,,the ,,case ,,of ,,wagner ,,by ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche ,i ,,the ,,case ,,of ,,wagner ,,ii ,,nietzsche ,,contra ,,wagner ,,iii ,,selected ,,aphorisms ,,translated ,,by ,,anthony ,m4 ,,ludovici ,,iv ,,we ,,philologists ,,translated ,,by ,j4 ,m4 ,,kennedy ,illustration ,the ,complete ,works of ,friedrich ,nietzsche ,the ,first ,complete and ,authorised ,english ,translation ,edited by ,dr ,oscar ,levy ,volume ,six ,t4,n4 ,,foulis #ac #ae ,,frederick ,,street ,,edinburgh3 ,,and ,,london #aiaa ,,contents ,,translator',s ,,preface ,,translator',s ,,preface ,,to ,,third ,,edition ,,author',s ,,preface ,,the ,,case ,,of ,,wagner ,,nietzsche ,,contra ,,wagner ,,selected ,,aphorisms ,,translator',s ,,introduction ,,to ,,we ,,philologists ,,we ,,philologists ,,translator',s ,,preface4 ,nietzsche wrote the rough draft of ,the ,case of ,wagner in ,turin1 during the month of ,may #ahhh2 he completed it in ,sils ,maria towards the end of ,june of the same year1 and it was published in the following autumn4 ,nietzsche contra ,wagner was written about the middle of ,december #ahhh2 but1 although it was printed and corrected before the ,new ,year1 it was not published until long afterwards owing to ,nietzsche's complete breakdown in the first days of #ahhi4 ,in reading these two essays we are apt to be deceived1 by their virulent and forcible tone1 into believing that the whole matter is a mere cover for hidden fire1--a mere blind of sthetic discussion concealing a deep and implacable personal feud which demands and will have vengeance4 ,in spite of all that has been said to the contrary1 many people still hold this view of the two little works before us2 and1 as the actual facts are not accessible to every one1 and rumours are more easily believed than verified1 the error of supposing that these pamphlets were dictated by personal animosity1 and even by ,nietzsche's envy of ,wagner in his glory1 seems to be a pretty common one4 ,another very general error is to suppose that the point at issue here is not one concerning music at all1 but concerning religion4 ,it is taken for granted that the aspirations1 the particular quality1 the influence1 and the method of an art like music1 are matters quite distinct from the values and the conditions prevailing in the culture with which it is in harmony1 and that however many ,christian elements may be discovered in ,wagnerian texts1 ,nietzsche had no right to raise sthetic objections because he happened to entertain the extraordinary view that these ,christian elements had also found their way into ,wagnerian music4 ,to both of these views there is but one reply3--they are absolutely false4 ,in the ,ecce ,homo1 ,nietzsche's autobiography1--a book which from cover to cover and line for line is sincerity itself--we learn what ,wagner actually meant to ,nietzsche4 ,on pages #da1 #dd1 #hd1 #abb1 #abi1 c1 we cannot doubt that ,nietzsche is speaking from his heart1--and what does he say8 --,in impassioned tones he admits his profound indebtedness to the great musician1 his love for him1 his gratitude to him1--how ,wagner was the only ,german who had ever been anything to him--how his friendship with ,wagner constituted the happiest and most valuable experience of his life1--how his breach with ,wagner almost killed him4 ,and1 when we remember1 too1 that ,wagner on his part also declared that he was alone after he had lost that man 7,nietzsche71 we begin to perceive that personal bitterness and animosity are out of the question here4 ,we feel we are on a higher plane1 and that we must not judge these two men as if they were a couple of little business people who had had a suburban squabble4 ,nietzsche declares 7,ecce ,homo1 p4 #bd7 that he never attacked persons as persons4 ,if he used a name at all1 it was merely as a means to an end1 just as one might use a magnifying glass in order to make a general1 but elusive and intricate fact more clear and more apparent2 and if he used the name of ,david ,strauss1 without bitterness or spite 7for he did not even know the man71 when he wished to personify ,culture-,philistinism1 so1 in the same spirit1 did he use the name of ,wagner1 when he wished to personify the general decadence of modern ideas1 values1 aspirations and ,art4 ,nietzsche's ambition1 throughout his life1 was to regenerate ,european culture4 ,in the first period of his relationship with ,wagner1 he thought that he had found the man who was prepared to lead in this direction4 ,for a long while he regarded his master as the ,saviour of ,germany1 as the innovator and renovator who was going to arrest the decadent current of his time and lead men to a greatness which had died with antiquity4 ,and so thoroughly did he understand his duties as a disciple1 so wholly was he devoted to this cause1 that1 in spite of all his unquestioned gifts and the excellence of his original achievements1 he was for a long while regarded as a mere literary lackey in ,wagner's service1 in all those circles where the rising musician was most disliked4 ,gradually1 however1 as the young ,nietzsche developed and began to gain an independent view of life and humanity1 it seemed to him extremely doubtful whether ,wagner actually was pulling the same way with him4 ,whereas1 theretofore1 he had identified ,wagner's ideals with his own1 it now dawned upon him slowly that the regeneration of ,german culture1 of ,european culture1 and the trans-valuation of values which would be necessary for this regeneration1 really lay off the track of ,wagnerism4 ,he saw that he had endowed ,wagner with a good deal that was more his own than ,wagner's4 ,in his love he had transfigured the friend1 and the composer of ,parsifal and the man of his imagination were not one4 ,the fact was realised step by step2 disappointment upon disappointment1 revelation after revelation1 ultimately brought it home to him1 and though his best instincts at first opposed it1 the revulsion of feeling at last became too strong to be scouted1 and ,nietzsche was plunged into the blackest despair4 ,had he followed his own human inclinations1 he would probably have remained ,wagner's friend until the end4 ,as it was1 however1 he remained loyal to his cause1 and this meant denouncing his former idol4 ,joyful ,wisdom1 ,thus ,spake ,zarathustra1 ,beyond ,good and ,evil1 ,the ,genealogy of ,morals1 ,the ,twilight of the ,idols1 ,the ,antichrist --all these books were but so many exhortations to mankind to step aside from the general track now trodden by ,europeans4 ,and what happened8 ,wagner began to write some hard things about ,nietzsche2 the world assumed that ,nietzsche and ,wagner had engaged in a paltry personal quarrel in the press1 and the whole importance of the real issue was buried beneath the human1 all-too-human interpretations which were heaped upon it4 ,nietzsche was a musician of no mean attainments4 ,for a long while1 in his youth1 his superiors had been doubtful whether he should not be educated for a musical career1 so great were his gifts in this art2 and if his mother had not been offered a six-years' scholarship for her son at the famous school of ,pforta1 ,nietzsche1 the scholar and philologist1 would probably have been an able composer4 ,when he speaks about music1 therefore1 he knows what he is talking about1 and when he refers to ,wagner's music in particular1 the simple fact of his long intimacy with ,wagner during the years at ,tribschen1 is a sufficient guarantee of his deep knowledge of the subject4 ,now ,nietzsche was one of the first to recognise that the principles of art are inextricably bound up with the laws of life1 that an sthetic dogma may therefore promote or depress all vital force1 and that a picture1 a symphony1 a poem or a statue1 is just as capable of being pessimistic1 anarchic1 ,christian or revolutionary1 as a philosophy or a science is4 ,to speak of a certain class of music as being compatible with the decline of culture1 therefore1 was to ,nietzsche a perfectly warrantable association of ideas1 and that is why1 throughout his philosophy1 so much stress is laid upon sthetic considerations4 ,but if in ,england and ,america ,nietzsche's attack on ,wagner's art may still seem a little incomprehensible1 let it be remembered that the ,continent has long known that ,nietzsche was actually in the right ,every year thousands are now added to the large party abroad who have ceased from believing in the great musical revolutionary of the seventies2 that he was one with the ,french ,romanticists and rebels has long since been acknowledged a fact in select circles1 both in ,france and ,germany1 and if we still have ,wagner with us in ,england1 if we still consider ,nietzsche as a heretic1 when he declares that ,wagner was a musician for unmusical people1 it is only because we are more removed than we imagine1 from all the great movements1 intellectual and otherwise1 which take place on the ,continent4 ,in ,wagner's music1 in his doctrine1 in his whole concept of art1 ,nietzsche saw the confirmation1 the promotion--aye1 even the encouragement1 of that decadence and degeneration which is now rampant in ,europe2 and it is for this reason1 although to the end of his life he still loved ,wagner1 the man and the friend1 that we find him1 on the very eve of his spiritual death1 exhorting us to abjure ,wagner the musician and the artist4 ,,anthony ,m4 ,,ludovici4 ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,third ,,edition#a ,in spite of the adverse criticism with which the above preface has met at the hands of many reviewers since the summer of last year1 ,i cannot say that ,i should feel justified1 even after mature consideration1 in altering a single word or sentence it contains4 ,if ,i felt inclined to make any changes at all1 these would take the form of extensive additions1 tending to confirm rather than to modify the general argument it advances2 but1 any omissions of which ,i may have been guilty in the first place1 have been so fully rectified since1 thanks to the publication of the ,english translations of ,daniel ,halvy's and ,henri ,lichtenberger's works1 ,the ,life of ,friedrich ,nietzsche1#b and ,the ,gospel of ,superman1#c respectively1 that1 were it not for the fact that the truth about this matter cannot be repeated too often1 ,i should have refrained altogether from including any fresh remarks of my own in this ,third ,edition4 ,in the works just referred to 7pp4 #abi et seq4 in ,halvy's book1 and pp4 #gh et seq4 in ,lichtenberger's book71 the statement ,i made in my preface to ,thoughts out of ,season1 vol4 i41 and which ,i did not think it necessary to repeat in my first preface to these pamphlets1 will be found to receive the fullest confirmation4 ,the statement in question was to the effect that many long years before these pamphlets were even projected1 ,nietzsche's apparent volte-face in regard to his hero ,wagner had been not only foreshadowed1 but actually stated in plain words1 in two works written during his friendship with ,wagner1--the works referred to being ,the ,birth of ,tragedy 7#ahgb71 and ,wagner in ,bayreuth 7#ahge7 of which ,houston ,stuart ,chamberlain declares not only that it possesses undying classical worth but that a perusal of it is indispensable to all who wish to follow the question of ,wagner to its roots4#d ,the idea that runs through the present work like a leitmotif--the idea that ,wagner was at bottom more of a mime than a musician--was so far an ever present thought with ,nietzsche that it is even impossible to ascertain the period when it was first formulated4 ,in ,nietzsche's wonderful autobiography 7,ecce ,homo1 p4 #hh71 in the section dealing with the early works just mentioned1 we find the following passage3 ,in the second of the two essays ,wagner in ,bayreuth with a profound certainty of instinct1 ,i already characterised the elementary factor in ,wagner's nature as a theatrical talent which1 in all his means and aspirations1 draws its final conclusions4 ,and as early as #ahgd1 ,nietzsche wrote in his diary3--,wagner is a born actor4 ,just as ,goethe was an abortive painter1 and ,schiller an abortive orator1 so ,wagner was an abortive theatrical genius4 ,his attitude to music is that of the actor2 for he knows how to sing and speak1 as it were out of different souls and from absolutely different worlds 7,tristan and the ,meistersinger74 ,there is1 however1 no need to multiply examples1 seeing1 as ,i have said1 that in the translations of ,halvy's and ,lichtenberger's books the reader will find all the independent evidence he could possibly desire1 disproving the popular1 and even the learned belief that1 in the two pamphlets before us we have a complete1 apparently unaccountable1 and therefore demented volte-face on ,nietzsche's part4 ,nevertheless1 for fear lest some doubt should still linger in certain minds concerning this point1 and with the view of adding interest to these essays1 the ,editor considered it advisable1 in the ,second ,edition1 to add a number of extracts from ,nietzsche's diary of the year #ahgh 7ten years before ,the ,case of ,wagner1 and ,nietzsche contra ,wagner were written7 in order to show to what extent those learned critics who complain of ,nietzsche's morbid and uncontrollable recantations and revulsions of feeling1 have overlooked even the plain facts of the case when forming their all-too-hasty conclusions4 ,these extracts will be found at the end of ,nietzsche contra ,wagner4 ,while reading them1 however1 it should not be forgotten that they were never intended for publication by ,nietzsche himself--a fact which accounts for their unpolished and sketchy form--and that they were first published in vol4 xi4 of the first ,german ,library ,edition 7pp4 #ii-abi7 only when he was a helpless invalid1 in #ahig4 ,since then1 in #aija and #aijf respectively1 they have been reprinted1 once in the large ,german ,library ,edition 7vol4 xi4 pp4 #aha-bjb71 and once in the ,german ,pocket ,edition1 as an appendix to ,human-,all-too-,human1 ,part ,,ii4 ,an altogether special interest now attaches to these pamphlets2 for1 in the first place we are at last in possession of ,wagner's own account of his development1 his art1 his aspirations and his struggles1 in the amazing self-revelation entitled ,my ,life#e2 and secondly1 we now have ,ecce ,homo1 ,nietzsche's autobiography1 in which we learn for the first time from ,nietzsche's own pen to what extent his history was that of a double devotion--to ,wagner on the one hand1 and to his own life task1 the ,transvaluation of all ,values1 on the other4 ,readers interested in the ,nietzsche-,wagner controversy will naturally look to these books for a final solution of all the difficulties which the problem presents4 ,but let them not be too sanguine4 ,from first to last this problem is not to be settled by facts4 ,a good deal of instinctive choice1 instinctive aversion1 and instinctive suspicion are necessary here4 ,a little more suspicion1 for instance1 ought to be applied to ,wagner's ,my ,life1 especially in ,england1 where critics are not half suspicious enough about a continental artist's self-revelations1 and are too prone1 if they have suspicions at all1 to apply them in the wrong place4 ,an example of this want of finesse in judging foreign writers is to be found in ,lord ,morley's work on ,rousseau1--a book which ingenuously takes for granted everything that a writer like ,rousseau cares to say about himself1 without considering for an instant the possibility that ,rousseau might have practised some hypocrisy4 ,in regard to ,wagner's life we might easily fall into the same error--that is to say1 we might take seriously all he says concerning himself and his family affairs4 ,we should beware of this1 and should not even believe ,wagner when he speaks badly about himself4 ,no one speaks badly about himself without a reason1 and the question in this case is to find out the reason4 ,did ,wagner--in the belief that genius was always immoral--wish to pose as an immoral ,egotist1 in order to make us believe in his genius1 of which he himself was none too sure in his innermost heart8 ,did ,wagner wish to appear sincere in his biography1 in order to awaken in us a belief in the sincerity of his music1 which he likewise doubted1 but wished to impress upon the world as true8 ,or did he wish to be thought badly of in connection with things that were not true1 and that consequently did not affect him1 in order to lead us off the scent of true things1 things he was ashamed of and which he wished the world to ignore--just like ,rousseau 7the similarity between the two is more than a superficial one7 who barbarously pretended to have sent his children to the foundling hospital1 in order not to be thought incapable of having had any children at all8 ,in short1 where is the bluff in ,wagner's biography8 ,let us therefore be careful about it1 and all the more so because ,wagner himself guarantees the truth of it in the prefatory note4 ,if we were to be credulous here1 we should moreover be acting in direct opposition to ,nietzsche's own counsel as given in the following aphorisms 7,nos4 #ai and #bj1 p4 #hi73-- ,it is very difficult to trace the course of ,wagner's development1--no trust must be placed in his own description of his soul's experiences4 ,he writes party-pamphlets for his followers4 ,it is extremely doubtful whether ,wagner is able to bear witness about himself4 ,while on p4 #cg 7the note71 we read3--,he ,wagner was not proud enough to be able to suffer the truth about himself4 ,nobody had less pride than he4 ,like ,victor ,hugo he remained true to himself even in his biography1--he remained an actor4 ,however1 as a famous ,english judge has said3-- ,truth will come out1 even in the witness box1 and1 as we may add in this case1 even in an autobiography4 ,there is one statement in ,wagner's ,my ,life which sounds true to my ears at least-a statement which1 in my opinion1 has some importance1 and to which ,wagner himself seems to grant a mysterious significance4 ,i refer to the passage on p4 #ic of vol4 i41 in which ,wagner says3--,owing to the exceptional vivacity and innate susceptibility of my nature 444 ,i gradually became conscious of a certain power of transporting or bewildering my more indolent companions4 ,this seems innocent enough4 ,when1 however1 it is read in conjunction with ,nietzsche's trenchant criticism1 particularly on pp4 #ad1 #ae1 #af1 #ag and #ah of this work1 and also with a knowledge of ,wagner's music1 it becomes one of the most striking passages in ,wagner's autobiography2 for it records how soon he became conscious of his dominant instinct and faculty4 ,i know perfectly well that the ,wagnerites will not be influenced by these remarks4 ,their gratitude to ,wagner is too great for this4 ,he has supplied the precious varnish wherewith to hide the dull ugliness of our civilisation4 ,he has given to souls despairing over the materialism of this world1 to souls despairing of themselves1 and longing to be rid of themselves1 the indispensable hashish and morphia wherewith to deaden their inner discords4 ,these discords are everywhere apparent nowadays4 ,wagner is therefore a common need1 a common benefactor4 ,as such he is bound to be worshipped and adored in spite of all egotistical and theatrical autobiographies4 ,albeit1 signs are not wanting--at least among his ,anglo-,saxon worshippers who stand even more in need of romanticism than their continental brethren1 --which show that1 in order to uphold ,wagner1 people are now beginning to draw distinctions between the man and the artist4 ,they dismiss the man as human-all-too-human1 but they still maintain that there are divine qualities in his music4 ,however distasteful the task of disillusioning these psychological tyros may be1 they should be informed that no such division of a man into two parts is permissible1 save in ,christianity 7--the body and the soul--72 but that outside purely religious spheres it is utterly unwarrantable4 ,there can be no such strange divorce between a bloom and the plant on which it blows1 and has a black woman ever been known to give birth to a white child8 ,wagner1 as ,nietzsche tells us on p4 #ai1 was something complete1 he was a typical decadent1 in whom every sign of 'free will' was lacking1 in whom every feature was necessary4 ,wagner1 allow me to add1 was a typical representative of the nineteenth century1 which was the century of contradictory values1 of opposed instincts1 and of every kind of inner disharmony4 ,the genuine1 the classical artists of that period1 such men as ,heine1 ,goethe1 ,stendhal1 and ,gobineau1 overcame their inner strife1 and each succeeded in making a harmonious whole out of himself--not indeed without a severe struggle2 for everyone of them suffered from being the child of his age1 i4e41 a decadent4 ,the only difference between them and the romanticists lies in the fact that they 7the former7 were conscious of what was wrong with them1 and possessed the will and the strength to overcome their illness2 whereas the romanticists chose the easier alternative--namely1 that of shutting their eyes on themselves4 ,i am just as much a child of my age as ,wagner--i4e41 ,i am a decadent says ,nietzsche4 ,the only difference is that ,i recognised the fact1 that ,i struggled against it4#f ,what ,wagner did was characteristic of all romanticists and contemporary artists3 he drowned and overshouted his inner discord by means of exuberant pathos and wild exaltation4 ,far be it from me to value ,wagner's music in extenso here--this is scarcely a fitting opportunity to do so2--but ,i think it might well be possible to show1 on purely psychological grounds1 how impossible it was for a man like ,wagner to produce real art4 ,for how can harmony1 order1 symmetry1 mastery1 proceed from uncontrolled discord1 disorder1 disintegration1 and chaos8 ,the fact that an art which springs from such a marshy soil may1 like certain paludal plants1 be wonderful1 gorgeous1 and overwhelming1 cannot be denied2 but true art it is not4 ,it is so just as little as ,gothic architecture is1--that style which1 in its efforts to escape beyond the tragic contradiction in its medival heart1 yelled its hysterical cry heavenwards and even melted the stones of its structures into a quivering and fluid jet1 in order to give adequate expression to the painful and wretched conflict then raging between the body and the soul4 ,that ,wagner1 too1 was a great sufferer1 there can be no doubt2 not1 however1 a sufferer from strength1 like a true artist1 but from weakness--the weakness of his age1 which he never overcame4 ,it is for this reason that he should be rather pitied than judged as he is now being judged by his ,german and ,english critics1 who1 with thoroughly neurotic suddenness1 have acknowledged their revulsion of feeling a little too harshly4 ,i have carefully endeavoured not to deride1 or deplore1 or detest 444 says ,spinoza1 but to understand2 and these words ought to be our guide1 not only in the case of ,wagner1 but in all things4 ,inner discord is a terrible affliction and nothing is so certain to produce that nervous irritability which is so trying to the patient as well as to the outer world1 as this so-called spiritual disease4 ,nietzsche was probably quite right when he said the only real and true music that ,wagner ever composed did not consist of his elaborate arias and overtures1 but of ten or fifteen bars which1 dispersed here and there1 gave expression to the composer's profound and genuine melancholy4 ,but this melancholy had to be overcome1 and ,wagner with the blood of a cabotin in his veins1 resorted to the remedy that was nearest to hand--that is to say1 the art of bewildering others and himself4 ,thus he remained ignorant about himself all his life2 for there was1 as ,nietzsche rightly points out 7p4 #cg1 note71 not sufficient pride in the man for him to desire to know or to suffer gladly the truth concerning his real nature4 ,as an actor his ruling passion was vanity2 but in his case it was correlated with a semi-conscious knowledge of the fact that all was not right with him and his art4 ,it was this that caused him to suffer4 ,his egomaniacal behaviour and his almost ,rousseauesque fear and suspicion of others were only the external manifestations of his inner discrepancies4 ,but1 to repeat what ,i have already said1 these abnormal symptoms are not in the least incompatible with ,wagner's music1 they are rather its very cause1 the root from which it springs4 ,in reality1 therefore1 ,wagner the man and ,wagner the artist were undoubtedly one1 and constituted a splendid romanticist4 ,his music as well as his autobiography are proofs of his wonderful gifts in this direction4 ,his success in his time1 as in ours1 is due to the craving of the modern world for actors1 sorcerers1 bewilderers and idealists who are able to conceal the ill-health and the weakness that prevail1 and who please by intoxicating and exalting4 ,but this being so1 the world must not be disappointed to find the hero of a preceding age explode in the next4 ,it must not be astonished to find a disparity between the hero's private life and his elevating art or romantic and idealistic gospel4 ,as long as people will admire heroic attitudes more than heroism1 such disillusionment is bound to be the price of their error4 ,in a truly great man1 life-theory and life-practice1 if seen from a sufficiently lofty point of view1 must and do always agree2 in an actor1 in a romanticist1 in an idealist1 and in a ,christian1 there is always a yawning chasm between the two1 which1 whatever well-meaning critics may do1 cannot be bridged posthumously by acrobatic feats in psychologicis4 ,let anyone apply this point of view to ,nietzsche's life and theory4 ,let anyone turn his life inside out1 not only as he gives it to us in his ,ecce ,homo1 but as we find it related by all his biographers1 friends and foes alike2 and what will be the result8 ,even if we ignore his works--the blooms which blowed from time to time from his life--we absolutely cannot deny the greatness of the man's private practice1 and if we fully understand and appreciate the latter1 we must be singularly deficient in instinct and in flair if we do not suspect that some of this greatness is reflected in his life-task4 ,,anthony ,m4 ,,ludovici4 ,,london1 ,,july #aiaa4 ,footnote #a3 ,it should be noted that the first and second editions of these essays on ,wagner appeared in pamphlet form1 for which the above first preface was written4 ,footnote #b3 ,fisher ,unwin1 #aiaa4 ,footnote #c3 ,t4 ,n4 ,foulis1 #aiaj4 ,footnote #d3 ,see ,richard ,wagner1 by ,houston ,stuart ,chamberlain 7translated by ,g4 ,a4 ,hight71 pp4 #ae1 #af4 ,footnote #e3 ,constable ,co41 #aiaa4 ,footnote #f3 ,see ,author's ,preface to ,the ,case of ,wagner in this volume4 ,,the ,,case ,,of ,,wagner ,a ,,musician',s ,,problem ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,turin1 ,,may #ahhh ,,ridendo ,,dicere ,,severum 444 ,,preface ,i am writing this to relieve my mind4 ,it is not malice alone which makes me praise ,bizet at the expense of ,wagner in this essay4 ,amid a good deal of jesting ,i wish to make one point clear which does not admit of levity4 ,to turn my back on ,wagner was for me a piece of fate2 to get to like anything else whatever afterwards was for me a triumph4 ,nobody1 perhaps1 had ever been more dangerously involved in ,wagnerism1 nobody had defended himself more obstinately against it1 nobody had ever been so overjoyed at ridding himself of it4 ,a long history6--,shall ,i give it a name8--,if ,i were a moralist1 who knows what ,i might not call it6 ,perhaps a piece of self-mastery4--,but the philosopher does not like the moralist1 neither does he like high-falutin' words4444 ,what is the first and last thing that a philosopher demands of himself8 ,to overcome his age in himself1 to become timeless4 ,with what then does the philosopher have the greatest fight8 ,with all that in him which makes him the child of his time4 ,very well then6 ,i am just as much a child of my age as ,wagner--i4e41 ,i am a decadent4 ,the only difference is that ,i recognised the fact1 that ,i struggled against it4 ,the philosopher in me struggled against it4 ,my greatest preoccupation hitherto has been the problem of decadence1 and ,i had reasons for this4 ,good and evil form only a playful subdivision of this problem4 ,if one has trained one's eye to detect the symptoms of decline1 one also understands morality1--one understands what lies concealed beneath its holiest names and tables of values3 e4g41 impoverished life1 the will to nonentity1 great exhaustion4 ,morality denies life4444 ,in order to undertake such a mission ,i was obliged to exercise self-discipline3--,i had to side against all that was morbid in myself including ,wagner1 including ,schopenhauer1 including the whole of modern humanity4--,a profound estrangement1 coldness and soberness towards all that belongs to my age1 all that was contemporary3 and as the highest wish1 ,zarathustra's eye1 an eye which surveys the whole phenomenon--mankind--from an enormous distance1--which look down upon it4--,for such a goal--what sacrifice would not have been worth while8 ,what self-mastery6 ,what self-denial6 ,the greatest event of my life took the form of a recovery4 ,wagner belongs only to my diseases4 ,not that ,i wish to appear ungrateful to this disease4 ,if in this essay ,i support the proposition that ,wagner is harmful1 ,i none the less wish to point out unto whom1 in spite of all1 he is indispensable--to the philosopher4 ,anyone else may perhaps be able to get on without ,wagner3 but the philosopher is not free to pass him by4 ,the philosopher must be the evil conscience of his age1--but to this end he must be possessed of its best knowledge4 ,and what better guide1 or more thoroughly efficient revealer of the soul1 could be found for the labyrinth of the modern spirit than ,wagner8 ,through ,wagner modernity speaks her most intimate language3 it conceals neither its good nor its evil2 it has thrown off all shame4 ,and1 conversely1 one has almost calculated the whole of the value of modernity once one is clear concerning what is good and evil in ,wagner4 ,i can perfectly well understand a musician of to-day who says3 ,i hate ,wagner but ,i can endure no other music4 ,but ,i should also understand a philosopher who said3 ,wagner is modernity in concentrated form4 ,there is no help for it1 we must first be ,wagnerites4444 ,,the ,,case ,,of ,,wagner #a4 ,yesterday--would you believe it8--,i heard ,bizet's masterpiece for the twentieth time4 ,once more ,i attended with the same gentle reverence2 once again ,i did not run away4 ,this triumph over my impatience surprises me4 ,how such a work completes one6 ,through it one almost becomes a masterpiece oneself4--,and1 as a matter of fact1 each time ,i heard ,carmen it seemed to me that ,i was more of a philosopher1 a better philosopher than at other times3 ,i became so forbearing1 so happy1 so ,indian1 so settled4444 ,to sit for five hours3 the first step to holiness6--,may ,i be allowed to say that ,bizet's orchestration is the only one that ,i can endure now8 ,that other orchestration which is all the rage at present--the ,wagnerian--is brutal1 artificial and unsophisticated withal1 hence its appeal to all the three senses of the modern soul at once4 ,how terribly ,wagnerian orchestration affects me6 ,i call it the ,sirocco4 ,a disagreeable sweat breaks out all over me4 ,all my fine weather vanishes4 ,bizet's music seems to me perfect4 ,it comes forward lightly1 gracefully1 stylishly4 ,it is lovable1 it does not sweat4 ,all that is good is easy1 everything divine runs with light feet3 this is the first principle of my sthetics4 ,this music is wicked1 refined1 fatalistic3 and withal remains popular1--it possesses the refinement of a race1 not of an individual4 ,it is rich4 ,it is definite4 ,it builds1 organises1 completes3 and in this sense it stands as a contrast to the polypus in music1 to endless melody4 ,have more painful1 more tragic accents ever been heard on the stage before8 ,and how are they obtained8 ,without grimaces6 ,without counterfeiting of any kind6 ,free from the lie of the grand style6--,in short3 this music assumes that the listener is intelligent even as a musician1--thereby it is the opposite of ,wagner1 who1 apart from everything else1 was in any case the most ill-mannered genius on earth 7,wagner takes us as if 444 he repeats a thing so often that we become desperate1--that we ultimately believe it74 ,and once more3 ,i become a better man when ,bizet speaks to me4 ,also a better musician1 a better listener4 ,is it in any way possible to listen better8--,i even burrow behind this music with my ears4 ,i hear its very cause4 ,i seem to assist at its birth4 ,i tremble before the dangers which this daring music runs1 ,i am enraptured over those happy accidents for which even ,bizet himself may not be responsible4--,and1 strange to say1 at bottom ,i do not give it a thought1 or am not aware how much thought ,i really do give it4 ,for quite other ideas are running through my head the while4444 ,has any one ever observed that music emancipates the spirit8 gives wings to thought8 and that the more one becomes a musician the more one is also a philosopher8 ,the grey sky of abstraction seems thrilled by flashes of lightning2 the light is strong enough to reveal all the details of things2 to enable one to grapple with problems2 and the world is surveyed as if from a mountain top4--,with this ,i have defined philosophical pathos4--,and unexpectedly answers drop into my lap1 a small hailstorm of ice and wisdom1 of problems solved4 ,where am ,i8 ,bizet makes me productive4 ,everything that is good makes me productive4 ,i have gratitude for nothing else1 nor have ,i any other touchstone for testing what is good4 #b4 ,bizet's work also saves2 ,wagner is not the only ,saviour4 ,with it one bids farewell to the damp north and to all the fog of the ,wagnerian ideal4 ,even the action in itself delivers us from these things4 ,from ,mrime it has this logic even in passion1 from him it has the direct line1 inexorable necessity2 but what it has above all else is that which belongs to sub-tropical zones--that dryness of atmosphere1 that limpidezza of the air4 ,here in every respect the climate is altered4 ,here another kind of sensuality1 another kind of sensitiveness and another kind of cheerfulness make their appeal4 ,this music is gay1 but not in a ,french or ,german way4 ,its gaiety is ,african2 fate hangs over it1 its happiness is short1 sudden1 without reprieve4 ,i envy ,bizet for having had the courage of this sensitiveness1 which hitherto in the cultured music of ,europe has found no means of expression1--of this southern1 tawny1 sunburnt sensitiveness4444 ,what a joy the golden afternoon of its happiness is to us6 ,when we look