i am content4 ,for every one will only recognise your views once more1 and no one will think of the shadow4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,perhaps you are wrong1 my friend6 ,hitherto they have observed in my views more of the shadow than of me4 ,the ,shadow3 ,more of the shadow than of the light8 ,is that possible8 ,the ,wanderer3 ,be serious1 dear fool6 ,my very first question demands seriousness4 #a4 ,,of ,,the ,,tree ,,of ,,knowledge4--,probability1 but no truth2 the semblance of freedom1 but no freedom--these are the two fruits by virtue of which the tree of knowledge cannot be confounded with the tree of life4 #b4 ,,the ,,world',s ,,reason4--,that the world is not the abstract essence of an eternal reasonableness is sufficiently proved by the fact that that bit of the world which we know--,i mean our human reason--is none too reasonable4 ,and if this is not eternally and wholly wise and reasonable1 the rest of the world will not be so either4 ,here the conclusion a minori ad majus1 a parte ad totum holds good1 and that with decisive force4 #c4 8,,in ,,the ,,beginning ,,was40--,to glorify the origin--that is the metaphysical after-shoot which sprouts again at the contemplation of history1 and absolutely makes us imagine that in the beginning of things lies all that is most valuable and essential4 #d4 ,,standard ,,for ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,truth4--,the difficulty of climbing mountains is no gauge of their height4 ,yet in the case of science it is different6--we are told by certain persons who wish to be considered 8the initiated10--the difficulty in finding truth is to determine the value of truth6 ,this insane morality originates in the idea that 8truths0 are really nothing more than gymnastic appliances1 with which we have to exercise ourselves until we are thoroughly tired4 ,it is a morality for the athletes and gymnasts of the intellect4 #e4 ,,use ,,of ,,words ,,and ,,reality4--,there exists a simulated contempt for all the things that mankind actually holds most important1 for all everyday matters4 ,for instance1 we say 8we only eat to live0--an abominable lie1 like that which speaks of the procreation of children as the real purpose of all sexual pleasure4 ,conversely1 the reverence for 8the most important things0 is hardly ever quite genuine4 ,the priests and metaphysicians have indeed accustomed us to a hypocritically exaggerated use of words regarding these matters1 but they have not altered the feeling that these most important things are not so important as those despised 8everyday matters40 ,a fatal consequence of this twofold hypocrisy is that we never make these everyday matters 7such as eating1 housing1 clothes1 and intercourse7 the object of a constant unprejudiced and universal reflection and revision1 but1 as such a process appears degrading1 we divert from them our serious intellectual and artistic side4 ,hence in such matters habit and frivolity win an easy victory over the thoughtless1 especially over inexperienced youth4 ,on the other hand1 our continual transgressions of the simplest laws of body and mind reduce us all1 young and old1 to a disgraceful state of dependence and servitude--,i mean to that fundamentally superfluous dependence upon physicians1 teachers and clergymen1 whose dead-weight still lies heavy upon the whole of society4 #f4 ,,earthly ,,infirmities ,,and ,,their ,,main ,,cause4--,if we look about us1 we are always coming across men who have eaten eggs all their lives without observing that the oblong-shaped taste the best2 who do not know that a thunder-storm is beneficial to the stomach2 that perfumes are most fragrant in cold1 clear air2 that our sense of taste varies in different parts of our mouths2 that every meal at which we talk well or listen well does harm to the digestion4 ,if we are not satisfied with these examples of defective powers of observation1 we shall concede all the more readily that the everyday matters are very imperfectly seen and rarely observed by the majority4 ,is this a matter of indifference8--,let us remember1 after all1 that from this defect are derived nearly all the bodily and spiritual infirmities of the individual4 ,ignorance of what is good and bad for us1 in the arrangement of our mode of life1 the division of our day1 the selection of our friends and the time we devote to them1 in business and leisure1 commanding and obeying1 our feeling for nature and for art1 our eating1 sleeping1 and meditation2 ignorance and lack of keen perceptions in the smallest and most ordinary details--this it is that makes the world 8a vale of tears0 for so many4 ,let us not say that here as everywhere the fault lies with human unreason4 ,of reason there is enough and to spare1 but it is wrongly directed and artificially diverted from these little intimate things4 ,priests and teachers1 and the sublime ambition of all idealists1 coarser and subtler1 din it even into the child's ears that the means of serving mankind at large depend upon altogether different things--upon the salvation of the soul1 the service of the ,state1 the advancement of science1 or even upon social position and property2 whereas the needs of the individual1 his requirements great and small during the twenty-four hours of the day1 are quite paltry or indifferent4--,even ,socrates attacked with all his might this arrogant neglect of the human for the benefit of humanity1 and loved to indicate by a quotation from ,homer the true sphere and conception of all anxiety and reflection3 8,all that really matters10 he said1 8is the good and evil hap ,i find at home40 #g4 ,,two ,,means ,,of ,,consolation4--,epicurus1 the soul-comforter of later antiquity1 said1 with that marvellous insight which to this very day is so rarely to be found1 that for the calming of the spirit the solution of the final and ultimate theoretical problems is by no means necessary4 ,hence1 instead of raising a barren and remote discussion of the final question1 whether the ,gods existed1 it sufficed him to say to those who were tormented by 8fear of the ,gods03 8,if there are ,gods1 they do not concern themselves with us40 ,the latter position is far stronger and more favourable1 for1 by conceding a few points to the other1 one makes him readier to listen and to take to heart4 ,but as soon as he sets about proving the opposite 7that the ,gods do concern themselves with us71 into what thorny jungles of error must the poor man fall1 quite of his own accord1 and without any cunning on the part of his interlocutor6 ,the latter must only have enough subtlety and humanity to conceal his sympathy with this tragedy4 ,finally1 the other comes to feel disgust--the strongest argument against any proposition--disgust with his own hypothesis4 ,he becomes cold1 and goes away in the same frame of mind as the pure atheist who says1 8,what do the ,gods matter to me8 ,the devil take them60--,in other cases1 especially when a half-physical1 half-moral assumption had cast a gloom over his spirit1 ,epicurus did not refute the assumption4 ,he agreed that it might be true1 but that there was a second assumption to explain the same phenomenon1 and that it could perhaps be maintained in other ways4 ,the plurality of hypotheses 7for example1 that concerning the origin of conscientious scruples7 suffices even in our time to remove from the soul the shadows that arise so easily from pondering over a hypothesis which is isolated1 merely visible1 and hence overvalued a hundredfold4--,thus whoever wishes to console the unfortunate1 the criminal1 the hypochondriac1 the dying1 may call to mind the two soothing suggestions of ,epicurus1 which can be applied to a great number of problems4 ,in their simplest form they would run3 firstly1 granted the thing is so1 it does not concern us2 secondly1 the thing may be so1 but it may also be otherwise4 #h4 ,,in ,,the ,,night4--,so soon as night begins to fall our sensations concerning everyday matters are altered4 ,there is the wind1 prowling as if on forbidden paths1 whispering as if in search of something1 fretting because he cannot find it4 ,there is the lamplight1 with its dim red glow1 its weary look1 unwillingly fighting against night1 a sullen slave to wakeful man4 ,there are the breathings of the sleeper1 with their terrible rhythm1 to which an ever-recurring care seems to blow the trumpet-melody--we do not hear it1 but when the sleeper's bosom heaves we feel our heart-strings tighten2 and when the breath sinks and almost dies away into a deathly stillness1 we say to ourselves1 8,rest awhile1 poor troubled spirit60 ,all living creatures bear so great a burden that we wish them an eternal rest2 night invites to death4--,if human beings were deprived of the sun and resisted night by means of moonlight and oil-lamps1 what a philosophy would cast its veil over them6 ,we already see only too plainly how a shadow is thrown over the spiritual and intellectual nature of man by that moiety of darkness and sunlessness that envelops life4 #i4 ,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,free ,,will4--,necessity sways one man in the shape of his passions1 another as a habit of hearing and obeying1 a third as a logical conscience1 a fourth as a caprice and a mischievous delight in evasions4 ,these four1 however1 seek the freedom of their will at the very point where they are most securely fettered4 ,it is as if the silkworm sought freedom of will in spinning4 ,what is the reason8 ,clearly this1 that every one thinks himself most free where his vitality is strongest2 hence1 as ,i have said1 now in passion1 now in duty1 now in knowledge1 now in caprice4 ,a man unconsciously imagines that where he is strong1 where he feels most thoroughly alive1 the element of his freedom must lie4 ,he thinks of dependence and apathy1 independence and vivacity as forming inevitable pairs4--,thus an experience that a man has undergone in the social and political sphere is wrongly transferred to the ultimate metaphysical sphere4 ,there the strong man is also the free man1 there the vivid feeling of joy and sorrow1 the high hopes1 the keen desires1 the powerful hates are the attributes of the ruling1 independent natures1 while the thrall and the slave live in a state of dazed oppression4--,the doctrine of free will is an invention of the ruling classes4 #aj4 ,,absence ,,of ,,feeling ,,of ,,new ,,chains4--,so long as we do not feel that we are in some way dependent1 we consider ourselves independent--a false conclusion that shows how proud man is1 how eager for dominion4 ,for he hereby assumes that he would always be sure to observe and recognise dependence so soon as he suffered it1 the preliminary hypothesis being that he generally lives in independence1 and that1 should he lose that independence for once in a way1 he would immediately detect a contrary sensation4--,suppose1 however1 the reverse to be true--that he is always living in a complex state of dependence1 but thinks himself free where1 through long habit1 he no longer feels the weight of the chain8 ,he only suffers from new chains1 and 8free will0 really means nothing more than an absence of feeling of new chains4 #aa4 ,,freedom ,,of ,,the ,,will ,,and ,,the ,,isolation ,,of ,,facts4--,our ordinary inaccurate observation takes a group of phenomena as one and calls them a fact4 ,between this fact and another we imagine a vacuum1 we isolate each fact4 ,in reality1 however1 the sum of our actions and cognitions is no series of facts and intervening vacua1 but a continuous stream4 ,now the belief in free will is incompatible with the idea of a continuous1 uniform1 undivided1 indivisible flow4 ,this belief presupposes that every single action is isolated and indivisible2 it is an atomic theory as regards volition and cognition4--,we misunderstand facts as we misunderstand characters1 speaking of similar characters and similar facts1 whereas both are non-existent4 ,further1 we bestow praise and blame only on this false hypothesis1 that there are similar facts1 that a graduated order of species of facts exists1 corresponding to a graduated order of values4 ,thus we isolate not only the single fact1 but the groups of apparently equal facts 7good1 evil1 compassionate1 envious actions1 and so forth74 ,in both cases we are wrong4--,the word and the concept are the most obvious reason for our belief in this isolation of groups of actions4 ,we do not merely thereby designate the things2 the thought at the back of our minds is that by the word and the concept we can grasp the essence of the actions4 ,we are still constantly led astray by words and actions1 and are induced to think of things as simpler than they are1 as separate1 indivisible1 existing in the absolute4 ,language contains a hidden philosophical mythology1 which1 however careful we may be1 breaks out afresh at every moment4 ,the belief in free will--that is to say1 in similar facts and isolated facts--finds in language its continual apostle and advocate4 #ab4 ,,the ,,fundamental ,,errors4--,a man cannot feel any psychical pleasure or pain unless he is swayed by one of two illusions4 ,either he believes in the identity of certain facts1 certain sensations1 and in that case finds spiritual pleasure and pain in comparing present with past conditions and in noting their similarity or difference 7as is invariably the case with recollection72 or he believes in the freedom of the will1 perhaps when he reflects1 8,i ought not to have done this10 8,this might have turned out differently10 and from these reflections likewise he derives pleasure and pain4 ,without the errors that are rife in every psychical pain and pleasure1 humanity would never have developed4 ,for the root idea of humanity is that man is free in a world of bondage--man1 the eternal wonder-worker1 whether his deeds be good or evil--man1 the amazing exception1 the super-beast1 the quasi-,god1 the mind of creation1 the indispensable1 the key-word to the cosmic riddle1 the mighty lord of nature and despiser of nature1 the creature that calls its history 8the history of the world06 ,vanitas vanitatum homo4 #ac4 ,,repetition4--,it is an excellent thing to express a thing consecutively in two ways1 and thus provide it with a right and a left foot4 ,truth can stand indeed on one leg1 but with two she will walk and complete her journey4 #ad4 ,,man ,,as ,,the ,,comic ,,actor ,,of ,,the ,,world4--,it would require beings more intellectual than men to relish to the full the humorous side of man's view of himself as the goal of all existence and of his serious pronouncement that he is satisfied only with the prospect of fulfilling a world-mission4 ,if a ,god created the world1 he created man to be his ape1 as a perpetual source of amusement in the midst of his rather tedious eternities4 ,the music of the spheres surrounding the world would then presumably be the mocking laughter of all the other creatures around mankind4 ,god in his boredom uses pain for the tickling of his favourite animal1 in order to enjoy his proudly tragic gestures and expressions of suffering1 and1 in general1 the intellectual inventiveness of the vainest of his creatures--as inventor of this inventor4 ,for he who invented man as a joke had more intellect and more joy in intellect than has man4--,even here1 where our human nature is willing to humble itself1 our vanity again plays us a trick1 in that we men should like in this vanity at least to be quite marvellous and incomparable4 ,our uniqueness in the world6 ,oh1 what an improbable thing it is6 ,astronomers1 who occasionally acquire a horizon outside our world1 give us to understand that the drop of life on the earth is without significance for the total character of the mighty ocean of birth and decay2 that countless stars present conditions for the generation of life similar to those of the earth--and yet these are but a handful in comparison with the endless number that have never known1 or have long been cured1 of the eruption of life2 that life on each of these stars1 measured by the period of its existence1 has been but an instant1 a flicker1 with long1 long intervals afterwards--and thus in no way the aim and final purpose of their existence4 ,possibly the ant in the forest is quite as firmly convinced that it is the aim and purpose of the existence of the forest1 as we are convinced in our imaginations 7almost unconsciously7 that the destruction of mankind involves the destruction of the world4 ,it is even modesty on our part to go no farther than this1 and not to arrange a universal twilight of the world and the ,gods as the funeral ceremony of the last man4 ,even to the eye of the most unbiassed astronomer a lifeless world can scarcely appear otherwise than as a shining and swinging star wherein man lies buried4 #ae4 ,,the ,,modesty ,,of ,,man4--,how little pleasure is enough for the majority to make them feel that life is good6 ,how modest is man6 #af4 ,,where ,,indifference ,,is ,,necessary4--,nothing would be more perverse than to wait for the truths that science will finally establish concerning the first and last things1 and until then to think 7and especially to believe7 in the traditional way1 as one is so often advised to do4 ,the impulse that bids us seek nothing but certainties in this domain is a religious offshoot1 nothing better--a hidden and only apparently sceptical variety of the 8metaphysical need10 the underlying idea being that for a long time no view of these ultimate certainties will be obtainable1 and that until then the 8believer0 has the right not to trouble himself about the whole subject4 ,we have no need of these certainties about the farthermost horizons in order to live a full and efficient human life1 any more than the ant needs them in order to be a good ant4 ,rather must we ascertain the origin of that troublesome significance that we have attached to these things for so long4 ,for this we require the history of ethical and religious sentiments1 since it is only under the influence of such sentiments that these most acute problems of knowledge have become so weighty and terrifying4 ,into the outermost regions to which the mental eye can penetrate 7without ever penetrating into them71 we have smuggled such concepts as guilt and punishment 7everlasting punishment1 too674 ,the darker those regions1 the more careless we have been4 ,for ages men have let their imaginations run riot where they could establish nothing1 and have induced posterity to accept these fantasies as something serious and true1 with this abominable lie as their final trump-card3 that faith is worth more than knowledge4 ,what we need now in regard to these ultimate things is not knowledge as against faith1 but indifference as against faith and pretended knowledge in these matters6--,everything must lie nearer to us than what has hitherto been preached to us as the most important thing1 ,i mean the questions3 8,what end does man serve80 8,what is his fate after death80 8,how does he make his peace with ,god80 and all the rest of that bag of tricks4 ,the problems of the dogmatic philosophers1 be they idealists1 materialists1 or realists1 concern us as little as do these religious questions4 ,they all have the same object in view--to force us to a decision in matters where neither faith nor knowledge is needed4 ,it is better even for the most ardent lover of knowledge that the territory open to investigation and to reason should be encircled by a belt of fog-laden1 treacherous marshland1 a strip of ever watery1 impenetrable1 and indeterminable country4 ,it is just by the comparison with the realm of darkness on the edge of the world of knowledge that the bright1 accessible region of that world rises in value4--,we must once more become good friends of the 8everyday matters10 and not1 as hitherto1 despise them and look beyond them at clouds and monsters of the night4 ,in forests and caverns1 in marshy tracts and under dull skies1 on the lowest rungs of the ladder of culture1 man has lived for ons1 and lived in poverty4 ,there he has learnt to despise the present1 his neighbours1 his life1 and himself1 and we1 the inhabitants of the brighter fields of ,nature and mind1 still inherit in our blood some taint of this contempt for everyday matters4 #ag4 ,,profound ,,interpretations4--,he who has interpreted a passage in an author 8more profoundly0 than was intended1 has not interpreted the author but has obscured him4 ,our metaphysicians are in the same relation1 or even in a worse relation1 to the text of ,nature4 ,for1 to apply their profound interpretations1 they often alter the text to suit their purpose--or1 in other words1 corrupt the text4 ,a curious example of the corruption and obscuration of an author's text is furnished by the ideas of ,schopenhauer on the pregnancy of women4 8,the sign of a continuous will to life in time10 he says1 8is copulation2 the sign of the light of knowledge which is associated anew with this will and holds the possibility of a deliverance1 and that too in the highest degree of clearness1 is the renewed incarnation of the will to life4 ,this incarnation is betokened by pregnancy1 which is therefore frank and open1 and even proud1 whereas copulation hides itself like a criminal40 ,he declares that every woman1 if surprised in the sexual act1 would be likely to die of shame1 but 8displays her pregnancy without a trace of shame1 nay even with a sort of pride40 ,now1 firstly1 this condition cannot easily be displayed more aggressively than it displays itself1 and when ,schopenhauer gives prominence only to the intentional character of the display1 he is fashioning his text to suit the interpretation4 ,moreover1 his statement of the universality of the phenomenon is not true4 ,he speaks of 8every woman40 ,many women1 especially the younger1 often appear painfully ashamed of their condition1 even in the presence of their nearest kinsfolk4 ,and when women of riper years1 especially in the humbler classes1 do actually appear proud of their condition1 it is because they would give us to understand that they are still desirable to their husbands4 ,that a neighbour on seeing them or a passing stranger should say or think 8,can it be possible80--that is an alms always acceptable to the vanity of women of low mental capacity4 ,in the reverse instance1 to conclude from ,schopenhauer's proposition1 the cleverest and most intelligent women would tend more than any to exult openly in their condition4 ,for they have the best prospect of giving birth to an intellectual prodigy1 in whom 8the will0 can once more 8negative0 itself for the universal good4 ,stupid women1 on the other hand1 would have every reason to hide their pregnancy more modestly than anything they hide4--,it cannot be said that this view corresponds to reality4 ,granted1 however1 that ,schopenhauer was right on the general principle that women show more self-satisfaction when pregnant than at any other time1 a better explanation than this lies to hand4 ,one might imagine the clucking of a hen even before she lays an egg1 saying1 8,look6 look6 ,i shall lay an egg6 ,i shall lay an egg60 #ah4 ,,the ,,modern ,,diogenes4--,before we look for man1 we must have found the lantern4--,will it have to be the ,cynic's lantern8 #ai4 ,,immoralists4--,moralists must now put up with being rated as immoralists1 because they dissect morals4 ,he1 however1 who would dissect must kill1 but only in order that we may know more1 judge better1 live better1 not in order that all the world may dissect4 ,unfortunately1 men still think that every moralist in his every action must be a pattern for others to imitate4 ,they confound him with the preacher of morality4 ,the older moralists did not dissect enough and preached too often1 whence that confusion and the unpleasant consequences for our latter-day moralists are derived4 #bj4 ,a ,,caution ,,against ,,confusion4--,there are moralists who treat the strong1 noble1 self-denying attitude of such beings as the heroes of ,plutarch1 or the pure1 enlightened1 warmth-giving state of soul peculiar to truly good men and women1 as difficult scientific problems4 ,they investigate the origin of such phenomena1 indicating the complex element in the apparent simplicity1 and directing their gaze to the tangled skein of motives1 the delicate web of conceptual illusions1 and the sentiments of individuals or of groups1 that are a legacy of ancient days gradually increased4 ,such moralists are very different from those with whom they are most commonly confounded1 from those petty minds that do not believe at all in these modes of thought and states of soul1 and imagine their own poverty to be hidden somewhere behind the glamour of greatness and purity4 ,the moralists say1 8,here are problems10 and these pitiable creatures say1 8,here are impostors and deceptions40 ,thus the latter deny the existence of the very things which the former are at pains to explain4 #ba4 ,man as the ,measurer4--,perhaps all human morality had its origin in the tremendous excitement that seized primitive man when he discovered measure and measuring1 scales and weighing 7for the word ,mensch man means 8the measurer0--he wished to name himself after his greatest discovery674 ,with these ideas they mounted into regions that are quite beyond all measuring and weighing1 but did not appear to be so in the beginning4 #bb4 ,the ,principle of ,equilibrium4--,the robber and the man of power who promises to protect a community from robbers are perhaps at bottom beings of the same mould1 save that the latter attains his ends by other means than the former--that is to say1 through regular imposts paid to him by the community1 and no longer through forced contributions4 7,the same relation exists between merchant and pirate1 who for a long period are one and the same person3 where the one function appears to them inadvisable1 they exercise the other4 ,even to-day mercantile morality is really nothing but a refinement on piratical morality--buying in the cheapest market1 at prime cost if possible1 and selling in the dearest47 ,the essential point is that the man of power promises to maintain the equilibrium against the robber1 and herein the weak find a possibility of living4 ,for either they must group themselves into an equivalent power1 or they must subject themselves to some one of equivalent power 7i4e4 render service in return for his efforts74 ,the latter course is generally preferred1 because it really keeps two dangerous beings in check--the robber through the man of power1 and the man of power through the standpoint of advantage2 for the latter profits by treating his subjects with graciousness and tolerance1 in order that they may support not only themselves but their ruler4 ,as a matter of fact1 conditions may still be hard and cruel enough1 yet in comparison with the complete annihilation that was formerly always a possibility1 men breathe freely4--,the community is at first the organisation of the weak to counterbalance menacing forces4 ,an organisation to outweigh those forces would be more advisable1 if its members grew strong enough to destroy the adverse power3 and when it is a question of one mighty oppressor1 the attempt will certainly be made4 ,but if the one man is the head of a clan1 or if he has a large following1 a rapid and decisive annihilation is improbable1 and a long or permanent feud is only to be expected4 ,this feud1 however1 involves the least desirable condition for the community1 for it thereby loses the time to provide for its means of subsistence with the necessary regularity1 and sees the product of all work hourly threatened4 ,hence the community prefers to raise its power of attack and defence to the exact plane on which the power of its dangerous neighbour stands1 and to give him to understand that an equal weight now lies in its own side of the scales--so why not be good friends8--,thus equilibrium is a most important conception for the understanding of the ancient doctrines of law and morals4 ,equilibrium is1 in fact1 the basis of justice4 ,when justice in ruder ages says1 8,an eye for an eye1 a tooth for a tooth10 it presupposes the attainment of this equilibrium and tries to maintain it by means of this compensation2 so that1 when crime is committed1 the injured party will not take the revenge of blind anger4 ,by means of the jus talionis the equilibrium of the disturbed relations of power is restored1 for in such primitive times an eye or an arm more means a bit more power1 more weight4--,in a community where all consider themselves equal1 disgrace and punishment await crime--that is1 violations of the principle of equilibrium4 ,disgrace is thrown into the scale as a counter-weight against the encroaching individual1 who has gained profit by his encroachment1 and now suffers losses 7through disgrace7 which annul and outweigh the previous profits4 ,punishment1 in the same way1 sets up a far greater counter-weight against the preponderance which every criminal hopes to obtain--imprisonment as against a deed of violence1 restitution and fines as against theft4 ,thus the sinner is reminded that his action has excluded him from the community and from its moral advantages1 since the community treats him as an inferior1 a weaker brother1 an outsider4 ,for this reason punishment is not merely retaliation1 but has something more1 something of the cruelty of the state of nature1 and of this it would serve as a reminder4 #bc4 ,,whether ,,the ,,adherents ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,free ,,will ,,have ,a ,,right ,,to ,,punish8--,men whose vocation it is to judge and punish try to establish in every case whether an evil-doer is really responsible for his act1 whether he was able to apply his reasoning powers1 whether he acted with motives and not unconsciously or under constraint4 ,if he is punished1 it is because he preferred the worse to the better motives1 which he must consequently have known4 ,where this knowledge is wanting1 man is1 according to the prevailing view1 not responsible--unless his ignorance1 e4g4 his ignorantia legis1 be the consequence of an intentional neglect to learn what he ought3 in that case he already preferred the worse to the better motives at the time when he refused to learn1 and must now pay the penalty of his unwise choice4 ,if1 on the other hand1 perhaps through stupidity or shortsightedness1 he has never seen the better motives1 he is generally not punished1 for people say that he made a wrong choice1 he acted like a brute beast4 ,the intentional rejection of the better reason is now needed before we treat the offender as fit to be punished4 ,but how can any one be intentionally more unreasonable than he ought to be8 ,whence comes the decision1 if the scales are loaded with good and bad motives8 ,so the origin is not error or blindness1 not an internal or external constraint8 7,it should furthermore be remembered that every so-called 8external constraint0 is nothing more than the internal constraint of fear and pain47 ,whence8 is the repeated question4 ,so reason is not to be the cause of action1 because reason cannot decide against the better motives8 ,thus we call 8free will0 to our aid4 ,absolute discretion is to decide1 and a moment is to intervene when no motive exercises an influence1 when the deed is done as a miracle1 resulting from nothing4 ,this assumed discretion is punished in a case where no discretion should rule4 ,reason1 which knows law1 prohibition1 and command1 should have left no choice1 they say1 and should have acted as a constraint and a higher power4 ,hence the offender is punished because he makes use of 8free will0--in other words1 has acted without motive where he should have been guided by motives4 ,but why did he do it8 ,this question must not even be asked2 the deed was done without a 8,why80 without motive1 without origin1 being a thing purposeless1 unreasoned4--,however1 according to the above-named preliminary condition of punishability1 such a deed should not be punished at all6 ,moreover1 even this reason for punishing should not hold good1 that in this case something had not been done1 had been omitted1 that reason had not been used at all3 for at any rate the omission was unintentional1 and only intentional omission is considered punishable4 ,the offender has indeed preferred the worse to the better motives1 but without motive