,,the ,,will ,,to ,,power ,,an ,,attempted ,,transvaluation ,,of ,,all ,,values ,,by ,,friedrich ,,nietzsche ,,translated ,,by ,,anthony ,m4 ,,ludovici ,,vol4 ,i ,,books ,i ,,and ,,ii ,the ,complete ,works of ,friedrich ,nietzsche ,the ,first ,complete and ,authorised ,english ,translation ,edited by ,dr ,oscar ,levy ,volume ,fourteen ,t4,n4 ,,foulis #ac #ae ,,frederick ,,street ,,edinburgh3 ,,and ,,london #aiad ,,contents ,,of ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,preface #a ,,first ,,book4 ,,european ,,nihilism4 ,a ,,plan ,i4 ,,nihilism-- #a4 ,nihilism as an ,outcome of the ,valuations and ,interpretations of ,existence which have prevailed hitherto #b4 ,further ,causes of ,nihilism #c4 ,the ,nihilistic ,movement as an ,expression of ,decadence #d4 ,the ,crisis3 ,nihilism and the ,idea of ,recurrence ,,ii4 ,,concerning ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,european ,,nihilism-- 7a7 ,modern ,gloominess 7b7 ,the ,last ,centuries 7c7 ,signs of ,increasing ,strength ,,second ,,book4 ,a ,,criticism ,,of ,,the ,,highest ,,values ,,that ,,have ,,prevailed ,,hitherto4 ,i4 ,,criticism ,,of ,,religion-- #a4 ,concerning the ,origin of ,religions #b4 ,concerning the ,history of ,christianity #c4 ,christian ,ideals ,,ii4 ,a ,,criticism ,,of ,,morality-- #a4 ,the ,origin of ,moral ,valuations #b4 ,the ,herd #c4 ,general ,observations concerning ,morality #d4 ,how ,virtue is made to ,dominate #e4 ,the ,moral ,ideal-- ,a4 ,a ,criticism of ,ideals ,b4 ,a ,criticism of the ,good ,man1 of the ,saint1 etc4 ,c4 ,concerning the ,slander of the so-called ,evil ,qualities ,d4 ,a ,criticism of the ,words3 ,improving1 ,perfecting1 ,elevating #f4 ,concluding ,remarks concerning the ,criticism of ,morality ,,iii4 ,,criticism ,,of ,,philosophy-- #a4 ,general ,remarks #b4 ,a ,criticism of ,greek ,philosophy #c4 ,the ,truths and ,errors of ,philosophers #d4 ,concluding ,remarks in the ,criticism of ,philosophy ,,translator',s ,,preface4 ,in the volume before us we have the first two books of what was to be ,nietzsche's greatest theoretical and philosophical prose work4 ,the reception given to ,thus ,spake ,zarathustra had been so unsatisfactory1 and misunderstandings relative to its teaching had become so general1 that1 within a year of the publication of the first part of that famous philosophical poem1 ,nietzsche was already beginning to see the necessity of bringing his doctrines before the public in a more definite and unmistakable form4 ,during the years that followed--that is to say1 between #ahhc and #ahhf--this plan was matured1 and although we have no warrant1 save his sister's own word and the internal evidence at our disposal1 for classing ,beyond ,good and ,evil 7published #ahhf7 among the contributions to ,nietzsche's grand and final philosophical scheme1 ,the ,will to ,power1 it is now impossible to separate it entirely from his chief work as we would naturally separate ,the ,birth of ,tragedy1 the ,thoughts out of ,season1 the volumes entitled ,human1 all-too-,human1 ,the ,dawn of ,day1 and ,joyful ,wisdom4 ,beyond ,good and ,evil1 then1 together with its sequel1 ,the ,genealogy of ,morals1 and the two little volumes1 ,the ,twilight of the ,idols and the ,antichrist 7published in #ahhi and #ahid respectively71 must be regarded as forming part of the general plan of which ,the ,will to ,power was to be the opus magnum4 ,unfortunately1 ,the ,will to ,power was never completed by its author4 ,the text from which this translation was made is a posthumous publication1 and it suffers from all the disadvantages that a book must suffer from which has been arranged and ordered by foster hands4 ,when those who were responsible for its publication undertook the task of preparing it for the press1 it was very little more than a vast collection of notes and rough drafts1 set down by ,nietzsche from time to time1 as the material for his chief work2 and1 as any liberty taken with the original manuscript1 save that of putting it in order1 would probably have resulted in adding or excluding what the author would on no account have added or excluded himself1 it follows that in some few cases the paragraphs are no more than hasty memoranda of passing thoughts1 which ,nietzsche must have had the intention of elaborating at some future time4 ,in these cases the translation follows the ,german as closely as possible1 and the free use even of a conjunction has in certain cases been avoided1 for fear lest the meaning might be in the slightest degree modified4 ,it were well1 therefore1 if the reader could bear these facts in mind whenever he is struck by a certain clumsiness1 either of expression or disposition1 in the course of reading this translation4 ,it may be said that1 from the day when ,nietzsche first recognised the necessity of making a more unequivocal appeal to his public than the ,zarathustra had been1 that is to say1 from the spring of #ahhc1 his work in respect of ,the ,will to ,power suffered no interruption whatsoever1 and that it was his chief preoccupation from that period until his breakdown in #ahhi4 ,that this span of six years was none too long for the task he had undertaken1 will be gathered from the fact that1 in the great work he had planned1 he actually set out to show that the life-principle1 ,will to ,power1 was the prime motor of all living organisms4 ,to do this he appeals both to the animal world and to human society1 with its subdivisions1 religion1 art1 morality1 politics1 etc4 etc41 and in each of these he seeks to demonstrate the activity of the principle which he held to be the essential factor of all existence4 ,frau ,foerster-,nietzsche tells us that the notion that ,the ,will to ,power was the fundamental principle of all life1 first occurred to her brother in the year #ahgj1 at the seat of war1 while he was serving as a volunteer in a ,german army ambulance4 ,on one occasion1 at the close of a very heavy day with the wounded1 he happened to enter a small town which lay on one of the chief military roads4 ,he was wandering through it in a leisurely fashion when1 suddenly1 as he turned the corner of a street that was protected on either side by lofty stone walls1 he heard a roaring noise1 as of thunder1 which seemed to come from the immediate neighbourhood4 ,he hurried forward a step or two1 and what should he see1 but a magnificent cavalry regiment--gloriously expressive of the courage and exuberant strength of a people--ride past him like a luminous stormcloud4 ,the thundering din waxed louder and louder1 and lo and behold6 his own beloved regiment of field artillery dashed forward at full speed1 out of the mist of motes1 and sped westward amid an uproar of clattering chains and galloping steeds4 ,a minute or two elapsed1 and then a column of infantry appeared1 advancing at the double--the men's eyes were aflame1 their feet struck the hard road like mighty hammer-strokes1 and their accoutrements glistened through the haze4 ,while this procession passed before him1 on its way to war and perhaps to death1--so wonderful in its vital strength and formidable courage1 and so perfectly symbolic of a race that will conquer and prevail1 or perish in the attempt1--,nietzsche was struck with the thought that the highest will to live could not find its expression in a miserable struggle for existence1 but in a will to war1 a ,will to ,power1 a will to overpower6 ,this is said to be the history of his first conception of that principle which is at the root of all his philosophy1 and twelve years later1 in ,thus ,spake ,zarathustra1 we find him expounding it thus3-- ,wherever ,i found a living thing1 there found ,i ,will to ,power2 and even in the will of the servant found ,i the will to be master4 ,only where there is life1 is there also will3 not1 however1 ,will to ,life1 but--so teach ,i thee--,will to ,power6 ,much is reckoned higher than life itself by the living one2 but out of the very reckoning speaketh--the ,will to ,power6 ,and three years later still1 in ,beyond ,good and ,evil1 we read the following passage3-- ,psychologists should bethink themselves before putting down the instinct of self-preservation as the cardinal instinct of an organic being4 ,a living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is ,will to ,power2 self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results thereof4 ,but in this volume1 and the one that is to follow1 we shall find ,nietzsche more mature1 more sober1 and perhaps more profound than in the works above mentioned4 ,all the loves and hates by which we know him1 we shall come across again in this work2 but here he seems to stand more above them than he had done heretofore2 having once enunciated his ideals vehemently and emphatically1 he now discusses them with a certain grim humour1 with more thoroughness and detail1 and he gives even his enemies a quiet and respectful hearing4 ,his tolerant attitude to ,christianity on pages #h-i1 #ajg1 #cbc1 for instance1 is a case in point1 and his definite description of what we are to understand by his pity 7p4 #bic7 leaves us in no doubt as to the calm determination of this work4 ,book ,one will not seem so well arranged or so well worked out as ,book ,two2 the former being more sketchy and more speculative than the latter4 ,be this as it may1 it contains deeply interesting things1 inasmuch as it attempts to trace the elements of ,nihilism--as the outcome of ,christian values--in all the institutions of the present day4 ,in the ,second ,book ,herbert ,spencer comes in for a number of telling blows1 and not the least of these is to be found on page #bcg1 where1 although his name is not mentioned1 it is obviously implied4 ,here ,nietzsche definitely disclaims all ideas of an individualistic morality1 and carefully states that his philosophy aims at a new order of rank4 ,it will seem to some that morality is dealt with somewhat cavalierly throughout the two books2 but1 in this respect1 it should not be forgotten that ,nietzsche not only made a firm stand in favour of exceptional men1 but that he also believed that any morality is nothing more than a mere system of valuations which are determined by the conditions in which a given species lives4 ,hence his words on page #ajg3 ,beyond ,good and ,evil1--certainly2 but we insist upon the unconditional and strict preservation of herd-morality2 and on page #cbc3 ,suppose the strong were masters in all respects1 even in valuing3 let us try and think what their attitude would be towards illness1 suffering1 and sacrifice6 ,self-contempt on the part of the weak would be the result3 they would do their utmost to disappear and to extirpate their kind4 ,and would this be desirable8--should we really like a world in which the subtlety1 the consideration1 the intellectuality1 the plasticity--in fact1 the whole influence of the weak--was lacking8 ,it is obvious from this passage that ,nietzsche only objected to the influence of herd-morality outside the herd--that is to say1 among exceptional and higher men who may be wrecked by it4 ,whereas most other philosophers before him had been the ,altruist of the lower strata of humanity1 ,nietzsche may aptly be called the ,altruist of the exceptions1 of the particular lucky cases among men4 ,for such varieties1 he thought1 the morality of ,christianity had done all it could do1 and though he in no way wished to underrate the value it had sometimes been to them in the past1 he saw that at present1 in any case1 it might prove a great danger4 ,with ,goethe1 therefore1 he believed that ,hypotheses are only the pieces of scaffolding which are erected round a building during the course of its construction1 and which are taken away as soon as the edifice is completed4 ,to the workman1 they are indispensable2 but he must be careful not to confound the scaffolding with the building4#a ,it is deeply to be deplored that ,nietzsche was never able to complete his life-work4 ,the fragments of it collected in volumes i4 and ii4 of ,the ,will to ,power are sufficiently remarkable to convey some idea of what the whole work would have been if only its author had been able to arrange and complete it according to his original design4 ,it is to be hoped that we are too sensible nowadays to allow our sensibilities to be shocked by serious and well-meditated criticism1 even of the most cherished among our institutions1 and an honest and sincere reformer ought no longer to find us prejudiced--to the extent of deafness--against him1 more particularly when he comes forward with a gospel--,the ,will to ,power--which is1 above all1 a test of our power to will4 ,,anthony ,m4 ,,ludovici4 ,footnote #a3 ,naturwissenschaft im ,allgemeinen 7,weimar ,edition1 i4 ,,ii1 p4 #acb74 ,,preface4 #a4 ,concerning great things one should either be silent or one should speak loftily3--loftily--that is to say1 cynically and innocently4 #b4 ,what ,i am now going to relate is the history of the next two centuries4 ,i shall describe what will happen1 what must necessarily happen3 the triumph of ,nihilism4 ,this history can be written already2 for necessity itself is at work in bringing it about4 ,this future is already proclaimed by a hundred different omens2 as a destiny it announces its advent everywhere1 for this music of to-morrow all ears are already pricked4 ,the whole of our culture in ,europe has long been writhing in an agony of suspense which increases from decade to decade as if in expectation of a catastrophe3 restless1 violent1 helter-skelter1 like a torrent that will reach its bourne1 and refuses to reflect--yea1 that even dreads reflection4 #c4 ,on the other hand1 the present writer has done little else1 hitherto1 than reflect and meditate1 like an instinctive philosopher and anchorite1 who found his advantage in isolation--in remaining outside1 in patience1 procrastination1 and lagging behind2 like a weighing and testing spirit who has already lost his way in every labyrinth of the future2 like a prophetic bird-spirit that looks backwards when it would announce what is to come2 like the first perfect ,european ,nihilist1 who1 however1 has already outlived ,nihilism in his own soul--who has out-grown1 overcome1 and dismissed it4 #d4 ,for the reader must not misunderstand the meaning of the title which has been given to this ,evangel of the ,future4 ,the ,will to ,power3 ,an ,attempted ,transvaluation of all ,values--with this formula a counter-movement finds expression1 in regard to both a principle and a mission2 a movement which in some remote future will supersede this perfect ,nihilism2 but which nevertheless regards it as a necessary step1 both logically and psychologically1 towards its own advent1 and which positively cannot come1 except on top of and out of it4 ,for1 why is the triumph of ,nihilism inevitable now8 ,because the very values current amongst us to-day will arrive at their logical conclusion in ,nihilism1--because ,nihilism is the only possible outcome of our greatest values and ideals1--because we must first experience ,nihilism before we can realise what the actual worth of these values was4444 ,sooner or later we shall be in need of new values4 ,,first ,,book4 ,,european ,,nihilism4 ,i4 ,a ,,plan4 #a4 ,nihilism is at our door3 whence comes this most gruesome of all guests to us8--,to begin with1 it is a mistake to point to social evils1 physiological degeneration1 or even to corruption as a cause of ,nihilism4 ,this is the most straightforward and most sympathetic age that ever was4 ,evil1 whether spiritual1 physical1 or intellectual1 is1 in itself1 quite unable to introduce ,nihilism1 i4e41 the absolute repudiation of worth1 purpose1 desirability4 ,these evils allow of yet other and quite different explanations4 ,but there is one very definite explanation of the phenomena3 ,nihilism harbours in the heart of ,christian morals4 #b4 ,the downfall of ,christianity1--through its morality 7which is insuperable71 which finally turns against the ,christian ,god ,himself 7the sense of truth1 highly developed through ,christianity1 ultimately revolts against the falsehood and fictitiousness of all ,christian interpretations of the world and its history4 ,the recoil-stroke of ,god is ,truth in the fanatical ,belief1 is3 ,all is false4 ,buddhism of action444474 #c4 ,doubt in morality is the decisive factor4 ,the downfall of the moral interpretation of the universe1 which loses its raison d'tre once it has tried to take flight to a ,beyond1 meets its end in ,nihilism4 ,nothing has any purpose 7the inconsistency of one explanation of the world1 to which men have devoted untold energy1--gives rise to the suspicion that all explanations may perhaps be false74 ,the ,buddhistic feature3 a yearning for nonentity 7,indian ,buddhism has no fundamentally moral development at the back of it2 that is why ,nihilism in its case means only morality not overcome2 existence is regarded as a punishment and conceived as an error2 error is thus held to be punishment--a moral valuation74 ,philosophical attempts to overcome the moral ,god 7,hegel1 ,pantheism74 ,the vanquishing of popular ideals3 the wizard1 the saint1 the bard4 ,antagonism of true and beautiful and good4 #d4 ,against purposelessness on the one hand1 against moral valuations on the other3 how far has all science and philosophy been cultivated heretofore under the influence of moral judgments8 ,and have we not got the additional factor--the enmity of science1 into the bargain8 ,or the prejudice against science8 ,criticism of ,spinoza4 ,christian valuations everywhere present as remnants in socialistic and positivistic systems4 ,a criticism of ,christian morality is altogether lacking4 #e4 ,the ,nihilistic consequences of present natural science 7along with its attempts to escape into a ,beyond74 ,out of its practice there finally arises a certain self-annihilation1 an antagonistic attitude towards itself--a sort of anti-scientificality4 ,since ,copernicus man has been rolling away from the centre towards x4 #f4 ,the ,nihilistic consequences of the political and politico-economical way of thinking1 where all principles at length become tainted with the atmosphere of the platform3 the breath of mediocrity1 insignificance1 dishonesty1 etc4 ,nationalism4 ,anarchy1 etc4 ,punishment4 ,everywhere the deliverer is missing1 either as a class or as a single man--the justifier4 #g4 ,nihilistic consequences of history and of the practical historian1 i4e41 the romanticist4 ,the attitude of art is quite unoriginal in modern life4 ,its gloominess4 ,goethe's so-called ,olympian ,state4 #h4 ,art and the preparation of ,nihilism4 ,romanticism 7the conclusion of ,wagner's ,ring of the ,nibelung74 ,,nihilism4 #a4 ,,nihilism ,,as ,,an ,,outcome ,,of ,,the ,,valuations ,,and ,,interpretations ,,of ,,existence ,,which ,,have ,,prevailed ,,heretofore4 #b4 ,what does ,nihilism mean8--,that the highest values are losing their value4 ,there is no bourne4 ,there is no answer to the question3 to what purpose8 #c4 ,thorough ,nihilism is the conviction that life is absurd1 in the light of the highest values already discovered2 it also includes the view that we have not the smallest right to assume the existence of transcendental objects or things in themselves1 which would be either divine or morality incarnate4 ,this view is a result of fully developed truthfulness3 therefore a consequence of the belief in morality4 #d4 ,what advantages did the ,christian hypothesis of morality offer8 7#a7 ,it bestowed an intrinsic value upon men1 which contrasted with their apparent insignificance and subordination to chance in the eternal flux of becoming and perishing4 7#b7 ,it served the purpose of ,god's advocates1 inasmuch as it granted the world a certain perfection despite its sorrow and evil--it also granted the world that proverbial freedom3 evil seemed full of meaning4 7#c7 ,it assumed that man could have a knowledge of absolute values1 and thus granted him adequate perception for the most important things4 7#d7 ,it prevented man from despising himself as man1 from turning against life1 and from being driven to despair by knowledge3 it was a self-preservative measure4 ,in short3 ,morality was the great antidote against practical and theoretical ,nihilism4 #e4 ,but among the forces reared by morality1 there was truthfulness3 this in the end turns against morality1 exposes the teleology of the latter1 its interestedness1 and now the recognition of this lie so long incorporated1 from which we despaired of ever freeing ourselves1 acts just like a stimulus4 ,we perceive certain needs in ourselves1 implanted during the long dynasty of the moral interpretation of life1 which now seem to us to be needs of untruth3 on the other hand1 those very needs represent the highest values owing to which we are able to endure life4 ,we have ceased from attaching any worth to what we know1 and we dare not attach any more worth to that with which we would fain deceive ourselves--from this antagonism there results a process of dissolution4 #f4 ,this is the antinomy3 ,in so far as we believe in morality1 we condemn existence4 #g4 ,the highest values in the service of which man ought to live1 more particularly when they oppressed and constrained him most--these social values1 owing to their tone-strengthening tendencies1 were built over men's heads as though they were the will of ,god or reality1 or the actual world1 or even a hope of a world to come4 ,now that the lowly origin of these values has become known1 the whole universe seems to have been transvalued and to have lost its significance--but this is only an intermediate stage4 #h4 ,the consequence of ,nihilism 7disbelief in all values7 as a result of a moral valuation3--,we have grown to dislike egotism 7even though we have realised the impossibility of altruism72--we have grown to dislike what is most necessary 7although we have recognised the impossibility of a liberum arbitrium and of an intelligible freedom#a74 ,we perceive that we do not reach the spheres in which we have set our values--at the same time those other spheres in which we live have not thereby gained one iota in value4 ,on the contrary1 we are tired1 because we have lost the main incentive to live4 ,all in vain hitherto6 #i4 ,pessimism as a preparatory state to ,nihilism4 #aj4 ,a4 ,pessimism viewed as strength--in what respect8 ,in the energy of its logic1 as anarchy1 ,nihilism1 and analysis4 ,b4 ,pessimism regarded as collapse--in what sense8 ,in the sense of its being a softening influence1 a sort of cosmopolitan befingering1 a tout comprendre1 and historical spirit4 ,critical tension3 extremes make their appearance and become dominant4 #aa4 ,the logic of ,pessimism leads finally to ,nihilism3 what is the force at work8--,the notion that there are no values1 and no purpose3 the recognition of the part that moral valuations have played in all other lofty values4 ,result3 moral valuations are condemnations1 negations2 morality is the abdication of the will to live4444 ,footnote #a3 ,this is a ,kantian term4 ,kant recognised two kinds of ,freedom--the practical and the transcendental kind4 ,the first belongs to the phenomenal1 the second to the intelligible world4--,,translator',s ,,note4 #ab4 ,,the ,,collapse ,,of ,,cosmopolitan ,,values4 ,a4 ,nihilism will have to manifest itself as a psychological condition1 first when we have sought in all that has happened a purpose which is not there3 so that the seeker will ultimately lose courage4 ,nihilism is therefore the coming into consciousness of the long waste of strength1 the pain of futility1 uncertainty1 the lack of an opportunity to recover in some way1 or to attain to a state of peace concerning anything--shame in one's own presence1 as if one had cheated oneself too long4444 ,the purpose above-mentioned might have been achieved3 in the form of a realisation of a most high canon of morality in all worldly phenomena1 the moral order of the universe2 or in the form of the increase of love and harmony in the traffic of humanity2 or in the nearer approach to a general condition of happiness2 or even in the march towards general nonentity--any sort of goal always constitutes a purpose4 ,the common factor to all these appearances is that something will be attained1 through the process itself3 and now we perceive that ,becoming has been aiming at nothing1 and has achieved nothing4 ,hence the disillusionment in regard to a so-called purpose in existence1 as a cause of ,nihilism2 whether this be in respect of a very definite purpose1 or generalised into the recognition that all the hypotheses are false which have hitherto been offered as to the object of life1 and which relate to the whole of ,evolution 7man no longer an assistant in1 let alone the culmination of1 the evolutionary process74 ,nihilism will manifest itself as a psychological condition1 in the second place1 when man has fixed a totality1 a systematisation1 even an organisation in and behind all phenomena1 so that the soul thirsting for respect and admiration will wallow in the general idea of a highest ruling and administrative power 7if it be the soul of a logician1 the sequence of consequences and perfect reasoning will suffice to conciliate everything74 ,a kind of unity1 some form of monism3' and as a result of this belief man becomes obsessed by a feeling of profound relativity and dependence in the presence of an ,all which is infinitely superior to him1 a sort of divinity4 ,the general good exacts the surrender of the individual 444 but lo1 there is no such general good6 ,at bottom1 man loses the belief in his own worth when no infinitely precious entity manifests itself through him--that is to say1 he conceived such an ,all1 in order to be able to believe in his own worth4 ,nihilism1 as a psychological condition1 has yet a third and last form4 ,admitting these two points of view3 that no purpose can be assigned to ,becoming1 and that no great entity rules behind all ,becoming1 in which the individual may completely lose himself as in an element of superior value2 there still remains the subterfuge which would consist in condemning this whole world of ,becoming as an illusion1 and in discovering a world which would lie beyond it1 and would be a real world4 ,the moment1 however1 that man perceives that this world has been devised only for the purpose of meeting certain psychological needs1 and that he has no right whatsoever to it1 the final form of ,nihilism comes into being1 which comprises a denial of a metaphysical world1 and which forbids itself all belief in a real world4 ,from this standpoint1 the reality of ,becoming is the only reality that is admitted3 all bypaths to back-worlds and false godheads are abandoned--but this world is no longer endured1 although no one wishes to disown it4 ,what has actually happened8 ,the feeling of worthlessness was realised when it was understood that neither the notion of ,purpose nor that of ,unity nor that of ,truth could be made to interpret the general character of existence4 ,nothing is achieved or obtained thereby2 the unity which intervenes in the multiplicity of events is entirely lacking3 the character of existence is not true1 it is false2 there is certainly no longer any reason to believe in a real world4 ,in short1 the categories1 ,purpose1 ,unity1 ,being1 by means of which we had lent some worth to life1 we have once more divorced from it--and the world now appears worthless to us4444 ,b4 ,admitting that we have recognised the impossibility of interpreting world by means of these three categories1 and that from this standpoint the world begins to be worthless to us2 we must ask ourselves whence we derived our belief in these three categories4 ,let us see if it is possible to refuse to believe in them4 ,if we can deprive them of their value1 the proof that they cannot be applied to the world1 is no longer a sufficient reason for depriving that world of its value4 ,result3 ,the belief in the categories of reason#b is the cause of ,nihilism--we have measured the worth of the world according to categories which can only be applied to a purely fictitious world4 ,conclusion3 ,all values with which we have tried1 hitherto1 to lend the world some worth1 from our point of view1 and with which we have therefore deprived it of all worth 7once these values have been shown to be inapplicable7--all these values1 are1 psychologically1 the results of certain views of utility1 established for the purpose of maintaining and increasing the dominion of certain communities3 but falsely projected into the nature of things4 ,it is always man's exaggerated ingenuousness to regard himself as the sense and measure of all things4 ,footnote #b3 ,this probably refers to ,kant's celebrated table of twelve categories4 ,the four classes1 quantity1 quality1 relation1 and modality1 are each provided with three categories4--,,translator',s ,,note4 #ac4 ,nihilism represents an intermediary pathological condition 7the vast generalisation1 the conclusion that there is no purpose in anything1 is pathological73 whether it be that the productive forces are not yet strong enough--or that decadence still hesitates and has not yet discovered its expedients4 ,the conditions of this hypothesis3--,that there is no truth2 that there is no absolute state of affairs--no thing-in-itself4 ,this alone is ,nihilism1 and of the most extreme kind4 ,it finds that the value of things consists precisely in the fact that these values are not real and never have been real1 but that they are only a symptom of strength on the part of the valuer1 a simplification serving the purposes of existence4 #ad4 ,values and their modification are related to the growth of power of the valuer4 ,the measure of disbelief and of the freedom of spirit which is tolerated1 viewed as an expression of the growth of power4 ,nihilism viewed as the ideal of the highest spiritual power1 of the over-rich life1 partly destructive1 partly ironical4 #ae4 ,what is belief8 ,how is a belief born8 ,all belief assumes that something is true4 ,the extremest form of ,nihilism would mean that all belief--all assumption of truth--is false3 because no real world is at hand4 ,it were therefore3 only an appearance seen in perspective1 whose origin must be found in us 7seeing that we are constantly in need of a narrower1 a shortened1 and simplified world74 ,this should be realised1 that the extent to which we can1 in our heart of hearts1 acknowledge appearance1 and the necessity of falsehood1 without going to rack and ruin1 is the measure of strength4 ,in this respect1 ,nihilism1 in that it is the negation of a real world and of ,being1 might be a divine view of the world4 #af4 ,if we are disillusioned1 we have not become so in regard to life1 but owing to the fact that our eyes have been opened to all kinds of desiderata4 ,with mocking anger we survey that which is called ,ideal3 we despise ourselves only because we are unable at every moment of our lives to quell that absurd emotion which is called ,idealism4 ,this pampering by means of ideals is stronger than the anger of the disillusioned one4 #ag4 ,to what extent does ,schopenhauerian ,nihilism continue to be the result of the same ideal as that which gave rise to ,christian ,theism8 ,the amount of certainty concerning the most exalted desiderata1 the highest values and the greatest degree of perfection1 was so great1 that the philosophers started out from it as if it had been an a priori and absolute fact3 ,god at the head1 as the given quantity--,truth4 ,to become like ,god1 to be absorbed into the ,divine ,being--these were for centuries the most ingenuous and most convincing desiderata 7but that which convinces is not necessarily true on that account3 it is nothing more nor less than convincing4 ,an observation for donkeys74 ,the granting of a personal-reality to this accretion of ideals has been unlearned3 people have become atheistic4 ,but has the ideal actually been abandoned8 ,the latest metaphysicians1 as a matter of fact1 still seek their true reality in it--the thing-in-itself beside which everything else is merely appearance4 ,their dogma is1 that because our world of appearance is so obviously not the expression of that ideal1 it therefore cannot be true--and at bottom does not even lead back to that metaphysical world as cause4 ,the unconditioned1 in so far as it stands for that highest degree of perfection1 cannot possibly be the reason of all the conditioned4 ,schopenhauer1 who desired it otherwise1 was obliged to imagine this metaphysical basis as the antithesis to the ideal1 as an evil1 blind will3 thus it could be that which appears1 that which manifests itself in the world of appearance4 ,but even so1 he did not give up that ideal absolute--he circumvented it4444 7,kant seems to have needed the hypothesis of intelligible freedom1#c in order to relieve the ens perfectum of the responsibility of having contrived this world as it is1 in short1 in order to explain evil3 scandalous logic for a philosopher674 ,footnote #c3 ,see ,note on p4 #aa4 #ah4 ,the most general sign of modern times3 in his own estimation1 man has lost an infinite amount of dignity4 ,for a long time he was the centre and tragic hero of life in general2 then he endeavoured to demonstrate at least his relationship to the most essential and in itself most valuable side of life--as all metaphysicians do1 who wish to hold fast to the dignity of man1 in their belief that moral values are cardinal values4 ,he who has let ,god go1 clings all the more strongly to the belief in morality4 #ai4 ,every purely moral valuation 7as1 for instance1 the ,buddhistic7 terminates in ,nihilism3 ,europe must expect the same thing6 ,it is supposed that one can get along with a morality bereft of a religious background2 but in this direction the road to ,nihilism is opened4 ,there is nothing in religion which compels us to regard ourselves as valuing creatures4 #bj4 ,the question which ,nihilism puts1 namely1 to what purpose8 is the outcome of a habit1 hitherto1 to regard the purpose as something fixed1 given and exacted from outside--that is to say1 by some supernatural authority4 ,once the belief in this has been unlearned1 the force of an old habit leads to the search after another authority1 which would know how to speak unconditionally1 and could point to goals and missions4 ,the authority of the conscience now takes the first place 7the more morality is emancipated from theology1 the more imperative does it become7 as a compensation for the personal authority4 ,or the authority of reason4 ,or the gregarious instinct 7the herd74 ,or history with its immanent spirit1 which has its goal in itself1 and to which one can abandon oneself4 ,one would like to evade the will1 as also the willing of a goal and the risk of setting oneself a goal4 ,one would like to get rid of the responsibility 7,fatalism would be accepted74 ,finally3 ,happiness and with a dash of humbug1 the happiness of the greatest number4 ,it is said3-- 7#a7 ,a definite goal is quite unnecessary4 7#b7 ,such a goal cannot possibly be foreseen4 ,precisely now1 when will in its fullest strength were necessary1 it is in the weakest and most pusillanimous condition4 ,absolute mistrust concerning the organising power of the will4 #ba4 ,the perfect ,nihilist4--,the ,nihilist's eye idealises in an ugly sense1 and is inconstant to what it remembers3 it allows its recollections to go astray and to fade1 it does not protect them from that cadaverous coloration with which weakness dyes all that is distant and past4 ,and what it does not do for itself it fails to do for the whole of mankind as well--that is to say1 it allows it to drop4 #bb4 ,nihilism4 ,it may be two things3-- ,a4 ,nihilism as a sign of enhanced spiritual strength3 active ,nihilism4 ,b4 ,nihilism as a sign of the collapse and decline of spiritual strength3 passive ,nihilism4 #bc4 ,nihilism1 a normal condition4 ,it may be a sign of strength2 spiritual vigour may have increased to such an extent that the goals toward which man has marched hitherto 7the convictions1 articles of faith7 are no longer suited to it 7for a faith generally expresses the exigencies of the conditions of existence1 a submission to the authority of an order of things which conduces to the prosperity1 the growth and power of a living creature 44472 on the other hand1 a sign of insufficient strength1 to fix a goal1 a wherefore1 and a faith for itself4 ,it reaches its maximum of relative strength1 as a powerful destructive force1 in the form of active ,nihilism4 ,its opposite would be weary ,nihilism1 which no longer attacks3 its most renowned form being ,buddhism3 as passive ,nihilism1 a sign of weakness3 spiritual strength may be fatigued1 exhausted1 so that the goals and values which have prevailed hitherto are no longer suited to it and are no longer believed in--so that the synthesis of values and goals 7upon which every strong culture stands7 decomposes1 and the different values contend with one another3 ,disintegration1 then everything which is relieving1 which heals1 becalms1 or stupefies1 steps into the foreground under the cover of various disguises1 either religious1 moral1 political or sthetic1 etc4 #bd4 ,nihilism is not only a meditating over the in vain6--not only the belief that everything deserves to perish2 but one actually puts one's shoulder to the plough2 one destroys4 ,this1 if you will1 is illogical2 but the ,nihilist does not believe in the necessity of being logical4444 ,it is the condition of strong minds and wills2 and to these it is impossible to be satisfied with the negation of judgment3 the negation by deeds proceeds from their nature4 ,annihilation by the reasoning faculty seconds annihilation by the hand4 #be4 ,concerning the genesis of the ,nihilist4 ,the courage of all one really knows comes but late in life4 ,it is only quite recently that ,i have acknowledged to myself that heretofore ,i have been a ,nihilist from top to toe4 ,the energy and thoroughness with which ,i marched forward as a ,nihilist deceived me concerning this fundamental principle4 ,when one is progressing towards a goal it seems impossible that aimlessness per se should be one's fundamental article of faith4 #bf4 ,the ,pessimism of strong natures4 ,the wherefore after a terrible struggle1 even after victory4 ,that something may exist which is a hundred times more important than the question1 whether we feel well or unwell1 is the fundamental instinct of all strong natures--and consequently too1 whether the others feel well or unwell4 ,in short1 that we have a purpose1 for which we would not even hesitate to sacrifice men1 run all risks1 and bend our backs to the worst3 this is the great passion4 #b4 ,,further ,,causes ,,of ,,nihilism4 #bg4 ,the causes of ,nihilism3 7#a7 ,the higher species is lacking1 i4e41 the species whose inexhaustible fruitfulness and power would uphold our belief in ,man 7think only of what is owed to ,napoleon--almost all the higher hopes of this century74 7#b7 ,the inferior species 7herd1 ass1 society7 is forgetting modesty1 and inflates its needs into cosmic and metaphysical values4 ,in this way all life is vulgarised3 for inasmuch as the mass of mankind rules1 it tyrannises over the exceptions1 so that these lose their belief in themselves and become ,nihilists4 ,all attempts to conceive of a new species come to nothing 7romanticism1 the artist1 the philosopher2 against ,carlyle's attempt to lend them the highest moral values74 ,the result is that higher types are resisted4 ,the downfall and insecurity of all higher types4 ,the struggle against genius 7popular poetry1 etc474 ,sympathy with the lowly and the suffering as a standard for the elevation of the soul4 ,the philosopher is lacking1 the interpreter of deeds1 and not alone he who poetises them4 #bh4 ,imperfect ,nihilism--its forms3 we are now surrounded by them4 ,all attempts made to escape ,nihilism1 which do not consist in transvaluing the values that have prevailed hitherto1 only make the matter worse2 they complicate the problem4 #bi4 ,the varieties of self-stupefaction4 ,in one's heart of hearts1 not to know1 whither8 ,emptiness4 ,the attempt to rise superior to it all by means of emotional intoxication3 emotional intoxication in the form of music1 in the form of cruelty in the tragic joy over the ruin of the noblest1 and in the form of blind1 gushing enthusiasm over individual men or distinct periods 7in the form of hatred1 etc474 ,the attempt to work blindly1 like a scientific instrument2 to keep an eye on the many small joys1 like an investigator1 for instance 7modesty towards oneself72 the mysticism of the voluptuous joy of eternal emptiness2 art for art's sake 7le fait71 immaculate investigation1 in the form of narcotics against the disgust of oneself2 any kind of incessant work1 any kind of small foolish fanaticism2 the medley of all means1 illness as the result of general profligacy 7dissipation kills pleasure74 7#a7 ,as a result1 feeble will-power4 7#b7 ,excessive pride and the humiliation of petty weakness felt as a contrast4 #cj4 ,the time is coming when we shall have to pay for having been ,christians for two thousand years3 we are losing the equilibrium which enables us to live--for a long while we shall not know in what direction we are travelling4 ,we are hurling ourselves headlong into the opposite valuations1 with that degree of energy which could only have been engendered in man by an overvaluation of himself4 ,now1 everything is false from the root1 words and nothing but words1 confused1 feeble1 or over-strained4 7a7 ,there is a seeking after a sort of earthly solution of the problem of life1 but in the same sense as that of the final triumph of truth1 love1 justice 7socialism3 equality of persons74 7b7 ,there is also an attempt to hold fast to the moral ideal 7with altruism1 self-sacrifice1 and the denial of the will1 in the front rank74 7c7 ,there is even an attempt to hold fast to a ,beyond3 were it only as an antilogical x2 but it is forthwith interpreted in such a way that a kind of metaphysical solace1 after the old style1 may be derived from it4 7d7 ,there is an attempt to read the phenomena of life in such a way as to arrive at the divine guidance of old1 with its powers of rewarding1 punishing1 educating1 and of generally conducing to a something better in the order of things4 7e7 ,people once more believe in good and evil2 so that the victory of the good and the annihilation of the evil is regarded as a duty 7this is ,english1 and is typical of that blockhead1 ,john ,stuart ,mill74 7f7 ,the contempt felt for naturalness1 for the desires and for the ego3 the attempt to regard even the highest intellectuality of art as a result of an impersonal and disinterested attitude4 7g7 ,the ,church is still allowed to meddle in all the essential occurrences and incidents in the life of the individual1 with a view to consecrating it and giving it a loftier meaning3 we still have the ,christian ,state and the ,christian marriage4 #ca4 ,there have been more thoughtful and more destructively thoughtful#d times than ours3 times like those in which ,buddha appeared1 for instance1 in which the people themselves1 after centuries of sectarian quarrels1 had sunk so deeply into the abyss of philosophical dogmas1 as1 from time to time1 ,european people have done in regard to the fine points of religious dogma4 ,literature and the press would be the last things to seduce one to any high opinion of the spirit of our times3 the millions of ,spiritists1 and a ,christianity with gymnastic exercises of that ghastly ugliness which is characteristic of all ,english inventions1 throw more light on the subject4 ,european ,pessimism is still in its infancy--a fact which argues against it3 it has not yet attained to that prodigious and yearning fixity of sight to which it attained in ,india once upon a time1 and in which nonentity is reflected2 there is still too much of the ready-made1 and not enough of the evolved in its constitution1 too much learned and poetic ,pessimism2 ,i mean that a good deal of it has been discovered1 invented1 and created1 but not caused4 ,footnote #d3 zerdachtere4 #cb4 ,criticism of the ,pessimism which has prevailed hitherto4 ,the want of the eudmonological standpoint1 as a last abbreviation of the question3 what is the purpose of it all8 ,the reduction of gloom4 ,our ,pessimism3 the world has not the value which we believed it to have1--our faith itself has so increased our instinct for research that we are compelled to say this to-day4 ,in the first place1 it seems of less value3 at first it is felt to be of less value1--only in this sense are we pessimists1--that is to say1 with the will to acknowledge this transvaluation without reserve1 and no longer1 as heretofore1 to deceive ourselves and chant the old old story4 ,it is precisely in this way that we find the pathos which urges us to seek for new values4 ,in short3 the world might have far more value than we thought--we must get behind the navet of our ideals1 for it is possible that1 in our conscious effort to give it the highest interpretation1 we have not bestowed even a moderately just value upon it4 ,what has been deified8 ,the valuing instinct inside the community 7that which enabled it to survive74 ,what has been calumniated8 ,that which has tended to separate higher men from their inferiors1 the instincts which cleave gulfs and build barriers4 #cc4 ,causes effecting the rise of ,pessimism3-- 7#a7 ,the most powerful instincts and those which promised most for the future have hitherto been calumniated1 so that life has a curse upon it4 7#b7 ,the growing bravery and the more daring mistrust on the part of man have led him to discover the fact that these instincts cannot be cut adrift from life1 and thus he turns to embrace life4 7#c7 ,only the most mediocre1 who are not conscious of this conflict1 prosper2 the higher species fail1 and as an example of degeneration tend to dispose all hearts against them--on the other hand1 there is some indignation caused by the mediocre positing themselves as the end and meaning of all things4 ,no one can any longer reply to the question3 ,why8 7#d7 ,belittlement1 susceptibility to pain1 unrest1 haste1 and confusion are steadily increasing--the materialisation of all these tendencies1 which is called civilisation1 becomes every day more simple1 with the result that1 in the face of the monstrous machine1 the individual despairs and surrenders4 #cd4 ,modern ,pessimism is an expression of the uselessness only of the modern world1 not of the world and existence as such4 #ce4 ,the preponderance of pain over pleasure or the reverse 7,hedonism72 both of these doctrines are already signposts to ,nihilism4444 ,for here1 in both cases1 no other final purpose is sought than the phenomenon pleasure or pain4 ,but only a man who no longer dares to posit a will1 a purpose1 and a final goal can speak in this way--according to every healthy type of man1 the worth of life is certainly not measured by the standard of these secondary things4 ,and a preponderance of pain would be possible and1 in spite of it1 a mighty will1 a saying of yea to life1 and a holding of this preponderance for necessary4 ,life is not worth living2 ,resignation2 what is the good of tears8--this is a feeble and sentimental attitude of mind4 ,un monstre gai vaut mieux qu'un sentimental ennuyeux4 #cf4 ,the philosophie ,nihilist is convinced that all phenomena are without sense and are in vain1 and that there ought to be no such thing as ,being without sense and in vain4 ,but whence comes this ,there ought not to be8--whence this sense and this standard8 ,at bottom the ,nihilist supposes that the sight of such a desolate1 useless ,being is unsatisfying to the philosopher1 and fills him with desolation and despair4 ,this aspect of the case is opposed to our subtle sensibilities as a philosopher4 ,it leads to the absurd conclusion that the character of existence must perforce afford pleasure to the philosopher if it is to have any right to subsist4 ,now it is easy to understand that happiness and unhappiness1 within the phenomena of this world1 can only serve the purpose of means3 the question yet remaining to be answered is1 whether it will ever be possible for us to perceive the object and purpose of life--whether the problem of purposelessness or the reverse is not quite beyond our ken4 #cg4 ,the development of ,nihilism out of ,pessimism4 ,the denaturalisation of ,values4 ,scholasticism of values4 ,the values isolated1 idealistic1 instead of ruling and leading action1 turn against it and condemn it4 ,opposites introduced in the place of natural gradations and ranks4 ,hatred of the order of rank4 ,opposites are compatible with a plebeian age1 because they are more easy to grasp4 ,the rejected world is opposed to an artificially constructed true and valuable one4 ,at last we discover out of what material the true world was built2 all that remains1 now1 is the rejected world1 and to the account of our reasons for rejecting it we place our greatest disillusionment4 ,at this point ,nihilism is reached2 the directing values have been retained--nothing more6 ,this gives rise to the problem of strength and weakness3-- 7#a7 ,the weak fall to pieces upon it2 7#b7 ,the strong destroy what does not fall to pieces of its own accord2 7#c7 ,the strongest overcome the directing values4 ,the whole condition of affairs produces the tragic age4 #c4 ,,the ,,nihilistic ,,movement ,,as ,,an ,,expression ,,of ,,decadence4 #ch4 ,just lately an accidental and in every way inappropriate term has been very much misused3 everywhere people are speaking of ,pessimism1 and there is a fight around the question 7to which some replies must be forthcoming73 which is right--,pessimism or ,optimism8 ,people have not yet seen what is so terribly-obvious--namely1 that ,pessimism is not a problem but a symptom1--that the term ought to be replaced by ,nihilism1--that the question1 to be or not to be1 is itself an illness1 a sign of degeneracy1 an idiosyncrasy4 ,the ,nihilistic movement is only an expression of physiological decadence4 #ci4 ,to be understood3--,that every kind of decline and tendency to sickness has incessantly been at work in helping to create general evaluations3 that in those valuations which now dominate1 decadence has even begun to preponderate1 that we have not only to combat the conditions which present misery and degeneration have brought into being2 but that all decadence1 previous to that of our own times1 has been transmitted and has therefore remained an active force amongst us4 ,a universal departure of this kind1 on the part of man1 from his fundamental instincts1 such universal decadence of the valuing judgment1 is the note of interrogation par excellence1 the real riddle1 which the animal man sets to all philosophers4 #dj4 ,the notion decadence3--,decay1 decline1 and waste1 are1 per se1 in no way open to objection2 they are the natural consequences of life and vital growth4 ,the phenomenon of decadence is just as necessary to life as advance or progress is3 we are not in a position which enables us to suppress it4 ,on the contrary1 reason would have it retain its rights4 ,it is disgraceful on the part of socialist-theorists to argue that circumstances and social combinations could be devised which would put an end to all vice1 illness1 crime1 prostitution1 and poverty4444 ,but that is tantamount to condemning ,life 444 a society is not at liberty to remain young4 ,and even in its prime it must bring forth ordure and decaying matter4 ,the more energetically and daringly it advances1 the richer will it be in failures and in deformities1 and the nearer it will be to its fall4 ,age is not deferred by means of institutions4 ,nor is illness4 ,nor is vice4 #da4 ,fundamental aspect of the nature of decadence3 what has heretofore been regarded as its causes are its effects4 ,in this way1 the whole perspective of the problems of morality is altered4 ,all the struggle of morals against vice1 luxury1 crime1 and even against illness1 seems a navet1 a superfluous effort3 there is no such thing as improvement 7a word against repentance74 ,decadence itself is not a thing that can be withstood3 it is absolutely necessary and is proper to all ages and all peoples4 ,that which must be withstood1 and by all means in our power1 is the spreading of the contagion among the sound parts of the organism4 ,is that done8 ,the very reverse is done4 ,it is precisely on this account that one makes a stand on behalf of humanity4 ,how do the highest values created hitherto stand in relation to this fundamental question in biology8 ,philosophy1 religion1 morality1 art1 etc4 7,the remedy3 militarism1 for instance1 from ,napoleon onwards1 who regarded civilisation as his natural enemy47 #db4 ,all those things which heretofore have been regarded as the causes of degeneration1 are really its effects4 ,but those things also which have been regarded as the remedies of degeneration are only palliatives of certain effects thereof3 the cured are types of the degenerate4 ,the results of decadence3 vice--viciousness2 illness--sickliness2 crime--criminality2 celibacy--sterility2 hysteria--the weakness of the will2 alcoholism2 pessimism1 anarchy2 debauchery 7also of the spirit74 ,the calumniators1 underminers1 sceptics1 and destroyers4 #dc4 ,concerning the notion decadence4 7#a7 ,scepticism is a result of decadence3 just as spiritual debauchery is4 7#b7 ,moral corruption is a result of decadence 7the weakness of the will and the need of strong stimulants74 7#c7 ,remedies1 whether psychological or moral1 do not alter the march of decadence1 they do not arrest anything2 physiologically they do not count4 ,a peep into the enormous futility of these pretentious reactions2 they are forms of ansthetising oneself against certain fatal symptoms resulting from the prevailing condition of things2 they do not eradicate the morbid element2 they are often heroic attempts to cancel the decadent man1 to allow only a minimum of his deleterious influence to survive4 7#d7 ,nihilism is not a cause1 but only the rationale of decadence4 7#e7 ,the good and the bad are no more than two types of decadence3 they come together in all its fundamental phenomena4 7#f7 ,the social problem is a result of decadence4 7#g7 ,illnesses1 more particularly those attacking the nerves and the head1 are signs that the defensive strength of strong nature is lacking2 a proof of this is that irritability which causes pleasure and pain to be regarded as problems of the first order4 #dd4 ,the most common types of decadence3 7#a7 ,in the belief that they are remedies1 cures are chosen which only precipitate exhaustion2--this is the case with ,christianity 7to point to the most egregious example of mistaken instinct72--this is also the case with progress4 7#b7 ,the power of resisting stimuli is on the wane--chance rules supreme3 events are inflated and drawn out until they appear monstrous 444 a suppression of the personality1 a disintegration of the will2 in this regard we may mention a whole class of morality1 the altruistic1 that which is incessantly preaching pity1 and whose most essential feature is the weakness of the personality1 so that it rings in unison1 and1 like an over-sensitive string1 does not cease from vibrating 444 extreme irritability4444 7#c7 ,cause and effect are confounded3 decadence is not understood as physiological1 and its results are taken to be the causes of the general indisposition3--this applies to all religious morality4 7#d7 ,a state of affairs is desired in which suffering shall cease2 life is actually considered the cause of all ills--unconscious and insensitive states 7sleep and syncope7 are held in incomparably higher esteem than the conscious states2 hence a method of life4 #de4 ,concerning the hygiene of the weak4 ,all that is done in weakness ends in failure4 ,moral3 do nothing4 ,the worst of it is1 that precisely the strength required in order to stop action1 and to cease from reacting1 is most seriously diseased under the influence of weakness3 that one never reacts more promptly or more blindly than when one should not react at all4 ,the strength of a character is shown by the ability to delay and postpone reaction3 a certain is just as proper to it1 as involuntariness in recoiling1 suddenness and lack of restraint in action1 are proper to weakness4 ,the will is weak3 and the recipe for preventing foolish acts would be3 to have a strong will and to do nothing--contradiction4 ,a sort of self-destruction1 the instinct of self-preservation is compromised4444 ,the weak man injures himself4444 ,that is the decadent type4 ,as a matter of fact1 we meet with a vast amount of thought concerning the means wherewith impassibility may be induced4 ,to this extent1 the instincts are on the right scent2 for to do nothing is more useful than to do something4444 ,all the practices of private orders1 of solitary philosophers1 and of fakirs1 are suggested by a correct consideration of the fact1 that a certain kind of man is most useful to himself when he hinders his own action as much as possible4 ,relieving measures3 absolute obedience1 mechanical activity1 total isolation from men and things that might exact immediate decisions and actions4 #df4 ,weakness of ,will3 this is a fable that can lead astray4 ,for there is no will1 consequently neither a strong nor a weak one4 ,the multiplicity and disintegration of the instincts1 the want of system in their relationship1 constitute what is known as a weak will2 their co-ordination1 under the government of one individual among them1 results in a strong will--in the first case vacillation and a lack of equilibrium is noticeable3 in the second1 precision and definite direction4 #dg4 ,that which is inherited is not illness1 but a predisposition to illness3 a lack of the powers of resistance against injurious external influences1 etc4 etc1 broken powers of resistance2 expressed morally3 resignation and humility in the presence of the enemy4 ,i have often wondered whether it would not be possible to class all the highest values of the philosophies1 moralities1 and religions which have been devised hitherto1 with the values of the feeble1 the insane and the neurasthenic in a milder form1 they present the same evils4 ,the value of all morbid conditions consists in the fact that they magnify certain normal phenomena which are difficult to discern in normal conditions4444 ,health and illness are not essentially different1 as the ancient doctors believed and as a few practitioners still believe to-day4 ,they cannot be imagined as two distinct principles or entities which fight for the living organism and make it their battlefield4 ,that is nonsense and mere idle gossip1 which no longer holds water4 ,as a matter of fact1 there is only a difference of degree between these two living conditions3 exaggeration1 want of proportion1 want of harmony among the normal phenomena1 constitute the morbid state 7,claude ,bernard74 ,just as evil may be regarded as exaggeration1 discord1 and want of proportion1 so can good be regarded as a sort of protective diet against the danger of exaggeration1 discord1 and want of proportion4 ,hereditary weakness as a dominant feeling3 the cause of the prevailing values4 ,n4,b4--,weakness is in demand--why8444 mostly because people cannot be anything else than weak4 ,weakening considered a duty3 ,the weakening of the desires1 of the feelings of pleasure and of pain1 of the will to power1 of the will to pride1 to property and to more property2 weakening in the form of humility2 weakening in the form of a belief2 weakening in the form of repugnance and shame in the presence of all that is natural--in the form of a denial of life1 in the form of illness and chronic feebleness2 weakening in the form of a refusal to take revenge1 to offer resistance1 to become an enemy1 and to show anger4 ,blunders in the treatment3 there is no attempt at combating weakness by means of any fortifying system2 but by a sort of justification consisting of moralising2 i4e41 by means of interpretation4 ,two totally different conditions are confused3 for instance1 the repose of strength1 which is essentially abstinence from reaction 7the prototype of the gods whom nothing moves71 and the peace of exhaustion1 rigidity to the point of ansthesia4 ,all these philosophic and ascetic modes of procedure aspire to the second state1 but actually pretend to attain to the first 444 for they ascribe to the condition they have reached the attributes that would be in keeping only with a divine state4 #dh4 ,the most dangerous misunderstanding4--,there is one concept which apparently allows of no confusion or ambiguity1 and that is the concept exhaustion4 ,exhaustion may be acquired or inherited--in any case it alters the aspect and value of things4 ,unlike him who involuntarily gives of the superabundance which he both feels and represents1 to the things about him1 and who sees them fuller1 mightier1 and more pregnant with promises1--who1 in fact1 can bestow1--the exhausted one belittles and disfigures everything he sees--he impoverishes its worth3 he is detrimental4444 ,no mistake seems possible in this matter3 and yet history discloses the terrible fact1 that the exhausted have always been confounded with those with the most abundant resources1 and the latter with the most detrimental4 ,the pauper in vitality1 the feeble one1 impoverishes even life3 the wealthy man1 in vital powers1 enriches it4 ,the first is the parasite of the second3 the second is a bestower of his abundance4 ,how is confusion possible8 ,when he who was exhausted came forth with the bearing of a very active and energetic man 7when degeneration implied a certain excess of spiritual and nervous discharge71 he was mistaken for the wealthy man4 ,he inspired terror4 ,the cult of the madman is also always the cult of him who is rich in vitality1 and who is a powerful man4 ,the fanatic1 the one possessed1 the religious epileptic1 all eccentric creatures have been regarded as the highest types of power3 as divine4 ,this kind of strength which inspires terror seemed to be1 above all1 divine3 this was the starting-point of authority2 here wisdom was interpreted1 hearkened to1 and sought4 ,out of this there was developed1 everywhere almost1 a will to deify1 i4e41 to a typical degeneration of spirit1 body1 and nerves3 an attempt to discover the road to this higher form of being4 ,to make oneself ill or mad1 to provoke the symptoms of serious disorder--was called getting stronger1 becoming more superhuman1 more terrible and more wise4 ,people thought they would thus attain to such wealth of power1 that they would be able to dispense it4 ,wheresoever there have been prayers1 some one has been sought who had something to give away4 ,what led astray1 here1 was the experience of intoxication4 ,this increases the feeling of power to the highest degree1 therefore1 to the mind of the ingenuous1 it is power4 ,on the highest altar of power the most intoxicated man must stand1 the ecstatic4 7,there are two causes of intoxication3 superabundant life1 and a condition of morbid nutrition of the brain47 #di4 ,acquired1 not inherited exhaustion3 7#a7 inadequate nourishment1 often the result of ignorance concerning diet1 as1 for instance1 in the case of scholars2 7#b7 erotic precocity3 the damnation more especially of the youth of ,france--,parisian youths1 above all1 who are already dirtied and ruined when they step out of their lyces into the world1 and who cannot break the chains of despicable tendencies2 ironical and scornful towards themselves--galley-slaves despite all their refinement 7moreover1 in the majority of cases1 already a symptom of racial and family decadence1 as all hypersensitiveness is2 and examples of the infection of environment3 to be influenced by one's environment is also a sign of decadence72 7#c7 alcoholism1 not the instinct but the habit1 foolish imitation1 the cowardly or vain adaptation to a ruling fashion4 ,what a blessing a ,jew is among ,germans6 ,see the obtuseness1 the flaxen head1 the blue eye1 and the lack of intellect in the face1 the language1 and the bearing2 the lazy habit of stretching the limbs1 and the need of repose among ,germans--a need which is not the result of overwork1 but of the disgusting excitation and over-excitation caused by alcohol4 #ej4 ,a theory of exhaustion4--,vice1 the insane 7also artists71 the criminals1 the anarchists--these are not the oppressed classes1 but the outcasts of the community of all classes hitherto4 ,seeing that all our classes are permeated by these elements1 we have grasped the fact that modern society is not a society or a body1 but a diseased agglomeration of ,chandala1--a society