out1 with this music in our minds1 we wonder whether we have ever seen the sea so calm4 ,and how soothing is this ,moorish dancing6 ,how1 for once1 even our insatiability gets sated by its lascivious melancholy6--,and finally love1 love translated back into ,nature6 ,not the love of a cultured girl6--no ,senta-sentimentality4#a ,but love as fate1 as a fatality1 cynical1 innocent1 cruel1--and precisely in this way ,nature6 ,the love whose means is war1 whose very essence is the mortal hatred between the sexes6--,i know no case in which the tragic irony1 which constitutes the kernel of love1 is expressed with such severity1 or in so terrible a formula1 as in the last cry of ,don ,jos with which the work ends3 ,yes1 it is ,i who have killed her1 ,i--my adored ,carmen6 --,such a conception of love 7the only one worthy of a philosopher7 is rare3 it distinguishes one work of art from among a thousand others4 ,for1 as a rule1 artists are no better than the rest of the world1 they are even worse--they misunderstand love4 ,even ,wagner misunderstood it4 ,they imagine that they are selfless in it because they appear to be seeking the advantage of another creature often to their own disadvantage4 ,but in return they want to possess the other creature4444 ,even ,god is no exception to this rule1 he is very far from thinking ,what does it matter to thee whether ,i love thee or not8--,he becomes terrible if he is not loved in return4 ,l'amour--and with this principle one carries one's point against ,gods and men--est de tous les sentiments le plus goste1 et par consquent1 lorsqu'il est bless1 le moins gnreux 7,b4 ,constant74 #c4 ,perhaps you are beginning to perceive how very much this music improves me8--,il faut mditerraniser la musique3 and ,i have my reasons for this principle 7,beyond ,good and ,evil1 pp4 #baf et seq474 ,the return to ,nature1 health1 good spirits1 youth1 virtue6--,and yet ,i was one of the most corrupted ,wagnerites4444 ,i was able to take ,wagner seriously4 ,oh1 this old magician6 what tricks has he not played upon us6 ,the first thing his art places in our hands is a magnifying glass3 we look through it1 and we no longer trust our own eyes4--,everything grows bigger1 even ,wagner grows bigger4444 ,what a clever rattlesnake4 ,throughout his life he rattled resignation1 loyalty1 and purity about our ears1 and he retired from the corrupt world with a song of praise to chastity6 6--,and we believed it all4444 --,but you will not listen to me8 ,you prefer even the problem of ,wagner to that of ,bizet8 ,but neither do ,i underrate it2 it has its charm4 ,the problem of salvation is even a venerable problem4 ,wagner pondered over nothing so deeply as over salvation3 his opera is the opera of salvation4 ,someone always wants to be saved in his operas1--now it is a youth2 anon it is a maid1--this is his problem4--,and how lavishly he varies his leitmotif6 ,what rare and melancholy modulations6 ,if it were not for ,wagner1 who would teach us that innocence has a preference for saving interesting sinners8 7the case in ,tannhuser74 ,or that even the eternal ,jew gets saved and settled down when he marries8 7the case in the ,flying ,dutchman74 ,or that corrupted old females prefer to be saved by chaste young men8 7the case of ,kundry74 ,or that young hysterics like to be saved by their doctor8 7the case in ,lohengrin74 ,or that beautiful girls most love to be saved by a knight who also happens to be a ,wagnerite8 7the case in the ,mastersingers74 ,or that even married women also like to be saved by a knight8 7the case of ,isolde74 ,or that the venerable ,almighty1 after having compromised himself morally in all manner of ways1 is at last delivered by a free spirit and an immoralist8 7the case in the ,ring74 ,admire1 more especially this last piece of wisdom6 ,do you understand it8 ,i--take good care not to understand it4444 ,that it is possible to draw yet other lessons from the works above mentioned1--,i am much more ready to prove than to dispute4 ,that one may be driven by a ,wagnerian ballet to desperation--and to virtue6 7once again the case in ,tannhuser74 ,that not going to bed at the right time may be followed by the worst consequences 7once again the case of ,lohengrin71--,that one can never be too sure of the spouse one actually marries 7for the third time1 the case of ,lohengrin74 ,tristan and ,isolde glorifies the perfect husband who1 in a certain case1 can ask only one question3 ,but why have ye not told me this before8 ,nothing could be simpler than that6 ,reply3 ,that ,i cannot tell thee4 ,and what thou askest1 ,that wilt thou never learn4 ,lohengrin contains a solemn ban upon all investigation and questioning4 ,in this way ,wagner stood for the ,christian concept1 ,thou must and shalt believe6 ,it is a crime against the highest and the holiest to be scientific4444 ,the ,flying ,dutchman preaches the sublime doctrine that woman can moor the most erratic soul1 or to put it into ,wagnerian terms save him4 ,here we venture to ask a question4 ,supposing that this were actually true1 would it therefore be desirable8--,what becomes of the eternal ,jew whom a woman adores and enchains8 ,he simply ceases from being eternal2 he marries1--that is to say1 he concerns us no longer4--,transferred into the realm of reality1 the danger for the artist and for the genius--and these are of course the eternal ,jews--resides in woman3 adoring women are their ruin4 ,scarcely any one has sufficient character not to be corrupted--saved when he finds himself treated as a ,god3--he then immediately condescends to woman4--,man is a coward in the face of all that is eternally feminine3 and this the girls know4--,in many cases of woman's love1 and perhaps precisely in the most famous ones1 the love is no more than a refined form of parasitism1 a making one's nest in another's soul and sometimes even in another's flesh--,ah6 and how constantly at the cost of the host6 ,we know the fate of ,goethe in old-maidish moralin-corroded ,germany4 ,he was always offensive to ,germans1 he found honest admirers only among4 ,jewesses4 ,schiller1 noble ,schiller1 who cried flowery words into their ears1--he was a man after their own heart4 ,what did they reproach ,goethe with8--with the ,mount of ,venus1 and with having composed certain ,venetian epigrams4 ,even ,klopstock preached him a moral sermon2 there was a time when ,herder was fond of using the word ,priapus when he spoke of ,goethe4 ,even ,wilhelm ,meister seemed to be only a symptom of decline1 of a moral going to the dogs4 ,the ,menagerie of tame cattle1 the worthlessness of the hero in this book1 revolted ,niebuhr1 who finally bursts out in a plaint which ,biterolf#b might well have sung3 nothing so easily makes a painful impression as when a great mind despoils itself of its wings and strives for virtuosity in something greatly inferior1 while it renounces more lofty aims4 ,but the most indignant of all was the cultured woman3 all smaller courts in ,germany1 every kind of ,puritanism made the sign of the cross at the sight of ,goethe1 at the thought of the unclean spirit in ,goethe4--,this history was what ,wagner set to music4 ,he saves ,goethe1 that goes without saying2 but he does so in such a clever way that he also takes the side of the cultured woman4 ,goethe gets saved3 a prayer saves him1 a cultured woman draws him out of the mire4 --,as to what ,goethe would have thought of ,wagner8--,goethe once set himself the question1 what danger hangs over all romanticists3 the fate of romanticists8 ,his answer was3 ,to choke over the rumination of moral and religious absurdities4 ,in short3 ,parsifal4444 ,the philosopher writes thereto an epilogue4 ,holiness--the only remaining higher value still seen by the mob or by woman1 the horizon of the ideal for all those who are naturally short-sighted4 ,to philosophers1 however1 this horizon1 like every other1 is a mere misunderstanding1 a sort of slamming of the door in the face of the real beginning of their world1--their danger1 their ideal1 their desideratum4444 ,in more polite language3 ,la ,philosophie ne suffit pas au grand nombre4 ,il lui faut la saintet4444 #d4 ,i shall once more relate the history of the ,ring4 ,this is its proper place4 ,it is also the history of a salvation3 except that in this case it is ,wagner himself who is saved1--,half his life-time ,wagner believed in the ,revolution as only a ,frenchman could have believed in it4 ,he sought it in the runic inscriptions of myths1 he thought he had found a typical revolutionary in ,siegfried4-,whence arises all the evil in this world8 ,wagner asked himself4 ,from old contracts3 he replied1 as all revolutionary ideologists have done4 ,in plain ,english3 from customs1 laws1 morals1 institutions1 from all those things upon which the ancient world and ancient society rests4 ,how can one get rid of the evil in this world8 ,how can one get rid of ancient society8 ,only by declaring war against contracts 7traditions1 morality74 ,this ,siegfried does4 ,he starts early at the game1 very early3 his origin itself is already a declaration of war against morality--he is the result of adultery1 of incest4444 ,not the saga1 but ,wagner himself is the inventor of this radical feature2 in this matter he corrected the saga4444 ,siegfried continues as he began3 he follows only his first impulse1 he flings all tradition1 all respect1 all fear to the winds4 ,whatever displeases him he strikes down4 ,he tilts irreverently at old god-heads4 ,his principal undertaking1 however1 is to emancipate woman1--to deliver ,brunnhilda4 444 ,siegfried and ,brunnhilda2 the sacrament of free love2 the dawn of the golden age2 the twilight of the ,gods of old morality--evil is got rid of4444 ,for a long while ,wagner's ship sailed happily along this course4 ,there can be no doubt that along it ,wagner sought his highest goal4--,what happened8 ,a misfortune4 ,the ship dashed on to a reef2 ,wagner had run aground4 ,the reef was ,schopenhauer's philosophy2 ,wagner had stuck fast on a contrary view of the world4 ,what had he set to music8 ,optimism8 ,wagner was ashamed4 ,it was moreover an optimism for which ,schopenhauer had devised an evil expression1--unscrupulous optimism4 ,he was more than ever ashamed4 ,he reflected for some time2 his position seemed desperate4444 ,at last a path of escape seemed gradually to open before him3 what if the reef on which he had been wrecked could be interpreted as a goal1 as the ulterior motive1 as the actual purpose of his journey8 ,to be wrecked here1 this was also a goal4 ,bene navigavi cum naufragium feci 444 and he translated the ,ring into ,schopenhauerian language4 ,everything goes wrong1 everything goes to wrack and ruin1 the new world is just as bad as the old one3--,nonentity1 the ,indian ,circe beckons4444 ,brunnhilda1 who according to the old plan had to retire with a song in honour of free love1 consoling the world with the hope of a socialistic ,utopia in which all will be well2 now gets something else to do4 ,she must first study ,schopenhauer4 ,she must first versify the fourth book of ,the ,world as ,will and ,idea4 ,wagner was saved4444 ,joking apart1 this was a salvation4 ,the service which ,wagner owes to ,schopenhauer is incalculable4 ,it was the philosopher of decadence who allowed the artist of decadence to find himself4-- #e4 ,the artist of decadence4 ,that is the word4 ,and here ,i begin to be serious4 ,i could not think of looking on approvingly while this dcadent spoils our health--and music into the bargain4 ,is ,wagner a man at all8 ,is he not rather a disease8 ,everything he touches he contaminates4 ,he has made music sick4 ,a typical dcadent who thinks himself necessary with his corrupted taste1 who arrogates to himself a higher taste1 who tries to establish his depravity as a law1 as progress1 as a fulfilment4 ,and no one guards against it4 ,his powers of seduction attain monstrous proportions1 holy incense hangs around him1 the misunderstanding concerning him is called the ,gospel1--and he has certainly not converted only the poor in spirit to his cause6 ,i should like to open the window a little4 ,air6 ,more air6-- ,the fact that people in ,germany deceive themselves concerning ,wagner does not surprise me4 ,the reverse would surprise me4 ,the ,germans have modelled a ,wagner for themselves1 whom they can honour3 never yet have they been psychologists2 they are thankful that they misunderstand4 ,but that people should also deceive themselves concerning ,wagner in ,paris6 ,where people are scarcely anything else than psychologists4 ,and in ,saint ,petersburg6 ,where things are divined1 which even ,paris has no idea of4 ,how intimately related must ,wagner be to the entire decadence of ,europe for her not to have felt that he was decadent6 ,he belongs to it3 he is its protagonist1 its greatest name4444 ,we bring honour on ourselves by elevating him to the clouds4--,for the mere fact that no one guards against him is in itself already a sign of decadence4 ,instinct is weakened1 what ought to be eschewed now attracts4 ,people actually kiss that which plunges them more quickly into the abyss4--,is there any need for an example8 ,one has only to think of the rgime which anmic1 or gouty1 or diabetic people prescribe for themselves4 ,the definition of a vegetarian3 a creature who has need of a corroborating diet4 ,to recognise what is harmful as harmful1 to be able to deny oneself what is harmful1 is a sign of youth1 of vitality4 ,that which is harmful lures the exhausted3 cabbage lures the vegetarian4 ,illness itself can be a stimulus to life3 but one must be healthy enough for such a stimulus6--,wagner increases exhaustion3 therefore he attracts the weak and exhausted to him4 ,oh1 the rattlesnake joy of the old ,master precisely because he always saw the little children coming unto him6 ,i place this point of view first and foremost3 ,wagner's art is diseased4 ,the problems he sets on the stage are all concerned with hysteria2 the convulsiveness of his emotions1 his over-excited sensitiveness1 his taste which demands ever sharper condimentation1 his erraticness which he togged out to look like principles1 and1 last but not least1 his choice of heroes and heroines1 considered as physiological types 7--a hospital ward6--73 the whole represents a morbid picture2 of this there can be no doubt4 ,wagner est une nevrose4 ,maybe1 that nothing is better known to-day1 or in any case the subject of greater study1 than the ,protean character of degeneration which has disguised itself here1 both as an art and as an artist4 ,in ,wagner our medical men and physiologists have a most interesting case1 or at least a very complete one4 ,owing to the very fact that nothing is more modern than this thorough morbidness1 this dilatoriness and excessive irritability of the nervous machinery1 ,wagner is the modern artist par excellence1 the ,cagliostro of modernity4 ,all that the world most needs to-day1 is combined in the most seductive manner in his art1--the three great stimulants of exhausted people3 brutality1 artificiality and innocence 7idiocy74 ,wagner is a great corrupter of music4 ,with it1 he found the means of stimulating tired nerves1--and in this way he made music ill4 ,in the art of spurring exhausted creatures back into activity1 and of recalling half-corpses to life1 the inventiveness he shows is of no mean order4 ,he is the master of hypnotic trickery1 and he fells the strongest like bullocks4 ,wagner's success--his success with nerves1 and therefore with women--converted the whole world of ambitious musicians into disciples of his secret art4 ,and not only the ambitious1 but also the shrewd4444 ,only with morbid music can money be made to-day2 our big theatres live on ,wagner4 #f4 --,once more ,i will venture to indulge in a little levity4 ,let us suppose that ,wagner's success could become flesh and blood and assume a human form2 that1 dressed up as a good-natured musical savant1 it could move among budding artists4 ,how do you think it would then be likely to express itself8-- ,my friends1 it would say1 let us exchange a word or two in private4 ,it is easier to compose bad music than good music4 ,but what1 if apart from this it were also more profitable1 more effective1 more convincing1 more exalting1 more secure1 more ,wagnerian8444 ,pulchrum est paucorum hominum4 ,bad enough in all conscience6 ,we understand ,latin1 and perhaps we also understand which side our bread is buttered4 ,beauty has its drawbacks3 we know that4 ,wherefore beauty then8 ,why not rather aim at size1 at the sublime1 the gigantic1 that which moves the masses8--,and to repeat3 it is easier to be titanic than to be beautiful2 we know that4444 ,we know the masses1 we know the theatre4 ,the best of those who assemble there1--,german youths1 horned ,siegfrieds and other ,wagnerites1 require the sublime1 the profound1 and the overwhelming4 ,this much still lies within our power4 ,and as for the others who assemble there1--the cultured crtins1 the blas pigmies1 the eternally feminine1 the gastrically happy1 in short the people--they also require the sublime1 the profound1 the overwhelming4 ,all these people argue in the same way4 ,he who overthrows us is strong2 he who elevates us is godly2 he who makes us wonder vaguely is profound4--,let us make up our mind then1 my friends in music3 we do want to overthrow them1 we do want to elevate them1 we do want to make them wonder vaguely4 ,this much still lies within our powers4 ,in regard to the process of making them wonder3 it is here that our notion of style finds its starting-point4 ,above all1 no thoughts6 ,nothing is more compromising than a thought6 ,but the state of mind which precedes thought1 the labour of the thought still unborn1 the promise of future thought1 the world as it was before ,god created it --a recrudescence of chaos4444 ,chaos makes people wonder 444 ,in the words of the master3 infinity but without melody4 ,in the second place1 with regard to the over-throwing1--this belongs at least in part1 to physiology4 ,let us1 in the first place1 examine the instruments4 ,a few of them would convince even our intestines 7--they throw open doors1 as ,hndel would say71 others becharm our very marrow4 ,the colour of the melody is all-important here2 the melody itself is of no importance4 ,let us be precise about this point4 ,to what other purpose should we spend our strength8 ,let us be characteristic in tone even to the point of foolishness6 ,if by means of tones we allow plenty of scope for guessing1 this will be put to the credit of our intellects4 ,let us irritate nerves1 let us strike them dead3 let us handle thunder and lightning1--that is what overthrows4444 ,but what overthrows best1 is passion4--,we must try and be clear concerning this question of passion4 ,nothing is cheaper than passion6 ,all the virtues of counterpoint may be dispensed with1 there is no need to have learnt anything1--but passion is always within our reach6 ,beauty is difficult3 let us beware of beauty6444 ,and also of melody6 ,however much in earnest we may otherwise be about the ideal1 let us slander1 my friends1 let us slander1--let us slander melody6 ,nothing is more dangerous than a beautiful melody6 ,nothing is more certain to ruin taste6 ,my friends1 if people again set about loving beautiful melodies1 we are lost6444 ,first principle3 melody is immoral4 ,proof3 ,palestrina4 ,application3 ,parsifal4 ,the absence of melody is in itself sanctifying4444 ,and this is the definition of passion4 ,passion--or the acrobatic feats of ugliness on the tight-rope of enharmonic4--,my friends1 let us dare to be ugly6 ,wagner dared it6 ,let us heave the mud of the most repulsive harmonies undauntedly before us4 ,we must not even spare our hands6 ,only thus1 shall we become natural4444 ,and now a last word of advice4 ,perhaps it covers everything4--,let us be idealists_/--,if not the cleverest1 it is at least the wisest thing we can do4 ,in order to elevate men we ourselves must be exalted4 ,let us wander in the clouds1 let us harangue eternity1 let us be careful to group great symbols all around us6 ,sursum6 ,bumbum6-- there is no better advice4 ,the heaving breast shall be our argument1 beautiful feelings our advocates4 ,virtue still carries its point against counterpoint4 ,how could he who improves us1 help being better than we8 man has ever thought thus4 ,let us therefore improve mankind6--in this way we shall become good 7in this way we shall even become classics--,schiller became a classic74 ,the straining after the base excitement of the senses1 after so-called beauty1 shattered the nerves of the ,italians3 let us remain ,german6 ,even ,mozart's relation to music--,wagner spoke this word of comfort to us--was at bottom frivolous4444 ,never let us acknowledge that music may be a recreation1 that it may enliven1 that it may give pleasure4 ,never let us give pleasure6--we shall be lost if people once again think of music hedonistically4444 ,that belongs to the bad eighteenth century4444 ,on the other hand1 nothing would be more advisable 7between ourselves7 than a dose of--cant1 sit venia verbo4 ,this imparts dignity4--,and let us take care to select the precise moment when it would be fitting to have black looks1 to sigh openly1 to sigh devoutly1 to flaunt grand ,christian sympathy before their eyes4 ,man is corrupt3 who will save him8 what will save him8 ,do not let us reply4 ,we must be on our guard4 ,we must control our ambition1 which would bid us found new religions4 ,but no one must doubt that it is we who save him1 that in our music alone salvation is to be found4444 7,see ,wagner's essay1 ,religion and ,art7 #g4 ,enough6 ,enough6 ,i fear that1 beneath all my merry jests1 you are beginning to recognise the sinister truth only too clearly--the picture of the decline of art1 of the decline of the artist4 ,the latter1 which is a decline of character1 might perhaps be defined provisionally in the following manner3 the musician is now becoming an actor1 his art is developing ever more and more into a talent for telling lies4 ,in a certain chapter of my principal work which bears the title ,concerning the ,physiology of ,art1#c ,i shall have an opportunity of showing more thoroughly how this transformation of art as a whole into histrionics is just as much a sign of physiological degeneration 7or more precisely a form of hysteria71 as any other individual corruption1 and infirmity peculiar to the art which ,wagner inaugurated3 for instance the restlessness of its optics1 which makes it necessary to change one's attitude to it every second4 ,they understand nothing of ,wagner who see in him but a sport of nature1 an arbitrary mood1 a chapter of accidents4 ,he was not the defective1 ill-fated1 contradictory genius that people have declared him to be4 ,wagner was something complete1 he was a typical decadent1 in whom every sign of free will was lacking1 in whom every feature was necessary4 ,if there is anything at all of interest in ,warner1 it is the consistency with which a critical physiological condition may convert itself1 step by step1 conclusion after conclusion1 into a method1 a form of procedure1 a reform of all principles1 a crisis in taste4 ,at this point ,i shall only stop to consider the question of style4 ,how is decadence in literature characterised8 ,by the fact that in it life no longer animates the whole4 ,words become predominant and leap right out of the sentence to which they belong1 the sentences themselves trespass beyond their bounds1 and obscure the sense of the whole page1 and the page in its turn gains in vigour at the cost of the whole1--the whole is no longer a whole4 ,but this is the formula for every decadent style3 there is always anarchy among the atoms1 disaggregation of the will1--in moral terms3 freedom of the individual1--extended into a political theory3 equal rights for all4 ,life1 equal vitality1 all the vibration and exuberance of life1 driven back into the smallest structure1 and the remainder left almost lifeless4 ,everywhere paralysis1 dis-tress1 and numbness1 or hostility and chaos3 both striking one with ever increasing force the higher the forms of organisation are into which one ascends4 ,the whole no longer lives at all3 it is composed1 reckoned up1 artificial1 a fictitious thing4 ,in ,wagners case the first thing we notice is an hallucination1 not of tones1 but of attitudes4 ,only after he has the latter does he begin to seek the semiotics of tone for them4 ,if we wish to admire him1 we should observe him at work here3 how he separates and distinguishes1 how he arrives at small unities1 and how he galvanises them1 accentuates them1 and brings them into pre-eminence4 ,but in this way he exhausts his strength3 the rest is worthless4 ,how paltry1 awkward1 and amateurish is his manner of developing1 his attempt at combining incompatible parts4 ,his manner in this respect reminds one of two people who even in other ways are not unlike him in style--the brothers ,goncourt2 one almost feels compassion for so much impotence4 ,that ,wagner disguised his inability to create organic forms1 under the cloak of a principle1 that he should have constructed a dramatic style out of what we should call the total inability to create any style whatsoever1 is quite in keeping with that daring habit1 which stuck to him throughout his life1 of setting up a principle wherever capacity failed him4 7,in this respect he was very different from old ,kant1 who rejoiced in another form of daring1 i4e43 whenever a principle failed him1 he endowed man with a capacity which took its place44447 ,once more let it be said that ,wagner is really only worthy of admiration and love by virtue of his inventiveness in small things1 in his elaboration of details1--here one is quite justified in proclaiming him a master of the first rank1 as our greatest musical miniaturist1 who compresses an infinity of meaning and sweetness into the smallest space4 ,his wealth of colour1 of chiaroscuro1 of the mystery of a dying light1 so pampers our senses that afterwards almost every other musician strikes us as being too robust4 ,if people would believe me1 they would not form the highest idea of ,wagner from that which pleases them in him to-day4 ,all that was only devised for convincing the masses1 and people like ourselves recoil from it just as one would recoil from too garish a fresco4 ,what concern have we with the irritating brutality of the overture to the ,tannhuser8 ,or with the ,walkyrie ,circus8 ,whatever has become popular in ,wagner's art1 including that which has become so outside the theatre1 is in bad taste and spoils taste4 ,the ,tannhuser ,march seems to me to savour of the ,philistine2 the overture to the ,flying ,dutchman is much ado about nothing2 the prelude to ,lohengrin was the first1 only too insidious1 only too successful example of how one can hypnotise with music 7--,i dislike all music which aspires to nothing higher than to convince the nerves74 ,but apart from the ,wagner who paints frescoes and practises magnetism1 there is yet another ,wagner who hoards small treasures3 our greatest melancholic in music1 full of side glances1 loving speeches1 and words of comfort1 in which no one ever forestalled him1--the tone-master of melancholy and drowsy happiness4444 ,a lexicon of ,wagner's most intimate phrases--a host of short fragments of from five to fifteen bars each1 of music which nobody knows4444 ,wagner had the virtue of dcadents1--pity4444 #h4 --,very good6 ,but how can this dcadent spoil one's taste if perchance one is not a musician1 if perchance one is not oneself a dcadent8--,conversely6 ,how can one help it6 ,just you try it6--,you know not what ,wagner is3 quite a great actor6 ,does a more profound1 a more ponderous influence exist on the stage8 ,just look at these youthlets1--all benumbed1 pale1 breathless6 ,they are ,wagnerites3 they know nothing about music1--and yet ,wagner gets the mastery of them4 ,wagner's art presses with the weight of a hundred atmospheres3 do but submit1 there is nothing else to do4444 ,wagner the actor is a tyrant1 his pathos flings all taste1 all resistance1 to the winds4 --,who else has this persuasive power in his attitudes1 who else sees attitudes so clearly before anything else6 ,this holding-of-its-breath in ,wagnerian pathos1 this disinclination to have done with an intense feeling1 this terrifying habit of dwelling on a situation in which every instant almost chokes one4---- ,was ,wagner a musician at all8 ,in any case he was something else to a much greater degree--that is to say1 an incomparable histrio1 the greatest mime1 the most astounding theatrical genius that the ,germans have ever had1 our scenic artist par excellence4 ,he belongs to some other sphere than the history of music1 with whose really great and genuine figure he must not be confounded4 ,wagner and ,beethoven--this is blasphemy--and above all it does not do justice even to ,wagner4444 ,as a musician he was no more than what he was as a man3 he became a musician1 he became a poet1 because the tyrant in him1 his actor's genius1 drove him to be both4 ,nothing is known concerning ,wagner1 so long as his dominating instinct has not been divined4 ,wagner was not instinctively a musician4 ,and this he proved by the way in which he abandoned all laws and rules1 or1 in more precise terms1 all style in music1 in order to make what he wanted with it1 i4e41 a rhetorical medium for the stage1 a medium of expression1 a means of accentuating an attitude1 a vehicle of suggestion and of the psychologically picturesque4 ,in this department ,wagner may well stand as an inventor and an innovator of the first order--he increased the powers of speech of music to an incalculable degree--3 he is the ,victor ,hugo of music as language1 provided always we allow that under certain circumstances music may be something which is not music1 but speech--instrument--ancilla dramaturgica4 ,wagner's music1 not in the tender care of theatrical taste1 which is very tolerant1 is simply bad music1 perhaps the worst that has ever been composed4 ,when a musician can no longer count up to three1 he becomes dramatic1 he becomes ,wagnerian4 444 ,wagner almost discovered the magic which can be wrought even now by means of music which is both incoherent and elementary4 ,his consciousness of this attains to huge proportions1 as does also his instinct to dispense entirely with higher law and style4 ,the elementary factors--sound1 movement1 colour1 in short1 the whole sensuousness of music--suffice4 ,wagner never calculates as a musician with a musician's conscience3 all he strains after is effect1 nothing more than effect4 ,and he knows what he has to make an effect upon6--,in this he is as unhesitating as ,schiller was1 as any theatrical man must be2 he has also the latter's contempt for the world which he brings to its knees before him4 ,a man is an actor when he is ahead of mankind in his possession of this one view1 that everything which has to strike people as true1 must not be true4 ,this rule was formulated by ,talma3 it contains the whole psychology of the actor1 it also contains--and this we need not doubt--all his morality4 ,wagner's music is never true4 --,but it is supposed to be so3 and thus everything is as it should be4 ,as long as we are young1 and ,wagnerites into the bargain1 we regard ,wagner as rich1 even as the model of a prodigal giver1 even as a great landlord in the realm of sound4 ,we admire him in very much the same way as young ,frenchmen admire ,victor ,hugo--that is to say1 for his royal liberality4 ,later on we admire the one as well as the other for the opposite reason3 as masters and paragons in economy1 as prudent amphitryons4 ,nobody can equal them in the art of providing a princely board with such a modest outlay4--,the ,wagnerite1 with his credulous stomach1 is even sated with the fare which his master conjures up before him4 ,but we others who1 in books as in music1 desire above all to find substance1 and who are scarcely satisfied with the mere representation of a banquet1 are much worse off4 ,in plain ,english1 ,wagner does not give us enough to masticate4 ,his recitative--very little meat1 more bones1 and plenty of broth--,i christened alia genovese3 ,i had no intention of flattering the ,genoese with this remark1 but rather the older recitativo1 the recitativo secco4 ,and as to ,wagnerian leitmotif1 ,i fear ,i lack the necessary culinary understanding for it4 ,if hard pressed1 ,i might say that ,i regard it perhaps as an ideal toothpick1 as an opportunity of ridding one's self of what remains of one's meal4 ,wagner's arias are still left over4 ,but now ,i shall hold my tongue4 #i4 ,even in his general sketch of the action1 ,wagner is above all an actor4 ,the first thing that occurs to him is a scene which is certain to produce a strong effect1 a real actio1#d with a basso-relievo of attitudes2 an overwhelming scene1 this he now proceeds to elaborate more deeply1 and out of it he draws his characters4 ,the whole of what remains to be done follows of itself1 fully in keeping with a technical economy which has no reason to be subtle4 ,it is not ,corneille's public that ,wagner has to consider1 it is merely the nineteenth century4 ,concerning the actual requirements of the stage ,wagner would have about the same opinion as any other actor of to-day3 a series of powerful scenes1 each stronger than the one that preceded it1--and1 in between1 all kinds of clever nonsense4 ,his first concern is to guarantee the effect of his work2 he begins with the third act1 he approves his work according to the quality of its final effect4 ,guided by this sort of understanding of the stage1 there is not much danger of one's creating a drama unawares4 ,drama demands inexorable logic3 but what did ,wagner care about logic8 ,again ,i say1 it was not ,corneille's public that he had to consider2 but merely ,germans6 ,everybody knows the technical difficulties before which the dramatist often has to summon all his strength and frequently to sweat his blood3 the difficulty of making the plot seem necessary and the unravelment as well1 so that both are conceivable only in a certain way1 and so that each may give the impression of freedom 7the principle of the smallest expenditure of energy74 ,now the very last thing that ,wagner does is to sweat blood over the plot2 and on this and the unravelment he certainly spends the smallest possible amount of energy4 ,let anybody put one of ,wagner's plots under the microscope1 and ,i wager that he will be forced to laugh4 ,nothing is more enlivening than the dilemma in ,tristan1 unless it be that in the ,mastersingers4 ,wagner is no dramatist2 let nobody be deceived on this point4 ,all he did was to love the word drama--he always loved fine words4 ,nevertheless1 in his writings the word drama is merely a misunderstanding 7--and a piece of shrewdness3 ,wagner always