and purpose3 he has indeed failed to apply his reason1 but not exactly with the object of not applying it4 ,the very assumption made in the case of punishable crime1 that the criminal intentionally renounced his reason1 is removed by the hypothesis of 8free will40 ,according to your own principles1 you must not punish1 you adherents of the doctrine of free will6--,these principles are1 however1 nothing but a very marvellous conceptual mythology1 and the hen that hatched them has brooded on her eggs far away from all reality4 #bd4 ,,judging ,,the ,,criminal ,,and ,,his ,,judge4--,the criminal1 who knows the whole concatenation of circumstances1 does not consider his act so far beyond the bounds of order and comprehension as does his judge4 ,his punishment1 however1 is measured by the degree of astonishment that seizes the judge when he finds the crime incomprehensible4--,if the defending counsel's knowledge of the case and its previous history extends far enough1 the so-called extenuating circumstances which he duly pleads must end by absolving his client from all guilt4 ,or1 to put it more plainly1 the advocate will1 step by step1 tone down and finally remove the astonishment of the judge1 by forcing every honest listener to the tacit avowal1 8,he was bound to act as he did1 and if we punished1 we should be punishing eternal ,necessity40--,measuring the punishment by the degree of knowledge we possess or can obtain of the previous history of the crime--is that not in conflict with all equity8 #be4 ,,exchange ,,and ,,equity4--,in an exchange1 the only just and honest course would be for either party to demand only so much as he considers his commodity to be worth1 allowance being made for trouble in acquisition1 scarcity1 time spent and so forth1 besides the subjective value4 ,as soon as you make your price bear a relation to the other's need1 you become a refined sort of robber and extortioner4--,if money is the sole medium of exchange1 we must remember that a shilling is by no means the same thing in the hands of a rich heir1 a farm labourer1 a merchant1 and a university student4 ,it would be equitable for every one to receive much or little for his money1 according as he has done much or little to earn it4 ,in practice1 as we all know1 the reverse is the case4 ,in the world of high finance the shilling of the idle rich man can buy more than that of the poor1 industrious man4 #bf4 ,,legal ,,conditions ,,as ,,means4--,law1 where it rests upon contracts between equals1 holds good so long as the power of the parties to the contract remains equal or similar4 ,wisdom created law to end all feuds and useless expenditure among men on an equal footing4 ,quite as definite an end is put to this waste1 however1 when one party has become decidedly weaker than the other4 ,subjection enters and law ceases1 but the result is the same as that attained by law4 ,for now it is the wisdom of the superior which advises to spare the inferior and not uselessly to squander his strength4 ,thus the position of the inferior is often more favourable than that of the equal4--,hence legal conditions are temporary means counselled by wisdom1 and not ends4 #bg4 ,,explanation ,,of ,,malicious ,,joy4--,malicious joy arises when a man consciously finds himself in evil plight and feels anxiety or remorse or pain4 ,the misfortune that overtakes ,b4 makes him equal to ,a41 and ,a4 is reconciled and no longer envious4--,if ,a4 is prosperous1 he still hoards up in his memory ,b4's misfortune as a capital1 so as to throw it in the scale as a counter-weight when he himself suffers adversity4 ,in this case too he feels 8malicious joy0 7,schadenfreude74 ,the sentiment of equality thus applies its standard to the domain of luck and chance4 ,malicious joy is the commonest expression of victory and restoration of equality1 even in a higher state of civilisation4 ,this emotion has only been in existence since the time when man learnt to look upon another as his equal--in other words1 since the foundation of society4 #bh4 ,,the ,,arbitrary ,,element ,,in ,,the ,,award ,,of ,,punishment4--,to most criminals punishment comes just as illegitimate children come to women4 ,they have done the same thing a hundred times without any bad consequences4 ,suddenly comes discovery1 and with discovery punishment4 ,yet habit should make the deed for which the criminal is punished appear more excusable1 for he has developed a propensity that is hard to resist4 ,instead of this1 the criminal is punished more severely if the suspicion of habitual crime rests on him1 and habit is made a valid reason against all extenuation4 ,on the other hand1 a model life1 wherein crime shows up in more terrible contrast1 should make the guilt appear more heavy6 ,but here the custom is to soften the punishment4 ,everything is measured not from the standpoint of the criminal but from that of society and its losses and dangers4 ,the previous utility of an individual is weighed against his one nefarious action1 his previous criminality is added to that recently discovered1 and punishment is thus meted out as highly as possible4 ,but if we thus punish or reward a man's past 7for in the former case the diminution of punishment is a reward7 we ought to go farther back and punish and reward the cause of his past--,i mean parents1 teachers1 society4 ,in many instances we shall then find the judges somehow or other sharing in the guilt4 ,it is arbitrary to stop at the criminal himself when we punish his past3 if we will not grant the absolute excusability of every crime1 we should stop at each individual case and probe no farther into the past--in other words1 isolate guilt and not connect it with previous actions4 ,otherwise we sin against logic4 ,the teachers of free will should draw the inevitable conclusion from their doctrine of 8free will0 and boldly decree3 8,no action has a past40 #bi4 ,,envy ,,and ,,her ,,nobler ,,sister4--,where equality is really recognised and permanently established1 we see the rise of that propensity that is generally considered immoral1 and would scarcely be conceivable in a state of nature--envy4 ,the envious man is susceptible to every sign of individual superiority to the common herd1 and wishes to depress every one once more to the level--or raise himself to the superior plane4 ,hence arise two different modes of action1 which ,hesiod designated good and bad ,eris4 ,in the same way1 in a condition of equality there arises indignation if ,a4 is prosperous above and ,b4 unfortunate beneath their deserts and equality4 ,these latter1 however1 are emotions of nobler natures4 ,they feel the want of justice and equity in things that are independent of the arbitrary choice of men--or1 in other words1 they desire the equality recognised by man to be recognised as well by ,nature and chance4 ,they are angry that men of equal merits should not have equal fortune4 #cj4 ,,the ,,envy ,,of ,,the ,,gods4--8,the envy of the ,gods0 arises when a despised person sets himself on an equality with his superior 7like ,ajax71 or is made equal with him by the favour of fortune 7like ,niobe1 the too favoured mother74 ,in the social class system this envy demands that no one shall have merits above his station1 that his prosperity shall be on a level with his position1 and especially that his self-consciousness shall not outgrow the limits of his rank4 ,often the victorious general1 or the pupil who achieves a masterpiece1 has experienced 8the envy of the gods40 #ca4 ,,vanity ,,as ,,an ,,anti-,,social ,,aftergrowth4--,as men1 for the sake of security1 have made themselves equal in order to found communities1 but as also this conception is imposed by a sort of constraint and is entirely opposed to the instincts of the individual1 so1 the more universal security is guaranteed1 the more do new offshoots of the old instinct for predominance appear4 ,such offshoots appear in the setting-up of class distinctions1 in the demand for professional dignities and privileges1 and1 generally speaking1 in vanity 7manners1 dress1 speech1 and so forth74 ,so soon as danger to the community is apparent1 the majority1 who were unable to assert their preponderance in a time of universal peace1 once more bring about the condition of equality1 and for the time being the absurd privileges and vanities disappear4 ,if the community1 however1 collapses utterly and anarchy reigns supreme1 there arises the state of nature3 an absolutely ruthless inequality as recounted by ,thucydides in the case of ,corcyra4 ,neither a natural justice nor a natural injustice exists4 #cb4 ,,equity4--,equity is a development of justice1 and arises among such as do not come into conflict with the communal equality4 ,this more subtle recognition of the principle of equilibrium is applied to cases where nothing is prescribed by law4 ,equity looks forwards and backwards1 its maxim being1 8,do unto others as you would that they should do unto you40 ,aequum means3 8,this principle is conformable to our equality2 it tones down even our small differences to an appearance of equality1 and expects us to be indulgent in cases where we are not compelled to pardon40 #cc4 ,,elements ,,of ,,revenge4--,the word 8revenge0 is spoken so quickly that it almost seems as if it could not contain more than one conceptual and emotional root4 ,hence we are still at pains to find this root4 ,our economists1 in the same way1 have never wearied of scenting a similar unity in the word 8value10 and of hunting after the primitive root idea of value4 ,as if all words were not pockets1 into which this or that or several things have been stuffed at once6 ,so 8revenge0 is now one thing1 now another1 and sometimes more composite4 ,let us first distinguish that defensive counter-blow1 which we strike1 almost unconsciously1 even at inanimate objects 7such as machinery in motion7 that have hurt us4 ,the notion is to set a check to the object that has hurt us1 by bringing the machine to a stop4 ,sometimes the force of this counter-blow1 in order to attain its object1 will have to be strong enough to shatter the machine4 ,if the machine be too strong to be disorganised by one man1 the latter will all the same strike the most violent blow he can--as a sort of last attempt4 ,we behave similarly towards persons who hurt us1 at the immediate sensation of the hurt4 ,if we like to call this an act of revenge1 well and good3 but we must remember that here self-preservation alone has set its cog-wheels of reason in motion1 and that after all we do not think of the doer of the injury but only of ourselves4 ,we act without any idea of doing injury in return1 only with a view to getting away safe and sound4--,it needs time to pass in thought from oneself to one's adversary and ask oneself at what point he is most vulnerable4 ,this is done in the second variety of revenge1 the preliminary idea of which is to consider the vulnerability and susceptibility of the other4 ,the intention then is to give pain4 ,on the other hand1 the idea of securing himself against further injury is in this case so entirely outside the avenger's horizon1 that he almost regularly brings about his own further injury and often foresees it in cold blood4 ,if in the first sort of revenge it was the fear of a second blow that made the counter-blow as strong as possible1 in this case there is an almost complete indifference to what one's adversary will do3 the strength of the counter-blow is only determined by what he has already done to us4 ,then what has he done8 ,what profit is it to us if he is now suffering1 after we have suffered through him8 ,this is a case of readjustment1 whereas the first act of revenge only serves the purpose of self-preservation4 ,it may be that through our adversary we have lost property1 rank1 friends1 children--these losses are not recovered by revenge1 the readjustment only concerns a subsidiary loss which is added to all the other losses4 ,the revenge of readjustment does not preserve one from further injury1 it does not make good the injury already suffered--except in one case4 ,if our honour has suffered through our adversary1 revenge can restore it4 ,but in any case honour has suffered an injury if intentional harm has been done us1 because our adversary proved thereby that he was not afraid of us4 ,by revenge we prove that we are not afraid of him either1 and herein lies the settlement1 the readjustment4 7,the intention of showing their complete lack of fear goes so far in some people that the dangers of revenge--loss of health or life or other losses--are in their eyes an indispensable condition of every vengeful act4 ,hence they practise the duel1 although the law also offers them aid in obtaining satisfaction for what they have suffered4 ,they are not satisfied with a safe means of recovering their honour1 because this would not prove their fearlessness47--,in the first-named variety of revenge it is just fear that strikes the counter-blow2 in the second case it is the absence of fear1 which1 as has been said1 wishes to manifest itself in the counter-blow4--,thus nothing appears more different than the motives of the two courses of action which are designated by the one word 8revenge40 ,yet it often happens that the avenger is not precisely certain as to what really prompted his deed3 perhaps he struck the counterblow from fear and the instinct of self-preservation1 but in the background1 when he has time to reflect upon the standpoint of wounded honour1 he imagines that he has avenged himself for the sake of his honour--this motive is in any case more reputable than the other4 ,an essential point is whether he sees his honour injured in the eyes of others 7the world7 or only in the eyes of his offenders3 in the latter case he will prefer secret1 in the former open revenge4 ,accordingly1 as he enters strongly or feebly into the soul of the doer and the spectator1 his revenge will be more bitter or more tame4 ,if he is entirely lacking in this sort of imagination1 he will not think at all of revenge1 as the feeling of 8honour0 is not present in him1 and accordingly cannot be wounded4 ,in the same way1 he will not think of revenge if he despises the offender and the spectator2 because as objects of his contempt they cannot give him honour1 and accordingly cannot rob him of honour4 ,finally1 he will forego revenge in the not uncommon case of his loving the offender4 ,it is true that he then suffers loss of honour in the other's eyes1 and will perhaps become less worthy of having his love returned4 ,but even to renounce all requital of love is a sacrifice that love is ready to make when its only object is to avoid hurting the beloved object3 this would mean hurting oneself more than one is hurt by the sacrifice4--,accordingly1 every one will avenge himself1 unless he be bereft of honour or inspired by contempt or by love for the offender4 ,even if he turns to the law-courts1 he desires revenge as a private individual2 but also1 as a thoughtful1 prudent man of society1 he desires the revenge of society upon one who does not respect it4 ,thus by legal punishment private honour as well as that of society is restored--that is to say1 punishment is revenge4 ,punishment undoubtedly contains the first-mentioned element of revenge1 in as far as by its means society helps to preserve itself1 and strikes a counter-blow in self-defence4 ,punishment desires to prevent further injury1 to scare other offenders4 ,in this way the two elements of revenge1 different as they are1 are united in punishment1 and this may perhaps tend most of all to maintain the above-mentioned confusion of ideas1 thanks to which the individual avenger generally does not know what he really wants4 #cd4 ,,the ,,virtues ,,that ,,damage ,,us4--,as members of communities we think we have no right to exercise certain virtues which afford us great honour and some pleasure as private individuals 7for example1 indulgence and favour towards miscreants of all kinds7--in short1 every mode of action whereby the advantage of society would suffer through our virtue4 ,no bench of judges1 face to face with its conscience1 may permit itself to be gracious4 ,this privilege is reserved for the king as an individual1 and we are glad when he makes use of it1 proving that we should like to be gracious individually1 but not collectively4 ,society recognises only the virtues profitable to her1 or at least not injurious to her--virtues like justice1 which are exercised without loss1 or1 in fact1 at compound interest4 ,the virtues that damage us cannot have originated in society1 because even now opposition to them arises in every small society that is in the making4 ,such virtues are therefore those of men of unequal standing1 invented by the superior individuals2 they are the virtues of rulers1 and the idea underlying them is3 8,i am mighty enough to put up with an obvious loss2 that is a proof of my power40 ,thus they are virtues closely akin to pride4 #ce4 ,,the ,,casuistry ,,of ,,advantage4--,there would be no moral casuistry if there were no casuistry of advantage4 ,the most free and refined intelligence is often incapable of choosing between two alternatives in such a way that his choice necessarily involves the greater advantage4 ,in such cases we choose because we must1 and afterwards often feel a kind of emotional sea-sickness4 #cf4 ,,turning ,,hypocrite4--,every beggar turns hypocrite1 like every one who makes his living out of indigence1 be it personal or public4--,the beggar does not feel want nearly so keenly as he must make others feel it1 if he wishes to make a living by mendicancy4 #cg4 ,a ,,sort ,,of ,,cult ,,of ,,the ,,passions4--,you hypochondriacs1 you philosophic blind-worms talk of the formidable nature of human passions1 in order to inveigh against the dreadsomeness of the whole world-structure4 ,as if the passions were always and everywhere formidable6 ,as if this sort of terror must always exist in the world6--,through a carelessness in small matters1 through a deficiency in observation of self and of the rising generation1 you have yourselves allowed your passions to develop into such unruly monsters that you are frightened now at the mere mention of the word 8passion06 ,it rests with you and it rests with us to divest the passions of their formidable features and so to dam them that they do not become devastating floods4--,we must not exalt our errors into eternal fatalities4 ,rather shall we honestly endeavour to convert all the passions of humanity into sources of joy47#ah7 #ch4 ,,the ,,sting ,,of ,,conscience4--,the sting of conscience1 like the gnawing of a dog at a stone1 is mere foolishness4 #ci4 ,,origin ,,of ,,rights4--,rights may be traced to traditions1 traditions to momentary agreements4 ,at some time or other men were mutually content with the consequences of making an agreement1 and1 again1 too indolent formally to renew it4 ,thus they went on living as if it had constantly been renewed1 and gradually1 when oblivion cast its veil over the origin1 they thought they possessed a sacred1 unalterable foundation on which every generation would be compelled to build4 ,tradition was now a constraint1 even if it no more involved the profit originally derived from making the agreement4--,here the weak have always found their strong fortress4 ,they are inclined to immortalise the momentary agreement1 the single act of favour shown towards them4 #dj4 ,,the ,,significance ,,of ,,oblivion ,,in ,,moral ,,sentiment4--,the same actions that in primitive society first aimed at the common advantage were later on performed from other motives3 from fear or reverence of those who demanded and recommended them2 or from habit1 because men had seen them done about them from childhood upwards2 or from kindness1 because the practising of them caused delight and approving looks on all sides2 or from vanity1 because they were praised4 ,such actions1 in which the fundamental motive1 that of utility1 has been forgotten1 are then called moral2 not1 indeed1 because they are done from those other motives1 but because they are not done with a conscious purpose of utility4--,whence the hatred of utility that suddenly manifests itself here1 and by which all praiseworthy actions formally exclude all actions for the sake of utility8--,clearly society1 the rallying-point of all morality and of all maxims in praise of moral action1 has had to battle too long and too fiercely with the selfishness and obstinacy of the individual not to rate every motive morally higher than utility4 ,hence it looks as if morals had not sprung from utility1 whereas in fact morals are originally the public utility1 which had great difficulty in prevailing over the interests of the unit and securing a loftier reputation4 #da4 ,,the ,,heirs ,,to ,,the ,,wealth ,,of ,,morality4--,even in the domain of morals there is an inherited wealth1 which is owned by the gentle1 the good-tempered1 the compassionate1 the indulgent4 ,they have inherited from their forefathers their gentle mode of action1 but not common sense 7the source of that mode of action74 ,the pleasant thing about this wealth is that one must always bestow and communicate a portion of it1 if its presence is to be felt at all4 ,thus this wealth unconsciously aims at bridging the gulf between the morally rich and the morally poor1 and1 what is its best and most remarkable feature1 not for the sake of a future mean between rich and poor1 but for the sake of a universal prosperity and superfluity4--,such may be the prevailing view of inherited moral wealth1 but it seems to me that this view is maintained more in majorem gloriam of morality than in honour of truth4 ,experience at least establishes a maxim which must serve1 if not as a refutation1 at any rate as an important check upon that generalisation4 ,without the most exquisite intelligence1 says experience1 without the most refined capacity for choice and a strong propensity to observe the mean1 the morally rich will become spendthrifts of morality4 ,for by abandoning themselves without restraint to their compassionate1 gentle1 conciliatory1 harmonising instincts1 they make all about them more careless1 more covetous1 and more sentimental4 ,the children of these highly moral spendthrifts easily and 7sad to relate7 at best become pleasant but futile wasters4 #db4 ,,the ,,judge ,,and ,,extenuating ,,circumstances4--8,one should behave as a man of honour even towards the devil and pay his debts10 said an old soldier1 when the story of ,faust had been related to him in rather fuller detail4 8,hell is the right place for ,faust60 8,you are terrible1 you men60 cried his wife2 8how can that be8 ,after all1 his only fault was having no ink in his ink-stand6 ,it is indeed a sin to write with blood1 but surely for that such a handsome man ought not to burn in ,hell-fire80 #dc4 ,,problem ,,of ,,the ,,duty ,,of ,,truth4--,duty is an imperious sentiment that forces us to action4 ,we call it good1 and consider it outside the pale of discussion4 ,the origin1 limits1 and justification of duty we will not debate or allow to be debated4 ,but the thinker considers everything an evolution and every evolution a subject for discussion1 and is accordingly without duty so long as he is merely a thinker4 ,as such1 he would not recognise the duty of seeing and speaking the truth2 he would not feel the sentiment at all4 ,he asks1 whence comes it and whither will it go8 ,but even this questioning appears to him questionable4 ,surely1 however1 the consequence would be that the thinker's machinery would no longer work properly if he could really feel himself unencumbered by duty in the search for knowledge8 ,it would appear1 then1 that for fuel the same element is necessary as must be investigated by means of the machine4--,perhaps the formula will be3 granted there were a duty of recognising truth1 what is then the truth in regard to every other kind of duty8--,but is not a hypothetical sense of duty a contradiction in terms8 #dd4 ,,grades ,,of ,,morals4--,morality is primarily a means of preserving the community and saving it from destruction4 ,next it is a means of maintaining the community on a certain plane and in a certain degree of benevolence4 ,its motives are fear and hope1 and these in a more coarse1 rough1 and powerful form1 the more the propensity towards the perverse1 one-sided1 and personal still persists4 ,the most terrible means of intimidation must be brought into play so long as milder forms have no effect and that twofold species of preservation cannot be attained4 7,the strongest intimidation1 by the way1 is the invention of a hereafter with a hell everlasting47 ,for this purpose we must have racks and torturers of the soul4 ,further grades of morality1 and accordingly means to the end referred to1 are the commandments of a ,god 7as in the ,mosaic law74 ,still further and higher are the commandments of an absolute sense of duty with a 8,thou shalt0--all rather roughly hewn yet broad steps1 because on the finer1 narrower steps men cannot yet set their feet4 ,then comes a morality of inclination1 of taste1 finally of insight--which is beyond all the illusory motives of morality1 but has convinced itself that humanity for long periods could be allowed no other4 #de4 ,,the ,,morality ,,of ,,pity ,,in ,,the ,,mouths ,,of ,,the ,,intemperate4--,all those who are not sufficiently masters of themselves and do not know morality as a self-control and self-conquest continuously exercised in things great and small1 unconsciously come to glorify the good1 compassionate1 benevolent impulses of that instinctive morality which has no head1 but seems merely to consist of a heart and helpful hands4 ,it is to their interest even to cast suspicion upon a morality of reason and to set up the other as the sole morality4 #df4 ,,sewers ,,of ,,the ,,soul4--,even the soul must have its definite sewers1 through which it can allow its filth to flow off3 for this purpose it may use persons1 relations1 social classes1 its native country1 or the world1 or finally--for the wholly arrogant 7,i mean our modern 8pessimists07--le bon ,dieu4 #dg4 ,a ,,kind ,,of ,,rest ,,and ,,contemplation4--,beware lest your rest and contemplation resemble that of a dog before a butcher's stall1 prevented by fear from advancing and by greed from retiring1 and opening its eyes wide as though they were mouths4 #dh4 ,,prohibitions ,,without ,,reasons4--,a prohibition1 the reason of which we do not understand or admit1 is almost a command1 not only for the stiff-necked but for the thirster after knowledge4 ,we at once make an experiment in order to learn why the prohibition was made4 ,moral prohibitions1 like those of the ,decalogue1 are only suited to ages when reason lies vanquished4 ,nowadays a prohibition like 8,thou shalt not kill10 8,thou shalt not commit adultery10 laid down without reasons1 would have an injurious rather than a beneficial effect4 #di4 ,,character ,,portrait4--,what sort of a man is it that can say of himself3 8,i despise very easily1 but never hate4 ,i at once find out in every man something which can be honoured and for which ,i honour him3 the so-called amiable qualities attract me but little08 #ej4 ,,pity ,,and ,,contempt4--,the expression of pity is regarded as a sign of contempt1 because one has clearly ceased to be an object of fear as soon as one becomes an object of pity4 ,one has sunk below the level of the equilibrium4 ,for this equilibrium does not satisfy human vanity1 which is only satisfied by the feeling that one is imposing respect and awe4 ,hence it is difficult to explain why pity is so highly prized1 just as we need to explain why the unselfish man1 who is originally despised or feared as being artful1 is praised4 #ea4 ,,the ,,capacity ,,of ,,being ,,small4--,we must be as near to flowers1 grasses1 and butterflies as a child1 that is1 not much bigger than they4 ,we adults have grown up beyond them and have to stoop to them4 ,i think the grasses hate us when we confess our love for them4--,he who would have a share in all good things must understand at times how to be small4 #eb4 ,,the ,,sum-,,total ,,of ,,conscience4--,the sum-total of our conscience is all that has regularly been demanded of us1 without reason1 in the days of our childhood1 by people whom we respected or feared4 ,from conscience comes that feeling of obligation 78,this ,i must do1 this omit07 which does not ask1 ,why must ,i8--,in all cases where a thing is done with 8because0 and 8why10 man acts without conscience1 but not necessarily on that account against conscience4--,the belief in authority is the source of conscience2 which is therefore not the voice of ,god in the heart of man1 but the voice of some men in man4 #ec4 ,,conquest ,,of ,,the ,,passions4--,the man who has overcome his passions has entered into possession of the most fruitful soil1 like the colonist who has become lord over bogs and forests4 ,to sow the seed of spiritual good works on the soil of the vanquished passions is the next and most urgent task4 ,the conquest itself is a means1 not an end3 if it be not so regarded1 all kind of weeds and devil's crop quickly spring up upon the fertile soil that has been cleared1 and soon the growth is all wilder and more luxuriant than before4 #ed4 ,,skill ,,in ,,service4--,all so-called practical men have skill in service1 whether it be serving others or themselves2 this is what makes them practical4 ,robinson owned a servant even better than ,friday--his name was ,crusoe4 #ee4 ,,danger ,,in ,,speech ,,to ,,intellectual ,,freedom4--,every word is a preconceived judgment4 #ef4 ,,intellect ,,and ,,boredom4--,the proverb1 8,the ,hungarian is far too lazy to feel bored10 gives food for thought4 ,only the highest and most active animals are capable of being bored4--,the boredom of ,god on the seventh day of ,creation would be a subject for a great poet4 #eg4 ,,intercourse ,,with ,,animals4--,the origin of our morality may still be observed in our relations with animals4 ,where advantage or the reverse do not come into play1 we have a feeling of complete irresponsibility4 ,for example1 we kill or wound insects or let them live1 and as a rule think no more about it4 ,we are so clumsy that even our gracious acts towards flowers and small animals are almost always murderous3 this does not in the least detract from our pleasure in them4--,to-day is the festival of the small animals1 the most sultry day of the year4 ,there is a swarming and crawling around us1 and we1 without intention1 but also without reflection1 crush here and there a little fly or winged beetle4--,if animals do us harm1 we strive to annihilate them in every possible way4 ,the means are often cruel enough1 even without our really intending them to be so--it is the cruelty of thoughtlessness4 ,if they are useful1 we turn them to advantage1 until a more refined wisdom teaches us that certain animals amply reward a different mode of treatment1 that of tending and breeding4 ,here responsibility first arises4 ,torturing is avoided in the case of the domestic animal4 ,one man is indignant if another is cruel to his cow1 quite in accordance with the primitive communal morality1 which sees the commonwealth in danger whenever an individual does wrong4 ,he who perceives any transgression in the community fears indirect harm to himself4 ,thus we fear in this case for the quality of meat1 agriculture1 and means of communication if we see the domestic animals ill-treated4 ,moreover1 he who is harsh to animals awakens a suspicion that he is also harsh to men who are weak1 inferior1 and incapable of revenge4 ,he is held to be ignoble and deficient in the finer form of pride4 ,thus arises a foundation of moral judgments and sentiments1 but the greatest contribution is made by superstition4 ,many animals incite men by glances1 tones1 and gestures to transfer themselves into them in imagination1 and some religions teach us1 under certain circumstances1 to see in animals the dwelling-place of human and divine souls3 whence they recommend a nobler caution or even a reverential awe in intercourse with animals4 ,even after the disappearance of this superstition the sentiments awakened by it continue to exercise their influence1 to ripen and to blossom4--,christianity1 as is well known1 has shown itself in this respect a poor and retrograde religion4 #eh4 ,,new ,,actors4--,among