which no longer has the strength even to excrete4 ,to what extent living together for centuries has very much deepened sickliness3 modern virtue modern intellect as forms of disease4 modern science #ea4 ,the state of corruption4--,the interrelation of all forms of corruption should be understood1 and the ,christian form 7,pascal as the type71 as also the socialistic and communistic 7a result of the ,christian71 should not be overlooked 7from the standpoint of natural science1 the highest conception of society according to socialists1 is the lowest in the order of rank among societies72 the ,beyond --corruption3 as though outside the real world of ,becoming there were a world of ,being4 ,here there must be no compromise1 but selection1 annihilation1 and war--the ,christian ,nihilistic standard of value must be withdrawn from all things and attacked beneath every disguise 444 for instance1 from modern sociology1 music1 and ,pessimism 7all forms of the ,christian ideal of values74 ,either one thing or the other is true--that is to say1 tending to elevate the type man4444 ,the priest1 the shepherd of souls1 should be looked upon as a form of life which must be suppressed4 ,all education1 hitherto1 has been helpless1 adrift1 without ballast1 and afflicted with the contradiction of values4 ,either one thing or the other is true--that is to say1 tending to elevate the type man4444 ,the priest1 the shepherd of souls1 should be looked upon as a form of life which must be suppressed4 ,all education1 hitherto1 has been helpless1 adrift1 without ballast1 and afflicted with the contradiction of values4 #eb4 ,if ,nature have no pity on the degenerate1 it is not therefore immoral3 the growth of physiological and moral evils in the human race1 is rather the result of morbid and unnatural morality4 ,the sensitiveness of the majority of men is both morbid and unnatural4 ,why is it that mankind is corrupt in a moral and physiological respect8 ,the body degenerates if one organ is unsound4 ,the right of altruism cannot be traced to physiology1 neither can the right to help and to the equality of fate3 these are all premiums for degenerates and failures4 ,there can be no solidarity in a society containing unfruitful1 unproductive1 and destructive members1 who1 by the bye1 are bound to have offspring even more degenerate than they are themselves4 #ec4 ,decadence exercises a profound and perfectly unconscious influence1 even over the ideals of science3 all our sociology is a proof of this proposition1 and it has yet to be reproached with the fact that it has only the experience of society in the process of decay1 and inevitably takes its own decaying instincts as the basis of sociological judgment4 ,the declining vitality of modern ,europe formulates its social ideals in its decaying instincts3 and these ideals are all so like those of old and effete races1 that they might be mistaken for one another4 ,the gregarious instinct1 then1--now a sovereign power1--is something totally different from the instinct of an aristocratic society3 and the value of the sum depends upon the value of the units constituting it4444 ,the whole of our sociology knows no other instinct than that of the herd1 i4e41 of a multitude of mere ciphers--of which every cipher has equal rights1 and where it is a virtue to be----naught4444 ,the valuation with which the various forms of society are judged to-day is absolutely the same with that which assigns a higher place to peace than to war3 but this principle is contrary to the teaching of biology1 and is itself a mere outcome of decadent life4 ,life is a result of war1 society is a means to war4444 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer was a decadent in biology1 as also in morality 7he regarded the triumph of altruism as a desideratum66674 #ed4 ,after thousands of years of error and confusion1 it is my good fortune to have rediscovered the road which leads to a ,yea and to a ,nay4 ,i teach people to say ,nay in the face of all that makes for weakness and exhaustion4 ,i teach people to say ,yea in the face of all that makes for strength1 that preserves strength1 and justifies the feeling of strength4 ,up to the present1 neither the one nor the other has been taught2 but rather virtue1 disinterestedness1 pity1 and even the negation of life4 ,all these are values proceeding from exhausted people4 ,after having pondered over the physiology of exhaustion for some time1 ,i was led to the question3 to what extent the judgments of exhausted people had percolated into the world of values4 ,the result at which ,i arrived was as startling as it could possibly be--even for one like myself who was already at home in many a strange world3 ,i found that all prevailing values--that is to say1 all those which had gained ascendancy over humanity1 or at least over its tamer portions1 could be traced back to the judgment of exhausted people4 ,under the cover of the holiest names1 ,i found the most destructive tendencies2 people had actually given the name ,god to all that renders weak1 teaches weakness1 and infects with weakness4444 ,i found that the good man was a form of self-affirmation on the part of decadence4 ,that virtue which ,schopenhauer still proclaimed as superior to all1 and as the most fundamental of all virtues2 even that same pity ,i recognised as more dangerous than any vice4 ,deliberately to thwart the law of selection among species1 and their natural means of purging their stock of degenerate members--this1 up to my time1 had been the greatest of all virtues4444 ,one should do honour to the fatality which says to the feeble3 perish6 ,the opposing of this fatality1 the botching of mankind and the allowing of it to putrefy1 was given the name ,god ,one shall not take the name of the ,lord one's ,god in vain4444 ,the race is corrupted--not by its vices1 but by its ignorance3 it is corrupted because it has not recognised exhaustion as exhaustion3 physiological misunderstandings are the cause of all evil4 ,virtue is our greatest misunderstanding4 ,problem3 how were the exhausted able to make the laws of values8 ,in other words1 how did they who are the last1 come to power8444 ,how did the instincts of the animal man ever get to stand on their heads8444 #d4 ,,the ,,crisis3 ,,nihilism ,,and ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,,recurrence4 #ee4 ,extreme positions are not relieved by more moderate ones1 but by extreme opposite positions4 ,and thus the belief in the utter immorality of nature1 and in the absence of all purpose and sense1 are psychologically necessary attitudes when the belief in ,god and in an essentially moral order of things is no longer tenable4 ,nihilism now appears1 not because the sorrows of existence are greater than they were formerly1 but because1 in a general way1 people have grown suspicious of the meaning which might be given to evil and even to existence4 ,one interpretation has been overthrown3 but since it was held to be the interpretation1 it seems as though there were no meaning in existence at all1 as though everything were in vain4 999999 ,it yet remains to be shown that this in vain6 is the character of present ,nihilism4 ,the mistrust of our former valuations has increased to such an extent that it has led to the question3 are not all 'values' merely allurements prolonging the duration of the comedy1 without1 however1 bringing the unravelling any closer8 ,the long period of time which has culminated in an in vain1 without either goal or purpose1 is the most paralysing of thoughts1 more particularly when one sees that one is duped without1 however1 being able to resist being duped4 999999 ,let us imagine this thought in its worst form3 existence1 as it is1 without either a purpose or a goal1 but inevitably recurring1 without an end in nonentity3 ,eternal ,recurrence4 ,this is the extremest form of ,nihilism3 nothing 7purposelessness7 eternal6 ,european form of ,buddhism3 the energy of knowledge and of strength drives us to such a belief4 ,it is the most scientific of all hypotheses4 ,we deny final purposes4 ,if existence had a final purpose it would have reached it4 999999 ,it should be understood that what is being aimed at1 here1 is a contradiction of ,pantheism3 for everything perfect1 divine1 eternal1 also leads to the belief in ,eternal ,recurrence4 ,question3 has this pantheistic and affirmative attitude to all things also been made possible by morality8 ,at bottom only the moral ,god has been overcome4 ,is there any sense in imagining a ,god beyond good and evil8 ,would ,pantheism in this sense be possible8 ,do we withdraw the idea of purpose from the process1 and affirm the process notwithstanding8 ,this were so if1 within that process1 something were attained every moment--and always the same thing4 ,spinoza won an affirmative position of this sort1 in the sense that every moment1 according to him1 has a logical necessity3 and he triumphed by means of his fundamentally logical instinct over a like conformation of the world4 999999 ,but his case is exceptional4 ,if every fundamental trait of character1 which lies beneath every act1 and which finds expression in every act1 were recognised by the individual as his fundamental trait of character1 this individual would be driven to regard every moment of his existence in general1 triumphantly as good4 ,it would simply be necessary for that fundamental trait of character to be felt in oneself as something good1 valuable1 and pleasurable4 999999 ,now1 in the case of those men and classes of men who were treated with violence and oppressed by their fellows1 morality saved life from despair and from the leap into nonentity34 for impotence in relation to mankind and not in relation to ,nature is what generates the most desperate bitterness towards existence4 ,morality treated the powerful1 the violent1 and the masters in general1 as enemies against whom the common man must be protected--that is to say1 emboldened1 strengthened4 ,morality has therefore always taught the most profound hatred and contempt of the fundamental trait of character of all rulers--i4e41 their ,will to ,power4 ,to suppress1 to deny1 and to decompose this morality1 would mean to regard this most thoroughly detested instinct with the reverse of the old feeling and valuation4 ,if the sufferer and the oppressed man were to lose his belief in his right to contemn the ,will to ,power1 his position would be desperate4 ,this would be so if the trait above-mentioned were essential to life1 in which case it would follow that even that will to morality was only a cloak to this ,will to ,power1 as are also even that hatred and contempt4 ,the oppressed man would then perceive that he stands on the same platform with the oppressor1 and that he has no individual privilege1 nor any higher rank than the latter4 999999 ,on the contrary6 ,there is nothing on earth which can have any value1 if it have not a modicum of power--granted1 of course1 that life itself is the ,will to ,power4 ,morality protected the botched and bungled against ,nihilism1 in that it gave every one of them infinite worth1 metaphysical worth1 and classed them altogether in one order which did not correspond with that of worldly power and order of rank3 it taught submission1 humility1 etc4 ,admitting that the belief in this morality be destroyed1 the botched and the bungled would no longer have any comfort1 and would perish4 ,this perishing seems like self-annihilation1 like an instinctive selection of that which must be destroyed4 ,the symptoms of this self-destruction of the botched and the bungled3 self-vivisection1 poisoning1 intoxication1 romanticism1 and1 above all1 the instinctive constraint to acts whereby the powerful are made into mortal enemies 7training1 so to speak1 one's own hangmen71 the will to destruction as the will of a still deeper instinct--of the instinct of self-destruction1 of the ,will to ,nonentity4 999999 ,nihilism is a sign that the botched and bungled in order to be destroyed1 that1 having been deprived of morality1 they no longer have any reason to resign themselves1 that they take up their stand on the territory of the opposite principle1 and will also exercise power themselves1 by compelling the powerful to become their hangmen4 ,this is the ,european form of ,buddhism1 that active negation1 after all existence has lost its meaning4 999999 ,it must not be supposed that poverty has grown more acute1 on the contrary6 ,god1 morality1 resignation were remedies in the very deepest stages of misery3 active ,nihilism made its appearance in circumstances which were relatively much more favourable4 ,the fact1 alone1 that morality is regarded as overcome1 presupposes a certain degree of intellectual culture2 while this very culture1 for its part1 bears evidence to a certain relative well-being4 ,a certain intellectual fatigue1 brought on by the long struggle concerning philosophical opinions1 and carried to hopeless scepticism against philosophy1 shows moreover that the level of these ,nihilists is by no means a low one4 ,only think of the conditions in which ,buddha appeared6 ,the teaching of the eternal recurrence would have learned principles to go upon 7just as ,buddha's teaching1 for instance1 had the notion of causality1 etc474 999999 ,what do we mean to-day by the words botched and bungled8 ,in the first place1 they are used physiologically and not politically4 ,the unhealthiest kind of man all over ,europe 7in all classes7 is the soil out of which ,nihilism grows3 this species of man will regard eternal recurrence as damnation--once he is bitten by the thought1 he can no longer recoil before any action4 ,he would not extirpate passively1 but would cause everything to be extirpated which is meaningless and without a goal to this extent2 although it is only a spasm1 or sort of blind rage in the presence of the fact that everything has existed again and again for an eternity--even this period of ,nihilism and destruction4 ,the value of such a crisis is that it purifies1 that it unites similar elements1 and makes them mutually destructive1 that it assigns common duties to men of opposite persuasions1 and brings the weaker and more uncertain among them to the light1 thus taking the first step towards a new order of rank among forces from the standpoint of health3 recognising commanders as commanders1 subordinates as subordinates4 ,naturally irrespective of all the present forms of society4 999999 ,what class of men will prove they are strongest in this new order of things8 ,the most moderate--they who do not require any extreme forms of belief1 they who not only admit of1 but actually like1 a certain modicum of chance and nonsense2 they who can think of man with a very moderate view of his value1 without becoming weak and small on that account2 the most rich in health1 who are able to withstand a maximum amount of sorrow1 and who are therefore not so very much afraid of sorrow--men who are certain of their power1 and who represent with conscious pride the state of strength to which man has attained4 999999 ,how could such a man think of ,eternal ,recurrence8 #ef4 ,the ,periods of ,european ,nihilism4 ,the ,period of ,obscurity3 all kinds of groping measures devised to preserve old institutions and not to arrest the progress of new ones4 ,the ,period of ,light3 men see that old and new are fundamental contraries2 that the old values are born of descending life1 and that the new ones are born of ascending life--that all old ideals are unfriendly to life 7born of decadence and determining it1 however much they may be decked out in the ,sunday finery of morality74 ,we understand the old1 but are far from being sufficiently strong for the new4 ,the ,periods of the ,three ,great ,passions3 contempt1 pity1 destruction4 ,the ,periods of ,catastrophes3 the rise of a teaching which will sift mankind 444 which drives the weak to some decision and the strong also4 ,,ii4 ,,concerning ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,european ,,nihilism4 7a7 ,,modern ,,gloominess4 #eg4 ,my friends1 we had a hard time as youths2 we even suffered from youth itself as though it were a serious disease4 ,this is owing to the age in which we were born--an age of enormous internal decay and disintegration which1 with all its weakness and even with the best of its strength1 is opposed to the spirit of youth4 ,disintegration--that is to say1 uncertainty--is peculiar to this age3 nothing stands on solid ground or on a sound faith4 ,people live for the morrow1 because the day-after-to-morrow is doubtful4 ,all our road is slippery and dangerous1 while the ice which still bears us has grown unconscionably thin3 we all feel the mild and gruesome breath of the thaw-wind--soon1 where we are walking1 no one will any longer be able to stand6 #eh4 ,if this is not an age of decay and of diminishing vitality1 it is at least one of indiscriminate and arbitrary experimentalising--and it is probable that out of an excess of abortive experiments there has grown this general impression1 as of decay3 and perhaps decay itself4 #ei4 ,concerning the history of modern gloominess4 ,the state-nomads 7officials1 etc473 homeless--4 ,the break-up of the family4 ,the good man as a symptom of exhaustion4 ,justice as ,will to ,power 7,rearing74 ,lewdness and neurosis4 ,black music3 whither has real music gone8 ,the anarchist4 ,contempt of man1 loathing4 ,most profound distinction3 whether hunger or satiety is creative8 ,the first creates the ,ideals of ,romanticism4 ,northern unnaturalness4 ,the need of ,alcohol3 the need of the working classes4 ,philosophical ,nihilism4 #fj4 ,the slow advance and rise of the middle and lower classes 7including the lower kind of spirit and body71 which was already well under way before the ,french ,revolution1 and would have made the same progress forward without the latter1--in short1 then1 the preponderance of the herd over all herdsmen and bell-wethers1--brings in its train3-- 7#a7 ,gloominess of spirit 7the juxtaposition of a stoical and a frivolous appearance of happiness1 peculiar to noble cultures1 is on the decline2 much suffering is allowed to be seen and heard which formerly was borne in concealment72 7#b7 ,moral hypocrisy 7a way of distinguishing oneself through morality1 but by means of the values of the herd3 pity1 solicitude1 moderation2 and not by means of those virtues which are recognised and honoured outside the herd's sphere of power72 7#c7 ,a really large amount of sympathy with both pain and joy 7a feeling of pleasure resulting from being herded together1 which is peculiar to all gregarious animals--public spirit1 patriotism1 everything1 in fact1 which is apart from the individual74 #fa4 ,our age1 with its indiscriminate endeavours to mitigate distress1 to honour it1 and to wage war in advance with unpleasant possibilities1 is an age of the poor4 ,our rich people--they are the poorest6 ,the real purpose of all wealth has been forgotten4 #fb4 ,criticism of modern man3--the good man1 but corrupted and misled by bad institutions 7tyrants and priests72--reason elevated to a position of authority2--history is regarded as the surmounting of errors2--the future is regarded as progress2--the ,christian state 7,god of the armies72--,christian sexual intercourse 7as marriage72--the realm of justice 7the cult of mankind72--freedom4 ,the romantic attitudes of the modern man2--the noble man 7,byron1 ,victor ,hugo1 ,george ,sand72--taking the part of the oppressed and the bungled and the botched3 motto for historians and romancers2--the ,stoics of duty2--disinterestedness regarded as art and as knowledge2--altruism as the most mendacious form of egoism 7utilitarianism71 the most sentimental form of egoism4 ,all this savours of the eighteenth century4 ,but it had other qualities which were not inherited1 namely1 a certain insouciance1 cheerfulness1 elegance1 spiritual clearness4 ,the spiritual tempo has altered2 the pleasure which was begotten by spiritual refinement and clearness has given room to the pleasure of colour1 harmony1 mass1 reality1 etc4 etc4 ,sensuality in spiritual things4 ,in short1 it is the eighteenth century of ,rousseau4 #fc4 ,taken all in all1 a considerable amount of humanity has been attained by our men of to-day4 ,that we feel this is in itself a proof of the fact that we have become so sensitive in regard to small cases of distress1 that we somewhat unjustly overlook what has been achieved4 ,here we must make allowances for the fact that a great deal of decadence is rife1 and that1 through such eyes1 our world must appear bad and wretched4 ,but these eyes have always seen in the same way1 in all ages4 7#a7 ,a certain hypersensitiveness1 even in morality4 7#b7 ,the quantum of bitterness and gloominess1 which pessimism bears with it in its judgments--both together have helped to bring about the preponderance of the other and opposite point of view1 that things are not well with our morality4 ,the fact of credit1 of the commerce of the world1 and the means of traffic--are expressions of an extraordinarily mild trustfulness in men4444 ,to that may also be added-- 7#c7 ,the deliverance of science from moral and religious prejudices3 a very good sign1 though for the most part misunderstood4 ,in my own way1 ,i am attempting a justification of history4 #fd4 ,the second appearance of ,buddhism4--,its precursory signs3 the increase of pity4 ,spiritual exhaustion4 ,the reduction of all problems to the question of pleasure and pain4 ,the glory of war which calls forth a counter-stroke4 ,just as the sharp demarcation of nations generates a counter-movement in the form of the most hearty ,fraternity4 ,the fact that it is impossible for religion to carry on its work any longer with dogma and fables4 ,the catastrophe of ,nihilism will put an end to all this ,buddhistic culture4 #fe4 ,that which is most sorely afflicted to-day is the instinct and will of tradition3 all institutions which owe their origin to this instinct1 are opposed to the tastes of the age4444 ,at bottom1 nothing is thought or done which is not calculated to tear up this spirit of tradition by the roots4 ,tradition is looked upon as a fatality2 it is studied and acknowledged 7in the form of heredity71 but people will not have anything to do with it4 ,the extension of one will over long periods of time1 the selection of conditions and valuations which make it possible to dispose of centuries in advance--this1 precisely1 is what is most utterly anti-modern4 ,from which it follows1 that disorganising principles give our age its specific character4 #ff4 ,be simple--a demand which1 when made to us complicated and incomprehensible triers of the heart and reins1 is a simple absurdity4444 ,be natural3 but even if we are unnatural--what then8 #fg4 ,the means employed in former times in order to arrive at similarly constituted and lasting types1 throughout long generations3 entailed property and the respect of parents 7the origin of the faith in gods and heroes as ancestors74 ,now1 the subdivision of property belongs to the opposite tendency4 ,the centralisation of an enormous number of1 different interests in one soul3 which1 to that end1 must be very strong and mutable4 #fh4 ,why does everything become mummery4--,the modern man is lacking in unfailing instinct 7instinct being understood here to mean that which is the outcome of a long period of activity in the same occupation on the part of one family of men72 the incapability of producing anything perfect1 is simply the result of this lack of instinct3 one individual alone cannot make up for the schooling his ancestors should have transmitted to him4 ,what a morality or book of law creates3 that deep instinct which renders automatism and perfection possible in life and in work4 ,but now we have reached the opposite point2 yes1 we wanted to reach it--the most extreme consciousness1 through introspection on the part of man and of history3 and thus we are practically most distant from perfection in ,being1 doing1 and willing3 our desires--even our will to knowledge--shows how prodigiously decadent we are4 ,we are striving after the very reverse of what strong races and strong natures will have--understanding is an end4444 ,that ,science is possible in the way in which it is practised to-day1 proves that all elementary instincts1 the instincts which ward off danger and protect life1 are no longer active4 ,we no longer save1 we are merely spending the capital of our forefathers1 even in the way in which we pursue knowledge4 #fi4 ,nihilistic trait4 7a7 ,in the natural sciences 7purposelessness71 causality1 mechanism1 conformity to law1 an interval1 a remnant4 7b7 ,likewise in politics3 the individual lacks the belief in his own right1 innocence2 falsehood rules supreme1 as also the worship of the moment4 7d7 ,likewise in political economy3 the abolition of slavery3 the lack of a redeeming class1 and of one who justifies--the rise of anarchy4 ,education8 7d7 ,likewise in history3 fatalism1 ,darwinism2 the last attempts at reconciling reason and ,godliness fail4 ,sentimentality in regard to the past3 biographies can no longer be endured6 7,phenomenalism even here3 character regarded as a mask2 there are no facts47 7e7 ,likewise in ,art3 romanticism and its counter-stroke 7repugnance towards romantic ideals and lies74 ,the latter1 morally1 as a sense of greatest truthfulness1 but pessimistic4 ,pure artists 7indifference as to the subject74 7,the psychology of the father-confessor and puritanical psychology--two forms of psychological romanticism3 but also their counter-stroke1 the attempt to maintain a purely artistic attitude towards men--but even in this respect no one dares to make the opposite valuation47 #gj4 ,against the teaching of the influence of environment and external causes3 the power coming from inside is infinitely superior2 much that appears like influence acting from without is merely the subjection of environment to this inner power4 ,precisely the same environment may be used and interpreted in opposite ways3 there are no facts4 ,a genius is not explained by such theories concerning origins4 #ga4 ,modernity regarded in the light of nutrition and digestion4 ,sensitiveness is infinitely more acute 7beneath moral vestments3 the increase of pity71 the abundance of different impressions is greater than ever4 ,the cosmopolitanism of articles of diet1 of literature1 newspapers1 forms1 tastes1 and even landscapes4 ,the speed of this affluence is prestissimo2 impressions are wiped out1 and people instinctively guard against assimilating anything or against taking anything seriously and digesting it2 the result is a weakening of the powers of digestion4 ,there begin a sort of adaptation to this accumulation of impressions4 ,man unlearns the art of doing1 and all he does is to react to stimuli coming from his environment4 ,he spends his strength1 partly in the process of assimilation1 partly in defending himself1 and again partly in responding to stimuli4 ,profound enfeeblement of spontaneity3--the historian1 the critic1 the analyst1 the interpreter1 the observer1 the collector1 the reader1--all reactive talents1--all science6 ,artificial modification of one's own nature in order to make it resemble a mirror2 one is interested1 but only epidermally3 this is systematic coolness1 equilibrium1 a steady low temperature1 just beneath the thin surface on which warmth1 movement1 storm1 and undulations play4 ,opposition of external mobility to a certain dead heaviness and fatigue4 #gb4 ,where must our modern world be classed--under exhaustion or under increasing strength8 ,its multiformity and lack of repose are brought about by the highest form of consciousness4 #gc4 ,overwork1 curiosity and sympathy--our modern vices4 #gd4 ,a contribution to the characterisation of ,modernity4--,exaggerated development of intermediate forms2 the decay of types2 the break-up of tradition1 schools2 the predominance of the instincts 7philosophically prepared3 the unconscious has the greater value7 after the appearance of the enfeeblement of will power and of the will to an end and to the means thereto4 #ge4 ,a capable artisan or scholar cuts a good figure if he have his pride in his art1 and looks pleasantly and contentedly upon life4 ,on the other hand1 there is no sight more wretched than that of a cobbler or a schoolmaster who1 with the air of a martyr1 gives one to understand that he was really born for something better4 ,there is nothing better than what is good6 and that is3 to have a certain kind of capacity and to use it4 ,this is virt in the ,italian style of the ,renaissance4 ,nowadays1 when the state has a nonsensically oversized belly1 in all fields and branches of work there are representatives over and above the real workman3 for instance1 in addition to the scholars1 there are the journalists2 in addition to the suffering masses1 there is a crowd of jabbering and bragging ne'er-do-wells who represent that suffering--not to speak of the professional politicians who1 though quite satisfied with their lot1 stand up in ,parliament and1 with strong lungs1 represent grievances4 ,our modern life is extremely expensive1 thanks to the host of middlemen that infest it2 whereas in the city of antiquity1 and in many a city of ,spain and ,italy to-day1 where there is an echo of the ancient spirit1 the man himself comes forward and will have nothing to do with a representative or an intermediary in the modern style--except perhaps to kick him hence6 #gf4 ,the pre-eminence of the merchant and the middleman1 even in the most intellectual spheres3 the journalist1 the representative1 the historian 7as an intermediary between the past and the present71 the exotic and cosmopolitan1 the middleman between natural science and philosophy1 the semi-theologians4 #gg4 ,the men ,i have regarded with the most loathing1 heretofore1 are the parasites of intellect3 they are to be found everywhere1 already1 in our modern ,europe1 and as a matter of fact their conscience is as light as it possibly can be4 ,they may be a little turbid1 and savour somewhat of ,pessimism1 but in the main they are voracious1 dirty1 dirtying1 stealthy1 insinuating1 light-fingered gentry1 scabby--and as innocent as all small sinners and microbes are4 ,they live at the expense of those who have intellect and who distribute it liberally3 they know that it is peculiar to the rich mind to live in a disinterested fashion1 without taking too much petty thought for the morrow1 and to distribute its wealth prodigally4 ,for intellect is a bad domestic economist1 and pays no heed whatever to the fact that everything lives on it and devours it4 #gh4 ,,modern ,,mummery ,the motleyness of modern men and its charm ,essentially a mask and a sign of boredom4 ,the journalist4 ,the political man 7in the national swindle74 ,mummery in the arts3-- ,the lack of honesty in preparing and schooling oneself for them 7,fromentin72 ,the ,romanticists 7their lack of philosophy and science and their excess in literature72 ,the novelists 7,walter ,scott1 but also the monsters of the ,nibelung1 with their inordinately nervous music72 ,the lyricists4 ,scientifically4 ,virtuosos 7,jews74 ,the popular ideals are overcome1 but not yet in the presence of the people3 ,the saint1 the sage1 the prophet4 #gi4 ,the want of discipline in the modern spirit concealed beneath all kinds of moral finery4--,the show-words are3 ,toleration 7for the incapacity of saying yes or no72 la largeur de sympathie 7 a third of indifference1 a third of curiosity1 and a third of morbid susceptibility72 objectivity 7the lack of personality and of will1 and the inability to love72 freedom in regard to the rule 7,romanticism72 truth as opposed to falsehood and lying 7,naturalism72 the scientific spirit 7the human document3 or1 in plain ,english1 the serial story which means addition--instead of composition72 passion in the place of disorder and intemperance2 depth in the place of confusion and the pell-mell of symbols4 #hj4 ,concerning the criticism of big words4--,i am full of mistrust and malice towards what is called ideal3 this is my ,pessimism1 that ,i have recognised to what extent sublime sentiments are a source of evil--that is to say1 a belittling and depreciating of man4 ,every time progress is expected to result from an ideal1 disappointment invariably follows2 the triumph of an ideal has always been a retrograde movement4 ,christianity1 revolution1 the abolition of slavery1 equal rights1 philanthropy1 love of peace1 justice1 truth3 all these big words are only valuable in a struggle1 as banners3 not as realities1 but as show-words1 for something quite different 7yea1 even quite opposed to what they mean674 #ha4 ,the kind of man is known who has fallen in love with the sentence tout comprendre est tout pardonner ,it is the weak and1 above all1 the disillusioned3 if there is something to pardon in everything1 there is also something to contemn6 ,it is the philosophy of disappointment1 which here swathes itself so humanly in pity1 and gazes out so sweetly4 ,they are ,romanticists1 whose faith has gone to pot3 now they at least wish to look on and see how everything vanishes and fades4 ,they call it l'art pour l'art1 objectivity1 etc4 #hb4 ,the main symptoms of ,pessimism3--,dinners at ,magny's2 ,russian ,pessimism 7,tolstoy1 ,dostoiewsky72 sthetic ,pessimism1 l'art pour l'art1 description 7the romantic and the anti-romantic ,pessimism72 ,pessimism in the theory of knowledge 7,schopenhauer3 phenomenalism72 anarchical ,pessimism2 the religion of pity1 ,buddhistic preparation2 the ,pessimism of culture 7exoticness1 cosmopolitanism72 moral ,pessimism1 myself4 #hc4 ,without the ,christian ,faith said ,pascal1 you would yourselves be like nature and history1 un monstre et un chaos4 ,we fulfilled this prophecy3 once the weak and optimistic eighteenth century had embellished and rationalised man4 ,schopenhauer and ,pascal4--,i none essential point1 ,schopenhauer is the first who takes up ,pascal's movement again3 un monstre et un chaos1 consequently something that must be negatived 444 history1 nature1 and man himself6 ,our inability to know the truth is the result of our corruption1 of our moral decay says ,pascal4 ,and ,schopenhauer says essentially the same4 ,the more profound the corruption of reason is1 the more necessary is the doctrine of salvation--or1 putting it into ,schopenhauerian phraseology1 negation4 #hd4 ,schopenhauer as an epigone 7state of affairs before the ,revolution73--,pity1 sensuality1 art1 weakness of will1 ,catholicism of the most intellectual desires--that is1 at bottom1 the good old eighteenth century4 ,schopenhauer's fundamental misunderstanding of the will 7just as though passion1 instinct1 and desire were the essential factors of will7 is typical3 the depreciation of the will to the extent of mistaking it altogether4 ,likewise the hatred of willing3 the attempt at seeing something superior--yea1 even superiority itself1 and that which really matters1 in non-willing1 in the subject-being without aim or intention4 ,great symptom of fatigue or of the weakness of will3 for this1 in reality1 is what treats the passions as master1 and directs them as to the way and to the measure4444 #he4 ,the undignified attempt has been made to regard ,wagner and ,schopenhauer as types of the mentally unsound3 an infinitely more essential understanding of the matter would have been gained if the exact decadent type which each of them represents had been scientifically and accurately defined4 #hf4 ,in my opinion1 ,henrik ,ibsen has become very ,german4 ,with all his robust idealism and ,will to ,truth1 he never dared to ring himself free from moral-illusionism which says freedom1 and will not admit1 even to itself1 what freedom is3 the second stage in the metamorphosis of the ,will to ,power in him who lacks it4 ,in the first stage1 one demands justice at the hands of those who have power4 ,in the second1 one speaks of freedom1 that is to say1 one wishes to shake oneself free from those who have power4 ,in the third stage1 one speaks of equal rights--that is to say1 so long as one is not a predominant personality one wishes to prevent one's competitors from growing in power4 #hg4 ,the ,decline of ,protestantism3 theoretically and historically understood as a half-measure4 ,undeniable predominance of ,catholicism to-day3 ,protestant feeling is so dead that the strongest anti-,protestant movements 7,wagner's ,parsifal1 for instance7 are no longer regarded as such4 ,the whole of the more elevated intellectuality in ,france is ,catholic in instinct2 ,bismarck recognised that there was no longer any such thing as ,protestantism4 #hh4 ,protestantism1 that spiritually unclean and tiresome form of decadence1 in which ,christianity has known how to survive in the mediocre ,north1 is something incomplete and complexly valuable for knowledge1 in so far as it was able to bring experiences of different kinds and origins into the same heads4 #hi4 ,what has the ,german spirit not made out of ,christianity6 ,and1 to refer to ,protestantism again1 how much beer is there not still in ,protestant ,christianity6 ,can a crasser1 more indolent1 and more lounging form of ,christian belief be imagined1 than that of the average ,german ,protestant8444 ,it is indeed a very humble ,christianity4 ,i call it the ,homopathy of ,christianity6 ,i am reminded that1 to-day1 there also exists a less humble sort of ,protestantism2 it is taught by royal chaplains and anti-,semitic speculators3 but nobody has ever maintained that any spirit hovers over these waters4 ,it is merely a less respectable form of ,christian faith1 not by any means a more comprehensible one4 #ij4 ,progress4--,let us be on our guard lest we deceive ourselves6 ,time flies forward apace1--we would fain believe that everything flies forward with it1--that evolution is an advancing development4444 ,that is the appearance of things which deceives the most circumspect4 ,but the nineteenth century shows no advance whatever on the sixteenth3 and the ,german spirit of #ahhh is an example of a backward movement when compared with that of #aghh4444 ,mankind does not advance1 it does not even exist4 ,the aspect of the whole is much more like that of a huge experimenting workshop where some things in all ages succeed1 while an incalculable number of things fail2 where all order1 logic1 co-ordination1 and responsibility is lacking4 ,how dare we blink the fact that the rise of ,christianity is a decadent movement8--that the ,german ,reformation was a recrudescence of ,christian barbarism8--that the ,revolution destroyed the instinct for an organisation of society on a large scale8444 ,man is not an example of progress as compared with animals3 the tender son of culture is an abortion compared with the ,arab or the ,corsican2 the ,chinaman is a more successful type--that is to say1 richer in sustaining power than the ,european4 7b7 ,,the ,,last ,,centuries4 #ia4 ,gloominess and pessimistic influence necessarily follow in the wake of enlightenment4 ,towards #aggj a falling-off in cheerfulness was already noticeable2 women1 with that very feminine instinct which always defends virtue1 believed that immorality was the cause of it4 ,galiani hit the bull's eye3 he quotes ,voltaire's verse3 ,un monstre gai vaut mieux ,qu'un sentimental ennuyeux4 ,if now ,i maintain that ,i am ahead1 by a century or two of enlightenment1 of ,voltaire and ,galiani--who was much more profound1 how deeply must ,i have sunk into gloominess6 ,this is also true1 and betimes ,i somewhat reluctantly manifested some caution in regard to the ,german and ,christian narrowness and inconsistency of ,schopenhauerian or1 worse still1 ,leopardian ,pessimism1 and sought the most characteristic form 7,asia74 ,but1 in order to endure that extreme ,pessimism 7which here and there peeps out of my ,birth of ,tragedy71 to live alone without ,god or morality1 ,i was compelled to invent a counter-prop for myself4 ,perhaps ,i know best why man is the only animal that laughs3 he alone surfers so excruciatingly that he was compelled to invent laughter4 ,the unhappiest and most melancholy animal is1 as might have been expected1 the most cheerful4 #ib4 ,in regard to ,german culture1 ,i have always had a feeling as of decline4 ,the fact that ,i learned to know a declining form of culture has often made me unfair towards the whole phenomenon of ,european culture4 ,the ,germans always follow at some distance behind3 they always go to the root of things1 for instance3-- ,dependance upon foreigners2 ,kant--,rousseau1 the sensualists1 ,hume1 ,swedenborg4 ,schopenhauer--the ,indians and ,romanticism1 ,voltaire4 ,wagner--the ,french cult of the ugly and of grand opera1 ,paris1 and the flight into primitive barbarism 7the marriage of brother and sister74 ,the law of the laggard 7the provinces go to ,paris1 ,germany goes to ,france74 ,how is it that precisely ,germans discovered the ,greek 7the more an instinct is developed1 the more it is tempted to run for once into its opposite74 ,music is the last breath of every culture4 #ic4 ,renaissance and ,reformation4--,what does the ,renaissance prove8 ,that the reign of the individual can be only a short one4 ,the output is too great2 there is not even the possibility of husbanding or of capitalising forces1 and exhaustion sets in step by step4 ,these are times when everything is squandered1 when even the strength itself with which one collects1 capitalises1 and heaps riches upon riches1 is squandered4 ,even the opponents of such movements are driven to preposterous extremes in the dissipation of their strength3 and they too are very soon exhausted1 used up1 and completely sapped4 ,in the ,reformation we are face to face with a wild and plebeian counterpart of the ,italian ,renaissance1 generated by similar impulses1 except that the former1 in the backward and still vulgar ,north1 had to assume a religious form--there the concept of a higher life had not yet been divorced from that of a religious one4 ,even the ,reformation was a movement for individual liberty2 every one his own priest is really no more than a formula for libertinage4 ,as a matter of fact1 the words ,evangelical freedom would have sufficed--and all instincts which had reasons for remaining concealed broke out like wild hounds1 the most brutal needs suddenly acquired the courage to show themselves1 everything seemed justified 444 men refused to specify the kind of freedom they had aimed at1 they preferred to shut their eyes4 ,but the fact that their eyes were closed and that their lips were moistened with gushing orations1 did not prevent their hands from being ready to snatch at whatever there was to snatch at1 that the belly became the god of the free gospel1 and that all lusts of revenge and of hatred were indulged with insatiable fury4 ,this lasted for a while3 then exhaustion supervened1 just as it had done in ,southern ,europe2 and again here1 it was a low form of exhaustion1 a sort of general ruere in servitium4444 ,then the disreputable century of ,germany dawned4 #id4 ,chivalry--the position won by power3 its gradual break-up 7and partial transference to broader and more bourgeois spheres74 ,in the case of ,larochefoucauld we find a knowledge of the actual impulses of a noble temperament--together with the gloomy ,christian estimate of these impulses4 ,the protraction of ,christianity through the ,french ,revolution4 ,the seducer is ,rousseau2 he once again liberates woman1 who thenceforward is always represented as ever more interesting--suffering4 ,then come the slaves and ,mrs4 ,beecher-,stowe4 ,then the poor and the workmen4 ,then the vicious and the sick--all this is drawn into the foreground 7even for the purpose of disposing people in favour of the genius1 it has been customary for five hundred years to press him forward as the great sufferer674 ,then comes the cursing of all voluptuousness 7,baudelaire and ,schopenhauer71 the most decided conviction that the lust of power is the greatest vice2 absolute certainty that morality and disinterestedness are identical things2 that the happiness of all is a goal worth striving after 7i4e41 ,christ's ,kingdom of ,heaven74 ,we are on the best road to it3 the ,kingdom of ,heaven of the poor in spirit has begun4--,intermediate stages3 the bourgeois 7as a result of the nouveau riche7 and the workman 7as a result of the machine74 ,greek and ,french culture of the time of ,louis ,,xiv4 compared4 ,a decided belief in oneself4 ,a leisure-class which makes things hard for itself and exercises a great deal of self-control4 ,the power of form1 the will to form oneself4 ,happiness acknowledged as a purpose4 ,much strength and energy behind all formality of manners4 ,pleasure at the sight of a life that is seemingly so easy4 ,the ,greeks seemed like children to the ,french4 #ie4 ,the ,three ,centuries4 ,their different kinds of sensitiveness may perhaps be best expressed as follows3-- ,aristocracy3 ,descartes1 the reign of reason1 evidence showing the sovereignty of the will4 ,feminism3 ,rousseau1 the reign of feeling1 evidence showing the sovereignty of the senses2 all lies4 ,animalism3 ,schopenhauer1 the reign of passion1 evidence showing the sovereignty of animality1 more honest1 but gloomy4 ,the seventeenth century is aristocratic1 all for order1 haughty towards everything animal1 severe in regard to the heart1 austere1 and even free from sentiment1 non-,german1 averse to all that is burlesque and natural1 generalising and maintaining an attitude of sovereignty towards the past for it believes in itself4 ,at bottom it partakes very much of the beast of prey1 and practises asceticism in order to remain master4 ,it is the century of strength of will1 as also that of strong passion4 ,the eighteenth century is dominated by woman1 it is gushing1 spiritual1 and flat2 but with intellect at the service of aspirations and of the heart1 it is a libertine in the pleasures of intellect1 undermining all authorities2 emotionally intoxicated1 cheerful1 clear1 humane1 and sociable1 false to itself and at bottom very rascally4444 ,the nineteenth century is more animal1 more subterranean1 hateful1 realistic1 plebeian1 and on that very account better1 more honest1 more submissive to reality of what kind soever1 and truer2 but weak of will1 sad1 obscurely exacting and fatalistic4 ,it has no feeling of timidity or reverence1 either in the presence of reason or the heart2 thoroughly convinced of the dominion of the desires 7,schopenhauer said ,will1 but nothing is more characteristic of his philosophy than that it entirely lacks all actual willing74 ,even morality is reduced to an instinct 7,pity74 ,auguste ,comte is the continuation of the eighteenth century 7the dominion of the heart over the head1 sensuality in the theory of knowledge1 altruistic exaltation74 ,the fact that science has become as sovereign as it is to-day1 proves how the nineteenth century has emancipated itself from the dominion of ideals4 ,a certain absence of needs and wishes makes our scientific curiosity and rigour possible--this is our kind of virtue4 ,romanticism is the counterstroke of the eighteenth century2 a sort of accumulated longing for its grand style of exaltation 7as a matter of fact1 largely mingled with mummery and self-deception3 the desire was to represent strong nature and strong passion74 ,the nineteenth century instinctively goes in search of theories by means of which it may feel its fatalistic1 submission to the empire of facts justified4 ,hegel's success against sentimentality and romantic idealism was already a sign of its fatalistic trend of thought1 in its belief that superior reason belongs to the triumphant side1 and in its justification of the actual state 7in the place of humanity1 etc474--,schopenhauer3 we are something foolish1 and at the best self-suppressive4 ,the success of determinism1 the genealogical derivation of obligations which were formerly held to be absolute1 the teaching of environment and adaptation1 the reduction of will to a process of reflex movement1 the denial of the will as a working cause2 finally--a real process of re-christening3 so little will is observed that the word itself becomes available for another purpose4 ,further theories3 the teaching of objectivity1 will-less contemplation1 as the only road to truth1 as also to beauty 7also the belief in genius1 in order to have the right to be submissive72 mechanism1 the determinable rigidity of the mechanical process2 so-called ,naturalism1 the elimination of the choosing1 directing1 interpreting subject1 on principle4 ,kant1 with his practical reason1 with his moral fanaticism1 is quite eighteenth century style2 still completely outside the historical movement1 without any notion whatsoever of the reality of his time1 for instance1 revolution2 he is not affected by ,greek philosophy2 he is a phantasist of the notion of duty1 a sensualist with a hidden leaning to dogmatic pampering4 ,the return to ,kant in our century means a return to the eighteenth century1 people desire to create themselves a right to the old ideas and to the old exaltation--hence a theory of knowledge which describes limits1 that is to say1 which admits of the option of fixing a ,beyond to the domain of reason4 ,hegel's way of thinking is not so very far removed from that of ,goethe3 see the latter on the subject of ,spinoza1 for instance4 ,the will to deify the ,all and ,life1 in order to find both peace and happiness in contemplating them3 ,hegel looks for reason everywhere--in the presence of reason man may be submissive and resigned4 ,in ,goethe we find a kind of fatalism which is almost joyous and confiding1 which neither revolts nor weakens1 which strives to make a totality out of itself1 in the belief that only in totality does everything seem good and justified1 and find itself resolved4 #if4 ,the period of rationalism--followed by a period of sentimentality4 ,to what extent does ,schopenhauer come under sentimentality8 7,hegel under intellectuality87 #ig4 ,the seventeenth century suffers from humanity as from a host of contradictions 7l'amas de contradictions that we are72 it endeavours to discover man1 to co-ordinate him1 to excavate him3 whereas the eighteenth century tries to forget what is known of man's nature1 in order to adapt him to its ,utopia4 ,superficial1 soft1 humane--gushes over humanity4 ,the seventeenth century tries to banish all traces of the individual in order that the artist's work may resemble life as much as possible4 ,the eighteenth century strives to create interest in the author by means of the work4 ,the seventeenth century seeks art in art1 a piece of culture2 the eighteenth uses art in its propaganda for political and social reforms4 ,utopia1 the ideal man1 the deification of ,nature1 the vanity of making one's own personality the centre of interest1 subordination to the propaganda of social ideas1 charlatanism--all this we derive from the eighteenth century4 ,the style of the seventeenth century3 propre exact et libre4 ,the strong individual who is self-sufficient1 or who appeals ardently to ,god--and that obtrusiveness and indiscretion of modern authors--these things are opposites4 ,showing-oneself-off--what a contrast to the ,scholars of ,port-,royal6 ,alfieri had a sense for the grand style4 ,the hate of the burlesque 7that which lacks dignity71 the lack of a sense of ,nature belongs to the seventeenth century4 #ih4 ,against ,rousseau4--,alas6 man is no longer sufficiently evil2 ,rousseau's opponents1 who say that man is a beast of prey1 are unfortunately wrong4 ,not the corruption of man1 but the softening and moralising of him is the curse4 ,in the sphere which ,rousseau attacked most violently1 the relatively strongest and most successful type of man was still to be found 7the type which still possessed the great passions intact3 ,will to ,power1 ,will to ,pleasure1 the ,will and ,ability to ,command74 ,the man of the eighteenth century must be compared with the man of the ,renaissance 7also with the man of the seventeenth century in ,france7 if the matter is to be understood at all3 ,rousseau is a symptom of self-contempt and of inflamed vanity--both signs that the dominating will is lacking3 he moralises and seeks the cause of his own misery after the style of a revengeful man in the ruling classes4 #ii4 ,voltaire--,rousseau4--,a state of nature is terrible2 man is a beast of prey3 our civilisation is an extraordinary triumph over this beast of prey in nature--this was ,voltaires conclusion4 ,he was conscious of the mildness1 the refinements1 the intellectual joys of the civilised state2 he despised obtuseness1 even in the form of virtue1 and the lack of delicacy even in ascetics and monks4 ,the moral depravity of man seemed to pre-occupy ,rousseau2 the words unjust1 cruel1 are the best possible for the purpose of exciting the instincts of the oppressed1 who otherwise find themselves under the ban of the vetitum and of disgrace2 so that their conscience is opposed to their indulging any insurrectional desires4 ,these emancipators seek one thing above all3 to give their party the great accents and attitudes of higher ,nature4 #ajj4 ,rousseau2 the rule founded on sentiment2 ,nature as the source of justice2 man perfects himself in proportion as he approaches ,nature 7according to ,voltaire1 in proportion as he leaves ,nature behind74 ,the very same periods seem to the one to demonstrate the progress of humanity and1 to the other1 the increase of injustice and inequality4 ,voltaire1 who still understood umanit in the sense of the ,renaissance1 as also virt 7as higher culture71 fights for the cause of the honntes gens la bonne compagnie taste1 science1 arts1 and even for the cause of progress and civilisation4 ,the flare-up occurred towards #agfj3 ,on the one hand the citizen of ,geneva1 on the other le seigneur de ,ferney4 ,it is only from that moment and henceforward that ,voltaire was the man of his age1 the philosopher1 the representative of ,toleration and of ,disbelief 7theretofore he had been merely un bel esprit74 ,his envy and hatred of ,rousseau's success forced him upwards4 ,pour 'la canaille' un dieu rmunrateur et vengeur--,voltaire4 ,the criticism of both standpoints in regard to the value of civilisation4 ,to ,voltaire nothing seems finer than the social invention3 there is no higher goal than to uphold and perfect it4 ,l'honntet consists precisely in respecting social usage2 virtue in a certain obedience towards various necessary prejudices which favour the maintenance of society4 ,missionary of ,culture1 aristocrat1 representative of the triumphant and ruling classes and their values4 ,but ,rousseau remained a plebeian1 even as hommes de lettres1 this was preposterous2 his shameless contempt for everything that was not himself4 ,the morbid feature in ,rousseau is the one which happens to have been most admired and imitated4 7,lord ,byron resembled him somewhat1 he too screwed himself up to sublime attitudes and to revengeful rage--a sign of vulgarity2 later on1 when ,venice restored his equilibrium1 he understood what alleviates most and does the most good 444 l'insouciance47 ,in spite of his antecedents1 ,rousseau is proud of himself2 but he is incensed if he is reminded of his origin4444 ,in ,rousseau there was undoubtedly some brain trouble2 in ,voltaire--rare health and lightsomeness4 ,the revengefulness of the sick2 his periods of insanity as also those of his contempt of man1 and of his mistrust4 ,rousseau's defence of ,providence 7against ,voltaire's ,pessimism73 he had need of ,god in order to be able to curse society and civilisation2 everything must be good per se1 because ,god had created it2 man alone has corrupted man4 ,the good man as a man of ,nature was pure fantasy2 but with the dogma of ,god's authorship he became something probable and even not devoid of foundation4 ,romanticism la ,rousseau3 passion 7the sovereign right of passion72 naturalness2 the fascination of madness 7foolishness reckoned as greatness72 the senseless vanity of the weak2 the revengefulness of the masses elevated to the position of justice 7in politics1 for one hundred years1 the leader has always been this invalid74 #aja4 ,kant3 makes the scepticism of ,englishmen1 in regard to the theory of knowledge1 possible for ,germans4 7#a7 ,by enlisting in its cause the interest of the ,german's religious and moral needs3 just as the new academicians used scepticism for the same reasons1 as a preparation for ,platonism 7vide ,augustine72 just as ,pascal even used moral scepticism in order to provoke 7to justify7 the need of belief2 7#b7 ,by complicating and entangling it with scholastic flourishes in view of making it more acceptable to the ,german's scientific taste in form 7for ,locke and ,hume1 alone1 were too illuminating1 too clear--that is to say1 judged according to the ,german valuing instinct1 too superficial74 ,kant3 a poor psychologist and mediocre judge of human nature1 made hopeless mistakes in regard to great historical values 7the ,french ,revolution72 a moral fanatic la ,rousseau2 with a subterranean current of ,christian values2 a thorough dogmatist1 but bored to extinction by this tendency1 to the extent of wishing to tyrannise over it1 but quickly tired1 even of 'scepticism2 and not yet affected by any cosmopolitan thought or antique beauty 444 a dawdler and a go-between1 not at all original 7like ,leibnitz1 something between mechanism and spiritualism2 like ,goethe1 something between the taste of the eighteenth century and that of the historical sense which is essentially a sense of exoticism2 like ,german music1 between ,french and ,italian music2 like ,charles the ,great1 who mediated and built bridges between the ,roman ,empire and ,nationalism--a dawdler par excellence74 #ajb4 ,in what respect have the ,christian centuries with their ,pessimism been stronger centuries than the eighteenth--and how do they correspond with the tragic age of the ,greeks8 ,the nineteenth century versus the eighteenth4 ,how was it an heir8--how was it a step backwards from the latter8 7more lacking in spirit and in taste7--how did it show an advance on the latter8 7more gloomy1 more realistic1 stronger74 #ajc4 ,how can we explain the fact that we feel something in common with the ,campagna romana8 ,and the high mountain chain8 ,chateaubriand in a letter to ,m4 de ,fontanes in #ahjc writes his first impression of the ,campagna romana4 ,the ,president de ,brosses says of the ,campagna romana3 ,il fallait que ,romulus ft ivre quand il songea btir une ville dans un terrain aussi laid4 ,even ,delacroix would have nothing to do with ,rome1 it frightened him4 ,he loved ,venice1 just as ,shakespeare1 ,byron1 and ,georges ,sand did4 ,thophile ,gautier's and ,richard ,wagner's dislike of ,rome must not be forgotten4 ,lamartine has the language for ,sorrento and ,posilippo4 ,victor ,hugo raves about ,spain1 parce que aucune autre nation n'a moins emprunt l'antiquit1 parce qu'elle n'a subi aucune influence classique4 #ajd4 ,the two great attempts that were made to overcome the eighteenth century3 ,napoleon1 in that he called man1 the soldier1 and the great struggle for power1 to life again1 and conceived ,europe as a political power4 ,goethe1 in that he imagined a ,european culture which would consist of the whole heritage of what humanity had attained to up to his time4 ,german culture in this century inspires mistrust--the music of the period lacks that complete element which liberates and binds as well1 to wit--,goethe4 ,the pre-eminence of music in the romanticists of #ahcj and #ahdj4 ,delacroix4 ,ingres--a passionate musician 7admired ,gluck1 ,haydn1 ,beethoven1 ,mozart71 said to his pupils in ,rome3 ,si je pouvais vous rendre tous musiciens1 vous y gagneriez comme peintres--likewise ,horace ,vernet1 who was particularly fond of ,don ,juan 7as ,mendelssohn assures us1 #ahca72 ,stendhal1 too1 who says of himself3 ,combien de lieues ne ferais-je pas pied1 et combien de jours de prison ne me soumetterais-je pas pour entendre ,don ,juan ou le ,matrimonio segreto2 et je ne sais pour quelle autre chose je ferais cet effort4 ,he was then fifty-six years old4 ,the borrowed forms1 for instance3 ,brahms as a typical ,epigone1 likewise ,mendelssohn's cultured ,protestantism 7a former soul is turned into poetry posthumously 4447 --the moral and poetical substitutions in ,wagner1 who used one art as a stop-gap to make up for what another lacked4 --the historical sense1 inspiration derived from poems1 sagas4 --that characteristic transformation of which ,g4 ,flaubert is the most striking example among ,frenchmen1 and ,richard ,wagner the most striking example among ,germans1 shows how the romantic belief in love and the future changes into a longing for nonentity in #ahcj-ej4 #ajf4 ,how is it that ,german music reaches its culminating point in the age of ,german romanticism8 ,how is it that ,german music lacks ,goethe8 ,on the other hand1 how much ,schiller1 or more exactly1 how much ,thekla#e is there not in ,beethoven6 ,schumann has ,eichendorff1 ,uhland1 ,heine1 ,hoffman1 ,tieck1 in him4 ,richard ,wagner has ,freischtz1 ,hoffmann1 ,grimm1 the romantic ,saga1 the mystic ,catholicism of instinct1 symbolism1 the free-spiritedness of passion 7,rousseau's intention74 ,the ,flying ,dutchman savours of ,france1 where le tnbreux 7#ahcj7 was the type of the seducer4 ,the cult of music1 the revolutionary romanticism of form4 ,wagner synthesises ,german and ,french romanticism4 ,footnote #e3 ,thekla is the sentimental heroine in ,schiller's ,wallenstein4--,,translator',s ,,note4 #ajg4 ,from the point of view only of his value to ,germany and to ,german culture1 ,richard ,wagner is still a great problem1 perhaps a ,german misfortune3 in any case1 however1 a fatality4 ,but what does it matter8 ,is he not very much more than a ,german event8 ,it also seems to me that to no country on earth is he less related than to ,germany2 nothing was prepared there for his advent2 his whole type is simply strange amongst ,germans2 there he stands in their midst1 wonderful1 misunderstood1 incomprehensible4 ,but people carefully avoid acknowledging this3 they are too kind1 too square-headed--too ,german for that4 ,credo quia absurdus est3 thus did the ,german spirit wish it to be1 in this case too--hence it is content meanwhile to believe everything ,richard ,wagner wanted to have believed about himself4 ,in all ages the spirit of ,germany has been deficient in subtlety and divining powers concerning psychological matters4 ,now that it happens to be under the high pressure of patriotic nonsense and self-adoration1 it is visibly growing thicker and coarser3 how could it therefore be equal to the problem of ,wagner6 #ajh4 ,the ,germans are not yet anything1 but they are becoming something2 that is why they have not yet any culture2--that is why they cannot yet have any culture6--,they are not yet anything3 that means they are all kinds of things4 ,they are becoming something3 that means that they will one day cease from being all kinds of things4 ,the latter is at bottom only a wish1 scarcely a hope yet4 ,fortunately it is a wish with which one can live1 a question of will1 of work1 of discipline1 a question of training1 as also of resentment1 of longing1 of privation1 of discomfort1--yea1 even of bitterness1--in short1 we ,germans will get something out of ourselves1 something that has not yet been wanted of us--we want something more6 ,that this ,german1 as he is not as yet--has a right to something better than the present ,german culture2 that all who wish to become something better1 must wax angry when they perceive a sort of contentment1 an impudent setting-oneself-at-ease1 or a process of self-censing1 in this quarter3 that is my second principle1 in regard to which my opinions have not yet changed4 7c7 ,,signs ,,of ,,increasing ,,strength4 #aji4 ,first ,principle3 everything that characterises modern men savours of decay3 but side by side with the prevailing sickness there are signs of a strength and powerfulness of soul which are still untried4 ,the same causes which tend to promote the belittling of men1 also force the stronger and rarer individuals upwards to greatness4 #aaj4 ,general survey3 the ambiguous character of our modern world--precisely the same symptoms might at the same time be indicative of either decline or strength4 ,and the signs of strength and of emancipation dearly bought1 might in view of traditional 7or hereditary7 appreciations concerned with the feelings1 be misunderstood as indications of weakness4 ,in short1 feeling1 as a means of fixing valuations1 is not on a level with the times4 ,generalised3 ,every valuation is always