affected superiority in regard to the word opera--72 just as the word spirit is a misunderstanding in the ,new ,testament4--,he was not enough of a psychologist for drama2 he instinctively avoided a psychological plot--but how8--by always putting idiosyncrasy in its place 444 ,very modern--eh8 ,very ,parisian6 very decadent6 444 ,incidentally1 the plots that ,wagner knows how to unravel with the help of dramatic inventions1 are of quite another kind4 ,for example1 let us suppose that ,wagner requires a female voice4 ,a whole act without a woman's voice would be impossible6 ,but in this particular instance not one of the heroines happens to be free4 ,what does ,wagner do8 ,he emancipates the oldest woman on earth1 ,erda3 ,step up1 aged grand-mamma6 ,you have got to sing6 ,and ,erda sings4 ,wagner's end has been achieved4 ,thereupon he immediately dismisses the old lady3 ,why on earth did you come8 ,off with you6 ,kindly go to sleep again6 ,in short1 a scene full of mythological awe1 before which the ,wagnerite wonders all kinds of things4444 --,but the substance of ,wagner's texts6 their mythical substance1 their eternal substance3--,question3 how is this substance1 this eternal substance tested8 ,the chemical analyst replies3 ,translate ,wagner into the real1 into the modern1--let us be even more cruel1 and say3 into the bourgeois6 ,and what will then become of him8--,between ourselves1 ,i have tried the experiment4 ,nothing is more entertaining1 nothing more worthy of being recommended to a picnic-party1 than to discuss ,wagner dressed in a more modern garb3 for instance ,parsifal1 as a candidate in divinity1 with a public-school education 7--the latter1 quite indispensable for pure foolishness74 ,what surprises await one6 ,would you believe it1 that ,wagner's heroines one and all1 once they have been divested of the heroic husks1 are almost ,indistinguishable from ,mdme4 ,bovary6--just as one can conceive conversely1 of ,flaubert's being well able to transform all his heroines into ,scandinavian or ,carthaginian women1 and then to offer them to ,wagner in this mythologised form as a libretto4 ,indeed1 generally speaking1 ,wagner does not seem to have become interested in any other problems than those which engross the little ,parisian decadents of to-day4 ,always five paces away from the hospital6 ,all very modern problems1 all problems which are at home in big cities6 do not doubt it6444 ,have you noticed 7it is in keeping with this association of ideas7 that ,wagner's heroines never have any children8--,they cannot have them1444 ,the despair with which ,wagner tackled the problem of arranging in some way for ,siegfried's birth1 betrays how modern his feelings on this point actually were4--emancipated woman--but not with any hope of offspring4--,and now here is a fact which leaves us speechless3 ,parsifal is ,lohengrin's father6 ,how ever did he do it8--,ought one at this juncture to remember that chastity works miracles8444 ,wagnerus dixit princeps in castitate auctoritas4 #aj4 ,and now just a word en passant concerning ,wagner's writings3 they are among other things a school of shrewdness4 ,the system of procedures of which ,wagner disposes1 might be applied to a hundred other cases1--he that hath ears to hear let him hear4 ,perhaps ,i may lay claim to some public acknowledgment1 if ,i put three ox the most valuable of these procedures into a precise form4 ,everything that ,wagner cannot do is bad4 ,wagner could do much more than he does2 but his strong principles prevent him4 ,everything that ,wagner can do1 no one will ever be able to do after him1 no one has ever done before him1 and no one must ever do after him3 ,wagner is godly4444 ,these three propositions are the quintessence of ,wagner's writings2--the rest is merely--literature4 --,not every kind of music hitherto has been in need of literature2 and it were well1 to try and discover the actual reason of this4 ,is it perhaps that ,wagner's music is too difficult to understand8 ,or did he fear precisely the reverse4--that it was too easy1--that people might not understand it with sufficient difficulty8--,as a matter of fact1 his whole life long1 he did nothing but repeat one proposition3 that his music did not mean music alone6 ,but something more6 ,something immeasurably more6444 ,not music alone--no musician would speak in this way4 ,i repeat1 ,wagner could not create things as a whole2 he had no choice1 he was obliged to create things in bits2 with motives1 attitudes1 formul1 duplications1 and hundreds of repetitions1 he remained a rhetorician in music1--and that is why he was at bottom forced to press this means into the foreground4 ,music can never be anything else than a means3 this was his theory2 but above all it was the only practice that lay open to him4 ,no musician however thinks in this way4--,wagner was in need of literature1 in order to persuade the whole world to take his music seriously1 profoundly1 because it meant an infinity of things2 all his life he was the commentator of the ,idea4--,what does ,elsa stand for8 ,but without a doubt1 ,elsa is the unconscious mind of the people 7--when ,i realised this1 ,i naturally became a thorough revolutionist--74 ,do not let us forget that1 when ,hegel and ,schelling were misleading the minds of ,germany1 ,wagner was still young3 that he guessed1 or rather fully grasped1 that the only thing which ,germans take seriously is--the idea1--that is to say1 something obscure1 uncertain1 wonderful2 that among ,germans lucidity is an objection1 logic a refutation4 ,schopenhauer rigorously pointed out the dishonesty of ,hegel's and ,schelling's age1--rigorously1 but also unjustly2 for he himself1 the pessimistic old counterfeiter1 was in no way more honest than his more famous contemporaries4 ,but let us leave morality out of the question1 ,hegel is a matter of taste4444 ,and not only of ,german but of ,european taste6 444 ,a taste which ,wagner understood6--which he felt equal to6 which he has immortalised6--,all he did was to apply it to music--he invented a style for himself1 which might mean an infinity of things1--he was ,hegel's heir4444 ,music as ,idea4-- ,and how well ,wagner was understood6--,the same kind of man who used to gush over ,hegel1 now gushes over ,wagner2 in his school they even write ,hegelian4#e ,but he who understood ,wagner best1 was the ,german youthlet4 ,the two words infinity and meaning were sufficient for this3 at their sound the youthlet immediately began to feel exceptionally happy4 ,wagner did not conquer these boys with music1 but with the idea3--it is the enigmatical vagueness of his art1 its game of hide-and-seek amid a hundred symbols1 its polychromy in ideals1 which leads and lures the lads4 ,it is ,wagner's genius for forming clouds1 his sweeps and swoops through the air1 his ubiquity and nullibiety--precisely the same qualities with which ,hegel led and lured in his time6--,moreover in the presence of ,wagner's multifariousness1 plenitude and arbitrariness1 they seem to themselves justified--saved4 ,tremulously they listen while the great symbols in his art seem to make themselves heard from out the misty distance1 with a gentle roll of thunder1 and they are not at all displeased if at times it gets a little grey1 gruesome and cold4 ,are they not one and all1 like ,wagner himself1 on quite intimate terms with bad weather1 with ,german weather6 ,wotan is their ,god3 but ,wotan is the ,god of bad weather4444 ,they are right1 how could these ,german youths--in their present condition1--miss what we others1 we halcyonians1 miss in ,wagner8 i4e43 la gaya scienza2 light feet1 wit1 fire1 grave1 grand logic1 stellar dancing1 wanton intellectuality1 the vibrating light of the ,south1 the calm sea--perfection4444 #aa4 --,i have mentioned the sphere to which ,wagner belongs--certainly not to the history of music4 ,what1 however1 does he mean historically8--,the rise of the actor in music1 a momentous event which not only leads me to think but also to fear4 ,in a word3 ,wagner and ,liszt4 ,never yet have the uprightness and genuineness of musicians been put to such a dangerous test4 ,it is glaringly obvious3 great success1 mob success is no longer the achievement of the genuine1--in order to get it a man must be an actor6--,victor ,hugo and ,richard ,wagner--they both prove one and the same thing3 that in declining civilisations1 wherever the mob is allowed to decide1 genuineness becomes superfluous1 prejudicial1 unfavourable4 ,the actor1 alone1 can still kindle great enthusiasm4--,and thus it is his golden age which is now dawning--his and that of all those who are in any way related to him4 ,with drums and fifes1 ,wagner marches at the head of all artists in declamation1 in display and virtuosity4 ,he began by convincing the conductors of orchestras1 the scene-shifters and stage-singers1 not to forget the orchestra3--he delivered them from monotony4444 ,the movement that ,wagner created has spread even to the land of knowledge3 whole sciences pertaining to music are rising slowly1 out of centuries of scholasticism4 ,as an example of what ,i mean1 let me point more particularly to ,riemann's services to rhythmics2 he was the first who called attention to the leading idea in punctuation--even for music 7unfortunately he did so with a bad word2 he called it phrasing74--,all these people1 and ,i say it with gratitude1 are the best1 the most respectable among ,wagner's admirers--they have a perfect right to honour ,wagner4 ,the same instinct unites them with one another2 in him they recognise their highest type1 and since he has inflamed them with his own ardour they feel themselves transformed into power1 even into great power4 ,in this quarter1 if anywhere1 ,wagner's influence has really been beneficent4 ,never before has there been so much thinking1 willing1 and industry in this sphere4 ,wagner endowed all these artists with a new conscience3 what they now exact and obtain from themselves1 they had never exacted before ,wagner's time--before then they had been too modest4 ,another spirit prevails on the stage since ,wagner rules there3 the most difficult things are expected1 blame is severe1 praise very scarce1--the good and the excellent have become the rule4 ,taste is no longer necessary1 nor even is a good voice4 ,wagner is sung only with ruined voices3 this has a more dramatic effect4 ,even talent is out of the question4 ,expressiveness at all costs1 which is what the ,wagnerian ideal--the ideal of decadence--demands1 is hardly compatible with talent4 ,all that is required for this is virtue--that is to say1 training1 automatism1 self-denial4 ,neither taste1 voices1 nor gifts2 ,wagner's stage requires but one thing3 ,germans6444 ,the definition of a ,german3 an obedient man with long legs4444 ,there is a deep significance in the fact that the rise of ,wagner should have coincided with the rise of the ,empire3 both phenomena are a proof of one and the same thing--obedience and long legs4--,never have people been more obedient1 never have they been so well ordered about4 ,the conductors of ,wagnerian orchestras1 more particularly1 are worthy of an age1 which posterity will one day call1 with timid awe1 the classical age of war4 ,wagner understood how to command2 in this respect1 too1 he was a great teacher4 ,he commanded as a man who had exercised an inexorable will over himself--as one who had practised lifelong discipline3 ,wagner was1 perhaps1 the greatest example of self-violence in the whole of the history of art 7--even ,alfieri1 who in other respects is his next-of-kin1 is outdone by him4 ,the note of a ,torinese74 #ab4 ,this view1 that our actors have become more worthy of respect than heretofore1 does not imply that ,i believe them to have become less dangerous 444 ,but who is in any doubt as to what ,i want1--as to what the three requisitions are concerning which my wrath and my care and love of art1 have made me open my mouth on this occasion8 ,that the stage should not become master of the arts4 ,that the actor should not become the corrupter of the genuine4 ,that music should not become an art of lying4 ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche4 ,,postscript ,the gravity of these last words allows me at this point to introduce a few sentences out of an unprinted essay which will at least leave no doubt as to my earnestness in regard to this question4 ,the title of this essay is3 ,what ,wagner has cost us4 ,one pays dearly for having been a follower of ,wagner4 ,even to-day a vague feeling that this is so1 still prevails4 ,even ,wagner's success1 his triumph1 did not uproot this feeling thoroughly4 ,but formerly it was strong1 it was terrible2 it was a gloomy hate throughout almost three-quarters of ,wagner's life4 ,the resistance which he met with among us ,germans cannot be too highly valued or too highly honoured4 ,people guarded themselves against him as against an illness1--not with arguments--it is impossible to refute an illness--1 but with obstruction1 with mistrust1 with repugnance1 with loathing1 with sombre earnestness1 as though he were a great rampant danger4 ,the sthetes gave themselves away when out of three schools of ,german philosophy they waged an absurd war against ,wagner's principles with ifs and fors--what did he care about principles1 even his own6--,the ,germans themselves had enough instinctive good sense to dispense with every if and for in this matter4 ,an instinct is weakened when it becomes conscious3 for by becoming conscious it makes itself feeble4 ,if there were any signs that in spite of the universal character of ,european decadence there was still a modicum of health1 still an instinctive premonition of what is harmful and dangerous1 residing in the ,german soul1 then it would be precisely this blunt resistance to ,wagner which ,i should least like to see underrated4 ,it does us honour1 it gives us some reason to hope3 ,france no longer has such an amount of health at her disposal4 ,the ,germans1 these loiterers par excellence1 as history shows1 are to-day the most backward among the civilised nations of ,europe3 this has its advantages1--for they are thus relatively the youngest4 ,one pays dearly for having been a follower of ,wagner4 ,it is only quite recently that the ,germans have overcome a sort of dread of him1--the desire to be rid of him occurred to them again and again4#f ,does anybody remember a very curious occurrence in which1 quite unexpectedly towards the end1 this old feeling once more manifested itself8 ,it happened at ,wagner's funeral4 ,the first ,wagner ,society1 the one in ,munich1 laid a wreath on his grave with this inscription1 which immediately became famous3 ,salvation to the ,saviour6 ,everybody admired the lofty inspiration which had dictated this inscription1 as also the taste which seemed to be the privilege of the followers of ,wagner4 ,many also1 however 7it was singular enough71 made this slight alteration in it3 ,salvation from the ,saviour --,people began to breathe again4-- ,one pays dearly for having been a follower of ,wagner4 ,let us try to estimate the influence of this worship upon culture4 ,whom did this movement press to the front8 ,what did it make ever more and more pre-eminent8--,in the first place the layman's arrogance1 the arrogance of the art-maniac4 ,now these people are organising societies1 they wish to make their taste prevail1 they even wish to pose as judges in rebus musicis et musicantibus4 ,secondly3 an ever increasing indifference towards severe1 noble and conscientious schooling in the service of art2 and in its place the belief in genius1 or in plain ,english1 cheeky dilettantism 7--the formula for this is to be found in the ,mastersingers74 ,thirdly1 and this is the worst of all3 ,theatrocracy--1 the craziness of a belief in the pre-eminence of the theatre1 in the right of the theatre to rule supreme over the arts1 over ,art in general4444 ,but this should be shouted into the face of ,wagnerites a hundred times over3 that the theatre is something lower than art1 something secondary1 something coarsened1 above all something suitably distorted and falsified for the mob4 ,in this respect ,wagner altered nothing3 ,bayreuth is grand ,opera--and not even good opera4444 ,the stage is a form of ,demolatry in the realm of taste1 the stage is an insurrection of the mob1 a plebiscite against good taste4444 ,the case of ,wagner proves this fact3 he captivated the masses--he depraved taste1 he even perverted our taste for opera6-- ,one pays dearly for having been a follower of ,wagner4 ,what has ,wagner-worship made out of spirit8 ,does ,wagner liberate the spirit8 ,to him belong that ambiguity and equivocation and all other qualities which can convince the uncertain without making them conscious of why they have been convinced4 ,in this sense ,wagner is a seducer on a grand scale4 ,there is nothing exhausted1 nothing effete1 nothing dangerous to life1 nothing that slanders the world in the realm of spirit1 which has not secretly found shelter in his art2 he conceals the blackest obscurantism in the luminous orbs of the ideal4 ,he flatters every nihilistic 7,buddhistic7 instinct and togs it out in music2 he flatters every form of ,christianity1 every religious expression of decadence4 ,he that hath ears to hear let him hear3 everything that has ever grown out of the soil of impoverished life1 the whole counterfeit coinage of the transcendental and of a ,beyond found its most sublime advocate in ,wagner's art1 not in formul 7,wagner is too clever to use formul71 but in the persuasion of the senses which in their turn makes the spirit weary and morbid4 ,music in the form of ,circe 444 in this respect his last work is his greatest masterpiece4 ,in the art of seduction ,parsifal will for ever maintain its rank as a stroke of genius4444 ,i admire this work4 ,i would fain have composed it myself4 ,wagner was never better inspired than towards the end4 ,the subtlety with which beauty and disease are united here1 reaches such a height1 that it casts so to speak a shadow upon all ,wagner's earlier achievements3 it seems too bright1 too healthy4 ,do ye understand this8 ,health and brightness acting like a shadow8 ,almost like an objection8444 ,to this extent are we already pure fools4444 ,never was their a greater ,master in heavy hieratic perfumes--,never on earth has there been such a connoisseur of paltry infinities1 of all that thrills1 of extravagant excesses1 of all the feminism from out the vocabulary of happiness6 ,my friends1 do but drink the philtres of this art6 ,nowhere will ye find a more pleasant method of enervating your spirit1 of forgetting your manliness in the shade of a rosebush4444 ,ah1 this old magician1 mightiest of ,klingsors2 how he wages war against us with his art1 against us free spirits6 ,how he appeals to every form of cowardice of the modern soul with his charming girlish notes6 ,there never was such a mortal hatred of knowledge6 ,one must be a very cynic in order to resist seduction here4 ,one must be able to bite in order to resist worshipping at this shrine4 ,very well1 old seducer6 ,the cynic cautions you--cave canem4444 ,one pays dearly for having been a follower of ,wagner4 ,i contemplate the youthlets who have long been exposed to his infection4 ,the first relatively innocuous effect of it is the corruption of their taste4 ,wagner acts like chronic recourse to the bottle4 ,he stultifies1 he befouls the stomach4 ,his specific effect3 degeneration of the feeling for rhythm4 ,what the ,wagnerite calls rhythmical is what ,i call1 to use a ,greek metaphor1 stirring a swamp4 ,much more dangerous than all this1 however1 is the corruption of ideas4 ,the youthlet becomes a moon-calf1 an idealist4 ,he stands above science1 and in this respect he has reached the master's heights4 ,on the other hand1 he assumes the airs of a philosopher2 he writes for the ,bayreuth ,journal2 he solves all problems in the name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,master4 ,but the most ghastly thing of all is the deterioration of the nerves4 ,let any one wander through a large city at night1 in all directions he will hear people doing violence to instruments with solemn rage and fury1 a wild uproar breaks out at intervals4 ,what is happening8 ,it is the disciples of ,wagner in the act of worshipping him4444 ,bayreuth is another word for a ,hydro4 ,a typical telegram from ,bayreuth would read bereits bereut 7,i already repent74 ,wagner is bad for young men2 he is fatal for women4 ,what medically speaking is a female ,wagnerite8 ,it seems to me that a doctor could not be too serious in putting this alternative of conscience to young women3 either one thing or the other4 ,but they have already made their choice4 ,you cannot serve two ,masters when one of these is ,wagner4 ,wagner redeemed woman2 and in return woman built ,bayreuth for him4 ,every sacrifice1 every surrender3 there was nothing that they were not prepared to give him4 ,woman impoverishes herself in favour of the ,master1 she becomes quite touching1 she stands naked before him4 ,the female ,wagnerite1 the most attractive equivocality that exists to-day3 she is the incarnation of ,wagner's cause3 his cause triumphs with her as its symbol4444 ,ah1 this old robber6 ,he robs our young men3 he even robs our women as well1 and drags them to his cell4444 ,ah1 this old ,minotaur6 ,what has he not already cost us8 ,every year processions of the finest young men and maidens are led into his labyrinth that he may swallow them up1 every year the whole of ,europe cries out ,away to ,crete6 ,away to ,crete6 444 ,,second ,,postscript ,it seems to me that my letter is open to some misunderstanding4 ,on certain faces ,i see the expression of gratitude2 ,i even hear modest but merry laughter4 ,i prefer to be understood here as in other things4 ,but since a certain animal1 the worm of ,empire1 the famous ,rhinoxera1 has become lodged in the vineyards of the ,german spirit1 nobody any longer understands a word ,i say4 ,the ,kreuz-,zeitung has brought this home to me1 not to speak of the ,litterarisches ,centralblatt ,i have given the ,germans the deepest books that they have ever possessed--a sufficient reason for their not having understood a word of them4444 ,if in this essay ,i declare war against ,wagner--and incidentally against a certain form of ,german taste1 if ,i seem to use strong language about the cretinism of ,bayreuth1 it must not be supposed that ,i am in the least anxious to glorify any other musician4 ,other musicians are not to be considered by the side of ,wagner4 ,things are generally bad4 ,decay is universal4 ,disease lies at the very root of things4 ,if ,wagner's name represents the ruin of music1 just as ,bernini's stands for the ruin of sculpture1 he is not on that account its cause4 ,all he did was to accelerate the fall1--though we are quite prepared to admit that he did it in a way which makes one recoil with horror from this almost instantaneous decline and fall to the depths4 ,he possessed the ingenuousness of decadence3 this constituted his superiority4 ,he believed in it4 ,he did not halt before any of its logical consequences4 ,the others hesitated--that is their distinction4 ,they have no other4 ,what is common to both ,wagner and the others consists in this3 the decline of all organising power2 the abuse of traditional means1 without the capacity or the aim that would justify this4 ,the counterfeit imitation of grand forms1 for which nobody nowadays is strong1 proud1 self-reliant and healthy enough2 excessive vitality in small details2 passion at all costs2 refinement as an expression of impoverished life1 ever more nerves in the place of muscle4 ,i know only one musician who to-day would be able to compose an overture as an organic whole3 and nobody else knows him4#g ,he who is famous now1 does not write better music than ,wagner1 but only less characteristic1 less definite music3--less definite1 because half measures1 even in decadence1 cannot stand by the side of completeness4 ,but ,wagner was complete2 ,wagner represented thorough corruption2 ,wagner has had the courage1 the will1 and the conviction for corruption4 ,what does ,johannes ,brahms matter8 444 ,it was his good fortune to be misunderstood by ,germany he was taken to be an antagonist of ,wagner--people required an antagonist6--,but he did not write necessary music1 above all he wrote too much music6--,when one is not rich one should at least have enough pride to be poor6444 ,the sympathy which here and there was meted out to ,brahms1 apart from party interests and party misunderstandings1 was for a long time a riddle to me3 until one day through an accident1 almost1 ,i discovered that he affected a particular type of man4 ,he has the melancholy of impotence4 ,his creations are not the result of plenitude1 he thirsts after abundance4 ,apart from what he plagiarises1 from what he borrows from ancient or exotically modern styles--he is a master in the art of copying1--there remains as his most individual quality a longing4444 ,and this is what the dissatisfied of all kinds1 and all those who yearn1 divine in him4 ,he is much too little of a personality1 too little of a central figure4444 ,the impersonal1 those who are not self-centred1 love him for this4 ,he is especially the musician of a species of dissatisfied women4 ,fifty steps further on1 and we find the female ,wagnerite--just as we find ,wagner himself fifty paces ahead of ,brahms4--,the female ,wagnerite is a more definite1 a more interesting1 and above all1 a more attractive type4 ,brahms is touching so long as he dreams or mourns over himself in private--in this respect he is modern2--he becomes cold1 we no longer feel at one with him when he poses as the child of the classics4 444 ,people like to call ,brahms ,beethoven's heir3 ,i know of no more cautious euphemism4--,all that which to-day makes a claim to being the grand style in music is on precisely that account either false to us or false to itself4 ,this alternative is suspicious enough3 in itself it contains a casuistic question concerning the value of the two cases4 ,the instinct of the majority protests against the alternative2 false to us--they do not wish to be cheated2--and ,i myself would certainly always prefer this type to the other 7,false to itself74 ,this is my taste4--,expressed more clearly for the sake of the poor in spirit it amounts to this3 ,brahms or ,wagner4444 ,brahms is not an actor4--,a very great part of other musicians may be summed up in the concept ,brahms4--,i do not wish to say anything about the clever apes of ,wagner1 as for instance ,goldmark3 when one has ,the ,queen of ,sheba to one's name1 one belongs to a menagerie1--one ought to put oneself on show4--,nowadays all things that can be done well and even with a master hand are small4 ,in this department alone is honesty still possible4 ,nothing1 however1 can cure music as a whole of its chief fault1 of its fate1 which is to be the expression of general physiological contradiction1--which is1 in fact1 to be modern4 ,the best instruction1 the most conscientious schooling1 the most thorough familiarity1 yea1 and even isolation1 with the ,old ,masters1--all this only acts as a palliative1 or1 more strictly speaking1 has but an illusory effect1 because the first condition of the right thing is no longer in our bodies2 whether this first condition be the strong race of a ,hndel or the overflowing animal spirits of a ,rossini4 ,not everyone has the right to every teacher3 and this holds good of whole epochs4--,in itself it is not impossible that there are still remains of stronger natures1 typical unadapted men1 somewhere in ,europe3 from this quarter the advent of a somewhat belated form of beauty and perfection1 even in music1 might still be hoped for4 ,but the most that we can expect to see are exceptional cases4 ,from the rule1 that corruption is paramount1 that corruption is a fatality1--not even a ,god can save music4 ,,epilogue ,and now let us take breath and withdraw a moment from this narrow world which necessarily must be narrow1 because we have to make enquiries relative to the value of persons4 ,a philosopher feels that he wants to wash his hands after he has concerned himself so long with the ,case of ,wagner4 ,i shall now give my notion of what is modern4 ,according to the measure of energy of every age1 there is also a standard that determines which virtues shall be allowed and which forbidden4 ,the age either has the virtues of ascending life1 in which case it resists the virtues of degeneration with all its deepest instincts4 ,or it is in itself an age of degeneration1 in which case it requires the virtues of declining life1--in which case it hates everything that justifies itself1 solely as being the outcome of a plenitude1 or a superabundance of strength4 sthetic is inextricably bound up with these biological principles3 there is decadent sthetic1 and classical sthetic1--,beauty in itself is just as much a chimera as any other kind of idealism4--,within the narrow sphere of the so-called moral values1 no greater antithesis could be found than that of master-morality and the morality of ,christian valuations3 the latter having grown out of a thoroughly morbid soil4 7--,the gospels present us with the same physiological types1 as do the novels of ,dostoiewsky71 the master-morality 7,roman1 pagan1 classical1 ,renaissance71 on the other hand1 being the symbolic speech of well-constitutedness1 of ascending life1 and of the ,will to ,power as a vital principle4 ,master-morality affirms just as instinctively as ,christian morality denies 7,god1 ,beyond1 self-denial1--all of them negations74 ,the first reflects its plenitude upon things1--it transfigures1 it embellishes1 it rationalises the world1--the latter impoverishes1 bleaches1 mars the value of things2 it suppresses the world4 ,world is a ,christian term of abuse4 ,these antithetical forms in the optics of values1 are both necessary3 they are different points of view which cannot be circumvented either with arguments or counter-arguments4 ,one cannot refute ,christianity3 it is impossible to refute a diseased eyesight4 ,that people should have combated pessimism as if it had been a philosophy1 was the very acme of learned stupidity4 ,the concepts true and untrue do not seem to me to have any sense in optics4--,that1 alone1 which has to be guarded against is the falsity1 the instinctive duplicity which would fain regard this antithesis as no antithesis at all3 just as ,wagner did1--and his mastery in this kind of falseness was of no mean order4 ,to cast side-long glances at master-morality1 at noble morality 7--,icelandic saga is perhaps the greatest documentary evidence of these values71 and at the same time to have the opposite teaching1 the gospel of the lowly1 the doctrine of the need of salvation1 on one's lips6444 ,incidentally1 ,i admire the modesty of ,christians who go to ,bayreuth4 ,as for myself1 ,i could not endure to hear the sound of certain words on ,wagner's lips4 ,there are some concepts which are too good for ,bayreuth4444 ,what8 ,christianity adjusted for female ,wagnerites1 perhaps by female ,wagnerites--for1 in his latter days ,wagner was thoroughly feminini generis--8 ,again ,i say1 the ,christians of to-day are too modest for me1444 ,if ,wagner were a ,christian1 then ,liszt was perhaps a ,father of the ,church6--,the need of salvation1 the quintessence of all ,christian needs1 has nothing in common with such clowns3 it is the most straightforward expression of decadence1 it is the most convincing and most painful affirmation of decadence1 in sublime symbols and practices4 ,the ,christian wishes to be rid of himself4 ,le mot est toujours hassable4 ,noble morality1 master-morality1 on the other hand1 is rooted in a triumphant saying of yea to one's self1--it is the self-affirmation and self-glorification of life2 it also requires sublime symbols and practices2 but only because its heart is too full4 ,the whole of beautiful art and of great art belongs here3 their common essence is gratitude4 ,but we must allow it a certain instinctive repugnance to dcadents1 and a scorn and horror of the latter's symbolism3 such things almost prove it4 ,the noble ,romans considered ,christianity as a fda superstitio3 let me call to your minds the feelings which the last ,german of noble taste--,goethe--had in regard to the cross4 ,it is idle to look for more valuable1 more necessary contrasts4444#h ,but the kind of falsity which is characteristic of the ,bayreuthians is not exceptional to-day4 ,we all know the hybrid concept of the ,christian gentleman4 ,this innocence in contradiction1 this clean conscience in falsehood1 is rather modern par excellence1 with it modernity is almost defined4 ,biologically1 modern man represents a contradiction of values1 he sits between two stools1 he says yea and nay in one breath4 ,no wonder that it is precisely in our age that falseness itself became flesh and blood1 and even genius6 ,no wonder ,wagner dwelt amongst us6 ,it was not without reason that ,i called ,wagner the ,cagliostro of modernity4444 ,but all of us1 though we do not know it1 involuntarily have values1 words1 formul1 and morals in our bodies1 which are quite antagonistic in their origin--regarded from a physiological standpoint1 we are false4444 ,how would a diagnosis of the modern soul begin8 ,with a determined incision into this agglomeration of contradictory instincts1 with the total suppression of its antagonistic values1 with vivisection applied to its most instructive case4 ,to philosophers the ,case of ,wagner is a windfall--this essay1 as you observe1 was inspired by gratitude4 ,footnote #a3 ,senta is the heroine in the ,flying ,dutchman1--,tr4 ,footnote #b3 ,a character in ,tannhuser4--,tr4 ,footnote #c3 ,see ,the ,will to ,power1 vol4 ii1 authorised ,english edition4--,tr4 ,footnote #d3 ,note4--,it was a real disaster for sthetics when the word drama got to be translated by action4 ,wagner is not the only culprit here2 the whole world does the same2--even the philologists who ought to know better4 ,what ancient drama had in view was grand pathetic scenes1--it even excluded action 7or placed it before the piece or behind the scenes74 ,the word drama is of ,doric origin1 and according to the usage of the ,dorian language it meant event1 history1--both words in a hieratic sense4 ,the oldest drama represented local legends1 sacred history1 upon which the foundation of the cult rested 7--thus it was not action1 but fatality3 dran in ,doric has nothing to do with action74 ,footnote #e3 ,hegel and his school wrote notoriously obscure ,german4 --,tr4 ,footnote #f3 ,was ,wagner a ,german at all8 ,there are reasons enough for putting this question4 ,it is difficult to find a single ,german trait in his character4 ,great learner that he was1 he naturally imitated a great deal that was ,german--but