human beings there is no greater banality than death4 ,second in order1 because it is possible to die without being born1 comes birth1 and next comes marriage4 ,but these hackneyed little tragi-comedies are always presented1 at each of their unnumbered and innumerable performances1 by new actors1 and accordingly do not cease to find interested spectators3 whereas we might well believe that the whole audience of the world-theatre had long since hanged themselves to every tree from sheer boredom at these performances4 ,so much depends on new actors1 so little on the piece4 #ei4 ,,what ,,is 8,,being ,,obstinate08--,the shortest way is not the straightest possible1 but that wherein favourable winds swell our sails4 ,so says the wisdom of seamen4 ,not to follow his course is obstinate1 firmness of character being then adulterated by stupidity4 #fj4 ,,the ,,word 8,,vanity40--,it is annoying that certain words1 with which we moralists positively cannot dispense1 involve in themselves a kind of censorship of morals1 dating from the times when the most ordinary and natural impulses were denounced4 ,thus that fundamental conviction that on the waves of society we either find navigable waters or suffer shipwreck far more through what we appear than through what we are 7a conviction that must act as guiding principle of all action in relation to society7 is branded with the general word 8vanity40 ,in other words1 one of the most weighty and significant of qualities is branded with an expression which denotes it as essentially empty and negative3 a great thing is designated by a diminutive1 ay1 even slandered by the strokes of caricature4 ,there is no help for it2 we must use such words1 but then we must shut our ears to the insinuations of ancient habits4 #fa4 ,,the ,,fatalism ,,of ,,the ,,turk4--,the fatalism of the ,turk has this fundamental defect1 that it contrasts man and fate as two distinct things4 ,man1 says this doctrine1 may struggle against fate and try to baffle it1 but in the end fate will always gain the victory4 ,hence the most rational course is to resign oneself or to live as one pleases4 ,as a matter of fact1 every man is himself a piece of fate4 ,when he thinks that he is struggling against fate in this way1 fate is accomplishing its ends even in that struggle4 ,the combat is a fantasy1 but so is the resignation in fate--all these fantasies are included in fate4--,the fear felt by most people of the doctrine that denies the freedom of the will is a fear of the fatalism of the ,turk4 ,they imagine that man will become weakly resigned and will stand before the future with folded hands1 because he cannot alter anything of the future4 ,or that he will give a free rein to his caprices1 because the predestined cannot be made worse by that course4 ,the follies of men are as much a piece of fate as are his wise actions1 and even that fear of belief in fate is a fatality4 ,you yourself1 you poor timid creature1 are that indomitable ,moira1 which rules even the ,gods2 whatever may happen1 you are a curse or a blessing1 and in any case the fetters wherein the strongest lies bound3 in you the whole future of the human world is predestined1 and it is no use for you to be frightened of yourself4 #fb4 ,,the ,,advocate ,,of ,,the ,,devil4--8,only by our own suffering do we become wise1 only by others' suffering do we become good0--so runs that strange philosophy which derives all morality from pity and all intellectuality from the isolation of the individual4 ,herein this philosophy is the unconscious pleader for all human deterioration4 ,for pity needs suffering1 and isolation contempt of others4 #fc4 ,,the ,,moral ,,character-,,masks4--,in ages when the character-masks of different classes are definitely fixed1 like the classes themselves1 moralists will be seduced into holding the moral character-masks1 too1 as absolute1 and in delineating them accordingly4 ,thus ,molire is intelligible as the contemporary of the society of ,louis ,,xiv43 in our society of transitions and intermediate stages he would seem an inspired pedant4 #fd4 ,,the ,,most ,,noble ,,virtue4--,in the first era of the higher humanity courage is accounted the most noble virtue1 in the next justice1 in the third temperance1 in the fourth wisdom4 ,in which era do we live8 ,in which do you live8 #fe4 ,a ,,necessary ,,preliminary4--,a man who will not become master of his irritability1 his venomous and vengeful feelings1 and his lust1 and attempts to become master in anything else1 is as stupid as the farmer who lays out his field beside a torrent without guarding against that torrent4 #ff4 ,,what ,,is ,,truth8--,schwarzert 7,melanchthon73 ,we often preach our faith when we have lost it1 and leave not a stone unturned to find it--and then we often do not preach worst6 ,luther3 ,brother1 you are really speaking like an angel to-day4 ,schwarzert3 ,but that is the idea of your enemies1 and they apply it to you4 ,luther3 ,then it would be a lie from the devil's hind-quarters4 #fg4 ,,the ,,habit ,,of ,,contrasts4--,superficial1 inexact observation sees contrasts everywhere in nature 7for instance1 8hot and cold071 where there are no contrasts1 only differences of degree4 ,this bad habit has induced us to try to understand and interpret even the inner nature1 the intellectual and moral world1 in accordance with such contrasts4 ,an infinite amount of cruelty1 arrogance1 harshness1 estrangement1 and coldness has entered into human emotion1 because men imagined they saw contrasts where there were only transitions4 #fh4 ,,can ,,we ,,forgive8--,how can we forgive them at all1 if they know not what they do8 ,we have nothing to forgive4 ,but does a man ever fully know what he is doing8 ,and if this point at least remains always debatable1 men never have anything to forgive each other1 and indulgence is for the reasonable man an impossible thing4 ,finally1 if the evil-doers had really known what they did1 we should still only have a right to forgive if we had a right to accuse and to punish4 ,but we have not that right4 #fi4 ,,habitual ,,shame4--,why do we feel shame when some virtue or merit is attributed to us which1 as the saying goes1 8we have not deserved08 ,because we appear to have intruded upon a territory to which we do not belong1 from which we should be excluded1 as from a holy place or holy of holies1 which ought not to be trodden by our foot4 ,through the errors of others we have1 nevertheless1 penetrated to it1 and we are now swayed partly by fear1 partly by reverence1 partly by surprise2 we do not know whether we ought to fly or to enjoy the blissful moment with all its gracious advantages4 ,in all shame there is a mystery1 which seems desecrated or in danger of desecration through us4 ,all favour begets shame4--,but if it be remembered that we have never really 8deserved0 anything1 this feeling of shame1 provided that we surrender ourselves to this point of view in a spirit of ,christian contemplation1 becomes habitual1 because upon such a one ,god seems continually to be conferring his blessing and his favours4 ,apart from this ,christian interpretation1 the state of habitual shame will be possible even to the entirely godless sage1 who clings firmly to the basic non-responsibility and non-meritoriousness of all action and being4 ,if he be treated as if he had deserved this or that1 he will seem to have won his way into a higher order of beings1 who do actually deserve something1 who are free and can really bear the burden of responsibility for their own volition and capacity4 ,whoever says to him1 8,you have deserved it10 appears to cry out to him1 8,you are not a human being1 but a ,god40 #gj4 ,,the ,,most ,,unskilful ,,teacher4--,in one man all his real virtues are implanted on the soil of his spirit of contradiction1 in another on his incapacity to say 8no0--in other words1 on his spirit of acquiescence4 ,a third has made all his morality grow out of his pride as a solitary1 a fourth from his strong social instinct4 ,now1 supposing that the seeds of the virtues in these four cases1 owing to mischance or unskilful teachers1 were not sown on the soil of their nature1 which provides them with the richest and most abundant mould1 they would become weak1 unsatisfactory men 7devoid of morality74 ,and who would have been the most unskilful of teachers1 the evil genius of these men8 ,the moral fanatic1 who thinks that the good can only grow out of the good and on the soil of the good4 #ga4 ,,the ,,cautious ,,style4--,a4 ,but if this were known to all1 it would be injurious to the majority4 ,you yourself call your opinions dangerous to those in danger1 and yet you make them public8 ,b4 ,i write so that neither the mob1 nor the populi1 nor the parties of all kinds can read me4 ,so my opinions will never be 8public opinions40 ,a4 ,how do you write1 then8 ,b4 ,neither usefully nor pleasantly--for the three classes ,i have mentioned4 #gb4 ,,divine ,,missionaries4--,even ,socrates feels himself to be a divine missionary1 but ,i am not sure whether we should not here detect a tincture of that ,attic irony and fondness for jesting whereby this odious1 arrogant conception would be toned down4 ,he talks of the fact without unction--his images of the gadfly and the horse are simple and not sacerdotal4 ,the real religious task which he has set himself--to test ,god in a hundred ways and see whether he spoke the truth--betrays a bold and free attitude1 in which the missionary walked by the side of his ,god4 ,this testing of ,god is one of the most subtle compromises between piety and free-thinking that has ever been devised4--,nowadays we do not even need this compromise any longer4 #gc4 ,,honesty ,,in ,,painting4--,raphael1 who cared a great deal for the ,church 7so far as she could pay him71 but1 like the best men of his time1 cared little for the objects of the ,church's belief1 did not advance one step to meet the exacting1 ecstatic piety of many of his patrons4 ,he remained honest even in that exceptional picture which was originally intended for a banner in a procession--the ,sistine ,madonna4 ,here for once he wished to paint a vision1 but such a vision as even noble youths without 8faith0 may and will have--the vision of the future wife1 a wise1 high-souled1 silent1 and very beautiful woman1 carrying her first-born in her arms4 ,let men of an older generation1 accustomed to prayer and devotion1 find here1 like the worthy elder on the left1 something superhuman to revere4 ,we younger men 7so ,raphael seems to call to us7 are occupied with the beautiful maiden on the right1 who says to the spectator of the picture1 with her challenging and by no means devout look1 8,the mother and her child--is not that a pleasant1 inviting sight80 ,the face and the look are reflected in the joy in the faces of the beholders4 ,the artist who devised all this enjoys himself in this way1 and adds his own delight to the delight of the art-lover4 ,as regards the 8messianic0 expression in the face of the child1 ,raphael1 honest man1 who would not paint any state of soul in which he did not believe1 has amiably cheated his religious admirers4 ,he painted that freak of nature which is very often found1 the man's eye in the child's face1 and that1 too1 the eye of a brave1 helpful man who sees distress4 ,this eye should be accompanied by a beard4 ,the fact that a beard is wanting1 and that two different ages are seen in one countenance1 is the pleasing paradox which believers have interpreted in accordance with their faith in miracles4 ,the artist could only expect as much from their art of exposition and interpretation4 #gd4 ,,prayer4--,on two hypotheses alone is there any sense in prayer1 that not quite extinct custom of olden times4 ,it would have to be possible either to fix or alter the will of the godhead1 and the devotee would have to know best himself what he needs and should really desire4 ,both hypotheses1 axiomatic and traditional in all other religions1 are denied by ,christianity4 ,if ,christianity nevertheless maintained prayer side by side with its belief in the all-wise and all-provident divine reason 7a belief that makes prayer really senseless and even blasphemous71 it showed here once more its admirable 8wisdom of the serpent40 ,for an outspoken command1 8,thou shalt not pray10 would have led ,christians by way of boredom to the denial of ,christianity4 ,in the ,christian ora et labora ora plays the rle of pleasure4 ,without ora what could those unlucky saints who renounced labora have done8 ,but to have a chat with ,god1 to ask him for all kinds of pleasant things1 to feel a slight amusement at one's own folly in still having any wishes at all1 in spite of so excellent a father--all that was an admirable invention for saints4 #ge4 ,a ,,holy ,,lie4--,the lie that was on ,arria's lips when she died 7,paete1 non dolet7#ai77 obscures all the truths that have ever been uttered by the dying4 ,it is the only holy lie that has become famous1 whereas elsewhere the odour of sanctity has clung only to errors4 #gf4 ,,the ,,most ,,necessary ,,apostle4--,among twelve apostles one must always be hard as stone1 in order that upon him the new church may be built4 #gg4 ,,which ,,is ,,more ,,transitory1 ,,the ,,body ,,or ,,the ,,spirit8--,in legal1 moral1 and religious institutions the external and concrete elements--in other words1 rites1 gestures1 and ceremonies--are the most permanent4 ,they are the body to which a new spirit is constantly being superadded4 ,the cult1 like an unchangeable text1 is ever interpreted anew4 ,concepts and emotions are fluid1 customs are solid4 #gh4 ,,the ,,belief ,,in ,,disease ,,qua ,,disease4--,christianity first painted the devil on the wall of the world4 ,christianity first brought the idea of sin into the world4 ,the belief in the remedies1 which is offered as an antidote1 has gradually been shaken to its very foundations4 ,but the belief in the disease1 which ,christianity has taught and propagated1 still exists4 #gi4 ,,speech ,,and ,,writings ,,of ,,religious ,,men4--,if the priest's style and general expression1 both in speaking and writing1 do not clearly betray the religious man1 we need no longer take his views upon religion and his pleading for religion seriously4 ,these opinions have become powerless for him if1 judging by his style1 he has at command irony1 arrogance1 malice1 hatred1 and all the changing eddies of mood1 just like the most irreligious of men--how far more powerless will they be for his hearers and readers6 ,in short1 he will serve to make the latter still more irreligious4 #hj4 ,,the ,,danger ,,in ,,personality4--,the more ,god has been regarded as a personality in himself1 the less loyal have we been to him4 ,men are far more attached to their thought-images than to their best beloved4 ,that is why they sacrifice themselves for ,state1 ,church1 and even for ,god--so far as he remains their creation1 their thought1 and is not too much looked upon as a personality4 ,in the latter case they almost always quarrel with him4 ,after all1 it was the most pious of men who let slip that bitter cry3 8,my ,god1 why hast thou forsaken me80 #ha4 ,,worldly ,,justice4--,it is possible to unhinge worldly justice with the doctrine of the complete non-responsibility and innocence of every man4 ,an attempt has been made in the same direction on the basis of the opposite doctrine of the full responsibility and guilt of every man4 ,it was the founder of ,christianity who wished to abolish worldly justice and banish judgment and punishment from the world4 ,for he understood all guilt as 8sin0--that is1 an outrage against ,god and not against the world4 ,on the other hand1 he considered every man in a broad sense1 and almost in every sense1 a sinner4 ,the guilty1 however1 are not to be the judges of their peers--so his rules of equity decided4 ,thus all dispensers of worldly justice were in his eyes as culpable as those they condemned1 and their air of guiltlessness appeared to him hypocritical and pharisaical4 ,moreover1 he looked to the motives and not to the results of actions1 and thought that only one was keen-sighted enough to give a verdict on motives--himself or1 as he expressed it1 ,god4 #hb4 ,,an ,,affectation ,,in ,,parting4--,he who wishes to sever his connection with a party or a creed thinks it necessary for him to refute it4 ,this is a most arrogant notion4 ,the only thing necessary is that he should clearly see what tentacles hitherto held him to this party or creed and no longer hold him1 what views impelled him to it and now impel him in some other directions4 ,we have not joined the party or creed on strict grounds of knowledge4 ,we should not affect this attitude on parting from it either4 #hc4 ,,saviour ,,and ,,physician4--,in his knowledge of the human soul the founder of ,christianity was1 as is natural1 not without many great deficiencies and prejudices1 and1 as physician of the soul1 was addicted to that disreputable1 laical belief in a universal medicine4 ,in his methods he sometimes resembles that dentist who wishes to heal all pain by extracting the tooth4 ,thus1 for example1 he assails sensuality with the advice3 8,if thine eye offend thee1 pluck it out40--,yet there still remains the distinction that the dentist at least attains his object--painlessness for the patient--although in so clumsy a fashion that he becomes ridiculous2 whereas the ,christian who follows that advice and thinks he has killed his sensuality1 is wrong1 for his sensuality still lives in an uncanny1 vampire form1 and torments him in hideous disguises4 #hd4 ,,prisoners4--,one morning the prisoners entered the yard for work1 but the warder was not there4 ,some1 as their manner was1 set to work at once2 others stood idle and gazed defiantly around4 ,then one of them strode forward and cried1 8,work as much as you will or do nothing1 it all comes to the same4 ,your secret machinations have come to light2 the warder has been keeping his eye on you of late1 and will cause a terrible judgment to be passed upon you in a few days' time4 ,you know him--he is of a cruel and resentful disposition4 ,but now1 listen3 you have mistaken me hitherto4 ,i am not what ,i seem1 but far more--,i am the son of the warder1 and can get anything ,i like out of him4 ,i can save you--nay1 ,i will save you4 ,but remember this3 ,i will only save those of you who believe that ,i am the son of the prison warder4 ,the rest may reap the fruits of their unbelief40 8,well10 said an old prisoner after an interval of silence1 8what can it matter to you whether we believe you or not8 ,if you are really the son1 and can do what you say1 then put in a good word for us all4 ,that would be a real kindness on your part4 ,but have done with all talk of belief and unbelief60 8,what is more10 cried a younger man1 8,i don't believe him3 he has only got a bee in his bonnet4 ,i'll wager that in a week's time we shall find ourselves in the same place as we are to-day1 and the warder will know nothing40 8,and if the warder ever knew anything1 he knows it no longer10 said the last of the prisoners1 coming down into the yard at that moment1 8for he has just died suddenly40 8,ah ha60 cried several in confusion1 8ah ha6 ,sir ,son1 ,sir ,son1 how stands it now with your title8 ,are we by any chance your prisoners now80 8,i told you10 answered the man gently1 8,i will set free all who believe in me1 as surely as my father still lives40--,the prisoners did not laugh1 but shrugged their shoulders and left him to himself4 #he4 ,,the ,,persecutors ,,of ,,god4--,paul conceived and ,calvin followed up the idea that countless creatures have been predestined to damnation from time immemorial1 and that this fair world was made in order that the glory of ,god might be manifested therein4 ,so heaven and hell and mankind merely exist to satisfy the vanity of ,god6 ,what a cruel1 insatiable vanity must have smouldered in the soul of the first or second thinker of such a thought6--,paul1 then1 after all1 remained ,saul--the persecutor of ,god4 #hf4 ,,socrates4--,if all goes well1 the time will come when1 in order to advance themselves on the path of moral reason1 men will rather take up the ,memorabilia of ,socrates than the ,bible1 and when ,montaigne and ,horace will be used as pioneers and guides for the understanding of ,socrates1 the simplest and most enduring of interpretative sages4 ,in him converge the roads of the most different philosophic modes of life1 which are in truth the modes of the different temperaments1 crystallised by reason and habit and all ultimately directed towards the delight in life and in self4 ,the apparent conclusion is that the most peculiar thing about ,socrates was his share in all the temperaments4 ,socrates excels the founder of ,christianity by virtue of his merry style of seriousness and by that wisdom of sheer roguish pranks which constitutes the best state of soul in a man4 ,moreover1 he had a superior intelligence4 #hg4 ,,learning ,,to ,,write ,,well4--,the age of good speaking is over1 because the age of city-state culture is over4 ,the limit allowed by ,aristotle to the great city--in which the town-crier must be able to make himself heard by the whole assembled community--troubles us as little as do any city-communities1 us who even wish to be understood beyond the boundaries of nations4 ,therefore every one who is of a good ,european turn of mind must learn to write well1 and to write better and better4 ,he cannot help himself1 he must learn that3 even if he was born in ,germany1 where bad writing is looked upon as a national privilege4 ,better writing means better thinking2 always to discover matter more worthy of communication2 to be able to communicate it properly2 to be translateable into the tongues of neighbouring nations2 to make oneself comprehensible to foreigners who learn our language2 to work with the view of making all that is good common property1 and of giving free access everywhere to the free2 finally1 to pave the way for that still remote state of things1 when the great task shall come for good ,europeans--guidance and guardianship of the universal world-culture4--,whoever preaches the opposite doctrine of not troubling about good writing and good reading 7both virtues grow together and decline together7 is really showing the peoples a way of becoming more and more national4 ,he is intensifying the malady of this century1 and is a foe to good ,europeans1 a foe to free spirits4 #hh4 ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,the ,,best ,,style4--,the theory of the best style may at one time be the theory of finding the expression by which we transfer every mood of ours to the reader and the listener4 ,at another1 it may be the theory of finding expressions for the more desirable human moods1 the communication and transference of which one desires most--for the mood of a man moved from the depth of his heart1 intellectually cheerful1 bright1 and sincere1 who has conquered his passions4 ,this will be the theory of the best style1 a theory that corresponds to the good man4 #hi4 ,,paying ,,attention ,,to ,,movement4--,the movement of the sentences shows whether the author be tired4 ,individual expressions may nevertheless be still strong and good1 because they were invented earlier and for their own sake1 when the thought first flashed across the author's mind4 ,this is frequently the case with ,goethe1 who too often dictated when he was tired4 #ij4 8,,already0 ,,and 8,,still40--,a4 ,german prose is still very young4 ,goethe declares that ,wieland is its father4 ,b4 ,so young and already so ugly6 ,c4 ,but1 so far as ,i am aware1 ,bishop ,ulfilas already wrote ,german prose1 which must therefore be fifteen hundred years old4 ,b4 ,so old and still so ugly6 #ia4 ,,original ,,german4--,german prose1 which is really not fashioned on any pattern and must be considered an original creation of ,german taste1 should give the eager advocate of a future original ,german culture an indication of how real ,german dress1 ,german society1 ,german furniture1 ,german meals would look without the imitation of models4--,some one who had long reflected on these vistas finally cried in great horror1 8,but1 ,heaven help us1 perhaps we already have that original culture--only we don't like to talk about it60 #ib4 ,,forbidden ,,books4--,one should never read anything written by those arrogant wiseacres and puzzle-brains who have the detestable vice of logical paradox4 ,they apply logical formul just where everything is really improvised at random and built in the air4 78,therefore0 with them means1 8,you idiot of a reader1 this #8therefore' does not exist for you1 but only for me40 ,the answer to this is3 8,you idiot of a writer1 then why do you write807 #ic4 ,,displaying ,,one',s ,,wit4--,every one who wishes to display his wit thereby proclaims that he has also a plentiful lack of wit4 ,that vice which clever ,frenchmen have of adding a touch of ddain to their best ideas arises from a desire to be considered richer than they really are4 ,they wish to be carelessly generous1 as if weary of continual spending from overfull treasuries4 #id4 ,,french ,,and ,,german ,,literature4--,the misfortune of the ,french and ,german literature of the last hundred years is that the ,germans ran away too early from the ,french school1 and the ,french1 later on1 went too early to the ,german school4 #ie4 ,,our ,,prose4--,none of the present-day cultured nations has so bad a prose as the ,german4 ,when clever1 blas ,frenchmen say1 8,there is no ,german prose10 we ought really not to be angry1 for this criticism is more polite than we deserve4 ,if we look for reasons1 we come at last to the strange phenomenon that the ,german knows only improvised prose and has no conception of any other4 ,he simply cannot understand the ,italian1 who says that prose is as much harder than poetry as the representation of naked beauty is harder to the sculptor than that of draped beauty4 ,verse1 images1 rhythm1 and rhyme need honest effort--that even the ,german realises1 and he is not inclined to set a very high value on extempore poetry4 ,but the notion of working at a page of prose as at a statue sounds to him like a tale from fairyland4 #if4 ,,the ,,grand ,,style4--,the grand style comes into being when the beautiful wins a victory over the monstrous4 #ig4 ,,dodging4--,we do not realise1 in the case of distinguished minds1 wherein lies the excellence of their expression1 their turn of phrase1 until we can say what word every mediocre writer would inevitably have hit upon in expressing the same idea4 ,all great artists1 in steering their car1 show themselves prone to dodge and leave the track1 but never to fall over4 #ih4 ,,something ,,like ,,bread4--,bread neutralises and takes out the taste of other food1 and is therefore necessary to every long meal4 ,in all works of art there must be something like bread1 in order that they may produce divers effects4 ,if these effects followed one another without occasional pauses and intervals1 they would soon make us weary and provoke disgust--in fact1 a long meal of art would then be impossible4 #ii4 ,,jean ,,paul4--,jean ,paul knew a great deal1 but had no science2 understood all manner of tricks of art1 but had no art2 found almost everything enjoyable1 but had no taste2 possessed feeling and seriousness1 but in dispensing them poured over them a nauseous sauce of tears2 had even wit1 but1 unfortunately for his ardent desire for it1 far too little--whence he drives the reader to despair by his very lack of wit4 ,in short1 he was the bright1 rank-smelling weed that shot up overnight in the fair pleasaunces of ,schiller and ,goethe4 ,he was a good1 comfortable man1 and yet a destiny1 a destiny in a dressing-gown47#bj7 #ajj4 ,,palate ,,for ,,opposites4--,in order to enjoy a work of the past as its contemporaries enjoyed it1 one must have a palate for the prevailing taste of the age which it attacked4 #aja4 ,,spirits-,,of-,,wine ,,authors4--,many writers are neither spirit nor wine1 but spirits of wine4 ,they can flare up1 and then they give warmth4 #ajb4 ,,the ,,interpretative ,,sense4--,the sense of taste1 as the true interpretative sense1 often talks the other senses over to its point of view and imposes upon them its laws and customs4 ,at table one can receive disclosures about the most subtle secrets of the arts2 it suffices to observe what tastes good and when and after what and how long it tastes good4 #ajc4 ,,lessing4--,lessing had a genuine ,french talent1 and1 as writer1 went most assiduously to the ,french school4 ,he knows well how to arrange and display his wares in his shop-window4 ,without this true art his thoughts1 like the objects of them1 would have remained rather in the dark1 nor would the general loss be great4 ,his art1 however1 has taught many 7especially the last generation of ,german scholars7 and has given enjoyment to a countless number4 ,it is true his disciples had no need to learn from him1 as they often did1 his unpleasant tone with its mingling of petulance and candour4--,opinion is now unanimous on ,lessing as 8lyric poet10 and will some day be unanimous on ,lessing as 8dramatic poet40 #ajd4 ,,undesirable ,,readers4--,how an author is vexed by those stolid1 awkward readers who always fall at every place where they stumble1 and always hurt themselves when they fall6 #aje4 ,,poets' ,,thoughts4--,real thoughts of real poets always go about with a veil on1 like ,egyptian women2 only the deep eye of thought looks out freely through the veil4--,poets' thoughts are as a rule not of such value as is supposed4 ,we have to pay for the veil and for our own curiosity into the bargain4 #ajf4 ,,write ,,simply ,,and ,,usefully4--,transitions1 details1 colour in depicting the passions--we make a present of all these to the author because we bring them with us and set them down to the credit of his book1 provided he makes us some compensation4 #ajg4 ,,wieland4--,wieland wrote ,german better than any one else1 and had the genuine adequacies and inadequacies of the master4 ,his translations of the letters of ,cicero and ,lucian are the best in the language4 ,his ideas1 however1 add nothing to our store of thought4 ,we can endure his cheerful moralities as little as his cheerful immoralities1 for both are very closely connected4 ,the men who enjoyed them were at bottom better men than we are1 but also a good deal heavier4 ,they needed an author of this sort4 ,the ,germans did not need ,goethe1 and therefore cannot make proper use of him4 ,we have only to consider the best of our statesmen and artists in this light4 ,none of them had or could have had ,goethe as their teacher4 #ajh4 ,,rare ,,festivals4--,pithy conciseness1 repose1 and maturity--where you find these qualities in an author1 cry halt and celebrate a great festival in the desert4 ,it will be long before you have such a treat again4 #aji4 ,,the ,,treasure ,,of ,,german ,,prose4--,apart from ,goethe's writings and especially ,goethe's conversations with ,eckermann 7the best ,german book in existence71 what ,german prose literature remains that is worth reading over and over again8 ,lichtenberg's ,aphorisms1 the first book of ,jung-,stilling's ,story of ,my ,life1 ,adalbert ,stifter's ,st4 ,martin's ,summer and ,gottfried ,keller's ,people of ,seldwyla--and there1 for the time being1 it comes to an end4 #aaj4 ,,literary ,,and ,,colloquial ,,style4--,the art of writing demands1 first and foremost1 substitutions for the means of expression which speech alone possesses--in other words1 for gestures1 accent1 intonation1 and look4 ,hence literary style is quite different from colloquial style1 and far more difficult1 because it has to make itself as intelligible as the latter with fewer accessaries4 ,demosthenes delivered his speeches differently from what we read2 he worked them up for reading purposes4--,cicero's speeches ought to be 8demosthenised0 with the same object1 for at present they contain more of the ,roman ,forum than we can endure4 #aaa4 ,,caution ,,in ,,quotation4--,young authors do not know that a good expression or idea only looks well among its peers2 that an excellent quotation may spoil whole pages1 nay the whole book2 for it seems to cry warningly to the reader1 8,mark you1 ,i am the precious stone1 and round about me is lead--pale1 worthless lead60 ,every word1 every idea only desires