backward2 it is merely the expression of the conditions which favoured survival and growth in a much earlier age3 it struggles against new conditions of existence out of which it did not arise1 and which it therefore necessarily misunderstands3 it hinders1 and excites suspicion against1 all that is new4 #aaa4 ,the problem of the nineteenth century4--,to discover whether its strong and weak side belong to each other4 ,whether they have been cut from one and the same piece4 ,whether the variety of its ideals and their contradictions are conditioned by a higher purpose3 whether they are something higher4--,for it might be the prerequisite of greatness1 that growth should take place amid such violent tension4 ,dissatisfaction1 ,nihilism1 might be a good sign4 #aab4 ,general survey4--,as a matter of fact1 all abundant growth involves a concomitant process of crumbling to bits and decay3 suffering and the symptoms of decline belong to ages of enormous progress2 every fruitful and powerful movement of mankind has always brought about a concurrent ,nihilistic movement4 ,under certain circumstances1 the appearance of the extremest form of ,pessimism and actual ,nihilism might be the sign of a process of incisive and most essential growth1 and of mankind's transit into completely new conditions of existence4 ,this is what ,i have understood4 #aac4 ,a4 ,starting out with a thoroughly courageous appreciation of our men of to-day3--we must not allow ourselves to be deceived by appearance3 this mankind is much less effective1 but it gives quite different pledges of lasting strength1 its tempo is slower1 but the rhythm itself is richer4 ,healthiness is increasing1 the real conditions of a healthy body are on the point of being known1 and will gradually be created1 asceticism is regarded with irony4 ,the fear of extremes1 a certain confidence in the right way1 no raving3 a periodical self-habituation to narrower values 7such as mother-land1 science1 etc474 ,this whole picture1 however1 would still be ambiguous3 it might be a movement either of increase or decline in ,life4 ,b4 ,the belief in progress--in lower spheres of intelligence1 appears as increasing life3 but this is self-deception2 in higher spheres of intelligence it is a sign of declining life4 ,description of the symptoms4 ,the unity of the aspect3 uncertainty in regard to the standard of valuation4 ,fear of a general in vain4 ,nihilism4 #aad4 ,as a matter of fact1 we are no longer so urgently in need of an antidote against the first ,nihilism3 ,life is no longer so uncertain1 accidental1 and senseless in modern ,europe4 ,all such tremendous exaggeration of the value of men1 of the value of evil1 etc41 are not so necessary now2 we can endure a considerable diminution of this value1 we may grant a great deal of nonsense and accident3 the power man has acquired now allows of a lowering of the means of discipline1 of which the strongest was the moral interpretation of the universe4 ,the hypothesis ,god is much too extreme4 #aae4 ,if anything shows that our humanisation is a genuine sign of progress1 it is the fact that we no longer require excessive contraries1 that we no longer require contraries at all4444 ,we may love the senses2 for we have spiritualised them in every way and made them artistic2 ,we have a right to all things which hitherto have been most calumniated4 #aaf4 ,the reversal of the order of rank4--,those pious counterfeiters--the priests--are becoming ,chandala in our midst3--they occupy the position of the charlatan1 of the quack1 of the counterfeiter1 of the sorcerer3 we regard them as corrupters of the will1 as the great slanderers and vindictive enemies of ,life1 and as the rebels among the bungled and the botched4 ,we have made our middle class out of our servant-caste--the ,sudra--that is to say1 our people or the body which wields the political power4 ,on the other hand1 the ,chandala of former times is paramount3 the blasphemers1 the immoralists1 the independents of all kinds1 the artists1 the ,jews1 the minstrels--and1 at bottom1 all disreputable classes are in the van4 ,we have elevated ourselves to honourable thoughts1--even more1 we determine what honour is on earth1--nobility4 444 ,all of us to-day are advocates of life4--,we ,immoralists are to-day the strongest power3 the other great powers are in need of us 444 we re-create the world in our own image4 ,we have transferred the label ,chandala to the priests1 the backworldsmen1 and to the deformed ,christian society which has become associated with these people1 together with creatures of like origin1 the pessimists1 ,nihilists1 romanticists of pity1 criminals1 and men of vicious habits--the whole sphere in which the idea of ,god is that of ,saviour4444 ,we are proud of being no longer obliged to be liars1 slanderers1 and detractors of ,life4444 #aag4 ,the advance of the nineteenth century upon the eighteenth 7at bottom we good ,europeans are carrying on a war against the eighteenth century73 7#a7 ,the return to ,nature is getting to be understood1 ever more definitely1 in a way which is quite the reverse of that in which ,rousseau used the phrase--away from idylls and operas6 7#b7 ,ever more decided1 more anti-idealistic1 more objective1 more fearless1 more industrious1 more temperate1 more suspicious of sudden changes1 anti-revolutionary2 7#c7 ,the question of bodily health is being pressed ever more decidedly in front of the health of the soul3 the latter is regarded as a condition brought about by the former1 and bodily health is believed to be1 at least1 the prerequisite to spiritual health4 #aah4 ,if anything at all has been achieved1 it is a more innocent attitude towards the senses1 a happier1 more favourable demeanour in regard to sensuality1 resembling rather the position taken up by ,goethe2 a prouder feeling has also been developed in knowledge1 and the reine ,thor#f meets with little faith4 ,footnote #f3 ,this is a reference to ,wagner's ,parsifal4 ,the character as is well known1 is written to represent a son of heart's affliction1 and a child of wisdom--humble1 guileless1 loving1 pure1 and a fool4--,,translator',s ,,note4 #aai4 ,we objective people4--,it is not pity that opens up the way for us to all that is most remote and most strange in life and culture2 but our accessibility and ingenuousness1 which precisely does not pity1 but rather takes pleasure in hundreds of things which formerly caused pain 7which in former days either outraged or moved us1 or in the presence of which we were either hostile or indifferent74 ,pain in all its various phases is now interesting to us3 on that account we are certainly not the more pitiful1 even though the sight of pain may shake us to our foundations and move us to tears3 and we are absolutely not inclined to be more helpful in view thereof4 ,in this deliberate desire to look on at all pain and error1 we have grown stronger and more powerful than in the eighteenth century2 it is a proof of our increase of strength 7we have drawn closer to the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries74 ,but it is a profound mistake to regard our romanticism as a proof of our beautified souls4 ,we want stronger sensations than all coarser ages and classes have wanted4 7,this fact must not be confounded with the needs of neurotics and decadents2 in their case1 of course1 there is a craving for pepper --even for cruelty47 ,we are all seeking conditions which are emancipated from the bourgeois1 and to a greater degree from the priestly1 notion of morality 7every book which savours at all of priestdom and theology gives us the impression of pitiful niaiserie and mental indigence74 ,good company1 in fact1 finds everything insipid which is not forbidden and considered compromising in bourgeois circles2 and the case is the same with books1 music1 politics1 and opinions on women4 #abj4 ,the simplification of man in the nineteenth century 7,the eighteenth century was that of elegance1 subtlety1 and generous feeling74--,not return to nature2 for no natural humanity has ever existed yet4 ,scholastic1 unnatural1 and antinatural values are the rule and the beginning2 man only reaches ,nature after a long struggle--he never turns his back to her4444 ,to be natural means1 to dare to be as immoral as ,nature is4 ,we are coarser1 more direct1 richer in irony towards generous feelings1 even when we are beneath them4 ,our haute vole1 the society consisting of our rich and leisured men1 is more natural3 people hunt each other1 the love of the sexes is a kind of sport in which marriage is both a charm and an obstacle2 people entertain each other and live for the sake of pleasure2 bodily advantages stand in the first rank1 and curiosity and daring are the rule4 ,our attitude towards knowledge is more natural2 we are innocent in our absolute spiritual debauchery1 we hate pathetic and hieratic manners1 we delight in that which is most strictly prohibited1 we should scarcely recognise any interest in knowledge if we were bored in acquiring it4 ,our attitude to morality is also more natural4 ,principles have become a laughing-stock2 no one dares to speak of his duty1 unless in irony4 ,but a helpful1 benevolent disposition is highly valued4 7,morality is located in instinct and the rest is despised4 ,besides this there are few points of honour47 ,our attitude to politics is more natural3 we see problems of power1 of the quantum of power1 against another quantum4 ,we do not believe in a right that does not proceed from a power which is able to uphold it4 ,we regard all rights as conquests4 ,our valuation of great men and things is more natural3 we regard passion as a privilege2 we can conceive of nothing great which does not involve a great crime2 all greatness is associated in our minds with a certain standing-beyond-the-pale in morality4 ,our attitude to ,nature is more natural3 we no longer love her for her innocence1 her reason1 her beauty1 we have made her beautifully devilish and foolish4 ,but instead of despising her on that account1 since then we have felt more closely related to her and more familiar in her presence4 ,she does not aspire to virtue3 we therefore respect her4 ,our attitude towards ,art is more natural3 we do not exact beautiful1 empty lies1 etc41 from her2 brutal positivism reigns supreme1 and it ascertains things with perfect calm4 ,in short3 there are signs showing that the ,european of the nineteenth century is less ashamed of his instincts2 he has gone a long way towards acknowledging his unconditional naturalness and immorality1 without bitterness3 on the contrary1 he is strong enough to endure this point of view alone4 ,to some ears this will sound as though corruption had made strides3 and certain it is that man has not drawn nearer to the ,nature which ,rousseau speaks about1 but has gone one step farther in the civilisation before which ,rousseau stood in horror4 ,we have grown stronger1 we have drawn nearer to the seventeenth century1 more particularly to the taste which reigned towards its close 7,dancourt1 ,le ,sage1 ,renard74 #aba4 ,culture versus ,civilisation4--,the culminating stages of culture and civilisation lie apart3 one must not be led astray as regards the fundamental antagonism existing between culture and civilisation4 ,from the moral standpoint1 great periods in the history of culture have always been periods of corruption2 while on the other hand1 those periods in which man was deliberately and compulsorily tamed 7civilisation7 have always been periods of intolerance towards the most intellectual and most audacious natures4 ,civilisation desires something different from what culture strives after3 their aims may perhaps be opposed4444 #abb4 ,what ,i warn people against3 confounding the instincts of decadence with those of humanity2 ,confounding the dissolving means of civilisation and those which necessarily promote decadence1 with culture2 ,confounding debauchery1 and the principle1 laisser aller1 with the ,will to ,power 7the latter is the exact reverse of the former74 #abc4 ,the unsolved problems which ,i set anew3 the problem of civilisation1 the struggle between ,rousseau and ,voltaire about the year #agfj4 ,man becomes deeper1 more mistrustful1 more immoral1 stronger1 more self-confident--and therefore more natural2 that is progress4 ,in this way1 by a process of division of labour1 the more evil strata and the milder and tamer strata of society get separated3 so that the general facts are not visible at first sight4444 ,it is a sign of strength1 and of the self-control and fascination of the strong1 that these stronger strata possess the arts in order to make their greater powers for evil felt as something higher ,as soon as there is progress there is a transvaluation of the strengthened factors into the good4 #abd4 ,man must have the courage of his natural instincts restored to him4-- ,the poor opinion he has of himself must be destroyed 7not in the sense of the individual1 but in the sense of the natural man 4447-- ,the contradictions in things must be eradicated1 after it has been well understood that we were responsible for them-- ,social idiosyncrasies must be stamped out of existence 7guilt1 punishment1 justice1 honesty1 freedom1 love1 etc4 etc47-- ,an advance towards naturalness3 in all political questions1 even in the relations between parties1 even in merchants'1 workmen's1 or contractors' parties1 only questions of power come into play3-- what one can do is the first question1 what one ought to do is only a secondary consideration4 #abe4 ,socialism--or the tyranny of the meanest and the most brainless1--that is to say1 the superficial1 the envious1 and the mummers1 brought to its zenith1--is1 as a matter1 of fact1 the logical conclusion of modern ideas and their latent anarchy3 but in the genial atmosphere of democratic well-being the capacity for forming resolutions or even for coming to an end at all1 is paralysed4 ,men follow--but no longer their reason4 ,that is why socialism is on the whole a hopelessly bitter affair3 and there is nothing more amusing than to observe the discord between the poisonous and desperate faces of present-day socialists--and what wretched and nonsensical feelings does not their style reveal to us6--and the childish lamblike happiness of their hopes and desires4 ,nevertheless1 in many places in ,europe1 there may be violent hand-to-hand struggles and irruptions on their account3 the coming century is likely to be convulsed in more than one spot1 and the ,paris ,commune1 which finds defenders and advocates even in ,germany1 will seem to have been but a slight indigestion compared with what is to come4 ,be this as it may1 there will always be too many people of property for socialism ever to signify anything more than an attack of illness3 and these people of property are like one man with one faith1 one must possess something in order to be some one4 ,this1 however1 is the oldest and most wholesome of all instincts2 ,i should add3 one must desire more than one has in order to become more4 ,for this is the teaching which life itself preaches to all living things3 the morality of ,development4 ,to have and to wish to have more1 in a word1 ,growth--that is life itself4 ,in the teaching of socialism a will to the denial of life is but poorly concealed3 botched men and races they must be who have devised a teaching of this sort4 ,in fact1 ,i even wish a few experiments might be made to show that in a socialistic society1 life denies itself1 and itself cuts away its own roots4 ,the earth is big enough and man is still unexhausted enough for a practical lesson of this sort and demonstratio ad absurdum--even if it were accomplished only by a vast expenditure of lives--to seem worth while to me4 ,still1 ,socialism1 like a restless mole beneath the foundations of a society wallowing in stupidity1 will be able to achieve something useful and salutary3 it delays ,peace on ,earth and the whole process of character-softening of the democratic herding animal2 it forces the ,european to have an extra supply of intellect1--that is to say1 craft and caution1 and prevents his entirely abandoning the manly and warlike qualities1--it also saves ,europe awhile from the marasmus femininus which is threatening it4 #abf4 ,the most favourable obstacles and remedies of modernity3 7#a7 ,compulsory military service with real wars in which all joking is laid aside4 7#b7 ,national thick-headedness 7which simplifies and concentrates74 7#c7 ,improved nutrition 7meat74 7#d7 ,increasing cleanliness and wholesomeness in the home4 7#e7 ,the predominance of physiology over theology1 morality1 economics1 and politics4 7#f7 ,military discipline in the exaction and the practice of one's duty 7it is no longer customary to praise74 #abg4 ,i am delighted at the military development of ,europe1 also at the inner anarchical conditions3 the period of quietude and ,chinadom which ,galiani prophesied for this century is now over4 ,personal and manly capacity1 bodily capacity recovers its value1 valuations are becoming more physical1 nutrition consists ever more and more of flesh4 ,fine men have once more become possible4 ,bloodless sneaks 7with mandarins at their head1 as ,comte imagined them7 are now a matter of the past4 ,the savage in every one of us is acknowledged1 even the wild animal4 ,precisely on that account1 philosophers will have a better chance4 --,kant is a scarecrow6 #abh4 ,i have not yet seen any reasons to feel discouraged4 ,he who acquires and preserves a strong will1 together with a broad mind1 has a more favourable chance now than ever he had4 ,for the plasticity of man has become exceedingly great in democratic ,europe3 men who learn easily1 who readily adapt themselves1 are the rule3 the gregarious animal of a high order of intelligence is prepared4 ,he who would command finds those who must obey3 ,i have ,napoleon and ,bismarck in mind1 for instance4 ,the struggle against strong and unintelligent wills1 which forms the surest obstacle in one's way1 is really insignificant ,who would not be able to knock down these objective gentlemen with weak wills1 such as ,ranke and ,renan6 #abi4 ,spiritual enlightenment is an unfailing means of making men uncertain1 weak of will1 and needful of succour and support2 in short1 of developing the herding instincts in them4 ,that is why all great artist-rulers1 hitherto 7,confucius in ,china1 the ,roman ,empire1 ,napoleon1 ,popedom--at a time when they had the courage of their worldliness and frankly pursued power7 in whom the ruling instincts1 that had prevailed until their time1 culminated1 also made use of the spiritual enlightenment--or at least allowed it to be supreme 7after the style of the ,popes of the ,renaissance74 ,the self-deception of the masses on this point1 in every democracy for instance1 is of the greatest possible value3 all that makes men smaller and more amenable is pursued under the title progress4 #acj4 ,the highest equity and mildness as a condition of weakness 7the ,new ,testament and the early ,christian community--manifesting itself in the form of utter foolishness in the ,englishmen1 ,darwin and ,wallace74 ,your equity1 ye higher men1 drives you to universal suffrage1 etc42 your humanity urges you to be milder towards crime and stupidity4 ,in the end you will thus help stupidity and harmlessness to conquer4 ,outwardly3 ,ages of terrible wars1 insurrections1 explosions4 ,inwardly3 ever more and more weakness among men2 events take the form of excitants4 ,the ,parisian as the type of the ,european extreme4 ,consequences3 7#a7 ,savages 7at first1 of course1 in conformity with the culture that has reigned hitherto72 7#b7 ,sovereign individuals 7where powerful barbarous masses and emancipation from all that has been1 are crossed74 ,the age of greatest stupidity1 brutality1 and wretchedness in the masses1 and in the highest individuals4 #aca4 ,an incalculable number of higher individuals now perish3 but he who escapes their fate is as strong as the devil4 ,in this respect we are reminded of the conditions which prevailed in the ,renaissance4 #acb4 ,how are ,good ,europeans such as ourselves distinguished from the patriots8 ,in the first place1 we are atheists and immoralists1 but we take care to support the religions and the morality which we associate with the gregarious instinct3 for by means of them1 an order of men is1 so to speak1 being prepared1 which must at some time or other fall into our hands1 which must actually crave for our hands4 ,beyond ,good and ,evil1--certainly2 but we insist upon the unconditional and strict preservation of herd-morality4 ,we reserve ourselves the right to several kinds of philosophy which it is necessary to learn3 under certain circumstances1 the pessimistic kind as a hammer2 a ,european ,buddhism might perhaps be indispensable4 ,we should probably support the development and the maturation of democratic tendencies2 for it conduces to weakness of will3 in ,socialism we recognise a thorn which prevents smug ease4 ,attitude towards the people44 ,our prejudices2 we pay attention to the results of cross-breeding4 ,detached1 well-to-do1 strong3 irony concerning the press and its culture4 ,our care3 that scientific men should not become journalists4 ,we mistrust any form of culture that tolerates news-paper reading or writing4 ,we make our accidental positions 7as ,goethe and ,stendhal did71 our experiences1 a foreground1 and we lay stress upon them1 so that we may deceive concerning our backgrounds4 ,we ourselves wait and avoid putting our heart into them4 ,they serve us as refuges1 such as a wanderer might require and use--but we avoid feeling at home in them4 ,we are ahead of our fellows in that we have had a disciplina voluntatis4 ,all strength is directed to the development of the will1 an art which allows us to wear masks1 an art of understanding beyond the passions 7also super-,european thought at times74 ,this is our preparation before becoming the law-givers of the future and the lords of the earth2 if not we1 at least our children4 ,caution where marriage is concerned4 #acc4 ,the twentieth century4--,the ,abb ,galiani says somewhere3 ,la prvoyance est la cause des guerres actuelles de l',europe4 ,si l'on voulait se donner la peine de ne rien prvoir1 tout le monde serait tranquille1 et je ne crois pas qu'on serait plus malheureux parce qu'on ne ferait pas la guerre4 ,as ,i in no way share the unwarlike views of my deceased friend ,galiani1 ,i have no fear whatever of saying something beforehand with the view of conjuring in some way the cause of wars4 ,a condition of excessive consciousness1 after the worst of earthquakes3 with new questions4 #acd4 ,it is the time of the great noon1 of the most appalling enlightenment3 my particular kind of ,pessimism3 the great starting-point4 7#a7 ,fundamental contradiction between civilisation and the elevation of man4 7#b7 ,moral valuations regarded as a history of lies and the art of calumny in the service of the ,will to ,power 7of the will of the herd1 which rises against stronger men74 7#c7 ,the conditions which determine every elevation in culture 7the facilitation of a selection being made at the cost of a crowd7 are the conditions of all growth4 7#d74 ,the multiformity of the world as a question of strength1 which sees all things in the perspective of their growth4 ,the moral ,christian values to be regarded as the insurrection and mendacity of slaves 7in comparison with the aristocratic values of the ancient world74 ,,second ,,book4 ,,criticism ,,of ,,the ,,highest ,,values ,,that ,,have ,,prevailed ,,hitherto4 ,i4 ,,criticism ,,of ,,religion4 ,all the beauty and sublimity with which we have invested real and imagined things1 ,i will show to be the property and product of man1 and this should be his most beautiful apology4 ,man as a poet1 as a thinker1 as a god1 as love1 as power4 ,oh1 the regal liberality with which he has lavished gifts upon things in order to impoverish himself and make himself feel wretched6 ,hitherto1 this has been his greatest disinterestedness1 that he admired and worshipped1 and knew how to conceal from himself that he it was who had created what he admired4 #a4 ,,concerning ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,religions4 #ace4 ,the origin of religion4--,just as the illiterate man of to-day believes that his wrath is the cause of his being angry1 that his mind is the cause of his thinking1 that his soul is the cause of his feeling1 in short1 just as a mass of psychological entities are still unthinkingly postulated as causes2 so1 in a still more primitive age1 the same phenomena were interpreted by man by means of personal entities4 ,those conditions of his soul which seemed strange1 overwhelming1 and rapturous1 he regarded as obsessions and bewitching influences emanating from the power of some personality4 7,thus the ,christian1 the most puerile and backward man of this age1 traces hope1 peace1 and the feeling of deliverance to a psychological inspiration on the part of ,god3 being by nature a sufferer and a creature in need of repose1 states of happiness1 peace1 and resignation1 perforce seem strange to him1 and seem to need some explanation47 ,among intelligent1 strong1 and vigorous races1 the epileptic is mostly the cause of a belief in the existence of some foreign power2 but all such examples of apparent subjection--as1 for instance1 the bearing of the exalted man1 of the poet1 of the great criminal1 or the passions1 love and revenge--lead to the invention of supernatural powers4 ,a condition is made concrete by being identified with a personality1 and when this condition overtakes anybody1 it is ascribed to that personality4 ,in other words3 in the psychological concept of ,god1 a certain state of the soul is personified as a cause in order to appear as an effect4 ,the psychological logic is as follows3 when the feeling of power suddenly seizes and overwhelms a man1--and this takes place in the case of all the great passions1--a doubt arises in him concerning his own person3 he dare not think himself the cause of this astonishing sensation--and thus he posits a stronger person1 a ,godhead as its cause4 ,in short1 the origin of religion lies in the extreme feelings of power1 which1 being strange1 take men by surprise3 and just as the sick man1 who feels one of his limbs unaccountably heavy1 concludes that another man must be sitting on it1 so the ingenuous homo religiosus1 divides himself up into several people4 ,religion is an example of the altration de la personalit4 ,a sort of fear and sensation of terror in one's own presence4444 ,but also a feeling of inordinate rapture and exaltation4 ,among sick people1 the sensation of health suffices to awaken a belief in the proximity of ,god4 #acf4 ,rudimentary psychology of the religious man3--,all changes are effects2 all effects are effects of will 7the notion of ,nature and of natural law1 is lacking72 all effects presuppose an agent4 ,rudimentary psychology3 one is only a cause oneself1 when one knows that one has willed something4 ,result3 ,states of power impute to man the feeling that he is not the cause of them1 that he is not responsible for them3 they come without being willed to do so--consequently we cannot be their originators3 will that is not free 7that is to say1 the knowledge of a change in our condition which we have not helped to bring about7 requires a strong will4 ,consequence of this rudimentary psychology3 ,man has never dared to credit himself with his strong and startling moods1 he has always conceived them as passive1 as imposed upon him from outside3 ,religion is the offshoot of a doubt concerning the entity of the person1 an altration of the personality3 in so far as everything great and strong in man was considered superhuman and foreign1 man belittled himself1--he laid the two sides1 the very pitiable and weak side1 and the very strong and startling side apart1 in two spheres1 and called the one ,man and the other ,god4 ,and he has continued to act on these lines2 during the period of the moral idiosyncrasy he did not interpret his lofty and sublime moral states as proceeding from his own will or as the work of the person4 ,even the ,christian himself divides his personality into two parts1 the one a mean and weak fiction which he calls man1 and the other which he calls ,god 7,deliverer and ,saviour74 ,religion has lowered the concept man2 its ultimate conclusion is that all goodness1 greatness1 and truth are superhuman1 and are only obtainable by the grace of ,god4 #acg4 ,one way of raising man out of his self-abasement1 which brought about the decline of the point of view that classed all lofty and strong states of the soul1 as strange1 was the theory of relationship4 ,these lofty and strong states of the soul could at least be interpreted as the influence of our forebears2 we belonged to each other1 we were irrevocably joined2 we grew in our own esteem1 by acting according to the example of a model known to us all4 ,there is an attempt on the part of noble families to associate religion with their own feelings of self-respect4 ,poets and seers do the same thing2 they feel proud that they have been worthy1--that they have been selected for such association1--they esteem it an honour1 not to be considered at all as individuals1 but as mere mouthpieces 7,homer74 ,man gradually takes possession of the highest and proudest states of his soul1 as also of his acts and his works4 ,formerly it was believed that one paid oneself the greatest honour by denying one's own responsibility for the highest deeds one accomplished1 and by ascribing them to--,god4 ,the will which was not free1 appeared to be that which imparted a higher value to a deed3 in those days a god was postulated as the author of the deed4 #ach4 ,priests are the actors of something which is supernatural1 either in the way of ideals1 gods1 or saviours1 and they have to make people believe in them2 in this they find their calling1 this is the purpose of their instincts2 in order to make it as credible as possible1 they have to exert themselves to the utmost extent in the art of posing2 their actor's sagacity must1 above all1 aim at giving them a clean conscience1 by means of which1 alone1 it is possible to persuade effectively4 #aci4 ,the priest wishes to make it an understood thing1 that he is the highest type of man1 that he rules1--even over those who wield the power1--that he is indispensable and unassailable1--that he is the strongest power in the community1 not by any means to be replaced or undervalued4 ,means thereto3 he alone is cultured2 he alone is the man of virtue2 he alone has sovereign power over himself3 he alone is1 in a certain sense1 ,god1 and ultimately goes back to the ,godhead2 he alone is the middleman between ,god and others2 the ,godhead administers punishment to every one who puts the priest at a disadvantage1 or who thinks in opposition to him4 ,means thereto3 ,truth exists4 ,there is only one way of attaining to it1 and that is to become a priest4 ,everything good1 which relates either to order1 nature1 or tradition1 is to be traced to the wisdom of the priests4 ,the ,holy ,book is their work4 ,the whole of nature is only a fulfilment of the maxims which it contains4 ,no other source of goodness exists than the priests4 ,every other kind of perfection1 even the warrior's1 is different in rank from that of the priests4 ,consequence3 ,if the priest is to be the highest type1 then the degrees which lead to his virtues must be the degrees of value among men4 ,study1 emancipation from material things1 inactivity1 impassibility1 absence of passion1 solemnity2--the opposite of all this is found in the lowest type of man4 ,the priest has taught a kind of morality which conduced to his being considered the highest type of man4 ,he conceives a type which is the reverse of his own3 the ,chandala4 ,by making these as contemptible as possible1 some strength is lent to the order of castes4 ,the priest's excessive fear of sensuality also implies that the latter is the most serious threat to the order of castes 7that is to say1 order in general74444 ,every free tendency in puncto puncti overthrows the laws of marriage4 #adj4 ,the philosopher considered as the development of the priestly type3--,he has the heritage of the priest in his blood2 even as a rival he is compelled to fight with the same weapons as the priest of his time2--he aspires to the highest authority4 ,what is it that bestows authority upon men who have no physical power to wield 7no army1 no arms at all 44478 ,how do such men gain authority over those who are in possession of material power1 and who represent authority8 7,philosophers enter the lists against princes1 victorious conquerors1 and wise statesmen47 ,they can do it only by establishing the belief that they are in possession of a power which is higher and stronger--,god4 ,nothing is strong enough3 every one is in need of the mediation and the services of priests4 ,they establish themselves as indispensable intercessors4 ,the conditions of their existence are3 7#a7 ,that people believe in the absolute superiority of their god1 in fact believe in their god'2 7#b7 that there is no other access1 no direct access to god1 save through them4 ,the second condition alone gives rise to the concept heterodoxy2 the first to the concept disbelievers 7that is to say1 he who believes in another god74 #ada4 ,a ,criticism of the ,holy ,lie4--,that a lie is allowed in pursuit of holy ends 'is a principle which belongs to the theory of all priestcraft1 and the object of this inquiry is to discover to what extent it belongs to its practice4 ,but philosophers1 too1 whenever they intend taking over the leadership of mankind1 with the ulterior motives of priests in their minds1 have never failed to arrogate to themselves the right to lie3 ,plato above all4 ,but the most elaborate of lies is the double lie1 developed by the typically ,arian philosophers of the ,vedanta3 two systems1 contradicting each other in all their main points1 but interchangeable1 complementary1 and mutually expletory1 when educational ends were in question4 ,the lie of the one has to create a condition in which the truth of the other can alone become intelligible4444 ,how far does the holy lie of priests and philosophers go8--,the question here is1 what hypotheses do they advance in regard to education1 and what are the dogmas they are compelled to invent in order to do justice to these hypotheses8 ,first3 they must have power1 authority1 and absolute credibility on their side4 ,secondly3 they must have the direction of the whole of ,nature1 so that everything affecting the individual seems to be determined by their law4 ,thirdly3 their domain of power must be very extensive1 in order that its control may escape the notice of those they subject3 they must know the penal code of the life beyond--of the life after death1--and1 of course1 the means whereby the road to blessedness may be discovered4 ,they have to put the notion of a natural course of things out of sight1 but as they are intelligent and thoughtful people1 they are able to promise a host of effects1 which they naturally say are conditioned by prayer or by the strict observance of their law4 ,they can1 moreover1 prescribe a large number of things which are exceedingly reasonable --only they must not point to experience or empiricism as the source of this wisdom1 but to revelation or to the fruits of the most severe exercises of penance4 ,the holy lie1 therefore1 applies principally to the purpose of an action 7the natural purpose1 reason1 is made to vanish3 a moral purpose1 the observance of some law1 a service to ,god1 seems to be the purpose73 to the consequence of an action 7the natural consequence is interpreted as something supernatural1 and1 in order to be on surer ground1 other incontrollable and supernatural consequences are foretold74 ,in this way the concepts good and evil are created1 and seem quite divorced from the natural concepts3 useful1 harmful1 life-promoting1 life-retarding1--indeed1 inasmuch as another life is imagined1 the former concepts may even be antagonistic to ,nature's concepts of good and evil4 ,in this way1 the proverbial concept conscience is created3 an inner voice1 which1 though it makes itself heard in regard to every action1 does not measure the worth of that action according to its results1 but according to its conformity or non-conformity to the law4 ,the holy lie therefore invented3 7#a7 a god who punishes and rewards1 who recognises and carefully observes the law-book of the priests1 and who is particular about sending them into the world as his mouthpieces and plenipotentiaries2 7#b7 an ,after ,life1 in which1 alone1 the great penal machine is supposed to be active--to this end the immortality of the soul was invented2 7#c7 a conscience in man1 understood as the knowledge that good and evil are permanent values--that ,god himself speaks through it1 whenever its counsels are in conformity with priestly precepts2 7#d7 ,morality as the denial of all natural processes1 as the subjection of all phenomena to a moral order1 as the interpretation of all phenomena as the effects of a moral order of things 7that is to say1 the concept of punishment and reward71 as the only power and only creator of all transformations2 7#e7 ,truths given1 revealed1 and identical with the teaching of the priests3 as the condition to all salvation and happiness in this and the next world4 ,in short3 what is the price paid for the improvement supposed to be due to morality8--,the unhinging of reason1 the reduction of all motives to fear and hope 7punishment and reward72 dependence upon the tutelage of priests1 and upon a formulary exactitude which is supposed to express a divine will2 the implantation of a conscience which establishes a false science in the place of experience and experiment3 as though all one had to do or had not to do were predetermined--a kind of contraction of the seeking and striving spirit2--in short3 the worst mutilation of man that can be imagined1 and it is pretended that the good man is the result4 ,practically speaking1 all reason1 the whole heritage of intelligence1 subtlety1 and caution1 the first condition of the priestly canon1 is arbitrarily reduced1 when it is too late1 to a simple mechanical process3 conformity with the law becomes a purpose in itself1 it is the highest purpose2 ,life no longer contains any problems2--the whole conception of the world is polluted by the notion of punishment2 --,life itself1 owing to the fact that the priests life is upheld as the non plus ultra of perfection1 is transformed into a denial and pollution of life2--the concept ,god represents an aversion to ,life1 and even a criticism and a contemning of it4 ,truth is transformed in the mind1 into priestly prevarication2 the striving after truth1 into the study of the ,scriptures1 into the way to become a theologian4 #adb4 ,a criticism of the ,law-,book of ,manu4--,the whole book is founded upon the holy lie4 ,was it the well-being of humanity that inspired the whole of this system8 ,was this kind of man1 who believes in the interested nature of every action1 interested or not interested in the success of this system8 ,the desire to improve mankind--whence comes the inspiration to this feeling8 ,whence is the concept improvement taken8 ,we find a class of men1 the sacerdotal class1 who consider themselves the standard pattern1 the highest example and most perfect expression of the type man4 ,the notion of improving mankind1 to this class of men1 means to make mankind like themselves4 ,they believe in their own superiority1 they will be superior in practice3 the cause of the holy lie is ,the ,will to ,power4444 ,establishment of the dominion3 to this end1 ideas which place a non plus ultra of power with the priesthood are made to prevail4 ,power acquired by lying was the result of the recognition of the fact that it was not already possessed physically1 in a military form4444 ,lying as a supplement to power--this is a new concept of truth4 ,it is a mistake to presuppose unconscious and innocent development in this quarter--a sort of self-deception4 ,fanatics are not the discoverers of such exhaustive systems of oppression4444 ,cold-blooded reflection must have been at work here2 the same sort of reflection which ,plato showed when he worked out his ,state--,one must desire the means when one desires the end4 ,concerning this political maxim1 all legislators have always been quite clear4 ,we possess the classical model1 and it is specifically ,arian3 we can therefore hold the most gifted and most reflective type of man responsible for the most systematic lie that has ever been told4444 ,everywhere almost the lie was copied1 and thus ,avian influence corrupted the world4444 #adc4 ,much is said to-day about the ,semitic spirit of the ,new ,testament3 but the thing referred to is merely priestcraft1--and in the purest example of an ,arian law-book1 in ,manu1 this kind of ,semitic spirit--that is to say1 ,sacerdotalism1 is worse than anywhere else4 ,the development of the ,jewish hierarchy is not original3 they learnt the scheme in ,babylon--it is ,arian4 ,when1 later on1 the same thing became dominant in ,europe1 under the preponderance of ,germanic blood1 this was in conformity to the spirit of the ruling race3 a striking case of atavism4 ,the ,germanic middle ages aimed at a revival of the ,arian order of castes4 ,mohammedanism in its turn learned from ,christianity the use of a ,beyond as an instrument of punishment4 ,the scheme of a permanent community1 with priests at its head--this oldest product of ,asia's great culture in the domain of organisation--naturally provoked reflection and imitation in every way4--,plato is an example of this1 but above all1 the ,egyptians4 #add4 ,moralities and religions are the principal means by which one can modify men into whatever one likes2 provided one is possessed of an overflow of creative power1 and can cause one's will to prevail over long periods of time4 #ade4 ,if one wish to see an affirmative ,arian religion which is the product of a ruling class1 one should read the law-book of ,manu4 7,the deification of the feeling of power in the ,brahmin3 it is interesting to note that it originated in the warrior-caste1 and was later transferred to the priests47 ,if one wish to see an affirmative religion of the ,semitic order1 which is the product of the ruling class1 one should read the ,koran or the earlier portions of the ,old ,testament4 7,mohammedanism1 as a religion for men1 has profound contempt for the sentimentality and prevarication of ,christianity1 444 which1 according to ,mohammedans1 is a woman's religion47 ,if one wish to see a negative religion of the ,semitic order1 which is the product of the oppressed class1 one should read the ,new ,testament 7which1 according to ,indian and ,arian points of view1 is a religion for the ,chandala74 ,if one wish to see a negative ,arian religion1 which is the product of the ruling classes1 one should study ,buddhism4 ,it is quite in the nature of things that we have no ,arian religion which is the product of the oppressed classes2 for that would have been a contradiction3 a race of masters is either paramount or else it goes to the dogs4 #adf4 ,religion1 per se1 has nothing to do with morality2 yet both offshoots of the ,jewish religion are essentially moral religions--which prescribe the rules of living1 and procure obedience to their principles by means of rewards and punishment4 #adg4 ,paganism--,christianity4--,paganism is that which says yea to all that is natural1 it is innocence in being natural1 naturalness4 ,christianity is that which says no to all that is natural1 it is a certain lack of dignity in being natural2 hostility to ,nature4 ,innocent3--,petronius is innocent1 for instance4 ,beside this happy man a ,christian is absolutely devoid of innocence4 ,but since even the ,christian status is ultimately only a natural condition1 the term ,christian soon begins to mean the counterfeiting of the psychological interpretation4 #adh4 ,the ,christian priest is from the root a mortal enemy of sensuality3 one cannot imagine a greater contrast to his attitude than the guileless1 slightly awed1 and solemn attitude1 which the religious rites of the most honourable women in ,athens maintained in the presence of the symbol of sex4 ,in all non-ascetic religions the procreative act is the secret per se3 a sort of symbol of perfection and of the designs of the future3 re-birth1 immortality4 #adi4 ,our belief in ourselves is the greatest fetter1 the most telling spur1 and the strongest pinion4 ,christianity ought to have elevated the innocence of man to the position of an article of belief--men would then have become gods3 in those days believing was still possible4 #aej4 ,the egregious lie of history3 as if it were the corruption of ,paganism that opened the road to ,christianity4 ,as a matter of fact1 it was the enfeeblement and moralisation of the man of antiquity4 ,the new interpretation of natural functions1 which made them appear like vices1 had already gone before6 #aea4 ,religions are ultimately wrecked by the belief in morality4 ,the idea of the ,christian moral ,god becomes untenable1--hence ,atheism1--as though there could be no other god4 ,culture is likewise wrecked by the belief in morality4 ,for when the necessary and only possible conditions of its growth are revealed1 nobody will any longer countenance it 7,buddhism74 #aeb4 ,the physiology of ,nihilistic religions4--,all in all1 the ,nihilistic religions are systematised histories of sickness described in religious and moral terminology4 ,in pagan cultures it is around the interpretation of the great annual cycles that the religious cult turns2 in ,christianity it is around a cycle of paralytic phenomena4 #aec4 ,this ,nihilistic religion gathers together all the decadent elements and things of like order which it can find in antiquity1 viz43-- 7a7 ,the weak and the botched 7the refuse of the ancient world1 and that of which it rid itself with most violence74 7b7 ,those who are morally obsessed and anti-pagan4 7c7 ,those who are weary of politics and indifferent 7the blas ,romans71 the denationalised1 who know not what they are4 7d7 ,those who are tired of themselves--who are happy to be party to a subterranean conspiracy4 #aed4 ,buddha versus ,christ4--,among the ,nihilistic religions1 ,christianity and ,buddhism may always be sharply distinguished4 ,buddhism is the expression of a fine evening1 perfectly sweet and mild--it is a sort of gratitude towards all that lies hidden1 including that which it entirely lacks1 viz41 bitterness1 disillusionment1 and resentment4 ,finally it possesses lofty intellectual love2 it has got over all the subtlety of philosophical contradictions1 and is even resting after it1 though it is precisely from that source that it derives its intellectual glory and its glow as of a sunset 7it originated in the higher classes74 ,christianity is a degenerative movement1 consisting of all kinds of decaying and excremental elements3 it is not the expression of the downfall of a race1 it is1 from the root1 an agglomeration of all the morbid elements which are mutually attractive and which gravitate to one another4444 ,it is therefore not a national religion1 not determined by race3 it appeals to the disinherited everywhere2 it consists of a foundation of resentment against all that is successful and dominant3 it is in need of a symbol which represents the damnation of everything successful and dominant4 ,it is opposed to every form of intellectual movement1 to all philosophy3 it takes up the cudgels for idiots1 and utters a curse upon all intellect4 ,resentment against those who are gifted1 learned1 intellectually independent3 in all these it suspects the element of success and domination4 #aee4 ,in ,buddhism this thought prevails3 ,all passions1 everything which creates emotions and leads to blood1 is a call to action--to this extent alone are its believers warned against evil4 ,for action has no sense1 it merely binds one to existence4 ,all existence1 however1 has no sense4 ,evil is interpreted as that which leads to irrationalism3 to the affirmation of means whose end is denied4 ,a road to nonentity is the desideratum1 hence all emotional impulses are regarded with horror4 ,for instance3 ,on no account seek after revenge6 ,be the enemy of no one6--,the ,hedonism of the weary finds its highest expression here4 ,nothing is more utterly foreign to ,buddhism than the ,jewish fanaticism of ,st4 ,paul3 nothing could be more contrary to its instinct than the tension1 fire1 and unrest of the religious man1 and1 above all1 that form of sensuality which sanctifies ,christianity with the name ,love4 ,moreover1 it is the cultured and very intellectual classes who find blessedness in ,buddhism3 a race wearied and besotted by centuries of philosophical quarrels1 but not beneath all culture as those classes were from which ,christianity sprang4444 ,in the ,buddhistic ideal1 there is essentially an emancipation from good and evil3 a very subtle suggestion of a ,beyond to all morality is thought out in its teaching1 and this ,beyond is supposed to be compatible with perfection1--the condition being1 that even good actions are only needed pro tem41 merely as a means1--that is to say1 in order to be free from all action4 #aef4 ,how very curious it is to see a ,nihilistic religion such as ,christianity1 sprung from1 and in keeping with1 a decrepit and worn-out people1 who have outlived all strong instincts1 being transferred step by step to another environment--that is to say1 to a land of young people1 who have not yet lived at all4 ,the joy of the final chapter1 of the fold and of the evening1 preached to barbarians and ,germans6 ,how thoroughly all of it must first have been barbarised1 ,germanised6 ,to those who had dreamed of a ,walhalla3 who found happiness only in war6--,a supernational religion preached in the midst of chaos1 where no nations yet existed even4 #aeg4 ,the only way to refute priests and religions is this3 to show that their errors are no longer beneficent--that they are rather harmful2 in short1 that their own proof of power no longer holds good4444 #b4 ,,concerning ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,christianity4 #aeh4 ,christianity as an historical reality should not be confounded with that one root which its name recalls4 ,the other roots1 from which it has sprung1 are by far the more important4 ,it is an unprecedented abuse of names to identify such manifestations of decay and such abortions as the ,christian ,church1 ,christian belief1 and ,christian life1 with that ,holy ,name4 ,what did ,christ deny8--,everything which to-day is called ,christian4 #aei4 ,the whole of the ,christian creed--all ,christian truth1 is idle falsehood and deception1 and is precisely the reverse of that which was at the bottom of the first ,christian movement4 ,all that which in the ecclesiastical sense is ,christian1 is just exactly what is most radically anti-,christian3 crowds of things and people appear instead of symbols1 history takes the place of eternal facts1 it is all forms1 rites1 and dogmas instead of a practice of life4 ,to be really ,christian would mean to be absolutely indifferent to dogmas1 cults1 priests1 church1 and theology4 ,the practice of ,christianity is no more an impossible phantasy than the practice of ,buddhism is3 it is merely a means to happiness4 #afj4 ,jesus goes straight to the point1 the ,kingdom of ,heaven in the heart1 and ,he does not find the means in duty to the ,jewish ,church2 ,he even regards the reality of ,judaism 7its need to maintain itself7 as nothing2 ,he is concerned purely with the inner man4 ,neither does ,he make anything of all the coarse forms relating to man's intercourse with ,god3 ,he is opposed to the whole of the teaching of repentance and atonement2 ,he points out how man ought to live in order to feel himself deified1 and how futile it is on his part to hope to live properly by showing repentance and contrition for his sins4 ,sin is of no account is practically his chief standpoint4 ,sin1 repentance1 forgiveness1--all this does not belong to ,christianity 444 it is ,judaism or ,paganism which has become mixed up with ,christ's teaching4 #afa4 ,the ,kingdom of ,heaven is a state of the heart 7of children it is written1 for theirs is the ,kingdom of ,heaven73 it has nothing to do with superterrestrial things4 ,the ,kingdom of ,god cometh1 not chronologically or historically1 not on a certain day in the calendar2 it is not something which one day appears and was not previously there2 it is a change of feeling in the individual1 it is something which may come at any time and which may be absent at any time4444 #afb4 ,the thief on the cross2--,when the criminal himself1 who endures a painful death1 declares3 the way this ,jesus suffers and dies1 without a murmur of revolt or enmity1 graciously and resignedly1 is the only right way1 he assents to the gospel2 and by this very fact he is in ,paradise4444 #afc4 ,jesus bids us3--not to resist1 either by deeds or in our heart1 him who ill-treats us2 ,he bids us admit of no grounds for separating ourselves from our wives2 ,he bids us make no distinction between foreigners and fellow-countrymen1 strangers and familiars2 ,he bids us show anger to no one1 and treat no one with contempt2--give alms secretly2 not to desire to become rich2--not to swear2--not to stand in judgment2--become reconciled with our enemies and forgive offences2--not to worship in public4 ,blessedness is nothing promised3 it is here1 with us1 if we only wish to live and act in a particular way4 #afd4 ,subsequent ,additions2--,the whole of the prophet- and thaumaturgist-attitudes and the bad temper2 while the conjuring-up of a supreme tribunal of justice is an abominable corruption 7see ,mark vi4 #aa3 ,and whosoever shall not receive you4444 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,it shall be more tolerable for ,sodom and ,gomorrha1 etc474 ,the fig tree 7,matt4 xxi4 #ah1 #ai73 ,now in the morning as he returned into the city1 he hungered4 ,and when he saw a fig tree in the way1 he came to it1 and found nothing thereon1 but leaves only1 and said unto it1 ,let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever4 ,and presently the fig tree withered away4 #afe4 ,the teaching of rewards and punishments has become mixed up with ,christianity in a way which is quite absurd2 everything is thereby spoilt4 ,in the same way1 the practice of the first ecclesia militans1 of the ,apostle ,paul and his attitude1 is put forward as if it had been commanded or predetermined4 ,the subsequent glorification of the actual life and teaching of the first ,christians3 as if everything had been prescribed beforehand and had been only a matter of following directions----,and as for the fulfilment of scriptural prophecies3 how much of all that is more than forgery and cooking8 #aff4 ,jesus opposed a real life1 a life in truth1 to ordinary life3 nothing could have been more foreign to ,his mind than the somewhat heavy nonsense of an eternal ,peter1--of the eternal duration of a single person4 ,precisely what ,he combats is the exaggerated importance of the person3 how can ,he wish to immortalise it8 ,he likewise combats the hierarchy within the community2 ,he never promises a certain proportion of reward for a certain proportion of deserts3 how can ,he have meant to teach the doctrine of punishment and reward in a ,beyond8 #afg4 ,christianity is an ingenuous attempt at bringing about a ,buddhistic movement in favour of peace1 sprung from the very heart of the resenting masses 444 but transformed by ,paul into a mysterious pagan cult1 which was ultimately able to accord with the whole of ,state organisation 444 and which carries on war1 condemns1 tortures1 conjures1 and hates4 ,paul bases his teaching upon the need of mystery felt by the great masses capable of religious emotions3 he seeks a victim1 a bloody phantasmagoria1 which may be equal to a contest with the images of a secret cult3 ,god on the cross1 the drinking of blood1 the unio mystica with the victim4 ,he seeks the prolongation of life after death 7the blessed and atoned after-life of the individual soul7 which he puts in causal relation with the victim already referred to 7according to the type of ,dionysos1 ,mithras1 ,osiris74 ,he feels the necessity of bringing notions of guilt and sin into the foreground1 not a new practice of life 7as ,jesus ,himself demonstrated and taught71 but a new cult1 a new belief1 a belief in a miraculous metamorphosis 7,salvation through belief74 ,he understood the great needs of the pagan worlds and he gave quite an absolutely arbitrary picture of those two plain facts1 ,christ's life and death4 ,he gave the whole a new accent1 altering the equilibrium everywhere 444 he was one of the most active destroyers of primitive ,christianity4 ,the attempt made on the life of priests and theologians culminated1 thanks to ,paul1 in a new priesthood and theology--a ruling caste and a ,church4 ,the attempt made to suppress the fussy importance of the person1 culminated in the belief in the eternal personality 7and in the anxiety concerning eternal salvation 44471 and in the most paradoxical exaggeration of individual egoism4 ,this is the humorous side of the question--tragic humour3 ,paul again set up on a large scale precisely what ,jesus had overthrown by ,his life4 ,at last1 when the ,church edifice was complete1 it even sanctioned the existence of the ,state4 #afh4 ,the ,church is precisely that against which ,jesus inveighed--and against which ,he taught ,his disciples to fight4 #afi4 ,a ,god who died for our sins1 salvation through faith1 resurrection after death--all these things are the counterfeit coins of real ,christianity1 for which that pernicious blockhead ,paul must be held responsible4 ,the life which must serve as an example consists in love and humility2 in the abundance of hearty emotion which does not even exclude the lowliest2 in the formal renunciation of all desire of making its rights felt2 in conquest1 in the sense of triumph over oneself2 in the belief in salvation in this world1 despite all sorrow1 opposition1 and death2 in forgiveness and the absence of anger and contempt2 in the absence of a desire to be rewarded2 in the refusal to be bound to anybody2 abandonment to all that is most spiritual and intellectual2--in fact1 a very proud life controlled by the will of a servile and poor life4 ,once the ,church had allowed itself to take over all the ,christian practice1 and had formally sanctioned the ,state1--that kind of life which ,jesus combats and condemns1--it was obliged to lay the sense of ,christianity in other things than early ,christian ideals--that is to say1 in the faith in incredible things1 in the ceremonial of prayers1 worship1 feasts1 etc4 etc4 ,the notions sin1 forgiveness1 punishment1 reward--everything1 in fact1 which had nothing in common with1 and was quite absent from1 primitive ,christianity1 now comes into the foreground4 ,an appalling stew of ,greek philosophy and ,judaism2 asceticism2 continual judgments and condemnations2 the order of rank1 etc4 #agj4 ,christianity has1 from the first1 always transformed the symbolical into crude realities3 7#a7 ,the antitheses true life and false life were misunderstood and changed into life here and life beyond4 7#b7 ,the notion eternal life1 as opposed to the personal life which is ephemeral1 is translated into personal immortality2 7#c7 ,the process of fraternising by means of sharing the same food and drink1 after the ,hebrew-,arabian manner1 is interpreted as the miracle of transubstantiation4 7#d7 ,resurrection which was intended to mean the entrance to the true life1 in the sense of being intellectually born again1 becomes an historical contingency1 supposed to take place at some moment after death2 7#e7 ,the teaching of the ,son of man as the ,son of ,god1--that is to say1 the life-relationship between man and ,god1--becomes the second person of the ,trinity1 and thus the filial relationship of every man--even the lowest--to ,god1 is done away with2 7#f7 ,salvation through faith 7that is to say1 that there is no other way to this filial relationship to ,god1 save through the practice of life taught by ,christ7 becomes transformed into the belief that there is a miraculous way of atoning for all sin2 though not through our own endeavours1 but by means of ,christ3 ,for all these purposes1 ,christ on the ,cross had to be interpreted afresh4 ,the death itself would certainly not be the principal feature of the event 444 it was only another sign pointing to the way in which one should behave towards the authorities and the laws of the world--that one was not to defend oneself--this was the exemplary life4 #aga4 ,concerning the psychology of ,paul4--,the important fact is ,christ's death4 ,this remains to be explained 4444 ,that there may be truth or error in an explanation never entered these people's heads3 one day a sublime possibility strikes them1 ,his death might mean so and so --and it forthwith becomes so and so4 ,an hypothesis is proved by the sublime ardour it lends to its discoverer4444 ,the proof of strength3 i4e41 a thought is demonstrated by its effects 7by their fruits1 as the ,bible ingenuously says72 that which fires enthusiasm must be true1--what one loses one's blood for must be true-- ,in every department of this world of thought1 the sudden feeling of power which an idea imparts to him who is responsible for it1 is placed to the credit of that idea3--and as there seems no other way of honouring an idea than by calling it true1 the first epithet it is honoured with is the word true4 444 ,how could it have any effect otherwise8 ,it was imagined by some power3 if that power were not real1 it could not be the cause of anything4444 ,the thought is then understood as inspired3 the effect it causes has something of the violent nature of a demoniacal influence-- ,a thought which a decadent like ,paul could not resist and to which he completely yields1 is thus proved true666 ,all these holy epileptics and visionaries did not possess a thousandth part of the honesty in self-criticism with which a philologist1 nowadays1 reads a text1 or tests the truth of an historical event4444 ,beside us1 such people were moral cretins4 #agb4 ,it matters little whether a thing be true1 provided it be effective3 total absence of intellectual uprightness4 ,everything is good1 whether it be lying1 slander1 or shameless cooking1 provided it serve to heighten the degree of heat to the point at which people believe4 ,we are face to face with an actual school for the teaching of the means wherewith men are seduced to a belief3 we see systematic contempt for those spheres whence contradiction might come 7that is to say1 for reason1 philosophy1 wisdom1 doubt1 and caution72 a shameless praising and glorification of the teaching1 with continual references to the fact that it was ,god who presented us with it--that the apostle signifies nothing--that no criticism is brooked1 but only faith1 acceptance2 that it is the greatest blessing and favour to receive such a doctrine of salvation2 that the state in which one should receive it1 ought to be one of the profoundest thankfulness and humility4444 ,the resentment which the lowly feel against all those in high places1 is continually turned to account3 the fact that this teaching is revealed to them as the reverse of the wisdom of the world1 against the power of the world1 seduces them to it4 ,this teaching convinces the outcasts and the botched of all sorts and conditions2 it promises blessedness1 advantages1 and privileges to the most insignificant and most humble men2 it fanaticises the poor1 the small1 and the foolish1 and fills them with insane vanity1 as though they were the meaning and salt of the earth4 ,again1 ,i say1 all this cannot be sufficiently contemned1 we spare ourselves a criticism of the teaching2 it is sufficient to take note of the means it uses in order to be aware of the nature of the phenomenon one is examining4 ,it identified itself with virtue1 it appropriated the whole of the fascinating power of virtue1 shamelessly1 for its own purposes 444 it availed itself of the power of paradox1 and of the need1 manifested by old civilisation1 for pepper and absurdity2 it amazed and revolted at the same time2 it provoked persecutions and ill-treatment4 ,it is the same kind of well-thought-out meanness with which the ,jewish priesthood established their power and built up their ,church4444 ,one must be able to discern3 7#a7 that warmth of passion love 7resting on a base of ardent sensuality72 7#b7 the thoroughly ignoble character of ,christianity3--the continual exaggeration and verbosity2--the lack of cool intellectuality and irony2--the unmilitary character of all its instincts2--the priestly prejudices against manly pride1 sensuality1 the sciences1 the arts4 #agc4 ,paul3 seeks power against ruling ,judaism1--his attempt is too weak4444 ,transvaluation of the notion ,jew3 the race is put aside3 but that means denying the very basis of the whole structure4 ,the martyr1 the fanatic1 the value of all strong belief4 ,christianity is the form of decay of the old world1 after the latter's collapse1 and it is characterised by the fact that it brings all the most sickly and unhealthy elements and needs to the top4 ,consequently other instincts had to step into the foreground1 in order to constitute an entity1 a power able to stand alone--in short1 a condition of tense sorrow was necessary1 like that out of which the ,jews had derived their instinct of self-preservation4444 ,the persecution of ,christians was invaluable for this purpose4 ,unity in the face of danger2 the conversion of the masses becomes the only means of putting an end to the persecution of the individual4 7,the notion conversion is therefore made as elastic as possible47 #agd4 ,the ,christian ,judaic life3 here resentment did not prevail4 ,the great persecutions alone could have driven out the passions to that extent--as also the ardour of love and hate4 ,when the creatures a man most loves are sacrificed before his eyes for the sake of his faith1 that man becomes aggressive2 the triumph of ,christianity is due to its persecutors4 ,asceticism is not specifically ,christian3 this is what ,schopenhauer misunderstood4 ,it only shoots up in ,christianity1 wherever it would have existed without that religion4 ,melancholy ,christianity1 the torture and torment of the conscience1 also only a peculiarity of a particular soil1 where ,christian values have taken root3 it is not ,christianity properly speaking4 ,christianity has absorbed all the different kinds of diseases which grow from morbid soil3 one could refute it at one blow by showing that it did not know how to resist any contagion4 ,but that precisely is the essential feature of it4 ,christianity is a type of decadence4 #age4 ,the reality on which ,christianity was able to build up its power consisted of the small dispersed ,jewish families1 with their warmth1 tenderness1 and peculiar readiness to help1 which1 to the whole of the ,roman ,empire1 was perhaps the most incomprehensible and least familiar of their characteristics2 they were also united by their pride at being a chosen people1 concealed beneath a cloak of humility1 and by their secret denial of all that was uppermost and that possessed power and splendour1 although there was no shade of envy in their denial4 ,to have recognised this as a power1 to have regarded this blessed state as communicable1 seductive1 and infectious even where pagans were concerned--this constituted ,paul's genius3 to use up the treasure of latent energy and cautious happiness for the purposes of a ,jewish ,church of free confession1 and to avail himself of all the ,jewish experience1 their propaganda1 and their expertness in the preservation of a community under a foreign power--this is what he conceived to be his duty4 ,he it was who discovered that absolutely unpolitical and isolated body of paltry people1 and their art of asserting themselves and pushing themselves to the front1 by means of a host of acquired virtues which are made to represent the only forms of virtue 7the self-preservative measure and weapon of success of a certain class of man74 ,the principle of love comes from the small community of ,jewish people3 a very passionate soul glows here1 beneath the ashes of humility and wretchedness3 it is neither ,greek1 ,indian1 nor ,german4 ,the song in praise of love which ,paul wrote is not ,christian2 it is the ,jewish flare of that eternal flame which is ,semitic4 ,if ,christianity has done anything essentially new in a psychological sense1 it is this1 that it has increased the temperature of the soul among those cooler and more noble races who were at one time at the head of affairs2 it discovered that the most wretched life could be made rich and invaluable1 by means of an elevation of the temperature of the soul4444 ,it is easily understood that a transfer of this sort could not take place among the ruling classes3 the ,jews and ,christians were at a disadvantage owing to their bad manners--spiritual strength and passion1 when accompanied by bad manners1 only provoke loathing 7,i become aware of these bad manners while reading the ,new ,testament74 ,it was necessary to be related both in baseness and sorrow with this type of lower manhood in order to feel anything attractive in him4444 ,the attitude a man maintains towards the ,new ,testament is a test of the amount of taste he may have for the classics 7see ,tacitus72 he who is not revolted by it1 he who does not feel honestly and deeply that he is in the presence of a sort of fda superstitio when reading it1 and who does not draw his hand back so as not to soil his fingers--such a man does not know what is classical4 ,a man must feel about the cross as ,goethe did4#a ,footnote #a3 ,vieles kann ich ertragen4 ,die meisten beschwerlichen ,dinge ,duld' ich mit ruhigem ,mut1 wie es ein ,gott mir gebeut4 ,wenige sind mir jedoch wie ,gift und ,schlange zuwider2 ,viere3 ,rauch des ,tabaks1 ,wanzen1 und ,knoblauch und ,goethe's ,venetian ,epigrams1 ,no4 #fg4 ,much can ,i bear4 ,things the most irksome ,i endure with such patience as comes from a god4 ,four things1 however1 repulse me like venom3--,tobacco smoke1 garlic1 bugs1 and the cross4 7,,translator',s ,,note47 #agf4 ,the reaction of paltry people3--,love provides the feeling of highest power4 ,it should be understood to what extent1 not man in general1 but only a certain kind of man is speaking here4 ,we are godly in love1 we shall be 'the children of ,god'2 ,god loves us and wants nothing from us save love2 that is to say3 all morality1 obedience1 and action1 do not produce the same feeling of power and freedom as love does2--a man does nothing wicked from sheer love1 but he does much more than if he were prompted by obedience and virtue alone4 ,here is the happiness of the herd1 the communal feeling in big things as in small1 the living sentiment of unity felt as the sum of the feeling of life4 ,helping1 caring for1 and being useful1 constantly kindle the feeling of power2 visible success1 the expression of pleasure1 emphasise the feeling of power2 pride is not lacking either1 it is felt in the form of the community1 the ,house of ,god1 and the chosen people4 ,as a matter of fact1 man has once more experienced an altration of his personality3 this time he called his feeling of love--,god4 ,the awakening of such a feeling must be pictured2 it is a sort of ecstasy1 a strange language1 a ,gospel--it was this newness which did not allow man to attribute love to himself--he thought it was ,god leading him on and taking shape in his heart4 ,god descends among men1 one's neighbour is transfigured and becomes a ,god 7in so far as he provokes the sentiment of love71 ,jesus is the neighbour1 the moment ,he is transfigured in thought into a ,god1 and into a cause provoking the feeling of power4 #agg4 ,believers are aware that they owe an infinite amount to ,christianity1 and therefore conclude that its ,founder must have been a man of the first rank4444 ,this conclusion is false1 but it is typical of the reverents4 ,regarded objectively1 it is1 in the first place1 just possible that they are mistaken concerning the extent of their debt to ,christianity3 a man's convictions prove nothing concerning the thing he is convinced about1 and in religions they are more likely to give rise to suspicions4444 ,secondly1 it is possible that the debt owing to ,christianity is not due to its ,founder at all1 but to the whole structure1 the whole thing--to the ,church1 etc4 ,the notion ,founder is so very equivocal1 that it may stand even for the accidental cause of a movement3 the person of the ,founder has been inflated in proportion as the ,church has grown3 but even this process of veneration allows of the conclusion that1 at one time or other1 this ,founder was something exceedingly insecure and doubtful--in the beginning4444 ,let any one think of the free and easy way in which ,paul treats the problem of the personality of ,jesus1 how he almost juggles with it3 some one who died1 who was seen after ,his death1--some one whom the ,jews delivered up to death--all this was only the theme--,paul wrote the music to it4 #agh4 ,the founder of a religion may be quite insignificant--a wax vesta and no more6 #agi4 ,concerning the psychological problem of ,christianity4--,the driving forces are3 resentment1 popular insurrection1 the revolt of the bungled and the botched4 7,in ,buddhism it is different3 it is not born of resentment4 ,it rather combats resentment because the latter leads to action67 ,this party1 which stands for freedom1 understands that the abandonment of antagonism in thought and deed is a condition of distinction and preservation4 ,here lies the psychological difficulty which has stood in the way of ,christianity being understood3 the force which created it1 urges to a struggle against itself4 ,only as a party standing for peace and innocence can this insurrectionary movement hope to be successful3 it must conquer by means of excessive mildness1 sweetness1 softness1 and its instincts are aware of this4 ,the feat was to deny and condemn the force1 of which man is the expression1 and to press the reverse of that force continually to the fore1 by word and deed4 #ahj4 ,the pretence of youthfulness4--,it is a mistake to imagine that1 with ,christianity1 an ingenuous and youthful people rose against an old culture2 the story goes that it was out of the lowest levels of society1 where ,christianity flourished and shot its roots1 that the more profound source of life gushed forth afresh3 but nothing can be understood of the psychology of ,christianity1 if it be supposed that it was the expression of revived youth among a people1 or of the resuscitated strength of a race4 ,it is rather a typical form of decadence1 of moral-softening and of hysteria1 amid a general hotch-potch of races and people that had lost all aims and had grown weary and sick4 ,the wonderful company which gathered round this master-seducer of the populace1 would not be at all out of place in a ,russian novel3 all the diseases of the nerves seem to give one another a rendezvous in this crowd--the absence of a known duty1 the feeling that everything is nearing its end1 that nothing is any longer worth while1 and that contentment lies in dolce far niente4 ,the power and certainty of the future in the ,jew's instinct1 its monstrous will for life and for power1 lies in its ruling classes2 the people who upheld primitive ,christianity are best distinguished by this exhausted condition of their instincts4 ,on the one hand1 they are sick of everything2 on the other1 they are content with each other1 with themselves and for themselves4 #aha4 ,christianity regarded as emancipated ,judaism 7just as a nobility which is both racial and indigenous ultimately emancipates itself from these conditions1 and goes in search of kindred elements444474 7#a7 ,as a ,church 7community7 on the territory of the ,state1 as an unpolitical institution4 7#b7 ,as life1 breeding1 practice1 art of living4 7#c7 ,as a religion of sin 7sin committed against ,god1 being the only recognised kind1 and the only cause of all suffering71 with a universal cure for it4 ,there is no sin save against ,god2 what is done against men1 man shall not sit in judgment upon1 nor call to account1 except in the name of ,god4 ,at the same time1 all commandments 7love73 everything is associated with ,god1 and all acts are performed according to ,god's will4 ,beneath this arrangement there lies exceptional intelligence 7a very narrow life1 such as that led by the ,esquimaux1 can only be endured by most peaceful and indulgent people3 the ,judo-,christian dogma turns against sin in favour of the sinner74 #ahb4 ,the ,jewish priesthood understood how to present everything it claimed to be right as a divine precept1 as an act of obedience to ,god1 and also to introduce all those things which conduced to preserve ,israel and were the conditions of its existence 7for instance3 the large number of works3 circumcision and the cult of sacrifices1 as the very pivot of the national conscience71 not as ,nature1 but as ,god4 ,this process continued2 within the very heart of ,judaism1 where the need of these works was not felt 7that is to say1 as a means of keeping a race distinct71 a priestly sort of man was pictured1 whose bearing towards the aristocracy was like that of noble nature2 a sacerdotalism of the soul1 which now1 in order to throw its opposite into strong relief1 attaches value1 not to the dutiful acts themselves1 but to the sentiment4444 ,at bottom1 the problem was once again1 how to make a certain kind of soul prevail3 it was also a popular insurrection in the midst of a priestly people--a pietistic movement coming from below 7sinners1 publicans1 women1 and children74 ,jesus of ,nazareth was the symbol of their sect4 ,and again1 in order to believe in themselves1 they were in need of a theological transfiguration3 they require nothing less than the ,son of ,god in order to create a belief for themselves4 ,and just as the priesthood had falsified the whole history of ,israel1 another attempt was made1 here1 to alter and falsify the whole history of mankind in such a way as to make ,christianity seem like the most important event it contained4 ,this movement could have originated only upon the soil of ,judaism1 the main feature of which was the confounding of guilt with sorrow and the reduction of all sin to sin against ,god4 ,of all this1 ,christianity is the second degree of power4 #ahc4 ,the symbolism of ,christianity is based upon that of ,judaism1 which had already transfigured all reality 7history1 ,nature7 into a holy and artificial unreality--which refused to recognise real history1 and which showed no more interest in a natural course of things4 #ahd4 ,the ,jews made the attempt to prevail1 after two of their castes--the warrior and the agricultural castes1 had disappeared from their midst4 ,in this sense they are the castrated people3 they have their priests and then--their ,chandala4444 ,how easily a disturbance occurs among them--an insurrection of their ,chandala4 ,this was the origin of ,christianity4 ,owing to the fact that they had no knowledge of warriors except as their masters1 they introduced enmity towards the nobles1 the men of honour1 pride1 and power1 and the ruling classes1 into their religion3 they are pessimists from indignation4444 ,thus they created a very important and novel position3 the priests in the van of the ,chandala--against the noble classes4444 ,christianity was the logical conclusion of this movement3 even in the ,jewish priesthood1 it still scented the existence of the caste1 of the privileged and noble minority--it therefore did away with priests4 ,christ is the unit of the ,chandala who removes the priest 444 the ,chandala who redeems himself4444 ,that is why the ,french ,revolution is the lineal descendant and the continuator of ,christianity-- it is characterised by an instinct of hate towards castes1 nobles1 and the last privileges4 #ahe4 ,the ,christian ,ideal put on the stage with ,jewish astuteness--these are the fundamental psychological forces of its nature3-- ,revolt against the ruling spiritual powers2 ,the attempt to make those virtues which facilitate the happiness of the lowly1 a standard of all values--in fact1 to call ,god that which is no more than the self-preservative instinct of that class of man possessed of least vitality2 ,obedience and absolute abstention from war and resistance1 justified by this ideal2 ,the love of one another as a result of the love of ,god4 ,the trick3 ,the denial of all natural mobilia1 and their transference to the spiritual world beyond 444 the exploitation of virtue and its veneration for wholly interested motives1 gradual denial of virtue in everything that is not ,christian4 #ahf4 ,the profound contempt with which the ,christian was treated by the noble people of antiquity1 is of the same order as the present instinctive aversion to ,jews3 it is the hatred which free and self-respecting classes feel towards those who wish to creep in secretly1 and who combine an awkward bearing with foolish self-sufficiency4 ,the ,new ,testament is the gospel of a completely ignoble species of man2 its pretensions to highest values--yea1 to all values1 is1 as a matter of fact1 revolting--even nowadays4 #ahg4 ,how little the subject matters6 ,it is the spirit which gives the thing life6 ,what a quantity of stuffy and sick-room air there is in all that chatter about redemption1 love1 blessedness1 faith1 truth1 eternal life6 ,let any one look into a really pagan book and compare the two2 for instance1 in ,petronius1 nothing at all is done1 said1 desired1 and valued1 which1 according to a bigoted ,christian estimate1 is not sin1 or even deadly sin4 ,and yet how happy one feels with the purer air1 the superior intellectuality1 the quicker pace1 and the free overflowing strength which is certain of the future6 ,in the whole of the ,new ,testament there is not one bouffonnerie3 but that fact alone would suffice to refute any book4444 #ahh4 ,the profound lack of dignity with which all life1 which is not ,christian1 is condemned3 it does not suffice them to think meanly of their actual opponents1 they cannot do with less than a general slander of everything that is not themselves4444 ,an abject and crafty soul is in the most perfect harmony with the arrogance of piety1 as witness the early ,christians4 ,the future3 they see that they are heavily paid for it4444 ,theirs is the muddiest kind of spirit that exists4 ,the whole of ,christ's life is so arranged as to confirm the prophecies of the ,scriptures3 ,he behaves in such wise in order that they may be right4444 #ahi4 ,the deceptive interpretation of the words1 the doings1 and the condition of dying people2 the natural fear of death1 for instance1 is systematically confounded with the supposed fear of what is to happen after death4 444 #aij4 ,the ,christians have done exactly what the ,jews did before them4 ,they introduced what they conceived to be an innovation and a thing necessary to self-preservation into their ,master's teaching1 and wove ,his life into it ,they likewise credited ,him with all the wisdom of a maker of proverbs--in short1 they represented their everyday life and activity as an act of obedience1 and thus sanctified their propaganda4 ,what it all depends upon1 may be gathered from ,paul3 it is not much4 ,what remains is the development of a type of saint1 out of the values which these people regarded as saintly4 ,the whole of the doctrine of miracles1 including the resurrection1 is the result of self-glorification on the part of the community1 which ascribed to its ,master those qualities it ascribed to itself1 but in a higher degree 7or1 better still1 it derived its strength from ,him44447 #aia4 ,the ,christians have never led the life which ,jesus commanded them to lead1 and the impudent fable of the justification by faith1 and its unique and transcendental significance1 is only the result of the ,church's lack of courage and will in acknowledging those works which ,jesus commanded4 ,the ,buddhist behaves differently from the non-,buddhist2 but the ,christian behaves as all the rest of the world does1 and possesses a ,christianity of ceremonies and states of the soul4 ,the profound and contemptible falsehood of ,christianity in ,europe makes us deserve the contempt of the ,arabs1 ,hindoos1 and ,chinese4444 ,let any one listen to the words of the first ,german statesman1 concerning that which has preoccupied ,europe for the last forty years4 #aib4 ,faith or works8--,but that the works1 the habit of particular works may engender a certain set of values or thoughts1 is just as natural as it would be unnatural for works to proceed from mere valuations4 ,man must practise1 not how to strengthen feelings of value1 but how to strengthen action3 first of all1 one must be able to do something4444 ,luther's ,christian ,dilettantism4 ,faith is an asses' bridge4 ,the background consists of a profound conviction on the part of ,luther and his peers1 that they are enabled to accomplish ,christian works1 a personal fact1 disguised under an extreme doubt as to whether all action is not sin and devil's work1 so that the worth of life depends upon isolated and highly-strained conditions of inactivity 7prayer1 effusion1 etc474--,ultimately1 ,luther would be right3 the instincts which are expressed by the whole bearing of the reformers are the most brutal that exist4 ,only in turning absolutely away from themselves1 and in becoming absorbed in the opposite of themselves1 only by means of an illusion 7faith7 was existence endurable to them4 #aic4 ,what was to be done in order to believe8--an absurd question4 ,that which is wrong with ,christianity is1 that it does none of the things that ,christ commanded4 ,it is a mean life1 but seen through the eye of contempt4 #aid4 ,the entrance into the real life--a man saves his own life by living the life of the multitude4 #aie4 ,christianity has become something fundamentally different from what its ,founder wished it to be4 ,it is the great anti-pagan movement of antiquity1 formulated with the use of the life1 teaching1 and words of the ,founder of ,christianity1 but interpreted quite arbitrarily1 according to a scheme embodying profoundly different needs3 translated into the language of all the subterranean religions then existing4 ,it is the rise of ,pessimism 7whereas ,jesus wished to bring the peace and the happiness of the lambs73 and moreover the ,pessimism of the weak1 of the inferior1 of the suffering1 and of the oppressed4 ,its mortal enemies are 7#a7 ,power1 whether in the form of character1 intellect1 or taste1 and worldliness2 7#b7 the good cheer of classical times1 the noble levity and scepticism1 hard pride1 eccentric dissipation1 and cold frugality of the sage1 ,greek refinement in manners1 words1 and form4 ,its mortal enemy is as much the ,roman as the ,greek4 ,the attempt on the part of anti-paganism to establish itself on a philosophical basis1 and to make its tenets possible3 it shows a taste for the ambiguous figures of antique culture1 and above all for ,plato1 who was1 more than any other1 an anti-,hellene and ,semite in instinct4444 ,it also shows a taste for ,stoicism1 which is essentially the work of ,semites 7dignity is regarded as severity1 law2 virtue is held to be greatness1 self-responsibility1 authority1 greatest sovereignty over oneself--this is ,semitic47 ,the ,stoic is an ,arabian sheik wrapped in ,greek togas and notions4 #aif4 ,christianity only resumes the fight which had already been begun against the classical ideal and noble religion4 ,as a matter of fact1 the whole process of transformation is only an adaptation to the needs and to the level of intelligence of religious masses then existing3--those masses which believed in ,isis1 ,mithras1 ,dionysos1 and the great mother1 and which demanded the following things of a religion3 7#a7 hopes of a beyond1 7#b7 the bloody phantasmagoria of animal sacrifice 7the mystery71 7#c7 holy legend and the redeeming deed1 7#d7 asceticism1 denial of the world1 superstitious purification1 7#e7 a hierarchy as a part of the community4 ,in short1 ,christianity everywhere fitted the already prevailing and increasing anti-pagan tendency--those cults which ,epicurus combated1--or more exactly1 those religions proper to the lower herd1 women1 slaves1 and ignoble classes4 ,the misunderstandings are therefore the following3-- 7#a7 ,the immortality of the individual2 7#b7 ,the assumed existence of another world2 7#c7 ,the absurd notion of punishment and expiation in the heart of the interpretation of existence2 7#d7 ,the profanation of the divine nature of man1 instead of its accentuation1 and the construction of a very profound chasm1 which can only be crossed by the help of a miracle or by means of the most thorough self-contempt2 7#e7 ,the whole world of corrupted imagination and morbid passion1 instead of a simple and loving life of action1 instead of ,buddhistic happiness attainable on earth2 7#f7 ,an ecclesiastical order with a priesthood1 theology1 cults1 and sacraments2 in short1 everything that ,jesus of ,nazareth combated2 7#g7 ,the miraculous in everything and everybody1 superstition too3 while precisely the trait which distinguished ,judaism and primitive ,christianity was their repugnance to miracles and their relative rationalism4 #aig4 ,the psychological pre-requisites3--,ignorance and lack of culture1--the sort of ignorance which has unlearned every kind of shame3 let any one imagine those impudent saints in the heart of ,athens2 ,the ,jewish instinct of a chosen people3 they appropriate all the virtues1 without further ado1 as their own1 and regard the rest of the world as their opposite2 this is a profound sign of spiritual depravity2 ,the total lack of real aims and real duties1 for which other virtues are required than those of the bigot--the ,state undertook this work for them3 and the impudent people still behaved as though they had no need of the ,state4 ,except ye become as little children --oh1 how far we are from this psychological ingenuousness6 #aih4 ,the ,founder of ,christianity had to pay dearly for having directed ,his teaching at the lowest classes of ,jewish society and intelligence4 ,they understood ,him only according to the limitations of their own spirit4 444 ,it was a disgrace to concoct a history of salvation1 a personal ,god1 a personal ,saviour1 a personal immortality1 and to have retained all the meanness of the person1 and of the history of a doctrine which denies the reality of all that is personal and historical4 ,the legend of salvation takes the place of the symbolic now and all time1 of the symbolic here and everywhere2 and miracles appear instead of the psychological symbol4 #aii4 ,nothing is less innocent than the ,new ,testament4 ,the soil from which it sprang is known4 ,these people1 possessed of an inflexible will to assert themselves1 and who1 once they had lost all natural hold on life1 and had long existed without any right to existence1 still knew how to prevail by means of hypotheses which were as unnatural as they were imaginary 7calling themselves the chosen people1 the community of saints1 the people of the promised land1 and the ,church73 these people made use of their pia fraus with such skill1 and with such clean consciences1 that one cannot be too cautious when they preach morality4 ,when ,jews step forward as the personification of innocence1 the danger must be great4 ,while reading the ,new ,testament a man should have his small fund of intelligence1 mistrust1 and wickedness constantly at hand4 ,people of the lowest origin1 partly mob1 outcasts not only from good society1 but also from respectable society2 grown away from the atmosphere of culture1 and free from discipline2 ignorant1 without even a suspicion of the fact that conscience can also rule in spiritual matters2 in a word--the ,jews3 an instinctively crafty people1 able to create an advantage1 a means of seduction out of every conceivable hypothesis of superstition1 even out of ignorance itself4 #bjj4 ,i regard ,christianity as the most fatal and seductive lie that has ever yet existed--as the greatest and most impious lie3 ,i can discern the last sprouts and branches of its ideal beneath every form of disguise1 ,i decline to enter into any compromise or false position in reference to it--,i urge people to declare open war with it4 ,the morality of paltry people as the measure of all things3 this is the most repugnant kind of degeneracy that civilisation has ever yet brought into existence4 ,and this kind of ideal is hanging still1 under the name of ,god1 over men's heads66 #bja4 ,however modest one's demands may be concerning intellectual cleanliness1 when one touches the ,new ,testament one cannot help experiencing a sort of inexpressible feeling of discomfort2 for the unbounded cheek with which the least qualified people will have their say in its pages1 in regard to the greatest problems of existence1 and claim to sit in judgment on such matters1 exceeds all limits4 ,the impudent levity with which the most unwieldy problems are spoken of here 7life1 the world1 ,god1 the purpose of life71 as if they were not problems at all1 but the most simple things which these little bigots know all about666 #bjb4 ,this was the most fatal form of insanity that has ever yet existed on earth3--when these little lying abortions of bigotry begin laying claim to the words ,god1 last judgment1 truth1 love1 wisdom1 ,holy ,spirit1 and thereby distinguishing themselves from the rest of the world2 when such men begin to transvalue values to suit themselves1 as though they were the sense1 the salt1 the standard1 and the measure of all things2 then all that one should do is this3 build lunatic asylums for their incarceration4 ,to persecute them was an egregious act of antique folly3 this was taking them too seriously2 it was making them serious4 ,the whole fatality was made possible by the fact that a similar form of megalomania was already in existence1 the ,jewish form 7once the gulf separating the ,jews from the ,christian-,jews was bridged1 the ,christian-,jews were compelled to employ those self-preservative measures afresh which were discovered by the ,jewish instinct1 for their own self-preservation1 after having accentuated them72 and again through the fact that ,greek moral philosophy had done everything that could be done to prepare the way for moral-fanaticism1 even among ,greeks and ,romans1 and to render it palatable4444 ,plato1 the great importer of corruption1 who was the first who refused to see ,nature in morality1 and who had already deprived the ,greek gods of all their worth by his notion good was already tainted with ,jewish bigotry 7in ,egypt874 #bjc4 ,these small virtues of gregarious animals do not by any means lead to eternal life3 to put them on the stage in such a way1 and to use them for one's own purpose is perhaps very smart2 but to him who keeps his eyes open1 even here1 it remains1 in spite of all1 the most ludicrous performance4 ,a man by no means deserves privileges1 either on earth or in heaven1 because he happens to have attained to perfection in the art of behaving like a good-natured little sheep2 at best1 he only remains a dear1 absurd little ram with horns--provided1 of course1 he does not burst with vanity or excite indignation by assuming the airs of a supreme judge4 ,what a terrible glow of false colouring here floods the meanest virtues--as though they were the reflection of divine qualities6 ,the natural purpose and utility of every virtue is systematically hushed up2 it can only be valuable in the light of a divine command or model1 or in the light of the good which belongs to a beyond or a spiritual world4 7,this is magnificent6--,as if it were a question of the salvation of the soul3 but it was a means of making things bearable here with as many beautiful sentiments as possible47 #bjd4 ,the law1 which is the fundamentally realistic formula of certain self-preservative measures of a community1 forbids certain actions that have a definite tendency to jeopardise the welfare of that community3 it does not forbid the attitude of mind which gives rise to these actions--for in the pursuit of other ends the community requires these forbidden actions1 namely1 when it is a matter of opposing its enemies4 ,the moral idealist now steps forward and says3 ,god sees into men's hearts3 the action itself counts for nothing2 the reprehensible attitude of mind from which it proceeds must be extirpated 444 ,in normal conditions men laugh at such things2 it is only in exceptional cases1 when a community lives quite beyond the need of waging war in order to maintain itself1 that an ear is lent to such things4 ,any attitude of mind is abandoned1 the utility of which cannot be conceived4 ,this was the case1 for example1 when ,buddha appeared among a people that was both peaceable and afflicted with great intellectual weariness4 ,this was also the case in regard to the first ,christian community 7as also the ,jewish71 the primary condition of which was the absolutely unpolitical ,jewish society4 ,christianity could grow only upon the soil of ,judaism--that is to say1 among a people that had already renounced the political life1 and which led a sort of parasitic existence within the ,roman sphere of government1 ,christianity goes a step farther3 it allows men to emasculate themselves even more2 the circumstances actually favour their doing so4--,nature is expelled from morality when it is said1 ,love ye your enemies3 for ,nature's injunction1 ,ye shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy1 has now become senseless in the law 7in instinct72 now1 even the love a man feels for his neighbour must first be based upon something 7a sort of love of ,god74 ,god is introduced everywhere1 and utility is withdrawn2 the natural origin of morality is denied everywhere3 the veneration of ,nature1 which lies in acknowledging a natural morality1 is destroyed to the roots4444 ,whence comes the seductive charm of this emasculate ideal of man8 ,why are we not disgusted by it1 just as we are disgusted at the thought of a eunuch8444 ,the answer is obvious3 it is not the voice of the eunuch that revolts us1 despite the cruel mutilation of which it is the result2 for1 as a matter of fact1 it has grown sweeter4444 ,and owing to the very fact that the male organ has been amputated from virtue1 its voice now has a feminine ring1 which1 formerly1 was not to be discerned4 ,on the other hand1 we have only to think of the terrible hardness1 dangers1 and accidents to which a life of manly virtues leads--the life of a ,corsican1 even at the present day1 or that of a heathen ,arab 7which resembles the ,corsican's life even to the smallest detail3 the ,arab's songs might have been written by ,corsicans7--in order to perceive how the most robust type of man was fascinated and moved by the voluptuous ring of this goodness and purity4 444 ,a pastoral melody 444 an idyll 444 the good man3 such things have most effect in ages when tragedy is abroad4 999999 ,with this1 we have realised to what extent the idealist 7the ideal eunuch7 also proceeds from a definite reality and is not merely a visionary4444 ,he has perceived precisely that1 for his kind of reality1 a brutal injunction of the sort which prohibits certain actions has no sense 7because the instinct which would urge him to these actions is weakened1 thanks to a long need of practice1 and of compulsion to practise74 ,the castrator formulates a host of new self-preservative measures for a perfectly definite species of men3 in this sense he is a realist4 ,the means to which he has recourse for establishing his legislation1 are the same as those of ancient legislators3 he appeals to all authorities1 to ,god1 and he exploits the notions guilt and punishment--that is to say1 he avails himself of the whole of the older ideal1 but interprets it differently2 for instance3 punishment is given a place in the inner self 7it is called the pang of conscience74 ,in practice this kind of man meets with his end the moment the exceptional conditions favouring his existence cease to prevail--a sort of insular happiness1 like that of ,tahiti1 and of the little ,jews in the ,roman provinces4 ,their only natural foe is the soil from which they spring3 they must wage war against that1 and once more give their offensive and defensive passions rope in order to be equal to it3 their opponents are the adherents of the old ideal 7this kind of hostility is shown on a grand scale by ,paul in relation to ,judaism1 and by ,luther in relation to the priestly ascetic ideal74 ,the mildest form of this antagonism is certainly that of the first ,buddhists2 perhaps nothing has given rise to so much work1 as the enfeeblement and discouragement of the feeling of antagonism4 ,the struggle against resentment almost seems the ,buddhist's first duty2 thus only is his peace of soul secured4 ,to isolate oneself without bitterness1 this presupposes the existence of a surprisingly mild and sweet order of men1--saints4444 999999 ,the ,astuteness of moral castration4--,how is war waged against the virile passions and valuations8 ,no violent physical means are available2 the war must therefore be one of ruses1 spells1 and lies--in short1 a spiritual war4 ,first recipe3 ,one appropriates virtue in general1 and makes it the main feature of one's ideal2 the older ideal is denied and declared to be the reverse of all ideals4 ,slander has to be carried to a fine art for this purpose4 ,second recipe3 ,a type of man is set up as a general standard2 and this is projected into all things1 behind all things1 and behind the destiny of all things--as ,god4 ,third recipe3 ,the opponents of one's ideal are declared to be the opponents of ,god2 one arrogates to oneself a right to great pathos1 to power1 and a right to curse and to bless4 ,fourth recipe3 ,all suffering1 all gruesome1 terrible1 and fatal things are declared to be the results of opposition to ones ideal--all suffering is punishment even in the case of one's adherents 7except it be a trial1 etc474 ,fifth recipe3 ,one goes so far as to regard ,nature as the reverse of one's ideal1 and the lengthy sojourn amid natural conditions is considered a great trial of patience--a sort of martyrdom2 one studies contempt1 both in one's attitudes and one's looks towards all natural things4 ,sixth recipe3 ,the triumph of anti-naturalism and ideal castration1 the triumph of the world of the pure1 good1 sinless1 and blessed1 is projected into the future as the consummation1 the finale1 the great hope1 and the ,coming of the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,i hope that one may still be allowed to laugh at this artificial hoisting up of a small species of man to the position of an absolute standard of all things8 #bje4 ,what ,i do not at all like in ,jesus of ,nazareth and ,his ,apostle ,paul1 is that they stuffed so much into the heads of paltry people1 as if their modest virtues were worth so much ado4 ,we have had to pay dearly for it all2 for they brought the most valuable qualities of both virtue and man into ill repute2 they set the guilty conscience and the self-respect of noble souls at loggerheads1 and they led the braver1 more magnanimous1 more daring1 and more excessive tendencies of strong souls astray--even to self-destruction4 #bjf4 ,in the ,new ,testament1 and especially in the ,gospels1 ,i discern absolutely no sign of a ,divine voice3 but rather an indirect form of the most subterranean fury1 both in slander and destructiveness--one of the most dishonest forms of hatred4 ,it lacks all knowledge of the qualities of a higher nature4 ,it makes an impudent abuse of all kinds of plausibilities1 and the whole stock of proverbs is used up and foisted upon one in its pages4 ,was it necessary to make a ,god come in order to appeal to those publicans and to say to them1 etc4 etc48 ,nothing could be more vulgar than this struggle with the ,pharisees1 carried on with a host of absurd and unpractical moral pretences2 the mob1 of course1 has always been entertained by such feats4 ,fancy the reproach of hypocrisy6 coming from those lips6 ,nothing could be more vulgar than this treatment of one's opponents--a most insidious sign of nobility or its reverse4444 #bjg4 ,primitive ,christianity is the abolition of the ,state3 it prohibits oaths1 military service1 courts of justice1 self-defence or the defence of a community1 and denies the difference between fellow-countrymen and strangers1 as also the order of castes4 ,christs example2 ,he does not withstand those who ill-treat ,him2 ,he does not defend ,himself2 ,he does more1 ,he offers the left cheek 7to the demand3 ,tell us whether thou be the ,christ8 ,he replies3 ,hereafter shall ye see the ,son of man sitting on the right hand of power1 and coming in the clouds of heaven74 ,he forbids ,his disciples to defend ,him2 ,he calls attention to the fact that ,he could get help if ,he wished to1 but will not4 ,christianity also means the abolition of society1 it prizes everything that society despises1 its very growth takes place among the outcasts1 the condemned1 and the leprous of all kinds1 as also among publicans1 sinners1 prostitutes1 and the most foolish of men 7the fisher folk 72 it despises the rich1 the scholarly1 the noble1 the virtuous1 and the punctilious4 444 #bjh4 ,the war against the noble and the powerful1 as it is waged in the ,new ,testament1 is reminiscent of ,reynard the ,fox and his methods3 but plus the ,christian unction and the more absolute refusal to recognise one's own craftiness4 #bji4 ,the ,gospel is the announcement that the road to happiness lies open for the lowly and the poor--that all one has to do is to emancipate one's self from all institutions1 traditions1 and the tutelage of the higher classes4 ,thus ,christianity is no more than the typical teaching of ,socialists4 ,property1 acquisitions1 mother-country1 status and rank1 tribunals1 the police1 the ,state1 the ,church1 ,education1 ,art1 militarism3 all these are so many obstacles in the way of happiness1 so many mistakes1 snares1 and devil's artifices1 on which the ,gospel passes sentence--all this is typical of socialistic doctrines4 ,behind all this there is the outburst1 the explosion1 of a concentrated loathing of the masters1--the instinct which discerns the happiness of freedom after such long oppression4444 7,mostly a symptom of the fact that the inferior classes have been treated too humanely1 that their tongues already taste a joy which is forbidden them4444 ,it is not hunger that provokes revolutions1 but the fact that the mob have contracted an appetite en mangeant44447 #baj4 ,let the ,new ,testament only be read as a book of seduction3 in it virtue is appropriated1 with the idea that public opinion is best won with it1--and as a matter of fact it is a very modest kind of virtue1 which recognises only the ideal gregarious animal and nothing more 7including1 of course1 the herdsmen73 a puny1 soft1 benevolent1 helpful1 and gushingly-satisfied kind of virtue which to the outside world is quite devoid of pretensions1--and which separates the world entirely from itself4 ,the crassest arrogance which fancies that the destiny of man turns around it1 and it alone1 and that on the one side the community of believers represents what is right1 and on the other the world represents what is false and eternally to be reproved and rejected4 ,the most imbecile hatred of all things in power1 which1 however1 never goes so far as to touch these things4 ,a kind of inner detachment which1 outwardly1 leaves everything as it was 7servitude and slavery2 and knowing how to convert everything into a means of serving ,god and virtue74 #baa4 ,christianity is possible as the most private form of life2 it presupposes the existence of a narrow1 isolated1 and absolutely unpolitical society--it belongs to the conventicle4 ,on the other hand1 a ,christian ,state1 ,christian politics1 are pieces of downright impudence2 they are lies1 like1 for instance1 a ,christian leadership of an army1 which in the end regards the ,god of hosts as chief of the staff4 ,even the ,papacy has never been able to carry on politics in a ,christian way4442 and when ,reformers indulge in politics1 as ,luther did1 it is well known that they are just as ardent followers of ,machiavelli as any other immoralists or tyrants4 #bab4 ,christianity is still possible at any moment4 ,it is not bound to any one of the impudent dogmas that have adorned themselves with its name3 it needs neither the teaching of the personal ,god1 nor of sin1 nor of immortality1 nor of redemption1 nor of faith2 it has absolutely no need whatever of metaphysics1 and it needs asceticism and ,christian natural science still less4 ,christianity is a method of life1 not a system of belief4 ,it tells us how we should behave1 not what we should believe4 ,he who says to-day3 ,i refuse to be a soldier1 ,i care not for tribunals1 ,i lay no claim to the services of the police1 ,i will not do anything that disturbs the peace within me3 and if ,i must suffer on that account1 nothing can so well maintain my inward peace as suffering--such a man would be a ,christian4 #bac4 ,concerning the history of ,christianity4--,continual change of environment3 ,christian teaching is thus continually changing its centre of gravity4 ,the favouring of low and paltry people4444 ,the development of ,caritas4444 ,the type ,christian gradually adopts everything that it originally rejected 7and in the rejection of which it asserted its right to exist74 ,the ,christian becomes a citizen1 a soldier1 a judge1 a workman1 a merchant1 a scholar1 a theologian1 a priest1 a philosopher1 a farmer1 an artist1 a patriot1 a politician1 a prince 444 he re-enters all those departments of active life which he had forsworn 7he defends himself1 he establishes tribunals1 he punishes1 he swears1 he differentiates between people and people1 he contemns1 and he shows anger74 ,the whole life of the ,christian is ultimately exactly that life from which ,christ preached deliverance4444 ,the ,church is just as much a factor in the triumph of the ,antichrist1 as the modern ,state and modern ,nationalism4444 ,the ,church is the barbarisation of ,christianity4 #bad4 ,among the powers that have mastered ,christianity are3 ,judaism 7,paul72 ,platonism 7,augustine72 ,the cult of mystery 7the teaching of salvation1 the emblem of the cross72 ,asceticism 7hostility towards ,nature1 ,reason1 the senses1--the ,orient 44474 #bae4 ,christianity is a denaturalisation of gregarious morality3 under the power of the most complete misapprehensions and self-deceptions4 ,democracy is a more natural form of it1 and less sown with falsehood4 ,it is a fact that the oppressed1 the low1 and whole mob of slaves and half-castes1 will prevail4 ,first step3 they make themselves free--they detach themselves1 at first in fancy only2 they recognise each other2 they make themselves paramount4 ,second step3 they enter the lists1 they demand acknowledgment1 equal rights1 ,justice4 ,third step3 they demand privileges 7they draw the representatives of power over to their side74 ,fourth step3 they alone want all power1 and they have it4 ,there are three elements in ,christianity which must be distinguished3 7a7 the oppressed of all kinds1 7b7 the mediocre of all kinds1 7c7 the dissatisfied and diseased of all kinds4 ,the first struggle against the politically noble and their ideal2 the second contend with the exceptions and those who are in any way privileged 7mentally or physically72 the third oppose the natural instinct of the happy and the sound4 ,whenever a triumph is achieved1 the second element steps to the fore2 for then ,christianity has won over the sound and happy to its side 7as warriors in its cause71 likewise the powerful 7interested to this extent in the conquest of the crowd7--and now it is the gregarious instinct1 that mediocre nature which is valuable in every respect1 that now gets its highest sanction through ,christianity4 ,this mediocre nature ultimately becomes so conscious of itself 7gains such courage in regard to its own opinions71 that it arrogates to itself even political power4444 ,democracy is ,christianity made natural3 a sort of return to ,nature1 once ,christianity1 owing to extreme anti-naturalness1 might have been overcome by the opposite valuation4 ,result3 the aristocratic ideal begins to lose its natural character 7the higher man1 noble1 artist1 passion1 knowledge2 ,romanticism as the cult of the exceptional1 genius1 etc4 etc474 #baf4 ,when the masters may also become ,christians4--,it is of the nature of a community 7race1 family1 herd1 tribe7 to regard all those conditions and aspirations which favour its survival1 as in themselves valuable2 for instance3 obedience1 mutual assistance1 respect1 moderation1 pity--as also1 to suppress everything that happens to stand in the way of the above4 ,it is likewise of the nature of the rulers 7whether they are individuals or classes7 to patronise and applaud those virtues which make their subjects amenable and submissive--conditions and passions which may be utterly different from their own4 ,the gregarious instinct and the instinct of the rulers sometimes agree in approving of a certain number of qualities and conditions1--but for different reasons3 the first do so out of direct egoism1 the second out of indirect egoism4 ,the submission to ,christianity on the part of master races is essentially the result of the conviction that ,christianity is a religion for the herd1 that it teaches obedience3 in short1 that ,christians are more easily ruled than non-,christians4 ,with a hint of this nature1 the ,pope1 even nowadays1 recommends ,christian propaganda to the ruling ,sovereign of ,china4 ,it should also be added that the seductive power of the ,christian ideal works most strongly upon natures that love danger1 adventure1 and contrasts2 that love everything that entails a risk1 and wherewith a non plus ultra of powerful feeling may be attained4 ,in this respect1 one has only to think of ,saint ,theresa1 surrounded by the heroic instincts of her brothers3--,christianity appears in those circumstances as a dissipation of the will1 as strength of will1 as a will that is ,quixotic4 #c4 ,,christian ,,ideals4 #bag4 ,war against the ,christian ideal1 against the doctrine of blessedness and salvation as the aims of life1 against the supremacy of the fools1 of the pure in heart1 of the suffering and of the botched6 ,when and where has any man1 of any note at all1 resembled the ,christian ideal8--at least in the eyes of those who are psychologists and triers of the heart and reins4 ,look at all ,plutarch's heroes6 #bah4 ,our claim to superiority3 we live in an age of ,comparisons2 we are able to calculate as men have never yet calculated2 in every way we are history become self-conscious4 ,we enjoy things in a different way2 we suffer in a different way3 our instinctive activity is the comparison of an enormous variety of things4 ,we understand everything2 we experience everything1 we no longer have a hostile feeling left within us4 ,however disastrous the results may be to ourselves1 our plunging and almost lustful inquisitiveness1 attacks1 unabashed1 the most dangerous of subjects4444 ,everything is good--it gives us pain to say nay to anything4 ,we suffer when we feel that we are sufficiently foolish to make a definite stand against anything4444 ,at bottom1 it is we scholars who to-day are fulfilling ,christ's teaching most thoroughly4 #bai4 ,we cannot suppress a certain irony when we contemplate those who think they have overcome ,christianity by means of modern natural science4 ,christian values are by no means overcome by such people4 ,christ on the cross is still the most sublime symbol--even now4444 #bbj4 ,the two great ,nihilistic movements are3 7a7 ,buddhism1 7b7 ,christianity4 ,the latter has only just about reached a state of culture in which it can fulfil its original object1--it has found its level1--and now it can manifest itself without disguise44444 #bba4 ,we have re-established the ,christian ideal1 it now only remains to determine its value4 7#a7 ,which values does it deny8 ,what does the ideal that opposes it stand for8--,pride1 pathos of distance1 great responsibility1 exuberant spirits1 splendid animalism1 the instincts of war and of conquest2 the deification of passion1 revenge1 cunning1 anger1 voluptuousness1 adventure1 knowledge--the noble ideal is denied3 the beauty1 wisdom1 power1 pomp1 and awfulness of the type man3 the man who postulates aims1 the future man 7here ,christianity presents itself as the logical result of ,judaism74 7#b7 ,can it be realised8--,yes1 of course1 when the climatic conditions are favourable--as in the case of the ,indian ideal4 ,both neglect the factor work4--,it separates a creature from a people1 a state1 a civilised community1 and jurisdiction2 it rejects education1 wisdom1 the cultivation of good manners1 acquisition and commerce2 it cuts adrift everything which is of use and value to men--by means of an idiosyncrasy of sentiment it isolates a man4 ,it is non-political1 anti-national1 neither aggressive nor defensive1--and only possible within a strictly-ordered ,state or state of society1 which allows these holy parasites to flourish at the cost of their neighbours44444 7#c7 ,it has now become the will to be happy--and nothing else6 ,blessedness stands for something self-evident1 that no longer requires any justification--everything else 7the way to live and let live7 is only a means to an end4444 ,but what follows is the result of a low order of thought1 the fear of pain1 of defilement1 of corruption1 is great enough to provide ample grounds for allowing everything to go to the dogs4444 ,this is a poor way of thinking1 and is the sign of an exhausted race2 we must not allow ourselves to be deceived4 7,become as little children4 ,natures of the same order3 ,francis of ,assisi1 neurotic1 epileptic1 visionary1 like ,jesus47 #bbb4 ,the higher man distinguishes himself from the lower by his fearlessness and his readiness to challenge misfortune3 it is a sign of degeneration when eudemonistic values begin to prevail 7physiological fatigue and enfeeblement of will-power74 ,christianity1 with its prospect of blessedness1 is the typical attitude of mind of a suffering and impoverished species of man4 ,abundant strength will be active1 will suffer1 and will go under3 to it the bigotry of ,christian salvation is bad music and hieratic posing and vexation4 #bbc4 ,poverty1 humility1 and chastity are dangerous and slanderous ideals2 but like poisons1 which are useful cures in the case of certain diseases1 they were also necessary in the time of the ,roman ,empire4 ,all ideals are dangerous3 because they lower and brand realities2 they are all poisons1 but occasionally indispensable as cures4 #bbd4 ,god created man1 happy1 idle1 innocent1 and immortal3 our actual life is a false1 decadent1 and sinful existence1 a punishment4444 ,suffering1 struggle1 work1 and death are raised as objections against life1 they make life questionable1 unnatural--something that must cease1 and for which one not only requires but also has--remedies6 ,since the time of ,adam1 man has been in an abnormal state3 ,god ,himself delivered up ,his ,son for ,adam's sin1 in order to put an end to the abnormal condition of things3 the natural character of life is a curse2 to those who believe in ,him1 ,christ restores normal life3 ,he makes them happy1 idle1 and innocent4 ,but the world did not become fruitful without labour2 women do not bear children without pain2 illness has not ceased3 believers are served just as badly as unbelievers in this respect4 ,all that has happened is1 that man is delivered from death and sin--two assertions which allow of no verification1 and which are therefore emphasised by the ,church with more than usual heartiness4 ,he is free from sin1--not owing to his own efforts1 not owing to a vigorous struggle on his part1 but redeemed by the death of the ,saviour1--consequently1 perfectly innocent and paradisaical4 ,actual life is nothing more than an illusion 7that is to say1 a deception1 an insanity74 ,the whole of struggling1 fighting1 and real existence--so full of light and shade1 is only bad and false3 everybody's duty is to be delivered from it4 ,man1 innocent1 idle1 immortal1 and happy--this concept1 which is the object of the most supreme desires1 must be criticised before anything else4 ,why should guilt1 work1 death1 and pain 7and1 from the ,christian point of view1 also knowledge 4447 be contrary to all supreme desires8--,the lazy ,christian notions3 blessedness1 innocence1 immortality4 #bbe4 ,the eccentric concept holiness does not exist--,god and man have not been divorced from each other4 ,miracles do not exist--such spheres do not exist3 the only one to be considered is the intellectual 7that is to say1 the symbolically-psychological74 ,as decadence3 a counterpart to ,epicureanism4 444 ,paradise according to ,greek notions was only ,epicurus' ,garden4 ,a life of this sort lacks a purpose3 it strives after nothing2--a form of the ,epicurean gods--there is no longer any reason to aim at anything1--not even at having children3--everything has been done4 #bbf4 ,they despised the body3 they did not reckon with it3 nay1 more--they treated it as an enemy4 ,it was their delirium to think that a man could carry a beautiful soul about in a body that was a cadaverous abortion4444 ,in order to inoculate others with this insanity they had to present the concept beautiful soul in a different way1 and to transvalue the natural value1 until1 at last1 a pale1 sickly1 idiotically exalted creature1 something angelic1 some extreme perfection and transfiguration was declared to be the higher man4 #bbg4 ,ignorance in matters psychological4--,the ,christian has no nervous system2--contempt for1 and deliberate and wilful turning away from1 the demands of the body1 and the naked body2 it is assumed that all this is in keeping with man's nature1 and must perforce work the ultimate good of the soul2--all functions of the body are systematically reduced to moral values2 illness itself is regarded as determined by morality1 it is held to be the result of sin1 or it is a trial or a state of salvation1 through which man becomes more perfect than he could become in a state of health 7,pascal's idea72 under certain circumstances1 there are wilful attempts at inducing illness4 #bbh4 ,what in sooth is this struggle against ,nature on the part of the ,christian8 ,we shall not1 of course1 let ourselves be deceived by his words and explanations4 ,it is ,nature against something which is also ,nature4 ,with many1 it is fear2 with others1 it is loathing2 with yet others1 it is the sign of a certain intellectuality1 the love of a bloodless and passionless ideal2 and in the case of the most superior men1 it is love of an abstract ,nature--these try to live up to their ideal4 ,it is easily understood that humiliation in the place of self-esteem1 anxious cautiousness towards the passions1 emancipation from the usual duties 7whereby1 a higher notion of rank is created71 the incitement to constant war on behalf of enormous issues1 habituation to effusiveness of feelings--all this goes to constitute a type3 in such a type the hypersensitiveness of a perishing body preponderates2 but the nervousness and the inspirations it engenders are interpreted differently4 ,the taste of this kind of creature tends either 7#a7 to subtilise1 7#b7 to indulge in bombastic eloquence1 or 7#c7 to go in for extreme feelings4 ,the natural inclinations do get satisfied1 but they are interpreted in a new way2 for instance1 as justification before ,god1 the feeling of redemption through grace1 every undeniable feeling of pleasure becomes 7interpreted in this way67 pride1 voluptuousness1 etc4 ,general problem3 what will become of the man who slanders and practically denies and belittles what is natural8 ,as a matter of fact1 the ,christian is an example of exaggerated self-control3 in order to tame his passions1 he seems to find it necessary to extirpate or crucify them4 #bbi4 ,man did not know himself physiologically throughout the ages his history covers2 he does not even know himself now4 ,the knowledge1 for instance1 that man has a nervous system 7but no soul7 is still the privilege of the most educated people4 ,but man is not satisfied1 in this respect1 to say he does not know4 ,a man must be very superior to be able to say3 ,i do not know this1--that is to say1 to be able to admit his ignorance4 ,suppose he is in pain or in a good mood1 he never questions that he can find the reason of either condition if only he seeks4444 ,in truth1 he cannot find the reason2 for he does not even suspect where it lies4444 ,what happens8444 ,he takes the result of his condition for its cause2 for instance1 if he should undertake some work 7really undertaken because his good mood gave him the courage to do so7 and carry it through successfully3 behold1 the work itself is the reason of his good mood4444 ,as a matter of fact1 his success was determined by the same cause as that which brought about his good mood--that is to say1 the happy co-ordination of physiological powers and functions4 ,he feels bad3 consequently he cannot overcome a care1 a scruple1 or an attitude of self-criticism4444 ,he really fancies that his disagreeable condition is the result of his scruple1 of his sin1 or of his self-criticism4 ,but after profound exhaustion and prostration1 a state of recovery sets in4 ,how is it possible that ,i can feel so free1 so happy8 ,it is a miracle2 only a ,god could have effected this change4--,conclusion3 ,he has forgiven my sin4 444 ,from this follow certain practices3 in order to provoke feelings of sinfulness and to prepare the way for crushed spirits it is necessary to induce a condition of morbidity and nervousness in the body4 ,the methods of doing this are well known4 ,of course1 nobody suspects the causal logic of the fact3 the maceration of the flesh is interpreted religiously1 it seems like an end in itself1 whereas it is no more than a means of bringing about that morbid state of indigestion which is known as repentance 7the fixed idea of sin1 the hypnotising of the hen by-means of the chalk-line sin74 ,the mishandling of the body prepares the ground for the required range of guilty feelings--that is to say1 for that general state of pain which demands an explanation4444 ,on the other hand1 the method of salvation may also develop from the above3 every dissipation of the feelings1 whether prayers1 movements1 attitudes1 or oaths1 has been provoked1 and exhaustion follows2 very often it is acute1 or it appears in the form of epilepsy4 ,and behind this condition of deep somnolence there come signs of recovery--or1 in religious parlance1 ,salvation4 #bcj4 ,formerly1 the conditions and results of physiological exhaustion were considered more important than healthy conditions and their results1 and this was owing to the suddenness1 fearfulness1 and mysteriousness of the former4 ,men were terrified by themselves1 and postulated the existence of a higher world4 ,people have ascribed the origin of the idea of two worlds--one this side of the grave and the other beyond it--to sleep and dreams1 to shadows1 to night1 and to the fear of ,nature3 but the symptoms of physiological exhaustion should1 above all1 have been considered4 ,ancient religions have quite special methods of disciplining the pious into states of exhaustion1 in which they must experience such things4444 ,the idea was1 that one entered into a new order of things1 where everything ceases to be known4--,the semblance of a higher power4444 #bca4 ,sleep is the result of every kind of exhaustion2 exhaustion follows upon all excessive excitement4444 ,in all pessimistic religions and philosophies there is a yearning for sleep2 the very notion sleep is deified and worshipped4 ,in this case the exhaustion is racial2 sleep regarded psychologically is only a symbol of a much deeper and longer compulsion to rest4444 ,in praxi it is death which rules here in the seductive image of its brother sleep4444 #bcb4 ,the whole of the ,christian training in repentance and redemption may be regarded as a folie circulaire arbitrarily produced2 though1 of course1 it can be produced only in people who are predisposed to it--that is to say1 who have morbid tendencies in their constitutions4 #bcc4 ,against remorse and its purely psychical treatment4--,to be unable to have done with an experience is already a sign of decadence4 ,this reopening of old wounds1 this wallowing in self-contempt and depression1 is an additional form of disease2 no salvation of the soul ever results from it1 but only a new kind of spiritual illness4444 ,these conditions of salvation of which the ,christian is conscious are merely variations of the same diseased state--the