that is all4 ,his very soul contradicts everything which hitherto has been regarded as ,german2 not to mention ,german musicians6--,his father was an actor of the name of ,geyer4444 ,that which has been popularised hitherto as ,wagner's life is fable convenue if not something worse4 ,i confess my doubts on any point which is vouched for by ,wagner alone4 ,he was not proud enough to be able to suffer the truth about himself4 ,nobody had less pride than he4 ,like ,victor ,hugo he remained true to himself even in his biography1--he remained an actor4 ,footnote #g3 ,this undoubtedly refers to ,nietzsche's only disciple and friend1 ,peter ,gast4--,tr4 ,footnote #h3 ,my ,genealogy of ,morals contains the best exposition of the antithesis noble morality and ,christian morality2 a more decisive turning point in the history of religious and moral science does not perhaps exist4 ,this book1 which is a touchstone by which ,i can discover who are my peers1 rejoices in being accessible only to the most elevated and most severe minds3 the others have not the ears to hear me4 ,one must have one's passion in things1 wherein no one has passion nowadays4 ,,nietzsche ,,contra ,,wagner ,,the ,,brief ,,of ,a ,,psychologist ,by ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche ,,preface ,the following chapters have been selected from past works of mine1 and not without care4 ,some of them date back as far as #ahgg4 ,here and there1 of course1 they will be found to have been made a little more intelligible1 but above all1 more brief4 ,read consecutively1 they can leave no one in any doubt1 either concerning myself1 or concerning ,wagner3 we are antipodes4 ,the reader will come to other conclusions1 too1 in his perusal of these pages3 for instance1 that this is an essay for psychologists and not for ,germans4444 ,i have my readers everywhere1 in ,vienna1 ,st ,petersburg1 ,copenhagen1 ,stockholm1 ,paris1 and ,new ,york--but #a have none in ,europe's ,flat-land--,germany4444 ,and ,i might even have something to say to ,italians whom ,i love just as much as ,i 444 ,quousque tandem1 ,crispi 444 ,triple alliance3 a people can only conclude a misalliance with the ,empire4 444 ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche4 ,,turin1 ,christmas #ahhh4 ,,nietzsche ,,contra ,,wagner ,,wherein ,i ,,admire ,,wagner4 ,i believe that artists very often do not know what they are best able to do4 ,they are much too vain4 ,their minds are directed to something prouder than merely to appear like little plants1 which1 with freshness1 rareness1 and beauty1 know how to sprout from their soil with real perfection4 ,the ultimate goodness of their own garden and vineyard is superciliously under-estimated by them1 and their love and their insight are not of the same quality4 ,here is a musician who is a greater master than anyone else in the discovering of tones1 peculiar to suffering1 oppressed1 and tormented souls1 who can endow even dumb misery with speech4 ,nobody can approach him in the colours of late autumn1 in the indescribably touching joy of a last1 a very last1 and all too short gladness2 he knows of a chord which expresses those secret and weird midnight hours of the soul1 when cause and effect seem to have fallen asunder1 and at every moment something may spring out of nonentity4 ,he is happiest of all when creating from out the nethermost depths of human happiness1 and1 so to speak1 from out man's empty bumper1 in which the bitterest and most repulsive drops have mingled with the sweetest for good or evil at last4 ,he knows that weary shuffling along of the soul which is no longer able either to spring or to fly1 nay1 which is no longer able to walk2 he has the modest glance of concealed suffering1 of understanding without comfort1 of leave-taking without word or sign2 verily as the ,orpheus of all secret misery he is greater than anyone1 and many a thing was introduced into art for the first time by him1 which hitherto had not been given expression1 had not even been thought worthy of art--the cynical revolts1 for instance1 of which only the greatest sufferer is capable1 also many a small and quite microscopical feature of the soul1 as it were the scales of its amphibious nature--yes indeed1 he is the master of everything very small4 ,but this he refuses to be6 ,his tastes are much more in love with vast walls and with daring frescoes6 444 ,he does not see that his spirit has another desire and bent--a totally different outlook--that it prefers to squat peacefully in the corners of broken-down houses3 concealed in this way1 and hidden even from himself1 he paints his really great masterpieces1 all of which are very short1 often only one bar in length--there1 only1 does he become quite good1 great and perfect1 perhaps there alone4--,wagner is one who has suffered much--and this elevates him above other musicians4--,i admire ,wagner wherever he sets himself to music4-- ,,wherein ,i ,,raise ,,objections4 ,with all this ,i do not wish to imply that ,i regard this music as healthy1 and least of all in those places where it speaks of ,wagner himself4 ,my objections to ,wagner's music are physiological objections4 ,why should ,i therefore begin by clothing them in sthetic formul8 sthetic is indeed nothing more than applied physiology4--,the fact ,i bring forward1 my petit fait vrai is that ,i can no longer breathe with ease when this music begins to have its effect upon me2 that my foot immediately begins to feel indignant at it and rebels3 for what it needs is time1 dance1 march3 even the young ,german ,kaiser could not march to ,wagner's ,imperial ,march1--what my foot demands in the first place from music is that ecstasy which lies in good walking1 stepping and dancing4 ,but do not my stomach1 my heart1 my circulation also protest8 ,are not my intestines also troubled8 ,and do ,i not become hoarse unawares8 444 in order to listen to ,wagner ,i require ,graudel's ,pastilles4444 ,and then ,i ask myself1 what is it that my whole body must have from music in general8 for there is no such thing as a soul4444 ,i believe it must have relief3 as if all animal functions were accelerated by means of light1 bold1 unfettered1 self-reliant rhythms2 as if brazen and leaden life could lose its weight by means of delicate and smooth melodies4 ,my melancholy would fain rest its head in the haunts and abysses of perfection3 for this reason ,i need music4 ,but ,wagner makes one ill--,what do ,i care about the theatre8 ,what do ,i care about the spasms of its moral ecstasies in which the mob--and who is not the mob to-day8--rejoices8 ,what do ,i care about the whole pantomimic hocus-pocus of the actor8 ,you are beginning to see that ,i am essentially anti-theatrical at heart4 ,for the stage1 this mob art par excellence1 my soul has that deepest scorn felt by every artist to-day4 ,with a stage success a man sinks to such an extent in my esteem as to drop out of sight2 failure in this quarter makes me prick my ears1 makes me begin to pay attention4 ,but this was not so with ,wagner2 next to the ,wagner who created the most unique music that has ever existed there was the ,wagner who was essentially a man of the stage1 an actor1 the most enthusiastic mimomaniac that has perhaps existed on earth1 even as a musician4 ,and let it be said en passant that if ,wagner's theory was drama is the object1 music is only a means--his practice was from beginning to end1 the attitude is the end1 drama and even music can never be anything else than means4 ,music as the manner of accentuating1 of strengthening1 and deepening dramatic poses and all things which please the senses of the actor2 and ,wagnerian drama only an opportunity for a host of interesting attitudes6--,alongside of all other instincts he had the dictatorial instinct of a great actor in everything3 and1 as ,i have already said1 as a musician also4--,on one occasion1 and not without trouble1 ,i made this clear to a ,wagnerite pur sang1--clearness and a ,wagnerite6 ,i won't say another word4 ,there were reasons for adding2 ,for heaven's sake1 be a little more true unto yourself6 ,we are not in ,bayreuth now4 ,in ,bayreuth people are only upright in the mass2 the individual lies1 he even lies to himself4 ,one leaves oneself at home when one goes to ,bayreuth1 one gives up all right to one's own tongue and choice1 to one's own taste and even to one's own courage1 one knows these things no longer as one is wont to have them and practise them before ,god and the world and between one's own four walls4 ,in the theatre no one brings the finest senses of his art with him1 and least of all the artist who works for the theatre1--for here loneliness is lacking2 everything perfect does not suffer a witness4444 ,in the theatre one becomes mob1 herd1 woman1 ,pharisee1 electing cattle1 patron1 idiot--,wagnerite3 there1 the most personal conscience is bound to submit to the levelling charm of the great multitude1 there the neighbour rules1 there one becomes a neighbour4 ,,wagner ,,as ,a ,,danger4 #a4 ,the aim after which more modern music is striving1 which is now given the strong but obscure name of unending melody1 can be clearly understood by comparing it to one's feelings on entering the sea4 ,gradually one loses one's footing and one ultimately abandons oneself to the mercy or fury of the elements3 one has to swim4 ,in the solemn1 or fiery1 swinging movement1 first slow and then quick1 of old music--one had to do something quite different2 one had to dance4 ,the measure which was required for this and the control of certain balanced degrees of time and energy1 forced the soul of the listener to continual sobriety of thought4--,upon the counterplay of the cooler currents of air which came from this sobriety1 and from the warmer breath of enthusiasm1 the charm of all good music rested--,richard ,wagner wanted another kind of movement1--he overthrew the physiological first principle of all music before his time4 ,it was no longer a matter of walking or dancing1--we must swim1 we must hover4444 ,this perhaps decides the whole matter4 ,unending melody really wants to break all the symmetry of time and strength2 it actually scorns these things--,its wealth of invention resides precisely in what to an older ear sounds like rhythmic paradox and abuse4 ,from the imitation or the prevalence of such a taste there would arise a danger for music--so great that we can imagine none greater--the complete degeneration of the feeling for rhythm1 chaos in the place of rhythm4444 ,the danger reaches its climax when such music cleaves ever more closely to naturalistic play-acting and pantomime1 which governed by no laws of form1 aim at effect and nothing more4444 ,expressiveness at all costs and music a servant1 a slave to attitudes--this is the end4444 #b4 ,what8 would it really be the first virtue of a performance 7as performing musical artists now seem to believe71 under all circumstances to attain to a haut-relief which cannot be surpassed8 ,if this were applied to ,mozart1 for instance1 would it not be a real sin against ,mozart's spirit1--,mozart's cheerful1 enthusiastic1 delightful and loving spirit8 ,he who fortunately was no ,german1 and whose seriousness is a charming and golden seriousness and not by any means that of a ,german clodhopper4444 ,not to speak of the earnestness of the marble statue4 444 ,but you seem to think that all music is the music of the marble statue8 --that all music should1 so to speak1 spring out of the wall and shake the listener to his very bowels8 444 ,only thus could music have any effect6 ,but on whom would the effect be made8 ,upon something on which a noble artist ought never to deign to act1--upon the mob1 upon the immature6 upon the blasts6 upon the diseased6 upon idiots6 upon ,wagnerites6444 ,a ,,music ,,without ,a ,,future4 ,of all the arts which succeed in growing on the soil of a particular culture1 music is the last plant to appear2 maybe because it is the one most dependent upon our innermost feelings1 and therefore the last to come to the surface--at a time when the culture to which it belongs is in its autumn season and beginning to fade4 ,it was only in the art of the ,dutch masters that the spirit of medival ,christianity found its expression--1 its architecture of sound is the youngest1 but genuine and legitimate1 sister of the ,gothic4 ,it was only in ,handel's music that the best in ,luther and in those like him found its voice1 the ,judeo-heroic trait which gave the ,reformation a touch of greatness--the ,old ,testament1 not the ,new1 become music4 ,it was left to ,mozart1 to pour out the epoch of ,louis ,,xiv41 and of the art of ,racine and ,claude ,lorrain1 in ringing gold2 only in ,beethoven's and ,rossini's music did the ,eighteenth ,century sing itself out--the century of enthusiasm1 broken ideals1 and fleeting joy4 ,all real and original music is a swan song4--,even our last form of music1 despite its prevalence and its will to prevail1 has perhaps only a short time to live3 for it sprouted from a soil which was in the throes of a rapid subsidence1--of a culture which will soon be submerged4 ,a certain ,catholicism of feeling1 and a predilection for some ancient indigenous 7so-called national7 ideals and eccentricities1 was its first condition4 ,wagner's appropriation of old sagas and songs1 in which scholarly prejudice taught us to see something ,german par excellence--now we laugh at it all1 the resurrection of these ,scandinavian monsters with a thirst for ecstatic sensuality and spiritualisation--the whole of this taking and giving on ,wagner's part1 in the matter of subjects1 characters1 passions1 and nerves1 would also give unmistakable expression to the spirit of his music provided that this music1 like any other1 did not know how to speak about itself save ambiguously3 for musica is a woman4444 ,we must not let ourselves be misled concerning this state of things1 by the fact that at this very moment we are living in a reaction1 in the heart itself of a reaction4 ,the age of international wars1 of ultramontane martyrdom1 in fact1 the whole interlude-character which typifies the present condition of ,europe1 may indeed help an art like ,wagner's to sudden glory1 without1 however1 in the least ensuring its future prosperity4 ,the ,germans themselves have no future4444 ,,we ,,antipodes4 ,perhaps a few people1 or at least my friends1 will remember that ,i made my first plunge into life armed with some errors and some exaggerations1 but that1 in any case1 ,i began with hope in my heart4 ,in the philosophical pessimism of the nineteenth century1 ,i recognised--who knows by what by-paths of personal experience--the symptom of a higher power of thought1 a more triumphant plenitude of life1 than had manifested itself hitherto in the philosophies of ,hume1 ,kant and ,hegel6--,i regarded tragic knowledge as the most beautiful luxury of our culture1 as its most precious1 most noble1 most dangerous kind of prodigality2 but1 nevertheless1 in view of its overflowing wealth1 as a justifiable luxury4 ,in the same way1 ,i began by interpreting ,wagner's music as the expression of a ,dionysian powerfulness of soul4 ,in it ,i thought ,i heard the earthquake by means of which a primeval life-force1 which had been constrained for ages1 was seeking at last to burst its bonds1 quite indifferent to how much of that which nowadays calls itself culture1 would thereby be shaken to ruins4 ,you see how ,i misinterpreted1 you see also1 what ,i bestowed upon ,wagner and ,schopenhauer--myself4444 ,every art and every philosophy may be regarded either as a cure or as a stimulant to ascending or declining life3 they always presuppose suffering and sufferers4 ,but there are two kinds of sufferers3--those that suffer from overflowing vitality1 who need ,dionysian art and require a tragic insight into1 and a tragic outlook upon1 the phenomenon life1--and there are those who suffer from reduced vitality1 and who crave for repose1 quietness1 calm seas1 or else the intoxication1 the spasm1 the bewilderment which art and philosophy provide4 ,revenge upon life itself--this is the most voluptuous form of intoxication for such indigent souls6444 ,now ,wagner responds quite as well as ,schopenhauer to the twofold cravings of these people1--they both deny life1 they both slander it but precisely on this account they are my antipodes4--,the richest creature1 brimming over with vitality1--the ,dionysian ,god and man1 may not only allow himself to gaze upon the horrible and the questionable2 but he can also lend his hand to the terrible deed1 and can indulge in all the luxury of destruction1 disaggregation1 and negation1--in him evil1 purposelessness and ugliness1 seem just as allowable as they are in nature--because of his bursting plenitude of creative and rejuvenating powers1 which are able to convert every desert into a luxurious land of plenty4 ,conversely1 it is the greatest sufferer and pauper in vitality1 who is most in need of mildness1 peace and goodness--that which to-day is called humaneness--in thought as well as in action1 and possibly of a ,god whose speciality is to be a ,god of the sick1 a ,saviour1 and also of logic or the abstract intelligibility of existence even for idiots 7--the typical free-spirits1 like the idealists1 and beautiful souls1 are dcadents--72 in short1 of a warm1 danger-tight1 and narrow confinement1 between optimistic horizons which would allow of stultification4444 ,and thus very gradually1 ,i began to understand ,epicurus1 the opposite of a ,dionysian ,greek2 and also the ,christian who in fact is only a kind of ,epicurean1 and who1 with his belief that faith saves1 carries the principle of ,hedonism as far as possible--far beyond all intellectual honesty4444 ,if ,i am ahead of all other psychologists in anything1 it is in this fact that my eyes are more keen for tracing those most difficult and most captious of all deductions1 in which the largest number of mistakes have been made1--the deduction which makes one infer something concerning the author from his work1 something concerning the doer from his deed1 something concerning the idealist from the need which produced this ideal1 and something concerning the imperious craving which stands at the back of all thinking and valuing4--,in regard to all artists of what kind soever1 ,i shall now avail myself of this radical distinction3 does the creative power in this case arise from a loathing of life1 or from an excessive plenitude of life8 ,in ,goethe1 for instance1 an overflow of vitality was creative1 in ,flaubert--hate3 ,flaubert1 a new edition of ,pascal1 but as an artist with this instinctive belief at heart3 ,flaubert est toujours hassable1 l'homme n'est rien1 l'uvre est tout4444 ,he tortured himself when he wrote1 just as ,pascal tortured himself when he thought--the feelings of both were inclined to be non-egoistic4 444 ,disinterestedness--the principle of decadence1 the will to nonentity in art as well as in morality4 ,,where ,,wagner ,,is ,,at ,,home4 ,even at the present day1 ,france is still the refuge of the most intellectual and refined culture in ,europe1 it remains the high school of taste3 but one must know where to find this ,france of taste4 ,the ,north-,german ,gazette1 for instance1 or who-ever expresses his sentiments in that paper1 thinks that the ,french are barbarians1--as for me1 if ,i had to find the blackest spot on earth1 where slaves still required to be liberated1 ,i should turn in the direction of ,northern ,germany4444 ,but those who form part of that select ,france take very good care to conceal themselves3 they are a small body of men1 and there may be some among them who do not stand on very firm legs--a few may be fatalists1 hypochondriacs1 invalids2 others may be enervated1 and artificial1--such are those who would fain be artistic1--but all the loftiness and delicacy which still remains to this world1 is in their possession4 ,in this ,france of intellect1 which is also the ,france of pessimism1 ,schopenhauer is already much more at home than he ever was in ,germany2 his principal work has already been translated twice1 and the second time so excellently that now ,i prefer to read ,schopenhauer in ,french 7--he was an accident among ,germans1 just as ,i am--the ,germans have no fingers wherewith to grasp us2 they haven't any fingers at all1--but only claws74 ,and ,i do not mention ,heine--l'adorable ,heine1 as they say in ,paris--who long since has passed into the flesh and blood of the more profound and more soulful of ,french lyricists4 ,how could the horned cattle of ,germany know how to deal with the dlicatesses of such a nature6--,and as to ,richard ,wagner1 it is obvious1 it is even glaringly obvious1 that ,paris is the very soil for him3 the more ,french music adapts itself to the needs of l'me moderne1 the more ,wagnerian it will become1--it is far enough advanced in this direction already4--,in this respect one should not allow one's self to be misled by ,wagner himself--it was simply dis-graceful on ,wagner's part to scoff at ,paris1 as he did1 in its agony in #ahga4444 ,in spite of it all1 in ,germany ,wagner is only a misapprehension3 who could be more incapable of understanding anything about ,wagner than the ,kaiser1 for instance8--,to everybody familiar with the movement of ,european culture1 this fact1 however1 is certain1 that ,french romanticism and ,richard ,wagner are most intimately related4 ,all dominated by literature1 up to their very eyes and ears--the first ,european artists with a universal literary culture1--most of them writers1 poets1 mediators and minglers of the senses and the arts1 all fanatics in expression1 great discoverers in the realm of the sublime as also of the ugly and the gruesome1 and still greater discoverers in passion1 in working for effect1 in the art of dressing their windows1--all possessing talent far above their genius1--virtuosos to their backbone1 knowing of secret passages to all that seduces1 lures1 constrains or overthrows2 born enemies of logic and of straight lines1 thirsting after the exotic1 the strange and the monstrous1 and all opiates for the senses and the understanding4 ,on the whole1 a daring dare-devil1 magnificently violent1 soaring and high-springing crew of artists1 who first had to teach their own century---it is the century of the mob--what the concept artist meant4 ,but they were ill4444 ,,wagner ,,as ,,the ,,apostle ,,of ,,chastity4 #a4 ,is this the ,german way8 ,comes this low bleating forth from ,german hearts8 ,should ,teutons1 sin repenting1 lash themselves1 ,or spread their palms with priestly unctuousness1 ,exalt their feelings with the censer's fumes1 ,and cower and quake and bend the trembling knee1 ,and with a sickly sweetness plead a prayer8 ,then ogle nuns1 and ring the ,ave-bell1 ,and thus with morbid fervour out-do heaven8 ,is this the ,german way8 ,beware1 yet are you free1 yet your own ,lords4 ,what yonder lures is ,rome1 ,rome's faith sung without words4 #b4 ,there is no necessary contrast between sensuality and chastity2 every good marriage1 every genuine love affair is above this contrast2 but in those cases where the contrast exists1 it is very far from being necessarily a tragic one4 ,this1 at least1 ought to hold good of all well-constituted and good-spirited mortals1 who are not in the least inclined to reckon their unstable equilibrium between angel and petite bte1 without further ado1 among the objections to existence1 the more refined and more intelligent like ,hafis and ,goethe1 even regarded it as an additional attraction4 ,it is precisely contradictions of this kind which lure us to life4444 ,on the other hand1 it must be obvious1 that when ,circe's unfortunate animals are induced to worship chastity1 all they see and worship therein1 is their opposite--oh6 and with what tragic groaning and fervour1 may well be imagined--that same painful and thoroughly superfluous opposition which1 towards the end of his life1 ,richard ,wagner undoubtedly wished to set to music and to put on the stage1 ,and to what purpose8 we may reasonably ask4 #c4 ,and yet this other question can certainly not be circumvented3 what business had he actually with that manly 7alas6 so unmanly7 bucolic simplicity1 that poor devil and son of nature--,parsifal1 whom he ultimately makes a catholic by such insidious means--what8--was ,wagner in earnest with ,parsifal8 ,for1 that he was laughed at1 ,i cannot deny1 any more than ,gottfried ,keller can4444 ,we should like to believe that ,parsifal was meant as a piece of idle gaiety1 as the closing act and satyric drama1 with which ,wagner the tragedian wished to take leave of us1 of himself1 and above all of tragedy1 in a way which befitted him and his dignity1 that is to say1 with an extravagant1 lofty and most malicious parody of tragedy itself1 of all the past and terrible earnestness and sorrow of this world1 of the most ridiculous form of the unnaturalness of the ascetic ideal1 at last overcome4 ,for ,parsifal is the subject par excellence for a comic opera4444 ,is ,wagner's ,parsifal his secret laugh of superiority at himself1 the triumph of his last and most exalted state of artistic freedom1 of artistic transcendence--is it ,wagner able to laugh at himself8 ,once again we only wish it were so2 for what could ,parsifal be if he were meant seriously8 ,is it necessary in his case to say 7as ,i have heard people say7 that ,parsifal is the product of the mad hatred of knowledge1 intellect1 and sensuality8 a curse upon the senses and the mind in one breath and in one fit of hatred8 an act of apostasy and a return to ,christianly sick and obscurantist ideals8 ,and finally even a denial of self1 a deletion of self1 on the part of an artist who theretofore had worked with all the power of his will in favour of the opposite cause1 the spiritualisation and sensualisation of his art8 ,and not only of his art1 but also of his life8 ,let us remember how enthusiastically ,wagner at one time walked in the footsteps of the philosopher ,feuerbach4 ,feuerbach's words healthy sensuality struck ,wagner in the thirties and forties very much as they struck many other ,germans--they called themselves the young ,germans--that is to say1 as words of salvation4 ,did he ultimately change his mind on this point8 ,it would seem that he had at least had the desire of changing his doctrine towards the end4444 ,had the hatred of life become dominant in him as in ,flaubert8 ,for ,parsifal is a work of rancour1 of revenge1 of the most secret concoction of poisons with which to make an end of the first conditions of life2 it is a bad work4 ,the preaching of chastity remains an incitement to unnaturalness3 ,i despise anybody who does not regard ,parsifal as an outrage upon morality4-- ,,how ,i ,,got ,,rid ,,of ,,wagner4 #a4 ,already in the summer of #ahgf1 when the first festival at ,bayreuth was at its height1 ,i took leave of ,wagner in my soul4 ,i cannot endure anything double-faced4 ,since ,wagner had returned to ,germany1 he had condescended step by step to everything that ,i despise--even to anti-,semitism4 444 ,as a matter of fact1 it was then high time to bid him farewell3 but the proof of this came only too soon4 ,richard ,wagner1 ostensibly the most triumphant creature alive2 as a matter of fact1 though1 a cranky and desperate dcadent1 suddenly fell helpless and broken on his knees before the ,christian cross4444 ,was there no ,german at that time who had the eyes to see1 and the sympathy in his soul to feel1 the ghastly nature of this spectacle8 ,was ,i the only one who suffered from it8--,enough1 the unexpected event1 like a flash of lightning1 made me see only too clearly what kind of a place it was that ,i had just left1--and it also made me shudder as a man shudders who unawares has just escaped a great danger4 ,as ,i continued my journey alone1 ,i trembled4 ,not long after this ,i was ill1 more than ill--,i was tired2--tired of the continual disappointments over everything which remained for us modern men to be enthusiastic about1 of the energy1 industry1 hope1 youth1 and love that are squandered everywhere2 tired out of loathing for the whole world of idealistic lying and conscience-softening1 which1 once again1 in the case of ,wagner1 had scored a victory over a man who was of the bravest2 and last but not least1 tired by the sadness of a ruthless suspicion--that ,i was now condemned to be ever more and more suspicious1 ever more and more contemptuous1 ever more and more deeply alone than ,i had been theretofore4 ,for ,i had no one save ,richard ,wagner4444 ,i was always condemned to the society of ,germans4444 #b4 ,henceforward alone and cruelly distrustful of myself1 ,i then took up sides--not without anger--against myself and for all that which hurt me and fell hard upon me3 and thus ,i found the road to that courageous pessimism which is the opposite of all idealistic falsehood1 and which1 as it seems to me1 is also the road to me--to my mission4444 ,that hidden and dominating thing1 for which for long ages we have had no name1 until ultimately it comes forth as our mission1--this tyrant in us wreaks a terrible revenge upon us for every attempt we make either to evade him or to escape him1 for every one of our experiments in the way of befriending people to whom we do not belong1 for every active occupation1 however estimable1 which may make us diverge from our principal object3--aye1 and even for every virtue which would fain protect us from the rigour of our most intimate sense of responsibility4 ,illness is always the answer1 whenever we venture to doubt our right to our mission1 whenever we begin to make things too easy for ourselves4 ,curious and terrible at the same time6 ,it is for our relaxation that we have to pay most dearly6 ,and should we wish after all to return to health1 we then have no choice3 we are compelled to burden ourselves more heavily than we had been burdened before4444 ,,the ,,psychologist ,,speaks4 #a4 ,the oftener a psychologist--a born1 an unavoidable psychologist and soul-diviner--turns his attention to the more select cases and individuals1 the greater becomes his danger of being suffocated by sympathy3 he needs greater hardness and cheerfulness than any other man4 ,for the corruption1 the ruination of higher men1 is in fact the rule3 it is terrible to have such a rule always before our eyes4 ,the manifold torments of the psychologist who has discovered this ruination1 who discovers once1 and then discovers almost repeatedly throughout all history1 this universal inner hopelessness of higher men1 this eternal too late6 in every sense--may perhaps one day be the cause of his going to the dogs himself4 ,in almost every psychologist we may see a tell-tale predilection in favour of intercourse with commonplace and well-ordered men3 and this betrays how constantly he requires healing1 that he needs a sort of flight and forgetfulness1 away from what his insight and incisiveness--from what his business--has laid upon his conscience4 ,a horror of his memory is typical of him4 ,he is easily silenced by the judgment of others2 he hears with unmoved countenance how people honour1 admire1 love1 and glorify1 where he has opened his eyes and seen--or he even conceals his silence by expressly agreeing with some obvious opinion4 ,perhaps the paradox of his situation becomes so dreadful that1 precisely where he has learnt great sympathy1 together with great contempt1 the educated have on their part learnt great reverence4 ,and who knows but in all great instances1 just this alone happened3 that the multitude worshipped a ,god1 and that the ,god was only a poor sacrificial animal6 ,success has always been the greatest liar--and the work itself1 the deed1 is a success too2 the great statesman1 the conqueror1 the discoverer1 are disguised in their creations until they can no longer be recognised2 the work of the artist1 of the philosopher1 only invents him who has created it1 who is reputed to have created it2 the great men1 as they are reverenced1 are poor little fictions composed afterwards2 in the world of historical values counterfeit coinage prevails4 #b4 ,those great poets1 for example1 such as ,byron1 ,musset1 ,poe1 ,leopardi1 ,kleist1 ,gogol 7,i do not dare to mention much greater names1 but ,i imply them71 as they now appear1 and were perhaps obliged to be3 men of the moment1 sensuous1 absurd1 versatile1 light-minded and quick to trust and to distrust2 with souls in which usually some flaw has to be concealed2 often taking revenge with their works for an internal blemish1 often seeking forgetfulness in their soaring from a too accurate memory1 idealists out of proximity to the mud3--what a torment these great artists are and the so-called higher men in general1 to him who has once found them out6 ,we are all special pleaders in the cause of mediocrity4 ,it is conceivable that it is just from woman--who is clair-voyant in the world of suffering1 and1 alas6 also unfortunately eager to help and save to an extent far beyond her powers--that they have learnt so readily those outbreaks of boundless sympathy which the multitude1 above all the reverent multitude1 overwhelms with prying and self-gratifying interpretations4 ,this sympathising invariably deceives itself as to its power2 woman would like to believe that love can do everything--it is the superstition peculiar to her4 ,alas1 he who knows the heart finds out how poor1 helpless1 pretentious1 and blundering even the best and deepest love is--how much more readily it destroys than saves4444 #c4 ,the intellectual loathing and haughtiness of every man who has suffered deeply--the extent to which a man can suffer1 almost determines the order of rank--the chilling uncertainty with which he is thoroughly imbued and coloured1 that by virtue of his suffering he knows more than the shrewdest and wisest can ever know1 that he has been familiar with1 and at home in many distant terrible worlds of which you know nothing6--this silent intellectual haughtiness1 this pride of the elect of knowledge1 of the initiated1 of the almost sacrificed1 finds all forms of disguise necessary to protect itself from contact with gushing and sympathising hands1 and in general from all that is not its equal in suffering4 ,profound suffering makes noble2 it separates4--,one of the most refined forms of disguise is ,epicurism1 along with a certain ostentatious boldness of taste which takes suffering lightly1 and puts itself on the defensive against all that is sorrowful and profound4 ,there are cheerful men who make use of good spirits1 because they are misunderstood on account of them--they wish to be misunderstood4 ,there are scientific minds who make use of science1 because it gives a cheerful appearance1 and because love of science leads people to conclude that a person is shallow--they wish to mislead to a false conclusion4 ,there are free insolent spirits which would fain conceal and deny