No More Learning



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182 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
148.
Where Reformations Originate. —At the time of
the great corruption of the church it was least of
all corrupt in Germany: it was on that account
that the Reformation originated here, as a sign
that even the beginnings of corruption were felt to
be unendurable. For, comparatively speaking, no
people was ever more Christian than the Germans
at the time of Luther; their Christian culture was
just about to burst into bloom with a hundred-fold
splendour,—one night only was still lacking; but
that night brought the storm which put an end
to all.
149.
The Failure of Reformations. —It testifies to the
higher culture of the Greeks, even in rather early
ages, that attempts to establish new Grecian
religions frequently failed; it testifies that quite
early there must have been a multitude of dis-
similar individuals in Greece, whose dissimilar
troubles were not cured by a single recipe of faith
and hope. Pythagoras and Plato, perhaps also
Empedocles, and already much earlier the Orphic
enthusiasts, aimed at founding new religions; and
the two first-named were so endowed with the
qualifications for founding religions, that one can-
not be sufficiently astonished at their failure: they
just reached the point of founding sects. Every
time that the Reformation of an entire people
fails and only sects raise their heads, one may
conclude that the people already contains many
types, and has begun to free itself from the gross


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THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 183
herding instincts and the morality of custom,—a
momentous state of suspense, which one is accus-
tomed to disparage as decay of morals and
corruption, while it announces the maturing of
the egg and the early rupture of the shell. That
Luther's Reformation succeeded in the north, is a
sign that the north had remained backward in com-
parison with the south of Europe, and still had
requirements tolerably uniform in colour and kind;
and there would have been no Christianising of
Europe at all, if the culture of the old world of the
south had not been gradually barbarized by an
excessive admixture of the blood of German
barbarians, and thus lost its ascendency. The
more universally and unconditionally an individual,
or the thought of an individual, can operate, so
much more homogeneous and so much lower must
be the mass that is there operated upon; while
counter-strivings betray internal counter-require-
ments, which also want to gratify and realise them-
selves. Reversely, one may always conclude with
regard to an actual elevation of culture, when
powerful and ambitious natures only produce a
limited and sectarian effect: this is true also for the
separate arts, and for the provinces of knowledge.
Where there is ruling there are masses: where
there are masses there is need of slavery. Where
there is slavery the individuals are but few, and
have the instincts and conscience of the herd
opposed to them.
150.
Criticism of Saints. —Must one then, in order to
have a virtue, be desirous of having it precisely


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184 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
in its most brutal form ? —as the Christian saints
desired and needed ;—those who only endured life
with the thought that at the sight of their virtue
self-contempt might seize every man. A virtue
with such an effect I call brutal.
151.
The Origin of Religion. — The metaphysical
requirement is not the origin of religions, as
Schopenhauer claims, but only a later sprout from
them. Under the dominance of religious thoughts
we have accustomed ourselves to the idea of
"another (back, under, or upper) world," and feel
an uncomfortable void and privation through the
annihilation of the religious illusion;—and then
"another world" grows out of this feeling once
more,, but now it is only a metaphysical world, and
no longer a religious one. That however which in
general led to the assumption of " another world,"
in primitive times, was not an impulse or require-:
ment, but an error in the interpretation of certain
natural phenomena, a difficulty of the intellect.
152.
The greatest Change. —The lustre and the hues
of all things have changed! We no longer quite
understand how earlier men conceived of the most
familiar and frequent things,—for example, of the
day, and the awakening in the morning: owing to
their belief in dreams the waking state seemed to
them differently illuminated. And similarly of the
whole of life, with its reflection of death and its
significance: our "death" is an entirely different