interpretation of an attack of epilepsy by means of a particular formula which is provided1 not by science1 but by religious mania4 ,when a man is ill his very goodness is sickly4444 ,by far the greatest portion of the psychical apparatus which ,christianity has used1 is now classed among the various forms of hysteria and epilepsy4 ,the whole process of spiritual healing must be remodelled on a physiological basis3 the sting of conscience as such is an obstacle in the way of recovery--as soon as possible the attempt must be made to counterbalance everything by means of new actions1 so that there may be an escape from the morbidness of self-torture4444 ,the purely psychical practices of the ,church and of the various sects should be decried as dangerous to the health4 ,no invalid is ever cured by prayers or by the exorcising of evil spirits3 the states of repose which follow upon such methods of treatment1 by no means inspire confidence1 in the psychological sense4444 ,a man is healthy when he can laugh at the seriousness and ardour with which he has allowed himself to be hypnotised to any extent by any detail in his life--when his remorse seems to him like the action of a dog biting a stone--when he is ashamed of his repentance4 ,the purely psychological and religious practices1 which have existed hitherto1 only led to an alteration in the symptoms3 according to them a man had recovered when he bowed before the cross1 and swore that in future he would be a good man4444 ,but a criminal1 who1 with a certain gloomy seriousness cleaves to his fate and refuses to malign his deed once it is done1 has more spiritual health4444 ,the criminals with whom ,dostoiewsky associated in prison1 were all1 without exception1 unbroken natures1--are they not a hundred times more valuable than a broken-spirited ,christian8 7,for the treatment of pangs of conscience ,i recommend ,mitchell's ,treatment4#b7 ,footnote #b3 ,,translator',s ,,note4--,in ,the ,new ,sydenham ,society's ,lexicon of ,medicine and the ,allied ,sciences1 the following description of ,mitchell's treatment is to be found3 ,a method of treating cases of neurasthenia and hysteria 444 by removal from home1 rest in bed1 massage twice a day1 electrical excitation of the muscles1 and excessive feeding1 at first with milk4 #bcd4 ,a pang of conscience in a man is a sign that his character is not yet equal to his deed4 ,there is such a thing as a pang of conscience after good deeds3 in this case it is their unfamiliarity1 their incompatibility with an old environment4 #bce4 ,against remorse4--,i do not like this form of cowardice in regard to one's own actions1 one must not leave one's self in the lurch under the pressure of sudden shame or distress4 ,extreme pride is much more fitting here4 ,what is the good of it all in the end6 ,no deed gets undone because it is regretted1 no more than because it is forgiven or expiated4 ,a man must be a theologian in order to believe in a power that erases faults3 we immoralists prefer to disbelieve in faults4 ,we believe that all deeds1 of what kind soever1 are identically the same at root2 just as deeds which turn against us may be useful from an economical point of view1 and even generally desirable4 ,in certain individual cases1 we admit that we might well have been spared a given action2 the circumstances alone predisposed us in its favour4 ,which of us1 if favoured by circumstances1 would not already have committed every possible crime8444 ,that is why one should never say3 ,thou shouldst never have done such and such a thing1 but only3 ,how strange it is that ,i have not done such and such a thing hundreds of times already6--,as a matter of fact1 only a very small number of acts are typical acts and real epitomes of a personality1 and seeing what a small number of people really are personalities1 a single act very rarely characterises a man4 ,acts are mostly dictated by circumstances2 they are superficial or merely reflex movements performed in response to a stimulus1 long before the depths of our beings are affected or consulted in the matter4 ,a fit of temper1 a gesture1 a blow with a knife3 how little of the individual resides in these acts6--,a deed very often brings a sort of stupor or feeling of constraint in its wake3 so that the agent feels almost spellbound at its recollection1 or as though he belonged to it1 and were not an independent creature4 ,this mental disorder1 which is a form of hypnotism1 must be resisted at all costs3 surely a single deed1 whatever it be1 when it is compared with all one has done1 is nothing1 and may be deducted from the sum without making the account wrong4 ,the unfair interest which society manifests in controlling the whole of our lives in one direction1 as though the very purpose of its existence were to cultivate a certain individual act1 should not infect the man of action3 but unfortunately this happens almost continually4 ,the reason of this is1 that every deed1 if followed by unexpected consequences1 leads to a certain mental disturbance1 no matter whether the consequences be good or bad4 ,behold a lover who has been given a promise1 or a poet while he is receiving applause from an audience3 as far as intellectual torpor is concerned1 these men are in no way different from the anarchist who is suddenly confronted by a detective bearing a search warrant4 ,there are some acts which are unworthy of us3 acts which1 if they were regarded as typical1 would set us down as belonging to a lower class of man4 ,the one fault that has to be avoided here1 is to regard them as typical4 ,there is another kind of act of which we are unworthy3 exceptional acts1 born of a particular abundance of happiness and health2 they are the highest waves of our spring tides1 driven to an unusual height by a storm--an accident3 such acts and deeds are also not typical4 ,an artist should never be judged according to the measure of his works4 #bcf4 ,a4 ,in proportion as ,christianity seems necessary to-day1 man is still wild and fatal4444 ,b4 ,in another sense1 it is not necessary1 but extremely dangerous1 though it is captivating and seductive1 because it corresponds with the morbid character of whole classes and types of modern humanity1 444 they simply follow their inclinations when they aspire to ,christianity--they are decadents of all kinds4 ,a and ,b must be kept very sharply apart4 ,in the case of ,a1 ,christianity is a cure1 or at least a taming process 7under certain circumstances it serves the purpose of making people ill3 and this is sometimes useful as a means of subduing savage and brutal natures74 ,in the case of ,b1 it is a symptom of illness itself1 it renders the state of decadence more acute2 in this case it stands opposed to a corroborating system of treatment1 it is the invalid's instinct standing against that which would be most salutary to him4 #bcg4 ,on one side there are the serious1 the dignified1 and reflective people3 and on the other the barbarous1 the unclean1 and the irresponsible beasts3 it is merely a question of taming animals--and in this case the tamer must be hard1 terrible1 and awe-inspiring1 at least to his beasts4 ,all essential requirements must be imposed upon the unruly creatures with almost brutal distinctness--that is to say1 magnified a thousand times4 ,even the fulfilment of the requirement must be presented in the coarsest way possible1 so that it may command respect1 as in the case of the spiritualisation of the ,brahmins4 ,the struggle with the rabble and the herd4 ,if any degree of tameness and order has been reached1 the chasm separating these purified and regenerated people from the terrible remainder must have been bridged4444 ,this chasm is a means of increasing self-respect in higher castes1 and of confirming their belief in that which they represent--hence the ,chandala4 ,contempt and its excess are perfectly correct psychologically--that is to say1 magnified a hundred times1 so that it may at least be felt4 #bch4 ,the struggle against brutal instincts is quite different from the struggle against morbid instincts2 it may even be a means of overcoming brutality by making the brutes ill4 ,the psychical treatment practised by ,christianity is often nothing more than the process of converting a brute into a sick and therefore tame animal4 ,the struggle against raw and savage natures must be a struggle with weapons which are able to affect such natures3 superstitions and such means are therefore indispensable and essential4 #bci4 ,our age1 in a certain sense1 is mature 7that is to say1 decadent71 just as ,buddha's was4444 ,that is why a sort of ,christianity is possible without all the absurd dogmas 7the most repulsive offshoots of ancient hybridism74 #bdj4 ,supposing it were impossible to disprove ,christianity1 ,pascal thinks1 in view of the terrible possibility that it may be true1 that it is in the highest degree prudent to be a ,christian4 ,as a proof of how much ,christianity has lost of its terrible nature1 to-day we find that other attempt to justify it1 which consists in asserting1 that even if it were a mistake1 it nevertheless provides the greatest advantages and pleasures for its adherents throughout their lives3--it therefore seems that this belief should be upheld owing to the peace and quiet it ensures--not owing to the terror of a threatening possibility1 but rather out of fear of a life that has lost its charm4 ,this hedonistic turn of thought1 which uses happiness as a proof1 is a symptom of decline3 it takes the place of the proof resulting from power or from that which to the ,christian mind is most terrible--namely1 fear4 ,with this new interpretation1 ,christianity is1 as a matter of fact1 nearing its stage of exhaustion4 ,people are satisfied with a ,christianity which is an opiate1 because they no longer have the strength to seek1 to struggle1 to dare1 to stand alone1 nor to take up ,pascal's position and to share that gloomily brooding self-contempt1 that belief in human unworthiness1 and that anxiety which believes that it may be damned4 ,but a ,christianity the chief object of which is to soothe diseased nerves1 does not require the terrible solution consisting of a ,god on the cross2 that is why ,buddhism is secretly gaining ground all over ,europe4 #bda4 ,the humour of ,european culture3 people regard one thing as true1 but do the other4 ,for instance1 what is the use of all the art of reading and criticising1 if the ecclesiastical interpretation of the ,bible1 whether according to ,catholics or ,protestants1 is still upheld6 #bdb4 ,no one is sufficiently aware of the barbarity of the notions among which we ,europeans still live4 ,to think that men have been able to believe that the ,salvation of the soul depended upon a book6444 ,and ,i am told that this is still believed4 ,what is the good of all scientific education1 all criticism and all hermeneutics1 if such nonsense as the ,church's interpretation of the ,bible has not yet turned the colours of our bodies permanently into the red of shame8 #bdc4 ,subject for reflection3 ,to what extent does the fatal belief in ,divine ,providence--the most paralysing belief for both the hand and the understanding that has ever existed--continue to prevail2 to what extent have the ,christian hypothesis and interpretation of ,life continued their lives under the cover of terms like ,nature1 ,progress1 perfectionment1 ,darwinism1 or beneath the superstition that there is a certain relation between happiness and virtue1 unhappiness and sin8 ,that absurd belief in the course of things1 in ,life and in the instinct of ,life2 that foolish resignation which arises from the notion that if only every one did his duty all would go well--all this sort of thing can only have a meaning if one assumes that there is a direction of things sub specie boni4 ,even fatalism1 our present form of philosophical sensibility1 is the result of a long belief in ,divine ,providence1 an unconscious result3 as though it were nothing to do with us how everything goes6 7,as though we might let things take their own course2 the individual being only a modus of the absolute reality47 #bdd4 ,it is the height of psychological falsity on the part of man to imagine a being according to his own petty standard1 who is a beginning1 a thing-in-itself1 and who appears to him good1 wise1 mighty1 and precious2 for thus he suppresses in thoughts all the causality by means of which every kind of goodness1 wisdom1 and power comes into existence and has value4 ,in short1 elements of the most recent and most conditional origin were regarded not as evolved1 but as spontaneously generated and things-in-themselves1 and perhaps as the cause of all things4444 ,experience teaches us that1 in every case in which a man has means elevated the interests of the species above those of the individual4 ,its real historical effect1 its fatal effect1 remains precisely the increase of egotism1 of individual egotism1 to excess 7to the extreme which consists in the belief in individual immortality74 ,the individual was made so important and so absolute1 by means of ,christian values1 that he could no longer be sacrificed1 despite the fact that the species can only be maintained by human sacrifices4 ,all souls became equal before ,god3 but this is the most pernicious of all valuations6 ,if one regards individuals as equals1 the demands of the species are ignored1 and a process is initiated which ultimately leads to its ruin4 ,christianity is the reverse of the principle of selection4 ,if the degenerate and sick man 7the ,christian7 is to be of the same value as the healthy man 7the pagan71 or if he is even to be valued higher than the latter1 as ,pascal's view of health and sickness would have us value him1 the natural course of evolution is thwarted and the unnatural becomes law4444 ,in practice this general love of mankind is nothing more than deliberately favouring all the suffering1 the botched1 and the degenerate3 it is this love that has reduced and weakened the power1 responsibility1 and lofty duty of sacrificing men4 ,according to the scheme of ,christian values1 all that remained was the alternative of self-sacrifice1 but this vestige of human sacrifice1 which ,christianity conceded and even recommended1 has no meaning when regarded in the light of rearing a whole species4 ,the prosperity of the species is by no means affected by the sacrifice of one individual 7whether in the monastic and ascetic manner1 or by means of crosses1 stakes1 and scaffolds1 as the martyrs of error74 ,what the species requires is the suppression of the physiologically botched1 the weak and the degenerate3 but it was precisely to these people that ,christianity appealed as a preservative force1 it simply strengthened that natural and very strong instinct of all the weak which bids them protect1 maintain1 and mutually support each other4 ,what is ,christian virtue and love of men1 if not precisely this mutual assistance with a view to survival1 this solidarity of the weak1 this thwarting of selection8 ,what is ,christian altruism1 if it is not the mob-egotism of the weak which divines that1 if everybody looks after everybody else1 every individual will be preserved for a longer period of time8444 ,he who does not consider this attitude of mind as immoral1 as a crime against life1 himself belongs to the sickly crowd1 and also shares their instincts4444 ,genuine love of mankind exacts sacrifice for the good of the species--it is hard1 full of self-control1 because it needs human sacrifices4 ,and this pseudo-humanity which is called ,christianity1 would fain establish the rule that nobody should be sacrificed4 #bdg4 ,nothing could be more useful and deserves more promotion than systematic ,nihilism in action4--,as ,i understand the phenomena of ,christianity and pessimism1 this is what they say3 ,we are ripe for nonentity1 for us it is reasonable not to be4 ,this hint from reason in this case1 is simply the voice of selective ,nature4 ,on the other hand1 what deserves the most rigorous condemnation1 is the ambiguous and cowardly infirmity of purpose of a religion like ,christianity1--or rather like the ,church1--which1 instead of recommending death and self-destruction1 actually protects all the botched and bungled1 and encourages them to propagate their kind4 ,problem3 with what kind of means could one lead up to a severe form of really contagious ,nihilism--a ,nihilism which would teach and practise voluntary death with scientific conscientiousness 7and not the feeble continuation of a vegetative sort of life with false hopes of a life after death78 ,christianity cannot be sufficiently condemned for having depreciated the value of a great cleansing ,nihilistic movement 7like the one which was probably in the process of formation71 by its teaching of the immortality of the private individual1 as also by the hopes of resurrection which it held out3 that is to say1 by dissuading people from performing the deed of ,nihilism which is suicide4444 ,in the latter's place it puts lingering suicide1 and gradually a puny1 meagre1 but durable life2 gradually a perfectly ordinary1 bourgeois1 mediocre life1 etc4 #bdh4 ,christian moral quackery4--,pity and contempt succeed each other at short intervals1 and at the sight of them ,i feel as indignant as if ,i were in the presence of the most despicable crime4 ,here error is made a duty--a virtue1 misapprehension has become a knack1 the destructive instinct is systematised under the name of redemption2 here every operation becomes a wound1 an amputation of those very organs whose energy would be the prerequisite to a return of health4 ,and in the best of cases no cure is effected2 all that is done is to exchange one set of evil symptoms for another set4444 ,and this pernicious nonsense1 this systematised profanation and castration of life1 passes for holy and sacred2 to be in its service1 to be an instrument of this art of healing--that is to say1 to be a priest1 is to be rendered distinguished1 reverent1 holy1 and sacred4 ,god alone could have been the ,author of this supreme art of healing2 redemption is only possible as a revelation1 as an act of grace1 as an unearned gift1 made by the ,creator ,himself4 ,proposition ,i43 ,spiritual healthiness is regarded as morbid1 and creates suspicion4444 ,proposition ,,ii43 ,the prerequisites of a strong1 exuberant life--strong desires and passions--are reckoned as objections against strong and exuberant life4 ,proposition ,,iii43 ,everything which threatens danger to man1 and which can overcome and ruin him1 is evil--and should be torn root and branch from his soul4 ,proposition ,,iv43 ,man converted into a weak creature1 inoffensive to himself and others1 crushed by humility and modesty1 and conscious of his weakness1--in fact1 the sinner1--this is the desirable type1 and one which one can produce by means of a little spiritual surgery4444 #bdi4 ,what is it ,i protest against8 ,that people should regard this paltry and peaceful mediocrity1 this spiritual equilibrium which knows nothing of the fine impulses of great accumulations of strength1 as something high1 or possibly as the standard of all things4 ,bacon of ,verulam says3 ,infimarum virtutum apud vulgus laus est1 mediarum admiratio1 supremarum sensus nullus4 ,christianity as a religion1 however1 belongs to the vulgus3 it has no feeling for the highest kind of virtus4 #bej4 ,let us see what the genuine ,christian does of all the things which his instincts forbid him to do3--he covers beauty1 pride1 riches1 self-reliance1 brilliancy1 knowledge1 and power with suspicion and mud--in short1 all culture3 his object is to deprive the latter of its clean conscience4 #bea4 ,the attacks made upon ,christianity1 hitherto1 have been not only timid but false4 ,so long as ,christian morality was not felt to be a capital crime against ,life1 its apologists had a good time4 ,the question concerning the mere truth of ,christianity--whether in regard to the existence of its ,god1 or to the legendary history of its origin1 not to speak of its astronomy and natural science--is quite beside the point so long as no inquiry is made into the value of ,christian morality4 ,are ,christian morals worth anything1 or are they a profanation and an outrage1 despite all the arts of holiness and seduction with which they are enforced8 ,the question concerning the truth of the religion may be met by all sorts of subterfuges2 and the most fervent believers can1 in the end1 avail themselves of the logic used by their opponents1 in order to create a right for their side to assert that certain things are irrefutable--that is to say1 they transcend the means employed to refute them 7nowadays this trick of dialectics is called ,kantian ,criticism74 #beb4 ,christianity should never be forgiven for having ruined such men as ,pascal4 ,this is precisely what should be combated in ,christianity1 namely1 that it has the will to break the spirit of the strongest and noblest natures4 ,one should take no rest until this thing is utterly destroyed3--the ideal of mankind which ,christianity advances1 the demands it makes upon men1 and its ,nay and ,yea relative to humanity4 ,the whole of the remaining absurdities1 that is to say1 ,christian fable1 ,christian cobweb-spinning in ideas and principles1 and ,christian theology1 do not concern us2 they might be a thousand times more absurd and we should not raise a finger to destroy them4 ,but what we do stand up against1 is that ideal which1 thanks to its morbid beauty and feminine seductiveness1 thanks to its insidious and slanderous eloquence1 appeals to all the cowardices and vanities of wearied souls1--and the strongest have their moments of fatigue1--as though all that which seems most useful and desirable at such moments--that is to say1 confidence1 artlessness1 modesty1 patience1 love of one's like1 resignation1 submission to ,god1 and a sort of self-surrender--were useful and desirable per se2 as though the puny1 modest abortion which in these creatures takes the place of a soul1 this virtuous1 mediocre animal and sheep of the flock--which deigns to call itself man1 were not only to take precedence of the stronger1 more evil1 more passionate1 more defiant1 and more prodigal type of man1 who by virtue of these very qualities is exposed to a hundred times more dangers than the former1 but were actually to stand as an ideal for man in general1 as a goal1 a measure--the highest desideratum4 ,the creation of this ideal was the most appalling temptation that had ever been put in the way of mankind2 for1 with it1 the stronger and more successful exceptions1 the lucky cases among men1 in which the will to power and to growth leads the whole species man one step farther forward1 this type was threatened with disaster4 ,by means of the values of this ideal1 the growth of such higher men would be checked at the root4 ,for these men1 owing to their superior demands and duties1 readily accept a more dangerous life 7speaking economically1 it is a case of an increase in the costs of the undertaking coinciding with a greater chance of failure74 ,what is it we combat in ,christianity8 ,that it aims at destroying the strong1 at breaking their spirit1 at exploiting their moments of weariness and debility1 at converting their proud assurance into anxiety and conscience-trouble2 that it knows how to poison the noblest instincts and to infect them with disease1 until their strength1 their will to power1 turns inwards1 against themselves--until the strong perish through their excessive self-contempt and self-immolation3 that gruesome way of perishing1 of which ,pascal is the most famous example4 ,,ii4 ,a ,,criticism ,,of ,,morality4 #a4 ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,moral ,,valuations4 #bec4 ,this is an attempt at investigating morality without being affected by its charm1 and not without some mistrust in regard to the beguiling beauty of its attitudes and looks4 ,a world which we can admire1 which is in keeping with our capacity for worship--which is continually demonstrating itself--in small things or in large3 this is the ,christian standpoint which is common to us all4 ,but owing to an increase in our astuteness1 in our mistrust1 and in our scientific spirit 7also through a more developed instinct for truth1 which again is due to ,christian influence71 this interpretation has grown ever less and less tenable for us4 ,the craftiest of subterfuges3 ,kantian criticism4 ,the intellect not only denies itself every right to interpret things in that way1 but also to reject the interpretation once it has been made4 ,people are satisfied with a greater demand upon their credulity and faith1 with a renunciation of all right to reason concerning the proof of their creed1 with an intangible and superior ,ideal 7,god7 as a stop-gap4 ,the ,hegelian subterfuge1 a continuation of the ,platonic1 a piece of romanticism and reaction1 and at the same time a symptom of the historical sense of a new power3 ,spirit itself is the self-revealing and self-realising ideal3 we believe that in the process of1 development an ever greater proportion of this ideal is being manifested--thus the ideal is being realised1 faith is vested in the future into which all its noble needs are projected and in which they are being worshipped4 ,in short3-- 7#a7 ,god is unknowable to us and not to be demonstrated by us 7the concealed meaning behind the whole of the epistemological movement72 7#b7 ,god may be demonstrated1 but as something evolving1 and we are part of it1 as our pressing desire for an ideal proves 7the concealed meaning behind the historical movement74 ,it should be observed that criticism is never levelled at the ideal itself1 but only at the problem which gives rise to a controversy concerning the ideal--that is to say1 why it has not yet been realised1 or why it is not demonstrable in small things as in great4 999999 ,it makes all the difference3 whether a man recognises this state of distress as such owing to a passion or to a yearning in himself1 or whether it comes home to him as a problem which he arrives at only by straining his thinking powers and his historical imagination to the utmost4 ,away from the religious and philosophical points of view we find the same phenomena4 ,utilitarianism 7socialism and democracy7 criticises the origin of moral valuations1 though it believes in them just as much as the ,christian does4 7,what guilelessness6 ,as if morality could remain when the sanctioning deity is no longer present6 ,the belief in a ,beyond is absolutely necessary1 if the faith in morality is to be maintained47 ,fundamental problem3 whence comes this almighty power of ,faith8 ,whence this faith in morality8 7,it is betrayed by the fact that even the fundamental conditions of life are falsely interpreted in favour of it3 despite our knowledge of plants and animals4 ,self-preservation3 the ,darwinian prospect of a reconciliation of the altruistic and egotistic principles47 #bed4 ,an inquiry into the origin of our moral valuations and tables of law has absolutely nothing to do with the criticism of them1 though people persist in believing it has2 the two matters lie quite apart1 notwithstanding the fact that the knowledge of the pudenda origo of a valuation does diminish its prestige1 and prepares the way to a critical attitude and spirit towards it4 ,what is the actual worth of our valuations and tables of moral laws8 ,what is the outcome of their dominion8 ,for whom8 ,in relation to what8--answer3 for ,life4 ,but what is ,life8 ,a new and more definite concept of what ,life is1 becomes necessary here4 ,my formula of this concept is3 ,life is ,will to ,power4 ,what is the meaning of the very act of valuing8 ,does it point back to another1 metaphysical world1 or does it point down8 7,as ,kant believed1 who lived in a period which preceded the great historical movement47 ,in short3 what is its origin8 ,or had it no human origin8--,answer3 moral valuations are a sort of explanation1 they constitute a method of interpreting4 ,interpretation in itself is a symptom of definite physiological conditions1 as also of a definite spiritual level of ruling judgments4 ,what is it that interprets8--,our passions4 #bee ,all virtues should be looked upon as physiological conditions3 the principal organic functions1 more particularly1 should be considered necessary and good4 ,all virtues are really refined passions and elevated physiological conditions4 ,pity and philanthropy may be regarded as the developments of sexual relations1--justice as the development of the passion for revenge1--virtue as the love of resistance1 the will to power1--honour as an acknowledgment of an equal1 or of an equally powerful1 force4 #bef4 ,under ,morality ,i understand a system of valuations which is in relation with the conditions of a creature's life4 #beg4 ,formerly it was said of every form of morality1 ,ye shall know them by their fruits4 ,i say of every form of morality3 ,it is a fruit1 and from it ,i learn the ,soil out of which it grew4 #beh4 ,i have tried to understand all moral judgments as symptoms and a language of signs in which the processes of physiological prosperity or the reverse1 as also the consciousness of the conditions of preservation and growth1 are betrayed--a mode of interpretation equal in worth to astrology1 prejudices1 created by instincts 7peculiar to races1 communities1 and different stages of existence1 as1 for instance1 youth or decay1 etc474 ,applying this principle to the morality of ,christian ,europe more particularly1 we find that our moral values are signs of decline1 of a disbelief in ,life1 and of a preparation for pessimism4 ,my leading doctrine is this3 there are no moral phenomena1 but only a moral interpretation of phenomena4 ,the origin of this interpretation itself lies beyond the pale of morality4 ,what is the meaning of the fact that we have imagined a contradiction in existence8 ,this is of paramount importance3 behind all other valuations those moral valuations stand commandingly4 ,supposing they disappear1 according to what standard shall we then measure8 ,and then of what value would knowledge be1 etc4 etc4888 #bei4 ,a point of view3 in all valuations there is a definite purpose3 the preservation of an individual1 a community1 a race1 a state1 a church1 a belief1 or a culture4--,thanks to the fact that people forget that all valuing has a purpose1 one and the same man may swarm with a host of contradictory valuations1 and therefore with a host of contradictory impulses4 ,this is the expression of disease in man as opposed to the health of animals1 in which all the instincts answer certain definite purposes4 ,this creature full of contradictions1 however1 has in his being a grand method of acquiring knowledge3 he feels the pros and cons1 he elevates himself to ,justice--that is to say1 to the ascertaining of principles beyond the valuations good and evil4 ,the wisest man would thus be the richest in contradictions1 he would also be gifted with mental antenn wherewith he could understand all kinds of men2 and with it all he would have his great moments1 when all the chords in his being would ring in splendid unison--the rarest of accidents even in us6 ,a sort of planetary movement4 #bfj4 ,to will is to will an object4 ,but object1 as an idea1 involves a valuation4 ,whence do valuations originate8 ,is a permanent norm1 pleasant or painful1 their basis8 ,but in an incalculable number of cases we first of all make a thing painful1 by investing it with a valuation4 ,the compass of moral valuations3 they play a part in almost every mental impression4 ,to us the world is coloured by them4 ,we have imagined the purpose and value of all things3 owing to this we possess an enormous fund of latent power1 but the study of comparative values teaches us that values which were actually opposed to each other have been held in high esteem1 and that there have been many tables of laws 7they could not1 therefore1 have been worth anything per se74 ,the analysis of individual tables of laws revealed the fact that they were framed 7often very badly7 as the conditions of existence for limited groups of people1 to ensure their maintenance4 ,upon examining modern men1 we found that there are a large number of very different values to hand1 and that they no longer contain any creative power--the fundamental principle3 the condition of existence is now quite divorced from the moral values4 ,it is much more superfluous and not nearly so painful4 ,it becomes an arbitrary matter4 ,chaos4 ,who creates the goal which stands above mankind kind and above the individual8 ,formerly morality was a preservative measure3 but nobody wants to preserve any longer1 there is nothing to preserve4 ,thus we are reduced to an experimental morality1 each must postulate a goal for himself4 #bfa4 ,what is the criterion of a moral action8 7#a7 ,its disinterestedness1 7#b7 its universal acceptation1 etc4 ,but this is parlour-morality4 ,races must be studied and observed1 and1 in each case1 the criterion must be discovered1 as also the thing it expresses3 a belief such as3 ,this particular attitude or behaviour belongs to the principal condition of our existence4 ,immoral means that which brings about ruin4 ,now all societies in which these principles were discovered have met with their ruin3 a few of these principles have been used and used again1 because every newly established community required them2 this was the case1 for instance1 with ,thou shalt not steal4 ,in ages when people could not be expected to show any marked social instinct 7as1 for instance1 in the age of the ,roman ,empire7 the latter was1 religiously speaking1 directed towards the idea of spiritual salvation1 or1 in philosophical parlance1 towards the greatest happiness4 ,for even the philosophers of ,greece did not feel any more for their 4 #bfb4 ,the necessity of false values4--,a judgment may be refuted when it is shown that it was conditioned3 but the necessity of retaining it is not thereby cancelled4 ,reasons can no more eradicate false values than they can alter astigmatism in a man's eyes4 ,the need of their existence must be understood3 they are the result of causes which have nothing to do with reasoning4 #bfc4 ,to see and reveal the problem of morality seems to me to be the new task and the principal thing of all4 ,i deny that this has been done by moral philosophies heretofore4 #bfd4 ,how false and deceptive men have always been concerning the fundamental facts of their inner world6 ,here to have no eye2 here to hold one's tongue1 and here to open one's mouth4 #bfe4 ,there seems to be no knowledge or consciousness of the many revolutions that have taken place in moral judgments1 and of the number of times that evil has really and seriously been christened good and vice versa4 ,i myself pointed to one of these transformations with the words ,sittlichkeit der ,sitte4#c ,even conscience has changed its sphere3 formerly there was such a thing as a gregarious pang of conscience4 ,footnote #c3 ,the morality of custom4 #bff4 ,a4 ,morality as the work of ,immorality4 #a4 ,in order that moral values may attain to supremacy1 a host of immoral forces and passions must assist them4 #b4 ,the establishment of moral values is the work of immoral passions and considerations4 ,b4 ,morality as the work of error4 ,c4 ',morality gradually contradicts itself4 ,requital--,truthfulness1 ,doubt1 1 ,judging4 ,the ,immorality of belief in morality4 ,the steps3-- #a4 ,absolute dominion of morality3 all biological phenomena measured and judged according to its values4 #b4 ,the attempt to identify ,life with morality 7symptom of awakened scepticism3 morality must no longer be regarded as the opposite of ,life72 many means are sought--even a transcendental one4 #c4 ,the opposition of ,life and ,morality4 ,morality condemned and sentenced by ,life4 ,d4 ,to what extent was morality dangerous to ,life8 7a7 ,it depreciated the joy of living and the gratitude felt towards ,life1 etc4 7b7 ,it checked the tendency to beautify and to ennoble ,life4 7c7 ,it checked the knowledge of ,life4 7d7 ,it checked the unfolding of ,life1 because it tried to set the highest phenomena thereof at variance with itself4 ,e4 ,contra-account3 the usefulness of morality to ,life4 7#a7 ,morality may be a preservative measure for the general whole1 it may be a process of uniting dispersed members3 it is useful as an agent in the production of the man who is a tool4 7#b7 ,morality may be a preservative measure mitigating the inner danger threatening man from the direction of his passions3 it is useful to mediocre people4 7#c7 ,morality may be a preservative measure resisting the life-poisoning influences of profound sorrow and bitterness3 it is useful to the sufferers4 7#d7 ,morality may be a preservative measure opposed to the terrible outbursts of the mighty3 it is useful to the lowly4 #bfg4 ,it is an excellent thing when one can use the expressions right and wrong in a definite1 narrow1 and bourgeois sense1 as for instance in the sentence3 ,do right and fear no one2#d--that is to say1 to do one's duty1 according to the rough scheme of life within the limit of which a community exists4--,let us not think meanly of what a few thousand years of morality have inculcated upon our minds4 ,footnote #d3 ,thue ,recht und scheue ,niemand4 #bfh4 ,two types of morality must not be confounded3 the morality with which the instinct that has remained healthy defends itself from incipient decadence1 and the other morality by means of which this decadence asserts itself1 justifies itself1 and leads downwards4 ,the first-named is usually stoical1 hard1 tyrannical 7,stoicism itself was an example of the sort of drag-chain morality we speak of72 the other is gushing1 sentimental1 full of secrets1 it has the women and beautiful feelings on its side 7,primitive ,christianity was an example of this morality74 #bfi4 ,i shall try to regard all moralising1 with one glance1 as a phenomenon--also as a riddle4 ,moral phenomena have preoccupied me like riddles4 ,to-day ,i should be able to give a reply to the question3 why should my neighbour's welfare be of greater value to me than my own8 and why is it that my neighbour himself should value his welfare differently from the way in which ,i value it--that is to say1 why should precisely my welfare be paramount in his mind8 ,what is the meaning of this ,thou shalt1 which is regarded as given even by philosophers themselves8 ,the seemingly insane idea that a man should esteem the act he performs for a fellow-creature1 higher than the one he performs for himself1 and that the same fellow-creature should do so too 7that only those acts should be held to be good which are performed with an eye to the neighbour and for his welfare7 has its reasons--namely1 as the result of the social instinct which rests upon the valuation1 that single individuals are of little importance although collectively their importance is very great4 ,this1 of course1 presupposes that they constitute a community with one feeling and one conscience pervading the whole4 ,it is therefore a sort of exercise for keeping one's eyes in a certain direction2 it is the will to a kind of optics which renders a view of one's self impossible4 ,my idea3 goals are wanting1 and these must be individuals4 ,we see the general drift3 every individual gets sacrificed and serves as a tool4 ,let any one keep his eyes open in the streets--is not every one he sees a slave8 ,whither8 ,what is the purpose of it all8 #bgj4 ,how is it possible that a man can respect himself only in regard to moral values1 that he subordinates and despises everything in favour of good1 evil1 improvement1 spiritual salvation1 etc48 as1 for instance1 ,henri ,frd4 ,amiel4 ,what is the meaning of the moral idiosyncrasy8--,i mean this both in the psychological and physiological sense1 as it was1 for instance1 in ,pascal4 ,in cases1 then1 in which other great qualities are not wanting2 and even in the case of ,schopenhauer1 who obviously valued what he did not and could not have 444--is it not the result of a merely mechanical moral interpretation of real states of pain and displeasure8 is it not a particular form of sensibility which does not happen to understand the cause of its many unpleasurable feelings1 but thinks to explain them with moral hypotheses8 ,in this way an occasional feeling of well-being and strength always appears under the optics of a clean conscience1 flooded with light through the proximity of ,god and the consciousness of salvation4444 ,thus the moral idiosyncratist has 7#a7 either acquired his real worth in approximating to the virtuous type of society3 the good fellow1 the upright man--a sort of medium state of high respectability3 mediocre in all his abilities1 but honest1 conscientious1 firm1 respected1 and tried1 in all his aspirations2 7#b7 or1 he imagines he has acquired that worth1 simply because he cannot otherwise understand all his states--he is unknown to himself2 he therefore interprets himself in this fashion4--,morality is the only scheme of interpretation by means of which this type of man can tolerate himself3--is it a form of vanity8 #bga4 ,the predominance of moral values4--,the consequence of this predominance3 the corruption of psychology1 etc42 the fatality which is associated with it everywhere4 ,what is the meaning of this predominance8 ,what does it point to8 ,to a certain greater urgency of saying nay or yea definitely in this domain4 ,all sorts of imperatives have been used in order to make moral values appear as if they were for ever fixed3--they have been enjoined for the longest period of time3 they almost appear to be instinctive1 like inner commands4 ,they are the expression of society's preservative measures1 for they are felt to be almost beyond question4 ,the practice--that is to say1 the utility of being agreed concerning superior values1 has attained in this respect to a sort of sanction4 ,we observe that every care is taken to paralyse reflection and criticism in this department--look at ,kant's attitude6 not to speak of those who believe that it is immoral even to prosecute research in these matters4 #bgb4 ,my desire is to show the absolute homogeneity of all phenomena1 and to ascribe to moral differentiations but the value of perspective2 to show that all that which is praised as moral is essentially the same as that which is immoral1 and was only made possible1 according to the law of all moral development--that is to say1 by means of immoral artifices and with a view to immoral ends--just as all that which has been decried as immoral is1 from the standpoint of economics1 both superior and essential2 and how development leading to a greater abundance of life necessarily ,involves progress in the realm of immorality4 ,truth1 that is the extent to which we allow ourselves to comprehend this fact4 #bgc4 ,but do not let us fear3 as a matter of fact1 we require a great deal of morality1 in order to be immoral in this subtle way2 let me speak in a parable3-- ,a physiologist interested in a certain illness1 and an invalid who wishes to be cured of that same illness1 have not the same interests4 ,let us suppose that the illness happens to be morality1--for morality is an illness1--and that we ,europeans are the invalid3 what an amount of subtle torment and difficulty would arise supposing we ,europeans were1 at once1 our own inquisitive spectators and the physiologist above-mentioned6 ,should we under these circumstances earnestly desire to rid ourselves of morality8 ,should we want to8 ,this is of course irrespective of the question whether we should be able to do so--whether we can be cured at all8 #b4 ,,the ,,herd4 #bgd4 ,whose will to power is morality8--,the common factor of all ,european history since the time of ,socrates is the attempt to make the moral values dominate all other values1 in order that they should not be only the leader and judge of life1 but also3 7#a7 knowledge1 7#b7 ,art1 7#c7 political and social aspirations4 ,amelioration regarded as the only duty1 everything else used as a means thereto 7or as a force distributing1 hindering1 and endangering its realisation1 and therefore to be opposed and annihilated 44474--,a similar movement to be observed in ,china and ,india4 ,what is the meaning of this will to power on the part of moral values1 which has played such a part in the world's prodigious evolutions8 ,answer3--,three powers lie concealed behind it2 7#a7 ,the instinct of the herd opposed to the strong and the independent2 7#b7 the instinct of all sufferers and all abortions opposed to the happy and well-constituted2 7#c7 the instinct of the mediocre opposed to the exceptions4--,enormous advantage of this movement1 despite the cruelty1 falseness1 and narrow-mindedness which has helped it along 7for the history of the struggle of morality with the fundamental instincts of life is in itself the greatest piece of immorality that has ever yet been witnessed on earth 44474 #bge4 ,the fewest succeed in discovering a problem behind all that which constitutes our daily life1 and to which we have become accustomed throughout the ages--our eye does not seem focussed for such things3 at least1 this seems to me to be the case in so far as our morality is concerned4 ,every man should be the preoccupation of his fellows2 he who thinks in this way deserves honour3 no one ought to think of himself4 ,thou shalt3 an impulse which1 like the sexual impulse1 cannot fathom itself1 is set apart and is not condemned as all the other instincts are--on the contrary1 it is made to be their standard and their judge6 ,the problem of equality1 in the face of the fact that we all thirst for distinction3 here1 on the contrary1 we should demand of ourselves what we demand of others4 ,that is so tasteless and obviously insane2 but--it is felt to be holy and of a higher order4 ,the fact that it is opposed to common sense is not even noticed4 ,self-sacrifice and self-abnegation are considered distinguishing1 as are also the attempt to obey morality implicitly1 and the belief that one should be every one's equal in its presence4 ,the neglect and the surrender of ,life and of well-being is held to be distinguished1 as are also the complete renunciation of individual valuations and the severe exaction from every one of the same sacrifice4 ,the value of an action is once and for all fixed3 every individual must submit to this valuation4 ,we see3 an authority speaks--who speaks8--,we must condone it in human pride1 if man tried to make this authority as high as possible1 for he wanted to feel as humble as he possibly could by the side of it4 ,thus--,god speaks6 ,god was necessary as an unconditional sanction which has no superior1 as a ,categorical ,imperator3 or1 in so far as people believed in the authority of reason1 what was needed was a unitarian metaphysics by means of which this view could be made logical4 ,now1 admitting that faith in ,god is dead3 the question arises once more3 who speaks8 ,my answer1 which ,i take from biology and not from metaphysics1 is3 the gregarious instinct speaks4 ,this is what desires to be master3 hence its thou shalt6--it will allow the individual to exist only as a part of a whole1 only in favour of the whole1 it hates those who detach themselves from everything--it turns the hatred of all individuals against him4 #bgf4 ,the whole of the morality of ,europe is based upon the values which are useful to the herd3 the sorrow of all higher and exceptional men is explained by the fact that everything which distinguishes them from others reaches their consciousness in the form of a feeling of their own smallness and egregiousness4 ,it is the virtues of modern men which are the causes of pessimistic gloominess2 the mediocre1 like the herd1 are not troubled much with questions or with conscience--they are cheerful4 7,among the gloomy strong men1 ,pascal and ,schopenhauer are noted examples47 ,the more dangerous a quality seems to the herd1 the more completely it is condemned4 #bgg4 ,the morality of truthfulness in the herd4 ,thou shalt be recognisable1 thou shalt express thy inner nature by means of clear and constant signs--otherwise thou art dangerous3 and supposing thou art evil1 thy power of dissimulation is absolutely the worst thing for the herd4 ,we despise the secretive and those whom we cannot identify4--,consequently thou must regard thyself as recognisable1 thou mayest not remain concealed from thyself1 thou mayest not even believe in the possibility of thy ever changing4 ,thus1 the insistence upon truthfulness has as its main object the recognisability and the stability of the individual4 ,as a matter of fact1 it is the object of education to make each gregarious unit believe in a certain definite dogma concerning the nature of man3 education first creates this dogma and thereupon exacts truthfulness4 #bgh4 ,within the confines of a herd or of a community--that is to say1 inter pares1 the over-estimation of truthfulness is very reasonable4 ,a man must not allow himself to be deceived--and consequently he adopts as his own personal morality that he should deceive no one6--a sort of mutual obligation among equals6 ,in his dealings with the outside world caution and danger demand that he should be on his guard against deception3 the first psychological condition of this attitude would mean that he is also on his guard against his own people4 ,mistrust thus appears as the source of truthfulness4 #bgi4 ,a criticism of the virtues of the herd4--,inertia is active3 7#a7 ,in confidence1 because mistrust makes suspense1 reflection1 and observation necessary4 7#b7 ,in veneration1 where the gulf that separates power is great and submission necessary3 then1 so that fear may cease to exist1 everybody tries to love and esteem1 while the difference in power is interpreted as a difference of value3 and thus the relationship to the powerful no longer has anything revolting in it4 7#c7 ,in the sense of truth4 ,what is truth8 ,truth is that explanation of things which causes us the smallest amount of mental exertion 7apart from this1 lying is extremely fatiguing74 7#d7 ,in sympathy4 ,it is a relief to know one's self on the same level with all1 to feel as all feel1 and to accept a belief which is already current2 it is something passive beside the activity which appropriates and continually carries into practice the most individual rights of valuation 7the latter process allows of no repose74 7#e7 ,in impartiality and coolness of judgment3 people scout the strain of being moved1 and prefer to be detached and objective4 7#f7 ,in uprightness3 people prefer to obey a law which is to hand rather than to create a new one1 rather than to command themselves and others3 the fear of commanding--it is better to submit than to rebel4 7#g7 ,in toleration3 the fear of exercising a right or of enforcing a judgment4 #bhj4 ,the instinct of the herd values the juste milieu and the average as the highest and most precious of all things3 the spot where the majority is to be found1 and the air that it breathes there4 ,in this way it is the opponent of all order of rank2 it regards a climb from the level to the heights in the same light as a descent from the majority to the minority4 ,the herd regards the exception1 whether it be above or beneath its general level1 as something which is antagonistic and dangerous to itself4 ,their trick in dealing with the exceptions above them1 the strong1 the mighty1 the wise1 and the fruitful1 is to persuade them to become guardians1 herdsmen1 and watchmen--in fact1 to become their head-servants3 thus they convert a danger into a thing which is useful4 ,in the middle1 fear ceases3 here a man is alone with nothing2 here there is not much room even for misunderstandings2 here there is equality2 here a man's individual existence is not felt as a reproach1 but as the right existence2 here contentment reigns supreme4 ,mistrust is active only towards the exceptions2 to be an exception is to be a sinner4 #bha4 ,if1 in compliance with our communal instincts1 we make certain regulations for1 ourselves and forbid certain acts1 we do not of course1 in common reason1 forbid a certain kind of existence1 nor a certain attitude of mind1 but only a particular application and development of this existence and attitude of mind4 ,but then the idealist of virtue1 the moralist1 comes along and says3 ,god sees into the human heart6 ,what matters it that ye abstain from certain acts3 ye are not any better on that account6 ,answer3 ,mr4 ,longears and ,virtue-,monger1 we do not want to be better at all1 we are quite satisfied with ourselves1 all we desire is that we should not harm one another--and that is why we forbid certain actions when they take a particular direction--that is to say1 when they are against our own interests3 but that does not alter the fact that when these same actions are directed against the enemies of our community--against you1 for instance--we are at a loss to know how to pay them sufficient honour4 ,we educate our children up to them2 we develop them to the fullest extent4 ,did we share that god-fearing radicalism which your holy craziness recommends1 if we were green-horns enough to condemn the source of those forbidden acts by condemning the heart and the attitude of mind which recommends them1 that would mean condemning our very existence1 and with it its greatest prerequisite--an attitude of mind1 a heart1 a passion which we revere with all our soul4 ,by our decrees we prevent this attitude of mind from breaking out and venting itself in a useless way--we are prudent when we prescribe such laws for ourselves2 we are also moral in so doing4444 ,have you no idea--however vague--what sacrifices it has cost us1 how much self-control1 self-subjection1 and hardness it has compelled us to exercise8 ,we are vehement in our desires2 there are times when we even feel as if we could devour each other4444 ,but the communal spirit is master of us3 have you observed that this is almost a definition of morality8 #bhb4 ,the weakness of the gregarious animal gives rise to a morality which is precisely similar to that resulting from the weakness of the decadent man3 they understand each other2 they associate with each other 7the great decadent religions always rely upon the support of the herd74 ,the gregarious animal1 as such1 is free from all morbid characteristics1 it is in itself an invaluable creature2 but it is incapable of taking any initiative2 it must have a leader--the priests understand this4444 ,the state is not subtle1 not secret enough2 the art of directing consciences slips its grasp4 ,how is the gregarious animal infected with illness by the priest8 #bhc4 ,the hatred directed against the privileged in body and spirit3 the revolt of the ugly and bungled souls against the beautiful1 the proud1 and the cheerful4 ,the weapons used3 contempt of beauty1 of pride1 of happiness3 ,there is no such thing as merit1 ,the danger is enormous3 it is right that one should tremble and feel ill at ease1 ,naturalness is evil2 it is right to oppose all that is natural--even 'reason' 7all that is antinatural is elevated to the highest place74 ,it is again the priests who exploit this condition1 and who win the people over to themselves4 ,the sinner over whom there is more joy in heaven than over the just person4 ,this is the struggle against paganism 7the pang of conscience1 a measure for disturbing the harmony of the soul74 ,the hatred of the mediocre for the exceptions1 and of the herd for its independent members4 7,custom actually regarded as morality47 ,the revulsion of feeling against egotism3 that only is worth anything which is done for another4 ,we are all equal2--against the love of dominion1 against dominion in general2--against privilege2--against sectarians1 free-spirits1 and sceptics2--against philosophy 7a force opposing mechanical and automatic instincts72 in philosophers themselves--the categorical imperative1 the essential nature of morality1 general and universal4 #bhd4 ,the qualities and tendencies which are praised3 peacefulness1 equity1 moderation1 modesty1 reverence1 respectfulness1 bravery1 chastity1 honesty1 fidelity1 credulity1 rectitude1 confidence1 resignation1 pity1 helpfulness1 conscientiousness1 simplicity1 mildness1 justice1 generosity1 leniency1 obedience1 disinterestedness1 freedom from envy1 good nature1 industry4 ,we must ascertain to what extent such qualities are conditioned as means to the attainment of certain desires and ends 7often an evil end72 or as results of dominating passions 7for instance1 intellectuality73 or as the expressions of certain states of need--that is to say1 as preservative measures 7as in the case of citizens1 slaves1 women1 etc474 ,in short1 every one of them is not considered good for its own sake1 but rather because it approximates to a standard prescribed either by society or by the herd1 as a means to the ends of the latter1 as necessary for their preservation and enhancement1 and also as the result of an actual gregarious instinct in the individual2 these qualities are thus in the service of an instinct which is fundamentally different from these states of virtue4 ,for the herd is antagonistic1 selfish1 and pitiless to the outside world2 it is full of a love of dominion and of feelings of mistrust1 etc4 ,in the herdsman this antagonism comes to the fore he must have qualities which are the reverse of those possessed by the herd4 ,the mortal enmity of the herd towards all order of rank3 its instinct is in favour of the leveller 7,christ74 ,towards all strong individuals 7the sovereigns7 it is hostile1 unfair1 intemperate1 arrogant1 cheeky1 disrespectful1 cowardly1 false1 lying1 pitiless1 deceitful1 envious1 revengeful4 #bhe4 ,my teaching is this1 that the herd seeks to maintain and preserve one type of man1 and that it defends itself on two sides--that is to say1 against those which are decadents from its ranks 7criminals1 etc471 and against those who rise superior to its dead level4 ,the instincts of the herd tend to a stationary state of society2 they merely preserve4 ,they have no creative power4 ,the pleasant feelings of goodness and benevolence with which the just man fills us 7as opposed to the suspense and the fear to which the great innovating man gives rise7 are our own sensations of personal security and equality3 in this way the gregarious animal glorifies the gregarious nature1 and then begins to feel at ease4 ,this judgment on the part of the comfortable ones rigs itself out in the most beautiful words--and thus morality is born4 ,let any one observe1 however1 the hatred of the herd for all truthful men4 #bhf4 ,let us not deceive ourselves6 ,when a man hears the whisper of the moral imperative in his breast1 as altruism would have him hear it1 he shows thereby that he belongs to the herd4 ,when a man is conscious of the opposite feelings1--that is to say1 when he sees his danger and his undoing in disinterested and unselfish actions1--then he does not belong to the herd4 #bhg4 ,my philosophy aims at a new order of rank3 not at an individualistic morality4#e ,the spirit of the herd should rule within the herd--but not beyond it3 the leaders of the herd require a fundamentally different valuation for their actions1 as do also the independent ones or the beasts of prey1 etc4 ,footnote #e3 ,,translator',s ,,note--,here is a broad distinction between ,nietzsche and ,herbert ,spencer4 #c4 ,,general ,,observations ,,concerning ,,morality4 #bhh4 ,morality regarded as an attempt at establishing human pride4--,the ,free-,will theory is anti-religious4 ,its ultimate object is to bestow the right upon man to regard himself as the cause of his highest states and actions3 it is a form of the growing feeling of pride4 ,man feels his power his happiness2 as they say3 there must be a will behind these states--otherwise they do not belong to him4 ,virtue is an attempt at postulating a modicum of will1 past or present1 as the necessary antecedent to every exalted and strong feeling of happiness3 if the will to certain actions is regularly present in consciousness1 a sensation of power may be interpreted as its result4 ,this is a merely psychological point of view1 based upon the false assumption that nothing belongs to us which we have not consciously willed4 ,the whole of the teaching of responsibility relies upon the ingenuous psychological rule that the will is the only cause1 and that one must have been aware of having willed in order to be able to regard one's self as a cause4 ,then comes the counter-movement--that of the moral-philosophers4 ,these men still labour under the delusion that a man is responsible only for what he has willed4 ,the value of man is then made a moral value3 thus morality becomes a causa prima2 for this there must be some kind of principle in man1 and free will is posited as prima causa4 ,the arrire pense is always this3 ,if man is not a causa prima through his will1 he must be irresponsible1--therefore he does not come within the jurisdiction of morals1--virtue or vice is automatic and mechanical4444 ,in short3 in order that man may respect himself he must be capable of becoming evil4 #bhi4 ,theatricalness regarded as the result of ,free ,will morality4 ,it is a step in the development of the feeling of power itself to believe one's self to be the author of one's exalted moments 7of one's perfection7 and to have willed them4444 7,criticism3 all perfect action is precisely unconscious and not deliberate2 consciousness is often the expression of an imperfect and often morbid constitution4 ,personal perfection regarded as determined by will1 as an act of consciousness1 as reason with dialectics1 is a caricature1 a sort of self-contradiction4444 ,any degree of consciousness renders perfection impossible4 444 ,a form of theatricalness47 #bij4 ,the moral hypothesis1 designed with a view to justifying ,god1 said3 evil must be voluntary 7simply in order that the voluntariness of goodness might be believed in72 and again1 all evil and suffering have an object which is salvation4 ,the notion guilt was considered as something which had no connection at all with the ultimate cause of existence1 and the notion punishment was held to be an educating and beneficent act1 consequently an act proceeding from a good ,god4 ,the absolute dominion of moral valuations over all others3 nobody doubted that ,god could not be evil and could do no harm--that is to say1 perfection was understood merely as moral perfection4 #bia4 ,how false is the supposition that an action must depend upon what has preceded it in consciousness6 ,and morality has been measured in the light of this supposition1 as also criminality4444 ,the value of an action must be judged by its results1 say the utilitarians3 to measure it according to its origin involves the impossibility of knowing that origin4 ,but do we know its results8 ,five stages ahead1 perhaps4 ,who can tell what an action provokes and sets in motion8 ,as a stimulus8 ,as the spark which fires a powder-magazine8 ,utilitarians are simpletons4444 ,and finally1 they would first of all have to know what is useful2 here also their sight can travel only over five stages or so4444 ,they have no notion of the great economy which cannot dispense with evil4 ,we do not know the origin or the results3 has an action1 then1 any value8 ,we have yet the action itself to consider3 the states of consciousness that accompany it1 the yea or nay which follows upon its performance3 does the value of an action lie in the subjective states which accompany it8 7,in that case1 the value of music would be measured according to the pleasure or displeasure which it occasions in us 444 which it gives to the composer4 4447 ,obviously feelings of value must accompany it1 a sensation of power1 restraint1 or impotence--for instance1 freedom or lightsomeness4 ,or1 putting the question differently3 could the value of an action be reduced to physiological terms8 could it be the expression of completely free or constrained life8--,maybe its biological value is expressed in this way4444 ,if1 then1 an action can be judged neither in the light of its origin1 nor its results1 nor its accompaniments in consciousness1 then its value must be x unknown4444 #bib4 ,it amounts to a denaturalisation of morality1 to separate an action from a man2 to direct hatred or contempt against sin2 to believe that there are actions which are good or bad in themselves4 ,the re-establishment of ,nature3 an action in itself is quite devoid of value2 the whole question is this3 who performed it8 ,one and the same crime may1 in one case1 be the greatest privilege1 in the other