to live in its own company--that is the moral of a choice style4 #aab4 ,,how ,,should ,,errors ,,be ,,enunciated8--,we may dispute whether it be more injurious for errors to be enunciated badly or as well as the best truths4 ,it is certain that in the former case they are doubly harmful to the brain and are less easily removed from it4 ,but1 on the other hand1 they are not so certain of effect as in the latter case4 ,they are1 in fact1 less contagious4 #aac4 ,,limiting ,,and ,,widening4--,homer limited and diminished the horizon of his subject1 but allowed individual scenes to expand and blossom out4 ,later1 the tragedians are constantly renewing this process4 ,each takes his material in ever smaller and smaller fragments than his predecessor did1 but each attains a greater wealth of blooms within the narrow hedges of these sequestered garden enclosures4 #aad4 ,,literature ,,and ,,morality ,,mutually ,,explanatory4--,we can show from ,greek literature by what forces the ,greek spirit developed1 how it entered upon different channels1 and where it became enfeebled4 ,all this also depicts to us how ,greek morality proceeded1 and how all morality will proceed3 how it was at first a constraint and displayed cruelty1 then became gradually milder2 how a pleasure in certain actions1 in certain forms and conventions arose1 and from this again a propensity for solitary exercise1 for solitary possession2 how the track becomes crowded and overcrowded with competitors2 how satiety enters in1 new objects of struggle and ambition are sought1 and forgotten aims are awakened to life2 how the drama is repeated1 and the spectators become altogether weary of looking on1 because the whole gamut seems to have been run through--and then comes a stoppage1 an expiration1 and the rivulets are lost in the sand4 ,the end1 or at any rate an end1 has come4 #aae4 ,,what ,,landscapes ,,give ,,permanent ,,delight4--,such and such a landscape has features eminently suited for painting1 but ,i cannot find the formula for it2 it remains beyond my grasp as a whole4 ,i notice that all landscapes which please me permanently have a simple geometrical scheme of lines underneath all their complexity4 ,without such a mathematical substratum no scenery becomes artistically pleasing4 ,perhaps this rule may be applied symbolically to human beings4 #aaf4 ,,reading ,,aloud4--,the ability to read aloud involves of necessity the ability to declaim4 ,everywhere we must apply pale tints1 but we must determine the degree of pallor in close relation to the richly and deeply coloured background1 that always hovers before our eyes and acts as our guide--in other words1 in accordance with the way in which we should declaim the same passages4 ,that is why we must be able to declaim4 #aag4 ,,the ,,dramatic ,,sense4--,he who has not the four subtler senses of art tries to understand everything with the fifth sense1 which is the coarsest of all--the dramatic sense4 #aah4 ,,herder4--,herder fails to be all that he made people think he was and himself wished to think he was4 ,he was no great thinker or discoverer1 no newly fertile soil with the unexhausted strength of a virgin forest4 ,but he possessed in the highest degree the power of scenting the future1 he saw and picked the first-fruits of the seasons earlier than all others1 and they then believed that he had made them grow4 ,between darkness and light1 youth and age1 his mind was like a hunter on the watch1 looking everywhere for transitions1 depressions1 convulsions1 the outward and visible signs of internal growth4 ,the unrest of spring drove him to and fro1 but he was himself not the spring4--,at times1 indeed1 he had some inkling of this1 and yet would fain not have believed it--he1 the ambitious priest1 who would have so gladly been the intellectual pope of his epoch6 ,this is his despair4 ,he seems to have lived long as a pretender to several kingdoms or even to a universal monarchy4 ,he had his following which believed in him1 among others the young ,goethe4 ,but whenever crowns were really distributed1 he was passed over4 ,kant1 ,goethe1 and then the first true ,german historians and scholars robbed him of what he thought he had reserved for himself 7although in silence and secret he often thought the reverse74 ,just when he doubted in himself1 he gladly clothed himself in dignity and enthusiasm3 these were often in him mere garments1 which had to hide a great deal and also to deceive and comfort him4 ,he really had fire and enthusiasm1 but his ambition was far greater6 ,it blew impatiently at the fire1 which flickered1 crackled1 and smoked--his style flickers1 crackles1 and smokes--but he yearned for the great flame which never broke out4 ,he did not sit at the table of the genuine creators1 and his ambition did not admit of his sitting modestly among those who simply enjoy4 ,thus he was a restless spirit1 the taster of all intellectual dishes1 which were collected by the ,germans from every quarter and every age in the course of half a century4 ,never really happy and satisfied1 ,herder was also too often ill1 and then at times envy sat by his bed1 and hypocrisy paid her visit as well4 ,he always had an air of being scarred and crippled1 and he lacked simple1 stalwart manliness more completely than any of the so-called 8classical writers40 #aai4 ,,scent ,,of ,,words4--,every word has its scent2 there is a harmony and discord of scents1 and so too of words4 #abj4 ,,the ,,far-,,fetched ,,style4--,the natural style is an offence to the lover of the far-fetched style4 #aba4 ,a ,,vow4--,i will never again read an author of whom one can suspect that he wanted to make a book1 but only those writers whose thoughts unexpectedly became a book4 #abb4 ,,the ,,artistic ,,convention4--,three-fourths of ,homer is convention1 and the same is the case with all the ,greek artists1 who had no reason for falling into the modern craze for originality4 ,they had no fear of convention1 for after all convention was a link between them and their public4 ,conventions are the artistic means acquired for the understanding of the hearer2 the common speech1 learnt with much toil1 whereby the artist can really communicate his ideas4 ,all the more when he wishes1 like the ,greek poets and musicians1 to conquer at once with each of his works 7since he is accustomed to compete publicly with one or two rivals71 the first condition is that he must be understood at once1 and this is only possible by means of convention4 ,what the artist devises beyond convention he offers of his own free will and takes a risk1 his success at best resulting in the setting-up of a new convention4 ,as a rule originality is marvelled at1 sometimes even worshipped1 but seldom understood4 ,a stubborn avoidance of convention means a desire not to be understood4 ,what1 then1 is the object of the modern craze for originality8 #abc4 ,,artists' ,,affectation ,,of ,,scientific ,,method4--,schiller1 like other ,german artists1 fancied that if a man had intellect he was entitled to improvise even with the pen on all difficult subjects4 ,so there we see his prose essays--in every way a model of how not to attack scientific questions of sthetics and ethics1 and a danger for young readers who1 in their admiration for ,schiller the poet1 have not the courage to think meanly of ,schiller the thinker and author4--,the temptation to traverse for once the forbidden paths1 and to have his say in science as well1 is easy and pardonable in the artist4 ,for even the ablest artist from time to time finds his handicraft and his workshop unendurable4 ,this temptation is so strong that it makes the artist show all the world what no one wishes to see1 that his little chamber of thought is cramped and untidy4 ,why not1 indeed8 ,he does not live there4 ,he proceeds to show that the storeroom of his knowledge is partly empty1 partly filled with lumber4 ,why not1 indeed8 ,this condition does not really become the artist-child badly4 ,in particular1 the artist shows that for the very easiest exercises of scientific method1 which are accessible even to beginners1 his joints are too stiff and untrained4 ,even of that he need not really be ashamed6 ,on the other hand1 he often develops no mean art in imitating all the mistakes1 vices1 and base pedantries that are practised in the scientific community1 in the belief that these belong to the appearance of the thing1 if not to the thing itself4 ,this is the very point that is so amusing in artists' writing1 that the artist involuntarily acts as his vocation demands3 he parodies the scientific and inartistic natures4 ,towards science he should show no attitude but that of parody1 in so far as he is an artist and only an artist4 #abd4 ,,the ,,faust-,,idea4--,a little sempstress is seduced and plunged into despair3 a great scholar of all the four ,faculties is the evil-doer4 ,that cannot have happened in the ordinary course1 surely8 ,no1 certainly not6 ,without the aid of the devil incarnate1 the great scholar would never have achieved the deed4--,is this really destined to be the greatest ,german 8tragic idea10 as one hears it said among ,germans8--,but for ,goethe even this idea was too terrible4 ,his kind heart could not avoid placing the little sempstress1 8the good soul that forgot itself but once10 near to the saints1 after her involuntary death4 ,even the great scholar1 8the good man0 with 8the dark impulse10 is brought into heaven in the nick of time1 by a trick which is played upon the devil at the decisive moment4 ,in heaven the lovers find themselves again4 ,goethe once said that his nature was too conciliatory for really tragic subjects4 #abe4 ,,are ,,there 8,,german ,,classics08--,sainte-,beuve observes somewhere that the word 8classic0 does not suit the genius of certain literatures4 ,for instance1 nobody could talk seriously of 8,german classics40--,what do our ,german publishers1 who are about to add fifty more to the fifty ,german classics we are told to accept1 say to that8 ,does it not almost seem as if one need only have been dead for the last thirty years1 and lie a lawful prey to the public17#ba7 in order to hear suddenly and unexpectedly the trumpet of resurrection as a 8,classic08 ,and this in an age and a nation where at least five out of the six great fathers of its literature are undoubtedly antiquated or becoming antiquated--without there being any need for the age or the nation to be ashamed of this4 ,for those writers have given way before the strength of our time--let that be considered in all fairness6--,goethe1 as ,i have indicated1 ,i do not include4 ,he belongs to a higher species than 8national literatures03 hence life1 revival1 and decay do not enter into the reckoning in his relations with his countrymen4 ,he lived and now lives but for the few2 for the majority he is nothing but a flourish of vanity which is trumpeted from time to time across the border into foreign ears4 ,goethe1 not merely a great and good man1 but a culture1 is in ,german history an interlude without a sequel4 ,who1 for instance1 would be able to point to any trace of ,goethe's influence in ,german politics of the last seventy years 7whereas the influence1 certainly of ,schiller1 and perhaps of ,lessing1 can be traced in the political world78 ,but what of those five others8 ,klopstock1 in a most honourable way1 became out of date even in his own lifetime1 and so completely that the meditative book of his later years1 ,the ,republic of ,learning1 has never been taken seriously from that day to this4 ,herder's misfortune was that his writings were always either new or antiquated4 ,thus for stronger and more subtle minds 7like ,lichtenberg7 even ,herder's masterpiece1 his ,ideas for the ,history of ,mankind1 was in a way antiquated at the very moment of its appearance4 ,wieland1 who lived to the full and made others live likewise1 was clever enough to anticipate by death the waning of his influence4 ,lessing1 perhaps1 still lives to-day--but among a young and ever younger band of scholars4 ,schiller has fallen from the hands of young men into those of boys1 of all ,german boys4 ,it is a well-known sign of obsolescence when a book descends to people of less and less mature age4--,well1 what is it that has thrust these five into the background1 so that well-educated men of affairs no longer read them8 ,a better taste1 a riper knowledge1 a higher reverence for the real and the true3 in other words1 the very virtues which these five 7and ten or twenty others of lesser repute7 first re-planted in ,germany1 and which now1 like a mighty forest1 cast over their graves not only the shadow of awe1 but something of the shadow of oblivion4--,but classical writers are not planters of intellectual and literary virtues4 ,they bring those virtues to perfection and are their highest luminous peaks1 and being brighter1 freer1 and purer than all that surrounds them1 they remain shining above the nations when the nations themselves perish4 ,there may come an elevated stage of humanity1 in which the ,europe of the peoples is a dark1 forgotten thing1 but ,europe lives on in thirty books1 very old but never antiquated--in the classics4 #abf4 ,,interesting1 ,,but ,,not ,,beautiful4--,this countryside conceals its meaning1 but it has one that we should like to guess4 ,everywhere that ,i look1 ,i read words and hints of words1 but ,i do not know where begins the sentence that solves the riddle of all these hints4 ,so ,i get a stiff neck in trying to discover whether ,i should start reading from this or that point4 #abg4 ,,against ,,innovators ,,in ,,language4--,the use of neologisms or archaisms1 the preference for the rare and the bizarre1 the attempt to enrich rather than to limit the vocabulary1 are always signs either of an immature or of a corrupted taste4 ,a noble poverty but a masterly freedom within the limits of that modest wealth distinguishes the ,greek artists in oratory4 ,they wish to have less than the people has--for the people is richest in old and new--but they wish to have that little better4 ,the reckoning up of their archaic and exotic forms is soon done1 but we never cease marvelling if we have an eye for their light and delicate manner in handling the commonplace and apparently long outworn elements in word and phrase4 #abh4 ,,gloomy ,,and ,,serious ,,authors4--,he who commits his sufferings to paper becomes a gloomy author1 but he becomes a serious one if he tells us what he has suffered and why he is now enjoying a pleasurable repose4 #abi4 ,,healthiness ,,of ,,taste4--,how is it that health is less contagious than disease--generally1 and particularly in matters of taste8 ,or are there epidemics of health8 #acj4 ,a ,,resolution4--,never again to read a book that is born and christened 7with ink7 at the same moment4 #aca4 ,,improving ,,our ,,ideas4--,improving our style means improving our ideas1 and nothing else4 ,he who does not at once concede this can never be convinced of the point4 #acb4 ,,classical ,,books4--,the weakest point in every classical book is that it is written too much in the mother tongue of its author4 #acc4 ,,bad ,,books4--,the book should demand pen1 ink1 and desk1 but usually it is pen1 ink1 and desk that demand the book4 ,that is why books are of so little account at present4 #acd4 ,,presence ,,of ,,sense4--,when the public reflects on paintings1 it becomes a poet2 when on poems1 an investigator4 ,at the moment when the artist summons it it is always lacking in the right sense1 and accordingly in presence of sense1 not in presence of mind4 #ace4 ,,choice ,,ideas4--,the choice style of a momentous period does not only select its words but its ideas--and both from the customary and prevailing usage4 ,venturesome ideas1 that smell too fresh1 are to the maturer taste no less repugnant than new and reckless images and phrases4 ,later on both choice ideas and choice words soon smack of mediocrity1 because the scent of the choice vanishes quickly1 and then nothing but the customary and commonplace element is tasted4 #acf4 ,,main ,,reason ,,for ,,corruption ,,of ,,style4--,the desire to display more sentiment than one really feels for a thing corrupts style1 in language and in all art4 ,all great art shows rather the opposite tendency4 ,like every man of moral significance1 it loves to check emotion on its way and not let it run its course to the very end4 ,this modesty of letting emotion but half appear is most clearly to be observed1 for example1 in ,sophocles4 ,the features of sentiment seem to become beautified when sentiment feigns to be more shy than it really is4 #acg4 ,,an ,,excuse ,,for ,,the ,,heavy ,,style4--,the lightly uttered phrase seldom falls on the ear with the full weight of the subject4 ,this is1 however1 due to the bad training of the ear1 which by education must pass from what has hitherto been called music to the school of the higher harmony--in other words1 to conversation4 #ach4 ,,bird',s-,,eye ,,views4--,here torrents rush from every side into a ravine3 their movement is so swift and stormy1 and carries the eye along so quickly1 that the bare or wooded mountain slopes around seem not to sink down but to fly down4 ,we are in an agonised tension at the sight1 as if behind all this were hidden some hostile element1 before which all must fly1 and against which the abyss alone gave protection4 ,this landscape cannot be painted1 unless we hover above it like a bird in the open air4 ,here for once the so-called bird's-eye view is not an artistic caprice1 but the sole possibility4 #aci4 ,,rash ,,comparisons4--,if rash comparisons are not proofs of the wantonness of the writer1 they are proofs of the exhaustion of his imagination4 ,in any case they bear witness to his bad taste4 #adj4 ,,dancing ,,in ,,chains4--,in the case of every ,greek artist1 poet1 or writer we must ask3 ,what is the new constraint which he imposes upon himself and makes attractive to his contemporaries1 so as to find imitators8 ,for the thing called 8invention0 7in metre1 for example7 is always a self-imposed fetter of this kind4 8,dancing in chains0--to make that hard for themselves and then to spread a false notion that it is easy--that is the trick that they wish to show us4 ,even in ,homer we may perceive a wealth of inherited formul and laws of epic narration1 within the circle of which he had to dance1 and he himself created new conventions for them that came after4 ,this was the discipline of the ,greek poets3 first to impose upon themselves a manifold constraint by means of the earlier poets2 then to invent in addition a new constraint1 to impose it upon themselves and cheerfully to overcome it1 so that constraint and victory are perceived and admired4 #ada4 ,,authors' ,,copiousness4--,the last quality that a good author acquires is copiousness3 whoever has it to begin with will never become a good author4 ,the noblest racehorses are lean until they are permitted to rest from their victories4 #adb4 ,,wheezing ,,heroes4--,poets and artists who suffer from a narrow chest of the emotions generally make their heroes wheeze4 ,they do not know what easy breathing means4 #adc4 ,,the ,,short-,,sighted47#bb7--,the short-sighted are the deadly foes of all authors who let themselves go4 ,these authors should know the wrath with which these people shut the book in which they observe that its creator needs fifty pages to express five ideas4 ,and the cause of their wrath is that they have endangered what remains of their vision almost without compensation4 ,a short-sighted person said1 8,all authors let themselves go40 8,even the ,holy ,ghost80 8,even the ,holy ,ghost40 ,but he had a right to1 for he wrote for those who had lost their sight altogether4 #add4 ,,the ,,style ,,of ,,immortality4--,thucydides and ,tacitus both imagined immortal life for their works when they executed them4 ,that might be guessed 7if not known otherwise7 from their style4 ,the one thought to give permanence to his ideas by salting them1 the other by boiling them down2 and neither1 it seems1 made a miscalculation4 #ade4 ,,against ,,images ,,and ,,similes4--,by images and similes we convince1 but we do not prove4 ,that is why science has such a horror of images and similes4 ,science does not want to convince or make plausible1 and rather seeks to provoke cold distrust by its mode of expression1 by the bareness of its walls4 ,for distrust is the touchstone for the gold of certainty4 #adf4 ,,caution4--,in ,germany1 he who lacks thorough knowledge should beware of writing4 ,the good ,german does not say in that case 8he is ignorant10 but 8he is of doubtful character40--,this hasty conclusion1 by the way1 does great credit to the ,germans4 #adg4 ,,painted ,,skeletons4--,painted skeletons are those authors who try to make up for their want of flesh by artistic colourings4 #adh4 ,,the ,,grand ,,style ,,and ,,something ,,better4--,it is easier to learn how to write the grand style than how to write easily and simply4 ,the reasons for this are inextricably bound up with morality4 #adi4 ,,sebastian ,,bach4--,in so far as we do not hear ,bach's music as perfect and experienced connoisseurs of counterpoint and all the varieties of the fugal style 7and accordingly must dispense with real artistic enjoyment71 we shall feel in listening to his music--in ,goethe's magnificent phrase--as if 8we were present at ,god's creation of the world40 ,in other words1 we feel here that something great is in the making but not yet made--our mighty modern music1 which by conquering nationalities1 the ,church1 and counterpoint has conquered the world4 ,in ,bach there is still too much crude ,christianity1 crude ,germanism1 crude scholasticism4 ,he stands on the threshold of modern ,european music1 but turns from thence to look at the ,middle ,ages4 #aej4 ,h,,ndel4--,hndel1 who in the invention of his music was bold1 original1 truthful1 powerful1 inclined to and akin to all the heroism of which a nation is capable1 often proved stiff1 cold1 nay even weary of himself in composition4 ,he applied a few well-tried methods of execution1 wrote copiously and quickly1 and was glad when he had finished--but that joy was not the joy of ,god and other creators in the eventide of their working day4 #aea4 ,,haydn4--,so far as genius can exist in a man who is merely good1 ,haydn had genius4 ,he went just as far as the limit which morality sets to intellect1 and only wrote music that has 8no past40 #aeb4 ,,beethoven ,,and ,,mozart4--,beethoven's music often appears like a deeply emotional meditation on unexpectedly hearing once more a piece long thought to be forgotten1 8,tonal ,innocence03 it is music about music4 ,in the song of the beggar and child in the street1 in the monotonous airs of vagrant ,italians1 in the dance of the village inn or in carnival nights he discovers his melodies4 ,he stores them together like a bee1 snatching here and there some notes or a short phrase4 ,to him these are hallowed memories of 8the better world10 like the ideas of ,plato4--,mozart stands in quite a different relation to his melodies4 ,he finds his inspiration not in hearing music but in gazing at life1 at the most stirring life of southern lands4 ,he was always dreaming of ,italy1 when he was not there4 #aec4 ,,recitative4--,formerly recitative was dry1 but now we live in the age of moist recitative4 ,it has fallen into the water1 and the waves carry it whithersoever they list4 #aed4 8,,cheerful0 ,,music4--,if for a long time we have heard no music1 it then goes like a heavy southern wine all too quickly into the blood and leaves behind it a soul dazed with narcotics1 half-awake1 longing for sleep4 ,this is particularly the case with cheerful music1 which inspires in us bitterness and pain1 satiety and home-sickness together1 and forces us to sip again and again as at a sweetened draught of poison4 ,the hall of gay1 noisy merriment then seems to grow narrow1 the light to lose its brightness and become browner4 ,at last we feel as if this music were penetrating to a prison where a poor wretch cannot sleep for home-sickness4 #aee4 ,,franz ,,schubert4--,franz ,schubert1 inferior as an artist to the other great musicians1 had nevertheless the largest share of inherited musical wealth4 ,he spent it with a free hand and a kind heart1 so that for a few centuries musicians will continue to nibble at his ideas and inspirations4 ,in his works we find a store of unused inventions2 the greatness of others will lie in making use of those inventions4 ,if ,beethoven may be called the ideal listener for a troubadour1 ,schubert has a right to be called the ideal troubadour4 #aef4 ,,modern ,,musical ,,execution4--,great tragic or dramatic execution of music acquires its character by imitating the gesture of the great sinner1 such as ,christianity conceives and desires him3 the slow-stepping1 passionately brooding man1 distracted by the agonies of conscience1 now flying in terror1 now clutching with delight1 now standing still in despair--and all the other marks of great sinfulness4 ,only on the ,christian assumption that all men are great sinners and do nothing but sin could we justify the application of this style of execution to all music4 ,so far1 music would be the reflection of all the actions and impulses of man1 and would continually have to express by gestures the language of the great sinner4 ,at such a performance1 a listener who was not enough of a ,christian to understand this logic might indeed cry out in horror1 8,for the love of ,heaven1 how did sin find its way into music80 #aeg4 ,,felix ,,mendelssohn4--,felix ,mendelssohn's music is the music of the good taste that enjoys all the good things that have ever existed4 ,it always points behind4 ,how could it have much 8in front10 much of a future8--,but did he want it to have a future8 ,he possessed a virtue rare among artists1 that of gratitude without arrire-pense4 ,this virtue1 too1 always points behind4 #aeh4 ,a ,,mother ,,of ,,arts4--,in our sceptical age1 real devotion requires almost a brutal heroism of ambition4 ,fanatical shutting of the eyes and bending of the knee no longer suffice4 ,would it not be possible for ambition--in its eagerness to be the last devotee of all the ages--to become the begetter of a final church music1 as it has been the begetter of the final church architecture8 7,they call it the ,jesuit style47 #aei4 ,,freedom ,,in ,,fetters--,a ,,princely ,,freedom4--,chopin1 the last of the modern musicians1 who gazed at and worshipped beauty1 like ,leopardi2 ,chopin1 the ,pole1 the inimitable 7none that came before or after him has a right to this name7--,chopin had the same princely punctilio in convention that ,raphael shows in the use of the simplest traditional colours4 ,the only difference is that ,chopin applies them not to colour but to melodic and rhythmic traditions4 ,he admitted the validity of these traditions because he was born under the sway of etiquette4 ,but in these fetters he plays and dances as the freest and daintiest of spirits1 and1 be it observed1 he does not spurn the chain4 #afj4 ,,chopin',s ,,barcarolle4--,almost all states and modes of life have a moment of rapture1 and good artists know how to discover that moment4 ,such a moment there is even in life by the seashore--that dreary1 sordid1 unhealthy existence1 dragged out in the neighbourhood of a noisy and covetous rabble4 ,this moment of rapture ,chopin in his ,barcarolle expressed in sound so supremely that ,gods themselves1 when they heard it1 might yearn to lie long summer evenings in a boat4 #afa4 ,,robert ,,schumann4--8,the ,stripling10 as the romantic songsters of ,germany and ,france of the first three decades of this century imagined him--this stripling was completely translated into song and melody by ,robert ,schumann1 the eternal youth1 so long as he felt himself in full possession of his powers4 ,there are indeed moments when his music reminds one of the eternal 8old maid40 #afb4 ,,dramatic ,,singers4--8,why does this beggar sing80 8,probably he does not know how to wail40 8,then he does right40 ,but our dramatic singers1 who wail because they do not know how to sing--are they also in the right8 #afc4 ,,dramatic ,,music4--,for him who does not see what is happening on the stage1 dramatic music is a monstrosity1 just as the running commentary to a lost text is a monstrosity4 ,such music requires us to have ears where our eyes are4 ,this1 however1 is doing violence to ,euterpe1 who1 poor ,muse1 wants to have her eyes and ears where the other ,muses have theirs4 #afd4 ,,victory ,,and ,,reasonableness4--,unfortunately in the sthetic wars1 which artists provoke by their works and apologias for their works1 just as is the case in real war1 it is might and not reason that decides4 ,all the world now assumes as a historical fact that1 in his dispute with ,piccini1 ,gluck was in the right4 ,at any rate1 he was victorious1 and had might on his side4 #afe4 ,,of ,,the ,,principle ,,of ,,musical ,,execution4--,do the modern musical performers really believe that the supreme law of their art is to give every piece as much high-relief as is possible1 and to make it speak at all costs a dramatic language8 ,is not this principle1 when applied for example to ,mozart1 a veritable sin against the spirit--the gay1 sunny1 airy1 delicate spirit--of ,mozart1 whose seriousness was of a kindly and not awe-inspiring order1 whose pictures do not try to leap from the wall and drive away the beholder in panic8 ,or do you think that all ,mozart's music is identical with the statue-music in ,don ,juan8 ,and not only ,mozart's1 but all music8--,you reply that the advantage of your principle lies in its greater effect4 ,you would be right if there did not remain the counter-question1 8,on whom has the effect operated1 and on whom should an artist of the first rank desire to produce his effect80 ,never on the populace6 ,never on the immature6 ,never on the morbidly sensitive6 ,never on the diseased6 ,and above all--never on the blas6 #aff4 ,,the ,,music ,,of ,,to-,,day4--,this ultra-modern music1 with its strong lungs and weak nerves1 is frightened above all things of itself4 #afg4 ,,where ,,music ,,is ,,at ,,home4--,music reaches its high-water mark only among men who have not the ability or the right to argue4 ,accordingly1 its chief promoters are princes1 whose aim is that there should be not much criticism nor even much thought in their neighbourhood4 ,next come societies which1 under some pressure or other 7political or religious71 are forced to become habituated to silence1 and so feel all the greater need of spells to charm away emotional ennui--these spells being generally eternal love-making and eternal music4 ,thirdly1 we must reckon whole nations in which there is no 8society10 but all the greater number of individuals with a bent towards solitude1 mystical thinking1 and a reverence for all that is inexpressible2 these are the genuine 8musical souls40 ,the ,greeks1 as a nation delighting in talking and argument1 accordingly put up with music only as an hors d'uvre to those arts which really admit of discussion and dispute4 ,about music one can hardly even think clearly4 ,the ,pythagoreans1 who in so many respects were exceptional ,greeks1 are said to have been great musicians4 ,this was the school that invented a five-years' silence17#bc7 but did not invent a dialectic4 #afh4 ,,sentimentality ,,in ,,music4--,we may be ever so much in sympathy with serious and profound music1 yet nevertheless1 or perhaps all the more for that reason1 we shall at occasional moments be overpowered1 entranced1 and almost melted away by its opposite--,i mean1 by those simple ,italian operatic airs which1 in spite of all their monotony of rhythm and childishness of harmony1 seem at times to sing to us like the very soul of music4 ,admit this or not as you please1 you ,pharisees of good taste1 it is so1 and it is my present task to propound the riddle that it is so1 and to nibble a little myself at the solution4--,in childhood's days we tasted the honey of many things for the first time4 ,never was honey so good as then2 it seduced us to life1 into abundant life1 in the guise of the first spring1 the first flower1 the first butterfly1 the first friendship4 ,then--perhaps in our ninth year or so--we heard our first music1 and this was the first that we understood2 thus the simplest and most childish tunes1 that were not much