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THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 185
death. All events were of a different lustre, for
a God shone forth in them; and similarly of all
resolutions and peeps into the distant future:
for people had oracles, and secret hints, and be-
lieved in prognostication. "Truth " was conceived
in quite a different manner, for the insane could
formerly be regarded as its mouthpiece—a thing
which makes us shudder, or laugh. Injustice made
a different impression on the feelings: for people
were afraid of divine retribution, and not only of
legal punishment and disgrace. What joy was
there in an age when men believed in the devil
and tempter! What passion was there when
people saw demons lurking close at hand! What
philosophy was there when doubt was regarded as
sinfulness of the most dangerous kind, and in fact
as an outrage on eternal love, as distrust of every-
thing good, high, pure, and compassionate! —We
have coloured things anew, we paint them over
continually,—but what have we been able to do
hitherto in comparison with the splendid colouring
of that old master! —I mean ancient humanity.
153.
Homo poeta. —" I myself who have made this
tragedy of tragedies altogether independently, in
so far as it is completed; I who have first entwined
the perplexities of morality about existence, and
have tightened them so that only a God could
unravel them — so Horace demands ! — I have
already in the fourth act killed all the Gods—
for the sake of morality! What is now to be
done about the fifth act? Where shall I get the


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186 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
tragic denouement! Must I now think about
a comic denouement? "
154.
Differences in the Dangerousness of Life. —You
don't know at all what you experience; you run
through life as if intoxicated, and now and then
fall down a stair. Thanks however to your intoxi-
cation you still do not break your limbs: your
muscles are too languid and your head too confused
to find the stones of the staircase as hard as we
others do! For us life is a greater danger: we are
made of glass—alas, if we should strike against
anything! And all is lost if we should fall!
155-
What we Lack. —We love the grandeur of Nature
and have discovered it; that is because human
grandeur is lacking in our minds. It was the
reverse with the Greeks: their feeling towards
Nature was quite different from ours.
156.
The most Influential Person. —The fact that a
person resists the whole spirit of his age, stops it
at the door, and calls it to account, must exert an
influence! It is indifferent whether he wishes to
exert an influence; the point is that he can.
157.
Mentiri. —Take care! — he reflects: he will
have a lie ready immediately. This is a stage in


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THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 187
the civilisation of whole nations. Consider only
what the Romans expressed by mentiri!
iS8.
An Inconvenient Peculiarity. —To find everything
deep is an inconvenient peculiarity: it makes one
constantly strain one's eyes, so that in the end
one always finds more than one wishes.
159-
Every Virtue has its Time. — The honesty of
him who is at present inflexible often causes
him remorse; for inflexibility is the virtue of a time
different from that in which honesty prevails.
160.
In Intercourse with Virtues. —One can also be
undignified and flattering towards a virtue.
161.
To the Admirers of the Age. —The runaway priest
and the liberated criminal are continually making
grimaces; what they want is a look without a past.
—But have you ever seen men who know that their
looks reflect the future, and who are so courteous to
you, the admirers of the "age," that they assume a
look without a future.
162.
Egoism. —Egoism is the perspective law of our
sentiment, according to which the near appears
large and momentous, while in the distance the
magnitude and importance of all things diminish.


## p. 188 (#246) ############################################

188 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
163.
After a Great Victory. —The best thing in a great
victory is that it deprives the conqueror of the fear
of defeat. "Why should I not be worsted for
once? " he says to himself, " I am now rich enough
to stand it. "
164.
Those who Seek Repose. —I recognise the minds
that seek repose by the many dark objects with
which they surround themselves: those who want
to sleep darken their chambers, or creep into
caverns. A hint to those who do not know what
they really seek most, and would like to know!
165.
The Happiness of Renunciation. —He who has
absolutely dispensed with something for a long
time will almost imagine, when he accidentally
meets with it again, that he has discovered it,—and
what happiness every discoverer has! Let us be
wiser than the serpents that lie too long in the
same sunshine.
166.
Always in our own Society. —All that is akin to
me in nature and history speaks to me, praises me,
urges me forward and comforts me—: other things
are unheard by me, or immediately forgotten. We
are only in our own society always.
167.
Misanthropy and Philanthropy. —We only speak
about being sick of men when we can no longer