that they are at bottom broken1 incurable hearts--this is ,hamlet's case3 and then folly itself can be the mask of an unfortunate and alas6 all too dead-certain knowledge4 ,,epilogue ,i have often asked myself whether ,i am not much more deeply indebted to the hardest years of my life than to any others4 ,according to the voice of my innermost nature1 everything necessary1 seen from above and in the light of a superior economy1 is also useful in itself--not only should one bear it1 one should love it4444 ,amor fati3 this is the very core of my being4--,and as to my prolonged illness1 do ,i not owe much more to it than ,i owe to my health8 ,to it ,i owe a higher kind of health1 a sort of health which grows stronger under everything that does not actually kill it6--,to it1 ,i owe even my philosophy4444 ,only great suffering is the ultimate emancipator of spirit2 for it teaches one that vast suspiciousness which makes an ,x out of every ,u1 a genuine and proper ,x1 i4e41 the antepenultimate letter3 ,only great suffering2 that great suffering1 under which we seem to be over a fire of greenwood1 the suffering that takes its time--forces us philosophers to descend into our nethermost depths1 and to let go of all trustfulness1 all good-nature1 all whittling-down1 all mildness1 all mediocrity1--on which things we had formerly staked our humanity4 ,i doubt whether such suffering improves a man2 but ,i know that it makes him deeper4444 ,supposing we learn to set our pride1 our scorn1 our strength of will against it1 and thus resemble the ,indian who1 however cruelly he may be tortured1 considers himself revenged on his tormentor by the bitterness of his own tongue4 ,supposing we withdraw from pain into nonentity1 into the deaf1 dumb1 and rigid sphere of self-surrender1 self-forgetfulness1 self-effacement3 one is another person when one leaves these protracted and dangerous exercises in the art of self-mastery2 one has one note of interrogation the more1 and above all one has the will henceforward to ask more1 deeper1 sterner1 harder1 more wicked1 and more silent questions1 than anyone has ever asked on earth before4444 ,trust in life has vanished2 life itself has become a problem4 --,but let no one think that one has therefore become a spirit of gloom or a blind owl6 ,even love of life is still possible1--but it is a different kind of love4444 ,it is the love for a woman whom we doubt4444 #b4 ,the rarest of all things is this3 to have after all another taste--a second taste4 ,out of such abysses1 out of the abyss of great suspicion as well1 a man returns as though born again1 he has a new skin1 he is more susceptible1 more full of wickedness2 he has a finer taste for joyfulness2 he has a more sensitive tongue for all good things2 his senses are more cheerful2 he has acquired a second1 more dangerous1 innocence in gladness2 he is more childish too1 and a hundred times more cunning than ever he had been before4 ,oh1 how much more repulsive pleasure now is to him1 that coarse1 heavy1 buff-coloured pleasure1 which is understood by our pleasure-seekers1 our cultured people1 our wealthy folk and our rulers6 ,with how much more irony we now listen to the hubbub as of a country fair1 with which the cultured man and the man about town allow themselves to be forced through art1 literature1 music1 and with the help of intoxicating liquor1 to intellectual enjoyments4 ,how the stage-cry of passion now stings our ears2 how strange to our taste the whole romantic riot and sensuous bustle1 which the cultured mob are so fond of1 together with its aspirations to the sublime1 to the exalted and the distorted1 have become4 ,no3 if we convalescents require an art at all1 it is another art-a mocking1 nimble1 volatile1 divinely undisturbed1 divinely artificial art1 which blazes up like pure flame into a cloudless sky6 ,but above all1 an art for artists1 only for artists6 ,we are1 after all1 more conversant with that which is in the highest degree necessary--cheerfulness1 every kind of cheerfulness1 my friends6444 ,we men of knowledge1 now know something only too well3 oh how well we have learnt by this time1 to forget1 not to know1 as artists6444 ,as to our future3 we shall scarcely be found on the track of those ,egyptian youths who break into temples at night1 who embrace statues1 and would fain unveil1 strip1 and set in broad daylight1 everything which there are excellent reasons to keep concealed4#a ,no1 we are disgusted with this bad taste1 this will to truth1 this search after truth at all costs3 this madness of adolescence1 the love of truth2 we are now too experienced1 too serious1 too joyful1 too scorched1 too profound for that4444 ,we no longer believe that truth remains truth when it is unveiled1--we have lived enough to understand this4444 ,to-day it seems to us good form not to strip everything naked1 not to be present at all things1 not to desire to know all4 ,tout comprendre c'est tout mpriser4 444 ,is it true1 a little girl once asked her mother1 that the beloved ,father is everywhere8--,i think it quite improper1--a hint to philosophers4444 ,the shame with which ,nature has concealed herself behind riddles and enigmas should be held in higher esteem4 ,perhaps truth is a woman who has reasons for not revealing her reasons8 444 ,perhaps her name1 to use a ,greek word is ,baubo8--,oh these ,greeks1 they understood1 the art of living6 ,for this it is needful to halt bravely at the surface1 at the fold1 at the skin1 to worship appearance1 and to believe in forms1 tones1 words1 and the whole ,olympus of appearance6 ,these ,greeks were superficial--from profundity4 444 ,and are we not returning to precisely the same thing1 we dare-devils of intellect who have scaled the highest and most dangerous pinnacles of present thought1 in order to look around us from that height1 in order to look down from that height8 ,are we not precisely in this respect--,greeks8 ,worshippers of form1 of tones1 of words8 ,precisely on that account--artists8 ,footnote #a3 ,an allusion to ,schiller's poem3 ,das verschleierte ,bild zu ,sais4--,tr4 ,,selected ,,aphorisms ,,selected ,,aphorisms ,,from ,,nietzsche',s ,,retrospect ,,of ,,his ,,years ,,of ,,friendship ,,with ,,wagner4 7,summer #ahgh47 #a4 ,my blunder was this1 ,i travelled to ,bayreuth with an ideal in my breast1 and was thus doomed to experience the bitterest disappointment4 ,the preponderance of ugliness1 grotesqueness and strong pepper thoroughly repelled me4 #b4 ,i utterly disagree with those who were dissatisfied with the decorations1 the scenery and the mechanical contrivances at ,bayreuth4 ,far too much industry and ingenuity was applied to the task of chaining the imagination to matters which did not belie their epic origin4 ,but as to the naturalism of the attitudes1 of the singing1 compared with the orchestra66 ,what affected1 artificial and depraved tones1 what a distortion of nature1 were we made to hear6 #c4 ,we are witnessing the death agony of the last ,art3 ,bayreuth has convinced me of this4 #d4 ,my picture of ,wagner1 completely surpassed him2 ,i had depicted an ideal monster--one1 however1 which is perhaps quite capable of kindling the enthusiasm of artists4 ,the real ,wagner1 ,bayreuth as it actually is1 was only like a bad1 final proof1 pulled on inferior paper from the engraving which was my creation4 ,my longing to see real men and their motives1 received an extraordinary impetus from this humiliating experience4 #e4 ,this1 to my sorrow1 is what ,i realised2 a good deal even struck me with sudden fear4 ,at last ,i felt1 however1 that if only ,i could be strong enough to take sides against myself and what ,i most loved ,i would find the road to truth and get solace and encouragement from it--and in this way ,i became filled with a sensation of joy far greater than that upon which ,i was now voluntarily turning my back4 #f4 ,i was in love with art1 passionately in love1 and in the whole of existence saw nothing else than art--and this at an age when1 reasonably enough1 quite different passions usually possess the soul4 #g4 ,goethe said3 ,the yearning spirit within me1 which in earlier years ,i may perhaps have fostered too earnestly1 and which as ,i grew older ,i tried my utmost to combat1 did not seem becoming in the man1 and ,i therefore had to strive to attain to more complete freedom4 ,conclusion8--,i have had to do the same4 #h4 ,he who wakes us always wounds us4 #i4 ,i do not possess the talent of being loyal1 and what is still worse1 ,i have not even the vanity to try to appear as if ,i did4 #aj4 ,he who accomplishes anything that lies beyond the vision and the experience of his acquaintances1--provokes envy and hatred masked as pity1--prejudice regards the work as decadence1 disease1 seduction4 ,long faces4 #aa4 ,i frankly confess that ,i had hoped that by means of art the ,germans would become thoroughly disgusted with decaying ,christianity--,i regarded ,german mythology as a solvent1 as a means of accustoming people to polytheism4 ,what a fright ,i had over the ,catholic revival66 #ab4 ,it is possible neither to suffer sufficiently acutely from life1 nor to be so lifeless and emotionally weak1 as to have need of ,wagner's art1 as to require it as a medium4 ,this is the principal reason of one's opposition to it1 and not baser motives3 something to which we are not driven by any personal need1 and which we do not require1 we cannot esteem so highly4 #ac4 ,it is a question either of no longer requiring ,wagner's art1 or of still requiring it ,gigantic forces lie concealed in it3 it drives one beyond its own domain4 #ad4 ,goethe said3 ,are not ,byron's audacity1 sprightliness and grandeur all creative8 ,we must beware of always looking for this quality in that which is perfectly pure and moral4 ,all greatness is creative the moment we realise it4 ,this should be applied to ,wagner's art4 #ae4 ,we shall always have to credit ,wagner with the fact that in the second half of the nineteenth century he impressed art upon our memory as an important and magnificent thing4 ,true1 he did this in his own fashion1 and this was not the fashion of upright and far-seeing men4 #af4 ,wagner versus the cautious1 the cold and the contented of the world--in this lies his greatness --he is a stranger to his age--he combats the frivolous and the super-smart4--,but he also fights the just1 the moderate1 those who delight in the world 7like ,goethe72 and the mild1 the people of charm1 the scientific among men--this is the reverse of the medal4 #ag4 ,our youth was up in arms against the soberness of the age4 ,it plunged into the cult of excess1 of passion1 of ecstasy1 and of the blackest and most austere conception of the world4 #ah4 ,wagner pursues one form of madness1 the age another form4 ,both carry on their chase at the same speed1 each is as blind and as unjust as the other4 #ai4 ,it is very difficult to trace the course of ,wagner's inner development--no trust must be placed in his own description of his soul's experiences4 ,he writes party-pamphlets for his followers4 #bj4 ,it is extremely doubtful whether ,wagner is able to bear witness about himself4 #ba4 ,there are men who try in vain to make a principle out of themselves4 ,this was the case with ,wagner4 #bb4 ,wagner's obscurity concerning final aims2 his non-antique fogginess4 #bc4 ,all ,wagner's ideas straightway become manias2 he is tyrannised over by them4 ,how can such a man allow himself to be tyrannised over in this way6 ,for instance by his hatred of ,jews4 ,he kills his themes like his ideas1 by means of his violent love of repeating them4 ,the problem of excessive length and breadth2 he bores us with his raptures4 #bd4 ,c'est la rage de vouloir penser et sentir au del de sa force 7,doudan74 ,the ,wagnerites4 #be4 ,wagner whose ambition far exceeds his natural gifts1 has tried an incalculable number of times to achieve what lay beyond his powers--but it almost makes one shudder to see some one assail with such persistence that which defies conquest--the fate of his constitution4 #bf4 ,he is always thinking of the most extreme expression1--in every word4 ,but in the end superlatives begin to pall4 #bg4 ,there is something which is in the highest degree suspicious in ,wagner1 and that is ,wagner's suspicion4 ,it is such a strong trait in him1 that on two occasions ,i doubted whether he were a musician at all4 #bh4 ,the proposition3 in the face of perfection there is no salvation save love1#a is thoroughly ,wagnerian4 ,profound jealousy of everything great from which he can draw fresh ideas4 ,hatred of all that which he cannot approach3 the ,renaissance1 ,french and ,greek art in style4 ,footnote #a3 ,what ,schiller said of ,goethe4--,,tr4 #bi4 ,wagner is jealous of all periods that have shown restraint3 he despises beauty and grace1 and finds only his own virtues in the ,germans1 and even attributes all his failings to them4 #cj4 ,wagner has not the power to unlock and liberate the soul of those he frequents3 ,wagner is not sure of himself1 but distrustful and arrogant4 ,his art has this effect upon artists1 it is envious of all rivals4 #ca4 ,plato's ,envy4 ,he would fain monopolise ,socrates4 ,he saturates the latter with himself1 pretends to adorn him 1 and tries to separate all ,socratists from him in order himself to appear as the only true apostle4 ,but his historical presentation of him is false1 even to a parlous degree3 just as ,wagner's presentation of ,beethoven and ,shakespeare is false4 #cb4 ,when a dramatist speaks about himself he plays a part3 this is inevitable4 ,when ,wagner speaks about ,bach and ,beethoven he speaks like one for whom he would fain be taken4 ,but he impresses only those who are already convinced1 for his dissimulation and his genuine nature are far too violently at variance4 #cc4 ,wagner struggles against the frivolity in his nature1 which to him the ignoble 7as opposed to ,goethe7 constituted the joy of life4 #cd4 ,wagner has the mind of the ordinary man who prefers to trace things to one cause4 ,the ,jews do the same3 one aim1 therefore one ,saviour4 ,in this way he simplifies ,german and culture2 wrongly but strongly4 #ce4 ,wagner admitted all this to himself often enough when in private communion with his soul3 ,i only wish he had also admitted it publicly4 ,for what constitutes the greatness of a character if it is not this1 that he who possesses it is able to take sides even against himself in favour of truth4 ,wagner's ,teutonism4 #cf4 ,that which is un-,german in ,wagner4 ,he lacks the ,german charm and grace of a ,beethoven1 a ,mozart1 a ,weber2 he also lacks the flowing1 cheerful fire 7,allegro con brio7 of ,beethoven and ,weber4 ,he cannot be free and easy without being grotesque4 ,he lacks modesty1 indulges in big drums1 and always tends to surcharge his effect4 ,he is not the good official that ,bach was4 ,neither has he that ,goethean calm in regard to his rivals4 #cg4 ,wagner always reaches the high-water mark of his vanity when he speaks of the ,german nature 7incidentally it is also the height of his imprudence72 for1 if ,frederick the ,great's justice1 ,goethe's nobility and freedom from envy1 ,beethoven's sublime resignation1 ,bach's delicately transfigured spiritual life1--if steady work performed without any thought of glory and success1 and without envy1 constitute the true ,german qualities1 would it not seem as if ,wagner almost wished to prove he is no ,german8 #ch4 ,terrible wildness1 abject sorrow1 emptiness1 the shudder of joy1 unexpectedness1--in short all the qualities peculiar to the ,semitic race6 ,i believe that the ,jews approach ,wagner's art with more understanding than the ,aryans do4 #ci4 ,a passage concerning the ,jews1 taken from ,taine4--,as it happens1 ,i have misled the reader1 the passage does not concern ,wagner at all4--,but can it be possible that ,wagner is a ,jew8 ,in that case we could readily understand his dislike of ,jews4#b ,footnote #b3 ,see note on page #cg4 #dj4 ,wagner's art is absolutely the art of the age2 an sthetic age would have rejected it4 ,the more subtle people amongst us actually do reject it even now4 ,the coarsifying of everything sthetic4--,compared with ,goethe's ideal it is very far behind4 ,the moral contrast of these self-indulgent burningly loyal creatures of ,wagner1 acts like a spur1 like an irritant3 and even this sensation is turned to account in obtaining an effect4 #da4 ,what is it in our age that ,wagner's art expresses8 ,that brutality and most delicate weakness which exist side by side1 that running wild of natural instincts1 and nervous hyper-sensitiveness1 that thirst for emotion which arises from fatigue and the love of fatigue4--,all this is understood by the ,wagnerites4 #db4 ,stupefaction or intoxication constitute all ,wagnerian art4 ,on the other hand ,i could mention instances in which ,wagner stands higher1 in which real joy flows from him4 #dc4 ,the reason why the figures in ,wagner's art behave so madly1 is because he greatly feared lest people would doubt that they were alive4 #dd4 ,wagner's art is an appeal to inartistic people2 all means are welcomed which help towards obtaining an effect4 ,it is calculated not to produce an artistic effect but an effect upon the nerves in general4 #de4 ,apparently in ,wagner we have an art for everybody1 because coarse and subtle means seem to be united in it4 ,albeit its pre-requisite may be musico-sthetic education1 and particularly with moral indifference4 #df4 ,in ,wagner we find the most ambitious combination of all means with the view of obtaining the strongest effect3 whereas genuine musicians quietly develop individual genres4 #dg4 ,dramatists are borrowers--their principal source of wealth--artistic thoughts drawn from the epos4 ,wagner borrowed from classical music besides4 ,dramatists are constructive geniuses1 they are not inventive and original as the epic poets are4 ,drama takes a lower rank than the epos3 it presupposes a coarser and more democratic public4 #dh4 ,wagner does not altogether trust music4 ,he weaves kindred sensations into it in order to lend it the character of greatness4 ,he measures himself on others2 he first of all gives his listeners intoxicating drinks in order to lead them into believing that it was the music that intoxicated them4 #di4 ,the same amount of talent and industry which makes the classic1 when it appears some time too late1 also makes the baroque artist like ,wagner4 #ej4 ,wagner's art is calculated to appeal to short-sighted people--one has to get much too close up to it 7,miniature73 it also appeals to long-sighted people1 but not to those with normal sight4 ,contradictions in the ,idea of ,musical ,drama4 #ea4 ,just listen to the second act of the ,gtterdmmerung1 without the drama4 ,it is chaotic music1 as wild as a bad dream1 and it is as frightfully distinct as if it desired to make itself clear even to deaf people4 ,this volubility with nothing to say is alarming4 ,compared with it the drama is a genuine relief4--,is the fact that this music when heard alone1 is1 as a whole intolerable 7apart from a few intentionally isolated parts7 in its favour8 ,suffice it to say that this music without its accompanying drama1 is a perpetual contradiction of all the highest laws of style belonging to older music3 he who thoroughly accustoms himself to it1 loses all feeling for these laws4 ,but has the drama been improved thanks to this addition8 ,a symbolic interpretation has been affixed to it1 a sort of philological commentary1 which sets fetters upon the inner and free understanding of the imagination--it is tyrannical4 ,music is the language of the commentator1 who talks the whole of the time and gives us no breathing space4 ,moreover his is a difficult language which also requires to be explained4 ,he who step by step has mastered1 first the libretto 7language671 then converted it into action in his mind's eye1 then sought out and understood1 and became familiar with the musical symbolism thereto3 aye1 and has fallen in love with all three things3 such a man then experiences a great joy4 ,but how exacting6 ,it is quite impossible to do this save for a few short moments1--such tenfold attention on the part of one's eyes1 ears1 understanding1 and feeling1 such acute activity in apprehending without any productive reaction1 is far too exhausting6--,only the very fewest behave in this way3 how is it then that so many are affected8 ,because most people are only intermittingly attentive1 and are inattentive for sometimes whole passages at a stretch2 because they bestow their undivided attention now upon the music1 later upon the drama1 and anon upon the scenery--that is to say they take the work to pieces4--,but in this way the kind of work we are discussing is condemned3 not the drama but a moment of it is the result1 an arbitrary selection4 ,the creator of a new genre should consider this6 ,the arts should not always be dished up together1--but we should imitate the moderation of the ancients which is truer to human nature4 #eb4 ,wagner reminds one of lava which blocks its own course by congealing1 and suddenly finds itself checked by dams which it has itself built4 ,there is no ,allegro con fuoco for him4 #ec4 ,i compare ,wagner's music1 which would fain have the same effect as speech1 with that kind of sculptural relief which would have the same effect as painting4 ,the highest laws of style are violated1 and that which is most sublime can no longer be achieved4 #ed4 ,the general heaving1 undulating and rolling of ,wagner's art4 #ee4 ,in regard to ,wagner's rejection of form1 we are reminded of ,goethe's remark in conversation with ,eckermann3 there is no great art in being brilliant if one respects nothing4 #ef4 ,once one theme is over1 ,wagner is always embarrassed as to how to continue4 ,hence the long preparation1 the suspense4 ,his peculiar craftiness consisted in transvaluing his weakness into virtues4-- #eg4 ,the lack of melody and the poverty of melody in ,wagner4 ,melody is a whole consisting of many beautiful proportions1 it is the reflection of a well-ordered soul4 ,he strives after melody2 but if he finds one1 he almost suffocates it in his embrace4 #eh4 ,the natural nobility of a ,bach and a ,beethoven1 the beautiful soul 7even of a ,mendelssohn7 are wanting in ,wagner4 ,he is one degree lower4 #ei4 ,wagner imitates himself again and again--mannerisms4 ,that is why he was the quickest among musicians to be imitated4 ,it is so easy4 #fj4 ,mendelssohn who lacked the power of radically staggering one 7incidentally this was the talent of the ,jews in the ,old ,testament71 makes up for this by the things which were his own1 that is to say3 freedom within the law1 and noble emotions kept within the limits of beauty4 #fa4 ,liszt1 the first representative of all musicians1 but no musician4 ,he was the prince1 not the statesman4 ,the conglomerate of a hundred musicians' souls1 but not enough of a personality to cast his own shadow upon them4 #fb4 ,the most wholesome phenomenon is ,brahms1 in whose music there is more ,german blood than in that of ,wagner's4 ,with these words ,i would say something complimentary1 but by no means wholly so4 #fc4 ,in ,wagner's writings there is no greatness or peace1 but presumption4 ,why8 #fd4 ,wagner's ,style4-- ,the habit he acquired1 from his earliest days1 of having his say in the most important matters without a sufficient knowledge of them1 has rendered him the obscure and incomprehensible writer that he is4 ,in addition to this he aspired to imitating the witty newspaper article1 and finally acquired that presumption which readily joins hands with carelessness3 and1 behold1 it was very good4 #fe4 ,i am alarmed at the thought of how much pleasure ,i could find in ,wagner's style1 which is so careless as to be unworthy of such an artist4 #ff4 ,in ,wagner1 as in ,brahms1 there is a blind denial of the healthy1 in his followers this denial is deliberate and conscious4 #fg4 ,wagner's art is for those who are conscious of an essential blunder in the conduct of their lives4 ,they feel either that they have checked a great nature by a base occupation1 or squandered it through idle pursuits1 a conventional marriage1 c4 c4 ,in this quarter the condemnation of the world is the outcome of the condemnation of the ego4 #fh4 ,wagnerites do not wish to alter themselves in any way2 they live discontentedly in insipid1 conventional and brutal circumstances--only at intervals does art have to raise them as by magic above these things4 ,weakness of will4 #fi4 ,wagner's art is for scholars who do not dare to become philosophers3 they feel discontented with themselves and are generally in a state of obtuse stupefaction--from time to time they take a bath in the opposite conditions4 #gj4 ,i feel as if ,i had recovered from an illness3 with a feeling of unutterable joy ,i think of ,mozart's ,requiem4 ,i can once more enjoy simple fare4 #ga4 ,i understand ,sophocles' development through and through--it was the repugnance to pomp and pageantry4 #gb4 ,i gained an insight into the injustice of idealism1 by noticing that ,i avenged myself on ,wagner for the disappointed hopes ,i had cherished of him4 #gc4 ,i leave my loftiest duty to the end1 and that is to thank ,wagner and ,schopenhauer publicly1 and to make them as it were take sides against themselves4 #gd4 ,i counsel everybody not to fight shy of such paths 7,wagner and ,schopenhauer74 ,the wholly unphilosophic feeling of remorse1 has become quite strange to me4 ,wagner's ,effects4 #ge4 ,we must strive to oppose the false after-effects of ,wagner's art4 ,if he1 in order to create ,parsifal1 is forced to pump fresh strength from religious sources1 this is not an example but a danger4 #gf4 ,i entertain the fear that the effects of ,wagner's art will ultimately pour into that torrent which takes its rise on the other side of the mountains1 and which knows how to flow even over mountains4#c ,footnote #c3 ,it should be noted that the ,german ,catholic party is called the ,ultramontane ,party4 ,the river which can thus flow over mountains is ,catholicism1 towards which ,nietzsche thought ,wagner's art to be tending4--,,tr4 ,,we ,,philologists ,,autumn #ahgd 7,,published ,,posthumously7 ,,translated ,,by ,j4 ,m4 ,,kennedy ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,quintessence ,,of ,,nietzsche1 ,,religions ,,and ,,philosophies ,,of ,,the ,,east1 ,c4 ,the mussel is crooked inside and rough outside3 it is only when we hear its deep note after blowing into it that we can begin to esteem it at its true value4--7,ind4 ,sprche1 ed4 ,bthlingk1 i4 #cce47 ,an ugly-looking wind instrument3 but we must first blow into it4 ,,translator',s ,,introduction ,the subject of education was one to which ,nietzsche1 especially during his residence in ,basel1 paid considerable attention2 and his insight into it was very much deeper than that of1 say1 ,herbert ,spencer or even ,johann ,friedrich ,herbart1 the latter of whom has in late years exercised considerable influence in scholastic circles4 ,nietzsche clearly saw that the philologists 7using the word chiefly in reference to the teachers of the classics in ,german colleges and universities7 were absolutely unfitted for their high task1 since they were one and all incapable of entering into the spirit of antiquity4 ,although at the first reading1 therefore1 this book may seem to be rather fragmentary1 there are two main lines of thought running through it3 an incisive criticism of ,german professors1 and a number of constructive ideas as to what classical culture really should be4 ,these scattered aphorisms1 indeed1 are significant as showing how far ,nietzsche had travelled along the road over which humanity had been travelling from remote ages1 and how greatly he was imbued with the pagan spirit which he recognised in ,goethe and valued in ,burckhardt4 ,even at this early period of his life ,nietzsche was convinced that ,christianity was the real danger to culture2 and not merely modern ,christianity1 but also the ,alexandrian culture1 the last gasp of ,greek antiquity1 which had helped to bring ,christianity about4 ,when1 in the later aphorisms of ,we ,philologists1 ,nietzsche appears to be throwing over the ,greeks1 it should be remembered that he does not refer to the ,greeks of the era of ,homer or schylus1 or even of ,aristotle1 but to the much later ,greeks of the era of ,longinus4 ,classical antiquity1 however1 was conveyed to the public through university professors and their intellectual offspring2 and these professors1 influenced 7quite unconsciously1 of course7 by religious and liberal principles1 presented to their scholars a kind of emasculated antiquity4 ,it was only on these conditions that the ,state allowed the pagan teaching to be propagated in the schools2 and if1 where classical scholars were concerned1 it was more tolerant than the ,church had been1 it must be borne in mind that the ,church had already done all the rough work of emasculating its enemies1 and had handed down to the ,state a body of very innocuous and harmless investigators4 ,a totally erroneous conception of what constituted classical culture was thus brought about ,where any distinction was actually made1 for example1 later ,greek thought was enormously over-rated1 and early ,greek thought equally undervalued4 ,aphorism #dd1 together with the first half-dozen or so in the book1 may be taken as typical specimens of ,nietzsche's protest against this state of things4 ,it must be added1 unfortunately1 that ,nietzsche's observations in this book apply as much to ,england as to ,germany4 ,classical teachers here may not be rated so high as they are in ,germany2 but their influence would appear to be equally powerful1 and their theories of education and of classical antiquity equally chaotic4 ,in ,england as in ,germany they are theologians in disguise4 ,the danger of modern values to true culture may be readily gathered from a perusal of aphorisms that follow3 and1 if these aphorisms enable even one scholar in a hundred to enter more thoroughly into the spirit of a great past1 they will not have been penned in vain4 ,j4 ,m4 ,,kennedy4 ,,london1 ,july1#aiaa4 #a4 ,to what a great extent men are ruled by pure hazard1 and how little reason itself enters into the question1 is sufficiently shown by observing how few people have any real capacity for their professions and callings1 and how many square pegs there are in round holes3 happy and well chosen instances are quite exceptional1 like happy marriages1 and even these latter are not brought about by reason4 ,a man chooses his calling before he is fitted to exercise his faculty of choice4 ,he does not know the number of different callings and professions that exist2 he does not know himself2 and then he wastes his years of activity in this calling1 applies all his mind to it1 and becomes experienced and practical4 ,when1 afterwards1 his understanding has become fully developed1 it is generally too late to start something new2 for wisdom on earth has almost always had something of the weakness of old age and lack of vigour about it4 ,for the most part the task is to make good1 and to set to rights as well as possible1 that which was bungled in the beginning4 ,many will come to recognise that the latter part of their life shows a purpose or design which has sprung from a primary discord3 it is hard to live through it ,towards the end of his life1 however1 the average man has become accustomed to it--then he may make a mistake in regard to the life he has lived1 and praise his own stupidity3 bene navigavi cum naufragium feci3 he may even compose a song of thanksgiving to ,providence4 #b ,on inquiring into the origin of the philologist ,i find3 #a4 ,a young man cannot have the slightest conception of what the ,greeks and ,romans were4 #b4 ,he does not know whether he is fitted to investigate into them2 #c4 ,and1 in particular1 he does not know to what extent1 in view of the knowledge he may actually possess1 he is fitted to be a teacher4 ,what then enables him to decide is not the knowledge of himself or his science2 but 7a7 ,imitation4 7b7 ,the convenience of carrying on the kind of work which he had begun at school4 7c7 ,his intention of earning a living4 ,in short1 ninety-nine philologists out of a hundred should not be philologists at all4 #c ,the more strict religions require that men shall look upon their activity simply as one means of carrying out a metaphysical scheme3 an unfortunate choice of calling may then be explained as a test of the individual4 ,religions keep their eyes fixed only upon the salvation of the individual3 whether he is a slave or a free man1 a merchant or a scholar1 his aim in life has nothing to do with his calling1 so that a wrong choice is not such a very great piece of unhappiness4 ,let this serve as a crumb of comfort for philologists in general2 but true philologists stand in need of a better understanding3 what will result from a science which is gone in for by ninety-nine such people8 ,the thoroughly unfitted majority draw up the rules of the science in accordance with their own capacities and inclinations2 and in this way they tyrannise over the hundredth1 the only capable one among them4 ,if they have the training of others in their hands they will train them consciously or unconsciously after their own image3 what then becomes of the classicism of the ,greeks and ,romans8 ,the points to be proved are3-- 7a7 ,the disparity between philologists and the ancients4 7b7 ,the inability of the philologist to train his pupils1 even with the help of the ancients4 7c7 ,the falsifying of the science by the 7incapacity of the7 majority2 the wrong requirements held in view2 the renunciation of the real aim of this science4 #d ,all this affects the sources of our present philology3 a sceptical and melancholy attitude4 ,but how otherwise are philologists to be produced8 ,the imitation of antiquity3 is not this a principle which has been refuted by this time8 ,the flight from actuality to the ancients3 does not this tend to falsify our conception of antiquity8 #e ,we are still behindhand in one type of contemplation3 to understand how the greatest productions of the intellect have a dreadful and evil background3 the sceptical type of contemplation4 ,greek antiquity is now investigated as the most beautiful example of life4 ,as man assumes a sceptical and melancholy attitude towards his life's calling1 so we must sceptically examine the highest life's calling of a nation3 in order that we may understand what life is4 #f ,my words of consolation apply particularly to the single tyrannised individual out of a hundred3 such exceptional ones should simply treat all the unenlightened majorities as their subordinates2 and they should in the same way take advantage of the prejudice1 which is still widespread1 in favour of classical instruction--they need many helpers4 ,but they must have a clear perception of what their