infamy4 ,as a matter of fact1 it is the selfishness of the judges which interprets an action 7in regard to its author7 according as to whether it was useful or harmful to themselves 7or in relation to its degree of likeness or unlikeness to them74 #bic4 ,the concept reprehensible action presents us with some difficulties4 ,nothing in all that happens can be reprehensible in itself3 one would not dare to eliminate it completely2 for everything is so bound up with everything else1 that to exclude one part would mean to exclude the whole4 ,a reprehensible action1 therefore1 would mean a reprehensible world as a whole4444 ,and even then1 in a reprehensible world even reprehending would be reprehensible4444 ,and the consequence of an attitude of mind that condemns everything1 would be the affirmation of everything in practice4444 ,if ,becoming is a huge ring1 everything that forms a part of it is of equal value1 is eternal and necessary4--,in all correlations of yea and nay1 of preference and rejection1 love and hate1 all that is expressed is a certain point of view1 peculiar to the interests of a certain type of living organism3 everything that lives says yea by the very fact of its existence4 #bid4 ,criticism of the subjective feelings of value4--,conscience4 ,formerly people argued3 conscience condemns this action1 therefore this action is reprehensible4 ,but1 as a matter of fact1 conscience condemns an action because that action has been condemned for a long period of time3 all conscience does is to imitate4 ,it does not create values4 ,that which first led to the condemnation of certain actions1 was not conscience3 but the knowledge of 7or the prejudice against7 its consequences4444 ,the approbation of conscience1 the feeling of well-being1 of inner peace1 is of the same order of emotions as the artist's joy over his work--it proves nothing4444 ,self-contentment proves no more in favour of that which gives rise to it1 than its absence can prove anything against the value of the thing which fails to give rise to it4 ,we are far too ignorant to be able to judge of the value of our actions3 in this respect we lack the ability to regard things objectively4 ,even when we condemn an action1 we do not do so as judges1 but as adversaries4444 ,when noble sentiments accompany an action1 they prove nothing in its favour3 an artist may present us with an absolutely insignificant thing1 though he be in the throes of the most exalted pathos during its production4 ,it were wiser to regard these sentiments as misleading3 they actually beguile our eye and our power1 away from criticism1 from caution and from suspicion1 and the result often is that we make fools of ourselves 444 they actually make fools of us4 #bie4 ,we are heirs to the conscience-vivisection and self-crucifixion of two thousand years3 in these two practices lie perhaps our longest efforts at becoming perfect1 our mastery1 and certainly our subtlety2 we have affiliated natural propensities with a heavy conscience4 ,an attempt to produce an entirely opposite state of affairs would be possible3 that is to say1 to affiliate all desires of a beyond1 all sympathy with things which are opposed to the senses1 the intellect1 and nature--in fact1 all the ideals that have existed hitherto 7which were all anti-worldly71 with a heavy conscience4 #bif4 ,the great crimes in psychology3-- 7#a7 ,that all pain and unhappiness should have been falsified by being associated with what is wrong 7guilt74 7,thus pain was robbed of its innocence47 7#b7 ,that all strong emotions 7wantonness1 voluptuousness1 triumph1 pride1 audacity1 knowledge1 assurance1 and happiness in itself7 were branded as sinful1 as seductive1 and as suspicious4 7#c7 ,that feelings of weakness1 inner acts of cowardice1 lack of personal courage1 should have decked themselves in the most beautiful words1 and have been taught as desirable in the highest degree4 7#d7 ,that greatness in man should have been given the meaning of disinterestedness1 self-sacrifice for another's good1 for other people2 that even in the scientist and the artist1 the elimination of the individual personality is presented as the cause of the greatest knowledge and ability4 7#e7 ,that love should have been twisted round to mean submission 7and altruism71 whereas it is in reality an act of appropriation or of bestowal1 resulting in the last case from a superabundance in the wealth of a given personality4 ,only the wholest people can love2 the disinterested ones1 the objective ones1 are the worst lovers 7just ask the girls674 ,this principle also applies to the love of ,god or of the home country3 a man must be able to rely absolutely upon himself4 7,egotism may be regarded as the pre-eminence of the ego1 altruism as the pre-eminence of others47 7#f7 ,life regarded as a punishment 7happiness as a means of seduction72 the passions regarded as devilish2 confidence in one's self as godless4 ,the whole of psychology is a psychology of obstacles1 a sort of barricade built out of fear2 on the one hand we find the masses 7the botched and bungled1 the mediocre7 defending themselves1 by means of it1 against the strong 7and finally destroying them in their growth 44472 on the other hand1 we find all the instincts with which these classes are best able to prosper1 sanctified and alone held in honour by them4 ,let anyone examine the ,jewish priesthood4 #big4 ,the vestiges of the depreciation of ,nature through moral transcendence3 ,the value of disinterestedness1 the cult of altruism2 the belief in a reward in the play of natural consequences2 the belief in goodness and in genius itself1 as if the one1 like the other1 were the result of disinterestedness2 the continuation of the ,church's sanction of the life of the citizen2 the absolutely deliberate misunderstanding of history 7as a means of educating up to morality7 or pessimism in the attitude taken up towards history 7the latter is just as much a result of the depreciation of ,nature1 as is that pseudo-justification of history1 that refusal to see history as the pessimist sees it74 #bih4 ,morality for its own sake--this is an important step in the denaturalisation of morals3 in itself it appears as a final value4 ,in this phase religion has generally become saturated with it3 as1 for instance1 in the case of ,judaism4 ,it likewise goes through a phase in which it separates itself from religion1 and in which no ,god is moral enough for it3 it then prefers the impersonal ideal4444 ,this is how the case stands at present4 ,art for ,art's sake3 this is a similarly dangerous principle3 by this means a false contrast is lent to things--it culminates in the slander of reality 7idealising into the hateful74 ,when an ideal is severed from reality1 the latter is debased1 impoverished1 and calumniated4 ,beauty for ,beauty's sake1 ,truth for ,truth's sake1 ,goodness for ,goodness' sake--these are three forms of the evil eye for reality4 ,art1 knowledge1 and morality are means3 instead of recognising a life-promoting tendency in them1 they have been associated with the opposite of ,life--with ,god--they have also been regarded as revelations of a higher world1 which here and there transpires through them4444 ,beautiful and ugly1 true and false1 good and evil--these things are distinctions and antagonisms which betray the preservative and promotive measures of ,life1 not necessarily of man alone1 but of all stable and enduring organisms which take up a definite stand against their opponents4 ,the war which thus ensues is the essential factor3 it is a means of separating things1 leading to stronger isolation4444 #bii4 ,moral naturalism3 ,the tracing back of apparently independent and supernatural values to their real nature--that is to say1 to natural immorality1 to natural utility1 etc4 ,perhaps ,i may designate the tendency of these observations by the term moral naturalism3 my object is to re-translate the moral values which have apparently become independent and unnatural into their real nature--that is to say1 into their natural immorality4 ,n4,b4--,refer to ,jewish holiness and its natural basis4 ,the case is the same in regard to the moral law which has been made sovereign1 emancipated from its real feature 7until it is almost the opposite of ,nature74 ,the stages in the denaturalisation of morality 7or so-called ,idealisation73-- ,first it is a road to individual happiness1 then it is the result of knowledge1 then it is a ,categorical ,imperative1 then it is a way to ,salvation1 then it is a denial of the will to live4 7,the gradual progress of the hostility of morality to ,life47 #cjj4 ,the suppressed and effaced ,heresy in morality4--,concepts3 paganism1 master-morality1 virt4 #cja4 ,my problem3 ,what harm has mankind suffered hitherto from morals1 as also from its own morality8 ,intellectual harm1 etc4 #cjb4 ,why are not human values once more deposited nicely in the rut to which they alone have a right--as routinary values8 ,many species of animals have already become extinct2 supposing man were also to disappear1 nothing would be lacking on earth4 ,a man should be enough of a philosopher to admire even this nothing 7,nil admirari74 #cjc4 ,man1 a small species of very excitable animals1 which--fortunately--has its time4 ,life in general on earth is a matter of a moment1 an incident1 an exception that has no consequence1 something which is of no importance whatever to the general character of the earth2 the earth itself is1 like every star1 a hiatus between two nonentities1 an event without a plan1 without reason1 will1 or self-consciousness--the worst kind of necessity--foolish necessity4444 ,something in us rebels against this view2 the serpent vanity whispers to our hearts1 ,all this must be false because it is revolting4444 ,could not all this be appearance8 ,and man in spite of all1 to use ,kant's words---- #d4 ,,how ,,virtue ,,is ,,made ,,to ,,dominate4 #cjd4 ,concerning the ideal of the moralist4--,in this treatise we wish to speak of the great politics of virtue4 ,we wrote it for the use of all those who are interested1 not so much in the process of becoming virtuous as in that of making others virtuous--in how virtue is made to dominate4 ,i even intend to prove that in order to desire this one thing--the dominion of virtue--the other must be systematically avoided2 that is to say1 one must renounce all hopes of becoming virtuous4 ,this sacrifice is great3 but such an end is perhaps a sufficient reward for such a sacrifice4 ,and even greater sacrifices6444 ,and some of the most famous moralists have risked as much4 ,for these1 indeed1 had already recognised and anticipated the truth which is to be revealed for the first time in this treatise3 that the dominion of virtue is absolutely attainable only by the use of the same means which are employed in the attainment of any other dominion1 in any case not by means of virtue itself4444 ,as ,i have already said1 this treatise deals with the politics of virtue3 it postulates an ideal of these politics2 it describes it as it ought to be1 if anything at all can be perfect on this earth4 ,now1 no philosopher can be in any doubt as to what the type of perfection is in politics2 it is1 of course1 ,machiavellianism4 ,but ,machiavellianism which is pur1 sans mlange1 cru1 vert1 dans toute sa force1 dans toute son pret1 is superhuman1 divine1 transcendental1 and can never be achieved by man--the most he can do is to approximate it4 ,even in this narrower kind of politics--in the politics of virtue--the ideal never seems to have been realised4 ,plato1 too1 only bordered upon it4 ,granted that one have eyes for concealed things1 one can discover1 even in the most guileless and most conscious moralists 7and this is indeed the name of these moral politicians and of the founders of all newer moral forces71 traces showing that they too paid their tribute to human weakness4 ,they all aspired to virtue on their own account--at least in their moments of weariness2 and this is the leading and most capital error on the part of any moralist--whose duty it is to be an immoralist in deeds4 ,that he must not exactly appear to be the latter1 is another matter4 ,or rather it is not another matter3 systematic self-denial of this kind 7or1 expressed morally3 dissimulation7 belongs to1 and is part and parcel of1 the moralist's canon and of his self-imposed duties3 without it he can never attain to his particular kind of perfection4 ,freedom from morality and from truth when enjoyed for that purpose which rewards every sacrifice3 for the sake of making morality dominate--that is the canon4 ,moralists are in need of the attitudes of virtue1 as also of the attitudes of truth2 their error begins when they yield to virtue1 when they lose control of virtue1 when they themselves become moral or true4 ,a great moralist is1 among other things1 necessarily a great actor2 his only danger is that his pose may unconsciously become a second nature1 just like his ideal1 which is to keep his esse and his operari apart in a divine way2 everything he does must be done sub specie boni--a lofty1 remote1 and exacting ideal6 ,a divine ideal6 ,and1 as a matter of fact1 they say that the moralist thus imitates a model which is no less than ,god ,himself3 ,god1 the greatest ,immoralist in deeds that exists1 but who nevertheless understands how to remain what ,he is1 the good ,god4444 #cje4 ,the dominion of virtue is not established by means of virtue itself2 with virtue itself1 one renounces power1 one loses the ,will to ,power4 #cjf4 ,the victory of a moral ideal is achieved by the same immoral means as any other victory3 violence1 lies1 slander1 injustice4 #cjg4 ,he who knows the way fame originates will be suspicious even of the fame virtue enjoys4 #cjh4 ,morality is just as immoral as any other thing on earth2 morality is in itself a form of immorality4 ,the great relief which this conviction brings4 ,the contradiction between things disappears1 the unity of all phenomena is saved---- #cji4 ,there are some who actually go in search of what is immoral4 ,when they say3 this is wrong1 they believe it ought to be done away with or altered4 ,on the other hand1 ,i do not rest until ,i am quite clear concerning the immorality of any particular thing which happens to come under my notice4 ,when ,i discover it1 ,i recover my equanimity4 #caj4 ,a4 ,the ways which lead to power3 the presentation of the new virtue under the name of an old one1--the awakening of interest concerning it 7happiness declared to be its reward1 and vice vers71--artistic slandering of all that stands in its way1--the exploitation of advantages and accidents with the view of glorifying it1--the conversion of its adherents into fanatics by means of sacrifices and separations1--symbolism on a grand scale4 ,b4 ,power attained3 7#a7 ,means of constraint of virtue2 7#b7 seductive means of virtue2 7#c7 the 7court7 etiquette of virtue4 #caa4 ,by what means does a virtue attain to power8--,with precisely the same means as a political party3 slander1 suspicion1 the undermining of opposing virtues that happen to be already in power1 the changing of their names1 systematic persecution and scorn2 in short1 by means of acts of general immorality4 ,how does a desire behave towards itself in order to become a virtue8--,a process of rechristening2 systematic denial of its intentions2 practice in misunderstanding itself2 alliance with established and recognised virtues2 ostentatious enmity towards its adversaries4 ,if possible1 too1 the protection of sacred powers must be purchased2 people must also be intoxicated and fired with enthusiasm2 idealistic humbug must be used1 and a party must be won1 which either triumphs or perishes--one must be unconscious and naf4 #cab4 ,cruelty has become transformed and elevated into tragic pity1 so that we no longer recognise it as such4 ,the same has happened to the love of the sexes which has become amour-passion2 the slavish attitude of mind appears as ,christian obedience2 wretchedness becomes humility2 the disease of the nervus sympathicus1 for instance1 is eulogised as ,pessimism1 ,pascalism1 or ,carlylism1 etc4 #cac4 ,we should begin to entertain doubts concerning a man if we heard that he required reasons in order to remain respectable3 we should1 in any case1 certainly avoid his society4 ,the little word for in certain cases may be compromising2 sometimes a single for is enough to refute one4 ,if we should hear1 in course of time1 that such-and-such an aspirant for virtue was in need of bad reasons in order to remain respectable1 it would not conduce to increasing our respect for him4 ,but he goes further2 he comes to us1 and tells us quite openly3 ,you disturb my morality1 with your disbelief1 ,mr4 ,sceptic2 so long as you cannot believe in my bad reasons1--that is to say1 in my ,god1 in a disciplinary ,beyond1 in free will1 etc41--you put obstacles in the way of my virtue4444 ,moral1 sceptics must be suppressed3 they prevent the moralisation of the masses4 #cad4 ,our most sacred convictions1 those which are permanent in us concerning the highest values1 are judgments emanating from our muscles4 #cae4 ,morality in the valuation of races and classes4--,in view of the fact that the passions and fundamental instincts in every race and class express the means which enable the latter to preserve themselves 7or at least the means which have enabled them to live for the longest period of time71 to call them virtuous practically means3 ,that they change their character1 shed their skins1 and blot out their past4 ,it means that they should cease from differentiating themselves from others4 ,it means that they are getting to resemble each other in their needs and aspirations--or1 more exactly1 that they are declining4444 ,it means that the will to one kind of morality is merely the tyranny of the particular species1 which is adapted to that kind of morality1 over other species3 it means a process of annihilation or general levelling in favour of the prevailing species 7whether it be to render the non-prevailing species harmless1 or to exploit them72 the ,abolition of ,slavery--a so-called tribute to human dignity2 in truth1 the annihilation of a fundamentally different species 7the undermining of its values and its happiness74 ,the qualities which constitute the strength of an opposing race or class are declared to be the most evil and pernicious things it has3 for by means of them it may be harmful to us 7its virtues are slandered and rechristened74 ,when a man or a people harm us1 their action constitutes an objection against them3 but from their point of view we are desirable1 because we are such as can be useful to them4 ,the insistence upon spreading humaneness 7which guilelessly starts out with the assumption that it is in possession of the formula ,what is human7 is all humbug1 beneath the cover of which a certain definite type of man strives to attain to power3 or1 more precisely1 a very particular kind of instinct--the gregarious instinct4 ,the equality of men3 this is what lies concealed behind the tendency of making ever more and more men alike as men4 ,the interested nature of the morality of ordinary people4 7,the trick was to elevate the great passions for power and property to the positions of protectors of virtue47 ,to what extent do all kinds of business men and money-grabbers--all those who give and take credit--find it necessary to promote the levelling of all characters and notions of value8 the commerce and the exchange of the world leads to1 and almost purchases1 virtue4 ,the ,state exercises the same influence1 as does also any sort of ruling power at the head of officials and soldiers2 science acts in the same way1 in order that it may work in security and economise its forces4 ,and the priesthood does the same4 ,communal morality is thus promoted here1 because it is advantageous2 and1 in order to make it triumph1 war and violence are waged against immorality--with what right8 ,without any right whatsoever2 but in accordance with the instinct of self-preservation4 ,the same classes avail themselves of immorality when it serves their purpose to do so4 #caf4 ,observe the hypocritical colour which all civil institutions are painted1 just as if they were the offshoots of morality--for instance3 marriage1 work1 calling1 patriotism1 the family1 order1 and rights4 ,but as they were all established in favour of the most mediocre type of man1 to protect him from exceptions and the need of exceptions1 one must not be surprised to find them sown with lies4 #cag4 ,virtue must be defended against its preachers3 they are its worst enemies4 ,for they teach virtue as an ideal for all2 they divest virtue of the charm which consists in its rareness1 its inimitableness1 its exceptional and non-average character--that is to say1 of its aristocratic charm4 ,a stand must also be made against those embittered idealists who eagerly tap all pots and are satisfied to hear them ring hollow3 what ingenuousness--to demand great and rare things1 and then to declare1 with anger and contempt of one's fellows1 that they do not exist6--,it is obvious1 for instance1 that a marriage is worth only as much as those are worth whom it joins--that is to say1 that on the whole it is something wretched and indecent3 no priest or registrar can make anything else of it4 ,virtue#f has all the instincts of the average man against it3 it is not profitable1 it is not prudent1 and it isolates4 ,it is related to passion1 and not very accessible to reason2 it spoils the character1 the head1 and the senses--always1 of course1 subject to the medium standard of men2 it provokes hostility towards order1 and towards the lies which are concealed beneath all order1 all institutions1 and all reality--when seen in the light of its pernicious influence upon others1 it is the worst of vices4 ,i recognise virtue in that3 7#a7 it does not insist upon being recognised2 7#b7 it does not presuppose the existence of virtue everywhere1 but precisely something else2 7#c7 it does not suffer from the absence of virtue1 but regards it rather as a relation of perspective which throws virtue into relief3 it does not proclaim itself2 7#d7 it makes no propaganda2 7#e7 it allows no one to pose as judge because it is always a personal virtue2 7#f7 it does precisely what is generally forbidden3 virtue as ,i understand it is the actual vetitum within all gregarious legislation2 7#g7 in short1 ,i recognise virtue in that it is in the ,renaissance style--virt--free from all moralic acid4444 ,footnote #f3 ,,translator',s ,,note4--,virtue is used here1 of course1 in the sense of the excellence of man1 not in the sense of the ,christian negative virtue4 #cah4 ,in the first place#g ,messrs4 ,virtue-mongers1 you have no superiority over us2 we should like to make you take modesty a little more to heart3 it is wretched personal interests and prudence which suggest your virtue to you4 ,and if you had more strength and courage in your bodies you would not lower yourselves thus to the level of virtuous nonentities4 ,you make what you can of yourselves3 partly what you are obliged to make1--that is to say1 what your circumstances force you to make1--partly what suits your pleasure and seems useful to you4 ,but if you do only what is in keeping with your inclinations1 or what necessity exacts from you1 or what is useful to you1 you ought neither to praise yourselves nor let others praise you6444 ,one is a thoroughly puny kind of man when one is only virtuous3 nothing should mislead you in this regard6 ,men who have to be considered at all1 were never such donkeys of virtue3 their inmost instinct1 that which determined their quantum of power1 did not find its reckoning thus3 whereas with your minimum amount of power nothing can seem more full of wisdom to you than virtue4 ,but the multitude are on your side3 and because you tyrannise over us1 we shall fight you4444 ,footnote #g3 ,,translator',s ,,note4--,here ,nietzsche returns to ,christian virtue which is negative and moral4 #cai4 ,a virtuous man is of a lower species because1 in the first place1 he has no personality1 but acquires his value by conforming with a certain human scheme which has been once and for ever fixed4 ,he has no independent value3 he may be compared2 he has his equals1 he must not be an individual4 ,reckoning up the qualities of the good man1 why is it they appear pleasant to us8 ,because they urge us neither to war1 to mistrust1 to caution1 to the accumulating of forces1 nor to severity3 our laziness1 our good nature1 and our levity1 have a good time4 ,this1 our feeling of well-being1 is what we project into the good man in the form of a quality1 in the form of a valuable possession4 #cbj4 ,under certain circumstances1 virtue is merely a venerable form of stupidity3 who could blame you for it8 ,and this form of virtue has not been outlived even to-day4 ,a sort of honest peasant-simplicity1 which is possible1 however1 in all classes of society1 and which one cannot meet with anything else than a respectful smile1 still thinks to-day that everything is in good hands--that is to say1 in ,god's hands3 and when it supports this proposition with that same modest assurance as that with which it would assert that two and two are four1 we others naturally refrain from contradiction4 ,why disturb this pure foolery8 ,why darken it with our cares concerning man1 people1 goals1 the future8 ,even if we wished to do so1 we shouldn't succeed4 ,in all things these people see the reflection of their own venerable stupidity and goodness 7in them the old ,god--deus myops-- still lives72 we others see something else in everything3 our problematic nature1 our contradictions1 our deeper1 more painful1 and more suspicious wisdom4 #cba4 ,he who finds a particular virtue an easy matter1 ultimately laughs at it4 ,seriousness cannot be maintained once virtue is attained4 ,as soon as a man has reached virtue1 he jumps out of it--whither8 ,into devilry4 ,meanwhile1 how intelligent all our evil tendencies and impulses have become6 ,what an amount of inquisitiveness torments them6 ,they are all fishhooks of knowledge6 #cbb4 ,the idea is to associate vice with something so terrible that at last one is obliged to run away from it in order to be rid of its associations4 ,this is the well-known case of ,tannhuser4 ,tannhuser1 brought to his wits' end by ,wagnerian music1 cannot endure life any longer even in the company of ,mrs4 ,venus3 suddenly virtue begins to have a charm for him2 a ,thuringian virgin goes up in price1 and what is even worse still1 he shows a liking for ,wolfram von ,eschenbach's melody4444 #cbc4 ,the ,patrons of ,virtue4--,lust of property1 lust of power1 laziness1 simplicity1 fear2 all these things are interested in virtue2 that is why it stands so securely4 #cbd4 ,virtue is no longer believed in2 its powers of attraction are dead2 what is needed is some one who will once more bring it into the market in the form of an outlandish kind of adventure and of dissipation4 ,it exacts too much extravagance and narrow-mindedness from its believers to allow of conscience not being against it to-day4 ,certainly1 for people1 without either consciences or scruples1 this may constitute its new charm3 it is now what it has never been before--a vice4 #cbe4 ,virtue is still the most expensive vice3 let it remain so6 #cbf4 ,virtues are as dangerous as vices1 in so far as they are allowed to rule over one as authorities and laws coming from outside1 and not as qualities one develops one's self4 ,the latter is the only right way2 they should be the most personal means of defence and most individual needs--the determining factors of precisely our existence and growth1 which we recognise and acknowledge independently of the question whether others grow with us with the help of the same or of different principles4 ,this view of the danger of the virtue which is understood as impersonal and objective also holds good of modesty3 through modesty many of the choicest intellects perish4 ,the morality of modesty is the worst possible softening influence for those souls for which it is pre-eminently necessary that they become hard betimes4 #cbg4 ,the domain of morality must be reduced and limited step by step2 the names of the instincts which are really active in this sphere must be drawn into the light of day and honoured1 after they have lain all this time in the concealment of hypocritical names of virtue4 ,out of respect for one's honesty1 which makes itself heard ever more and more imperiously1 one ought to unlearn the shame which makes one deny and explain away all natural instincts4 ,the extent to which one can dispense with virtue is the measure of one's strength2 and a height may be imagined where the notion virtue is understood in such a way as to be reminiscent of virt--the virtue of the ,renaissance--free from moralic acid4 ,but for the moment--how remote this ideal seems6 ,the reduction of the domain of morality is a sign of its progress4 ,wherever1 hitherto1 thought has not been guided by causality1 thinking has taken a moral turn4 #cbh4 ,after all1 what have ,i achieved8 ,let us not close our eyes to this wonderful result3 ,i have lent new charms to virtue--it now affects one in the same way as something forbidden4 ,it has our most subtle honesty against it1 it is salted in the cum grano salis of the scientific pang of conscience4 ,it savours of antiquity and of old fashion1 and thus it is at last beginning to draw refined people and to make them inquisitive--in short1 it affects us like a vice4 ,only after we have once recognised that everything consists of lies and appearance1 shall we have again earned the right to uphold this most beautiful of all fictions--virtue4 ,there will then remain no further reason to deprive ourselves of it3 only when we have shown virtue to be a form of immorality do we again justify it1--it then becomes classified1 and likened1 in its fundamental features1 to the profound and general immorality of all existence1 of which it is then shown to be a part4 ,it appears as a form of luxury of the first order1 the most arrogant1 the dearest1 and rarest form of vice4 ,we have robbed it of its grimaces and divested it of its drapery2 we have delivered it from the importunate familiarity of the crowd2 we have deprived it of its ridiculous rigidity1 its empty expression1 its stiff false hair1 and its hieratic muscles4 #cbi4 ,and is it supposed that ,i have thereby done any harm to virtue8444 ,just as little as anarchists do to princes4 ,only since they have been shot at1 have they once more sat securely on their thrones4444 ,for thus it has always been and will ever be3 one cannot do a thing a better service than to persecute it and to run it to earth4444 ,this--,i have done4 #e4 ,,the ,,moral ,,ideal4 ,a4 ,a ,criticism of ,ideals4 #ccj4 ,it were the thing to begin this criticism in suchwise as to do away with the word ,ideal3 a criticism of desiderata4 #cca4 ,only the fewest amongst us are aware of what is involved1 from the standpoint of desirability1 in every thus should it be1 but it is not1 or even thus it ought to have been3 such expressions of opinion involve a condemnation of the whole course of events4 ,for there is nothing quite isolated in the world3 the smallest thing bears the largest on its back2 on thy small injustice the whole nature of the future depends2 the whole is condemned by every criticism which is directed at the smallest part of it4 ,now granting that the moral norm--even as ,kant understood it--is never completely fulfilled1 and remains like a sort of ,beyond hanging over reality without ever falling down to it2 then morality would contain in itself a judgment concerning the whole1 which would still1 however1 allow of the question3 whence does it get the right thereto8 ,how does the part come to acquire this judicial position relative to the whole8 ,and if1 as some have declared1 this moral condemnation of1 and dissatisfaction with1 reality1 is an ineradicable instinct1 is it not possible that this instinct may perhaps belong to the ineradicable stupidities and immodesties of our species8--,but in saying this1 we are doing precisely what we deprecate2 the point of view of desirability and of unauthorised fault-finding is part and parcel of the whole character of worldly phenomena just as every injustice and imperfection is--it is our very notion of perfection which is never gratified4 ,every instinct which desires to be indulged gives expression to its dissatisfaction with the present state of things3 how8 ,is the whole perhaps made up of a host of dissatisfied parts1 which all have desiderata in their heads8 ,is the course of things perhaps the road hence8 the road leading away from reality --that is to say1 eternal dissatisfaction in itself8 ,is the conception of desiderata perhaps the essential motive-power of all things8 ,is it--deus8 999999 ,it seems to me of the utmost importance that we should rid ourselves of the notion of the whole1 of an entity1 and of any kind of power or form of the unconditioned4 ,for we shall never be able to resist the temptation of regarding it as the supreme being1 and of christening it ,god4 ,the ,all must be subdivided2 we must unlearn our respect for it1 and reappropriate that which we have lent the unknown and an imaginary entity1 for the purposes of our neighbour and ourselves4 ,whereas1 for instance1 ,kant said3 ,two things remain for ever worthy of honour 7at the close of his ,practical ,reason7--to-day we should prefer to say3 ,digestion is more worthy of honour4 ,the concept1 the ,all1 will always give rise to the old problems1 ,how is evil possible8 etc4 ,therefore1 there is no ,all1 there is no great sensorium or inventarium or power-magazine4 #ccb4 ,a man as he ought to be3 this sounds to me in just as bad taste as3 ,a tree as it ought to be4 #ccc4 ,ethics3 or the philosophy of desirability4--,things ought to be otherwise1 things ought to become different3 dissatisfaction would thus seem the heart of ethics4 ,one could find a way out of it1 first1 by selecting only those states in which one is free from emotion2 secondly1 by grasping the insolence and stupidity of the attitude of mind3 for to desire that something should be otherwise than it is1 means to desire that everything should be different--it involves a damaging criticism of the whole4 ,but life itself consists in such desiring6 ,to ascertain what exists1 how it exists seems an ever so much higher and more serious matter than every thus should it be1 because the latter1 as a piece of human criticism and arrogance1 appears to be condemned as ludicrous from the start4 ,it expresses a need which would fain have the organisation of the world correspond with our human well-being1 and which directs the will as much as possible towards the accomplishment of that relationship4 ,on the other hand1 this desire1 thus it ought to be1 has only called forth that other desire1 what exists8 ,the desire of knowing what exists1 is already a consequence of the question1 how8 is it possible8 ,why precisely so8 ,our wonder at the disagreement between our desires and the course of the world has led to our learning to know the course of the world4 ,perhaps the matter stands differently3 maybe the expression1 thus it ought to be1 is merely the utterance of our desire to overcome the world---- #ccd4 ,to-day when every attempt at determining how man should be--is received with some irony1 when we adhere to the notion that in spite of all one only becomes what one is7in spite of all--that is to say1 education1 instruction1 environment1 accident1 and disaster71 in the matter of morality we have learnt1 in a very peculiar way1 how to reverse the relation of cause and effect4 ,nothing perhaps distinguishes us more than this from the ancient believers in morality4 ,we no longer say1 for instance1 ,vice is the cause of a man's physical ruin1 and we no longer say1 ,a man prospers with virtue because it brings a long life and happiness4 ,our minds to-day are much more inclined to the belief that vice and virtue are not causes but only effects4 ,a man becomes a respectable member of society because he was a respectable man from the start--that is to say1 because he was born in possession of good instincts and prosperous propensities4444 ,should a man enter the world poor1 and the son of parents who are neither economical nor thrifty1 he is insusceptible of being improved--that is to say1 he is only fit for the prison or the madhouse4444 ,to-day we are no longer able to separate moral from physical degeneration3 the former is merely a complicated symptom of the latter2 a man is necessarily bad just as he is necessarily ill4444 ,bad3 this word here stands for a certain lack of capacity which is related physiologically with the degenerating type--for instance1 a weak will1 an uncertain and many-sided personality1 the inability to resist reacting to a stimulus and to control one's self1 and a certain constraint resulting from every suggestion proceeding from another's will4 ,vice is not a cause2 it is an effect4 444 ,vice is a somewhat arbitrary-epitome of certain effects resulting from physiological degeneracy4 ,a general proposition such as that which ,christianity teaches1 namely1 ,man is evil1 would be justified provided one were justified in regarding a given type of degenerate man as normal4 ,but this may be an exaggeration4 ,of course1 wherever ,christianity prospers and prevails1 the proposition holds good3 for then the existence of an unhealthy soil--of a degenerate territory--is demonstrated4 #cce4 ,it is difficult to have sufficient respect for man1 when one sees how he understands the art of fighting his way1 of enduring1 of turning circumstances to his own advantage1 and of overthrowing opponents2 but when he is seen in the light of his desires1 he is the most absurd of all animals4 ,it is just as if he required a playground for his cowardice1 his laziness1 his feebleness1 his sweetness1 his submissiveness1 where he recovers from his strong virile virtues4 ,just look at man's desiderata and his ideals4 ,man1 when he desires1 tries to recover from that which is eternally valuable in him1 from his deeds2 and then he rushes into nonentity1 absurdity1 valuelessness1 childishness4 ,the intellectual indigence and lack of inventive power of this resourceful and inventive animal is simply terrible4 ,the ideal is at the same time the penalty man pays for the enormous expenditure which he has to defray in all real and pressing duties4--,should reality cease to prevail1 there follow dreams1 fatigue1 weakness3 an ideal might even be regarded as a form of dream1 fatigue1 or weakness4 ,the strongest and the most impotent men become alike when this condition overtakes them3 they deify the cessation of work1 of war1 of passions1 of suspense1 of contrasts1 of reality --in short1 of the struggle for knowledge and of the trouble of acquiring it4 ,innocence to them is idealised stultification2 blessedness is idealised idleness2 love1 the ideal state of the gregarious animal that will no longer have an enemy4 ,and thus everything that lowers and belittles man is elevated to an ideal4 #ccf4 ,a desire magnifies the thing desired2 and by not being realised it grows--the greatest ideas are those which have been created by the strongest and longest desiring4 ,things grow ever more valuable in our estimation1 the more our desire for them increases3 if moral values have become the highest values1 it simply shows that the moral ideal is the one which has been realised least 7and thus it represented the ,beyond to all suffering1 as a road to blessedness74 ,man1 with ever-increasing ardour1 has only been embracing clouds3 and ultimately called his desperation and impotence ,god4 #ccg4 ,think of the navet of all ultimate desiderata--when the wherefore of man remains unknown4 #cch4 ,what is the counterfeit coinage of morality8 ,first of all we should know what good and evil mean4 ,that is as good as wishing to know why man is here1 and what his goal or his destiny is4 ,and that means that one would fain know that man actually has a goal or a destiny4 ,the very obscure and arbitrary notion that humanity has a general duty to perform1 and that1 as a whole1 it is striving towards a goal1 is still in its infancy4 ,perhaps we shall once more be rid of it before it becomes a fixed idea4 444 ,but humanity does not constitute a whole3 it is an indissoluble multiplicity of ascending and descending organisms--it knows no such thing as a state of youth followed by maturity and then age4 ,but its strata lie confused and superimposed--and in a few thousand years there may be even younger types of men than we can point out to-day4 ,decadence1 on the other hand1 belongs to all periods of human history3 everywhere there is refuse and decaying matter1 such things are in themselves vital processes2 for withering and decaying elements must be eliminated4 ,under the empire of ,christian prejudice this question was never put at all3 the purpose of life seemed to lie in the salvation of the individual soul2 the question whether humanity might last for a long or a short time was not considered4 ,the best ,christians longed for the end to come as soon as possible2--concerning the needs of the individual1 there seemed to be no doubt whatsoever4 444 ,the duty of every individual for the present was identical with what it would be in any sort of future for the man of the future3 the value1 the purpose1 the limit of values was for ever fixed1 unconditioned1 eternal1 one with ,god4444 ,what deviated from this eternal type was impious1 diabolic1 criminal4 ,the centre of gravity of all values for each soul lay in that soul itself3 salvation or damnation6 ,the salvation of the immortal soul6 ,the most extreme form of personalisation4444 ,for each soul there was only one kind of perfection2 only one ideal1 only one road to salvation4444 ,the most extreme form of the principle of equal rights1 associated with an optical magnification of individual importance to the point of megalomania4444 ,nothing but insanely important souls1 revolving round their own axes with unspeakable terror4444 999999 ,nobody believes in these assumed airs of importance any longer to-day3 and we have sifted our wisdom through the sieve of contempt4 ,nevertheless the optical habit survives1 which would fain measure the value of man by his proximity to a certain ideal maw4 at bottom the personalisation view is upheld as firmly as that of the equality of rights as regards the ideal4 ,in short3 people seem to think that they know what the ultimate desideratum is in regard to the ideal man4444 ,but this belief is merely the result of the exceedingly detrimental influence of the ,christian ideal1 as anybody can discover for himself every time he carefully examines the ideal type4 ,in the first place1 it is believed that the approach to a given type is desirable2 secondly1 that this particular type is known2 thirdly1 that every deviation from this type is a retrograde movement1 a stemming of the spirit of progress1 a loss of power and might in man4444 ,to dream of a state of affairs in which this perfect man will be in the majority3 our friends the ,socialists and even ,messrs4 the ,utilitarians have not reached a higher level than this4 ,in this way an aim seems to have crept into the evolution of man3 at any rate the belief in a certain progress towards an ideal is the only shape in which an aim is conceived in the history of mankind to-day4 ,in short3 the coming of the ,kingdom of ,god has been placed in the future1 and has been given an earthly1 a human meaning--but on the whole the faith in the old ideal is still maintained4444 #cdj4 ,the more concealed forms of the cult of ,christian1 moral ideals4--,the insipid and cowardly notion ,nature invented by ,nature-enthusiasts 7without any knowledge whatsoever of the terrible1 the implacable1 and the cynical element in even the most beautiful aspects71 is only a sort of attempt at reading the moral and ,christian notion of humanity into ,nature2--,rousseau's concept of ,nature1 for instance1 which took for granted that ,nature meant freedom1 goodness1 innocence1 equity1 justice1 and ,idylls1 was nothing more at bottom than the cult of ,christian morality4 ,we should collect passages from the poets in order to see what they admired1 in lofty mountains1 for instance4 ,what ,goethe had to do with them--why he admired ,spinoza4 ,absolute ignorance concerning the reasons of this cult4444 ,the insipid and cowardly concept ,man la ,comte and ,stuart ,mill1 is at times the subject of a cult4444 ,this is only the ,christian moral ideal again under another name4444 ,refer also to the freethinkers--,guyau for example4 ,the insipid and cowardly concept ,art which is held to mean sympathy with all suffering and with everything botched and bungled 7the same thing happens to history1 cf4 ,thierry73 again it is the cult of the ,christian moral ideal4 ,and now1 as to the whole socialistic ideal3 it is nothing but a blockheaded misunderstanding of the ,christian moral ideal4 #cda4 ,the origin of the ideal4 ,the examination of the soil out of which it grows4 ,a4 ,starting out from those sthetic mental states during which the world seems rounder1 fuller1 and more perfect3 we have the pagan ideal with its dominating spirit of self-affirmation 7people give of their abundance74 ,the highest type3 the classical ideal--regarded as an expression of the successful nature of all the more important instincts4 ,in this classical ideal we find the grand style as the highest style4 ,an expression of the will to power itself4 ,the instinct which is most feared dares to acknowledge itself4 ,b4 ,starting out from the mental states in which the world seemed emptier1 paler1 and thinner1 when spiritualisation and the absence of sensuality assume the rank of perfection1 and when all that is brutal1 animal1 direct1 and proximate is avoided 7people calculate and select73 the sage1 the angel2 priestliness virginity ignorance1 are the physiological ideals of such idealists3 the anmic ideal4 ,under certain circumstances this anmic ideal may be the ideal of such natures as represent paganism 7thus ,goethe sees his saint in ,spinoza74 ,c4 ,starting out from those mental states in which the world seemed more absurd1 more evil1 poorer1 and more deceptive1 an ideal cannot even be imagined or desired in it 7people deny and annihilate72 the projection of the ideal into the sphere of the anti-natural1 anti-actual1 anti-logical2 the state of him who judges thus 7the impoverishment of the world as a result of suffering3 people take1 they no longer bestow73 the anti-natural ideal4 7,the ,christian ideal is a transitional form between the second and the third1 now inclining more towards the former type1 and anon inclining towards the latter47 ,the three ideals3 ,a4 ,either a strengthening of ,life 7paganism17 or ,b4 an impoverishment of ,life 7anmia71 or ,c4 a denial of ,life 7anti-naturalism74 ,the state of beatitude in ,a4 is the feeling of extreme abundance2 in ,b4 it is reached by the most fastidious selectiveness2 in ,c4 it is the contempt and the destruction of ,life4 #cdb4 ,a4 ,the consistent type understands that even evil must not be hated1 must not be resisted1 and that it is not allowable to make war against one's self2 that it does not suffice merely to accept the pain which such behaviour brings in its train2 that one lives entirely in positive feelings2 that one takes the side of one's opponents in word and deed2 that by means of a superftation of peaceful1 kindly1 conciliatory1 helpful1 and loving states1 one impoverishes the soil of the other states1 444 that one is in need of unremitting practice4 ,what is achieved thereby8--,the ,buddhistic type1 or the perfect cow4 ,this point of view is possible only where no moral fanaticism prevails--that is to say1 when evil is not hated on its own account1 but because it opens the road to conditions which are painful 7unrest1 work1 care1 complications1 dependence74 ,this is the ,buddhistic point of view3 there is no hatred of sin1 the concept sin1 in fact1 is entirely lacking4 ,b4 ,the inconsistent type4 ,war is waged against evil--there is a belief that war waged for ,goodness' sake does not involve the same moral results or affect character in the same way as war generally does 7and owing to which tendencies it is detested as evil74 ,as a matter of fact1 a war of this sort carried on against evil is much more profoundly pernicious than any sort of personal hostility2 and generally1 it is the person which reassumes1 at least in fancy1 the position of opponent 7the devil1 evil spirits1 etc474 ,the attitude of hostile observation and spying in regard to everything which may be bad in us1 or hail from a bad source1 culminates in a most tormented and most anxious state of mind3 thus miracles1 rewards1 ecstasy1 and transcendental solutions of the earth-riddle now became desirable4 444 ,the ,christian type3 or the perfect bigot4 ,c4 ,the stoical type4 ,firmness1 self-control1 imperturbability1 peace in the form of the rigidity of a will long active--profound quiet1 the defensive state1 the fortress1 the mistrust of war--firmness of principles2 the unity of knowledge and will2 great self-respect4 ,the type of the anchorite4 ,the perfect blockhead4 #cdc4 ,an ideal which is striving to prevail or to assert itself endeavours to further its purpose 7a7 by laying claim to a spurious origin2 7b7 by assuming a relationship between itself and the powerful ideals already existing2 7c7 by means of the thrill produced by mystery1 as though an unquestionable power were manifesting itself2 7d7 by the slander of its opponents' ideals2 7e7 by a lying teaching of the advantages which follow in its wake1 for instance3 happiness1 spiritual peace1 general peace1 or even the assistance of a mighty ,god1 etc4--,contributions to the psychology of the idealists3 ,carlyle1 ,schiller1 ,michelet4 ,supposing all the means of defence and protection1 by means of which an ideal survives1 are discovered1 is it thereby refuted8 ,it has merely availed itself of the means of which everything lives and grows--they are all immoral4 ,my view3 all the forces and instincts which are the source of life are lying beneath the ban of morality3 morality is the life-denying instinct4 ,morality must be annihilated if life is to be emancipated4 #cdd4 ,to avoid knowing himself is the prudence of the idealist4 ,the idealist3 a creature who has reasons for remaining in the dark concerning himself1 and who is also clever enough to remain in the dark concerning these reasons also4 #cde4 ,the tendency of moral evolution4--,every one's desire is that there should be no other teaching and valuation of things than those by means of which he himself succeeds4 ,thus the fundamental tendency of the weak and mediocre of all times1 has been to enfeeble the strong and to reduce them to the level of the weak3 their chief weapon in this process was the moral principle4 ,the attitude of the strong towards the weak is branded as evil2 the highest states of the strong become bad bywords4 ,the struggle of the many against the strong1 of the ordinary against the extraordinary1 of the weak against the strong3 meets with one of its finest interruptions in the fact that the rare1 the refined1 the more exacting1 present themselves as the weak1 and repudiate the coarser weapons of power4 #cdf4 7#a7 ,the so-called pure instinct for knowledge of all philosophers is dictated to them by their moral truths1 and is only seemingly independent4 7#b7 ,the ,moral ,truths1 thus shall things be done1 are mere states of consciousness of an instinct which has grown tired1 thus and thus are things done by us4 ,the ideal is supposed to re-establish and strengthen an instinct2 it flatters man to feel he can obey when he is only an automaton4 #cdg4 ,morality as a means of seduction4--,nature is good2 for a wise and good ,god is its cause4 ,who1 therefore1 is responsible for the 'corruption of man'8 ,tyrants and seducers and the ruling classes are responsible--they must be wiped out3 this is ,rousseau's logic 7compare with ,pascals logic1 which concludes by an appeal to original sin74 ,refer also to ,luther's logic1 which is similar4 ,in both cases a pretext is sought for the introduction of an insatiable lust of revenge as a moral and religious duty4 ,the hatred directed against the ruling classes tries to sanctify itself 444 7the sinfulness of ,israel is the basis of the priest's powerful position74 ,compare this with ,pauls logic1 which is similar4 ,it is always under the cover of ,god's business that these reactions appear1 under the cover of what is right1 or of humanity1 etc4 ,in the case of ,christ the rejoicings of the people appear as the cause of ,his crucifixion4 ,it was an anti-priestly movement from the beginning4 ,even in the anti-,semitic movement we find the same trick3 the opponent is overcome with moral condemnations1 and those who attack him pose as retributive ,justice4 #cdh4 ,the incidents of the fight3 the fighter tries to transform his opponent into the exact opposite of himself--imaginatively1 of course4 ,he tries to believe in himself to such an extent that he may have the courage necessary for the good ,cause 7as if he were the good ,cause72 as if reason1 taste1 and virtue were being assailed by his opponents4444 ,the belief of which he is most in need1 as the strongest means of defence and attack1 is the belief in himself1 which1 however1 knows how to misinterpret itself as a belief in ,god4 ,he never pictures the advantages and the uses of victory1 but only understands victory for the sake of victory--for ,god's sake4 ,every small community 7or individual71 finding itself involved in a struggle1 strives to convince itself of this3 ,good taste1 good judgment1 and virtue are ours4 ,war urges people to this exaggerated self-esteem4444 #cdi4 ,whatever kind of eccentric ideal one may have 7whether as a ,christian1 a free-spirit1 an immoralist1 or a ,german ,imperialist71 one should try to avoid insisting upon its being the ideal2 for1 by so doing1 it is deprived of all its privileged nature4 ,one should have an ideal as a distinction2 one should not propagate it1 and thus level one's self down to the rest of mankind4 ,how is it1 that in spite of this obvious fact1 the majority of idealists indulge in propaganda for their ideal1 just as if they had no right to it unless the majority acquiesce therein8--,for instance1 all those plucky and insignificant girls behave in this way1 who claim the right to study ,latin and mathematics4 ,what is it urges them to do this8 ,i fear it is the instinct of the herd1 and the terror of the herd3 they fight for the emancipation of woman1 because they are best able to achieve their own private little distinction by fighting for it under the cover of a charitable movement1 under the banner bearing the device ,for others4 ,the cleverness of idealists consists in their persistently posing as the missionaries and representatives of an ideal3 they thus beautify themselves in the eyes of those who still believe in disinterestedness and heroism4 ,whereas real heroism consists1 not in fighting under the banner of self-sacrifice1 submission1 and disinterestedness1 but in not fighting at all4444 ,i am thus2 ,i will be thus--and you can go to the devil6 #cej4 ,every ideal assumes love1 hate1 reverence1 and contempt4 ,either positive feeling is the primum mobile1 or negative feeling is4 ,hatred and contempt are the primum mobile in all the ideals which proceed from resentment4 ,b4 ,a ,criticism of the ,good ,man of the ,saint1 etc4 #cea4 ,the good man ,or1 hemiplegia of virtue4--,in the opinion of every strong and natural man1 love and hate1 gratitude and revenge1 goodness and anger1 affirmative and negative action1 belong to each other4 ,a man is good on condition that he knows how to be evil2 a man is evil1 because otherwise he would not know how to be good4 ,whence comes the morbidness and ideological unnaturalness which repudiates these compounds--which teaches a sort of one-sided efficiency as the highest of all things8 ,whence this hemiplegia of virtue1 the invention of the good man8 ,the object seems to be to make man amputate those instincts which enable him to be an enemy1 to be harmful1 to be angry1 and to insist upon revenge4444 ,this unnaturalness1 then1 corresponds to that dualistic concept of a wholly good and of a wholly bad creature 7,god1 ,spirit1 ,man72 in the first are found all the positive1 in the second all the negative forces1 intentions1 and states4 ,this method of valuing thus believes itself to be idealistic2 it never doubts that in its concept of the good man1 it has found the highest desideratum4 ,when aspiring to its zenith it fancies a state in which all evil is wiped out1 and in which only good creatures have actually remained over4 ,it does not therefore regard the mutual dependence of the opposites good and evil as proved4 ,on the contrary1 the latter ought to vanish1 and the former should remain4 ,the first has a right to exist1 the second ought not to be with us at all4444 ,what1 as a matter of fact1 is the reason of this desire8 ,in all ages1 and particularly in the ,christian age1 much labour has been spent in trying to reduce men to this one-sided activity3 and even to-day1 among those who have been deformed and weakened by the ,church1 people are not lacking who desire precisely the same thing with their humanisation generally1 or with their ,will of ,god1 or with their ,salvation of the ,soul4 ,the principal injunction behind all these things is1 that man should no longer do anything evil1 that he should under no circumstances be harmful or desire harm4 ,the way to arrive at this state of affairs is to amputate all hostile tendencies1 to suppress all the instincts of resentment1 and to establish spiritual peace as a chronic disease4 ,this attitude of mind1 in which a certain type of man is bred1 starts out with this absurd hypothesis3 good and evil are postulated as realities which are in a state of mutual contradiction 7not as complementary values1 which they are71 people are advised to take the side of the good1 and it is insisted upon that a good man resists and forswears evil until every trace of it is uprooted--but with this valuation ,life is actually denied1 for in all its instincts ,life has both yea and nay4 ,but far from understanding these facts1 this valuation dreams rather of returning to the wholeness1 oneness1 and strengthfulness of ,life3 it actually believes that a state of blessedness will be reached when the inner anarchy and state of unrest which result from these opposed impulses is brought to an end4--,it is possible that no more dangerous ideology1 no greater mischief in the science of psychology1 has ever yet existed1 as this will to good3 the most repugnant type of man has been reared1 the man who is not free1 the bigot2 it was taught that only in the form of a bigot could one tread the path which leads to ,god1 and that only a bigot's life could be a godly life4 ,and even here1 ,life is still in the right--,life that knows not how to separate ,yea from ,nay3 what is the good of declaring with all one's might that war is an evil1 that one must harm no one1 that one must not act negatively8 ,one is still waging a war even in this1 it is impossible to do otherwise6 ,the good man who has renounced all evil1 and who is afflicted according to his desire with the hemiplegia of virtue1 does not therefore cease from waging war1 or from making enemies1 or from saying nay and doing nay4 ,the ,christian1 for instance1 hates sin6--and what on earth is there which he does not call sin6 ,it is precisely because of his belief in a moral antagonism between good and evil1 that the world for him has grown so full of hatefulness and things that must be combated eternally4 ,the good man sees himself surrounded by evil1 and1 thanks to the continual onslaughts of the latter1 his eye grows more keen1 and in the end discovers traces of evil in every one of his acts4 ,and thus he ultimately arrives at the conclusion1 which to him is quite logical1 that ,nature is evil1 that man is corrupted1 and that being good is an act of grace 7that is to say1 it is impossible to man when he stands alone74 ,in short3 he denies ,life1 he sees how good1 as the highest value1 condemns ,life4444 ,and thus his ideology concerning good and evil ought to strike him as refuted4 ,but one cannot refute a disease4 ,therefore he is obliged to conceive another life6444 #ceb4 ,power1 whether in the hands of a god or of a man1 is always understood to consist in the ability to harm as well as to help4 ,this is the case with the ,arabs and with the ,hebrews1 in fact with all strong and well-constituted races4 ,the dualistic separation of the two powers is fatal4444 ,in this way morality becomes the poisoner of life4 #cec4 ,a criticism of the good man4--,honesty1 dignity1 dutifulness1 justice1 humanity1 loyalty1 uprightness1 clean conscience--is it really supposed that1 by means of these fine-sounding words1 the qualities they stand for are approved and affirmed for their own sake8 ,or is it this1 that qualities and states indifferent in themselves have merely been looked at in a light which lends them some value8 ,does the worth of these qualities lie in themselves1 or in the use and advantages to which they lead 7or to which they seem to lead1 to which they are expected to lead78 ,i naturally do not wish to imply that there is any opposition between the ego and the alter in the judgment3 the question is1 whether it is the results of these qualities1 either in regard to him who possesses them or in regard to environment1 society1 humanity1 which lend them their value2 or whether they have a value in themselves4444 ,in other words3 is it utility which bids men condemn1 combat1 and deny the opposite qualities 7duplicity1 falseness1 perversity1 lack of self-confidence1 inhumanity78 ,is the essence of such qualities condemned1 or only their consequences8 ,in other words3 were it desirable that there should exist no men at all possessed of such qualities8 ,in any case1 this is believed4444 ,but here lies the error1 the shortsightedness1 the monocularity of narrow egoism4 ,expressed otherwise3 would it be desirable to create circumstances in which the whole advantage would be on the side of the just--so that all those with opposite natures and instincts would be discouraged and would slowly become extinct8 ,at bottom1 this is a question of taste and of sthetics3 should we desire the most honourable types of men--that is to say1 the greatest bores--alone to subsist8 the rectangular1 the virtuous1 the upright1 the good-natured1 the straightforward1 and the blockheads8 ,if one can imagine the total suppression of the huge number constituting the others1 even the just man himself ceases from having a right to exist1--he is1 in fact1 no longer necessary1--and in this way it is seen that coarse utility alone could have elevated such an insufferable virtue to a place of honour4 ,desirability may lie precisely on the other side4 ,it might be better to create conditions in which the just man would be reduced to the humble position of a useful instrument--an ideal gregarious animal1 or at best a herdsman3 in short1 conditions in which he would no longer stand in the highest sphere1 which requires other qualities4 #ced4 ,the good man as a tyrant--,mankind has always repeated the same error3 it has always transformed a mere vital measure into the measure and standard of life2--instead of seeking the standard in the highest ascent of life1 in the problem of growth and exhaustion1 it takes the preservative measures of a very definite kind of life1 and uses them to exclude all other kinds of life1 and even to criticise ,life itself and to select from among its forms4 ,that is to say1 man ultimately forgets that measures are a means to an end1 and gets to like them for themselves3 they take the place of a goal in his mind1 and even become the standard of goals to him--that is to say1 a given species of man regards his means of existence as the only legitimate means1 as the means which ought to be imposed upon all1 as truth1 goodness1 perfection3 the given species1 in fact1 begins to tyrannise4 444 ,it is a form of faith1 of instinct1 when a certain species of man does not perceive that his kind has been conditioned1 when he does not understand his relation to other species4 ,at any rate1 any species of men 7a people or a race7 seems to be doomed as soon as it becomes tolerant1 grants equal rights1 and no longer desires to be master4 #cee4 ,all good people are weak3 