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THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 189
digest them, and yet have the stomach full of
them. Misanthropy is the result of a far too eager
philanthropy and "cannibalism," — but who ever
bade you swallow men like oysters, my Prince
Hamlet?
168.
Concerning an Invalid. —" Things go badly with
him ! "—What is wrong ? —" He suffers from the
longing to be praised, and finds no sustenance for
it. "—Inconceivable! All the world does honour
to him, and he is reverenced not only in deed but
in word! —" Certainly, but he is dull of hearing for
the praise. When a friend praises him it sounds to
him as if the friend praised himself; when an enemy
praises him, it sounds to him as if the enemy wanted
to be praised for it; when, finally, some one else
praises him—there are by no means so many of
these, he is so famous! —he is offended because
they neither want him for a friend nor for an enemy;
he is accustomed to say: 'What do I care for those
who can still pose as the all-righteous towards
me! '"
169.
Avowed Enemies. —Bravery in presence of an
enemy is a thing by itself: a person may possess
it and still be a coward and an irresolute num-
skull. That was Napoleon's opinion concerning
the "bravest man" he knew, Murat:—whence it
follows that avowed enemies are indispensable to
some men, if they are to attain to their virtue, to
their manliness, to their cheerfulness.


## p. 190 (#248) ############################################

190
THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
170.
With the Multitude. He has hitherto gone with
the multitude and is its panegyrist; but one day be
will be its opponent! For he follows it in the
belief that his laziness will find its advantage
thereby: he has not yet learned that the multitude
is not lazy enough for him! that it always presses
forward! that it does not allow any one to stand
still ! -And he likes so well to stand still !
171.
Fame. —When the gratitude of many to one
casts aside all shame, then fame originates.
172.
The Perverter of Taste. -A: “You are a perverter
of taste—they say so everywhere! ” B: “Certainly!
I pervert every one's taste for his party :-no party
forgives me for that. ”
173.
To be Profound and to Appear Profound. —He
who knows that he is profound strives for clearness;
he who would like to appear profound to the multi-
tude strives for obscurity. The multitude thinks
everything profound of which it cannot see the
bottom ; it is so timid and goes so unwillingly into
the water.
174.
Apart. -Parliamentarism, that is to say, the pub-
lic permission to choose between five main political


## p. 191 (#249) ############################################

THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 191
opinions, insinuates itself into the favour of the
numerous class who would fain appear independent
and individual, and like to fight for their opinions.
After all, however, it is a matter of indifference
whether one opinion is imposed upon the herd, or
five opinions are permitted to it. —He who diverges
from the five public opinions and goes apart, has
always the whole herd against him.
175-
Concerning Eloquence. —What has hitherto had
the most convincing eloquence? The rolling of
the drum: and as long as kings have this at their
command, they will always be the best orators and
popular leaders.
176.
Compassion,—The poor, ruling princes! All their
rights now change unexpectedly into claims, and
all these claims immediately sound like preten-
sions! And if they but say " we," or " my people,"
wicked old Europe begins laughing. Verily, a
chief-master-of-ceremonies of the modern world
would make little ceremony with them; perhaps
he would decree that "les souverains rangent aux
parvenus"
177.
On "Educational Matters? —In Germany an
important educational means is lacking for higher
men; namely, the laughter of higher men; these
men do not laugh in Germany.


## p. 192 (#250) ############################################

192 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
I78.
For Moral Enlightenment. —The Germans must
be talked out of their Mephistopheles—and out of
their Faust also. These are two moral prejudices
against the value of knowledge.
179.
Thoughts. —Thoughts are the shadows of our
sentiments — always, however, obscurer, emptier,
and simpler.
180.
The Good Time for Free Spirits. —Free Spirits
take liberties even with regard to Science—and
meanwhile they are allowed to do so,—while the
Church still remains! —In so far they have now
their good time.
181.
Following and Leading. —A: "Of the two, the
one will always follow, the other will always lead,
whatever be the course of their destiny. And yet
the former is superior to the other in virtue and
intellect. " B: "And yet? And yet? That is
spoken for the others; not for me, not for us!
—Fit secundum regulam. "
182.
In Solitude. —When one lives alone one does
not speak too loudly, ar1d one does not write too
loudly either, for one fears the hollow reverberation
—the criticism of the nymph Echo. —And all voices
sound differently in solitude!