actual goal is4 #g ,philology as the science of antiquity does not1 of course1 endure for ever2 its elements are not inexhaustible4 ,what cannot be exhausted1 however1 is the ever-new adaptation of one's age to antiquity2 the comparison of the two4 ,if we make it our task to understand our own age better by means of antiquity1 then our task will be an everlasting one4--,this is the antinomy of philology3 people have always endeavoured to understand antiquity by means of the present--and shall the present now be understood by-means of antiquity8 ,better3 people have explained antiquity to themselves out of their own experiences2 and from the amount of antiquity thus acquired they have assessed the value of their experiences4 ,experience1 therefore1 is certainly an essential pre-requisite for a philologist--that is1 the philologist must first of all be a man2 for then only can he be productive as a philologist4 ,it follows from this that old men are well suited to be philologists if they were not such during that portion of their life which was richest in experiences4 ,it must be insisted1 however1 that it is only through a knowledge of the present that one can acquire an inclination for the study of classical antiquity4 ,where indeed should the impulse come from if not from this inclination8 ,when we observe how few philologists there actually are1 except those that have taken up philology as a means of livelihood1 we can easily decide for ourselves what is the matter with this impulse for antiquity3 it hardly exists at all1 for there are no disinterested philologists4 ,our task then is to secure for philology the universally educative results which it should bring about4 ,the means3 the limitation of the number of those engaged in the philological profession 7doubtful whether young men should be made acquainted with philology at all74 ,criticism of the philologist4 ,the value of antiquity3 it sinks with you3 how deeply you must have sunk1 since its value is now so little6 #h ,it is a great advantage for the true philologist that a great deal of preliminary work has been done in his science1 so that he may take possession of this inheritance if he is strong enough for it--,i refer to the valuation of the entire ,hellenic mode of thinking4 ,so long as philologists worked simply at details1 a misunderstanding of the ,greeks was the consequence4 ,the stages of this under-valuation are3 the sophists of the second century1 the philologist-poets of the ,renaissance1 and the philologist as the teacher of the higher classes of society 7,goethe1 ,schiller74 ,valuing is the most difficult of all4 ,in what respect is one most fitted for this valuing8--,not1 at all events1 when one is trained for philology as one is now4 ,it should be ascertained to what extent our present means make this last object impossible4--,thus the philologist himself is not the aim of philology4 #i ,most men show clearly enough that they do not regard themselves as individuals3 their lives indicate this4 ,the ,christian command that everyone shall steadfastly keep his eyes fixed upon his salvation1 and his alone1 has as its counterpart the general life of mankind1 where every man lives merely as a point among other points--living not only as the result of earlier generations1 but living also only with an eye to the future4 ,there are only three forms of existence in which a man remains an individual3 as a philosopher1 as a ,saviour1 and as an artist4 ,but just let us consider how a scientific man bungles his life3 what has the teaching of ,greek particles to do with the sense of life8--,thus we can also observe how innumerable men merely live1 as it were1 a preparation for a man3 the philologist1 for example1 as a preparation for the philosopher1 who in his turn knows how to utilise his ant-like work to pronounce some opinion upon the value of life4 ,when such ant-like work is not carried out under any special direction the greater part of it is simply nonsense1 and quite superfluous4 #aj ,besides the large number of unqualified philologists there is1 on the other hand1 a number of what may be called born philologists1 who from some reason or other are prevented from becoming such4 ,the greatest obstacle1 however1 which stands in the way of these born philologists is the bad representation of philology by the unqualified philologists4 ,leopardi is the modern ideal of a philologist3 ,the ,german philologists can do nothing4 7,as a proof of this ,voss should be studied67 #aa ,let it be considered how differently a science is propagated from the way in which any special talent in a family is transmitted4 ,the bodily transmission of an individual science is something very rare4 ,do the sons of philologists easily become philologists8 ,dubito4 ,thus there is no such accumulation of philological capacity as there was1 let us say1 in ,beethoven's family of musical capacity4 ,most philologists begin from the beginning2 and even then they learn from books1 and not through travels1 c4 ,they get some training1 of course4 #ab ,most men are obviously in the world accidentally3 no necessity of a higher kind is seen in them4 ,they work at this and that2 their talents are average4 ,how strange6 ,the manner in which they live shows that they think very little of themselves3 they merely esteem themselves in so far as they waste their energy on trifles 7whether these be mean or frivolous desires1 or the trashy concerns of their everyday calling74 ,in the so-called life's calling1 which everyone must choose1 we may perceive a touching modesty on the part of mankind4 ,they practically admit in choosing thus3 ,we are called upon to serve and to be of advantage to our equals--the same remark applies to our neighbour and to his neighbour2 so everyone serves somebody else2 no one is carrying out the duties of his calling for his own sake1 but always for the sake of others3 and thus we are like geese which support one another by the one leaning against the other4 ,when the aim of each one of us is centred in another1 then we have all no object in existing2 and this 'existing for others' is the most comical of comedies4 #ac ,vanity is the involuntary inclination to set one's self up for an individual while not really being one2 that is to say1 trying to appear independent when one is dependent4 ,the case of wisdom is the exact contrary3 it appears to be dependent while in reality it is independent4 #ad ,the ,hades of ,homer--,from what type of existence is it really copied8 ,i think it is the description of the philologist3 it is better to be a day-labourer than to have such an anmic recollection of the past4--#a ,footnote #a3 ,no doubt a reminiscence of the ,odyssey1 ,bk4 ix4--,,tr4 #ae ,the attitude of the philologist towards antiquity is apologetic1 or else dictated by the view that what our own age values can likewise be found in antiquity4 ,the right attitude to take up1 however1 is the reverse one1 viz41 to start with an insight into our modern topsyturviness1 and to look back from antiquity to it--and many things about antiquity which have hitherto displeased us will then be seen to have been most profound necessities4 ,we must make it clear to ourselves that we are acting in an absurd manner when we try to defend or to beautify antiquity3 who are we6 #af ,we are under a false impression when we say that there is always some caste which governs a nation's culture1 and that therefore savants are necessary2 for savants only possess knowledge concerning culture 7and even this only in exceptional cases74 ,among learned men themselves there might be a few1 certainly not a caste1 but even these would indeed be rare4 #ag ,one very great value of antiquity consists in the fact that its writings are the only ones which modern men still read carefully4 ,overstraining of the memory--very common among philologists1 together with a poor development of the judgment4 #ah ,busying ourselves with the culture-epochs of the past3 is this gratitude8 ,we should look backwards in order to explain to ourselves the present conditions of culture3 we do not become too laudatory in regard to our own circumstances1 but perhaps we should do so in order that we may not be too severe on ourselves4 #ai ,he who has no sense for the symbolical has none for antiquity3 let pedantic philologists bear this in mind4 #bj ,my aim is to bring about a state of complete enmity between our present culture and antiquity4 ,whoever wishes to serve the former must hate the latter4 #ba ,careful meditation upon the past leads to the impression that we are a multiplication of many pasts3 so how can we be a final aim8 ,but why not8 ,in most instances1 however1 we do not wish to be this4 ,we take up our positions again in the ranks1 work in our own little corner1 and hope that what we do may be of some small profit to our successors4 ,but that is exactly the case of the cask of the ,dan3 and this is useless1 we must again set about doing everything for ourselves1 and only for ourselves--measuring science by ourselves1 for example with the question3 ,what is science to us8 not3 what are we to science8 ,people really make life too easy for themselves when they look upon themselves from such a simple historical point of view1 and make humble servants of themselves4 ,your own salvation above everything--that is what you should say2 and there are no institutions which you should prize more highly than your own soul4--,now1 however1 man learns to know himself3 he finds himself miserable1 despises himself1 and is pleased to find something worthy of respect outside himself4 ,therefore he gets rid of himself1 so to speak1 makes himself subservient to a cause1 does his duty strictly1 and atones for his existence4 ,he knows that he does not work for himself alone2 he wishes to help those who are daring enough to exist on account of themselves1 like ,socrates4 ,the majority of men are as it were suspended in the air like toy balloons2 every breath of wind moves them4--,as a consequence the savant must be such out of self-knowledge1 that is to say1 out of contempt for himself--in other words he must recognise himself to be merely the servant of some higher being who comes after him4 ,otherwise he is simply a sheep4 #bb ,it is the duty of the free man to live for his own sake1 and not for others4 ,it was on this account that the ,greeks looked upon handicrafts as unseemly4 ,as a complete entity ,greek antiquity has not yet been fully valued3 ,i am convinced that if it had not been surrounded by its traditional glorification1 the men of the present day would shrink from it horror stricken4 ,this glorification1 then1 is spurious2 gold-paper4 #bc ,the false enthusiasm for antiquity in which many philologists live4 ,when antiquity suddenly comes upon us in our youth1 it appears to us to be composed of innumerable trivialities2 in particular we believe ourselves to be above its ethics4 ,and ,homer and ,walter ,scott--who carries off the palm8 ,let us be honest6 ,if this enthusiasm were really felt1 people could scarcely seek their life's calling in it4 ,i mean that what we can obtain from the ,greeks only begins to dawn upon us in later years3 only after we have undergone many experiences1 and thought a great deal4 #bd ,people in general think that philology is at an end--while ,i believe that it has not yet begun4 ,the greatest events in philology are the appearance of ,goethe1 ,schopenhauer1 and ,wagner2 standing on their shoulders we look far into the distance ,the fifth and sixth centuries have still to be discovered4 #be ,where do we see the effect of antiquity8 ,not in language1 not in the imitation of something or other1 and not in perversity and waywardness1 to which uses the ,french have turned it4 ,our museums are gradually becoming filled up3 ,i always experience a sensation of disgust when ,i see naked statues in the ,greek style in the presence of this thought-less philistinism which would fain devour everything4 ,,plans ,,and ,,thoughts ,,relating ,,to ,a ,,work ,,on ,,philology 7#ahge7 #bf ,of all sciences philology at present is the most favoured3 its progress having been furthered for centuries by the greatest number of scholars in every nation who have had charge of the noblest pupils4 ,philology has thus had one of the best of all opportunities to be propagated from generation to generation1 and to make itself respected4 ,how has it acquired this power8 ,calculations of the different prejudices in its favour4 ,how then if these were to be frankly recognised as prejudices8 ,would not philology be superfluous if we reckoned up the interests of a position in life or the earning of a livelihood8 ,what if the truth were told about antiquity1 and its qualifications for training people to live in the present8 ,in order that the questions set forth above may be answered let us consider the training of the philologist1 his genesis3 he no longer comes into being where these interests are lacking4 ,if the world in general came to know what an unseasonable thing for us antiquity really is1 philologists would no longer be called in as the educators of our youth4 ,effect of antiquity on the non-philologist likewise nothing4 ,if they showed themselves to be imperative and contradictory1 oh1 with what hatred would they be pursued6 ,but they always humble themselves4 ,philology now derives its power only from the union between the philologists who will not1 or cannot1 understand antiquity and public opinion1 which is misled by prejudices in regard to it4 ,the real ,greeks1 and their watering down through the philologists4 ,the future commanding philologist sceptical in regard to our entire culture1 and therefore also the destroyer of philology as a profession4 ,,the ,,preference ,,for ,,antiquity #bg ,if a man approves of the investigation of the past he will also approve and even praise the fact--and will above all easily understand it--that there are scholars who are exclusively occupied with the investigation of ,greek and ,roman antiquity3 but that these scholars are at the same time the teachers of the children of the nobility and gentry is not equally easy of comprehension--here lies a problem4 ,why philologists precisely8 ,this is not altogether such a matter of course as the case of a professor of medicine1 who is also a practical physician and surgeon4 ,for1 if the cases were identical1 preoccupation with ,greek and ,roman antiquity would be identical with the science of education4 ,in short the relationship between theory and practice in the philologist cannot be so quickly conceived4 ,whence comes his pretension to be a teacher in the higher sense1 not only of all scientific men1 but more especially of all cultured men8 ,this educational power must be taken by the philologist from antiquity2 and in such a case people will ask with astonishment3 how does it come that we attach such value to a far-off past that we can only become cultured men with the aid of its knowledge8 ,these questions1 however1 are not asked as a rule3 ,the sway of philology over our means of instruction remains practically unquestioned2 and antiquity has the importance assigned to it4 ,to this extent the position of the philologist is more favourable than that of any other follower of science4 ,true1 he has not at his disposal that great mass of men who stand in need of him--the doctor1 for example1 has far more than the philologist4 ,but he can influence picked men1 or youths1 to be more accurate1 at a time when all their mental faculties are beginning to blossom forth--people who can afford to devote both time and money to their higher development4 ,in all those places where ,european culture has found its way1 people have accepted secondary schools based upon a foundation of ,latin and ,greek as the first and highest means of instruction4 ,in this way philology has found its best opportunity of transmitting itself1 and commanding respect3 no other science has been so well favoured4 ,as a general rule all those who have passed through such institutions have afterwards borne testimony to the excellence of their organisation and curriculum1 and such people are1 of course1 unconscious witnesses in favour of philology4 ,if any who have not passed through these institutions should happen to utter a word in disparagement of this education1 an unanimous and yet calm repudiation of the statement at once follows1 as if classical education were a kind of witchcraft1 blessing its followers1 and demonstrating itself to them by this blessing4 ,there is no attempt at polemics3 ,we have been through it all4 ,we know it has done us good4 ,now there are so many things to which men have become so accustomed that they look upon them as quite appropriate and suitable1 for habit intermixes all things with sweetness2 and men as a rule judge the value of a thing in accordance with their own desires4 ,the desire for classical antiquity as it is now felt should be tested1 and1 as it were1 taken to pieces and analysed with a view to seeing how much of this desire is due to habit1 and how much to mere love of adventure--,i refer to that inward and active desire1 new and strange1 which gives rise to a productive conviction from day to day1 the desire for a higher goal1 and also the means thereto3 as the result of which people advance step by step from one unfamiliar thing to another1 like an ,alpine climber4 ,what is the foundation on which the high value attached to antiquity at the present time is based1 to such an extent indeed that our whole modern culture is founded on it8 ,where must we look for the origin of this delight in antiquity1 and the preference shown for it8 ,i think ,i have recognised in my examination of the question that all our philology--that is1 all its present existence and power--is based on the same foundation as that on which our view of antiquity as the most important of all means of training is based4 ,philology as a means of instruction is the clear expression of a predominating conception regarding the value of antiquity1 and the best methods of education4 ,two propositions are contained in this statement3 ,in the first place all higher education must be a historical one2 and secondly1 ,greek and ,roman history differs from all others in that it is classical4 ,thus the scholar who knows this history becomes a teacher4 ,we are not here going into the question as to whether higher education ought to be historical or not2 but we may examine the second and ask3 in how far is it classic8 ,on this point there are many widespread prejudices4 ,in the first place there is the prejudice expressed in the synonymous concept1 ,the study of the humanities3 antiquity is classic because it is the school of the humane4 ,secondly3 ,antiquity is classic because it is enlightened---- #bh ,it is the task of all education to change certain conscious actions and habits into more or less unconscious ones2 and the history of mankind is in this sense its education4 ,the philologist now practises unconsciously a number of such occupations and habits4 ,it is my object to ascertain how his power1 that is1 his instinctive methods of work1 is the result of activities which were formerly conscious1 but which he has gradually come to feel as such no longer3 but that consciousness consisted of prejudices4 ,the present power of philologists is based upon these prejudices1 for example the value attached to the ratio as in the cases of ,bentley and ,hermann4 ,prejudices are1 as ,lichtenberg says1 the art impulses of men4 #bi ,it is difficult to justify the preference for antiquity since it has arisen from prejudices3 #a4 ,from ignorance of all non-classical antiquity4 #b4 ,from a false idealisation of humanitarianism1 whilst ,hindoos and ,chinese are at all events more humane4 #c4 ,from the pretensions of school-teachers4 #d4 ,from the traditional admiration which emanated from antiquity itself4 #e4 ,from opposition to the ,christian church2 or as a support for this church4 #f4 ,from the impression created by the century-long work of the philologists1 and the nature of this work3 it must be a gold mine1 thinks the spectator4 #g4 ,the acquirement of knowledge attained as the result of the study4 ,the preparatory school of science4 ,in short1 partly from ignorance1 wrong impressions1 and misleading conclusions2 and also from the interest which philologists have in raising their science to a high level in the estimation of laymen4 ,also the preference for antiquity on the part of the artists1 who involuntarily assume proportion and moderation to be the property of all antiquity4 ,purity of form4 ,authors likewise4 ,the preference for antiquity as an abbreviation of the history of the human race1 as if there were an autochthonous creation here by which all becoming might be studied4 ,the fact actually is that the foundations of this preference are being removed one by one1 and if this is not remarked by philologists themselves1 it is certainly being remarked as much as it can possibly be by people outside their circle4 ,first of all history had its effect1 and then linguistics brought about the greatest diversion among philologists themselves1 and even the desertion of many of them4 ,they have still the schools in their hands3 but for how long6 ,in the form in which it has existed up to the present philology is dying out2 the ground has been swept from under its feet4 ,whether philologists may still hope to maintain their status is doubtful2 in any case they are a dying race4 #cj ,the peculiarly significant situation of philologists3 a class of people to whom we entrust our youth1 and who have to investigate quite a special antiquity4 ,the highest value is obviously attached to this antiquity4 ,but if this antiquity has been wrongly valued1 then the whole foundation upon which the high position of the philologist is based suddenly collapses4 ,in any case this antiquity has been very differently valued2 and our appreciation of the philologists has constantly been guided by it4 ,these people have borrowed their power from the strong prejudices in favour of antiquity1--this must be made clear4 ,philologists now feel that when these prejudices are at last refuted1 and antiquity depicted in its true colours1 the favourable prejudices towards them will diminish considerably4 ,it is thus to the interest of their profession not to let a clear impression of antiquity come to light3 in particular the impression that antiquity in its highest sense renders one out of season i4e41 an enemy to one's own time4 ,it is also to the interest of philologists as a class not to let their calling as teachers be regarded from a higher standpoint than that to which they themselves can correspond4 #ca ,it is to be hoped that there are a few people who look upon it as a problem why philologists should be the teachers of our noblest youths4 ,perhaps the case will not be always so4--,it would be much more natural per se if our children were instructed in the elements of geography1 natural science1 political economy1 and sociology1 if they were gradually led to a consideration of life itself1 and if finally1 but much later1 the most noteworthy events of the past were brought to their knowledge4 ,a knowledge of antiquity should be among the last subjects which a student would take up2 and would not this position of antiquity in the curriculum of a school be more honourable for it than the present one8--,antiquity is now used merely as a propdeutic for thinking1 speaking1 and writing2 but there was a time when it was the essence of earthly knowledge1 and people at that time wished to acquire by means of practical learning what they now seek to acquire merely by means of a detailed plan of study--a plan which1 corresponding to the more advanced knowledge of the age1 has entirely changed4 ,thus the inner purpose of philological teaching has been entirely altered2 it was at one time material teaching1 a teaching that taught how to live2 but now it is merely formal4#c ,footnote #c3 ,formal education is that which tends to develop the critical and logical faculties1 as opposed to material education1 which is intended to deal with the acquisition of knowledge and its valuation1 e4g41 history1 mathematics1 c4 ,material education1 of course1 has nothing to do with materialism4--,,tr4 #cb ,if it were the task of the philologist to impart formal education1 it would be necessary for him to teach walking1 dancing1 speaking1 singing1 acting1 or arguing3 and the so-called formal teachers did impart their instruction this way in the second and third centuries4 ,but only the training of a scientific man is taken into account1 which results in formal thinking and writing1 and hardly any speaking at all4 #cc ,if the gymnasium is to train young men for science1 people now say there can be no more preliminary preparation for any particular science1 so comprehensive have all the sciences become4 ,as a consequence teachers have to train their students generally1 that is to say for all the sciences--for scientificality in other words2 and for that classical studies are necessary6 ,what a wonderful jump6 a most despairing justification6 ,whatever is1 is right1#d even when it is clearly seen that the right on which it has been based has turned to wrong4 ,footnote #d3 ,the reference is not to ,pope1 but to ,hegel4--,,tr4 #cd ,it is accomplishments which are expected from us after a study of the ancients3 formerly1 for example1 the ability to write and speak4 ,but what is expected now6 ,thinking and deduction3 but these things are not learnt from the ancients1 but at best through the ancients1 by means of science4 ,moreover1 all historical deduction is very limited and unsafe2 natural science should be preferred4 #ce ,it is the same with the simplicity of antiquity as it is with the simplicity of style3 it is the highest thing which we recognise and must imitate2 but it is also the last ,let it be remembered that the classic prose of the ,greeks is also a late result #cf ,what a mockery of the study of the humanities lies in the fact that they were also called belles lettres 7bellas litteras76 #cg ,wolfs#e reasons why the ,egyptians1 ,hebrews ,persians1 and other ,oriental nations were not to be set on the same plane with the ,greeks and ,romans3 ,the former have either not raised themselves1 or have raised themselves only to a slight extent1 above that type of culture which should be called a mere civilisation and bourgeois acquirement1 as opposed to the higher and true culture of the mind4 ,he then explains that this culture is spiritual and literary3 ,in a well-organised nation this may be begun earlier than order and peacefulness in the outward life of the people 7enlightenment74 ,he then contrasts the inhabitants of easternmost ,asia 7like such individuals1 who are not wanting in clean1 decent1 and comfortable dwellings1 clothing1 and surroundings2 but who never feel the necessity for a higher enlightenment7 with the ,greeks 7in the case of the ,greeks1 even among the most educated inhabitants of ,attica1 the contrary often happens to an astonishing degree2 and the people neglect as insignificant factors that which we1 thanks to our love of order1 are in the habit of looking upon as the foundations of mental culture itself74 ,footnote #e3 ,friedrich ,august ,wolf 7#agei-ahbd71 the well-known classical scholar1 now chiefly remembered by his ,prolegomena ad ,homerum4--,,tr4 #ch ,our terminology already shows how prone we are to judge the ancients wrongly3 the exaggerated sense of literature1 for example2 or1 as ,wolf1 when speaking of the inner history of ancient erudition1 calls it1 the history of learned enlightenment4 #ci ,according to ,goethe1 the ancients are the despair of the emulator4 ,voltaire said3 ,if the admirers of ,homer were honest1 they would acknowledge the boredom which their favourite often causes them4 #dj ,the position we have taken up towards classical antiquity is at bottom the profound cause of the sterility of modern culture2 for we have taken all this modern conception of culture from the ,hellenised ,romans4 ,we must distinguish within the domain of antiquity itself3 when we come to appreciate its purely productive period1 we condemn at the same time the entire ,romano ,alexandrian culture4 ,but at the same time also we condemn our own attitude towards antiquity1 and likewise our philology4 #da ,there has been an age-long battle between the ,germans and antiquity1 i4e41 a battle against the old culture3 it is certain that precisely what is best and deepest in the ,german resists it4 ,the main point1 however1 is that such resistance is only justifiable in the case of the ,romanised culture2 for this culture1 even at that time1 was a falling-off from something more profound and noble4 ,it is this latter that the ,germans are wrong in resisting4 #db ,everything classic was thoroughly cultivated by ,charles the ,great1 whilst he combated everything heathen with the severest possible measures of coercion4 ,ancient mythology was developed1 but ,german mythology was treated as a crime4 ,the feeling underlying all this1 in my opinion1 was that ,christianity had already overcome the old religion3 people no longer feared it1 but availed themselves of the culture that rested upon it4 ,but the old ,german gods were feared4 ,a great superficiality in the conception of antiquity--little else than an appreciation of its formal accomplishments and its knowledge--must thereby have been brought about4 ,we must find out the forces that stood in the way of increasing our insight into antiquity4 ,first of all1 the culture of antiquity is utilised as an incitement towards the acceptance of ,christianity3 it became1 as it were1 the premium for conversion1 the gilt with which the poisonous pill was coated before being swallowed4 ,secondly1 the help of ancient culture was found to be necessary as a weapon for the intellectual protection of ,christianity4 ,even the ,reformation could not dispense with classical studies for this purpose4 ,the ,renaissance1 on the other hand1 now begins1 with a clearer sense of classical studies1 which1 however1 are likewise looked upon from an anti-,christian standpoint3 the ,renaissance shows an awakening of honesty in the south1 like the ,reformation in the north4 ,they could not but clash2 for a sincere leaning towards antiquity renders one unchristian4 ,on the whole1 however1 the ,church succeeded in turning classical studies into a harmless direction3 the philologist was invented1 representing a type of learned man who was at the same time a priest or something similar4 ,even in the period of the ,reformation people succeeded in emasculating scholarship4 ,it is on this account that ,friedrich ,august ,wolf is noteworthy3 he freed his profession from the bonds of theology4 ,this action of his1 however1 was not fully understood2 for an aggressive1 active element1 such as was manifested by the poet-philologists of the ,renaissance1 was not developed4 ,the freedom obtained benefited science1 but not man4 #dc ,it is true that both humanism and rationalism have brought antiquity into the field as an ally2 and it is therefore quite comprehensible that the opponents of humanism should direct their attacks against antiquity also4 ,antiquity1 however1 has been misunderstood and falsified by humanism3 it must rather be considered as a testimony against humanism1 against the benign nature of man1 c4 ,the opponents of humanism are wrong to combat antiquity as well2 for in antiquity they have a strong ally4 #dd ,it is so difficult to understand the ancients4 ,we must wait patiently until the spirit moves us4 ,the human element which antiquity shows us must not be confused with humanitarianism4 ,this contrast must be strongly emphasised3 philology suffers by endeavouring to substitute the humanitarian2 young men are brought forward as students of philology in order that they may thereby become humanitarians4 ,a good deal of history1 in my opinion1 is quite sufficient for that purpose4 ,the brutal and self-conscious man will be humbled when he sees things and values changing to such an extent4 ,the human element among the ,greeks lies within a certain navet through which man himself is to be seen--state1 art1 society1 military and civil law1 sexual relations1 education1 party4 ,it is precisely the human element which may be seen everywhere and among all peoples2 but among the ,greeks it is seen in a state of nakedness and inhumanity which cannot be dispensed with for purposes of instruction4 ,in addition to this1 the ,greeks have created the greatest number of individuals2 and thus they give us so much insight into men1--a ,greek cook is more of a cook than any other4 #de ,i deplore a system of education which does not enable people to understand ,wagner1 and as the result of which ,schopenhauer sounds harsh and discordant in our ears3 such a system of education has missed its aim4 #df 7,,the ,,final ,,draft ,,of ,,the ,,first ,,chapter47 ,il faut dire la vrit et s'immoler4--,,voltaire4 ,let us suppose that there were freer and more superior spirits who were dissatisfied with the education now in vogue1 and that they summoned it to their tribunal1 what would the defendant say to them8 ,in all probability something like this3 ,whether you have a right to summon anyone here or not1 ,i am at all events not the proper person to be called4 ,it is my educators to whom you should apply4 ,it is their duty to defend me1 and ,i have a right to keep silent4 ,i am merely what they have made me4 ,these educators would now be haled before the tribunal1 and among them an entire profession would be observed3 the philologists4 ,this profession consists in the first place of those men who make use of their knowledge of ,greek and ,roman antiquity to bring up youths of thirteen to twenty years of age1 and secondly of those men whose task it is to train specially-gifted pupils to act as future teachers-i4e41 as the educators of educators4 ,philologists of the first type are teachers at the public schools2 those of the second are professors at the universities4 ,the first-named philologists are entrusted with the care of certain specially-chosen youths1 those who1 early in life1 show signs of talent and a sense of what is noble1 and whose parents are prepared to allow plenty of time and money for their education4 ,if other boys1 who do not fulfil these three conditions1 are presented to the teachers1 the teachers have the right to refuse them4 ,those forming the second class1 the university professors1 receive the young men who feel themselves fitted for the highest and most responsible of callings1 that of teachers and moulders of mankind2 and these professors1 too1 may refuse to have anything to do with young men who are not adequately equipped or gifted for the task4 ,if1 then1 the educational system of a period is condemned1 a heavy censure on philologists is thereby implied3 either1 as