they are good because they are not strong enough to be evil1 said the ,latuka chieftain ,comorro to ,baker4 99 99 99 ,disasters are not to the faint-hearted1 is a ,russian proverb4 #cef4 ,modest1 industrious1 benevolent1 and temperate3 thus you would that men were8--that good men were8 ,but such men ,i can only conceive as slaves1 the slaves of the future4 #ceg4 ,the metamorphoses of slavery2 its disguise in the cloak of religion2 its transfiguration through morality4 #ceh4 ,the ideal slave 7the good man74--,he who cannot regard himself as a purpose1 and who cannot give himself any aim whatsoever1 instinctively honours the morality of unselfishness4 ,everything urges him to this morality3 his prudence1 his experience1 and his vanity4 ,and even faith is a form of self-denial4 999999 ,atavism3 delightful feeling1 to be able to obey unconditionally for once4 999999 ,industry1 modesty1 benevolence1 temperance1 are just so many obstacles in the way of sovereign sentiments1 of great ingenuity1 of an heroic purpose1 of noble existence for one's self4 999999 ,it is not a question of going ahead 7to that end all that is required is to be at best a herdsman1 that is to say1 the prime need of the herd71 it is rather a matter of getting along alone1 of being able to be another4 #cei4 ,we must realise all that has been accumulated as the result of the highest moral idealism3 how almost all other values have crystallised round it4 ,this shows that it has been desired for a very long time and with the strongest passions--and that it has not yet been attained3 otherwise it would have disappointed everybody 7that is to say1 it would have been followed by a more moderate valuation74 ,the saint as the most powerful type of man3 this ideal it is which has elevated the value of moral perfection so high4 ,one would think that the whole of science had been engaged in proving that the moral man is the most powerful and most godly4--,the conquest of the senses and the passions--everything inspired terror2--the unnatural seemed to the spectators to be supernatural and transcendental4444 #cfj4 ,francis of ,assisi3 amorous and popular1 a poet who combats the order of rank among souls1 in favour of the lowest4 ,the denial of spiritual hierarchy--all alike before ,god4 ,popular ideals3 the good man1 the unselfish man1 the saint1 the sage1 the just man4 ,o ,marcus ,aurelius6 #cfa4 ,i have declared war against the anmic ,christian ideal 7together with what is closely ,i related to it71 not because ,i want to annihilate it1 but only to put an end to its tyranny and clear the way for other ideals1 for more robust ideals4444 ,the continuance of the ,christian ideal belongs to the most desirable of desiderata3 if only for the sake of the ideals which wish to take their stand beside it and perhaps above it--they must have opponents1 and strong ones too1 in order to grow strong themselves4 ,that is why we immoralists require the power of morality1 our instinct of self-preservation insists upon our opponents maintaining their strength--all it requires is to become master of them4 ,c4 ,concerning the ,slander of the so-called ,evil ,qualities4 #cfb4 ,egoism and its problem6 ,the ,christian gloominess of ,la ,rochefoucauld1 who saw egoism in everything1 and imagined that he had therefore reduced the worth of things and virtues6 ,in opposition to him1 ,i first of all tried to show that nothing else could exist save egoism1--that in those men whose ego is weak and thin1 the power to love also grows weak1--that the greatest lovers are such owing to the strength of their ego1--that love is an expression of egoism1 etc4 ,as a matter of fact1 the false valuation aims at the interest of those who find it useful1 whom it helps--in fact1 the herd2 it fosters a pessimistic mistrust towards the basis of ,life2 it would fain undermine the most glorious and most well-constituted men 7out of fear72 it would assist the lowly to have the upper hand of their conquerors2 it is the cause of universal dishonesty1 especially in the most useful type of men4 #cfc4 ,man is an indifferent egoist3 even the cleverest regards his habits as more important than his advantage4 #cfd4 ,egoism6 ,but no one has yet asked3 what is the ego like8 ,everybody is rather inclined to see all egos alike4 ,this is the result of the slave theory1 of universal suffrage1 and of equality4 #cfe4 ,the behaviour of a higher man is the result of a very complex set of motives3 any word such as pity betrays nothing of this complexity4 ,the most important factor is the feeling1 who am ,i8 who is the other relative to me8--,thus the valuing spirit is continually active4 #cff4 ,to think that the history of all moral phenomena may be simplified1 as ,schopenhauer thought1--that is to say1 that pity is to be found at the root of every moral impulse that has ever existed hitherto1--is to be guilty of a degree of nonsense and ingenuousness worthy only of a thinker who is devoid of all historical instincts and who has miraculously succeeded in evading the strong schooling in history which the ,germans1 from ,herder to ,hegel1 have undergone4 #cfg4 ,my pity4--,this is a feeling for which ,i can find no adequate term3 ,i feel it when ,i am in the presence of any waste of precious capabilities1 as1 for instance1 when ,i contemplate ,luther3 what power and what tasteless problems fit for back-woodsmen6 7,at a time when the brave and light-hearted scepticism of a ,montaigne was already possible in ,france67 ,or when ,i see some one standing below where he might have stood1 thanks to the development of a set of perfectly senseless accidents4 ,or even when1 with the thought of man's destiny in my mind1 ,i contemplate with horror and contempt the whole system of modern ,european politics1 which is creating the circumstances and weaving the fabric of the whole future of mankind4 ,yes1 to what could not mankind attain1 if----6 ,this is my pity2 despite the fact that no sufferer yet exists with whom ,i sympathise in this way4 #cfh4 ,pity is a waste of feeling1 a moral parasite which is injurious to the health1 it cannot possibly be our duty to increase the evil in the world4 ,if one does good merely out of pity1 it is one's self and not one's neighbour that one is succouring4 ,pity does not depend upon maxims1 but upon emotions4 ,the suffering we see infects us2 pity is an infection4 #cfi4 ,there is no such thing as egoism which keeps within its bounds and does not exceed them--consequently1 the allowable1 the morally indifferent egoism of which some people speak1 does not exist at all4 ,one is continually promoting the interests of one's 'ego' at the cost of other people 2 ,living consists in living at the cost of others--he who has not grasped this fact1 has not taken the first step towards truth to himself4 #cgj4 ,the subject is a piece of fiction3 the ego of which every one speaks when he blames egoism1 does not exist at all4 #cga4 ,our ego--which is not one with the unitary controlling force of our beings6--is really only an imagined synthesis2 therefore there can be no egoistic actions4 #cgb4 ,since all instincts are unintelligent1 utility cannot represent a standpoint as far as they are concerned4 ,every instinct1 when it is active1 sacrifices strength and other instincts into the bargain3 in the end it is stemmed1 otherwise it would be the end of everything owing to the waste it would bring about4 ,thus3 that which is unegoistic1 self-sacrificing1 and imprudent is nothing in particular --it is common to all the instincts2 they do not consider the welfare of the whole ego 7because they simply do not think671 they act counter to our interests1 against the ego3 and often for the ego--innocent in both cases6 #cgc4 ,the origin of moral values4--,selfishness has as much value as the physiological value of him who possesses it4 ,each individual represents the whole course of ,evolution1 and he is not1 as morals teach1 something that begins at his birth4 ,if he represent the ascent of the line of mankind1 his value is1 in fact1 very great2 and the concern about his maintenance and the promoting of his growth may even be extreme4 7,it is the concern about the promise of the future in him which gives the well-constituted individual such an extraordinary right to egoism47 ,if he represent descending development1 decay1 chronic sickening1 he has little worth3 and the greatest fairness would have him take as little room1 strength1 and sunshine as possible from the well-constituted4 ,in this case society's duty is to suppress egoism 7for the latter may sometimes manifest itself in an absurd1 morbid1 and seditious manner73 whether it be a question of the decline and pining away of single individuals or of whole classes of mankind4 ,a morality and a religion of love1 the curbing of the self-affirming spirit1 and a doctrine encouraging patience1 resignation1 helpfulness1 and co-operation in word and deed may be of the highest value within the confines of such classes1 even in the eyes of their rulers3 for it restrains the feelings of rivalry1 of resentment1 and of envy1--feelings which are only too natural in the bungled and the botched1--and it even deifies them under the ideal of humility1 of obedience1 of slave-life1 of being ruled1 of poverty1 of illness1 and of lowliness4 ,this explains why the ruling classes 7or races7 and individuals of all ages have always upheld the cult of unselfishness1 the gospel of the lowly and of ,god on the ,cross4 ,the preponderance of an altruistic way of valuing is the result of a consciousness of the fact that one is botched and bungled4 ,upon examination1 this point of view turns out to be3 ,i am not worth much1 simply a psychological valuation2 more plainly still3 it is the feeling of impotence1 of the lack of the great self-asserting impulses of power 7in muscles1 nerves1 and ganglia74 ,this valuation gets translated1 according to the particular culture of these classes1 into a moral or religious principle 7the pre-eminence of religious or moral precepts is always a sign of low culture73 it tries to justify itself in spheres whence1 as far as it is concerned1 the notion value hails4 ,the interpretation by means of which the ,christian sinner tries to understand himself1 is an attempt at justifying his lack of power and of self-confidence3 he prefers to feel himself a sinner rather than feel bad for nothing3 it is in itself a symptom of decay when interpretations of this sort are used at all4 ,in some cases the bungled and the botched do not look for the reason of their unfortunate condition in their own guilt 7as the ,christian does71 but in society3 when1 however1 the ,socialist1 the ,anarchist1 and the ,nihilist are conscious that their existence is something for which some one must be guilty1 they are very closely related to the ,christian1 who also believes that he can more easily endure his ill ease and his wretched constitution when he has found some one whom he can hold responsible for it4 ,the instinct of revenge and resentment appears in both cases here as a means of enduring life1 as a self-preservative measure1 as is also the favour shown to altruistic theory and practice4 ,the hatred of egoism1 whether it be one's own 7as in the case of the ,christian71 or another's 7as in the case of the ,socialists71 thus appears as a valuation reached under the predominance of revenge2 and also as an act of prudence on the part of the preservative instinct of the suffering1 in the form of an increase in their feelings of co-operation and unity4444 ,at bottom1 as ,i have already suggested1 the discharge of resentment which takes place in the act of judging1 rejecting1 and punishing egoism 7one's own or that of others7 is still a self-preservative measure on the part of the bungled and the botched4 ,in short3 the cult of altruism is merely a particular form of egoism1 which regularly appears under certain definite physiological circumstances4 ,when the ,socialist1 with righteous indignation1 cries for justice1 rights1 equal rights1 it only shows that he is oppressed by his inadequate culture1 and is unable to understand why he suffers3 he also finds pleasure in crying2--if he were more at ease he would take jolly good care not to cry in that way3 in that case he would seek his pleasure elsewhere4 ,the same holds good of the ,christian3 he curses1 condemns1 and slanders the world--and does not even except himself4 ,but that is no reason for taking him seriously4 ,in both cases we are in the presence of invalids who feel better for crying1 and who find relief in slander4 #cgd4 ,every society has a tendency to reduce its opponents to caricatures1--at least in its own imagination1--as also to starve them4 ,as an example of this sort of caricature we have our criminal4 ,in the midst of the ,roman and aristocratic order of values1 the ,jew was reduced to a caricature4 ,among artists1 ,mrs4 ,grundy and the bourgeois become caricatures2 while among pious people it is the heretics1 and among aristocrats1 the plebeian4 ,among immoralists it is the moralist4 ,plato1 for instance1 in my books becomes a caricature4 #cge4 ,all the instincts and forces which morality praises1 seem to me to be essentially the same as those which it slanders and rejects3 for instance1 justice as will to power1 will to truth as a means in the service of the will to power4 #cgf4 ,the turning of man's nature inwards4 ,the process of turning a nature inwards arises when1 owing to the establishment of peace and society1 powerful instincts are prevented from venting themselves outwardly1 and strive to survive harmlessly inside in conjunction with the imagination4 ,the need of hostility1 cruelty1 revenge1 and violence is reverted1 it steps backwards2 in the thirst for knowledge there lurks both the lust of gain and of conquest2 in the artist1 the powers of dissimulation and falsehood find their scope2 the instincts are thus transformed into demons with whom a fight takes place1 etc4 #cgg4 ,falsity4--,every sovereign instinct makes the others its instruments1 its retainers and its sycophants3 it never allows itself to be called by its more hateful name3 and it brooks no terms of praise in which it cannot indirectly find its share4 ,around every sovereign instinct all praise and blame in general crystallises into a rigorous form of ceremonial and etiquette4 ,this is one of the causes of falsity4 ,every instinct which aspires to dominion1 but which finds itself under a yoke1 requisitions all the most beautiful names and the most generally accepted values to strengthen it and to support its self-esteem1 and this explains why as a rule it dares to come forward under the name of the master it is combating and from whom it would be free 7for instance1 under the domination of ,christian values1 the desires of the flesh and of power act in this way74 ,this is the other cause of falsity4 ,in both cases complete ingenuousness reigns3 the falseness never even occurs to the mind of those concerned4 ,it is the sign of a broken instinct when man sees the motive force and its expression 7the mask7 as separate things--it is a sign of inner contradiction and is much less formidable4 ,absolute innocence in bearing1 word1 and passion1 a good conscience in falseness1 and the certainty wherewith all the grandest and most pompous words and attitudes are appropriated--all these things are necessary for victory4 ,in the other case3 that is to say1 when extreme clearsightedness is present1 the genius of the actor is needful as well as tremendous discipline in self-control1 if victory is to be achieved4 ,that is why priests are the cleverest and most conscious hypocrites2 and then come princes1 in whom their position in life and their antecedents account for a certain histrionic gift4 ,society men and diplomatists come third1 and women fourth4 ,the fundamental thought3 ,falsity seems so deep1 so many-sided1 and the will is directed so inexorably against perfect self-knowledge and accurate self-classification1 that one is very probably right in supposing that ,truth and the will to truth are perhaps something quite different and only disguises4 7,the need of faith is the greatest obstacle in the way of truthfulness47 #cgh4 ,thou shalt not tell a falsehood3 people insist upon truthfulness4 ,but the acknowledgment of facts 7the refusal to allow one's self to be lied to7 has always been greatest with liars3 they actually recognised the reality of this popular truthfulness4 ,there is too much or too little being said continually3 to insist upon people's exposing themselves with every word they say1 is a piece of navet4 ,people say what they think1 they are truthful2 but only under certain circumstances3 that is to say1 provided they be understood 7inter pares71 and understood with good will into the bargain 7once more inter pares74 ,one conceals one's self in the presence of the unfamiliar3 and he who would attain to something1 says what he would fain have people think about him1 but not what he thinks4 7,the powerful man is always a liar47 #cgi4 ,the great counterfeit coinage of ,nihilism concealed beneath an artful abuse of moral values3-- 7a7 ,love regarded as self-effacement2 as also pity4 7b7 ,the most impersonal intellect 7the philosopher7 can know the truth1 the true essence and nature of things4 7c7 ,genius1 great men are great1 because they do not strive to further their own interests3 the value of man increases in proportion as he effaces himself4 7d7 ,art as the work of the pure free-willed subject2 misunderstanding of objectivity4 7e7 ,happiness as the object of life3 virtue as a means to an end4 ,the pessimistic condemnation of life by ,schopenhauer is a moral one4 ,transference of the gregarious standards into the realm of metaphysics4 ,the individual lacks sense1 he must therefore have his origin in the thing in itself 7and the significance of his existence must be shown to be error72 parents are only an accidental cause4--,the mistake on the part of science in considering the individual as the result of all past life instead of the epitome of all past life1 is now becoming known4 #chj4 #a4 ,systematic falsification of history1 so that it may present a proof of the moral valuation3 7a7 ,the decline of a people and corruption4 7b7 ,the rise of a people and virtue4 7c7 ,the zenith of a people 7its culture7 regarded as the result of high moral excellence4 #b4 ,systematic falsification of great men1 great creators1 and great periods4 ,the desire is to make faith that which distinguishes great men3 whereas carelessness in this respect1 scepticism1 immorality1 the right to repudiate a belief1 belongs to greatness 7,csar1 ,frederick the ,great1 ,napoleon2 but also ,homer1 ,aristophanes1 ,leonardo1 ,goethe74 ,the principal fact--their free will--is always suppressed4 #cha4 ,a great lie in history2 as if the corruption of the ,church were the cause of the ,reformation6 ,this was only the pretext and self-deception of the agitators--very strong needs were making themselves felt1 the brutality of which sorely required a spiritual dressing4 #chb4 ,schopenhauer declared high intellectuality to be the emancipation from the will3 he did not wish to recognise the freedom from moral prejudices which is coincident with the emancipation of a great mind2 he refused to see what is the typical immorality of genius2 he artfully contrived to set up the only moral value he honoured--self-effacement1 as the one condition of highest intellectual activity3 objective contemplation4 ,truth1 even in art1 only manifests itself after the withdrawal of the will4444 ,through all moral idiosyncrasies ,i see a fundamentally different valuation4 ,such absurd distinctions as genius and the world of will1 of morality and immorality1 ,i know nothing about at all4 ,the moral is a lower kind of animal than the immoral1 he is also weaker2 indeed--he is a type in regard to morality1 but he is not a type of his own4 ,he is a copy2 at the best1 a good copy--the standard of his worth lies without him4 ,i value a man according to the quantum of power and fullness of his will3 not according to the enfeeblement and moribund state thereof4 ,i consider that a philosophy which teaches the denial of will is both defamatory and slanderous4444 ,i test the power of a will according to the amount of resistance it can offer and the amount of pain and torture it can endure and know how to turn to its own advantage2 ,i do not point to the evil and pain of existence with the finger of reproach1 but rather entertain the hope that life may one day be more evil and more full of suffering than it has ever been4 ,the zenith of intellectuality1 according to ,schopenhauer1 was to arrive at the knowledge that all is to no purpose--in short1 to recognise what the good man already does instinctively4444 ,he denies that there can be higher states of intellectuality--he regards his view as a non plus ultra4444 ,here intellectuality is placed much lower than goodness2 its highest value 7as art1 for instance7 would be to lead up to1 and to advise the adoption of1 morality1 the absolute predominance of moral values4 ,next to ,schopenhauer ,i will now characterise ,kant3 there was nothing ,greek in ,kant2 he was quite anti-historical 7cf4 his attitude in regard to the ,french ,revolution7 and a moral fanatic 7see ,goethe's words concerning the radically evil element in human nature#h74 ,saintliness also lurked somewhere in his soul4444 ,i require a criticism of the saintly type4 ,hegel's value3 ,passion4 ,herbert ,spencer's tea-grocer's philosophy3 total absence of an ideal save that of the mediocre man4 ,fundamental instinct of all philosophers1 historians1 and psychologists3 everything of value in mankind1 art1 history1 science1 religion1 and technology must be shown to be morally valuable and morally conditioned1 in its aim1 means1 and result4 ,everything is seen in the light of this highest value2 for instance1 ,rousseau's question concerning civilisation1 ,will it make man grow better8--a funny question1 for the reverse is obvious1 and is a fact which speaks in favour of civilisation4 ,footnote #h3 ,,translator',s ,,note4--,this is doubtless a reference to a passage in a letter written by ,goethe to ,herder1 on #gth ,june #agic1 from the camp at ,marienborn1 near ,mainz1 in which the following words occur3--,dagegen hat aber auch ,kant seinen philosophischen ,mantel1 nachdem er ein langes ,menschenleben gebraucht hat1 ihn von mancherlei sudelhaften ,vorurteilen zu reinigen1 freventlich mit dem ,schandfleck des radikalen ,bsen beschlabbert1 damit doch auch ,christen herbeigelockt werden den ,saum zu kssen8--7,kant1 on the other hand1 after he had tried throughout his life to keep his philosophical cloak unsoiled by foul prejudices1 wantonly dirtied it in the end with the disreputable stain of the 'radical evil' in human nature1 in order that ,christians too might be lured into kissing its hem47 ,from this passage it will be seen how ,goethe had anticipated ,nietzsche's view of ,kant2 namely1 that he was a ,christian in disguise4 #chc4 ,religious morality4--,passion1 great desire2 the passion for power1 love1 revenge1 and property3 the moralists wish to uproot and exterminate all these things1 and purify the soul by driving them out of it4 ,the argument is3 the passions often lead to disaster--therefore1 they are evil and ought to be condemned4 ,man must wring himself free from them1 otherwise he cannot be a good man4444 ,this is of the same nature as3 ,if thy right eye offend thee1 pluck it out4 ,in this particular case when1 with that bucolic simplicity1 the ,founder of ,christianity recommended a certain practice to ,his disciples1 in the event of sexual excitement1 the result would not be only the loss of a particular member1 but the actual castration of the whole of the man's character4444 ,and the same applies to the moral mania1 which1 instead of insisting upon the control of the passions1 sues for their extirpation4 ,its conclusion always is3 only the emasculated man is a good man4 ,instead of making use of and of economising the great sources of passion1 those torrents of the soul which are often so dangerous1 overwhelming1 and impetuous1 morality--this most shortsighted and most corrupted of mental attitudes--would fain make them dry up4 #chd4 ,conquest over the passions8--,no1 not if this is to mean their enfeeblement and annihilation4 ,they must be enlisted in our service3 and to this end it may be necessary to tyrannise them a good deal 7not as individuals1 but as communities1 races1 etc474 ,at length we should trust them enough to restore their freedom to them3 they love us like good servants1 and willingly go wherever our best interests lie4 #che4 ,intolerance on the part of morality is a sign of man's weakness3 he is frightened of his own immorality1 he must deny his strongest instincts1 because he does not yet know how to use them4 ,thus the most fruitful quarters of the globe remain uncultivated longest3 the power is lacking that might become master here4444 #chf4 ,there are some very simple peoples and men who believe that continuous fine weather would be a desirable thing3 they still believe to-day in rebus moralibus1 that the good man alone and nothing else than the good man is to be desired1 and that the ultimate end of man's evolution will be that only the good man will remain on earth 7and that it is only to that end that all efforts should be directed74 ,this is in the highest degree an uneconomical thought2 as we have already suggested1 it is the very acme of simplicity1 and it is nothing more than the expression of the agreeableness which the good man creates 7he gives rise to no fear1 he permits of relaxation1 he gives what one is able to take74 ,with a more educated eye one learns to desire exactly the reverse--that is to say1 an ever greater dominion of evil1 man's gradual emancipation from the narrow and aggravating bonds of morality1 the growth of power around the greatest forces of ,nature1 and the ability to enlist the passions in one's service4 #chg4 ,the whole idea of the hierarchy of the passions3 as if the only right and normal thing were to be led by reason--whereas the passions are abnormal1 dangerous1 half-animal1 and moreover1 in so far as their end is concerned1 nothing more than desires for pleasure4444 ,passion is deprived of its dignity 7#a7 as if it only manifested itself in an unseemly way and were not necessary and always the motive force1 7#b7 inasmuch as it is supposed to aim at no high purpose--merely at pleasure4444 ,the misinterpretation of passion and reason1 as if the latter were an independent entity1 and not a state of relationship between all the various passions and desires2 and as though every passion did not possess its quantum of reason4444 #chh4 ,how it was that1 under the pressure of the dominion of an ascetic and self-effacing morality1 it was precisely the passions--love1 goodness1 pity1 even justice1 generosity1 and heroism1 which were necessarily misunderstood8 ,it is the richness of a personality1 the fullness of it1 its power to flow over and to bestow1 its instinctive feeling of ease1 and its affirmative attitude towards itself1 that creates great love and great sacrifices3 these passions proceed from strong and godlike personalism as surely as do the desire to be master1 to obtrude1 and the inner certainty that one has a right to everything4 ,the opposite views1 according to the most accepted notions1 are indeed common views2 and if one does not stand firmly and bravely on one's legs1 one has nothing to give1 and it is perfectly useless to stretch out one's hand either to protect or to support others4444 ,how was it possible to transform these instincts to such an extent that man could feel that to be of value which is directed against himself1 so that he could sacrifice himself for another self6 ,o the psychological baseness and falseness which hitherto has laid down the law in the ,church and in ,church-infected philosophy6 ,if man is thoroughly sinful1 then all he can do is to hate himself4 ,as a matter of fact1 he ought not to regard even his fellows otherwise than he does himself2 the love of man requires a justification1 and it is found in the fact that ,god commanded it4--,from this it follows that all the natural instincts of man 7to love1 etc47 appear to him to be1 in themselves1 prohibited2 and that he re-acquires a right to them only after having denied them as an obedient worshipper of ,god4 444 ,pascal1 the admirable logician of ,christianity1 went as far as this6 let any one examine his relations to his sister4 ,not to make one's self loved1 seemed ,christian to him4 #chi4 ,let us consider how dearly a moral canon such as this 7an ideal7 makes us pay4 7,its enemies are--well8 ,the egoists47 ,the melancholy astuteness of self-abasement in ,europe 7,pascal1 ,la ,rochefoucauld7--inner enfeeblement1 discouragement1 and self-consumption of the non-gregarious man4 ,the perpetual process of laying stress upon mediocre qualities as being the most valuable 7modesty in rank and file1 ,nature converted into an instrument74 ,pangs of conscience associated with all that is self-glorifying and original3 thus follows the unhappiness--the gloominess of the world from the standpoint of stronger and better-constituted men6 ,gregarious consciousness and timorousness transferred to philosophy and religion4 ,let us leave the psychological impossibility of a purely unselfish action out of consideration6 #cij4 ,my ultimate conclusion is1 that the real man represents a much higher value than the desirable man of any ideal that has ever existed hitherto2 that all desiderata in regard to mankind have been absurd and dangerous dissipations by means of which a particular kind of man has sought to establish his measures of preservation and of growth as a law for all2 that every desideratum of this kind which has been made to dominate has reduced man's worth1 his strength1 and his trust in the future2 that the indigence and mediocre intellectuality of man becomes most apparent1 even to-day1 when he reveals a desire2 that man's ability to fix values has hitherto been developed too inadequately to do justice to the actual1 not merely to the desirable1 worth of man2 that1 up to the present1 ideals have really been the power which has most slandered man and power1 the poisonous fumes which have hung over reality1 and which have seduced men to yearn for nonentity4444 ,d4 ,a ,criticism of the ,words3 ,improving1 ,perfecting1 ,elevating4 #cia4 ,the standard according to which the value of moral valuations is to be determined4 ,the fundamental fact that has been overlooked3 ,the contradiction between becoming more moral and the elevation and the strengthening of the type man4 ,homo natura3 ,the will to power4 #cib4 ,moral values regarded as values of appearance and compared with physiological values4 #cic4 ,reflecting upon generalities is always retrograde3 the last of the desiderata concerning men1 for instance1 have never been regarded as problems by philosophers4 ,they always postulate the improvement of man1 quite guilelessly1 as though by means of some intuition they had been helped over the note of interrogation following the question1 why necessarily improve6 ,to what extent is it desirable that man should be more virtuous1 or more intelligent1 or happier6 ,granting that nobody yet knows the wherefore8 of mankind1 all such desiderata have no sense whatever2 and if one aspires to one of them--who knows8--perhaps one is frustrating the other4 ,is an increase of virtue compatible with an increase of intelligence and insight8 ,dubito3 only too often shall ,i have occasion to show that the reverse is true4 ,has virtue1 as an end1 in the strict sense of the word1 not always been opposed to happiness hitherto8 ,and again1 does it not require misfortune1 abstinence1 and self-castigation as a necessary means8 ,and if the aim were to arrive at the highest insight1 would it not therefore be necessary to renounce all hope of an increase in happiness1 and to choose danger1 adventure1 mistrust1 and seduction as a road to enlightenment8444 ,and suppose one will have happiness2 maybe one should join the ranks of the poor in spirit4 #cid4 ,the wholesale deception and fraud of so-called moral improvement4 ,we do not believe that one man can be another if he is not that other already--that is to say1 if he is not1 as often happens1 an accretion of personalities or at least of parts of persons4 ,in this case it is possible to draw another set of actions from him into the foreground1 and to drive back the older man4 444 ,the man's aspect is altered1 but not his actual nature4444 ,it is but the merest factum brutum that any one should cease from performing certain actions1 and the fact allows of the most varied interpretations4 ,neither does it always follow therefrom that the habit of performing a certain action is entirely arrested1 nor that the reasons for that action are dissipated4 ,he whose destiny and abilities make him a criminal never unlearns anything1 but is continually adding to his store of knowledge3 and long abstinence acts as a sort of tonic on his talent4444 ,certainly1 as far as society is concerned1 the only interesting fact is that some one has ceased from performing certain actions2 and to this end society will often raise a man out of those circumstances which make him able to perform those actions3 this is obviously a wiser course than that of trying to break his destiny and his particular nature4 ,the ,church1--which has done nothing except to take the place of1 and to appropriate1 the philosophic treasures of antiquity1--starting out from another standpoint and wishing to secure a soul or the salvation of a soul1 believes in the expiatory power of punishment1 as also in the obliterating power of forgiveness3 both of which supposed processes are deceptions due to religious prejudice--punishment expiates nothing1 forgiveness obliterates nothing2 what is done cannot be undone4 ,because some one forgets something it by no means proves that something has been wiped out4444 ,an action leads to certain consequences1 both among men and away from men1 and it matters not whether it has met with punishment1 or whether it has been expiated1 forgiven1 or obliterated1 it matters not even if the ,church meanwhile canonises the man who performed it4 ,the ,church believes in things that do not exist1 it believes in ,souls2 it believes in influences that do not exist--in divine influences2 it believes in states that do not exist1 in sin1 redemption1 and spiritual salvation3 in all things it stops at the surface and is satisfied with signs1 attitudes1 words1 to which it lends an arbitrary interpretation4 ,it possesses a method of counterfeit psychology which is thought out quite systematically4 #cie4 ,illness makes men better1 this famous assumption which is to be met with in all ages1 and in the mouth of the wizard quite as often as in the mouth and maw of the people1 really makes one ponder4 ,in view of discovering whether there is any truth in it1 one might be allowed to ask whether there is not perhaps a fundamental relationship between morality and illness8 ,regarded as a whole1 could not the improvement of mankind--that is to say1 the unquestionable softening1 humanising1 and taming which the ,european has undergone within the last two centuries--be regarded as the result of a long course of secret and ghastly suffering1 failure1 abstinence1 and grief8 ,has illness made ,europeans better8 ,or1 put into other words1 is not our modern soft-hearted ,european morality1 which could be likened to that of the ,chinese1 perhaps an expression of physiological deterioration8444 ,it cannot be denied1 for instance1 that wherever history shows us man in a state of particular glory and power1 his type is always dangerous1 impetuous1 and boisterous1 and cares little for humanity2 and perhaps1 in those cases in which it seems otherwise1 all that was required was the courage or subtlety to see sufficiently below the surface in psychological matters1 in order even in them to discover the general proposition3 the more healthy1 strong1 rich1 fruitful1 and enterprising a man may feel1 the more immoral he will be as well4 ,a terrible thought1 to which one should on no account give way4 ,provided1 however1 that one take a few steps forward with this thought1 how wondrous does the future then appear6 ,what will then be paid for more dearly on earth1 than precisely this very thing which we are all trying to promote1 by all means in our power--the humanising1 the improving1 and the increased civilisation of man8 ,nothing would then be more expensive than virtue3 for by means of it the world would ultimately be turned into a hospital3 and the last conclusion of wisdom would be1 everybody must be everybody else's nurse4 ,then we should certainly have attained to the ,peace on earth1 so long desired6 ,but how little joy we should find in each other's company6 ,how little beauty1 wanton spirits1 daring1 and danger6 ,so few actions which would make life on earth worth living6 ,ah6 and no longer any deeds6 ,but have not all the great things and deeds which have remained fresh in the memory of men1 and which have not been destroyed by time1 been immoral in the deepest sense of the word8444 #cif4 ,the priests--and with them the half-priests or philosophers of all ages--have always called that doctrine true1 the educating influence of which was a benevolent one or at least seemed so--that is to say1 tended to improve4 ,in this way they resemble an ingenuous plebeian empiric and miracle-worker who1 because he had tried a certain poison as a cure1 declared it to be no poison4 ,by their fruits ye shall know them--that is to say1 by our truths4 ,this has been the reasoning of priests until this day4 ,they have squandered their sagacity1 with results that have been sufficiently fatal1 in order to make the proof of power 7or the proof by the fruits 7 pre-eminent and even supreme arbiter over all other forms of proof4 ,that which makes good must be good2 that which is good cannot lie--these are their inexorable conclusions--that which bears good fruit must consequently be true2 there is no other criterion of truth4 444 ,but to the extent to which improving acts as an argument1 deteriorating must also act as a refutation4 ,the error can be shown to be an error1 by examining the lives of those who represent it3 a false step1 a vice can refute4444 ,this indecent form of opposition1 which comes from below and behind--the doglike kind of attack1 has not died out either4 ,priests1 as psychologists1 never discovered anything more interesting than spying out the secret vices of their adversaries--they prove ,christianity by looking about for the world's filth4 ,they apply this principle more particularly to the greatest on earth1 to the geniuses3 readers will remember how ,goethe has been attacked on every conceivable occasion in ,germany 7,klopstock and ,herder were among the first to give a good example in this respect--birds of a feather flock together74 #cig4 ,one must be very immoral in order to make people moral by deeds4 ,the moralist's means are the most terrible that have ever been used2 he who has not the courage to be an immoralist in deeds may be fit for anything else1 but not for the duties of a moralist4 ,morality is a menagerie2 it assumes that iron bars may be more useful than freedom1 even for the creatures it imprisons2 it also assumes that there are animal-tamers about who do not shrink from terrible means1 and who are acquainted with the use of red-hot iron4 ,this terrible species1 which enters into a struggle with the wild animal1 is called priests4 999999 ,man1 incarcerated in an iron cage of errors1 has become a caricature of man2 he is sick1 emaciated1 ill-disposed towards himself1 filled with a loathing of the impulses of life1 filled with a mistrust of all that is beautiful and happy in life--in fact1 he is a wandering monument of misery4 ,how shall we ever succeed in vindicating this phenomenon--this artificial1 arbitrary1 and recent miscarriage--the sinner--which the priests have bred on their territory8 999999 ,in order to think fairly of morality1 we must put two biological notions in its place3 the taming of the wild beasts1 and the rearing of a particular species4 ,the priests of all ages have always pretended that they wished to improve 444 ,but we1 of another persuasion1 would laugh if a lion-tamer ever wished to speak to us of his improved animals4 ,as a rule1 the taming of a beast is only achieved by deteriorating it3 even the moral man is not a better man2 he is rather a weaker member of his species4 ,but he is less harmful4444 #cih4 ,what ,i want to make clear1 with all the means in my power1 is3-- 7a7 ,that there is no worse confusion than that which confounds rearing and taming3 and these two things have always been confused4444 ,rearing1 as ,i understand it1 is a means of husbanding the enormous powers of humanity in such a way that whole generations may build upon the foundations laid by their progenitors--not only outwardly1 but inwardly1 organically1 developing from the already existing stem and growing stronger4444 7b7 ,that there is an exceptional danger in believing that mankind as a whole is developing and growing stronger1 if individuals are seen to grow more feeble and more equally mediocre4 ,humanity--mankind--is an abstract thing3 the object of rearing1 even in regard to the most individual cases1 can only be the strong man 7the man who has no breeding is weak1 dissipated1 and unstable74 #f4 ,,concluding ,,remarks ,,concerning ,,the ,,criticism ,,of ,,morality4 #cii4 ,these are the things ,i demand of you--however badly they may sound in your ears3 that you subject moral valuations themselves to criticism4 ,that you should put a stop to your instinctive moral impulse--which in this case demands submission and not criticism--with the question3 why precisely submission8 ,that this yearning for a why8--for a criticism of morality should not only be your present form of morality1 but the sublimest of all moralities1 and an honour to the age you live in4 ,that your honesty1 your will1 may give an account of itself1 and not deceive you3 why not8--,before what tribunal8 #djj4 ,the three postulates3-- ,all that is ignoble is high 7the protest of the vulgar man74 ,all that is contrary to ,nature is high 7the protest of the physiologically botched74 ,all that is of average worth is high 7the protest of the herd1 of the mediocre74 ,thus in the history of morality a will to power finds expression1 by means of which1 either the slaves1 the oppressed1 the bungled and the botched1 those that suffer from themselves1 or the mediocre1 attempt to make those valuations prevail which favour their existence4 ,from a biological standpoint1 therefore1 the phenomenon ,morality is of a highly suspicious nature4 ,up to the present1 morality has developed at the cost of3 the ruling classes and their specific instincts1 the well-constituted and beautiful natures1 the independent and privileged classes in all respects4 ,morality1 then1 is a sort of counter-movement opposing ,nature's endeavours to arrive at a higher type4 ,its effects are3 mistrust of life in general 7in so far as its tendencies are felt to be immoral71 --hostility towards the senses 7inasmuch as the highest values are felt to be opposed to the higher instincts71--,degeneration and self-destruction of higher natures1 because it is precisely in them that the conflict becomes conscious4 #dja4 ,which values have been paramount hitherto8 ,morality as the leading value in all phases of philosophy 7even with the ,sceptics74 ,result3 this world is no good1 a true world must exist somewhere4 ,what is it that here determines the highest value8 ,what1 in sooth1 is morality8 ,the instinct of decadence2 it is the exhausted and the disinherited who take their revenge in this way and play the masters4444 ,historical proof3 philosophers have always been decadents and always in the pay of ,nihilistic religions4 ,the instinct of decadence appears as the will to power4 ,the introduction of its system of means3 its means are absolutely immoral4 ,general aspect3 the values that have been highest hitherto have been a special instance of the will to power2 morality itself is a particular instance of immorality4 999999 ,why the ,antagonistic ,values always succumbed4 #a4 ,how was this actually possible6 ,question3 why did life and physiological well-constitutedness succumb everywhere8 ,why was there no affirmative philosophy1 no affirmative religion8 ,the historical signs of such movements3 the pagan religion4 ,dionysos versus the ,christ4 ,the ,renaissance4 ,art4 #b4 ,the strong and the weak3 the healthy and the sick2 the exception and the rule4 ,there is no doubt as to who is the stronger4444 ,general view of history2 ,is man an exception in the history of life on this account8--,an objection to ,darwinism4 ,the means wherewith the weak succeed in ruling have become3 instincts1 humanity1 institutions4 444 #c4 ,the proof of this rule on the part of the weak is to be found in our political instincts1 in our social values1 in our arts1 and in our science4 999999 ,the instincts of decadence have become master of the instincts of ascending life4444 ,the will to nonentity has prevailed over the will to life6 ,is this true8 is there not perhaps a stronger guarantee of life and of the species in this victory of the weak and the mediocre8--is it not perhaps only a means in the collective movement of life1 a mere slackening of the pace1 a protective measure against something even more dangerous8 ,suppose the strong were masters in all respects1 even in valuing3 let us try and think what their attitude would be towards illness1 suffering1 and sacrifice6 ,self-contempt on the part of the weak would be the result3 they would do their utmost to disappear and to extirpate their kind4 ,and would this be desirable8--should we really like a world in which the subtlety1 the consideration1 the intellectuality1 the plasticity--in fact1 the whole influence of the weak--was lacking8#i 444 ,we have seen two wills to power at war 7in this special case we had a principle3 that of agreeing with the one that has hitherto succumbed1 and of disagreeing with the one that has hitherto triumphed73 we have recognised the real world as a world of lies and morality as a form of immorality4 ,we do not say the stronger is wrong4 ,we have understood what it is that has determined the highest values hitherto1 and why the latter should have prevailed over the opposite value3 it was numerically the stronger4 ,if we now purify the opposite value of the infection1 the half-heartedness1 and the degeneration1 with which we identify it1 we restore ,nature to the throne1 free from moralic acid4 ,footnote #i3 ,,translator',s ,,note4--,we realise here the great difference between ,nietzsche and those who draw premature conclusions from ,darwinism4 ,there is no brutal solution of modern problems in ,nietzsche's philosophy4 ,he did not advocate anything so ridiculous as the total suppression of the weak and the degenerate4 ,what he wished to resist and to overthrow was their supremacy1 their excessive power4 ,he felt that there was a desirable and stronger type which was in need of having its hopes1 aspirations1 and instincts upheld in defiance of ,christian values4 #djb4 ,morality1 a useful error2 or1 more clearly still1 a necessary and expedient lie according to the greatest and most impartial of its supporters4 #djc4 ,one ought to be able to acknowledge the truth up to that point where one is sufficiently elevated no longer to require the disciplinary school of moral error4--,when one judges life morally1 it disgusts one4 ,neither should false personalities be invented2 one should not say1 for instance1 ,nature is cruel4 ,it is precisely when one perceives that there is no such central controlling and responsible force that one is relieved6 ,evolution of man4 ,a4 ,he tried to attain to a certain power over ,nature and over himself4 7,morality was necessary in order to make man triumph in his struggle with ,nature and wild animals47 ,b4 ,if power over ,nature has been attained1 this power can be used as a help in our development3 ,will to ,power as a self-enhancing and self-strengthening principle4 #djd4 ,morality may be regarded as the illusion of a species1 fostered with the view of urging the individual to sacrifice himself to the future1 and seemingly granting him such a very great value1 that with that self-consciousness he may tyrannise over1 and constrain1 other sides of his nature1 and find it difficult to be pleased with himself4 ,we ought to be most profoundly thankful for what morality has done hitherto3 but now it is no more than a burden which may prove fatal4 ,morality itself in the form of honesty urges us to deny morality4 #dje4 ,to what extent is the self-destruction of morality still a sign of its own strength8 ,we ,europeans have within us the blood of those who were ready to die for their faith2 we have taken morality frightfully seriously1 and there is nothing which we have not1 at one time1 sacrificed to it4 ,on the other hand1 our intellectual subtlety has been reached essentially through the vivisection of our consciences4 ,we do not yet know the whither towards which we are urging our steps1 now that we have departed from the soil of our forebears4 ,but it was on this very soil that we acquired the strength which is now driving us from our homes in search of adventure1 and it is thanks to that strength that we are now in mid-sea1 surrounded by untried possibilities and things undiscovered--we can no longer choose1 we must be conquerors1 now that we have no land in which we feel at home and in which we would fain survive4 ,a concealed yea is driving us forward1 and it is stronger than all our nays4 ,even our strength no longer bears with us in the old swampy land3 we venture out into the open1 we attempt the task4 ,the world is still rich and undiscovered1 and even to perish were better than to be half-men or poisonous men4 ,our very strength itself urges us to take to the sea2 there where all suns have hitherto sunk we know of a new world4444 ,,iii4 ,,criticism ,,of ,,philosophy4 #a4 ,,general ,,remarks4 #djf4 ,let us rid ourselves of a few superstitions which heretofore have been fashionable among philosophers6 #djg4 ,philosophers are prejudiced against appearance1 change1 pain1 death1 the things of the body1 the senses1 fate1 bondage1 and all that which has no purpose4 ,in the first place1 they believe in3 absolute knowledge1 7#b7 in knowledge for its own sake1 7#c7 in virtue and happiness as necessarily related1 7#d7 in the recognisability of men's acts4 ,they are led by instinctive determinations of values1 in which former cultures are reflected 7more dangerous cultures too74 #djh4 ,what have philosophers lacked6 7#a7 ,a sense of history1 7#b7 a knowledge of physiology1 7#c7 a goal in the future4--,the ability to criticise without irony or moral condemnation4 #dji4 ,philosophers have had 7#a7 from times immemorial a wonderful capacity for the contradictio in adjecto1 7#b7 they have always trusted concepts as unconditionally as they have mistrusted the senses3 it never seems to have occurred to them that notions and words are our inheritance of past ages in which thinking was neither very clear nor very exact4 ,what seems to dawn upon philosophers last of all3 that they must no longer allow themselves to be presented with concepts already conceived1 nor must they merely purify and polish up those concepts2 but they must first make them1 create them1 themselves1 and then present them and get people to accept them4 ,up to the present1 people have trusted their concepts generally1 as if they had been a wonderful dowry from some kind of wonderland3 but they constitute the inheritance of our most remote1 most foolish1 and most intelligent forefathers4 ,this piety towards that which already exists in us is perhaps related to the moral element in science4 ,what we needed above all is absolute scepticism towards all traditional concepts 7like that which a certain philosopher may already have possessed--and he was ,plato1 of course3 for he taught the reverse74 #daj4 ,profoundly mistrustful towards the dogmas of the theory of knowledge1 ,i liked to look now out of this window1 now out of that1 though ,i took good care not to become finally fixed anywhere1 indeed ,i should have thought it dangerous to have done so--though finally3 is it within the range of probabilities for an instrument to criticise its own fitness8 ,what ,i noticed more particularly was1 that no scientific scepticism or dogmatism has ever arisen quite free from all arrires penses--that it has only a secondary value as soon as the motive lying immediately behind it is discovered4 ,fundamental aspect3 ,kant's1 ,hegel's1 ,schopenhauer's1 the sceptical and epochistical1 the historifying and the pessimistic attitudes--all have a moral origin4 ,i have found no one who has dared to criticise the moral valuations1 and ,i soon turned my back upon the meagre attempts that have been made to describe the evolution of these feelings 7by ,english and ,german ,darwinians74 ,how can ,spinoza's position1 his denial and repudiation of the moral values1 be explained8 7,it was the result of his ,theodicy67 #daa4 ,morality regarded as the highest form of protection4--,our world is either the work and expression 7the modus7 of ,god1 in which case it must be in the highest degree perfect 7,leibnitz's conclusion 44471--and no one doubted that he knew what perfection must be like1--and then all evil can only be apparent 7,spinoza is more radical1 he says this of good and evil71 or it must be a part of ,god's high purpose 7a consequence of a particularly great mark of favour on ,god's part1 who thus allows man to choose between good and evil3 the privilege of being no automaton2 freedom1 with the ever-present danger of making a mistake and of choosing wrongly4444 ,see ,simplicius1 for instance1 in the commentary to ,epictetus74 ,or our world is imperfect2 evil and guilt are real1 determined1 and are absolutely inherent to its being2 in that case it cannot be the real world3 consequently knowledge can only be a way of denying the world1 for the latter is error which may be recognised as such4 ,this is ,schopenhauer's opinion1 based upon ,kantian first principles4 ,pascal was still more desperate3 he thought that even knowledge must be corrupt and false--that revelation is a necessity if only in order to recognise that the world should be denied4444 #dab4 ,owing to our habit of believing in unconditional authorities1 we have grown to feel a profound need for them3 indeed1 this feeling is so strong that1 even in an age of criticism such as ,kant's was1 it showed itself to be superior to the need for criticism1 and1 in a certain sense1 was able to subject the whole work of critical acumen1 and to convert it to its own use4 ,it proved its superiority once more in the generation which followed1 and which1 owing to its historical instincts1 naturally felt itself drawn to a relative view of all authority1 when it converted even the ,hegelian philosophy of evolution 7history rechristened and called philosophy7 to its own use1 and represented history as being the self-revelation and self-surpassing of moral ideas4 ,since ,plato1 philosophy has lain under the dominion of morality4 ,even in ,plato's predecessors1 moral interpretations play a most important rle 7,anaximander declares that all things are made to perish as a punishment for their departure from pure being2 ,heraclitus thinks that the regularity of phenomena is a proof of the morally correct character of evolution in general74 #dac4 ,the progress of philosophy has been hindered most seriously hitherto through the influence of moral arrires-penses4 #dad4 ,in all ages1 fine feelings have been regarded as arguments1 heaving breasts have been the bellows of godliness1 convictions have been the criteria of truth1 and the need of opposition has been the note of interrogation affixed to wisdom4 ,this falseness and fraud permeates the whole history of philosophy4 ,but for a few respected sceptics1 no instinct for intellectual ,uprightness is to be found anywhere4 ,finally1 ,kant guilelessly sought to make this thinker's corruption scientific by means of his concept1 practical reason4 ,he expressly invented a reason which1 in certain cases1 would allow one not to bother about reason--that is to say1 in cases where the heart's desire1 morality1 or duty are the motive power4 #dae4 ,hegel3 his popular side1 the doctrine of war and of great men4 ,right is on the side of the victorious3 he 7the victorious man7 stands for the progress of mankind4 ,his is an attempt at proving the dominion of morality by means of history4 ,kant3 a kingdom of moral values withdrawn from us1 invisible1 real4 ,hegel3 a demonstrable process of evolution1 the actualisation of the kingdom of morality4 ,we shall not allow ourselves to be deceived either in ,kant's or ,hegel's way3--,we no longer believe1 as they did1 in morality1 and therefore have no philosophies to found with the view of justifying morality4 ,criticism and history have no charm for us in this respect3 what is their charm1 then8 #daf4 ,the importance of ,german philosophy 7,hegel17 the thinking out of a kind of pantheism which would not reckon evil1 error1 and suffering as arguments against godliness4 ,this grand initiative was misused by the powers that were 7,state1 etc47 to sanction the rights of the people that happened to be paramount4 ,schopenhauer appears as a stubborn opponent of this idea2 he is a moral man who1 in order to keep in the right concerning his moral valuation1 finally becomes a denier of the world4 ,ultimately he becomes a mystic4 ,i myself have sought an sthetic justification of the ugliness in this world4 ,i regarded the desire for beauty and for the persistence of certain forms as a temporary preservative and recuperative measure3 what seemed to me to be fundamentally associated with pain1 however1 was the eternal lust of creating and the eternal compulsion to destroy4 ,we call things ugly when we look at them with the desire of attributing some sense1 some new sense1 to what has become senseless3 it is the accumulated power of the creator which compels him to regard what has existed hitherto as no longer acceptable1 botched1 worthy of being suppressed--ugly6 #dag4 ,my first solution of the problem3 ,dionysian wisdom4 ,the joy in the destruction of the most noble thing1 and at the sight of its gradual undoing1 regarded as the joy over what is coming and what lies in the future1 which triumphs over actual things1 however good they may be4 ,dionysian3 temporary identification with the principle of life 7voluptuousness of the martyr included74 ,my innovations4 ,the ,development of ,pessimism3 intellectual pessimism2 moral criticism1 the dissolution of the last comfort4 ,knowledge1 a sign of decay1 veils by means of an illusion all strong action2 isolated culture is unfair and therefore strong4 7#a7 ,my fight against decay and the increasing weakness of personality4 ,i sought a new centrum4 7#b7 ,the impossibility of this endeavour is recognised4 7#c7 ,i therefore travelled farther along the road of dissolution--and along it ,i found new sources of strength for individuals4 ,we must be destroyers6--,i perceived that the state of dissolution is one in which individual beings are able to arrive at a kind of perfection not possible hitherto1 it is an image and isolated example of life in general4 ,to the paralysing feeling of general dissolution and imperfection1 ,i opposed the ,eternal ,recurrence4 #dah4 ,people naturally seek the picture of life in that philosophy which makes them most cheerful--that is to say1 in that philosophy which gives the highest sense of freedom to their strongest instinct4 ,this is probably the case with me4 #dai4 ,german philosophy1 as a whole1--,leibnitz1 ,kant1 ,hegel1 ,schopenhauer1 to mention the greatest1--is the most out-and-out form of romanticism and home-sickness that has ever yet existed3 it is a yearning for the best that has ever been known on earth4 ,one is at home nowhere2 that which is ultimately yearned after is a place where one can somehow feel at home2 because one has been at home there before1 and that place is the ,greek world6 ,but it is precisely in that direction that airbridges are broken down--save1 of course1 the rainbow of concepts6 ,and the latter lead everywhere1 to all the homes and fatherlands that ever existed for ,greek souls6 ,certainly1 one must be very light and thin in order to cross these bridges6 ,but what happiness lies even in this desire for spirituality1 almost for ghostliness6 ,with it1 how far one is from the press and bustle and the mechanical boorishness of the natural sciences1 how far from the vulgar din of modern ideas6 ,one wants to get back to the ,greeks via the ,fathers of the ,church1 from ,north to ,south1 from formul to forms2 the passage out of antiquity--,christianity--is still a source of joy as a means of access to antiquity1 as a portion of the old world itself1 as a glistening mosaic of ancient concepts and ancient valuations4 ,arabesques1 scroll-work1 rococo of scholastic abstractions--always better1 that is to say1 finer and more slender1 than the peasant and plebeian reality of ,northern ,europe1 and still a protest on the part of higher intellectuality against the peasant war and insurrection of the mob which have become master of the intellectual taste of ,northern ,europe1 and which had its leader in a man as great and unintellectual as ,luther3--in this respect ,german philosophy belongs to the ,counter-,reformation1 it might even be looked upon as related to the ,renaissance1 or at least to the will to ,renaissance1 the will to get ahead with the discovery of antiquity1 with the excavation of ancient philosophy1 and above all of pre-,socratic philosophy--the most thoroughly dilapidated of all ,greek temples6 ,possibly1 in few hundred years1 people will be of the opinion that all ,german philosophy derived its dignity from this fact1 that step by step it attempted to reclaim the soil of antiquity1 and that therefore all demands for originality must appear both petty and foolish when compared with ,germany's higher claim to having refastened the bonds which seemed for ever rent--the bonds which bound us to the ,greeks1 the highest type of men ever evolved hitherto4 ,to-day we are once more approaching all the fundamental principles of the cosmogony which the ,greek mind in ,anaximander1 ,heraclitus1 ,parmenides1 ,empedocles1 ,democritus1 and ,anaxagoras1 was responsible for4 ,day by day we are growing more ,greek2 at first1 as is only natural1 the change remains confined to concepts and valuations1 and we hover around like ,greasing spirits3 but it is to be hoped that some day our body will also be involved6 ,here lies 7and has always lain7 my hope for the ,german nation4 #dbj4 ,i do not wish to convert anybody to philosophy3 it is both necessary and perhaps desirable that the philosopher should be a rare plant4 ,nothing is more repugnant to me than the scholarly praise of philosophy which is to be found in ,seneca and ,cicero4 ,philosophy has not much in common with virtue4 ,i trust ,i may be allowed to say that even the scientific man is a fundamentally different person from the philosopher4 ,what ,i most desire is1 that the genuine notion philosopher should not completely perish in ,germany4 ,there are so many incomplete creatures in ,germany already who would fain conceal their ineptitude beneath such noble names4 #dba4 ,i must set up the highest ideal of a philosopher4 ,learning is not everything6 ,the scholar is the sheep in the kingdom of learning2 he studies because he is told to do so1 and because others have done so before him4 #dbb4 ,the superstition concerning philosophers3 ,they are confounded with men of science4 ,as if the value of things were inherent in them and required only to be held on to tightly6 ,to what extent are their researches carried on under the influence of values which already prevail 7their hatred of appearance of the body1 etc478 ,schopenhauer concerning morality 7scorn of ,utilitarianism74 ,ultimately the confusion goes so far that ,darwinism is regarded as philosophy1 and thus at the present day power has gone over to the men of science4 ,even ,frenchmen like ,taine prosecute research1 or mean to prosecute research1 without being already in possession of a standard of valuation4 ,prostration before facts of a kind of cult4 ,as a matter of fact1 they destroy