more than a sequel to the nurse's lullaby and the strolling fiddler's tune1 were our first experience4 7,for even the most trifling 8revelations0 of art need preparation and study2 there is no 8immediate0 effect of art1 whatever charming fables the philosophers may tell47 ,our sensation on hearing these ,italian airs is associated with those first musical raptures1 the strongest of our lives4 ,the bliss of childhood and its flight1 the feeling that our most precious possession can never be brought back1 all this moves the chords of the soul more strongly than the most serious and profound music can move them4--,this mingling of sthetic pleasure with moral pain1 which nowadays it is customary to call 7rather too haughtily1 ,i think7 8sentimentality0--it is the mood of ,faust at the end of the first scene--this 8sentimentality0 of the listener is all to the advantage of ,italian music4 ,it is a feeling which the experienced connoisseurs in art1 the pure 8sthetes10 like to ignore4--,moreover1 almost all music has a magical effect only when we hear it speak the language of our own past4 ,accordingly1 it seems to the layman that all the old music is continually growing better1 and that all the latest is of little value4 ,for the latter arouses no 8sentimentality10 that most essential element of happiness1 as aforesaid1 for every man who cannot approach this art with pure sthetic enjoyment4 #afi4 ,,as ,,friends ,,of ,,music4--,ultimately we are and remain good friends with music1 as we are with the light of the moon4 ,neither1 after all1 tries to supplant the sun3 they only want to illumine our nights to the best of their powers4 ,yet we may jest and laugh at them1 may we not8 ,just a little1 at least1 and from time to time8 ,at the man in the moon1 at the woman in the music8 #agj4 ,,art ,,in ,,an ,,age ,,of ,,work4--,we have the conscience of an industrious epoch4 ,this debars us from devoting our best hours and the best part of our days to art1 even though that art be the greatest and worthiest4 ,art is for us a matter of leisure1 of recreation1 and we consecrate to it the residue of our time and strength4 ,this is the cardinal fact that has altered the relation of art to life4 ,when art makes its great demands of time and strength upon its recipients1 it has to battle against the conscience of the industrious and efficient1 it is relegated to the idle and conscienceless1 who1 by their very nature1 are not exactly suited to great art1 and consider its claims arrogant4 ,it might1 therefore1 be all over with art1 since it lacks air and the power to breathe4 ,but perhaps the great art attempts1 by a sort of coarsening and disguising1 to make itself at home in that other atmosphere1 or at least to put up with it--an atmosphere which is really a natural element only for petty art1 the art of recreation1 of pleasant distraction4 ,this happens nowadays almost everywhere4 ,even the exponents of great art promise recreation and distraction2 even they address themselves to the exhausted2 even they demand from him the evening hours of his working-day--just like the artists of the entertaining school1 who are content to smooth the furrowed brow and brighten the lack-lustre eye4 ,what1 then1 are the devices of their mightier brethren8 ,these have in their medicine-chests the most powerful excitants1 which might give a shock even to a man half-dead3 they can deafen you1 intoxicate you1 make you shudder1 or bring tears to your eyes4 ,by this means they overpower the exhausted man and stimulate him for one night to an over-lively condition1 to an ecstasy of terror and delight4 ,this great art1 as it now lives in opera1 tragedy1 and music--have we a right to be angry with it1 because of its perilous fascination1 as we should be angry with a cunning courtesan8 ,certainly not4 ,it would far rather live in the pure element of morning calm1 and would far rather make its appeal to the fresh1 expectant1 vigorous morning-soul of the beholder or listener4 ,let us be thankful that it prefers living thus to vanishing altogether4 ,but let us also confess that an era that once more introduces free and complete high-days and holidays into life will have no use for our great art4 #aga4 ,,the ,,employees ,,of ,,science ,,and ,,the ,,others4--,really efficient and successful men of science might be collectively called 8,the ,employees40 ,if in youth their acumen is sufficiently practised1 their memory is full1 and hand and eye have acquired sureness1 they are appointed by an older fellow-craftsman to a scientific position where their qualities may prove useful4 ,later on1 when they have themselves gained an eye for the gaps and defects in their science1 they place themselves in whatever position they are needed4 ,these persons all exist for the sake of science4 ,but there are rarer spirits1 spirits that seldom succeed or fully mature--8for whose sake science exists0--at least1 in their view4 ,they are often unpleasant1 conceited1 or cross-grained men1 but almost always prodigies to a certain extent4 ,they are neither employees nor employers2 they make use of what those others have worked out and established1 with a certain princely carelessness and with little and rare praise--just as if the others belonged to a lower order of beings4 ,yet they possess the same qualities as their fellow-workers1 and that sometimes in a less developed form4 ,moreover1 they have a peculiar limitation1 from which the others are free2 this makes it impossible to put them into a place and to see in them useful tools4 ,they can only live in their own air and on their own soil4 ,this limitation suggests to them what elements of a science 8are theirs0--in other words1 what they can carry home into their house and atmosphere3 they think that they are always collecting their scattered 8property40 ,if they are prevented from building at their own nest1 they perish like shelterless birds4 ,the loss of freedom causes them to wilt away4 ,if they show1 like their colleagues1 a fondness for certain regions of science1 it is always only regions where the fruits and seeds necessary to them can thrive4 ,what do they care whether science1 taken as a whole1 has untilled or badly tilled regions8 ,they lack all impersonal interest in a scientific problem4 ,as they are themselves personal through and through1 all their knowledge and ideas are remoulded into a person1 into a living complexity1 with its parts interdependent1 overlapping1 jointly nurtured1 and with a peculiar atmosphere and scent as a whole4--,such natures1 with their system of personal knowledge1 produce the illusion that a science 7or even the whole of philosophy7 is finished and has reached its goal4 ,the life in their system works this magic1 which at times has been fatal to science and deceptive to the really efficient workers above described1 and at other times1 when drought and exhaustion prevailed1 has acted as a kind of restorative1 as if it were the air of a cool1 refreshing resting-place4--,these men are usually called philosophers4 #agb4 ,,recognition ,,of ,,talent4--,as ,i went through the village of ,s41 a boy began to crack his whip with all his might--he had made great progress in this art1 and he knew it4 ,i threw him a look of recognition--in reality it hurt me cruelly4 ,we do the same in our recognition of many of the talents4 ,we do good to them when they hurt us4 #agc4 ,,laughing ,,and ,,smiling4--,the more joyful and assured the mind becomes1 the more man loses the habit of loud laughter4 ,in compensation1 there is an intellectual smile continually bubbling up in him1 a sign of his astonishment at the innumerable concealed delights of a good existence4 #agd4 ,,the ,,talk ,,of ,,invalids4--,just as in spiritual grief we tear our hair1 strike our foreheads1 lacerate our cheeks or even 7like dipus7 gouge our eyes out1 so against violent physical pain we call to our aid a bitter1 violent emotion1 through the recollection of slanderous and malignant people1 through the denigration of our future1 through the sword-pricks and acts of malice which we mentally direct against the absent4 ,and at times it is true that one devil drives out another--but then we have the other4--,hence a different sort of talk1 tending to alleviate pain1 should be recommended invalids3 reflections upon the kindnesses and courtesies that can be performed towards friend and foe4 #age4 ,,mediocrity ,,as ,a ,,mask4--,mediocrity is the happiest mask which the superior mind can wear1 because it does not lead the great majority--that is1 the mediocre--to think that there is any disguise4 ,yet the superior mind assumes the mask just for their sake--so as not to irritate them1 nay1 often from a feeling of pity and kindness4 #agf4 ,,the ,,patient4--,the pine tree seems to listen1 the fir tree to wait1 and both without impatience4 ,they do not give a thought to the petty human being below who is consumed by his impatience and his curiosity4 #agg4 ,,the ,,best ,,joker4--,my favourite joke is the one that takes the place of a heavy and rather hesitating idea1 and that at once beckons with its finger and winks its eye4 #agh4 ,,the ,,accessaries ,,of ,,all ,,reverence4--,wherever the past is revered1 the over-cleanly and over-tidy people should not be admitted4 ,piety does not feel content without a little dust1 dirt1 and dross4 #agi4 ,,the ,,great ,,danger ,,of ,,savants4--,it is just the most thorough and profound savants who are in peril of seeing their life's goal set ever lower and lower1 and1 with a feeling of this in their minds1 to become ever more discouraged and more unendurable in the latter half of their lives4 ,at first they plunge into their science with spacious hopes and set themselves daring tasks1 the ends of which are already anticipated by their imaginations4 ,then there are moments as in the lives of the great maritime discoverers--knowledge1 presentiment1 and power raise each other higher and higher1 until a new shore first dawns upon the eye in the far distance4 ,but now the stern man recognises more and more how important it is that the individual task of the inquirer should be limited as far as possible1 so that it may be entirely accomplished and the intolerable waste of force from which earlier periods of science suffered may be avoided4 ,in those days everything was done ten times over1 and then the eleventh always had the last and best word4 ,yet the more the savant learns and practises this art of solving riddles in their entirety1 the more pleasure he finds in so doing4 ,but at the same time his demands upon what is here called 8entirety0 grow more exacting4 ,he sets aside everything that must remain in this sense incomplete1 he acquires a disgust and an acute scent for the half-soluble--for all that can only give a kind of certainty in a general and indefinite form4 ,his youthful plans crumble away before his eyes4 ,there remains scarcely anything but a few little knots1 in untying which the master now takes his pleasure and shows his strength4 ,then1 in the midst of all this useful1 restless activity1 he1 now grown old1 is suddenly then often overcome by a deep misgiving1 a sort of torment of conscience4 ,he looks upon himself as one changed1 as if he were diminished1 humbled1 transformed into a dexterous dwarf2 he grows anxious as to whether mastery in small matters be not a convenience1 an escape from the summons to greatness in life and form4 ,but he cannot pass beyond any longer--the time for that has gone by4 #ahj4 ,,teachers ,,in ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,books4--,now that self-education and mutual education are becoming more widespread1 the teacher in his usual form must become almost unnecessary4 ,friends eager to learn1 who wish to master some branch of knowledge together1 find in our age of books a shorter and more natural way than 8school0 and 8teachers40 #aha4 ,,vanity ,,as ,,the ,,greatest ,,utility4--,originally the strong individual uses not only ,nature but even societies and weaker individuals as objects of rapine4 ,he exploits them1 so far as he can1 and then passes on4 ,as he lives from hand to mouth1 alternating between hunger and superfluity1 he kills more animals than he can eat1 and robs and maltreats men more than is necessary4 ,his manifestation of power is at the same time one of revenge against his cramped and worried existence4 ,furthermore1 he wishes to be held more powerful than he is1 and thus misuses opportunities2 the accretion of fear that he begets being an accretion of power4 ,he soon observes that he stands or falls not by what he is but by what he is thought to be4 ,herein lies the origin of vanity4 ,the man of power seeks by every means to increase others' faith in his power4--,the thralls who tremble before him and serve him know1 for their part1 that they are worth just so much as they appear to him to be worth1 and so they work with an eye to this valuation rather than to their own self-satisfaction4 ,we know vanity only in its most weakened forms1 in its idealisations and its small doses1 because we live in a late and very emasculated state of society4 ,originally vanity is the great utility1 the strongest means of preservation4 ,and indeed vanity will be greater1 the cleverer the individual1 because an increase in the belief in power is easier than an increase in the power itself1 but only for him who has intellect or 7as must be the case under primitive conditions7 who is cunning and crafty4 #ahb4 ,,weather-,,signs ,,of ,,culture4--,there are so few decisive weather-signs of culture that we must be glad to have at least one unfailing sign at hand for use in house and garden4 ,to test whether a man belongs to us 7,i mean to the free spirits7 or not1 we must test his sentiments regarding ,christianity4 ,if he looks upon ,christianity with other than a critical eye1 we turn our backs to him1 for he brings us impure air and bad weather4--,it is no longer our task to teach such men what a sirocco wind is4 ,they have ,moses and the prophets of weather and of enlightenment47#bd7 ,if they will not listen to these1 then---- #ahc4 ,,there ,,is ,a ,,proper ,,time ,,for ,,wrath ,,and ,,punishment4--,wrath and punishment are our inheritance from the animals4 ,man does not become of age until he has restored to the animals this gift of the cradle4--,herein lies buried one of the mightiest ideas that men can have1 the idea of a progress of all progresses4--,let us go forward together a few millenniums1 my friends6 ,there is still reserved for mankind a great deal of joy1 the very scent of which has not yet been wafted to the men of our day6 ,indeed1 we may promise ourselves this joy1 nay summon and conjure it up as a necessary thing1 so long as the development of human reason does not stand still4 ,some day we shall no longer be reconciled to the logical sin that lurks in all wrath and punishment1 whether exercised by the individual or by society--some day1 when head and heart have learnt to live as near together as they now are far apart4 ,that they no longer stand so far apart as they did originally is fairly palpable from a glance at the whole course of humanity4 ,the individual who can review a life of introspective work will become conscious of the rapprochement arrived at1 with a proud delight at the distance he has bridged1 in order that he may thereupon venture upon more ample hopes4 #ahd4 ,,origin ,,of ,,pessimists4--,a snack of good food often decides whether we are to look to the future with hollow eye or in hopeful mood4 ,the same influence extends to the very highest and most intellectual states4 ,discontent and reviling of the world are for the present generation an inheritance from starveling ancestors4 ,even in our artists and poets we often notice that1 however exuberant their life1 they are not of good birth1 and have often1 from oppressed and ill-nourished ancestors1 inherited in their blood and brain much that comes out as the subject and even the conscious colouring of their work4 ,the culture of the ,greeks is a culture of men of wealth1 in fact1 inherited wealth4 ,for a few centuries they lived better than we do 7better in every sense1 in particular far more simply in food and drink74 ,then the brain finally became so well-stored and subtle1 and the blood flowed so quickly1 like a joyous1 clear wine1 that the best in them came to light no longer as gloomy1 distorted1 and violent1 but full of beauty and sunshine4 #ahe4 ,,of ,,reasonable ,,death4--,which is more reasonable1 to stop the machine when the works have done the task demanded of them1 or to let it run on until it stands still of its own accord--in other words1 is destroyed8 ,is not the latter a waste of the cost of upkeep1 a misuse of the strength and care of those who serve8 ,are men not here throwing away that which would be sorely needed elsewhere8 ,is not a kind of contempt of the machines propagated1 in that many of them are so uselessly tended and kept up8--,i am speaking of involuntary 7natural7 and voluntary 7reasonable7 death4 ,natural death is independent of all reason and is really an irrational death1 in which the pitiable substance of the shell determines how long the kernel is to exist or not2 in which1 accordingly1 the stunted1 diseased and dull-witted jailer is lord1 and indicates the moment at which his distinguished prisoner shall die4 ,natural death is the suicide of nature--in other words1 the annihilation of the most rational being through the most irrational element that is attached thereto4 ,only through religious illumination can the reverse appear2 for then1 as is equitable1 the higher reason 7,god7 issues its orders1 which the lower reason has to obey4 ,outside religious thought natural death is not worth glorifying4 ,the wise dispensation and disposal of death belongs to that now quite incomprehensible and immoral-sounding morality of the future1 the dawn of which it will be an ineffable delight to behold4 #ahf4 ,,retrograde ,,influences4--,all criminals force society back to earlier stages of culture than that in which they are placed for the time being4 ,their influence is retrograde4 ,let us consider the tools that society must forge and maintain for its defence3 the cunning detectives1 the jailers1 the hangmen4 ,nor should we forget the public counsel for prosecution and defence4 ,finally we may ask ourselves whether the judge himself and punishment and the whole legal procedure are not oppressive rather than elevating in their reaction upon all who are not law-breakers4 ,for we shall never succeed in arraying self-defence and revenge in the garb of innocence1 and so long as men are used and sacrificed as a means to the end of society1 all loftier humanity will deplore this necessity4 #ahg4 ,,war ,,as ,a ,,remedy4--,for nations that are growing weak and contemptible war may be prescribed as a remedy1 if indeed they really want to go on living4 ,national consumption as well as individual admits of a brutal cure4 ,the eternal will to live and inability to die is1 however1 in itself already a sign of senility of emotion4 ,the more fully and thoroughly we live1 the more ready we are to sacrifice life for a single pleasurable emotion4 ,a people that lives and feels in this wise has no need of war4 #ahh4 ,,intellectual ,,and ,,physical ,,transplantation ,,as ,,remedies4--,the different cultures are so many intellectual climates1 every one of which is peculiarly harmful or beneficial to this or that organism4 ,history as a whole1 as the knowledge of different cultures1 is the science of remedies1 but not the science of the healing art itself4 ,we still need a physician who can make use of these remedies1 in order to send every one--temporarily or permanently--to the climate that just suits him4 ,to live in the present1 within the limits of a single culture1 is insufficient as a universal remedy3 too many highly useful kinds of men1 who cannot breathe freely in this atmosphere1 would perish4 ,with the aid of history we must give them air and try to preserve them3 even men of lower cultures have their value4--,add to this cure of intellects that humanity1 on considerations of bodily health1 must strive to discover by means of a medical geography what kinds of degeneration and disease are caused by each region of the earth1 and conversely1 what ingredients of health the earth affords3 and then1 gradually1 nations1 families1 and individuals must be transplanted long and permanently enough for them to become masters of their inherited physical infirmities4 ,the whole world will finally be a series of sanatoria4 #ahi4 ,,reason ,,and ,,the ,,tree ,,of ,,mankind4--,what you all fear in your senile short-sightedness1 regarding the over-population of the world1 gives the more hopeful a mighty task4 ,man is some day to become a tree overshadowing the whole earth1 with millions upon millions of buds that shall all grow to fruits side by side1 and the earth itself shall be prepared for the nourishment of this tree4 ,that the shoot1 tiny as yet1 may increase in sap and strength2 that the sap may flow in countless channels for the nutrition of the whole and the parts--from these and similar tasks we must derive our standard for measuring whether a man of to-day is useful or worthless4 ,the task is unspeakably great and adventurous3 let us all contribute our share to prevent the tree from rotting before its time6 ,the historically trained mind will no doubt succeed in calling up the human activities of all the ages before its eyes1 as the community of ants with its cunningly wrought mounds stands before our eyes4 ,superficially judged1 mankind as a whole1 like ant-kind1 might admit of our speaking of 8instinct40 ,on a closer examination we observe how whole nations1 nay whole centuries1 take pains to discover and test new means of benefiting the great mass of humanity1 and thus finally the great common fruit-tree of the world4 ,whatever injury the individual nations or periods may suffer in this testing process1 they have each become wise through this injury1 and from them the tide of wisdom slowly pours over the principles of whole races and whole epochs4 ,ants too go astray and make blunders4 ,through the folly of its remedies1 mankind may well go to rack and ruin before the proper time4 ,there is no sure guiding instinct for the former or the latter4 ,rather must we boldly face the great task of preparing the earth for a plant of the most ample and joyous fruitfulness--a task set by reason to reason6 #aij4 ,,the ,,praise ,,of ,,disinterestedness ,,and ,,its ,,origin4--,between two neighbouring chieftains there was a long-standing quarrel3 they laid waste each other's territories1 stole cattle1 and burnt down houses1 with an indecisive result on the whole1 because their power was fairly equal4 ,a third1 who from the distant situation of his property was able to keep aloof from these feuds1 yet had reason to dread the day when one of the two neighbours should gain a decisive preponderance1 at last intervened between the combatants with ceremonial goodwill4 ,secretly he lent a heavy weight to his peace proposal by giving either to understand that he would henceforth join forces with the other against the one who strove to break the peace4 ,they met in his presence1 they hesitatingly placed into his hand the hands that had hitherto been the tools and only too often the causes of hatred--and then they really and seriously tried to keep the peace4 ,either saw with astonishment how suddenly his prosperity and his comfort increased2 how he now had as neighbour a dealer ready to buy and sell instead of a treacherous or openly scornful evil-doer2 how even1 in unforeseen troubles1 they could reciprocally save each other from distress1 instead of1 as before1 making capital out of this distress of his neighbour and enhancing it to the highest degree4 ,it even seemed as if the human type had improved in both countries1 for the eyes had become brighter1 the forehead had lost its wrinkles2 all now felt confidence in the future--and nothing is more advantageous for the souls and bodies of men than this confidence4 ,they saw each other every year on the anniversary of the alliance1 the chieftains as well as their retinue1 and indeed before the eyes of the mediator1 whose mode of action they admired and revered more and more1 the greater the profit that they owed to him became4 ,then his mode of action was called disinterested4 ,they had looked far too fixedly at the profit they had reaped themselves hitherto to see anything more of their neighbour's method of dealing than that his condition in consequence of this had not altered so much as their own2 he had rather remained the same3 and thus it appeared that the former had not had his profit in view4 ,for the first time people said to themselves that disinterestedness was a virtue4 ,it is true that in minor private matters similar circumstances had arisen1 but men only had eyes for this virtue when it was depicted on the walls in a large script that was legible to the whole community4 ,moral qualities are not recognised as virtues1 endowed with names1 held in esteem1 and recommended as worthy of acquisition until the moment when they have visibly decided the happiness and destiny of whole societies4 ,for then the loftiness of sentiment and the excitation of the inner creative forces is in many so great1 that offerings are brought to this quality1 offerings from the best of what each possesses4 ,at its feet the serious man lays his seriousness1 the dignified man his dignity1 women their gentleness1 the young all the wealth of hope and futurity that in them lies2 the poet lends it words and names1 sets it marching in the procession of similar beings1 gives it a pedigree1 and finally1 as is the way of artists1 adores the picture of his fancy as a new godhead--he even teaches others to adore4 ,thus in the end1 with the co-operation of universal love and gratitude1 a virtue becomes1 like a statue1 a repository of all that is good and honourable1 a sort of temple and divine personage combined4 ,it appears thenceforward as an individual virtue1 as an absolute entity1 which it was not before1 and exercises the power and privileges of a sanctified super-humanity4--,in the later days of ,greece the cities were full of such deified human abstractions 7if one may so call them74 ,the nation1 in its own fashion1 had set up a ,platonic 8,heaven of ,ideas0 on earth1 and ,i do not think that its inhabitants were felt to be less alive than any of the old ,homeric divinities4 #aia4 ,,days ,,of ,,darkness4--8,days of ,darkness0 is the name given in ,norway to the period when the sun remains below the horizon the whole day long4 ,the temperature then falls slowly but continually4--,a fine simile for all thinkers for whom the sun of the human future is temporarily eclipsed4 #aib4 ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,luxury4--,a garden1 figs1 a little cheese1 and three or four good friends--that was the luxury of ,epicurus4 #aic4 ,,the ,,epochs ,,of ,,life4--,the real epochs of life are those brief periods of cessation midway between the rise and decline of a dominating idea or emotion4 ,here once again there is satisfaction3 all the rest is hunger and thirst--or satiety4 #aid4 ,,dreams4--,our dreams1 if for once in a way they succeed and are complete--generally a dream is a bungled piece of work--are symbolic concatenations of scenes and images in place of a narrative poetical language4 ,they paraphrase our experiences or expectations or relations with poetic boldness and definiteness1 so that in the morning we are always astonished at ourselves when we remember the nature of our dream4 ,in dreams we use up too much artistry--and hence are often too poor in artistry in the daytime4 #aie4 ,,nature ,,and ,,science4--,as in nature1 so in science the worse and less fertile soils are first cultivated--because the means that science in its early stages has at command are fairly sufficient for this purpose4 ,the working of the most fertile soils requires an enormous1 carefully developed1 persevering method1 tangible individual results1 and an organised body of well-trained workers4 ,all these are found together only at a late stage4--,impatience and ambition often grasp too early at these most fertile soils1 but the results are then from the first null and void4 ,in nature such losses would usually be avenged by the starvation of the settlers4 #aif4 ,,the ,,simple ,,life4--,a simple mode of life is nowadays difficult1 requiring as it does far more reflection and gift for invention than even very clever people possess4 ,the most honourable will perhaps still say1 8,i have not the time for such lengthy reflection4 ,the simple life is for me too lofty a goal3 ,i will wait till those wiser than ,i have discovered it40 #aig4 ,,peaks ,,and ,,needle-,,points4--,the poor fertility1 the frequent celibacy1 and in general the sexual coldness of the highest and most cultivated spirits1 as that of the classes to which they belong1 is essential in human economy4 ,intelligence recognises and makes use of the fact that at an acme of intellectual development the danger of a neurotic offspring is very great4 ,such men are the peaks of mankind--they ought no longer to run out into needle-points4 #aih4 ,,natura ,,non ,,facit ,,saltum4--,however strongly man may develop upwards and seem to leap from one contradiction to another1 a close observation will reveal the dovetails where the new building grows out of the old4 ,this is the biographer's task3 he must reflect upon his subject on the principle that nature takes no jumps4 #aii4 ,,clean1 ,,but--,he who clothes himself with rags washed clean dresses cleanly1 to be sure1 but is still ragged4 #bjj4 ,,the ,,solitary ,,speaks4--,in compensation for much disgust1 disheartenment1 boredom--such as a lonely life without friends1 books1 duties1 and passions must involve--we enjoy those short spans of deep communion with ourselves and with ,nature4 ,he who fortifies himself completely against boredom fortifies himself against himself too4 ,he will never drink the most powerful elixir from his own innermost spring4 #bja4 ,,false ,,renown4--,i hate those so-called natural beauties which really have significance only through science1 especially geographical science1 but are insignificant in an sthetic sense3 for example1 the view of ,mont ,blanc from ,geneva4 ,this is an insignificant thing without the auxiliary mental joy of science3 the nearer mountains are all more beautiful and fuller of expression1 but 8not nearly so high10 adds that absurd depreciatory science4 ,the eye here contradicts science3 how can it truly rejoice in the contradiction8 #bjb4 ,,those ,,that ,,travel ,,for ,,pleasure4--,like animals1 stupid and perspiring1 they climb mountains3 people forgot to tell them that there were fine views on the way4 #bjc4 ,,too ,,much ,,and ,,too ,,little4--,men nowadays live too much and think too little4 ,they have hunger and dyspepsia together1 and become thinner and thinner1 however much they eat4 ,he who now says 8,nothing has happened to me0 is a blockhead4 #bjd4 ,,end ,,and ,,goal4--,not every end is the goal4 ,the end of a melody is not its goal1 and yet if a melody has not reached its end1 it has also not reached its goal4 ,a parable4 #bje4 ,,neutrality ,,of ,,nature ,,on ,a ,,grand ,,scale4--,the neutrality of ,nature on a grand scale 7in mountain1 sea1 forest1 and desert7 is pleasing1 but only for a brief space4 ,afterwards we become impatient4 8,have they all nothing to say to us8 ,do we not exist so far as they are concerned80 ,there arises a feeling that a lse-majest is committed against humanity4 #bjf4 ,,forgetting ,,our ,,purpose4--,in a journey we commonly forget its goal4 ,almost every vocation is chosen and entered upon as means to an end1 but is continued as the ultimate end4 ,forgetting our purpose is the most frequent form of folly4 #bjg4 ,,solar ,,orbit ,,of ,,an ,,idea4--,when an idea is just rising on the horizon1 the soul's temperature is usually very low4 ,gradually the idea develops in warmth1 and is hottest 7that is to say1 exerts its greatest influence7 when belief in the idea is already on the wane4 #bjh4 ,,how ,,to ,,have ,,every ,,man ,,against ,,you4--,if some one now dared to say1 8,he that is not for me is against me10 he would at once have all against him4--,this sentiment does credit to our