the consequence of their wrong-headed view1 they insist on giving bad education in the belief that it is good2 or they do not wish to give this bad education1 but are unable to carry the day in favour of education which they recognise to be better4 ,in other words1 their fault is either due to their lack of insight or to their lack of will4 ,in answer to the first charge they would say that they knew no better1 and in answer to the second that they could do no better4 ,as1 however1 these philologists bring up their pupils chiefly with the aid of ,greek and ,roman antiquity1 their want of insight in the first case may be attributed to the fact that they do not understand antiquity2 and again to the fact that they bring forward antiquity into the present age as if it were the most important of all aids to instruction1 while antiquity1 generally speaking1 does not assist in training1 or at all events no longer does so4 ,on the other hand1 if we reproach our professors with their lack of will1 they would be quite right in attributing educational significance and power to antiquity2 but they themselves could not be said to be the proper instruments by means of which antiquity could exhibit such power4 ,in other words1 the professors would not be real teachers and would be living under false colours3 but how1 then1 could they have reached such an irregular position8 ,through a misunderstanding of themselves and their qualifications4 ,in order1 then1 that we may ascribe to philologists their share in this bad educational system of the present time1 we may sum up the different factors of their innocence and guilt in the following sentence3 the philologist1 if he wishes for a verdict of acquittal1 must understand three things3 antiquity1 the present time1 and himself3 his fault lies in the fact that he either does not understand antiquity1 or the present time1 or himself4 #dg ,it is not true to say that we can attain culture through antiquity alone4 ,we may learn something from it1 certainly2 but not culture as the word is now understood4 ,our present culture is based on an emasculated and mendacious study of antiquity4 ,in order to understand how ineffectual this study is1 just look at our philologists3 they1 trained upon antiquity1 should be the most cultured men4 ,are they8 #dh ,origin of the philologist4 ,when a great work of art is exhibited there is always some one who not only feels its influence but wishes to perpetuate it4 ,the same remark applies to a great state--to everything1 in short1 that man produces4 ,philologists wish to perpetuate the influence of antiquity3 and they can set about it only as imitative artists4 ,why not as men who form their lives after antiquity8 #di ,the decline of the poet-scholars is due in great part to their own corruption3 their type is continually arising again2 ,goethe and ,leopardi1 for example1 belong to it4 ,behind them plod the philologist-savants4 ,this type has its origin in the sophisticism of the second century4 #ej ,ah1 it is a sad story1 the story of philology6 ,the disgusting erudition1 the lazy1 inactive passivity1 the timid submission4--,who was ever free8 #ea ,when we examine the history of philology it is borne in upon us how few really talented men have taken part in it4 ,among the most celebrated philologists are a few who ruined their intellect by acquiring a smattering of many subjects1 and among the most enlightened of them were several who could use their intellect only for childish tasks4 ,it is a sad story3 no science1 ,i think1 has ever been so poor in talented followers4 ,those whom we might call the intellectually crippled found a suitable hobby in all this hair-splitting4 #eb ,the teacher of reading and writing1 and the reviser1 were the first types of the philologist4 #ec ,friedrich ,august ,wolf reminds us how apprehensive and feeble were the first steps taken by our ancestors in moulding scholarship--how even the ,latin classics1 for example1 had to be smuggled into the university market under all sorts of pretexts1 as if they had been contraband goods4 ,in the ,gttingen ,lexicon of #agcg1 ,j4 ,m4 ,gesner tells us of the ,odes of ,horace3 ut imprimis1 quid prodesse in severioribus studiis possint1 ostendat4 #ed ,i was pleased to read of ,bentley3 non tam grande pretium emendatiunculis meis statuere soleo1 ut singularem aliquam gratiam inde sperem aut exigam4 ,newton was surprised that men like ,bentley and ,hare should quarrel about a book of ancient comedies1 since they were both theological dignitaries4 #ee ,horace was summoned by ,bentley as before a judgment seat1 the authority of which he would have been the first to repudiate4 ,the admiration which a discriminating man acquires as a philologist is in proportion to the rarity of the discrimination to be found in philologists4 ,bentley's treatment of ,horace has something of the schoolmaster about it4 ,it would appear at first sight as if ,horace himself were not the object of discussion1 but rather the various scribes and commentators who have handed down the text3 in reality1 however1 it is actually ,horace who is being dealt with4 ,it is my firm conviction that to have written a single line which is deemed worthy of being commented upon by scholars of a later time1 far outweighs the merits of the greatest critic4 ,there is a profound modesty about philologists4 ,the improving of texts is an entertaining piece of work for scholars1 it is a kind of riddle-solving2 but it should not be looked upon as a very important task4 ,it would be an argument against antiquity if it should speak less clearly to us because a million words stood in the way6 #ef ,a school-teacher said to ,bentley3 ,sir1 ,i will make your grandchild as great a scholar as you are yourself4 ,how can you do that1 replied ,bentley1 when ,i have forgotten more than you ever knew8 #eg ,bentley's clever daughter ,joanna once lamented to her father that he had devoted his time and talents to the criticism of the works of others instead of writing something original4 ,bentley remained silent for some time as if he were turning the matter over in his mind4 ,at last he said that her remark was quite right3 he himself felt that he might have directed his gifts in some other channel4 ,earlier in life1 nevertheless1 he had done something for the glory of ,god and the improvement of his fellow-men 7referring to his ,confutation of ,atheism71 but afterwards the genius of the pagans had attracted him1 and1 despairing of attaining their level in any other way1 he had mounted upon their shoulders so that he might thus be able to look over their heads4 #eh ,bentley1 says ,wolf1 both as man of letters and individual1 was misunderstood and persecuted during the greater part of his life1 or else praised maliciously4 ,markland1 towards the end of his life--as was the case with so many others like him--became imbued with a repugnance for all scholarly reputation1 to such an extent1 indeed1 that he partly tore up and partly burnt several works which he had long had in hand4 ,wolf says3 ,the amount of intellectual food that can be got from well-digested scholarship is a very insignificant item4 ,in ,winckelmann's youth there were no philological studies apart from the ordinary bread-winning branches of the science--people read and explained the ancients in order to prepare themselves for the better interpretation of the ,bible and the ,corpus ,juris4 #ei ,in ,wolf's estimation1 a man has reached the highest point of historical research when he is able to take a wide and general view of the whole and of the profoundly conceived distinctions in the developments in art and the different styles of art4 ,wolf acknowledges1 however1 that ,winckelmann was lacking in the more common talent of philological criticism1 or else he could not use it properly3 ,a rare mixture of a cool head and a minute and restless solicitude for hundreds of things which1 insignificant in themselves1 were combined in his case with a fire that swallowed up those little things1 and with a gift of divination which is a vexation and an annoyance to the uninitiated4 #fj ,wolf draws our attention to the fact that antiquity was acquainted only with theories of oratory and poetry which facilitated production1 and artes that formed real orators and poets1 while at the present day we shall soon have theories upon which it would be as impossible to build up a speech or a poem as it would be to form a thunderstorm upon a brontological treatise4 #fa ,wolf's judgment on the amateurs of philological knowledge is noteworthy3 ,if they found themselves provided by nature with a mind corresponding to that of the ancients1 or if they were capable of adapting themselves to other points of view and other circumstances of life1 then1 with even a nodding acquaintance with the best writers1 they certainly acquired more from those vigorous natures1 those splendid examples of thinking and acting1 than most of those did who during their whole life merely offered themselves to them as interpreters4 #fb ,says ,wolf again3 ,in the end1 only those few ought to attain really complete knowledge who are born with artistic talent and furnished with scholarship1 and who make use of the best opportunities of securing1 both theoretically and practically1 the necessary technical knowledge4 ,true6 #fc ,instead of forming our students on the ,latin models ,i recommend the ,greek1 especially ,demosthenes3 simplicity6 ,this may be seen by a reference to ,leopardi1 who is perhaps the greatest stylist of the century #fd ,classical education3 what do people see in it8 ,something that is useless beyond rendering a period of military service unnecessary and securing a degree6#f ,footnote #f3 ,students who pass certain examinations need only serve one year in the ,german ,army instead of the usual two or three4--,,tr4 #fe ,when ,i observe how all countries are now promoting the advancement of classical literature ,i say to myself1 ,how harmless it must be6 and then1 ,how useful it must be6 ,it brings these countries the reputation of promoting free culture4 ,in order that this freedom may be rightly estimated1 just look at the philologists6 #ff ,classical education6 ,yea1 if there were only as much paganism as ,goethe found and glorified in ,winckelmann1 even that would not be much4 ,now1 however1 that the lying ,christendom of our time has taken hold of it1 the thing becomes over-powering1 and ,i cannot help expressing my disgust on the point4--,people firmly believe in witchcraft where this classical education is concerned4 ,they1 however1 who possess the greatest knowledge of antiquity should likewise possess the greatest amount of culture1 viz41 our philologists2 but what is classical about them8 #fg ,classical philology is the basis of the most shallow rationalism3 always having been dishonestly applied1 it has gradually become quite ineffective4 ,its effect is one more illusion of the modern man4 ,philologists are nothing but a guild of sky-pilots who are not known as such3 this is why the ,state takes an interest in them4 ,the utility of classical education is completely used up1 whilst1 for example1 the history of ,christianity still shows its power4 #fh ,philologists1 when discussing their science1 never get down to the root of the subject3 they never set forth philology itself as a problem4 ,bad conscience8 or merely thoughtlessness8 #fi ,we learn nothing from what philologists say about philology3 it is all mere tittle-tattle--for example1 ,jahn's#g ,the ,meaning and ,place of the ,study of ,antiquity in ,germany4 ,there is no feeling for what should be protected and defended3 thus speak people who have not even thought of the possibility that any one could attack them4 ,footnote #g3 ,otto ,jahn 7#ahac-fi71 who is probably best remembered in philological circles by his edition of ,juvenal4--,,tr4 #gj ,philologists are people who exploit the vaguely-felt dissatisfaction of modern man1 and his desire for something better1 in order that they may earn their bread and butter4 ,i know them--,i myself am one of them4 #ga ,our philologists stand in the same relation to true educators as the medicine-men of the wild ,indians do to true physicians4 ,what astonishment will be felt by a later age6 #gb ,what they lack is a real taste for the strong and powerful characteristics of the ancients4 ,they turn into mere panegyrists1 and thus become ridiculous4 #gc ,they have forgotten how to address other men2 and1 as they cannot speak to the older people1 they cannot do so to the young4 #gd ,when we bring the ,greeks to the knowledge of our young students1 we are treating the latter as if they were well-informed and matured men4 ,what1 indeed1 is there about the ,greeks and their ways which is suitable for the young8 ,in the end we shall find that we can do nothing for them beyond giving them isolated details4 ,are these observations for young people8 ,what we actually do1 however1 is to introduce our young scholars to the collective wisdom of antiquity4 ,or do we not8 ,the reading of the ancients is emphasised in this way4 ,my belief is that we are forced to concern ourselves with antiquity at a wrong period of our lives4 ,at the end of the twenties its meaning begins to dawn on one4 #ge ,there is something disrespectful about the way in which we make our young students known to the ancients3 what is worse1 it is unpedagogical2 for what can result from a mere acquaintance with things which a youth cannot consciously esteem6 ,perhaps he must learn to believe1 and this is why ,i object to it4 #gf ,there are matters regarding which antiquity instructs us1 and about which ,i should hardly care to express myself publicly4 #gg ,all the difficulties of historical study to be elucidated by great examples4 ,why our young students are not suited to the ,greeks4 ,the consequences of philology3 ,arrogant expectation4 ,culture-philistinism4 ,superficiality4 ,too high an esteem for reading and writing4 ,estrangement from the nation and its needs4 ,the philologists themselves1 the historians1 philosophers1 and jurists all end in smoke4 ,our young students should be brought into contact with real sciences4 ,likewise with real art4 ,in consequence1 when they grew older1 a desire for real history would be shown4 #gh ,inhumanity3 even in the ,antigone1 even in ,goethe's ,iphigenia4 ,the want of rationalism in the ,greeks4 ,young people cannot understand the political affairs of antiquity4 ,the poetic element3 a bad expectation4 #gi ,do the philologists know the present time8 ,their judgments on it as ,periclean2 their mistaken judgments when they speak of ,freytag's#h genius as resembling that of ,homer1 and so on2 their following in the lead of the litterateurs2 their abandonment of the pagan sense1 which was exactly the classical element that ,goethe discovered in ,winckelmann4 ,footnote #h3 ,gustav ,freytag3 at one time a famous ,german novelist4 --,,tr4 #hj ,the condition of the philologists may be seen by their indifference at the appearance of ,wagner4 ,they should have learnt even more through him than through ,goethe1 and they did not even glance in his direction4 ,that shows that they are not actuated by any strong need1 or else they would have an instinct to tell them where their food was to be found4 #ha ,wagner prizes his art too highly to go and sit in a corner with it1 like ,schumann4 ,he either surrenders himself to the public 7,rienzi7 or he makes the public surrender itself to him4 ,he educates it up to his music4 ,minor artists1 too1 want their public1 but they try to get it by inartistic means1 such as through the ,press1 ,hanslick1#i c4 ,footnote #i3 ,a well-known anti-,wagnerian musical critic of ,vienna4 --,,tr4 #hb ,wagner perfected the inner fancy of man3 later generations will see a renaissance in sculpture4 ,poetry must precede the plastic art4 #hc ,i observe in philologists3 #a4 ,want of respect for antiquity4 #b4 ,tenderness and flowery oratory2 even an apologetic tone4 #c4 ,simplicity in their historical comments4 #d4 ,self-conceit4 #e4 ,under-estimation of the talented philologists4 #hd ,philologists appear to me to be a secret society who wish to train our youth by means of the culture of antiquity3 ,i could well understand this society and their views being criticised from all sides1 ,a great deal would depend upon knowing what these philologists understood by the term culture of antiquity4--,if ,i saw1 for example1 that they were training their pupils against ,german philosophy and ,german music1 ,i should either set about combating them or combating the culture of antiquity1 perhaps the former1 by showing that these philologists had not understood the culture of antiquity4 ,now ,i observe3 #a4 ,a great indecision in the valuation of the culture of antiquity on the part of philologists4 #b4 ,something very non-ancient in themselves2 something non-free4 #c4 ,want of clearness in regard to the particular type of ancient culture they mean4 #d4 ,want of judgment in their methods of instruction1 e4g41 scholarship4 #e4 ,classical education is served out mixed up with ,christianity4 #he ,it is now no longer a matter of surprise to me that1 with such teachers1 the education of our time should be worthless4 ,i can never avoid depicting this want of education in its true colours1 especially in regard to those things which ought to be learnt from antiquity if possible1 for example1 writing1 speaking1 and so on4 #hf ,the transmission of the emotions is hereditary3 let that be recollected when we observe the effect of the ,greeks upon philologists4 #hg ,even in the best of cases1 philologists seek for no more than mere rationalism and ,alexandrian culture--not ,hellenism4 #hh ,very little can be gained by mere diligence1 if the head is dull4 ,philologist after philologist has swooped down on ,homer in the mistaken belief that something of him can be obtained by force4 ,antiquity speaks to us when it feels a desire to do so2 not when we do4 #hi ,the inherited characteristic of our present-day philologists3 a certain sterility oi insight has resulted3 for they promote the science1 but not the philologist4 #ij ,the following is one way of carrying on classical studies1 and a frequent one3 a man throws himself thoughtlessly1 or is thrown1 into some special branch or other1 whence he looks to the right and left and sees a great deal that is good and new4 ,then1 in some unguarded moment1 he asks himself3 ,but what the devil has all this to do with me8 ,in the meantime he has grown old and has become accustomed to it all2 and therefore he continues in his rut--just as in the case of marriage4 #ia ,in connection with the training of the modern philologist the influence of the science of linguistics should be mentioned and judged2 a philologist should rather turn aside from it3 the question of the early beginnings of the ,greeks and ,romans should be nothing to him3 how can they spoil their own subject in such a way8 #ib ,a morbid passion often makes its appearance from time to time in connection with the oppressive uncertainty of divination1 a passion for believing and feeling sure at all costs3 for example1 when dealing with ,aristotle1 or in the discovery of magic numbers1 which1 in ,lachmann's case1 is almost an illness4 #ic ,the consistency which is prized in a savant is pedantry if applied to the ,greeks4 #id 7,,the ,,greeks ,,and ,,the ,,philologists47 ,,the ,,greeks3 ,,the ,,philologists are3 render homage to beauty1 babblers and triflers1 develop the body1 ugly-looking creatures1 speak clearly1 stammerers1 are religious transfigurers filthy pedants1 of everyday occurrences1 are listeners and observers1 quibblers and scarecrows1 have an aptitude for the unfitted for the symbolical1 symbolical1 are in full possession of ardent slaves of the ,state1 their freedom as men1 can look innocently out ,christians in disguise1 into the world1 are the pessimists of philistines4 thought4 #ie ,bergk's ,history of ,literature3 ,not a spark of ,greek fire or ,greek sense4 #if ,people really do compare our own age with that of ,pericles1 and congratulate themselves on the reawakening of the feeling of patriotism3 ,i remember a parody on the funeral oration of ,pericles by ,g4 ,freytag1#aj in which this prim and strait-laced poet depicted the happiness now experienced by sixty-year-old men4--,all pure and simple caricature6 ,so this is the result6 ,and sorrow and irony and seclusion are all that remain for him who has seen more of antiquity than this4 ,footnote #aj3 ,see note on p4 #adi4--,,tr4 #ig ,if we change a single word of ,lord ,bacon's we may say3 infimarum ,grcorum virtutum apud philologos laus est1 mediarum admiratio1 supremarum sensus nullus4 #ih ,how can anyone glorify and venerate a whole people6 ,it is the individuals that count1 even in the case of the ,greeks4 #ii ,there is a great deal of caricature even about the ,greeks3 for example1 the careful attention devoted by the ,cynics to their own happiness4 #ajj ,the only thing that interests me is the relationship of the people considered as a whole to the training of the single individuals3 and in the case of the ,greeks there are some factors which are very favourable to the development of the individual4 ,they do not1 however1 arise from the goodwill of the people1 but from the struggle between the evil instincts4 ,by means of happy inventions and discoveries1 we can train the individual differently and more highly than has yet been done by mere chance and accident4 ,there are still hopes3 the breeding of superior men4 #aja ,the ,greeks are interesting and quite disproportionately important because they had such a host of great individuals4 ,how was that possible8 ,this point must be studied4 #ajb ,the history of ,greece has hitherto always been written optimistically4 #ajc ,selected points from antiquity3 the power1 fire1 and swing of the feeling the ancients had for music 7through the first ,pythian ,ode71 purity in their historical sense1 gratitude for the blessings of culture1 the fire and corn feasts4 ,the ennoblement of jealousy3 the ,greeks the most jealous nation4 ,suicide1 hatred of old age1 of penury4 ,empedocles on sexual love4 #ajd ,nimble and healthy bodies1 a clear and deep sense for the observation of everyday matters1 manly freedom1 belief in good racial descent and good upbringing1 warlike virtues1 jealousy in the 1 delight in the arts1 respect for leisure1 a sense for free individuality1 for the symbolical4 #aje ,the spiritual culture of ,greece an aberration of the amazing political impulse towards 4 ,the polis utterly opposed to new education2 culture nevertheless existed4 #ajf ,when ,i say that1 all things considered1 the ,greeks were more moral than modern men3 what do ,i mean by that8 ,from what we can perceive of the activities of their soul1 it is clear that they had no shame1 they had no bad conscience4 ,they were more sincere1 open-hearted1 and passionate1 as artists are2 they exhibited a kind of child-like navet4 ,it thus came about that even in all their evil actions they had a dash of purity about them1 something approaching the holy4 ,a remarkable number of individualities3 might there not have been a higher morality in that8 ,when we recollect that character develops slowly1 what can it be that1 in the long run1 breeds individuality8 ,perhaps vanity1 emulation8 ,possibly4 ,little inclination for conventional things4 #ajg ,the ,greeks as the geniuses among the nations4 ,their childlike nature1 credulousness4 ,passionate4 ,quite unconsciously they lived in such a way as to procreate genius4 ,enemies of shyness and dulness4 ,pain4 ,injudicious actions4 ,the nature of their intuitive insight into misery1 despite their bright and genial temperament4 ,profoundness in their apprehension and glorifying of everyday things 7fire1 agriculture74 ,mendacious1 unhistorical4 ,the significance of the polis in culture instinctively recognised2 favourable as a centre and periphery for great men 7the facility of surveying a community1 and also the possibility of addressing it as a whole74 ,individuality raised to the highest power through the polis4 ,envy1 jealousy1 as among gifted people4 #ajh ,the ,greeks were lacking in sobriety and caution4 ,over-sensibility2 abnormally active condition of the brain and the nerves2 impetuosity and fervour of the will4 #aji ,invariably to see the general in the particular is the distinguishing characteristic of genius1 says ,schopenhauer4 ,think of ,pindar1 c4--1 according to ,schopenhauer1 has its roots in the clearness with which the ,greeks saw into themselves and into the world at large1 and thence became conscious of themselves4 ,the wide separation of will and intellect indicates the genius1 and is seen in the ,greeks4 ,the melancholy associated with genius is due to the fact that the will to live1 the more clearly it is illuminated by the contemplating intellect1 appreciates all the more clearly the misery of its condition1 says ,schopenhauer4 ,cf4 the ,greeks4 #aaj ,the moderation of the ,greeks in their sensual luxury1 eating1 and drinking1 and their pleasure therein2 the ,olympic plays and their worship3 that shows what they were4 ,in the case of the genius1 the intellect will point out the faults which are seldom absent in an instrument that is put to a use for which it was not intended4 ,the will is often left in the lurch at an awkward moment3 hence genius1 where real life is concerned is more or less unpractical--its behaviour often reminds us of madness4 #aaa ,we contrast the ,romans1 with their matter-of-fact earnestness1 with the genial ,greeks6 ,schopenhauer3 ,the stern1 practical1 earnest mode of life which the ,romans called gravitas presupposes that the intellect does not forsake the service of the will in order to roam far off among things that have no connection with the will4 #aab ,it would have been much better if the ,greeks had been conquered by the ,persians instead of by the ,romans4 #aac ,the characteristics of the gifted man who is lacking in genius are to be found in the average ,hellene--all the dangerous characteristics of such a disposition and character4 #aad ,genius makes tributaries of all partly-talented people3 hence the ,persians themselves sent their ambassadors to the ,greek oracles4 #aae ,the happiest lot that can fall to the genius is to exchange doing and acting for leisure2 and this was something the ,greeks knew how to value4 ,the blessings of labour6 ,nugari was the ,roman name for all the exertions and aspirations of the ,greeks4 ,no happy course of life is open to the genius2 he stands in contradiction to his age and must perforce struggle with it4 ,thus the ,greeks3 they instinctively made the utmost exertions to secure a safe refuge for themselves 7in the polis74 ,finally1 everything went to pieces in politics4 ,they were compelled to take up a stand against their enemies3 this became ever more and more difficult1 and at last impossible4 #aaf ,greek culture is based on the lordship of a small class over four to nine times their number of slaves4 ,judged by mere numbers1 ,greece was a country inhabited by barbarians4 ,how can the ancients be thought to be humane8 ,there was a great contrast between the genius and the breadwinner1 the half-beast of burden4 ,the ,greeks believed in a racial distinction4 ,schopenhauer wonders why ,nature did not take it into her head to invent two entirely separate species of men4 ,the ,greeks bear the same relation to the barbarians as free-moving or winged animals do to the barnacles which cling tightly to the rocks and must await what fate chooses to send them--,schopenhauer's simile4 #aag ,the ,greeks as the only people of genius in the history of the world4 ,such they are even when considered as learners2 for they understand this best of all1 and can do more than merely trim and adorn themselves with what they have borrowed1 as did the ,romans4 ,the constitution of the polls is a ,phnician invention3 even this has been imitated by the ,hellenes4 ,for a long time they dabbled in everything1 like joyful dilettanti4 ,aphrodite is likewise ,phnician4 ,neither do they disavow what has come to them through immigration and does not originally belong to their own country4 #aah ,the happy and comfortable constitution of the politico-social position must not be sought among the ,greeks3 that is a goal which dazzles the eyes of our dreamers of the future6 ,it was1 on the contrary1 dreadful2 for this is a matter that must be judged according to the following standard3 the more spirit1 the more suffering 7as the ,greeks themselves prove74 ,whence it follows3 the more stupidity1 the more comfort4 ,the philistine of culture is the most comfortable creature the sun has ever shone upon3 and he is doubtless also in possession of the corresponding stupidity4 #aai ,the ,greek polis and the grew up out of mutual enmity4 ,hellenic and philanthropic are contrary adjectives1 although the ancients flattered themselves sufficiently4 ,homer is1 in the world of the ,hellenic discord1 the pan-,hellenic ,greek4 ,the of the ,greeks is also manifested in the ,symposium in the shape of witty conversation4 #abj ,wanton1 mutual annihilation inevitable3 so long as a single polis wished to exist--its envy for everything superior to itself1 its cupidity1 the disorder of its customs1 the enslavement of the women1 lack of conscience in the keeping of oaths1 in murder1 and in cases of violent death4 ,tremendous power of self-control3 for example in a man like ,socrates1 who was capable of everything evil4 #aba ,its noble sense of order and systematic arrangement had rendered the ,athenian state immortal4--,the ten strategists in ,athens6 ,foolish6 ,too big a sacrifice on the altar of jealousy4 #abb ,the recreations of the ,spartans consisted of feasting1 hunting1 and making war3 their every-day life was too hard4 ,on the whole1 however1 their state is merely a caricature of the polis2 a corruption of ,hellas4 ,the breeding of the complete ,spartan--but what was there great about him that his breeding should have required such a brutal state6 #abc ,the political defeat of ,greece is the greatest failure of culture2 for it has given rise to the atrocious theory that culture cannot be pursued unless one is at the same time armed to the teeth4 ,the rise of ,christianity was the second greatest failure3 brute force on the one hand1 and a dull intellect on the other1 won a complete victory over the aristocratic genius among the nations4 ,to be a ,philhellenist now means to be a foe of brute force and stupid intellects4 ,sparta was the ruin of ,athens in so far as she compelled ,athens to turn her entire attention to politics and to act as a federal combination4 #abd ,there are domains of thought where the ratio will only give rise to disorder2 and the philologist1 who possesses nothing more1 is lost through it and is unable to see the truth3 e4g41 in the consideration of ,greek mythology4 ,a merely fantastic person1 of course1 has no claim either3 one must possess ,greek imagination and also a certain amount of ,greek piety4 ,even the poet does not require to be too consistent1 and consistency is the last thing ,greeks would understand4 #abe ,almost all the ,greek divinities are accumulations of divinities3 we find one layer over another1 soon to be hidden and smoothed down by yet a third1 and so on4 ,it scarcely seems to me to be possible to pick these various divinities to pieces in a scientific manner2 for no good method of doing so can be recommended3 even the poor conclusion by analogy is in this instance a very good conclusion4 #abf ,at what a distance must one be from the ,greeks to ascribe to them such a stupidly narrow autochthony as does ,ottfried ,mller6#aa ,how ,christian it is to assume1 with ,welcker1#ab that the ,greeks were originally monotheistic6 ,how philologists torment themselves by investigating the question whether ,homer actually wrote1 without being able to grasp the far higher tenet that ,greek art long exhibited an inward enmity against writing1 and did not wish to be read at all4 ,footnote #aa3 ,karl ,ottfried ,mller 7#agig-ahdj71 classical archologist1 who devoted special attention to ,greece4--,,tr4 ,footnote #ab3 ,friedrich ,gottlieb ,welcker 7#aghd-ahfh71 noted for his ultra-profound comments on ,greek poetry4--,,tr4 #abg ,in the religious cultus an earlier degree of culture comes to light3 a remnant of former times4 ,the ages that celebrate it are not those which invent it2 the contrary is often the case4 ,there are many contrasts to be found here4 ,the ,greek cultus takes us back to a pre-,homeric disposition and culture4 ,it is almost the oldest that we know of the ,greeks--older than their mythology1 which their poets have considerably remoulded1 so far as we know it--,can this cult really be called ,greek8 ,i doubt it3 they are finishers1 not inventors4 ,they preserve by means of this beautiful completion and adornment4 #abh ,it is exceedingly doubtful whether we should draw any conclusion in regard to nationality and relationship with other nations from languages4 ,a victorious language is nothing but a frequent 7and not always regular7 indication of a successful campaign4 ,where could there have been autochthonous peoples6 ,it shows a very hazy conception of things to talk about ,greeks who never lived in ,greece4 ,that which is really ,greek is much less the result of natural aptitude than of adapted institutions1 and also of an acquired language4 #abi ,to live on mountains1 to travel a great deal1 and to move quickly from one place to another3 in these ways we can now begin to compare ourselves with the ,greek gods4 ,we know the past1 too1 and we almost know the future4 ,what would a ,greek say1 if only he could see us6 #acj ,the gods make men still more evil2 this is the nature of man4 ,if we do not like a man1 we wish that he may become worse than he is1 and then we are glad4 ,this forms part of the obscure philosophy of hate--a philosophy which has never yet been written1 because it is everywhere the pudendum that every one feels4 #aca ,the pan-,hellenic ,homer finds his delight in the frivolity of the gods2 but it is astounding how he can also give them dignity again4 ,this amazing ability to raise one's self again1 however1 is ,greek4 #acb ,what1 then1 is the origin of the envy of the gods8 people did not believe in a calm1 quiet happiness1 but only in an exuberant one4 ,this must have caused some displeasure to the ,greeks2 for their soul was only too easily wounded3 it embittered them to see a happy man4 ,that is ,greek4 ,if a man of distinguished talent appeared1 the flock of envious people must have become astonishingly large4 ,if any one met with a misfortune1 they would say of him3 ,ah6 no wonder6 he was too frivolous and too well off4 ,and every one of them would have behaved exuberantly if he had possessed the requisite talent1 and would willingly have played the rle of the god who sent the