the existing valuations4 ,the explanation of this misunderstanding4 ,the man who is able to command is a rare phenomenon2 he misinterprets himself4 ,what one wants to do1 above all1 is to disclaim all authority and to attribute it to circumstances4 ,in ,germany the critic's estimations belong to the history of awakening manhood4 ,lessing1 etc4 7,napoleon concerning ,goethe74 ,as a matter of fact1 the movement is again made retrograde owing to ,german romanticism3 and the fame of ,german philosophy relies upon it as if it dissipated the danger of scepticism and could demonstrate faith4 ,both tendencies culminate in ,hegel3 at bottom1 what he did was to generalise the fact of ,german criticism and the fact of ,german romanticism1--a kind of dialectical fatalism1 but to the honour of intellectuality1 with the actual submission of the philosopher to reality4 ,the critic prepares the way3 that is all6 ,with ,schopenhauer the philosopher's mission dawns2 it is felt that the object is to determine values2 still under the dominion of eudemonism4 ,the ideal of ,pessimism4 #dbc4 ,theory and practice4--,this is a pernicious distinction1 as if there were an instinct of knowledge1 which1 without inquiring into the utility or harmfulness of a thing1 blindly charged at the truth2 and then that1 apart from this instinct1 there were the whole world of practical interests4 ,in contradiction of this1 ,i try to show what instincts are active behind all these pure theorists1--and how the latter1 as a whole1 under the dominion of their instincts1 fatally make for something which to their minds is truth1 to their minds and only to their minds4 ,the struggle between systems1 together with the struggle between epistemological scruples1 is one which involves very special instincts 7forms of vitality1 of decline1 of classes1 of races1 etc474 ,the so-called thirst for knowledge may be traced to the lust of appropriation and of conquest3 in obedience to this lust the senses1 memory1 and the instincts1 etc41 were developed4 ,the quickest possible reduction of the phenomena1 economy1 the accumulation of spoil from the world of knowledge 7i4e4 that portion of the world which has been appropriated and made manageable74444 ,morality is therefore such a curious science1 because it is in the highest degree practical3 the purely scientific position1 scientific uprightness1 is thus immediately abandoned1 as soon as morality calls for replies to its questions4 ,morality says3 ,i require certain answers--reasons1 arguments2 scruples may come afterwards1 or they may not come at all4 ,how must one act8 ,if one considers that one is dealing with a supremely evolved type--a type which has been dealt with for countless thousands of years1 and in which everything has become instinct1 expediency1 automatism1 fatality1 the urgency of this moral question seems rather funny4 ,how must one act8 ,morality has always been a subject of misunderstanding3 as a matter of fact1 a certain species1 which was constituted to act in a certain way1 wished to justify itself by making its norm paramount4 ,how must one act8 this is not a cause1 but an effect4 ,morality follows1 the ideal comes first4444 ,on the other hand1 the appearance of moral scruples 7or in other words1 the coming to consciousness of the values which guide action7 betray a certain morbidness2 strong ages and people do not ponder over their rights1 nor over the principles of action1 over instinct or over reason4 ,consciousness is a sign that the real morality--that is to say1 the certainty of instinct which leads to a definite course of action--is going to the dogs4444 ,every time a new world of consciousness is created1 the moralists are signs of a lesion1 of impoverishment and of disorganisation4 ,those who are deeply instinctive fear bandying words over duties3 among them are found pyrrhonic opponents of dialectics and of knowableness in general4444 ,a virtue is refuted with a for4 444 ,thesis3 ,the appearance of moralists belongs to periods when morality is declining4 ,thesis3 ,the moralist is a dissipator of moral instincts1 however much he may appear to be their restorer4 ,thesis3 ,that which really prompts the action of a moralist is not a moral instinct1 but the instincts of decadence1 translated into the forms of morality 7he regards the growing uncertainty of the instincts as corruption74 ,thesis3 ,the instincts of decadence which1 thanks to moralists1 wish to become master of the instinctive morality of stronger races and ages1 are3-- 7#a7 ,the instincts of the weak and of the botched2 7#b7 ,the instincts of the exceptions1 of the anchorites1 of the unhinged1 of the abortions of quality or of the reverse2 7#c7 ,the instincts of the habitually suffering1 who require a noble interpretation of their condition1 and who therefore require to be as poor physiologists as possible4 #dbd4 ,the humbug of the scientific spirit4--,one should not affect the spirit of science1 when the time to be scientific is not yet at hand2 but even the genuine investigator has to abandon vanity1 and has to affect a certain kind of method which is not yet seasonable4 ,neither should we falsify things and thoughts1 which we have arrived at differently1 by means of a false arrangement of deduction and dialectics4 ,it is thus that ,kant in his morality falsifies his inner tendency to psychology2 a more modern example of the same thing is ,herbert ,spencer's ,ethics4 ,a man should neither conceal nor misrepresent the facts concerning the way in which he conceived his thoughts4 ,the deepest and most inexhaustible books will certainly always have something of the aphoristic and impetuous character of ,pascal's ,penses4 ,the motive forces and valuations have lain long below the surface2 that which comes uppermost is their effect4 ,i guard against all the humbug of a false scientific spirit3-- 7#a7 ,in respect of the manner of demonstration1 if it does not correspond to the genesis of the thoughts2 7#b7 ,in respect of the demands for methods which1 at a given period in science1 may be quite impossible2 7#c7 ,in respect of the demand for objectivity for cold impersonal treatment1 where1 as in the case of all valuations1 we describe ourselves and our intimate experiences in a couple of words4 ,there are ludicrous forms of vanity1 as1 for instance1 ,sainte-,beuve's4 ,he actually worried himself all his life because he had shown some warmth or passion either pro or con1 and he would fein have lied that fact out of his life4 #dbe4 ,objectivity in the philosopher3 moral indifference in regard to one's self1 blindness in regard to either favourable or fetal circumstances4 ,unscrupulousness in the use of dangerous means2 perversity and complexity of character considered as an advantage and exploited4 ,my profound indifference to myself3 ,i refuse to derive any advantage from my knowledge1 nor do ,i wish to escape any disadvantages which it may entail4--,i include among these disadvantages that which is called the perversion of character2 this prospect is beside the point3 ,i use my character1 but ,i try neither to understand it nor to change it--the personal calculation of virtue has not entered my head once4 ,it strikes me that one closes the doors of knowledge as soon as one becomes interested in one's own personal case--or even in the ,salvation of one's soul6444 ,one should not take one's morality too seriously1 nor should one forfeit a modest right to the opposite of morality4444 ,a sort of heritage of morality is perhaps presupposed here3 one feels that one can be lavish with it and fling a great deal of it out of the window without materially reducing one's means4 ,one is never tempted to admire beautiful souls1 one always knows one's self to be their superior4 ,the monsters of virtue should be met with inner scorn2 dniaiser la vertu--,oh1 the joy of it6 ,one should revolve round one's self1 have no desire to be better or anything else at all than one is4 ,one should be too interested to omit throwing the tentacles or meshes of every morality out to things4 #dbf4 ,concerning the psychology of philosophers4 ,they should be psychologists--this was possible only from the nineteenth century onwards--and no longer little ,jack ,homers1 who see three or four feet in front of them1 and are almost satisfied to burrow inside themselves4 ,we psychologists of the future are not very intent on self-contemplation3 we regard it almost as a sign of degeneration when an instrument endeavours to know itself3#aj we are instruments of knowledge and we would fain possess all the precision and ingenuousness of an instrument--consequently we may not analyse or know ourselves4 ,the first sign of a great psychologist's self-preservative instinct3 he never goes in search of himself1 he has no eye1 no interest1 no inquisitiveness where he himself is concerned4444 ,the great egoism of our dominating will insists on our completely shutting our eyes to ourselves1 and on our appearing impersonal1 disinterested6--,oh to what a ridiculous degree we are the reverse of this6 ,we are no ,pascals1 we are not particularly interested in the ,salvation of the soul1 in our own happiness1 and in our own virtue4--,we have neither enough time nor enough curiosity to be so concerned with ourselves4 ,regarded more deeply1 the case is again different1 we thoroughly mistrust all men who thus contemplate their own navels3 because introspection seems to us a degenerate form of the psychologist's genius1 as a note of interrogation affixed to the psychologist's instinct3 just as a painter's eye is degenerate which is actuated by the will to see for the sake of seeing4 ,footnote #aj3 ,,translator',s ,,note4--,goethe invariably inveighed against the gnoti seauton of the ,socratic school2 he was of the opinion that an animal which tries to see its inner self must be sick4 #b4 ,a ,,criticism ,,of ,,greek ,,philosophy4 #dbg4 ,the apparition of ,greek philosophers since the time of ,socrates is a symptom of decadence2 the anti-,hellenic instincts become paramount4 ,the ,sophist is still quite ,hellenic--as are also ,anaxagoras1 ,democritus1 and the great ,ionians2 but only as transitional forms4 ,the polis loses its faith in the unity of its culture1 in its rights of dominion over every other polis4444 ,cultures1 that is to say1 the gods1 are exchanged1 and thus the belief in the exclusive prerogative of the deus autochthonus is lost4 ,good and ,evil of whatever origin get mixed3 the boundaries separating good from evil gradually vanish4444 ,this is the ,sophist4 444 ,on the other hand1 the philosopher is the reactionary3 he insists upon the old virtues4 ,he sees the reason of decay in the decay of institutions3 he therefore wishes to revive old institutions2--he sees decay in the decline of authority3 he therefore endeavours to find new authorities 7he travels abroad1 explores foreign literature and exotic religions444472--he will reinstate the ideal polis1 after the concept polis has become superannuated 7just1 as the ,jews kept themselves together as a people after they had fallen into slavery74 ,they become interested in all tyrants3 their desire is to re-establish virtue with force majeure4 ,gradually everything genuinely ,hellenic is held responsible for the state of decay 7and ,plato is just as ungrateful to ,pericles1 ,homer1 tragedy1 and rhetoric as the prophets are to ,david and ,saul74 ,the downfall of ,greece is conceived as an objection to the fundamental principles of ,hellenic culture3 the profound error of philosophers--,conclusion3 the ,greek world perishes4 ,the cause thereof3 ,homer1 mythology1 ancient morality1 etc4 ,the anti-,hellenic development of philosophers' valuations3--the ,egyptian influence 7,life after death made into law444472--the ,semitic influence 7the dignity of the sage1 the ,sheik72--the ,pythagorean influence1 the subterranean cults1 ,silence1 means of terrorisation consisting of appeals to a ,beyond1 mathematics3 the religious valuation consisting of a sort of intimacy with a cosmic entity2--the sacerdotal1 ascetic1 and transcendental influences2--the dialectical influence1--,i am of opinion that even ,plato already betrays revolting and pedantic meticulousness in his concepts6--,decline of good intellectual taste3 the hateful noisiness of every kind of direct dialectics seems no longer to be felt4 ,the two decadent tendencies and extremes run side by side3 7a7 the luxuriant and more charming kind of decadence which shows a love of pomp and art1 and 7b7 the gloomy kind1 with its religious and moral pathos1 its stoical self-hardening tendency1 its ,platonic denial of the senses1 and its preparation of the soil for the coming of ,christianity4 #dbh4 ,to what extent psychologists have been corrupted by the moral idiosyncrasy6--,not one of the ancient philosophers had the courage to advance the theory of the non-free will 7that is to say1 the theory that denies morality72--not one had the courage to identify the typical feature of happiness1 of every kind of happiness pleasure71 with the will to power3 for the pleasure of power was considered immoral2--not one had the courage to regard virtue as a result of immorality 7as a result of a will to power7 in the service of a species 7or of a race1 or of a polis72 for the will to power was considered immoral4 ,in the whole of moral evolution1 there is no sign of truth3 all the conceptual elements which come into play are fictions2 all the psychological tenets are false2 all the forms of logic employed in this department of prevarication are sophisms4 ,the chief feature of all moral philosophers is their total lack of intellectual cleanliness and self-control3 they regard fine feelings as arguments3 their heaving breasts seem to them the bellows of godliness4444 ,moral philosophy is the most suspicious period in the history of the human intellect4 ,the first great example3 in the name of morality and under its patronage1 a great wrong was committed1 which as a matter of fact was in every respect an act of decadence4 ,sufficient stress cannot be laid upon this fact1 that the great ,greek philosophers not only represented the decadence of every kind of ,greek ability1 but also made it contagious4444 ,this virtue made wholly abstract was the highest form of seduction2 to make oneself abstract means to turn one's back on the world4 ,the moment is a very remarkable one3 the ,sophists are within sight of the first criticism of morality1 the first knowledge of morality3--they classify the majority of moral valuations 7in view of their dependence upon local conditions7 together2--they lead one to understand that every form of morality is capable of being upheld dialectically3 that is to say1 they guessed that all the fundamental principles of a morality must be sophistical--a proposition which was afterwards proved in the grandest possible style by the ancient philosophers from ,plato onwards 7up to ,kant72--they postulate the primary truth that there is no such thing as a moral per se1 a good per se1 and that it is madness to talk of truth in this respect4 ,wherever was intellectual uprightness to be found in those days8 ,the ,greek culture of the ,sophists had grown out of all the ,greek instincts2 it belongs to the culture of the age of ,pericles as necessarily as ,plato does not3 it has its predecessors in ,heraclitus1 ,democritus1 and in the scientific types of the old philosophy2 it finds expression in the elevated culture of ,thucydides1 for instance4 ,and--it has ultimately shown itself to be right3 every step in the science of epistemology and morality has confirmed the attitude of the ,sophists4444 ,our modern attitude of mind is1 to a great extent1 ,heraclitean1 ,democritean1 and ,protagorean 444 to say that it is ,protagorean is even sufficient3 because ,protagoras was in himself a synthesis of the two men ,heraclitus and ,democritus4 7,plato3 a great ,cagliostro1--let us think of how ,epicurus judged him2 how ,timon1 ,pyrrho's friend1 judged him----,is ,plato's integrity by any chance beyond question8444 ,but we at least know what he wished to have taught as absolute truth--namely1 things which were to him not even relative truths3 the separate and immortal life of souls47 #dbi4 ,the ,sophists are nothing more1 nor less than realists3 they elevate all the values and practices which are common property to the rank of values--they have the courage1 peculiar to all strong intellects1 which consists in knowing their immorality4444 ,is it to be supposed that these small ,greek independent republics1 so filled with rage and envy that they would fain have devoured each other1 were led by principles of humanity and honesty8 ,is ,thucydides by any chance reproached with the words he puts into the mouths of the ,athenian ambassadors when they were treating with the ,melii anent the question of destruction or submission8 ,only the most perfect ,tartuffes could have been able to speak of virtue in the midst of that dreadful strain--or if not ,tartuffes1 at least detached philosophers1 anchorites1 exiles1 and fleers from reality4444 ,all of them1 people who denied things in order to be able to exist4 ,the ,sophists were ,greeks3 when ,socrates and ,plato adopted the cause of virtue and justice1 they were ,jews or ,i know not what4 ,grote's tactics in the defence of the ,sophists are false3 he would like to raise them to the rank of men of honour and moralisers--but it was their honour not to indulge in any humbug with grand words and virtues4 #dcj4 ,the great reasonableness underlying all moral education lay in the fact that it always attempted to attain to the certainty of an instinct3 so that neither good intentions nor good means1 as such1 first required to enter consciousness4 ,just as the soldier learns his exercises1 so should man learn how to act in life4 ,in truth this unconsciousness belongs to every kind of perfection3 even the mathematician carries out his calculations unconsciously4444 ,what1 then1 does ,socrates' reaction mean1 which recommended dialectics as the way to virtue1 and which was charmed when morality was unable to justify itself logically8 ,but this is precisely what proves its superiority--without unconsciousness it is worth nothing6 ,in reality it means the dissolution of ,greek instincts1 when demonstrability is posited as the first condition of personal excellence in virtue4 ,all these great men of virtue and of words are themselves types of dissolution4 ,in practice1 it means that moral judgments have been torn from the conditions among which they grew and in which alone they had some sense1 from their ,greek and ,grco-political soil1 in order to be denaturalised under the cover of being made sublime4 ,the great concepts good and just are divorced from the first principles of which they form a part1 and1 as ideas become free1 degenerate into subjects for discussion4 ,a certain truth is sought behind them2 they are regarded as entities or as symbols of entities3 a world is invented where they are at home1 and from which they are supposed to hail4 ,in short3 the scandal reaches its apotheosis in ,plato4444 ,and then it was necessary to invent the perfectly abstract man also3--good1 just1 wise1 and a dialectician to boot--in short1 the scarecrow of the ancient philosopher3 a plant without any soil whatsoever2 a human race devoid of all definite ruling instincts2 a virtue which justifies itself with reasons4 ,the perfectly absurd individual per se6 the highest form of ,artificiality4444 ,briefly1 the denaturalisation of moral values resulted in the creation of a degenerate type of man--the good man1 the happy man1 the wise man4--,socrates represents a moment of the most profound perversity in the history of values4 #dca4 ,socrates4--,this veering round of ,greek taste in favour of dialectics is a great question4 ,what really happened then8 ,socrates1 the roturier who was responsible for it1 was thus able to triumph over a more noble taste1 the taste of the noble3--the mob gets the upper hand along with dialectics4 ,previous to ,socrates dialectic manners were repudiated in good society2 they were regarded as indecent2 the youths were ,warned against them4 ,what was the purpose of this display of reasons8 ,why demonstrate8 ,against others one could use authority4 ,one commanded1 and that sufficed4 ,among friends1 inter pares1 there was tradition--also a form of authority3 and last but not least1 one understood each other4 ,there was no room found for dialectics4 ,besides1 all such modes of presenting reasons were distrusted4 ,all honest things do not carry their reasons in their hands in such fashion4 ,it is indecent to show all the five fingers at the same time4 ,that which can be demonstrated is little worth4 ,the instinct of every party-speaker tells him that dialectics excites mistrust and carries little conviction4 ,nothing is more easily wiped away than the effect of a dialectician4 ,it can only be a last defence4 ,one must be in an extremity2 it is necessary to have to extort one's rights2 otherwise one makes no use of dialectics4 ,that is why the ,jews were dialecticians1 ,reynard the ,fox was a dialectician1 and so was ,socrates4 ,as a dialectician a person has a merciless instrument in his hand3 he can play the tyrant with it2 he compromises when he conquers4 ,the dialectician leaves it to his opponent to demonstrate that he is not an idiot2 he is made furious and helpless1 while the dialectician himself remains calm and still possessed of his triumphant reasoning powers--he paralyses his opponent's intellect4--,the dialectician's irony is a form of mob-revenge3 the ferocity of the oppressed lies in the cold knife-cuts of the syllogism4444 ,in ,plato1 as in all men of excessive sensuality and wild fancies1 the charm of concepts was so great1 that he involuntarily honoured and deified the concept as a form of ideal4 ,dialectical intoxication3 as the consciousness of being able to exercise control over one's self by means of it--as an instrument of the ,will to ,power4 #dcb4 ,the problem of ,socrates4--,the two antitheses3 the tragic and the ,socratic spirits--measured according to the law of ,life4 ,to what extent is the ,socratic spirit a decadent phenomenon8 to what extent are robust health and power still revealed by the whole attitude of the scientific man1 his dialectics1 his ability1 and his severity8 7the health of the plebeian2 whose malice1 esprit frondeur1 whose astuteness1 whose rascally depths1 are held in check by his cleverness2 the whole type is ugly74 ,uglification3 self-derision1 dialectical dryness1 intelligence in the form of a tyrant against the tyrant 7instinct74 ,everything in ,socrates is exaggeration1 eccentricity1 caricature2 he is a buffoon with the blood of ,voltaire in his veins4 ,he discovers a new form of agon2 he is the first fencing-master in the superior classed of ,athens2 he stands for nothing else than the highest form of cleverness3 he calls it virtue 7he regarded it as a means of salvation2 he did not choose to be clever1 cleverness was de rigueur72 the proper thing is to control one's self in suchwise that one enters into a struggle not with passions but with reasons as one's weapons 7,spinoza's stratagem--the unravelment of the errors of passion72--it is desirable to discover how every one may be caught once he is goaded into a passion1 and to know how illogically passion proceeds2 self-mockery is practised in order to injure the very roots of the feelings of resentment4 ,it is my wish to understand which idiosyncratic states form a part of the ,socratic problem3 its association of reason1 virtue1 and happiness4 ,with this absurd doctrine of the identity of these things it succeeded in charming the world3 ancient philosophy could not rid itself of this doctrine4444 ,absolute lack of objective interest3 hatred of science3 the idiosyncrasy of considering one's self a problem4 ,acoustic hallucinations in ,socrates3 morbid element4 ,when the intellect is rich and independent1 it most strongly resists preoccupying itself with morality4 ,how is it that ,socrates is a moral-maniac8--,every practical philosophy immediately steps into the foreground in times of distress4 ,when morality and religion become the chief interests of a community1 they are signs of a state of distress4 #dcc4 ,intelligence1 clearness1 hardness1 and logic as weapons against the wildness of the instincts4 ,the latter must be dangerous and must threaten ruin1 otherwise no purpose can be served by developing intelligence to this degree of tyranny4 ,in order to make a tyrant of intelligence the instincts must first have proved themselves tyrants4 ,this is the problem4 ,it was a very timely one in those days4 ,reason became virtue--virtue equalled happiness4 ,solution3 ,greek philosophers stand upon the same fundamental fact of their inner experiences as ,socrates does2 five feet from excess1 from anarchy and from dissolution--all decadent men4 ,they regard him as a doctor3 ,logic as will to power1 as will to control self1 as will to happiness4 ,the wildness and anarchy of ,socrates' instincts is a sign of decadence1 as is also the superftation of logic and clear reasoning in him4 ,both are abnormities1 each belongs to the other4 ,criticism4 ,decadence reveals itself in this concern about happiness 7i4e4 about the salvation of the soul2 i4e4 to feel that one's condition is a danger74 ,its fanatical interest in happiness shows the pathological condition of the subconscious self3 it was a vital interest4 ,the alternative which faced them all was3 to be reasonable or to perish4 ,the morality of ,greek philosophers shows that they felt they were in danger4 #dcd4 ,why everything resolved itself into mummery4--,rudimentary psychology1 which only considered the conscious lapses of men 7as causes71 which regarded consciousness as an attribute of the soul1 and which sought a will behind every action 7i4e4 an intention71 could only answer ,happiness to the question3 ,what does man desire8 7it was impossible to answer ,power1 because that would have been immoral72--consequently behind all men's actions there is the intention of attaining to happiness by means of them4 ,secondly3 if man as a matter of fact does not attain to happiness1 why is it8 ,because he mistakes the means thereto4--,what is the unfailing means of acquiring happiness8 ,answer3 virtue4--,why virtue8 ,because virtue is supreme rationalness1 and rationalness makes mistakes in the choice of means impossible3 virtue in the form of reason is the way to happiness4 ,dialectics is the constant occupation of virtue1 because it does away with passion and intellectual cloudiness4 ,as a matter of fact1 man does not desire happiness4 ,pleasure is a sensation of power3 if the passions are excluded1 those states of the mind are also excluded which afford the greatest sensation of power and therefore of pleasure4 ,the highest rationalism is a state of cool clearness1 which is very far from being able to bring about that feeling of power which every kind of exaltation involves4444 ,the ancient philosophers combat everything that intoxicates and exalts--everything that impairs the perfect coolness and impartiality of the mind4444 ,they were consistent with their first false principle3 that consciousness was the highest1 the supreme state of mind1 the prerequisite of perfection--whereas the reverse is true4444 ,any kind of action is imperfect in proportion as it has been willed or conscious4 ,the philosophers of antiquity were the greatest duffers in practice1 because they condemned themselves theoretically to dufferdom14444 ,in practice everything resolved itself into theatricalness3 and he who saw through it1 as ,pyrrho did1 for instance1 thought as everybody did--that is to say1 that in goodness and uprightness paltry people were far superior to philosophers4 ,all the deeper natures of antiquity were disgusted at the philosophers of virtue2 all people saw in them was brawlers and actors4 7,this was the judgment passed on ,plato by ,epicurus and ,pyrrho47 ,result3 ,in practical life1 in patience1 goodness1 and mutual assistance1 paltry people were above them3--this is something like the judgment ,dostoiewsky or ,tolstoy claims for his muzhiks3 they are more philosophical in practice1 they are more courageous in their way of dealing with the exigencies of life4444 #dce4 ,a criticism of the philosopher4--,philosophers and moralists merely deceive themselves when they imagine that they escape from decadence by opposing it4 ,that lies beyond their wills3 and however little they may be aware of the fact1 it is generally discovered1 subsequently that they were among the most powerful promoters of decadence4 ,let us examine the philosophers of ,greece--,plato1 for instance4 ,he it was who separated the instincts from the polis1 from the love of contest1 from military efficiency1 from art1 beauty1 the mysteries1 and the belief in tradition and in ancestors4444 ,he was the seducer of the nobles3 he himself seduces through the roturier ,socrates4444 ,he denied all the first principles of the noble ,greek of sterling worth2 he made dialectics an everyday practice1 conspired with the tyrants1 dabbled in politics for the future1 and was the example of a man whose instincts were the example of a man whose instincts were most perfectly separated from tradition4 ,he is profound and passionate in everything that is anti-,hellenic4444 ,one after the other1 these great philosophers represent the typical forms of decadence3 the moral and religious idiosyncrasy1 anarchy1 nihilism1 771 cynicism1 hardening principles1 hedonism1 and reaction4 ,the question of happiness1 of virtue1 and of the salvation of the soul1 is the expression of physiological contradictoriness in these declining natures3 their instincts lack all balance and purpose4 #dcf4 ,to what extent do dialectics and the faith in reason rest upon moral prejudices8 ,with ,plato we are as the temporary inhabitants of an intelligible world of goodness1 still in possession of a bequest from former times3 divine dialectics taking its root in goodness leads to everything good 7it follows1 therefore1 that it must lead backwards74 ,even ,descartes had a notion of the fact that1 according to a thoroughly ,christian and moral attitude of mind1 which includes a belief in a good ,god as the ,creator of all things1 the truthfulness of ,god guarantees the judgments of our senses for us4 ,but for this religious sanction and warrant of our senses and our reason1 whence should we obtain our right to trust in existence8 ,that thinking must be a measure of reality1--that what cannot be the subject of thought1 cannot exist1--is a coarse non plus ultra of a moral blind confidence 7in the essential principle of truth at the root of all things72 this in itself is a mad assumption which our experience contradicts every minute4 ,we cannot think of anything precisely as it is4444 #dcg4 ,the real philosophers of ,greece are those which came before ,socrates 7with ,socrates something changes74 ,they are all distinguished men1 they take their stand away from the people and from usage2 they have travelled2 they are earnest to the point of sombreness1 their eyes are calm1 and they are not unacquainted with the business of state and diplomacy4 ,they anticipated all the great concepts which coming sages were to have concerning things in general3 they themselves represented these concepts1 they made systems out of themselves4 ,nothing run give a higher idea of ,greek intellect than this sudden fruitfulness in types1 than this involuntary completeness in the drawing up of all the great possibilities of the philosophical ideal4 ,i can see only one original figure in those that came afterwards3 a late arrival but necessarily the last--,pyrrho the nihilist4 ,his instincts were opposed to the influences which had become ascendant in the mean-time the ,socratic school1 ,plato1 and the artistic optimism of ,heraclitus4 7,pyrrho goes back to ,democritus via ,protagoras44447 999999 ,wise weariness3 ,pyrrho4 ,to live humbly among the humble4 ,devoid of pride4 ,to live in the vulgar way2 to honour and believe what every one believes4 ,to be on one's guard against science and intellect1 and against everything that puffs one out4 444 ,to be simply patient in the extreme1 careless and mild2-- or1 better still1 4 ,a ,buddhist for ,greece1 bred amid the tumult of the ,schools2 born alter his time2 weary2 an example of the protest of weariness against the eagerness of dialecticians2 the incredulity of the tired man in regard to the importance of everything4 ,he had seen ,alexander2 he had seen the ,indian penitents4 ,to such late-arrivals and creatures of great subtlety1 everything lowly1 poor1 and idiotic1 is seductive4 ,it narcoticises3 it gives them relaxation 7,pascal74 ,on the other hand1 they mix with the crowd1 and get confounded with the rest4 ,these weary creatures need warmth4444 ,to overcome contradiction2 to do away with contests2 to have no will to excel in any way2 to deny the ,greek instincts 7,pyrrho lived with his sister1 who was a midwife47 ,to rig out wisdom in such a way that it no longer distinguishes2 to give it the ragged mantle of poverty2 to perform the lowest offices1 and to go to market and sell sucking-pigs4444 ,sweetness1 clearness1 indifference2 no need of virtues that require attitudes2 to be equal to all even in virtue3 final conquest of one's self1 final indifference4 ,pyrrho and ,epicurus2--two forms of ,greek decadence2 they are related in their hatred of dialectics and all theatrical virtues4 ,these two things together were then called philosophy2 ,pyrrho and ,epicurus intentionally held that which they loved in low esteem2 they chose common and even contemptible names for it1 and they represented a state in which one is neither ill1 healthy1 lively1 nor dead4444 ,epicurus was more naf1 more idyllic1 more grateful2 ,pyrrho had more experience of the world1 had travelled more1 and was more nihilistic4 ,his life was a protest against the great doctrine of ,identity 7,happiness ,virtue ,knowledge74 ,the proper way of living is not promoted by science3 wisdom does not make wise4 444 ,the proper way of living does not desire happiness1 it turns away from happiness4444 #dch4 ,the war against the old faith1 as ,epicurus waged it1 was1 strictly speaking1 a struggle against pre-existing ,christianity--the struggle against a world then already gloomy1 moralised1 acidified throughout with feelings of guilt1 and grown old and sick4 ,not the moral corruption of antiquity1 but precisely its moral infectedness was the prerequisite which enabled ,christianity to become its master4 ,moral fanaticism 7in short3 ,plato7 destroyed paganism by transvaluing its values and poisoning its innocence4 ,we ought at last to understand that what was then destroyed was higher than what prevailed6 ,christianity grew on the soil of psychological corruption1 and could only take root in rotten ground4 #dci4 ,science3 as a disciplinary measure or as an instinct--,i see a decline of the instincts in ,greek philosophers3 otherwise they could not have been guilty of the profound error of regarding the conscious state as the more valuable state4 ,the intensity of consciousness stands in the inverse ratio to the ease and speed of cerebral transmission4 ,greek philosophy upheld the opposite view1 which is always the sign of weakened instincts4 ,we must1 in sooth1 seek perfect life there where it is least conscious 7that is to say1 there where it is least aware of its logic1 its reasons1 its means1 its intentions1 and its utility74 ,the return to the facts of common sense1 the facts of the common man and of paltry people4 ,honesty and intelligence stored up for generations of people who are quite unconscious of their principles1 and who even have some fear of principles4 ,it is not reasonable to desire a reasoning virtue4 444 ,a philosopher is compromised by such a desire4 #ddj4 ,when morality--that is to say1 refinement1 prudence1 bravery1 and equity--have been stored up in the same way1 thanks to the moral efforts of a whole succession of generations1 the collective power of this hoard of virtue projects its rays even into that sphere where honesty is most seldom present--the sphere of intellect4 ,when a thing becomes conscious1 it is the sign of a state of ill-ease in the organism2 something new has got to be found1 the organism is not satisfied or adapted1 it is subject to distress1 suspense1 and it is hypersensitive--precisely all this is consciousness4444 ,gennius lies in the instincts2 goodness does too4 ,one only acts perfectly when one acts instinctively4 ,even from the moral point of view all thinking which is conscious is merely a process of groping1 and in the majority of cases an attack on morality4 ,scientific honesty is always sacrificed when a thinker begins to reason3 let any one try the experiment3 put the wisest man in the balance1 and then let him discourse upon morality4444 ,it could also be proved that the whole of a man's conscious thinking shows a much lower standard of morality than the thoughts of the same man would show if they were led by his instincts4 #dda4 ,the struggle against ,socrates1 ,plato1 and all the ,socratic schools1 proceeds from the profound instinct that man is not made better when he is shown that virtue may be demonstrated or based upon reason4444 ,this in the end is the niggardly fact1 it was the agonal instinct in all these born dialecticians1 which drove them to glorify their personal abilities as the highest of all qualities1 and to represent every other form of goodness as conditioned by them4 ,the anti-scientific spirit of all this philosophy3 it will never admit that it is not right4 #ddb4 ,this is extraordinary4 ,from its very earliest beginnings1 ,greek philosophy carries on a struggle against science with the weapons of a theory of knowledge1 especially of scepticism2 and why is this8 ,it is always in favour of morality4444 7,physicists and medical men are hated47 ,socrates1 ,aristippus1 the ,megarian school1 the ,cynics1 ,epicurus and ,pyrrho--a general onslaught upon knowledge in favour of morality4444 7,hatred of dialectics also47 ,there is still a problem to be solved3 they approach sophistry in order to be rid of science4 ,on the other hand1 the physicists are subjected to such an extent that1 among their first principles1 they include the theory of truth and of real being3 for instance1 the atom1 the four elements 7juxtaposition of being1 in order to explain its multiformity and its transformations74 ,contempt of objectivity in interests is taught3 return to practical interest1 and to the personal utility of all knowledge4444 ,the struggle against science is directed at3 7#a7 its pathos 7objectivity72 7#b7 its means 7that is to say1 at its utility72 7#c7 its results 7which are considered childish74 ,it is the same struggle which is taken up later on by the ,church in the name of piety3 the ,church inherited the whole arsenal of antiquity for her war with science4 ,the theory of knowledge played the same part in the affair as it did in ,kant's or the ,indians' case4 ,there is no desire whatever to be troubled with it1 a free hand is wanted for the purpose that is envisaged4 ,against what powers are they actually defending themselves8 ,against dutifulness1 against obedience to law1 against the compulsion of going hand in hand--,i believe this is what is called ,freedom4444 ,this is how decadence manifests itself3 the instinct of solidarity is so degenerate that solidarity itself gets to be regarded as tyranny3 no authority or solidarity is brooked1 nobody any longer desires to fall in with the rank and file1 and to adopt its ignobly slow pace4 ,the slow movement which is the tempo of science is generally hated1 as are also the scientific man's indifference in regard to getting on1 his long breath1 and his impersonal attitude4 #ddc4 ,at bottom1 morality is hostile to science3 ,socrates was so already too--and the reason is1 that science considers certain things important which have no relation whatsoever to good and evil1 and which therefore reduce the gravity of our feelings concerning good and evil4 ,what morality requires is that the whole of a man should serve it with all his power3 it considers it waste on the part of a creature that can ill afford waste1 when a man earnestly troubles his head about stars or plants4 ,that is why science very quickly declined in ,greece1 once ,socrates had inoculated scientific work with the disease of morality4 ,the mental attitudes reached by a ,democritus1 a ,hippocrates1 and a ,thucydides1 have not been reached a second time4-- #ddd4 ,the problem of the philosopher and of the scientific man4--,the influence of age2 depressing habits 7sedentary study la ,kant2 over-work2 inadequate nourishment of the brain2 reading74 ,a more essential question still3 is it not already perhaps a symptom of decadence when thinking tends to establish generalities8 ,objectivity regarded as the disintegration of the will 7to be able to remain as detached as possible 44474 ,this presupposes a tremendous adiaphora in regard to the strong passions3 a kind of isolation1 an exceptional position1 opposition to the normal passions4 ,type3 desertion of home-country emigrants go ever greater distances afield2 growing exoticism2 the voice of the old imperative dies away2--and the continual question whither8 7happiness7 is a sign of emancipation from forms of organisation1 a sign of breaking loose from everything4 ,problem3 is the man of science more of a decadent symptom than the philosopher8--as a whole scientific man is not1 cut loose from everything1 only a part of his being is consecrated exclusively to the service of knowledge and disciplined to maintain a special attitude and point of view2 in his department he is in need of all the virtues of a strong race1 of robust health1 of great severity1 manliness and intelligence4 ,he is rather a symptom of the great multiformity of culture than of the effeteness of the latter4 ,the decadent scholar is a bad scholar4 ,whereas the decadent philosopher has always been reckoned hitherto as the typical philosopher4 #dde4 ,among philosophers1 nothing is more rare than intellectual uprightness3 they perhaps say the very reverse1 and even believe it4 ,but the prerequisite of all their work is1 that they can only admit of certain truths2 they know what they have to prove2 and the fact that they must be agreed as to these truths is almost what makes them recognise one another as philosophers4 ,there are1 for instance1 the truths of morality4 ,but belief in morality is not a proof of morality3 there are cases--and the philosopher's case is one in point--when a belief of this sort is simply a piece of immorality4 #ddf4 ,what is the retrograde factor in a philosopher8--,he teaches that the qualities which he happens to possess are the only qualities that exist1 that they are indispensable to those who wish to attain to the highest good 7for instance1 dialectics with ,plato74 ,he would have all men raise themselves1 gradatim1 to his type as the highest4 ,he despises what is generally esteemed--by him a gulf is cleft between the highest priestly values and the values of the world4 ,he knows what is true1 who ,god is1 what every one's goal should be1 and the way thereto4444 ,the typical philosopher is thus an absolute dogmatist2--if he requires scepticism at all it is only in order to be able to speak dogmatically of his principal purpose4 #ddg4 ,when the philosopher is confronted with his rival--science1 for instance1 he becomes a sceptic2 then he appropriates a form of knowledge which he denies to the man of science2 he goes hand in hand with the priest so that he may not be suspected of atheism or materialism2 he considers an attack made upon himself as an attack upon morals1 religion1 virtue1 and order--he knows how to bring his opponents into ill repute by calling them seducers and underminers3 then he marches shoulder to shoulder with power4 ,the philosopher at war with other philosophers3--he does his best to compel them to appear like anarchists1 disbelievers1 opponents of authority4 ,in short1 when he fights1 he fights exactly like a priest and like the priesthood4 #c4 ,,the ,,truths ,,and ,,errors ,,of ,,philosophers4 #ddh4 ,philosophy defined by ,kant3 ,the science of the limitations of reason66 #ddi4 ,according to ,aristotle1 ,philosophy is the art of discovering truth4 ,on the other hand1 the ,epicurians1 who availed themselves of ,aristotle's sensual theory of knowledge1 retorted in ironical opposition to the search for truth3 ,philosophy is the art of ,life4 #dej4 ,the three great navets3-- ,knowledge as a means of happiness 7as if 44472 ,knowledge as a means to virtue 7as if 44472 ,knowledge as a means to the denial of ,life--inasmuch as it leads to disappointment--7as if 44474 #dea4 ,as if there were a truth which one could by some means approach6 #deb4 ,error and ignorance are fatal4--,the assumption that truth has been found and that ignorance and error are at an end1 constitutes one of the most seductive thoughts in the world4 ,granted that it be generally accepted1 it paralyses the will to test1 to investigate1 to be cautious1 and to gather experience3 it may even be regarded as criminal--that is to say1 as a doubt concerning truth4444 ,truth is therefore more fatal than error and ignorance1 because it paralyses the forces which lead to enlightenment and knowledge4 ,the passion for idleness now stands up for truth 7,thought is pain and misery671 as also do order1 rule1 the joy of possession1 the pride of wisdom--in fact1 vanity4--it is easier to obey than to examine2 it is more gratifying to think ,i possess the truth1 than to see only darkness in all directions2 444 but1 above all1 it is reassuring1 it lends confidence1 and alleviates life--it improves the character inasmuch as it reduces mistrust4 ,spiritual peace1 a quiet conscience--these things are inventions which are only possible provided ,truth be found4--,by their fruits ye shall know them4 444 ,truth is the truth because it makes men better4444 ,the process goes on3 all goodness and all success is placed to the credit of truth4 ,this is the proof by success3 the happiness1 contentment1 and the welfare of a community or of an individual1 are now understood to be the result of the belief in morality4444 ,conversely3 failure is ascribed to a lack of faith4 #dec4 ,the causes of error lie just as much in the good as in the bad will of man3--in an incalculable number of cases he conceals reality from himself1 he falsifies it1 so that he may not suffer from his good or bad will4 ,god1 for instance1 is considered the shaper of man's destiny2 he interprets his little lot as though everything were intentionally sent to him for the salvation of his soul1--this act of ignorance in philology1 which to a more subtle intellect would seem unclean and false1 is done1 in the majority of cases1 with perfect good faith4 ,goodwill1 noble feelings1 and lofty states of the soul are just as underhand and deceptive in the means they use as are the passions love1 hatred1 and revenge1 which morality has repudiated and declared to be egotistic4 ,errors are what mankind has had to pay for most dearly3 and taking them all in all1 the errors which have resulted from goodwill are those which have wrought the most harm4 ,the illusion which makes people happy is more harmful than the illusion which is immediately followed by evil results3 the latter increases keenness and mistrust1 and purifies1 the understanding2 the former merely narcoticises4444 ,fine feelings and noble impulses ought1 speaking physiologically1 to be classified with the narcotics3 their abuse is followed by precisely the same results as the abuse of any other opiate--weak nerves4 #ded4 ,error is the most expensive luxury that man can indulge in3 and if the error happen to be a physiological one1 it is fatal to life4 ,what has mankind paid for most dearly hitherto8 ,for its truths 3 for every one of these were errors in physiologicis4444 #dee4 ,psychological confusions3 the desire for belief is confounded with the will to truth 7for instance1 in ,carlyle74 ,but the desire for disbelief has also been confounded with the will to truth 7a need of ridding one's self of a belief for a hundred reasons3 in order to carry one's point against certain believers74 ,what is it that inspires ,sceptics8 ,the hatred of dogmatists--or a need of repose1 weariness as in ,pyrrho's case4 ,the advantages which were expected to come from truth1 were the advantages resulting from a belief in it3 for1 in itself1 truth could have been thoroughly painful1 harmful1 and even fatal4 ,likewise truth was combated only on account of the advantages which a victory over it would provide--for instance1 emancipation from the yoke of the ruling powers4 ,the method of truth was not based upon motives of truthfulness1 but upon motives of power1 upon the desire to be superior4 ,how is truth proved8 ,by means of the feeling of increased power1--by means of utility1--by means of indispensability1--in short1 by means of its advantages 7that is to say1 hypotheses concerning what truth should be like in order that it may be embraced by us74 ,but this involves prejudice3 it is a sign that truth does not enter the question at all4444 ,what is the meaning of the will to truth1 for instance in the ,goncourts8 and in the naturalists8--,a criticism of objectivity4 ,why should we know3 why should we not prefer to be deceived8444 ,but what was needed was always belief--and not truth4444 ,belief is created by means which are quite opposed to the method of investigation3 it even depends upon the exclusion of the latter4 #def4 ,a certain degree of faith suffices to-day to give us an objection to what is believed--it does more1 it makes us question the spiritual healthiness of the believer4 #deg4 ,martyrs4--,to combat anything that is based upon reverence1 opponents must be possessed of both daring and recklessness1 and be hindered by no scruples4444 ,now1 if one considers that for thousands of years man has sanctified as truths only those things which were in reality errors1 and that he has branded any criticism of them with the hall-mark of badness1 one will have to acknowledge1 however reluctantly1 that a goodly amount of immoral deeds were necessary in order to give the initiative to an attack--,i mean to reason4444 ,that these immoralists have always posed as the martyrs of truth should be forgiven them3 the truth of the matter is that they did not stand up and deny owing to an instinct for truth2 but because of a love of dissolution1 criminal scepticism1 and the love of adventure4 ,in other cases it is personal rancour which drives them into the province of problems--they only combat certain points of view in order to be able to carry their point against certain people4 ,but1 above all1 it is revenge which has become scientifically useful--the revenge of the oppressed1 those who1 thanks to the truth that happens to be ruling1 have been pressed aside and even smothered4444 ,truth1 that is to say the scientific method1 was grasped and favoured by such as recognised that it was a useful weapon of war--an instrument of destruction4444 ,in order to be honoured as opponents1 they were moreover obliged to use an apparatus similar to that used by those whom they were attacking3 they therefore brandished the concept truth as absolutely as their adversaries did--they became fanatics at least in their poses1 because no other pose could be expected to be taken seriously4 ,what still remained to be done was left to persecution1 to passion1 and the uncertainty of the persecuted--hatred waxed great1 and the first impulse began to die away and to leave the field entirely to science4 ,ultimately all of them wanted to be right in the same absurd way as their opponents4444 ,the word conviction1 faith1 the pride of martyrdom--these things are most unfavourable to knowledge4 ,the adversaries of truth finally adopt the whole subjective manner of deciding about truth1--that is to say1 by means of poses1 sacrifices1 and heroic resolutions1--and thus prolong the dominion of the anti-scientific method4 ,as martyrs they compromise their very own deed4 #deh4 ,the dangerous distinction between theoretical and practical in ,kant for instance1 but also in the ancient philosophers3--they behave as if pure intellectuality presented them with the problems of science and metaphysics2--they behave as if practice should be judged by a measure of its own1 whatever the judgment of theory may be4 ,against the first tendency ,i set up my psychology of philosophers3 their strangest calculations and intellectuality are still but the last pallid impress of a physiological fact2 spontaneity is absolutely lacking in them1 everything is instinct1 everything is intended to follow a certain direction from the first4444 ,against the second tendency ,i put my question3 whether we know another method of acting correctly1 besides that of thinking correctly2 the last case is action1 the first presupposes thought ,are we possessed of a means whereby we can judge of the value of a method of life differently from the value of a theory3 through induction or comparison8444 ,guileless people imagine that in this respect we are better equipped1 we know what is good--and the philosophers are content to repeat this view4 ,we conclude that some sort of faith is at work in this matter1 and nothing more4444 ,men must act2 consequently rules of conduct are necessary--this is what even the ancient ,sceptics thought4 ,the urgent need of a definite decision in this department of knowledge is used as an argument in favour of regarding something as true6444 ,men must not act--said their more consistent brothers1 the ,buddhists1 and then thought out a mode of conduct which would deliver man from the yoke of action4444 ,to adapt one's self1 to live as the common man lives1 and to regard as right and proper what he regards as right3 this is submission to the gregarious instinct4 ,one must carry one's courage and severity so far as to learn to consider such submission a disgrace4 ,one should not live according to two standards6444 ,one should not separate theory and practice6444 #dei4 ,of all that which was formerly held to be true1 not one word is to be credited4 ,everything which was formerly disdained as unholy1 forbidden1 contemptible1 and fatal--all these flowers now bloom on the most charming paths of truth4 ,the whole of this old morality concerns us no longer3 it contains not one idea which is still worthy of respect4 ,we have outlived it--we are no longer sufficiently coarse and guileless to be forced to allow ourselves to be lied to in this way4444 ,in more polite language3 we are too virtuous for it4444 ,and if truth in the old sense were true only because the old morality said yea to it1 and had a right to say yea to it3 it follows that no truth of the past can any longer be of use to us4444 ,our criterion of truth is _/certainly not morality3 we refute an assertion when we show that it is dependent upon morality and is inspired by noble feelings4 #dfj4 ,all these values are empirical and conditioned4 ,but he who believes in them and who honours them1 refuses to acknowledge this aspect of them4 ,all philosophers believe in these values1 and one form their reverence takes is the endeavour to make a priori truths out of them4 ,the falsifying nature of reverence4444 ,reverence is the supreme test of intellectual honesty1 but in the whole history of philosophy there is no such thing as intellectual honesty1--but the love of goodness 444 ,on the one hand1 there is an absolute lack of method in testing the value of these values2 secondly1 there is a general disinclination either to test them or to regard them as conditioned at all4--,all anti-scientific instincts assembled round moral values in order to keep science out of this department4444 #d4 ,,concluding ,,remarks ,,in ,,the ,,criticism ,,of ,,philosophy4 #dfa4 ,why philosophers are slanderers4--,the artful and blind hostility of philosophers towards the senses--what an amount of mob and middle-class qualities lie in all this hatred6 ,the crowd always believes that an abuse of which it feels the harmful results1 constitutes an objection to the thing which happens to be abused3 all insurrectionary movements against principles1 whether in politics or agriculture1 always follow a line of argument suggested by this ulterior motive3 the abuse must be shown to be necessary to1 and1 inherent in1 the principle4 ,it is a woeful history3 mankind looks for a principle1 from the standpoint of which he will be able to contemn man--he invents a world in order to be able to slander and throw mud at this world3 as a matter of fact1 he snatches every time at nothing1 and construes this nothing as ,god1 as ,truth1 and1 in any case1 as judge and detractor of this existence4444 ,if one should require a proof of how deeply and thoroughly the actually barbarous needs of man1 even in his present state of tameness and civilisation1 still seek gratification1 one should contemplate the leitmotifs of the whole of the evolution of philosophy3--a sort of revenge upon reality1 a surreptitious process of destroying the values by means of which men live1 a dissatisfied soul to which the conditions of discipline is one of torture1 and which takes a particular pleasure in morbidly severing all the bonds that bind it to such a condition4 ,the history of philosophy is the story of a secret and mad hatred of the prerequisities of ,life1 of the feelings which make for the real values of ,life1 and of all partisanship in favour of ,life4 ,philosophers have never hesitated to affirm a fanciful world1 provided it contradicted this world1 and furnished them with a weapon wherewith they could calumniate this world4 ,up to the present1 philosophy has been the grand school of slander3 and its power has been so great1 that even to-day our science1 which pretends to be the advocate of ,life1 has accepted the fundamental position of slander1 and treats this world as appearance1 and this chain of causes as though it were only phenomenal4 ,what is the hatred which is active here8 ,i fear that it is still the ,circe of philosophers--,morality1 which plays them the trick of compelling them to be ever slanderers4444 ,they believed in moral truths1 in these they thought they had found the highest values2 what alternative had they left1 save that of denying existence ever more emphatically the more they got to know about it8444 ,for this life is immoral4444 ,and it is based upon immoral first principles3 and morality says nay to ,life4 ,let us suppress the real world3 and in order to do this1 we must first suppress the highest values current hitherto--morals4444 ,it is enough to show that morality itself is immoral1 in the same sense as that in which immorality has been condemned heretofore4 ,if an end be thus made to the tyranny of the former values1 if we have suppressed the real world1 a new order of values must follow of its own accord4 ,the world of appearance and the world of lies3 this constitutes the contradiction4 ,the latter hitherto has been the real world1 truth1 ,god4 ,this is the one which we still have to suppress4 ,the logic of my conception3 7#a7 ,morality as the highest value 7it is master of all the phases of philosophy1 even of the ,sceptics74 ,result3 this world is no good1 it is not the real world4 7#b7 ,what is it that determines the highest value here8 ,what1 in sooth1 is morality8--,it is the instinct of decadence2 it is the means whereby the exhausted and the degenerate revenge themselves4 ,historical proof3 philosophers have always been decadents 444 in the service of nihilistic religions4 7#c7 ,it is the instinct of decadence coming to the fore as will to power4 ,proof3 the absolute immorality of the means employed by morality throughout its history4 ,general aspect3 the values which have been highest hitherto constitute a specific case of the will to power2 morality itself is a specific case of immorality4 #dfb4 ,the principal innovations3 ,instead of moral values1 nothing but naturalistic values4 ,naturalisation of morality4 ,in the place of sociology1 a doctrine of the forms of dominion4 ,in the place of society1 the complex whole of culture1 which is my chief interest 7whether in its entirety or in parts74 ,in the place of the theory of knowledge1 a doctrine which laid down the value of the passions 7to this a hierarchy of the passions would belong3 the passions transfigured2 their superior rank1 their spirituality74 ,in the place of metaphysics and religion1 the doctrine of ,eternal ,recurrence 7this being regarded as a means to the breeding and selection of men74 #dfc4 ,my precursors3 ,schopenhauer4 ,to what extent ,i deepened pessimism1 and first brought its full meaning within my grasp1 by means of its most extreme opposite4 ,likewise3 the higher ,europeans1 the pioneers of great politics4 ,likewise3 the ,greeks and their genesis4 #dfd4 ,i have named those who were unconsciously my workers and precursors4 ,but in what direction may ,i turn with any hope of finding my particular kind of philosophers themselves1 or at least my yearning for new philosophers8 ,in that direction1 alone1 where a noble attitude of mind prevails1 an attitude of mind which believes in slavery and in manifold orders of rank1 as the prerequisites of any high degree of culture4 ,in that direction1 alone1 where a creative attitude of mind prevails1 an attitude of mind which does not regard the world of happiness and repose1 the ,sabbath of ,sabbaths as an end to be desired1 and which1 even in peace1 honours the means which lead to new wars2 an attitude of mind which would prescribe laws for the future1 which for the sake of the future would treat everything that exists to-day with harshness and even tyranny2 a daring and immoral attitude of mind1 which would wish to see both the good and the evil qualities in man developed to their fullest extent1 because it would feel itself able to put each in its right place--that is to say1 in that place in which each would need the other4 ,but what prospect has he of finding what he seeks1 who goes in search of philosophers to-day8 ,is it not probable that1 even with the best ,diogenes-lantern in his hand1 he will wander about by night and day in vain8 ,this age is possessed of the opposite instincts4 ,what it wants1 above all1 is comfort2 secondly1 it wants publicity and the deafening din of actors' voices1 the big drum which appeals to its ,bank-,holiday tastes2 thirdly1 that every one should lie on his belly in utter subjection before the greatest of all lies--which is the equality of men--and should honour only those virtues which make men equal and place them in equal positions4 ,but in this way1 the rise of the philosopher1 as ,i understand him1 is made completely impossible--despite the fact that many may regard the present tendencies as rather favourable to his advent4 ,as a matter of fact1 the whole world mourns1 to-day1 the hard times that philosophers used to have1 hemmed in between the fear of the stake1 a guilty conscience1 and the presumptuous wisdom of the ,fathers of the ,church3 but the truth is1 that precisely these conditions were ever so much more favourable to the education of a mighty1 extensive1 subtle1 rash1 and daring intellect than the conditions prevailing to-day4 ,at present another kind of intellect1 the intellect of the demagogue1 of the actor1 and perhaps of the beaver- and ant-like scholar too1 finds the best possible conditions for its development4 ,but even for artists of a superior calibre the conditions are already far from favourable3 for does not every one of them1 almost1 perish owing to his want of discipline8 ,they are no longer tyrannised over by an outside power--by the tables of absolute values enforced by a ,church or by a monarch3 and thus they no longer learn to develop their inner tyrant1 their will4 ,and what holds good of artists also holds good1 to a greater and more fatal degree1 of philosophers4 ,where1 then1 are free spirits to be found to-day8 ,let any one show me a free spirit to-day6 #dfe4 ,under ,spiritual freedom ,i understand something very definite3 it is a state in which one is a hundred times superior to philosophers and other disciples of truth in one's severity towards one's self1 in one's uprightness1 in one's courage1 and in one's absolute will to say nay even when it is dangerous to say nay4 ,i regard the philosophers that have appeared heretofore as contemptible libertines hiding behind the petticoats of the female ,truth4 ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,i4