era4 #bji4 ,,being ,,ashamed ,,of ,,wealth4--,our age endures only a single species of rich men--those who are ashamed of their wealth4 ,if we hear it said of any one that he is very rich1 we at once feel a similar sentiment to that experienced at the sight of a repulsively swollen invalid1 one suffering from diabetes or dropsy4 ,we must with an effort remember our humanity1 in order to go about with this rich man in such a way that he does not notice our feeling of disgust4 ,but as soon as he prides himself at all on his wealth1 our feelings are mingled with an almost compassionate surprise at such a high degree of human unreason4 ,we would fain raise our hands to heaven and cry1 8,poor deformed and overburdened creature1 fettered a hundredfold1 to whom every hour brings or may bring something unpleasant1 in whose frame twitches every event that occurs in scores of countries1 how can you make us believe that you feel at ease in your position8 ,if you appear anywhere in public1 we know that it is a sort of running the gauntlet amid countless glances that have for you only cold hate or importunity or silent scorn4 ,you may earn more easily than others1 but it is only a superfluous earning1 which brings little joy1 and the guarding of what you have earned is now1 at any rate1 a more troublesome business than any toilsome process of earning4 ,you are continually suffering1 because you are continually losing4 ,what avails it you that they are always injecting you with fresh artificial blood8 ,that does not relieve the pain of those cupping-glasses that are fixed1 for ever fixed1 on your neck6--,but1 to be quite fair to you1 it is difficult or perhaps impossible for you not to be rich4 ,you must guard1 you must earn more2 the inherited bent of your character is the yoke fastened upon you4 ,but do not on that account deceive us--be honestly and visibly ashamed of the yoke you wear1 as in your soul you are weary and unwilling to wear it4 ,this shame is no disgrace40 #baj4 ,,extravagant ,,presumptions4--,there are men so presumptuous that they can only praise a greatness which they publicly admire by representing it as steps and bridges that lead to themselves4 #baa4 ,,on ,,the ,,soil ,,of ,,insult4--,he who wishes to deprive men of a conception is generally not satisfied with refuting it and drawing out of it the illogical worm that resides within4 ,rather1 when the worm has been killed1 does he throw the whole fruit as well into the mire1 in order to make it ignoble in men's sight and to inspire disgust4 ,thus he thinks that he has found a means of making the usual 8third-day resurrection0 of conceptions an impossibility4--,he is wrong1 for on the very soil of insult1 in the midst of the filth1 the kernel of the conception soon produces new seeds4--,the right thing then1 is not to scorn and bespatter what one wishes finally to remove1 but to lay it tenderly on ice again and again1 having regard to the fact that conceptions are very tenacious of life4 ,here we must act according to the maxim3 8,one refutation is no refutation40 #bab4 ,,the ,,lot ,,of ,,morality4--,since spiritual bondage is being relaxed1 morality 7the inherited1 traditional1 instinctive mode of action in accordance with moral sentiments7 is surely also on the decline4 ,this1 however1 is not the case with the individual virtues1 moderation1 justice1 repose2 for the greatest freedom of the conscious intellect leads at some time1 even unconsciously1 back to these virtues1 and then enjoins their practice as expedient4 #bac4 ,,the ,,fanatic ,,of ,,distrust ,,and ,,his ,,surety4--,the ,elder3 ,you wish to make the tremendous venture and instruct mankind in the great things8 ,what is your surety8 ,pyrrho3 ,it is this3 ,i intend to warn men against myself2 ,i intend to confess all the defects of my character quite openly1 and reveal to the world my hasty conclusions1 my contradictions1 and my foolish blunders4 8,do not listen to me10 ,i will say to them1 8until ,i have become equal to the meanest among you1 nay am even less than he4 ,struggle against truth as long as you can1 from your disgust with her advocate4 ,i shall be your seducer and betrayer if you find in me the slightest glimmering of respectability and dignity40 ,the ,elder3 ,you promise too much2 you cannot bear this burden4 ,pyrrho3 ,then ,i will tell men even that1 and say that ,i am too weak1 and cannot keep my promise4 ,the greater my unworthiness1 the more will they mistrust the truth1 when it passes through my lips4 ,the ,elder3 ,you propose to teach distrust of truth8 ,pyrrho3 ,yes2 distrust as it never was yet on earth1 distrust of anything and everything4 ,this is the only road to truth4 ,the right eye must not trust the left eye1 and for some time light must be called darkness3 this is the path that you must tread4 ,do not imagine that it will lead you to fruit trees and fair pastures4 ,you will find on this road little hard grains--these are truths4 ,for years and years you will have to swallow handfuls of lies1 so as not to die of hunger1 although you know that they are lies4 ,but those grains will be sown and planted1 and perhaps1 perhaps some day will come the harvest4 ,no one may promise that day1 unless he be a fanatic4 ,the ,elder3 ,friend1 friend6 ,your words too are those of a fanatic6 ,pyrrho3 ,you are right6 ,i will be distrustful of all words4 ,the ,elder3 ,then you will have to be silent4 ,pyrrho3 ,i shall tell men that ,i have to be silent1 and that they are to mistrust my silence4 ,the ,elder3 ,so you draw back from your undertaking8 ,pyrrho3 ,on the contrary--you have shown me the door through which ,i must pass4 ,the ,elder3 ,i don't know whether we yet completely understand each other8 ,pyrrho3 ,probably not4 ,the ,elder3 ,if only you understand yourself6 7,pyrrho turns round and laughs47 ,the ,elder3 ,ah1 friend6 ,silence and laughter--is that now your whole philosophy8 ,pyrrho3 ,there might be a worse4 #bad4 ,,european ,,books4--,in reading ,montaigne1 ,la ,rochefoucauld1 ,la ,bruyre1 ,fontenelle 7especially the ,dialogues des ,morts71 ,vauvenargues1 and ,chamfort we are nearer to antiquity than in any group of six authors of other nations4 ,through these six the spirit of the last centuries before ,christ has once more come into being1 and they collectively form an important link in the great and still continuous chain of the ,renaissance4 ,their books are raised above all changes of national taste and philosophical nuances from which as a rule every book takes and must take its hue in order to become famous4 ,they contain more real ideas than all the books of ,german philosophers put together3 ideas of the sort that breed ideas----,i am at a loss how to define to the end3 enough to say that they appear to me writers who wrote neither for children nor for visionaries1 neither for virgins nor for ,christians1 neither for ,germans nor for--,i am again at a loss how to finish my list4 ,to praise them in plain terms1 ,i may say that had they been written in ,greek1 they would have been understood by ,greeks4 ,how much1 on the other hand1 would even a ,plato have understood of the writings of our best ,german thinkers--,goethe and ,schopenhauer1 for instance--to say nothing of the repugnance that he would have felt to their style1 particularly to its obscure1 exaggerated1 and occasionally dry-as-dust elements8 ,and these are defects from which these two among ,german thinkers suffer least and yet far too much 7,goethe as thinker was fonder than he should have been of embracing the cloud1 and ,schopenhauer almost constantly wanders1 not with impunity1 among symbols of objects rather than among the objects themselves74--,on the other hand1 what clearness and graceful precision there is in these ,frenchmen6 ,the ,greeks1 whose ears were most refined1 could not but have approved of this art1 and one quality they would even have admired and reverenced--the ,french verbal wit3 they were extremely fond of this quality1 without being particularly strong in it themselves4 #bae4 ,,fashion ,,and ,,modernity4--,wherever ignorance1 uncleanness1 and superstition are still rife1 where communication is backward1 agriculture poor1 and the priesthood powerful1 national costumes are still worn4 ,fashion1 on the other hand1 rules where the opposite conditions prevail4 ,fashion is accordingly to be found next to the virtues in modern ,europe4 ,are we to call it their seamy side8--,masculine dress that is fashionable and no longer national proclaims of its wearer3 firstly1 that he does not wish to appear as an individual or as member of a class or race2 that he has made an intentional suppression of these kinds of vanity a law unto himself3 secondly1 that he is a worker1 and has little time for dressing and self-adornment1 and moreover regards anything expensive or luxurious in material and cut as out of harmony with his work3 lastly1 that by his clothes he indicates the more learned and intellectual callings as those to which he stands or would like to stand nearest as a ,european--whereas such national costumes as still exist would exhibit the occupations of brigand1 shepherd1 and soldier as the most desirable and distinguished4 ,within this general character of masculine fashion exist the slight fluctuations demanded by the vanity of young men1 the dandies and dawdlers of our great cities--in other words1 ,europeans who have not yet reached maturity4--,european women are as yet far less mature1 and for this reason the fluctuations with them are much greater4 ,they also will not have the national costume1 and hate to be recognised by their dress as ,german1 ,french1 or ,russian4 ,they are1 however1 very desirous of creating an impression as individuals4 ,then1 too1 their dress must leave no one in doubt that they belong to one of the more reputable classes of society 7to 8good0 or 8high0 or 8great0 society71 and on this score their pretensions are all the greater if they belong scarcely or not at all to that class4 ,above all1 the young woman does not want to wear what an older woman wears1 because she thinks she loses her market value if she is suspected of being somewhat advanced in years4 ,the older woman1 on the other hand1 would like to deceive the world as long as possible by a youthful garb4 ,from this competition must continually arise temporary fashions1 in which the youthful element is unmistakably and inimitably apparent4 ,but after the inventive genius of the young female artists has run riot for some time in such indiscreet revelations of youth 7or rather1 after the inventive genius of older1 courtly civilisations and of still existing peoples--in fact1 of the whole world of dress--has been pressed into the service1 and1 say1 the ,spaniards1 ,turks1 and ancient ,greeks have been yoked together for the glorification of fair flesh71 then they at last discover1 time and again1 that they have not been good judges of their own interest2 that if they wish to have power over men1 the game of hide-and-seek with the beautiful body is more likely to win than naked or half-naked honesty4 ,and then the wheel of taste and vanity turns once more in an opposite direction4 ,the rather older young women find that their kingdom has come1 and the competition of the dear1 absurd creatures rages again from the beginning4--,but the more women advance mentally1 and no longer among themselves concede the pre-eminence to an unripe age1 the smaller their fluctuations of costume grow and the less elaborate their adornment4 ,a just verdict in this respect must not be based on ancient models--in other words1 not on the standard of the dress of women who dwell on the shores of the ,mediterranean--but must have an eye to the climatic conditions of the central and northern regions1 where the intellectual and creative spirit of ,europe now finds its most natural home4--,generally speaking1 therefore1 it is not change that will be the characteristic mark of fashion and modernity1 for change is retrograde1 and betokens the still unripened men and women of ,europe2 but rather the repudiation of national1 social1 and individual vanity4 ,accordingly1 it is commendable1 because involving a saving of time and strength1 if certain cities and districts of ,europe think and invent for all the rest in the matter of dress1 in view of the fact that a sense of form does not seem to have been bestowed upon all4 ,nor is it really an excessive ambition1 so long as these fluctuations still exist1 for ,paris1 for example1 to claim to be the sole inventor and innovator in this sphere4 ,if a ,german1 from hatred of these claims on the part of a ,french city1 wishes to dress differently1--as1 for example1 in the ,drer style1--let him reflect that he then has a costume which the ,germans of olden times wore1 but which the ,germans have not in the slightest degree invented4 ,for there has never been a style of dress that characterised the ,german as a ,german4 ,moreover1 let him observe how he looks in his costume1 and whether his altogether modern face1 with all its hues and wrinkles1 does not raise a protest against a ,drer fashion of dress4--,here1 where the concepts 8modern0 and 8,european0 are almost identical1 we understand by 8,europe0 a far wider region than is embraced by the ,europe of geography1 the little peninsula of ,asia4 ,in particular1 we must include ,america1 in so far as ,america is the daughter of our civilisation4 ,on the other hand1 not all ,europe falls under the heading of cultured 8,europe10 but only those nations and divisions of nations which have their common past in ,greece1 ,rome1 ,judaism1 and ,christianity4 #baf4 8,,german ,,virtue40--,there is no denying that from the end of the eighteenth century a current of moral awakening flowed through ,europe4 ,then only ,virtue found again the power of speech4 ,she learnt to discover the unrestrained gestures of exaltation and emotion1 she was no longer ashamed of herself1 and she created philosophies and poems for her own glorification4 ,if we look for the sources of this current1 we come upon ,rousseau1 but the mythical ,rousseau1 the phantom formed from the impression left by his writings 7one might almost say again1 his mythically interpreted writings7 and by the indications that he provided himself4 ,he and his public constantly worked at the fashioning of this ideal figure4 ,the other origin lies in the resurrection of the ,stoical side of ,rome's greatness1 whereby the ,french so nobly carried on the task of the ,renaissance4 ,with striking success they proceeded from the reproduction of antique forms to the reproduction of antique characters4 ,thus they may always claim a title to the highest honours1 as the nation which has hitherto given the modern world its best books and its best men4 ,how this twofold archetype1 the mythical ,rousseau and the resurrected spirit of ,rome1 affected ,france's weaker neighbours1 is particularly noticeable in ,germany1 which1 in consequence of her novel and quite unwonted impulse to seriousness and loftiness in will and self-control1 finally came to feel astonishment at her own newfound virtue1 and launched into the world the concept 8,german virtue10 as if this were the most original and hereditary of her possessions4 ,the first great men who transfused into their own blood that ,french impulse towards greatness and consciousness of the moral will were more honest1 and more grateful4 ,whence comes the moralism of ,kant8 ,he is continually reminding us3 from ,rousseau and the revival of ,stoic ,rome4 ,the moralism of ,schiller has the same source and the same glorification of the source4 ,the moralism of ,beethoven in notes is a continual song in praise of ,rousseau1 the antique ,french1 and ,schiller4 8,young ,germany0 was the first to forget its gratitude1 because in the meantime people had listened to the preachers of hatred of the ,french4 ,the 8young ,german0 came to the fore with more consciousness than is generally allowed to youths4 ,when he investigated his paternity1 he might well think of the proximity of ,schiller1 ,schleiermacher1 and ,fichte4 ,but he should have looked for his grandfathers in ,paris and ,geneva1 and it was very short-sighted of him to believe what he believed3 that virtue was not more than thirty years old4 ,people became used to demanding that the word 8,german0 should connote 8virtue10 and this process has not been wholly forgotten to this day4--,be it observed further that this moral awakening1 as may almost be guessed1 has resulted only in drawbacks and obstacles to the recognition of moral phenomena4 ,what is the entire ,german philosophy1 starting from ,kant1 with all its ,french1 ,english1 and ,italian offshoots and by-products8 ,a semi-theological attack upon ,helvetius1 a rejection of the slowly and laboriously acquired views and signposts of the right road1 which in the end he collected and expressed so well4 ,to this day ,helvetius is the best-abused of all good moralists and good men in ,germany4 #bag4 ,,classic ,,and ,,romantic4--,both classically and romantically minded spirits--two species that always exist--cherish a vision of the future2 but the former derive their vision from the strength of their time1 the latter from its weakness4 #bah4 ,,the ,,machine ,,as ,,teacher4--,machinery teaches in itself the dovetailed working of masses of men1 in activities where each has but one thing to do4 ,it is the model of party organisations and of warfare4 ,on the other hand1 it does not teach individual self-glorification1 for it makes of the many a machine1 and of each individual a tool for one purpose4 ,its most general effect is to teach the advantage of centralisation4 #bai4 ,,unable ,,to ,,settle4--,one likes to live in a small town4 ,but from time to time just this small town drives us out into bare and lonely ,nature1 especially when we think we know it too well4 ,finally1 in order to refresh ourselves from ,nature1 we go to the big town4 ,a few draughts from this cup and we see its dregs1 and the circle begins afresh1 with the small town as starting-point4--,so the moderns live2 they are in all things rather too thorough to be able to settle like the men of other days4 #bbj4 ,,reaction ,,against ,,the ,,civilisation ,,of ,,machinery4--,the machine1 itself a product of the highest mental powers1 sets in motion hardly any but the lower1 unthinking forces of the men who serve it4 ,true1 it unfetters a vast quantity of force which would otherwise lie dormant4 ,but it does not communicate the impulse to climb higher1 to improve1 to become artistic4 ,it creates activity and monotony1 but this in the long-run produces a counter-effect1 a despairing ennui of the soul1 which through machinery has learnt to hanker after the variety of leisure4 #bba4 ,,the ,,danger ,,of ,,enlightenment4--,all the half-insane1 theatrical1 bestially cruel1 licentious1 and especially sentimental and self-intoxicating elements which go to form the true revolutionary substance1 and became flesh and spirit1 before the revolution1 in ,rousseau--all this composite being1 with factitious enthusiasm1 finally set even 8enlightenment0 upon its fanatical head1 which thereby began itself to shine as in an illuminating halo4 ,yet1 enlightenment is essentially foreign to that phenomenon1 and1 if left to itself1 would have pierced silently through the clouds like a shaft of light1 long content to transfigure individuals alone1 and thus only slowly transfiguring national customs and institutions as well4 ,but now1 bound hand and foot to a violent and abrupt monster1 enlightenment itself became violent and abrupt4 ,its danger has therefore become almost greater than its useful quality of liberation and illumination1 which it introduced into the great revolutionary movement4 ,whoever grasps this will also know from what confusion it has to be extricated1 from what impurities to be cleansed1 in order that it may then by itself continue the work of enlightenment and also nip the revolution in the bud and nullify its effects4 #bbb4 ,,passion ,,in ,,the ,,middle ,,ages4--,the ,middle ,ages are the period of great passions4 ,neither antiquity nor our period possesses this widening of the soul4 ,never was the capacity of the soul greater or measured by larger standards4 ,the physical1 primeval sensuality of the barbarian races and the over-soulful1 over-vigilant1 over-brilliant eyes of ,christian mystics1 the most childish and youthful and the most over-ripe and world-weary1 the savageness of the beast of prey and the effeminacy and excessive refinement of the late antique spirit--all these elements were then not seldom united in one and the same person4 ,thus1 if a man was seized by a passion1 the rapidity of the torrent must have been greater1 the whirl more confused1 the fall deeper than ever before4--,we modern men may be content to feel that we have suffered a loss here4 #bbc4 ,,robbing ,,and ,,saving4--,all intellectual movements whereby the great may hope to rob and the small to save are sure to prosper4 ,that is why1 for instance1 the ,german ,reformation made progress4 #bbd4 ,,gladsome ,,souls4--,when even a remote hint of drink1 drunkenness1 and an evil-smelling kind of jocularity was given1 the souls of the old ,germans waxed gladsome4 ,otherwise they were depressed1 but here they found something they really understood4 #bbe4 ,,debauchery ,,at ,,athens4--,even when the fish-market of ,athens acquired its thinkers and poets1 ,greek debauchery had a more idyllic and refined appearance than ,roman or ,german debauchery ever had4 ,the voice of ,juvenal would have sounded there like a hollow trumpet1 and would have been answered by a good-natured and almost childish outburst of laughter4 #bbf4 ,,cleverness ,,of ,,the ,,greek4--,as the desire for victory and pre-eminence is an ineradicable trait of human nature1 older and more primitive than any respect of or joy in equality1 the ,greek ,state sanctioned gymnastic and artistic competitions among equals4 ,in other words1 it marked out an arena where this impulse to conquer would find a vent without jeopardising the political order4 ,with the final decline of gymnastic and artistic contests the ,greek ,state fell into a condition of profound unrest and dissolution4 #bbg4 ,,the 8,,eternal ,,epicurus40--,epicurus has lived in all periods1 and lives yet1 unbeknown to those who called and still call themselves ,epicureans1 and without repute among philosophers4 ,he has himself even forgotten his own name--that was the heaviest luggage that he ever cast off4 #bbh4 ,,the ,,style ,,of ,,superiority4--8,university slang10 the speech of the ,german students1 has its origin among the students who do not study4 ,the latter know how to acquire a preponderance over their more serious fellows by exposing all the farcical elements of culture1 respectability1 erudition1 order1 and moderation1 and by having words taken from these realms always on their lips1 like the better and more learned students1 but with malice in their glance and an accompanying grimace4 ,this language of superiority--the only one that is original in ,germany--is nowadays unconsciously used by statesmen and newspaper critics as well4 ,it is a continual process of ironical quotation1 a restless1 cantankerous squinting of the eye right and left1 a language of inverted commas and grimaces4 #bbi4 ,,the ,,recluse4--,we retire into seclusion1 but not from personal misgivings1 as if the political and social conditions of the day did not satisfy us2 rather because by our retirement we try to save and collect forces which will some day be urgently needed by culture1 the more this present is this present1 and1 as such1 fulfils its task4 ,we form a capital and try to make it secure1 but1 as in times of real danger1 our method is to bury our hoard4 #bcj4 ,,tyrants ,,of ,,the ,,intellect4--,in our times1 any one who expressed a single moral trait so thoroughly as the characters of ,theophrastus and ,molire do1 would be considered ill1 and be spoken of as possessing 8a fixed idea40 ,the ,athens of the third century1 if we could visit it1 would appear to us populated by fools4 ,nowadays the democracy of ideas rules in every brain--there the multitude collectively is lord4 ,a single idea that tried to be lord is now called1 as above stated1 8a fixed idea40 ,this is our method of murdering tyrants--we hint at the madhouse4 #bca4 ,a ,,most ,,dangerous ,,emigration4--,in ,russia there is an emigration of the intelligence4 ,people cross the frontier in order to read and write good books4 ,thus1 however1 they are working towards turning their country1 abandoned by the intellect1 into a gaping ,asiatic maw1 which would fain swallow our little ,europe4 #bcb4 ,,political ,,fools4--,the almost religious love of the king was transferred by the ,greeks1 when the monarchy was abolished1 to the polis4 ,an idea can be loved more than a person1 and does not thwart the lover so often as a beloved human being 7for the more men know themselves to be loved1 the less considerate they usually become1 until they are no longer worthy of love1 and a rift really arises74 ,hence the reverence for ,state and polis was greater than the reverence for princes had ever been4 ,the ,greeks are the political fools of ancient history--today other nations boast that distinction4 #bcc4 ,,against ,,neglect ,,of ,,the ,,eyes4--,might one not find among the cultured classes of ,england1 who read the ,times1 a decline in their powers of sight every ten years8 #bcd4 ,,great ,,works ,,and ,,great ,,faith4--,one man had great works1 but his comrade had great faith in these works4 ,they were inseparable1 but obviously the former was entirely dependent upon the latter4 #bce4 ,,the ,,sociable ,,man4--8,i don't get on well with myself10 said some one in explanation of his fondness for society4 8,society has a stronger digestion than ,i have1 and can put up with me40 #bcf4 ,,shutting ,,the ,,mind',s ,,eyes4--,if we are practised and accustomed to reflect upon our actions1 we must nevertheless close the inner eye while performing an action 7be this even only writing letters or eating or drinking74 ,even in conversation with average people we must know how to obscure our own mental vision in order to attain and grasp average thinking4 ,this shutting of the eyes is a conscious act and can be achieved by the will4 #bcg4 ,,the ,,most ,,terrible ,,revenge4--,if we wish to take a thorough revenge upon an opponent1 we must wait until we have our hand quite full of truths and equities1 and can calmly use the whole lot against him4 ,hence the exercise of revenge may be identified with the exercise of equity4 ,it is the most terrible kind of revenge1 for there is no higher court to which an appeal can be made4 ,thus did ,voltaire revenge himself on ,piron1 with five lines that sum up ,piron's whole life1 work1 and character3 every word is a truth4 ,so too he revenged himself upon ,frederick the ,great in a letter to him from ,ferney4 #bch4 ,,taxes ,,of ,,luxury4--,in shops we buy the most necessary and urgent things1 and have to pay very dear1 because we pay as well for what is also to be had there cheap1 but seldom finds a customer--articles of luxury that minister to pleasure4 ,thus luxury lays a constant tax upon the man of simple life who does without luxuries4 #bci4 ,,why ,,beggars ,,still ,,live4--,if all alms were given only out of compassion1 the whole tribe of beggars would long since have died of starvation4 #bdj4 ,,why ,,beggars ,,still ,,live4--,the greatest of almsgivers is cowardice4 #bda4 ,,how ,,the ,,thinker ,,makes ,,use ,,of ,a ,,conversation4--,without being eavesdroppers1 we can hear a good deal if we are able to see well1 and at the same time to let ourselves occasionally get out of our own sight4 ,but people do not know how to make use of a conversation4 ,they pay far too much attention to what they want to say and reply1 whereas the true listener is often contented to make a provisional answer and to say something merely as a payment on account of politeness1 but on the other hand1 with his memory lurking in ambush1 carries away with him all that the other said1 together with his tones and gestures in speaking4--,in ordinary conversation every one thinks he is the leader1 just as if two ships1 sailing side by side and giving each other a slight push here and there1 were each firmly convinced that the other ship was following or even being towed4 #bdb4 ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,excusing ,,oneself4--,if some one excuses himself to us1 he has to make out a very good case1 otherwise we readily come to feel ourselves the culprits1 and experience an unpleasant emotion4 #bdc4 ,,impossible ,,intercourse4--,the ship of your thoughts goes too deep for you to be able to travel with it in the waters of these friendly1 decorous1 obliging people4 ,there are too many shallows and sandbanks3 you would have to tack and turn1 and would find yourself continually at your wits' end1 and they would soon also be in perplexity as to your perplexity1 the reason for which they cannot divine4 #bdd4 ,,the ,,fox ,,of ,,foxes4--,a true fox not only calls sour the grapes he cannot reach1 but also those he has reached and snatched from the grasp of others4 #bde4 ,,in ,,intimate ,,intercourse4--,however closely men are connected1 there are still all the four quarters of the heavens in their common horizon1 and at times they become aware of this fact4 #bdf4 ,,the ,,silence ,,of ,,disgust4--,behold6 some one undergoes a thorough and painful transformation as thinker and human being1 and makes a public avowal of the change4 ,and those who hear him see nothing1 and still believe he is the same as before6 ,this common experience has already disgusted many writers4 ,they had rated the intellectuality of mankind too highly1 and made a vow to be silent as soon as they became aware of their mistake4 #bdg4 ,,business ,,seriousness4--,the business of many rich and eminent men is their form of recreation from too long periods of habitual leisure4 ,they then become as serious and impassioned as other people do in their rare moments of leisure and amusement4 #bdh4 ,,the ,,eye',s ,,double ,,sense4--,just as a sudden scaly ripple runs over the waters at your feet1 so there are similar sudden uncertainties and ambiguities in the human eye4 ,they lead to the question3 is it a shudder1 or a smile1 or both8 #bdi4 ,,positive ,,and ,,negative4--,this thinker needs no one to refute him--he is quite capable of doing that himself4 #bej4 ,,the ,,revenge ,,of ,,the ,,empty ,,nets4--,above all we should beware of those who have the bitter feeling of the fisherman who after a hard day's work comes home in the evening with nets empty4 #bea4 ,,non-,,assertion ,,of ,,our ,,rights4--,the exertion of power is laborious and demands courage4 ,that is why so many do not assert their most valid rights1 because their rights are a kind of power1 and they are too lazy or too cowardly to exercise them4 ,indulgence and patience are the names given to the virtues that cloak these faults4 #beb4 ,,bearers ,,of ,,light4--,in ,society there would be no sunshine if the born flatterers 7,i mean the so-called amiable people7 did not bring some in with them4 #bec4 ,,when ,,most ,,benevolent4--,when a man has been highly honoured and has eaten a little1 he is most benevolent4 #bed4 ,,to ,,the ,,light4--,men press forward to the light not in order to see better but to shine better4--,the person before whom we shine we gladly allow to be called a light4 #bee4 ,,the ,,hypochondriac4--,the hypochondriac is a man who has just enough intellect and pleasure in the intellect to take his sorrows1 his losses1 and his mistakes seriously4 ,but the field on which he grazes is too small3 he crops it so close that in the end he has to look for single stalks4 ,thus he finally becomes envious and avaricious--and only then is he unbearable4 #bef4 ,,giving ,,in ,,return4--,hesiod advises us to give the neighbour who has helped us good measure and1 if possible1 fuller measure in return1 as soon as we have the power4 ,for this is where the neighbour's pleasure comes in1 since his former benevolence brings him interest4 ,moreover1 he who gives in return also has his pleasure1 inasmuch as1 by giving a little more than he got1 he redeems the slight humiliation of being compelled to seek aid4 #beg4 ,,more ,,subtle ,,than ,,is ,,necessary4--,our sense of