unhappiness to men4 #acc ,the ,greek gods did not demand any complete changes of character1 and were1 generally speaking1 by no means burdensome or importunate3 it was thus possible to take them seriously and to believe in them4 ,at the time of ,homer1 indeed1 the nature of the ,greek was formed3 flippancy of images and imagination was necessary to lighten the weight of its passionate disposition and to set it free4 #acd ,every religion has for its highest images an analogon in the spiritual condition of those who profess it4 ,the ,god of ,mohammed3 the solitariness of the desert1 the distant roar of the lion1 the vision of a formidable warrior4 ,the ,god of the ,christians3 everything that men and women think of when they hear the word love4 ,the ,god of the ,greeks3 a beautiful apparition in a dream4 #ace ,a great deal of intelligence must have gone to the making up of a ,greek polytheism3 the expenditure of intelligence is much less lavish when people have only one ,god4 #acf ,greek morality is not based on religion1 but on the polis4 ,there were only priests of the individual gods2 not representatives of the whole religion3 i4e41 no guild of priests4 ,likewise no ,holy ,writ4 #acg ,the lighthearted gods3 this is the highest adornment which has ever been bestowed upon the world--with the feeling1 ,how difficult it is to live6 #ach ,if the ,greeks let their reason speak1 their life seems to them bitter and terrible4 ,they are not deceived4 ,but they play round life with lies3 ,simonides advises them to treat life as they would a play2 earnestness was only too well known to them in the form of pain4 ,the misery of men is a pleasure to the gods when they hear the poets singing of it4 ,well did the ,greeks know that only through art could even misery itself become a source of pleasure2 vide tragdiam4 #aci ,it is quite untrue to say that the ,greeks only took this life into their consideration--they suffered also from thoughts of death and ,hell4 ,but no repentance or contrition4 #adj ,the incarnate appearance of gods1 as in ,sappho's invocation to ,aphrodite1 must not be taken as poetic licence3 they are frequently hallucinations4 ,we conceive of a great many things1 including the will to die1 too superficially as rhetorical4 #ada ,the martyr is ,hellenic3 ,prometheus1 ,hercules4 ,the hero-myth became pan-,hellenic3 a poet must have had a hand in that6 #adb ,how realistic the ,greeks were even in the domain of pure inventions6 ,they poetised reality1 not yearning to lift themselves out of it4 ,the raising of the present into the colossal and eternal1 e4g41 by ,pindar4 #adc ,what condition do the ,greeks premise as the model of their life in ,hades8 ,anmic1 dreamlike1 weak3 it is the continuous accentuation of old age1 when the memory gradually becomes weaker and weaker1 and the body still more so4 ,the senility of senility3 this would be our state of life in the eyes of the ,hellenes4 #add ,the nave character of the ,greeks observed by the ,egyptians4 #ade ,the truly scientific people1 the literary people1 were the ,egyptians and not the ,greeks4 ,that which has the appearance of science among the ,greeks1 originated among the ,egyptians and later on returned to them to mingle again with the old current4 ,alexandrian culture is an amalgamation of ,hellenic and ,egyptian3 and when our world again founds its culture upon the ,alexandrian culture1 then 444#ac ,footnote #ac3 ,we shall once again be shipwrecked4 ,the omission is in the original4--,,tr4 #adf ,the ,egyptians are far more of a literary people than the ,greeks4 ,i maintain this against ,wolf4 ,the first grain in ,eleusis1 the first vine in ,thebes1 the first olive-tree and fig-tree4 ,the ,egyptians had lost a great part of their mythology4 #adg ,the unmathematical undulation of the column in ,paestum is analogous to the modification of the tempo3 animation in place of a mechanical movement4 #adh ,the desire to find something certain and fixed in sthetic led to the worship of ,aristotle3 ,i think1 however1 that we may gradually come to see from his works that he understood nothing about art2 and that it is merely the intellectual conversations of the ,athenians1 echoing in his pages1 which we admire4 #adi ,in ,socrates we have as it were lying open before us a specimen of the consciousness out of which1 later on1 the instincts of the theoretic man originated3 that one would rather die than grow old and weak in mind4 #aej ,at the twilight of antiquity there were still wholly unchristian figures1 which were more beautiful1 harmonious1 and pure than those of any ,christians3 e4g41 ,proclus4 ,his mysticism and syncretism were things that precisely ,christianity cannot reproach him with4 ,in any case1 it would be my desire to live together with such people4 ,in comparison with them ,christianity looks like some crude brutalisation1 organised for the benefit of the mob and the criminal classes4 ,proclus1 who solemnly invokes the rising moon4 #aea ,with the advent of ,christianity a religion attained the mastery which corresponded to a pre-,greek condition of mankind3 belief in witchcraft in connection with all and everything1 bloody sacrifices1 superstitious fear of demoniacal punishments1 despair in one's self1 ecstatic brooding and hallucination2 man's self become the arena of good and evil spirits and their struggles4 #aeb ,all branches of history have experimented with antiquity3 critical consideration alone remains4 ,by this term ,i do not mean conjectural and literary-historical criticism4 #aec ,antiquity has been treated by all kinds of historians and their methods4 ,we have now had enough experience1 however1 to turn the history of antiquity to account without being shipwrecked on antiquity itself4 #aed ,we can now look back over a fairly long period of human existence3 what will the humanity be like which is able to look back at us from an equally long distance8 which finds us lying intoxicated among the debris of old culture6 which finds its only consolation in being good and in holding out the helping hand1 and turns away from all other consolations6--,does beauty1 too1 grow out of the ancient culture8 ,i think that our ugliness arises from our metaphysical remnants3 our confused morals1 the worthlessness of our marriages1 and so on1 are the cause4 ,the beautiful man1 the healthy1 moderate1 and enterprising man1 moulds the objects around him into beautiful shapes after his own image4 #aee ,up to the present time all history has been written from the standpoint of success1 and1 indeed1 with the assumption of a certain reason in this success4 ,this remark applies also to ,greek history3 so far we do not possess any4 ,it is the same all round1 however3 where are the historians who can survey things and events without being hum-bugged by stupid theories8 ,i know of only one1 ,burckhardt4 ,everywhere the widest possible optimism prevails in science4 ,the question3 ,what would have been the consequence if so and so had not happened8 is almost unanimously thrust aside1 and yet it is the cardinal question4 ,thus everything becomes ironical4 ,let us only consider our own lives4 ,if we examine history in accordance with a preconceived plan1 let this plan be sought in the purposes of a great man1 or perhaps in those of a sex1 or of a party4 ,everything else is a chaos4--,even in natural science we find this deification of the necessary4 ,germany has become the breeding-place of this historical optimism2 ,hegel is perhaps to blame for this4 ,nothing1 however1 is more responsible for the fatal influence of ,german culture4 ,everything that has been kept down by success gradually rears itself up3 history as the scorn of the conqueror2 a servile sentiment and a kneeling down before the actual fact--a sense for the ,state1 they now call it1 as if that had still to be propagated6 ,he who does not understand how brutal and unintelligent history is will never understand the stimulus to make it intelligent4 ,just think how rare it is to find a man with as great an intelligent knowledge of his own life as ,goethe had3 what amount of rationality can we expect to find arising out of these other veiled and blind existences as they work chaotically with and in opposition to each other8 ,and it is especially nave when ,hellwald1 the author of a history of culture1 warns us away from all ideals1 simply because history has killed them off one after the other #aef ,to bring to light without reserve the stupidity and the want of reason in human things3 that is the aim of our brethren and colleagues4 ,people will then have to distinguish what is essential in them1 what is incorrigible1 and what is still susceptible of further improvement4 ,but ,providence must be kept out of the question1 for it is a conception that enables people to take things too easily4 ,i wish to breathe the breath of this purpose into science4 ,let us advance our knowledge of mankind6 ,the good and rational in man is accidental or apparent1 or the contrary of something very irrational4 ,there will come a time when training will be the only thought4 #aeg ,surrender to necessity is exactly what ,i do not teach--for one must first know this necessity to be necessary4 ,there may perhaps be many necessities2 but in general this inclination is simply a bed of idleness4 #aeh ,to know history now means3 to recognise how all those who believed in a ,providence took things too easily4 ,there is no such thing4 ,if human affairs are seen to go forward in a loose and disordered way1 do not think that a god has any purpose in view by letting them do so or that he is neglecting them4 ,we can now see in a general way that the history of ,christianity on earth has been one of the most dreadful chapters in history1 and that a stop must be put to it4 ,true1 the influence of antiquity has been observed in ,christianity even in our own time2 and1 as it diminishes1 so will our knowledge of antiquity diminish also to an even greater extent4 ,now is the best time to recognise it3 we are no longer prejudiced in favour of ,christianity1 but we still understand it1 and also the antiquity that forms part of it1 so far as this antiquity stands in line with ,christianity4 #aei ,philosophic heads must occupy themselves one day with the collective account of antiquity and make up its balance-sheet4 ,if we have this1 antiquity will be overcome4 ,all the shortcomings which now vex us have their roots in antiquity1 so that we cannot continue to treat this account with the mildness which has been customary up to the present4 ,the atrocious crime of mankind which rendered ,christianity possible1 as it actually became possible1 is the guilt of antiquity4 ,with ,christianity antiquity will also be cleared away4--,at the present time it is not so very far behind us1 and it is certainly not possible to do justice to it4 ,it has been availed of in the most dreadful fashion for purposes of repression1 and has acted as a support for religious oppression by disguising itself as culture4 ,it was common to hear the saying1 ,antiquity has been conquered by ,christianity4 ,this was a historical fact1 and it was thus thought that no harm could come of any dealings with antiquity4 ,yes2 it is so plausible to say that we find ,christian ethics deeper than ,socrates6 ,plato was easier to compete with6 ,we are at the present time1 so to speak1 merely chewing the cud of the very battle which was fought in the first centuries of the ,christian era--with the exception of the fact that now1 instead of the clearly perceptible antiquity which then existed1 we have merely its pale ghost2 and1 indeed1 even ,christianity itself has become rather ghostlike4 ,it is a battle fought after the decisive battle1 a post-vibration4 ,in the end1 all the forces of which antiquity consisted have reappeared in ,christianity in the crudest possible form3 it is nothing new1 only quantitatively extraordinary4 #afj ,what severs us for ever from the culture of antiquity is the fact that its foundations have become too shaky for us4 ,a criticism of the ,greeks is at the same time a criticism of ,christianity2 for the bases of the spirit of belief1 the religious cult1 and witchcraft1 are the same in both4--,there are many rudimentary stages still remaining2 but they are by this time almost ready to collapse4 ,this would be a task3 to characterise ,greek antiquity as irretrievably lost1 and with it ,christianity also and the foundations upon which1 up to the present time1 our society and politics have been based4 #afa ,christianity has conquered antiquity--yes2 that is easily said4 ,in the first place1 it is itself a piece of antiquity2 in the second place1 it has preserved antiquity2 in the third place1 it has never been in combat with the pure ages of antiquity4 ,or rather3 in order that ,christianity itself might remain1 it had to let itself be overcome by the spirit of antiquity--for example1 the idea of empire1 the community1 and so forth4 ,we are suffering from the uncommon want of clearness and uncleanliness of human things2 from the ingenious mendacity which ,christianity has brought among men4 #afb ,it is almost laughable to see how nearly all the sciences and arts of modern times grow from the scattered seeds which have been wafted towards us from antiquity1 and how ,christianity seems to us here to be merely the evil chill of a long night1 a night during which one is almost inclined to believe that all is over with reason and honesty among men4 ,the battle waged against the natural man has given rise to the unnatural man4 #afc ,with the dissolution of ,christianity a great part of antiquity has become incomprehensible to us1 for instance1 the entire religious basis of life4 ,on this account an imitation of antiquity is a false tendency3 the betrayers or the betrayed are the philologists who still think of such a thing4 ,we live in a period when many different conceptions of life are to be found3 hence the present age is instructive to an unusual degree2 and hence also the reason why it is so ill1 since it suffers from the evils of all its tendencies at once4 ,the man of the future3 the ,european man4 #afd ,the ,german ,reformation widened the gap between us and antiquity3 was it necessary for it to do so8 ,it once again introduced the old contrast of ,paganism and ,christianity2 and it was at the same time a protest against the decorative culture of the ,renaissance--it was a victory gained over the same culture as had formerly been conquered by early ,christianity4 ,in regard to worldly things1 ,christianity preserved the grosser views of the ancients4 ,all the nobler elements in marriage1 slavery1 and the ,state are unchristian4 ,it required the distorting characteristics of worldliness to prove itself4 #afe ,the connection between humanism and religious rationalism was emphasised as a ,saxonian trait by ,kchly3 the type of this philologist is ,gottfried ,hermann4#ad ,footnote #ad3 ,johann ,gottfried ,jakob ,hermann 7#aggb-ahdh71 noted for his works on metre and ,greek grammar4--,,tr4 #aff ,i understand religions as narcotics3 but when they are given to such nations as the ,germans1 ,i think they are simply rank poison4 #afg ,all religions are1 in the end1 based upon certain physical assumptions1 which are already in existence and adapt the religions to their needs3 for example1 in ,christianity1 the contrast between body and soul1 the unlimited importance of the earth as the world1 the marvellous occurrences in nature4 ,if once the opposite views gain the mastery--for instance1 a strict law of nature1 the helplessness and superfluousness of all gods1 the strict conception of the soul as a bodily process--all is over4 ,but all ,greek culture is based upon such views4 #afh ,when we look from the character and culture of the ,catholic ,middle ,ages back to the ,greeks1 we see them resplendent indeed in the rays of higher humanity2 for1 if we have anything to reproach these ,greeks with1 we must reproach the ,middle ,ages with it also to a much greater extent4 ,the worship of the ancients at the time of the ,renaissance was therefore quite honest and proper4 ,we have carried matters further in one particular point1 precisely in connection with that dawning ray of light4 ,we have outstripped the ,greeks in the clarifying of the world by our studies of nature and men4 ,our knowledge is much greater1 and our judgments are more moderate and just4 ,in addition to this1 a more gentle spirit has become widespread1 thanks to the period of illumination which has weakened mankind--but this weakness1 when turned into morality1 leads to good results and honours us4 ,man has now a great deal of freedom3 it is his own fault if he does not make more use of it than he does2 the fanaticism of opinions has become much milder4 ,finally1 that we would much rather live in the present age than in any other is due to science2 and certainly no other race in the history of mankind has had such a wide choice of noble enjoyments as ours--even if our race has not the palate and stomach to experience a great deal of joy4 ,but one can live comfortably amid all this freedom only when one merely understands it and does not wish to participate in it--that is the modern crux4 ,the participants appear to be less attractive than ever3 how stupid they must be6 ,thus the danger arises that knowledge may avenge itself on us1 just as ignorance avenged itself on us during the ,middle ,ages4 ,it is all over with those religions which place their trust in gods1 ,providences1 rational orders of the universe1 miracles1 and sacraments2 as is also the case with certain types of holy lives1 such as ascetics2 for we only too easily conclude that such people are the effects of sickness and an aberrant brain4 ,there is no doubt that the contrast between a pure1 incorporeal soul and a body has been almost set aside4 ,who now believes in the immortality of the soul6 ,everything connected with blessedness or damnation1 which was based upon certain erroneous physiological assumptions1 falls to the ground as soon as these assumptions are recognised to be errors4 ,our scientific assumptions admit just as much of an interpretation and utilisation in favour of a besotting philistinism--yea1 in favour of bestiality--as also in favour of blessedness and soul-inspiration4 ,as compared with all previous ages1 we are now standing on a new foundation1 so that something may still be expected from the human race4 ,as regards culture1 we have hitherto been acquainted with only one complete form of it1 i4e41 the city-culture of the ,greeks1 based as it was on their mythical and social foundations2 and one incomplete form1 the ,roman1 which acted as an adornment of life1 derived from the ,greek4 ,now all these bases1 the mythical and the politico-social1 have changed2 our alleged culture has no stability1 because it has been erected upon insecure conditions and opinions which are even now almost ready to collapse4--,when we thoroughly grasp ,greek culture1 then1 we see that it is all over with it4 ,the philologist is thus a great sceptic in the present conditions of our culture and training3 that is his mission4 ,happy is he if1 like ,wagner and ,schopenhauer1 he has a dim presentiment of those auspicious powers amid which a new culture is stirring4 #afi ,those who say3 ,but antiquity nevertheless remains as a subject of consideration for pure science1 even though all its educational purposes may be disowned1 must be answered by the words1 ,what is pure science here6 ,actions and characteristics must be judged2 and those who judge them must stand above them3 so you must first devote your attention to overcoming antiquity4 ,if you do not do that1 your science is not pure1 but impure and limited3 as may now be perceived4 #agj ,to overcome ,greek antiquity through our own deeds3 this would be the right task4 ,but before we can do this we must first know it6--,there is a thoroughness which is merely an excuse for inaction4 ,let it be recollected how much ,goethe knew of antiquity3 certainly not so much as a philologist1 and yet sufficient to contend with it in such a way as to bring about fruitful results4 ,one should not even know more about a thing than one could create4 ,moreover1 the only time when we can actually recognise something is when we endeavour to make it4 ,let people but attempt to live after the manner of antiquity2 and they will at once come hundreds of miles nearer to antiquity than they can do with all their erudition4--,our philologists never show that they strive to emulate antiquity in any way1 and thus their antiquity remains without any effect on the schools4 ,the study of the spirit of emulation 7,renaissance1 ,goethe71 and the study of despair4 ,the non-popular element in the new culture of the ,renaissance3 a frightful fact6 #aga ,the worship of classical antiquity1 as it was to be seen in ,italy1 maybe interpreted as the only earnest1 disinterested1 and fecund worship which has yet fallen to the lot of antiquity4 ,it is a splendid example of ,don ,quixotism2 and philology at best is such ,don ,quixotism4 ,already at the time of the ,alexandrian savants1 as with all the sophists of the first and second centuries1 the ,atticists1 c41 the scholars are imitating something purely and simply chimerical and pursuing a world that never existed4 ,the same trait is seen throughout antiquity3 the manner in which the ,homeric heroes were copied1 and all the intercourse held with the myths1 show traces of it4 ,gradually all ,greek antiquity has become an object of ,don ,quixotism4 ,it is impossible to understand our modern world if we do not take into account the enormous influence of the purely fantastic4 ,this is now confronted by the principle3 there can be no imitation4 ,imitation1 however1 is merely an artistic phenomenon1 i4e41 it is based on appearance3 we can accept manners1 thoughts1 and so on through imitation2 but imitation can create nothing4 ,true1 the creator can borrow from all sides and nourish himself in that way4 ,and it is only as creators that we shall be able to take anything from the ,greeks4 ,but in what respect can philologists be said to be creators6 ,there must be a few dirty jobs1 such as knackers' men1 and also text-revisers3 are the philologists to carry out tasks of this nature8 #agb ,what1 then1 is antiquity now1 in the face of modern art1 science1 and philosophy8 ,it is no longer the treasure-chamber of all knowledge2 for in natural and historical science we have advanced greatly beyond it4 ,oppression by the church has been stopped4 ,a pure knowledge of antiquity is now possible1 but perhaps also a more ineffective and weaker knowledge4--,this is right enough1 if effect is known only as effect on the masses2 but for the breeding of higher minds antiquity is more powerful than ever4 ,goethe as a ,german poet-philologist2 ,wagner as a still higher stage3 his clear glance for the only worthy position of art4 ,no ancient work has ever had so powerful an effect as the ,orestes had on ,wagner4 ,the objective1 emasculated philologist1 who is but a philistine of culture and a worker in pure science1 is1 however1 a sad spectacle4 #agc ,between our highest art and philosophy and that which is recognised to be truly the oldest antiquity1 there is no contradiction3 they support and harmonise with one another4 ,it is in this that ,i place my hopes4 #agd ,the main standpoints from which to consider the importance of antiquity3 #a4 ,there is nothing about it for young people2 for it exhibits man with an entire freedom from shame4 #b4 ,it is not for direct imitation1 but it teaches by which means art has hitherto been perfected in the highest degree4 #c4 ,it is accessible only to a few1 and there should be a police des murs in charge of it--as there should be also in charge of bad pianists who play ,beethoven4 #d4 ,these few apply this antiquity to the judgment of our own time1 as critics of it2 and they judge antiquity by their own ideals and are thus critics of antiquity4 #e4 ,the contrast between the ,hellenic and the ,roman should be studied1 and also the contrast between the early ,hellenic and the late ,hellenic4 ---,explanation of the different types of culture4 #age ,the advancement of science at the expense of man is one of the most pernicious things in the world4 ,the stunted man is a retrogression in the human race3 he throws a shadow over all succeeding generations4 ,the tendencies and natural purpose of the individual science become degenerate1 and science itself is finally shipwrecked3 it has made progress1 but has either no effect at all on life or else an immoral one4 #agf ,men not to be used like things6 ,from the former very incomplete philology and knowledge of antiquity there flowed out a stream of freedom1 while our own highly developed knowledge produces slaves and serves the idol of the ,state4 #agg ,there will perhaps come a time when scientific work will be carried on by women1 while the men will have to create1 using the word in a spiritual sense3 states1 laws1 works of art1 c4 ,people should study typical antiquity just as they do typical men3 i4e41 imitating what they understand of it1 and1 when the pattern seems to lie far in the distance1 considering ways and means and preliminary preparations1 and devising stepping-stones4 #agh ,the whole feature of study lies in this3 that we should study only what we feel we should like to imitate2 what we gladly take up and have the desire to multiply4 ,what is really wanted is a progressive canon of the ideal model1 suited to boys1 youths1 and men4 #agi ,goethe grasped antiquity in the right way3 invariably with an emulative soul4 ,but who else did so8 ,one sees nothing of a well-thought-out pedagogics of this nature3 who knows that there is a certain knowledge of antiquity which cannot be imparted to youths6 ,the puerile character of philology3 devised by teachers for pupils4 #ahj ,the ever more and more common form of the ideal3 first men1 then institutions1 finally tendencies1 purposes1 or the want of them4 ,the highest form3 the conquest of the ideal by a backward movement from tendencies to institutions1 and from institutions to men4 #aha ,i will set down in writing what ,i no longer believe--and also what ,i do believe4 ,man stands in the midst of the great whirlpool of forces1 and imagines that this whirlpool is rational and has a rational aim in view3 error6 ,the only rationality that we know is the small reason of man3 he must exert it to the utmost1 and it invariably leaves him in the lurch if he tries to place himself in the hands of ,providence4 ,our only happiness lies in reason2 all the remainder of the world is dreary4 ,the highest reason1 however1 is seen by me in the work of the artist1 and he can feel it to be such3 there may be something which1 when it can be consciously brought forward1 may afford an even greater feeling of reason and happiness3 for example1 the course of the solar system1 the breeding and education of a man4 ,happiness lies in rapidity of feeling and thinking3 everything else is slow1 gradual1 and stupid4 ,the man who could feel the progress of a ray of light would be greatly enraptured1 for it is very rapid4 ,thinking of one's self affords little happiness4 ,but when we do experience happiness therein the reason is that we are not thinking of ourselves1 but of our ideal4 ,this lies far off2 and only the rapid man attains it and rejoices4 ,an amalgamation of a great centre of men for the breeding of better men is the task of the future4 ,the individual must become familiarised with claims that1 when he says ,yea to his own will1 he also says ,yea to the will of that centre--for example1 in reference to a choice1 as among women for marriage1 and likewise as to the manner in which his child shall be brought up4 ,until now no single individuality1 or only the very rarest1 have been free3 they were influenced by these conceptions1 but likewise by the bad and contradictory organisation of the individual purposes4 #ahb ,education is in the first place instruction in what is necessary1 and then in what is changing and in-constant4 ,the youth is introduced to nature1 and the sway of laws is everywhere pointed out to him2 followed by an explanation of the laws of ordinary society4 ,even at this early stage the question will arise3 was it absolutely necessary that this should have been so8 ,he gradually comes to need history to ascertain how these things have been brought about4 ,he learns at the same time1 however1 that they may be changed into something else4 ,what is the extent of man's power over things8 ,this is the question in connection with all education4 ,to show how things may become other than what they are we may1 for example1 point to the ,greeks4 ,we need the ,romans to show how things became what they were4 #ahc ,if1 then1 the ,romans had spurned the ,greek culture1 they would perhaps have gone to pieces completely4 ,when could this culture have once again arisen8 ,christianity and ,romans and barbarians3 this would have been an onslaught3 it would have entirely wiped out culture4 ,we see the danger amid which genius lives4 ,cicero was one of the greatest benefactors of humanity1 even in his own time4 ,there is no ,providence for genius2 it is only for the ordinary run of people and their wants that such a thing exists3 they find their satisfaction1 and later on their justification4 #ahd ,thesis3 the death of ancient culture inevitable4 ,greek culture must be distinguished as the archetype2 and it must be shown how all culture rests upon shaky conceptions4 ,the dangerous meaning of art3 as the protectress and galvanisation of dead and dying conceptions2 history1 in so far as it wishes to restore to us feelings which we have overcome4 ,to feel historically or just towards what is already past1 is only possible when we have risen above it4 ,but the danger in the adoption of the feelings necessary for this is very great3 let the dead bury their dead1 so that we ourselves may not come under the influence of the smell of the corpses4 ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,culture4 #a4 ,the signification of the studies of antiquity hitherto pursued3 obscure2 mendacious4 #b4 ,as soon as they recognise the goal they condemn themselves to death3 for their goal is to describe ancient culture itself as one to be demolished4 #c4 ,the collection of all the conceptions out of which ,hellenic culture has grown up4 ,criticism of religion1 art1 society1 state1 morals4 #d4 ,christianity is likewise denied4 #e4 ,art and history--dangerous4 #f4 ,the replacing of the study of antiquity which has become superfluous for the training of our youth4 ,thus the task of the science of history is completed1 and it itself has become superfluous1 if the entire inward continuous circle of past efforts has been condemned4 ,its place must be taken by the science of the future4 #ahe ,signs and miracles are not believed2 only a ,providence stands in need of such things4 ,there is no help to be found either in prayer or asceticism or in vision4 ,if all these things constitute religion1 then there is no more religion for me4 ,my religion1 if ,i can still apply this name to something1 lies in the work of breeding genius3 from such training everything is to be hoped4 ,all consolation comes from art4 ,education is love for the offspring2 an excess of love over and beyond our self-love4 ,religion is love beyond ourselves4 ,the work of art is the model of such a love beyond ourselves1 and a perfect model at that #ahf ,the stupidity of the will is ,schopenhauer's greatest thought1 if thoughts be judged from the standpoint of power4 ,we can see in ,hartmann how he juggled away this thought4 ,nobody will ever call something stupid--,god4 #ahg ,this1 then1 is the new feature of all the future progress of the world3 men must never again be ruled over by religious conceptions4 ,will they be any worse8 ,it is not my experience that they behave well and morally under the yoke of religion2 ,i am not on the side of ,demopheles4#ae ,the fear of a beyond1 and then again the fear of divine punishments will hardly have made men better4 ,footnote #ae3 ,a type in ,schopenhauer's ,essay ,on ,religion4 ,see ,parerga and ,paralipomena4--,,tr4 #ahh ,where something great makes its appearance and lasts for a relatively long time1 we may premise a careful breeding1 as in the case of the ,greeks4 ,how did so many men become free among them8 ,educate educators6 ,but the first educators must educate themselves6 ,and it is for these that ,i write4 #ahi ,the denial of life is no longer an easy matter3 a man may become a hermit or a monk--and what is thereby denied6 ,this conception has now become deeper3 it is above all a discerning denial1 a denial based upon the will to be just2 not an indiscriminate and wholesale denial4 #aij ,the seer must be affectionate1 otherwise men will have no confidence in him3 ,cassandra4 #aia ,the man who to-day wishes to be good and saintly has a more difficult task than formerly3 in order to be good1 he must not be so unjust to knowledge as earlier saints were4 ,he would have to be a knowledge-saint3 a man who would link love with knowledge1 and who would have nothing to do with gods or demigods or ,providence1 as the ,indian saints likewise had nothing to do with them4 ,he should also be healthy1 and should keep himself so1 otherwise he would necessarily become distrustful of himself4 ,and perhaps he would not bear the slightest resemblance to the ascetic saint1 but would be much more like a man of the world4 #aib ,the better the state is organised1 the duller will humanity be4 ,to make the individual uncomfortable is my task6 ,the great pleasure experienced by the man who liberates himself by fighting4 ,spiritual heights have had their age in history2 inherited energy belongs to them4 ,in the ideal state all would be over with them4 #aic ,the highest judgment on life only arising from the highest energy of life4 ,the mind must be removed as far as possible from exhaustion4 ,in the centre of the world-history judgment will be the most accurate2 for it was there that the greatest geniuses existed4 ,the breeding of the genius as the only man who can truly value and deny life4 ,save your genius6 shall be shouted unto the people3 set him free6 ,do all you can to unshackle him4 ,the feeble and poor in spirit must not be allowed to judge life4 #aid ,i dream of a combination of men who shall make no concessions1 who shall show no consideration1 and who shall be willing to be called destroyers3 they apply the standard of their criticism to everything and sacrifice themselves to truth4 ,the bad and the false shall be brought to light6 ,we will not build prematurely we do not know1 indeed1 whether we shall ever be able to build1 or if it would not be better not to build at all ,there are lazy pessimists and resigned ones in this world--and it is to their number that we refuse to belong6 ,,finis4