observation for how far others perceive our weaknesses is far more subtle than our sense of observation for the weaknesses of others4 ,it follows that the first-named sense is more subtle than is necessary4 #beh4 ,a ,,kind ,,of ,,bright ,,shadows4--,close to the nocturnal type of man we almost regularly find1 as if bound up with him1 a bright soul4 ,this is1 as it were1 the negative shadow cast by the former4 #bei4 ,,not ,,to ,,take ,,revenge4--,there are so many subtle sorts of revenge that one who has occasion to take revenge can really do or omit to do what he likes4 ,in any case1 the whole world will agree1 after a time1 that he has avenged himself4 ,hence the avoidance of revenge is hardly within man's power4 ,he must not even so much as say that he does not want to do so1 since the contempt for revenge is interpreted and felt as a sublime and exquisite form of revenge4--,it follows that we must do nothing superfluous4 #bfj4 ,,the ,,mistake ,,of ,,those ,,who ,,pay ,,homage4--,every one thinks he is paying a most agreeable compliment to a thinker when he says that he himself hit upon exactly the same idea and even upon the same expression4 ,the thinker1 however1 is seldom delighted at hearing such news1 nay1 rather1 he often becomes distrustful of his own thoughts and expressions4 ,he silently resolves to revise both some day4 ,if we wish to pay homage to any one1 we must beware of expressing our agreement1 for this puts us on the same level4--,often it is a matter of social tact to listen to an opinion as if it were not ours or even travelled beyond the limits of our own horizon--as1 for example1 when an old man once in a while opens the storehouse of his acquired knowledge4 #bfa4 ,,letters4--,a letter is an unannounced visit1 and the postman is the intermediary of impolite surprises4 ,every week we ought to have one hour for receiving letters1 and then go and take a bath4 #bfb4 ,,prejudiced4--,some one said3 ,i have been prejudiced against myself from childhood upwards1 and hence ,i find some truth in every censure and some absurdity in every eulogy4 ,praise ,i generally value too low and blame too high4 #bfc4 ,,the ,,path ,,to ,,equality4--,a few hours of mountain-climbing make a blackguard and a saint two rather similar creatures4 ,weariness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity--and finally liberty is bestowed by sleep4 #bfd4 ,,calumny4--,if we begin to trace to its source a real scandalous misrepresentation1 we shall rarely look for its origin in our honourable and straightforward enemies2 for if they invented anything of the sort about us1 they1 as being our enemies1 would gain no credence4 ,those1 however1 to whom for a time we have been most useful1 but who1 from some reason or other1 may be secretly sure that they will obtain no more from us--such persons are in a position to start the ball of slander rolling4 ,they gain credence1 firstly1 because it is assumed that they would invent nothing likely to do them damage2 secondly1 because they have learnt to know us intimately4--,as a consolation1 the much-slandered man may say to himself3 ,calumnies are diseases of others that break out in your body4 ,they prove that ,society is a 7moral7 organism1 so that you can prescribe to yourself the cure that will in the end be useful to others4 #bfe4 ,,the ,,child',s ,,kingdom ,,of ,,heaven4--,the happiness of a child is as much of a myth as the happiness of the ,hyperboreans of whom the ,greeks fabled4 ,the ,greeks supposed that1 if indeed happiness dwells anywhere on our earth1 it must certainly dwell as far as possible from us1 perhaps over yonder at the edge of the world4 ,old people have the same thought--if man is at all capable of being happy1 he must be happy as far as possible from our age1 at the frontiers and beginnings of life4 ,for many a man the sight of children1 through the veil of this myth1 is the greatest happiness that he can feel4 ,he enters himself into the forecourt of heaven when he says1 8,suffer the little children to come unto me1 for of them is the kingdom of heaven40 ,the myth of the child's kingdom of heaven holds good1 in some way or other1 wherever in the modern world some sentimentality exists4 #bff4 ,,the ,,impatient4--,it is just the growing man who does not want things in the growing stage4 ,he is too impatient for that4 ,the youth will not wait until1 after long study1 suffering1 and privation1 his picture of men and things is complete4 ,accordingly1 he confidently accepts another picture that lies ready to his hand and is recommended to him1 and pins his faith to that1 as if it must give him at once the lines and colours of his own painting4 ,he presses a philosopher or a poet to his bosom1 and must from that time forth perform long stretches of forced labour and renounce his own self4 ,he learns much in the process1 but he often forgets what is most worth learning and knowing--his self4 ,he remains all his life a partisan4 ,ah1 a vast amount of tedious work has to be done before you find your own colours1 your own brush1 your own canvas6--,even then you are very far from being a master in the art of life1 but at least you are the boss in your own workshop4 #bfg4 ,,there ,,are ,,no ,,teachers4--,as thinkers we ought only to speak of self-teaching4 ,the instruction of the young by others is either an experiment performed upon something as yet unknown and unknowable1 or else a thorough levelling process1 in order to make the new member of society conform to the customs and manners that prevail for the time being4 ,in both cases the result is accordingly unworthy of a thinker--the handiwork of parents and teachers1 whom some valiantly honest person7#be7 has called 8nos ennemis naturels40 ,one day1 when1 as the world thinks1 we have long since finished our education1 we discover ourselves4 ,then begins the task of the thinker1 and then is the time to summon him to our aid--not as a teacher1 but as a self-taught man who has experience4 #bfh4 ,,sympathy ,,with ,,youth4--,we are sorry when we hear that some one who is still young is losing his teeth or growing blind4 ,if we knew all the irrevocable and hopeless feelings hidden in his whole being1 how great our sorrow would be6 ,why do we really suffer on this account8 ,because youth has to continue the work we have undertaken1 and every flaw and failing in its strength is likely to injure our work1 that will fall into its hands4 ,it is the sorrow at the imperfect guarantee of our immortality3 or1 if we only feel ourselves as executors of the human mission1 it is the sorrow that this mission must pass to weaker hands than ours4 #bfi4 ,,the ,,ages ,,of ,,life4--,the comparison of the four ages of life with the four seasons of the year is a venerable piece of folly4 ,neither the first twenty nor the last twenty years of a life correspond to a season of the year1 assuming that we are not satisfied with drawing a parallel between white hair and snow and similar colour-analogies4 ,the first twenty years are a preparation for life in general1 for the whole year of life1 a sort of long ,new ,year's ,day4 ,the last twenty review1 assimilate1 bring into union and harmony all that has been experienced till then3 as1 in a small degree1 we do on every ,new ,year's ,eve with the whole past year4 ,but in between there really lies an interval which suggests a comparison with the seasons--the time from the twentieth to the fiftieth year 7to speak here of decades in the lump1 while it is an understood thing that every one must refine for himself these rough outlines74 ,those three decades correspond to three seasons--summer1 spring1 and autumn4 ,winter human life has none1 unless we like to call the 7unfortunately7 often intervening hard1 cold1 lonely1 hopeless1 unfruitful periods of disease the winters of man4 ,the twenties1 hot1 oppressive1 stormy1 impetuous1 exhausting years1 when we praise the day in the evening1 when it is over1 as we wipe the sweat from our foreheads--years in which work seems to us cruel but necessary--these twenties are the summer of life4 ,the thirties1 on the other hand1 are its spring-time1 with the air now too warm1 now too cold1 ever restless and stimulating1 bubbling sap1 bloom of leaves1 fragrance of buds everywhere1 many delightful mornings and evenings1 work to which the song of birds awakens us1 a true work of the heart1 a kind of joy in our own robustness1 strengthened by the savour of hopeful anticipation4 ,lastly the forties1 mysterious like all that is stationary1 like a high1 broad plateau1 traversed by a fresh breeze1 with a clear1 cloudless sky above it1 which always has the same gentle look all day and half the night--the time of harvest and cordial gaiety--that is the autumn of life4 #bgj4 ,,women',s ,,intellect ,,in ,,modern ,,society4--,what women nowadays think of men's intellect may be divined from the fact that in their art of adornment they think of anything but of emphasising the intellectual side of their faces or their single intellectual features4 ,on the contrary1 they conceal such traits1 and understand1 for example by an arrangement of their hair over their forehead1 how to give themselves an appearance of vivid1 eager sensuality and materialism1 just when they but slightly possess those qualities4 ,their conviction that intellect in women frightens men goes so far that they even gladly deny the keenness of the most intellectual sense and purposely invite the reputation of short-sightedness4 ,they think they will thereby make men more confiding4 ,it is as if a soft1 attractive twilight were spreading itself around them4 #bga4 ,,great ,,and ,,transitory4--,what moves the observer to tears is the rapturous look of happiness with which a fair young bride gazes upon her husband4 ,we feel all the melancholy of autumn in thinking of the greatness and of the transitoriness of human happiness4 #bgb4 ,,sense ,,and ,,sacrifice4--,many a woman has the intelletto del sacrifizio17#bf7 and no longer enjoys life when her husband refuses to sacrifice her4 ,with all her wit1 she then no longer knows--whither8 and without perceiving it1 is changed from sacrificial victim to sacrificial priest4 #bgc4 ,,the ,,unfeminine4--8,stupid as a man10 say the women2 8,cowardly as a woman10 say the men4 ,stupidity in a woman is unfeminine4 #bgd4 ,,masculine ,,and ,,feminine ,,temperament ,,and ,,mortality4--,that the male sex has a worse temperament than the female follows from the fact that male children have a greater mortality than female1 clearly because they 8leap out of their skins0 more easily4 ,their wildness and unbearableness soon make all the bad stuff in them deadly4 #bge4 ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,cyclopean ,,building4--,the democratisation of ,europe is a resistless force4 ,even he who would stem the tide uses those very means that democratic thought first put into men's hands1 and he makes these means more handy and workable4 ,the most inveterate enemies of democracy 7,i mean the spirits of upheaval7 seem only to exist in order1 by the fear that they inspire1 to drive forward the different parties faster and faster on the democratic course4 ,now we may well feel sorry for those who are working consciously and honourably for this future4 ,there is something dreary and monotonous in their faces1 and the grey dust seems to have been wafted into their very brains4 ,nevertheless1 posterity may possibly some day laugh at our anxiety1 and see in the democratic work of several generations what we see in the building of stone dams and walls--an activity that necessarily covers clothes and face with a great deal of dust1 and perhaps unavoidably makes the workmen1 too1 a little dull-witted2 but who would on that account desire such work undone8 ,it seems that the democratisation of ,europe is a link in the chain of those mighty prophylactic principles which are the thought of the modern era1 and whereby we rise up in revolt against the ,middle ,ages4 ,now1 and now only1 is the age of ,cyclopean building6 ,a final security in the foundations1 that the future may build on them without danger6 ,henceforth1 an impossibility of the orchards of culture being once more destroyed overnight by wild1 senseless mountain torrents6 ,dams and walls against barbarians1 against plagues1 against physical and spiritual serfdom6 ,and all this understood at first roughly and literally1 but gradually in an ever higher and more spiritual sense1 so that all the principles here indicated may appear as the intellectual preparation of the highest artist in horticulture1 who can only apply himself to his own task when the other is fully accomplished6--,true1 if we consider the long intervals of time that here lie between means and end1 the great1 supreme labour1 straining the powers and brains of centuries1 that is necessary in order to create or to provide each individual means1 we must not bear too hardly upon the workers of the present when they loudly proclaim that the wall and the fence are already the end and the final goal4 ,after all1 no one yet sees the gardener and the fruit1 for whose sake the fence exists4 #bgf4 ,,the ,,right ,,of ,,universal ,,suffrage4--,the people has not granted itself universal suffrage but1 wherever this is now in force1 it has received and accepted it as a temporary measure4 ,but in any case the people has the right to restore the gift1 if it does not satisfy its anticipations4 ,this dissatisfaction seems universal nowadays1 for when1 at any occasion where the vote is exercised1 scarce two-thirds1 nay perhaps not even the majority of all voters1 go to the polls1 that very fact is a vote against the whole suffrage system4--,on this point1 in fact1 we must pronounce a much sterner verdict4 ,a law that enacts that the majority shall decide as to the welfare of all cannot be built up on the foundation that it alone has provided1 for it is bound to require a far broader foundation1 namely the unanimity of all4 ,universal suffrage must not only be the expression of the will of a majority1 but of the whole country4 ,thus the dissent of a very small minority is already enough to set aside the system as impracticable2 and the abstention from voting is in fact a dissent of this kind1 which ruins the whole institution4 ,the 8absolute veto0 of the individual1 or--not to be too minute--the veto of a few thousands1 hangs over the system as the consequence of justice4 ,on every occasion when it is employed1 the system must1 according to the variety of the division1 first prove that it has still a right to exist4 #bgg4 ,,false ,,conclusions4--,what false conclusions are drawn in spheres where we are not at home1 even by those of us who are accustomed as men of science to draw right conclusions6 ,it is humiliating6 ,now it is clear that in the great turmoil of worldly doings1 in political affairs1 in all sudden and urgent matters such as almost every day brings up1 these false conclusions must decide4 ,for no one feels at home with novelties that have sprung up in the night4 ,all political work1 even with great statesmen1 is an improvisation that trusts to luck4 #bgh4 ,,premisses ,,of ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,machinery4--,the press1 the machine1 the railway1 the telegraph are premisses of which no one has yet dared to draw the conclusions that will follow in a thousand years4 #bgi4 ,a ,,drag ,,upon ,,culture4--,when we are told that here men have no time for productive occupations1 because military manuvres and processions take up their days1 and the rest of the population must feed and clothe them1 their dress1 however1 being striking1 often gay and full of absurdities2 that there only a few distinguished qualities are recognised1 individuals resemble each other more than elsewhere1 or at any rate are treated as equals1 yet obedience is exacted and yielded without reasoning1 for men command and make no attempt to convince2 that here punishments are few1 but these few cruel and likely to become the final and most terrible2 that there treason ranks as the capital offence1 and even the criticism of evils is only ventured on by the most audacious2 that there1 again1 human life is cheap1 and ambition often takes the form of setting life in danger--when we hear all this1 we at once say1 8,this is a picture of a barbarous society that rests on a hazardous footing40 ,one man perhaps will add1 8,it is a portrait of ,sparta40 ,but another will become meditative and declare that this is a description of our modern military system1 as it exists in the midst of our altogether different culture and society1 a living anachronism1 the picture1 as above said1 of a community resting on a hazardous footing2 a posthumous work of the past1 which can only act as a drag upon the wheels of the present4--,yet at times even a drag upon culture is vitally necessary--that is to say1 when culture is advancing too rapidly downhill or 7as perhaps in this case7 uphill4 #bhj4 ,,more ,,reverence ,,for ,,them ,,that ,,know4--,in the competition of production and sale the public is made judge of the product4 ,but the public has no special knowledge1 and judges by the appearance of the wares4 ,in consequence1 the art of appearance 7and perhaps the taste for it7 must increase under the dominance of competition1 while on the other hand the quality of every product must deteriorate4 ,the result will be--so far as reason does not fall in value--that one day an end will be put to that competition1 and a new principle will win the day4 ,only the master of the craft should pronounce a verdict on the work1 and the public should be dependent on the belief in the personality of the judge and his honesty4 ,accordingly1 no anonymous work6 ,at least an expert should be there as guarantor and pledge his name if the name of the creator is lacking or is unknown4 ,the cheapness of an article is for the layman another kind of illusion and deceit1 since only durability can decide that a thing is cheap and to what an extent4 ,but it is difficult1 and for a layman impossible1 to judge of its durability4--,hence that which produces an effect on the eye and costs little at present gains the advantage--this being naturally machine-made work4 ,again1 machinery--that is to say1 the cause of the greatest rapidity and facility in production--favours the most saleable kind of article4 ,otherwise it involves no tangible profit2 it would be too little used and too often stand idle4 ,but as to what is most saleable1 the public1 as above said1 decides3 it must be the most exchangeable--in other words1 the thing that appears good and also appears cheap4 ,thus in the domain of labour our motto must also hold good3 8,more respect for them that know60 #bha4 ,,the ,,danger ,,of ,,kings4--,democracy has it in its power1 without any violent means1 and only by a lawful pressure steadily exerted1 to make kingship and emperorship hollow1 until only a zero remains1 perhaps with the significance of every zero in that1 while nothing in itself1 it multiplies a number tenfold if placed on the right side4 ,kingship and emperorship would remain a gorgeous ornament upon the simple and appropriate dress of democracy1 a beautiful superfluity that democracy allows itself1 a relic of all the historically venerable1 primitive ornaments1 nay the symbol of history itself1 and in this unique position a highly effective thing if1 as above said1 it does not stand alone1 but is put on the right side4--,in order to avoid the danger of this nullification1 kings hold by their teeth to their dignity as war-lords4 ,to this end they need wars1 or in other words exceptional circumstances1 in which that slow1 lawful pressure of the democratic forces is relaxed4 #bhb4 ,,the ,,teacher ,a ,,necessary ,,evil4--,let us have as few people as possible between the productive minds and the hungry and recipient minds6 ,the middlemen almost unconsciously adulterate the food which they supply4 ,for their work as middlemen they want too high a fee for themselves1 and this is drawn from the original1 productive spirits--namely1 interest1 admiration1 leisure1 money1 and other advantages4--,accordingly1 we should always look upon the teacher as a necessary evil1 just like the merchant2 as an evil that we should make as small as possible4--,perhaps the prevailing distress in ,germany has its main cause in the fact that too many wish to live and live well by trade 7in other words1 desiring as far as possible to diminish prices for the producer and raise prices for the consumer1 and thus to profit by the greatest possible loss to both74 ,in the same way1 we may certainly trace a main cause of the prevailing intellectual poverty in the superabundance of teachers4 ,it is because of teachers that so little is learnt1 and that so badly4 #bhc4 ,,the ,,tax ,,of ,,homage4--,him whom we know and honour1--be he physician1 artist1 or artisan1--who does and produces something for us1 we gladly pay as highly as we can1 often a fee beyond our means4 ,on the other hand1 we pay the unknown as low a price as possible2 here is a contest in which every one struggles and makes others struggle for a foot's breadth of land4 ,in the work of the known there is something that cannot be bought1 the sentiment and ingenuity put into his work for our own sake4 ,we think we cannot better express our sense of obligation than by a sort of sacrifice on our part4--,the heaviest tax is the tax of homage4 ,the more competition prevails1 the more we buy for the unknown and work for the unknown1 the lower does this tax become1 whereas it is really the standard for the loftiness of man's spiritual intercourse4 #bhd4 ,,the ,,means ,,towards ,,genuine ,,peace4--,no government will nowadays admit that it maintains an army in order to satisfy occasionally its passion for conquest4 ,the army is said to serve only defensive purposes4 ,this morality1 which justifies self-defence1 is called in as the government's advocate4 ,this means1 however1 reserving morality for ourselves and immorality for our neighbour1 because he must be thought eager for attack and conquest if our state is forced to consider means of self-defence4--,at the same time1 by our explanation of our need of an army 7because he denies the lust of attack just as our state does1 and ostensibly also maintains his army for defensive reasons71 we proclaim him a hypocrite and cunning criminal1 who would fain seize by surprise1 without any fighting1 a harmless and unwary victim4 ,in this attitude all states face each other to-day4 ,they presuppose evil intentions on their neighbour's part and good intentions on their own4 ,this hypothesis1 however1 is an inhuman notion1 as bad as and worse than war4 ,nay1 at bottom it is a challenge and motive to war1 foisting as it does upon the neighbouring state the charge of immorality1 and thus provoking hostile intentions and acts4 ,the doctrine of the army as a means of self-defence must be abjured as completely as the lust of conquest4 ,perhaps a memorable day will come when a nation renowned in wars and victories1 distinguished by the highest development of military order and intelligence1 and accustomed to make the heaviest sacrifice to these objects1 will voluntarily exclaim1 8,we will break our swords10 and will destroy its whole military system1 lock1 stock1 and barrel4 ,making ourselves defenceless 7after having been the most strongly defended7 from a loftiness of sentiment--that is the means towards genuine peace1 which must always rest upon a pacific disposition4 ,the so-called armed peace that prevails at present in all countries is a sign of a bellicose disposition1 of a disposition that trusts neither itself nor its neighbour1 and1 partly from hate1 partly from fear1 refuses to lay down its weapons4 ,better to perish than to hate and fear1 and twice as far better to perish than to make oneself hated and feared--this must some day become the supreme maxim of every political community6--,our liberal representatives of the people1 as is well known1 have not the time for reflection on the nature of humanity1 or else they would know that they are working in vain when they work for 8a gradual diminution of the military burdens40 ,on the contrary1 when the distress of these burdens is greatest1 the sort of ,god who alone can help here will be nearest4 ,the tree of military glory can only be destroyed at one swoop1 with one stroke of lightning4 ,but1 as you know1 lightning comes from the cloud and from above4 #bhe4 ,,whether ,,property ,,can ,,be ,,squared ,,with ,,justice4--,when the injustice of property is strongly felt 7and the hand of the great clock is once more at this place71 we formulate two methods of relieving this injustice3 either an equal distribution1 or an abolition of private possession and a return to ,state ownership4 ,the latter method is especially dear to the hearts of our ,socialists1 who are angry with that primitive ,jew for saying1 8,thou shalt not steal40 ,in their view the eighth7#bg7 commandment should rather run1 8,thou shalt not possess40--,the former method was frequently tried in antiquity1 always indeed on a small scale1 and yet with poor success4 ,from this failure we too may learn4 8,equal plots of land0 is easily enough said1 but how much bitterness is aroused by the necessary division and separation1 by the loss of time-honoured possessions1 how much piety is wounded and sacrificed6 ,we uproot the foundation of morality when we uproot boundary-stones4 ,again1 how much fresh bitterness among the new owners1 how much envy and looking askance6 ,for there have never been two really equal plots of land1 and if there were1 man's envy of his neighbour would prevent him from believing in their equality4 ,and how long would this equality1 unhealthy and poisoned at the very roots1 endure8 ,in a few generations1 by inheritance1 here one plot would come to five owners1 there five plots to one4 ,even supposing that men acquiesced in such abuses through the enactment of stern laws of inheritance1 the same equal plots would indeed exist1 but there would also be needy malcontents1 owning nothing but dislike of their kinsmen and neighbours1 and longing for a general upheaval4--,if1 however1 by the second method we try to restore ownership to the community and make the individual but a temporary tenant1 we interfere with agriculture4 ,for man is opposed to all that is only a transitory possession1 unblessed with his own care and sacrifice4 ,with such property he behaves in freebooter fashion1 as robber or as worthless spendthrift4 ,when ,plato declares that self-seeking would be removed with the abolition of property1 we may answer him that1 if self-seeking be taken away1 man will no longer possess the four cardinal virtues either2 as we must say that the most deadly plague could not injure mankind so terribly as if vanity were one day to disappear4 ,without vanity and self-seeking what are human virtues8 ,by this ,i am far from meaning that these virtues are but varied names and masks for these two qualities4 ,plato's ,utopian refrain1 which is still sung by ,socialists1 rests upon a deficient knowledge of men4 ,he lacked the historical science of moral emotions1 the insight into the origin of the good and useful characteristics of the human soul4 ,he believed1 like all antiquity1 in good and evil as in black and white--that is to say1 in a radical difference between good and bad men and good and bad qualities4--,in order that property may henceforth inspire more confidence and become more moral1 we should keep open all the paths of work for small fortunes1 but should prevent the effortless and sudden acquisition of wealth4 ,accordingly1 we should take all the branches of transport and trade which favour the accumulation of large fortunes--especially1 therefore1 the money market--out of the hands of private persons or private companies1 and look upon those who own too much1 just as upon those who own nothing1 as types fraught with danger to the community4 #bhf4 ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,labour4--,if we try to determine the value of labour by the amount of time1 industry1 good or bad will1 constraint1 inventiveness or laziness1 honesty or make-believe bestowed upon it1 the valuation can never be a just one4 ,for the whole personality would have to be thrown into the scale1 and this is impossible4 ,here the motto is1 8,judge not60 ,but after all the cry for justice is the cry we now hear from those who are dissatisfied with the present valuation of labour4 ,if we reflect further we find every person non-responsible for his product1 the labour2 hence merit can never be derived therefrom1 and every labour is as good or as bad as it must be through this or that necessary concatenation of forces and weaknesses1 abilities and desires4 ,the worker is not at liberty to say whether he shall work or not1 or to decide how he shall work4 ,only the standpoints of usefulness1 wider and narrower1 have created the valuation of labour4 ,what we at present call justice does very well in this sphere as a highly refined utility1 which does not only consider the moment and exploit the immediate opportunity1 but looks to the permanence of all conditions1 and thus also keeps in view the well-being of the worker1 his physical and spiritual contentment3 in order that he and his posterity may work well for our posterity and become trustworthy for longer periods than the individual span of human life4 ,the exploitation of the worker was1 as we now understand1 a piece of folly1 a robbery at the expense of the future1 a jeopardisation of society4 ,we almost have the war now1 and in any case the expense of maintaining peace1 of concluding treaties and winning confidence1 will henceforth be very great1 because the folly of the exploiters was very great and long-lasting4 #bhg4 ,,of ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,body4--,the worst drawback for the modern student of economics and political science in ,europe1 and especially in ,germany1 is that the actual conditions1 instead of exemplifying rules1 illustrate exceptions or stages of transition and extinction4 ,we must therefore learn to look beyond actually existing conditions and1 for example1 turn our eyes to distant ,north ,america1 where we can still contemplate and investigate1 if we will1 the initial and normal movement of the social body4 ,in ,germany such a study requires arduous and historical research1 or1 as ,i have suggested1 a telescope4 #bhh4 ,,how ,,far ,,machinery ,,humiliates4--,machinery is impersonal2 it robs the piece of work of its pride1 of the individual merits and defects that cling to all work that is not machine-made--in other words1 of its bit of humanity4 ,formerly1 all buying from handicraftsmen meant a mark of distinction for their personalities1 with whose productions people surrounded themselves4 ,furniture and dress accordingly became the symbols of mutual valuation and personal connection4 ,nowadays1 on the other hand1 we seem to live in the midst of anonymous and impersonal serfdom4--,we must not buy the facilitation of labour too dear4 #bhi4 ,,century-,,old ,,quarantine4--,democratic institutions are centres of quarantine against the old plague of tyrannical desires4 ,as such they are extremely useful and extremely tedious4 #bij4 ,,the ,,most ,,dangerous ,,partisan4--,the most dangerous partisan is he whose defection would involve the ruin of the whole party--in other words1 the best partisan4 #bia4 ,,destiny ,,and ,,the ,,stomach4--,a piece more or less of bread and butter in the jockey's body is occasionally the decisive factor in races and bets1 and thus in the good and bad luck of thousands4--,so long as the destiny of nations depends upon diplomats1 the stomachs of diplomats will always be the object of patriotic misgivings4 ,quousque tandem4444 #bib4 ,,the ,,victory ,,of ,,democracy4--,all political powers nowadays attempt to exploit the fear of ,socialism for their own strengthening4 ,yet in the long run democracy alone gains the advantage1 for all parties are now compelled to flatter 8the masses0 and grant them facilities and liberties of all kinds1 with the result that the masses finally become omnipotent4 ,the masses are as far as possible removed from ,socialism as a doctrine of altering the acquisition of property4 ,if once they get the steering-wheel into their hands1 through great majorities in their ,parliaments1 they will attack with progressive taxation the whole dominant system of capitalists1 merchants1 and financiers1 and will in fact slowly create a middle class which may forget ,socialism like a disease that has been overcome4--,the practical result of this increasing democratisation will next be a ,european league of nations1 in which each individual nation1 delimited by the proper geographical frontiers1 has the position of a canton with its separate rights4 ,small account will be taken of the historic memories of previously existing nations1 because the pious affection for these memories will be gradually uprooted under the democratic rgime1 with all its craze for novelty and experiment4 ,the corrections of frontiers that will prove necessary will be so carried out as to serve the interests of the great cantons and at the same time that of the whole federation1 but not that of any venerable memories4 ,to find the standpoints for these corrections will be the task of future diplomats1 who will have to be at the same time students of civilisation1 agriculturists1 and commercial experts1 with no armies but motives and utilities at their back4 ,then only will foreign and home politics be inseparably connected1 whereas to-day the latter follows its haughty dictator1 and gleans in sorry baskets the stubble that is left over from the harvest of the former4 #bic4 ,,goal ,,and ,,means ,,of ,,democracy4--,democracy tries to create and guarantee independence for as many as possible in their opinions1 way of life1 and occupation4 ,for this purpose democracy must withhold the political suffrage both from those who have nothing and from those who are really rich1 as being the two intolerable classes of men4 ,at the removal of these classes it must always work1 because they are continually calling its task in question4 ,in the same way democracy must prevent all measures that seem to aim at party organisation4 ,for the three great foes of independence1 in that threefold sense1 are the have-nots1 the rich1 and the parties4--,i speak of democracy as of a thing to come4 ,what at present goes by that name is distinguished from older forms of government only by the fact that it drives with new horses2 the roads and the wheels are the same as of yore4--,has the danger really become less with these conveyances of the commonwealth8 #bid4 ,,discretion ,,and ,,success4--,that great quality of discretion1 which is fundamentally the virtue of virtues1 their ancestress and queen1 has in common life by no means always success on its side4 ,the wooer would find himself deceived if he had wooed that virtue only for the sake of success4 ,for it is rated by practical people as suspicious1 and is confused with cunning and hypocrisy3 he who obviously lacks discretion1 the man who quickly grasps and sometimes misses his grasp1 has prejudice on his side--he is an honest1 trustworthy fellow4 ,practical people1 accordingly1 do not like the prudent man1 thinking he is to them a danger4 ,moreover1 we often assume the prudent man to be anxious1 preoccupied1 pedantic--unpractical1 butterfly people find him uncomfortable1 because he does not live in their happy-go-lucky way1 without thinking of actions and duties2 he appears among them as their embodied conscience1 and the bright day is dimmed to their eyes before his gaze4 ,thus when success and popularity fail him1 he may often say by way of private consolation1 8,so high are the taxes you have to pay for the possession of the most precious of human commodities--still it is worth the price60 #bie4 ,,et ,,in ,,arcadia ,,ego4--,i looked down1 over waves of hills1 to a milky-green lake1 through firs and pines austere with age2 rocky crags of all shapes about me1 the soil gay with flowers and grasses4 ,a herd of cattle moved1 stretched1 and expanded itself before me2 single cows and groups in the distance1 in the clearest evening light1 hard by the forest of pines2 others nearer and darker2 all in calm and eventide contentment4 ,my watch pointed to half-past six4 ,the bull of the herd had stepped into the white foaming brook1 and went forward slowly1 now striving against1 now giving way to his tempestuous course2 thus1 no doubt1 he took his sort of fierce pleasure4 ,two dark brown beings1 of ,bergamasque origin1 tended the herd1 the girl dressed almost like a boy4 ,on the left1 overhanging cliffs and fields of snow above broad belts of woodland2 to the right1 two enormous ice-covered peaks1 high above me1 shimmering in the veil of the sunny haze--all large1 silent1 and bright4 ,the beauty of the whole was awe-inspiring and induced to a mute worship of the moment and its revelation4 ,unconsciously1 as if nothing could be more natural1 you peopled this pure1 clear world of light 7which had no trace of yearning1 of expectancy1 of looking forward or backward7 with ,greek heroes4 ,you felt it all as ,poussin and his school felt--at once heroic and idyllic4--,so individual men too have lived1 constantly feeling themselves in the world and the world in themselves1 and among them one of the greatest men1 the inventor of a heroico-idyllic form of philosophy--,epicurus4 #bif4 ,,counting ,,and ,,measuring4--,the art of seeing many things1 of weighing one with another1 of reckoning one thing with another and constructing from them a rapid conclusion1 a fairly correct sum--that goes to make a great politician or general or merchant4 ,this quality is1 in fact1 a power of speedy mental calculation4 ,the art of seeing one thing alone1 of finding therein the sole motive for action1 the guiding principle of all other action1 goes to make the hero and also the fanatic4 ,this quality means a dexterity in measuring with one scale4 #big4 ,,not ,,to ,,see ,,too ,,soon4--,as long as we undergo some experience1 we must give ourselves up to the experience and shut our eyes--in other words1 not become observers of what we are undergoing4 ,for to observe would disturb good digestion of the experience1 and instead of wisdom we should gain nothing but dyspepsia4 #bih4 ,,from ,,the ,,practice ,,of ,,the ,,wise4--,to become wise we must will to undergo certain experiences1 and accordingly leap into their jaws4 ,this1 it is true1 is very dangerous4 ,many a 8sage0 has been eaten up in the process4 #bii4 ,,exhaustion ,,of ,,the ,,intellect4--,our occasional coldness and indifference towards people1 which is imputed to us as hardness and defect of character1 is often only an exhaustion of the intellect4 ,in this state other men are to us1 as we are to ourselves1 tedious or immaterial4 #cjj4 8,,the ,,one ,,thing ,,needful40--,if we are clever1 the one thing we need is to have joy in our hearts4 8,ah10 adds some one1 8if we are clever1 the best thing we can do is to be wise40 #cja4 ,a ,,sign ,,of ,,love4--,some one said1 8,there are two persons about whom ,i have never thought deeply4 ,that is a sign of my love for them40 #cjb4 ,,how ,,we ,,seek ,,to ,,improve ,,bad ,,arguments4--,many a man adds a bit of his personality to his bad arguments1 as if they would thus go better and change into straight and good arguments4 ,in the same way1 players at skittles1 even after a throw1 try to give a direction to the ball by turns and gestures4 #cjc4 ,,honesty4--,it is but a small thing to be a pattern sort of man with regard to rights and property--for instance 7to name trifling points1 which of course give a better proof of this sort of pattern nature than great examples71 if as a boy one never steals fruit from another's orchard1 and as a man never walks on unmown fields4 ,it is but little2 you are then still only a 8law-abiding person10 with just that degree of morality of which a 8society10 a group of human beings1 is capable4 #cjd4 8,,man60--,what is the vanity of the vainest individual as compared with the vanity which the most modest person feels when he thinks of his position in nature and in the world as 8,man60 #cje4 ,,the ,,most ,,necessary ,,gymnastic4--,through deficiency in self-control in small matters a similar deficiency on great occasions slowly arises4 ,every day on which we have not at least once denied ourselves some trifle is turned to bad use and a danger to the next day4 ,this gymnastic is indispensable if we wish to maintain the joy of being our own master4 #cjf4 ,,losing ,,ourselves4--,when we have first found ourselves1 we must understand how from time to time to lose ourselves and then to find ourselves again4--,this is true on the assumption that we are thinkers4 ,a thinker finds it a drawback always to be tied to one person4 #cjg4 ,,when ,,it ,,is ,,necessary ,,to ,,part4--,you must1 for a time at least1 part from that which you want to know and measure4 ,only when you have left a city do you see how high its towers rise above its houses4 #cjh4 ,,at ,,noontide4--,he to whom an active and stormy morning of life is allotted1 at the noontide of life feels his soul overcome by a strange longing for a rest that may last for months and years4 ,all grows silent around him1 voices sound farther and farther in the distance1 the sun shines straight down upon him4 ,on a hidden woodland sward he sees the great ,god ,pan sleeping1 and with ,pan ,nature seems to him to have gone to sleep with an expression of eternity on their faces4 ,he wants nothing1 he troubles about nothing2 his heart stands still1 only his eye lives4 ,it is a death with waking eyes4 ,then man sees much that he never saw before1 and1 so far as his eye can reach1 all is woven into and as it were buried in a net of light4 ,he feels happy1 but it is a heavy1 very heavy kind of happiness4--,then at last the wind stirs in the trees1 noontide is over1 life carries him away again1 life with its blind eyes1 and its tempestuous retinue behind it--desire1 illusion1 oblivion1 enjoyment1 destruction1 decay4 ,and so comes evening1 more stormy and more active than was even the morning4--,to the really active man these prolonged phases of cognition seem almost uncanny and morbid1 but not unpleasant4 #cji4 ,,to ,,beware ,,of ,,one',s ,,portrait-,,painter4--,a great painter1 who in a portrait has revealed and put on canvas the fullest expression and look of which a man is capable1 will almost always think1 when he sees the man later in real life1 that he is only looking at a caricature4 #caj4 ,,the ,,two ,,principles ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,life4--,first ,principle3 to arrange one's life on the most secure and tangible basis1 not as hitherto upon the most distant1 undetermined1 and cloudy foundation4 ,second ,principle3 to establish the rank of the nearest and nearer things1 and of the more and less secure1 before one arranges one's life and directs it to a final end4 #caa4 ,,dangerous ,,irritability4--,talented men who are at the same time idle will always appear somewhat irritated when one of their friends has accomplished a thorough piece of work4 ,their jealousy is awakened1 they are ashamed of their own laziness1 or rather1 they fear that their active friend will now despise them even more than before4 ,in such a mood they criticise the new achievement1 and1 to the utter astonishment of the author1 their criticism becomes a revenge4 #cab4 ,,destructions ,,of ,,illusions4--,illusions are certainly expensive amusements2 but the destruction of illusions is still more expensive1 if looked upon as an amusement1 as it undoubtedly is by some people4 #cac4 ,,the ,,monotone ,,of ,,the 8,,sage40--,cows sometimes have a look of wondering which stops short on the path to questioning4 ,in the eye of the higher intelligence1 on the other hand1 the nil admirari is spread out like the monotony of the cloudless sky4 #cad4 ,,not ,,to ,,be ,,ill ,,too ,,long4--,we should beware of being ill too long4 ,the lookers-on become impatient of their customary duty of showing sympathy1 because they find it too much trouble to maintain the appearance of this emotion for any length of time4 ,then they immediately pass to suspicion of our character1 with the conclusion3 8,you deserve to be ill1 and we need no longer be at pains to show our sympathy40 #cae4 ,a ,,hint ,,to ,,enthusiasts4--,he who likes to be carried away1 and would fain be carried on high1 must beware lest he become too heavy4 ,for instance1 he must not learn much1 and especially not let himself be crammed with science4 ,science makes men ponderous--take care1 ye enthusiasts6 #caf4 ,,knowledge ,,of ,,how ,,to ,,surprise ,,oneself4--,he who would see himself as he is1 must know how to surprise himself1 torch in hand4 ,for with the mind it is as with the body3 whoever is accustomed to look at himself in the glass forgets his ugliness1 and only recognises it again by means of the portrait-painter4 ,yet he even grows used to the picture and forgets his ugliness all over again4--,herein we see the universal law that man cannot endure unalterable ugliness1 unless for a moment4 ,he forgets or denies it in all cases4--,the moralists must reckon upon that 8moment0 for bringing forward their truths4 #cag4 ,,opinions ,,and ,,fish4--,we are possessors of our opinions as of fish--that is1 in so far as we are possessors of a fish pond4 ,we must go fishing and have luck--then we have our fish1 our opinions4 ,i speak here of live opinions1 of live fish4 ,others are content to possess a cabinet of fossils--and1 in their head1 8convictions40 #cah4 ,,signs ,,of ,,freedom ,,and ,,servitude4--,to satisfy one's needs so far as possible oneself1 even if imperfectly1 is the path towards freedom in mind and personality4 ,to satisfy many even superfluous needs1 and that as fully as possible1 is a training for servitude4 ,the ,sophist ,hippias1 who himself earned and made all that he wore within and without1 is the representative of the highest freedom of mind and personality4 ,it does not matter whether all is done equally well and perfectly--pride can repair the damaged places4 #cai4 ,,belief ,,in ,,oneself4--,in our times we mistrust every one who believes in himself4 ,formerly this was enough to make people believe in one4 ,the recipe for finding faith now runs3 8,spare not thyself6 ,in order to set thy opinion in a credible light1 thou must first set fire to thy own hut60 #cbj4 ,,at ,,once ,,richer ,,and ,,poorer4--,i know a man who accustomed himself even in childhood to think well of the intellectuality of mankind--in other words1 of their real devotion as regards things of the intellect1 their unselfish preference for that which is recognised as true--but who had at the same time a modest or even depreciatory view of his own brain 7judgment1 memory1 presence of mind1 imagination74 ,he set no value on himself when he compared himself with others4 ,now in the course of years he was compelled1 first once and then in a hundred ways1 to revise this verdict4 ,one would have thought he would be thoroughly satisfied and delighted4 ,such1 in fact1 was to some extent the case1 but1 as he once said1 8,yet a bitterness of the deepest dye is mingled with my feeling1 such as ,i did not know in earlier life2 for since ,i learnt to value men and myself more correctly1 my intellect seems to me of less use4 ,i scarcely think ,i can now do any good at all with it1 because the minds of others cannot understand the good4 ,i now always see before me the frightful gulf between those who could give help and those who need help4 ,so ,i am troubled by the misfortune of having my intellect to myself and of being forced to enjoy it alone so far as it can give any enjoyment4 ,but to give is more blessed than to possess1 and what is the richest man in the solitude of a desert807#bh7 #cba4 ,,how ,,we ,,should ,,attack4--,the reasons for which men believe or do not believe are in very few people as strong as they might be4 ,as a rule1 in order to shake a belief it is far from necessary to use the heaviest weapon of attack4 ,many attain their object by merely making the attack with some noise--in fact1 pop-guns are often enough4 ,in dealing with very vain persons1 the semblance of a strong attack is enough4 ,they think they are being taken quite seriously1 and readily give way4 #cbb4 ,,death4--,through the certain prospect of death a precious1 fragrant drop of frivolity might be mixed with every life--and now1 you singular druggist-souls1 you have made of death a drop of poison1 unpleasant to taste1 which makes the whole of life hideous4 #cbc4 ,,repentance4--,never allow repentance free play1 but say at once to yourself1 8,that would be adding a second piece of folly to the first40 ,if you have worked evil1 you must bethink yourself of doing good4 ,if you are punished for your actions1 submit to the punishment with the feeling that by this very submission you are somehow doing good1 in that you are deterring others from falling into the same error4 ,every malefactor who is punished has a right to consider himself a benefactor to mankind4 #cbd4 ,,becoming ,a ,,thinker4--,how can any one become a thinker if he does not spend at least a third part of the day without passions1 men1 and books8 #cbe4 ,,the ,,best ,,remedy4--,a little health on and off is the best remedy for the invalid4 #cbf4 ,,don',t ,,touch4--,there are dreadful people who1 instead of solving a problem1 complicate it for those who deal with it and make it harder to solve47#bi7 ,whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be entreated not to hit the nail at all4 #cbg4 ,,forgetting ,,nature4--,we speak of ,nature1 and1 in doing so1 forget ourselves3 we ourselves are ,nature1 quand mme4--,consequently1 ,nature is something quite different from what we feel on hearing her name pronounced4 #cbh4 ,,profundity ,,and ,,ennui4--,in the case of profound men1 as of deep wells1 it takes a long time before anything that is thrown into them reaches the bottom4 ,the spectators1 who generally do not wait long enough1 too readily look upon such a man as callous and hard--or even as boring4 #cbi4 ,,when ,,it ,,is ,,time ,,to ,,vow ,,fidelity ,,to ,,oneself4--,we sometimes go astray in an intellectual direction which does not correspond to our talents4 ,for a time we struggle heroically against wind and tide1 really against ourselves2 but finally we become weary and we pant4 ,what we accomplish gives us no real pleasure1 since we think that we have paid too heavy a price for these successes4 ,we even despair of our productivity1 of our future1 perhaps in the midst of victory4--,finally1 finally we turn back--and then the wind swells our sails and bears us into our smooth water4 ,what bliss6 ,how certain of victory we feel6 ,only now do we know what we are and what we intend1 and now we vow fidelity to ourselves1 and have a right to do so--as men that know4 #ccj4 ,,weather ,,prophets4--,just as the clouds reveal to us the direction of the wind high above our heads1 so the lightest and freest spirits give signs of future weather by their course4 ,the wind in the valley and the market-place opinions of to-day have no significance for the future1 but only for the past4 #cca4 ,,continual ,,acceleration4--,those who begin slowly and find it hard to become familiar with a subject1 sometimes acquire afterwards the quality of continual acceleration--so that in the end no one knows where the current will take them4 #ccb4 ,,the ,,three ,,good ,,things4--,greatness1 calm1 sunlight--these three embrace all that a thinker desires and also demands of himself3 his hopes and duties1 his claims in the intellectual and moral sphere1 nay even in his daily manner of life and the scenic background of his residence4 ,corresponding to these three things are1 firstly thoughts that exalt1 secondly thoughts that soothe1 and thirdly thoughts that illuminate--but1 fourthly1 thoughts that share in all these three qualities1 in which all earthly things are transfigured4 ,this is the kingdom of the great trinity of joy4 #ccc4 ,,dying ,,for 8,,truth40--,we should not let ourselves be burnt for our opinions--we are not so certain of them as all that4 ,but we might let ourselves be burnt for the right of possessing and changing our opinions4 #ccd4 ,,market ,,value4--,if we wish to pass exactly for what we are1 we must be something that has its market value4 ,as1 however1 only objects in common use have a market value1 this desire is the consequence either of shrewd modesty or of stupid immodesty4 #cce4 ,,moral ,,for ,,builders4--,we must remove the scaffolding when the house has been built4 #ccf4 ,,sophocleanism4--,who poured more water into wine than the ,greeks8 ,sobriety and grace combined--that was the aristocratic privilege of the ,athenian in the time of ,sophocles and after4 ,imitate that whoever can6 ,in life and in work6 #ccg4 ,,heroism4--,the heroic consists in doing something great 7or in nobly not doing something7 without feeling oneself to be in competition with or before others4 ,the hero carries with him1 wherever he goes1 the wilderness and the holy land with inviolable precincts4 #cch4 ,,finding ,,our 8,,double0 ,,in ,,nature4--,in some country places we rediscover ourselves1 with a delightful shudder3 it is the pleasantest way of finding our 8double40--,how happy must he be who has that feeling just here1 in this perpetually sunny ,october air1 in this happy elfin play of the wind from morn till eve1 in this clearest of atmospheres and mildest of temperatures1 in all the serious yet cheerful landscape of hill1 lake1 and forest on this plateau1 which has encamped fearlessly next to the terrors of eternal snow3 here1 where ,italy and ,finland have joined hands1 and where the home of all the silver colour-tones of ,nature seems to be established4 ,how happy must he be who can say1 8,true1 there are many grander and finer pieces of scenery1 but this is so familiar and intimate to me1 related by blood1 nay even more to me60 #cci4 ,,affability ,,of ,,the ,,sage4--,the sage will unconsciously be affable in his intercourse with other men1 as a prince would be1 and will readily treat them as equals1 in spite of all differences of talent1 rank1 and character4 ,for this characteristic1 however1 so soon as people notice it1 he is most heavily censured4 #cdj4 ,,gold4--,all that is gold does not glitter4 ,a soft sheen characterises the most precious metal4 #cda4 ,,wheel ,,and ,,drag4--,the wheel and the drag have different duties1 but also one in common--that of hurting each other4 #cdb4 ,,disturbances ,,of ,,the ,,thinker4--,all that interrupts the thinker in his thoughts 7disturbs him1 as people say7 must be regarded by him calmly1 as a new model who comes in by the door to offer himself to the artist4 ,interruptions are the ravens which bring food to the recluse4 #cdc4 ,,being ,,very ,,clever4--,being very clever keeps men young1 but they must put up with being considered1 for that very reason1 older than they are4 ,for men read the handwriting of the intellect as signs of experience--that is1 of having lived much and evilly1 of suffering1 error1 and repentance4 ,hence1 if we are very clever and show it1 we appear to them older and wickeder than we are4 #cdd4 ,,how ,,we ,,must ,,conquer4--,we ought not to desire victory if we only have the prospect of overcoming our opponent by a hair's breadth4 ,a good victory makes the vanquished rejoice1 and must have about it something divine which spares humiliation4 #cde4 ,,an ,,illusion ,,of ,,superior ,,minds4--,superior minds find it difficult to free themselves from an illusion2 for they imagine that they excite envy among the mediocre and are looked upon as exceptions4 ,as a matter of fact1 however1 they are looked upon as superfluous1 as something that would not be missed if it did not exist4 #cdf4 ,,demanded ,,by ,,cleanliness4--,changing opinions is in some natures as much demanded by cleanliness as changing clothes4 ,in the case of other natures it is only demanded by vanity4 #cdg4 ,,also ,,worthy ,,of ,a ,,hero4--,here is a hero who did nothing but shake the tree as soon as the fruits were ripe4 ,do you think that too small a thing8 ,well1 just look at the tree that he shook4 #cdh4 ,a ,,gauge ,,for ,,wisdom4--,the growth of wisdom may be gauged exactly by the diminution of ill-temper4 #cdi4 ,,expressing ,,an ,,error ,,disagreeably4--,it is not to every one's taste to hear truth pleasantly expressed4 ,but let no one at least believe that error will become truth if it is disagreeably expressed4 #cej4 ,,the ,,golden ,,maxim4--,man has been bound with many chains1 in order that he may forget to comport himself like an animal4 ,and indeed he has become more gentle1 more intellectual1 more joyous1 more meditative than any animal4 ,but now he still suffers from having carried his chains so long1 from having been so long without pure air and free movement--these chains1 however1 are1 as ,i repeat again and again1 the ponderous and significant errors of moral1 religious1 and metaphysical ideas4 ,only when the disease of chains is overcome is the first great goal reached--the separation of man from the brute4 ,at present we stand in the midst of our work of removing the chains1 and in doing so we need the strictest precautions4 ,only the ennobled man may be granted freedom of spirit2 to him alone comes the alleviation of life and heals his wounds2 he is the first who can say that he lives for the sake of joy1 with no other aim2 in any other mouth1 his motto of 8,peace around me and goodwill towards all the most familiar things10 would be dangerous4--,in this motto for single individuals he is thinking of an ancient saying1 magnificent and pathetic1 which applied to all1 and has remained standing above all mankind1 as a motto and a beacon whereby shall perish all who adorn their banner too early--the rock on which ,christianity foundered4 ,it is not even yet time1 it seems1 for all men to have the lot of those shepherds who saw the heavens lit up above them and heard the words3 8,peace on earth and goodwill to one another among men40--,it is still the age of the individual4 ,the ,shadow3 ,of all that you have enunciated1 nothing pleased me more than one promise3 8,ye want again to be good neighbours to the most familiar things40 ,this will be to the advantage of us poor shadows too4 ,for do but confess that you have hitherto been only too fond of reviling us4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,reviling8 ,but why did you never defend yourselves8 ,after all1 you were very close to our ears4 ,the ,shadow3 ,it seemed to us that we were too near you to have a right to talk of ourselves4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,what delicacy6 ,ah1 you shadows are 8better men07#cj7 than we1 ,i can see that4 ,the ,shadow3 ,and yet you called us 8importunate0--us1 who know one thing at least extremely well3 how to be silent and to wait--no ,englishman knows it better4 ,it is true we are very1 very often in the retinue of men1 but never as their bondsmen4 ,when man shuns light1 we shun man--so far1 at least1 we are free4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,ah1 light shuns man far oftener1 and then also you abandon him4 ,the ,shadow3 ,it has often pained me to leave you4 ,i am eager for knowledge1 and much in man has remained obscure to me1 because ,i cannot always be in his company4 ,at the price of complete knowledge of man ,i would gladly be your slave4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,do you know1 do ,i know1 whether you would not then unwittingly become master instead of slave8 ,or would remain a slave indeed1 but would lead a life of humiliation and disgust because you despised your master8 ,let us both be content with freedom such as you have enjoyed up to now--you and ,i6 ,for the sight of a being not free would embitter my greatest joys2 all that is best would be repugnant to me if any one had to share it with me--,i will not hear of any slaves about me4 ,that is why ,i do not care for the dog1 that lazy1 tail-wagging parasite1 who first became 8doggish0 as the slave of man1 and of whom they still say that he is loyal to his master and follows him like---- ,the ,shadow3 ,like his shadow1 they say4 ,perhaps ,i have already followed you too long to-day8 ,it has been the longest day1 but we are nearing the end2 be patient a little more6 ,the grass is damp2 ,i am feeling chilly4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,oh1 is it already time to part8 ,and ,i had to hurt you in the end--,i saw you became darker4 ,the ,shadow3 ,i blushed the only colour ,i have at command4 ,i remembered that ,i had often lain at your feet like a dog1 and that you then---- ,the ,wanderer3 ,can ,i not with all speed do something to please you8 ,have you no wish8 ,the ,shadow3 ,none1 except perhaps the wish that the philosophic 8dog07#ca7 expressed to ,alexander the ,great--just move a little out of my light2 ,i feel cold4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,what am ,i to do8 ,the ,shadow3 ,walk under those fir-trees and look around you towards the mountains2 the sun is sinking4 ,the ,wanderer3 ,where are you8 ,where are you8 ,,footnotes #a 8,foreword0 and 8forword0 would be the literal rendering of the play on words4--,,tr4 #b ,the allusion is to the ending of the ,second ,part of ,goethe's ,faust--8das ,ewig ,weibliche ,zieht uns hinan60--8,the ,eternal ,feminine ,draweth us on60--,,tr4 #c ,it has been attempted to render the play on 8,gewissen0 and 8,wissen40--,,tr4 #d ,cf4 ,john i4 #a4--,,tr4 #e ,the ,german word ,mitfreude1 coined by ,nietzsche in opposition to ,mitleid 7sympathy71 is untranslateable4--,,tr4 #f ,herostratus of ,ephesus 7in #cef ,b4,c47 set fire to the temple of ,diana in order 7as he confessed on the rack7 to gain notoriety4--,,tr4 #g ,quotation from ,schiller1 ,don ,carlos1 i4 #e4--,,tr4 #h ,this1 of course1 refers to ,jesus and ,socrates4--,,tr4 #i ,queen of the ,amazons1 slain by ,achilles in the ,trojan ,war4--,,tr4 #aj ,from ,schiller1 ,wallenstein's ,lager3 8,wer den ,besten seiner ,zeit genug gethan1 der hat gelebt fr alle ,zeiten0 78,he that has satisfied the best men of his time has lived for all time074 #aa ,in ,german ,barockstil1 i4e4 the degenerate post-,renaissance style in art and literature1 which spread from ,italy in the seventeenth century4--,,tr4 #ab ,the original word1 ,freizgig1 means1 in the modern ,german ,empire1 possessing the free right of migration1 without pecuniary burdens or other restrictions1 from one ,german state to another4 ,the play on words in ,zug zur ,freiheit 78impulse to freedom07 is untranslateable4--,,tr4 #ac ,nietzsche seems to allude to his own case1 for he ultimately contracted a myopia which bordered on blindness4--,,tr4 #ad ,the play on bergen 7shelter7 and verbergen 7hide7 is untranslateable4--,,tr4 #ae ,allusion to ,german proverb3 8,where there is nothing1 the ,emperor has lost his rights40--,,tr4 #af ,genesis xiii4 #i4--,,tr4 #ag ,luke viii4 #cc4--,,tr4 #ah ,the play on ,freudenschaften 7i4e4 pleasure-giving passions7 and ,leidenschaften 7i4e4 pain-giving passions7 is often used by ,nietzsche1 and is untranslateable4--,tr4 #ai ,the wife of the ,stoic ,thrasea ,paetus1 when their complicity in the great conspiracy of #fe ,a4,d4 against ,nero was discovered1 is reported to have said as she committed suicide1 8,it doesn't hurt1 ,paetus40--,tr4 #bj ,it is interesting to compare this judgment with ,carlyle's praise of ,jean ,paul4 ,the dressing-gown is an allusion to ,jean ,paul's favourite costume4--,,tr4 #ba ,the ,german copyright expires thirty years after publication4--,,tr4 #bb ,nietzsche himself was extremely short-sighted4--,,tr4 #bc ,in the sixth century ,b4,c4 ,pythagoras founded at ,croton a 8school0 somewhat resembling a monastic order4 ,among the ordeals for novitiates was enforced silence for five years4--,,tr4 #bd ,in the ,german ,aufklrung there is a play on the sense 8clearing up0 7of weather7 and 8enlightenment40--,,tr4 #be ,stendhal4--,,tr4 #bf ,a transposition of sacrifizio dell' intelletto1 the ,jesuit maxim4--,,tr4 #bg ,the original1 by a curious slip1 has 8seventh40--,,tr4 #bh ,clearly autobiographical4 ,nietzsche1 like all great men1 passed through a period of modesty and doubt4--,,tr4 #bi ,nietzsche here alludes to his own countrymen4--,,tr4 #cj ,an allusion to the poem 8,der ,wilde0 7,the ,savage7 by ,sume1 which ends with the line1 8,sehet1 wir wilden sind doch bessere ,menschen0 7,behold1 after all1 we savages are better men74--,,tr4 #ca ,diogenes1 founder of the ,cynic school1 which derived its name from 7dog74--,,tr4