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THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 193
183.
The Music of the Best Future. —The first musician
for me would be he who knew only the sorrow of
the profoundest happiness, and no other sorrow:
there has not hitherto been such a musician.
184.
Justice. —Better allow oneself to be robbed than
have scarecrows around one—that is my taste.
And under all circumstances it is just a matter
of taste—and nothing more!
185.
Poor. —He is now poor, but not because every-
thing has been taken from him, but because he has
thrown everything away:—what does he care?
He is accustomed to find new things. —It is the
poor who misunderstand his voluntary poverty.
186.
Bad Conscience. —All that he now does is ex-
cellent and proper—and yet he has a bad con-
science with it all. For the exceptional is his task.
187.
Offensiveness in Expression.
—This artist offends
me by the way in which he expresses his ideas,
his very excellent ideas: so diffusely and forcibly,
and with such gross rhetorical artifices, as if
he were speaking to the mob. We feel always as
if "in bad company" when devoting some time
to his art.
T3


## p. 194 (#252) ############################################

194 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
188.
Work. —How close work and the workers now
stand even to the most leisurely of us! The
royal courtesy in the words: "We are all workers,"
would have been a cynicism and an indecency
even under Louis XIV.
189.
The Thinker. —He is a thinker: that is to say,
he knows how to take things more simply than
they are.
190.
Against Eulogisers. —A: "One is only praised
by one's equals! " B: "Yes! And he who praises
you says: 'You are my equal! '"
191.
Against many a Vindication. —The most per-
fidious manner of injuring a cause is to vindicate it
intentionally with fallacious arguments.
192.
The Good-natured. —What is it that distinguishes
the good-natured, whose countenances beam kind-
ness, from other people? They feel quite at ease
in presence of a new person, and are quickly
enamoured of him; they therefore wish him well;
their first opinion is: "He pleases me. " With
them there follow in succession the wish to
appropriate (they make little scruple about the
person's worth), rapid appropriation, joy in the
possession, and actions in favour of the person
possessed.



## p. 195 (#253) ############################################

THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 195
193-
Kant's Joke. —Kant tried to prove, in a way that
dismayed "everybody," that "everybody"was in
the right:—that was his secret joke. He wrote
against the learned, in favour of popular prejudice;
he wrote, however, for the learned and not for the
people.
194.
The " Open-hearted" Man. —That man acts prob-
ably always from concealed motives; for he has
always communicable motives on his tongue, and
almost in his open hand.
195.
Laughable ! —See! See! He runs away from
men—: they follow him, however, because he runs
before them,—they are such a gregarious lot!
196.
The Limits of our Sense of Hearing. —We hear
only the questions to which we are capable of finding
an answer.
197.
Caution therefore! —There is nothing we are
fonder of communicating to others than the seal
of secrecy—together with what is under it.
198.
Vexation of the Proud Man. —The proud man is
vexed even with those who help him forward: he
looks angrily at his carriage-horses!


## p. 196 (#254) ############################################

196 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
I
199.
Liberality. —Liberality is often only a form of
timidity in the rich.
200.
Laughing. —To laugh means to love mischief,
but with a good conscience.
201.
In Applause. —In applause there is always some
kind of noise: even in self-applause.
202.
A Spendthrift. —He has not yet the poverty of
the rich man who has counted all his treasure,—he
squanders his spirit with the irrationalness of the
spendthrift Nature.
203.
Hic niger est. —Usually he has no thoughts,—but
in exceptional cases bad thoughts come to him.
204.
Beggars and Courtesy. —" One is not discourteous
when one knocks at a door with a stone when the
bell-pull is awanting"—so think all beggars and
necessitous persons, but no one thinks they are in
the right.
205.
Need. —Need is supposed to be the cause of
things; but in truth it is often only the effect of
the things themselves.


## p. 197 (#255) ############################################

THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 197
206.
During the Rain. —It rains, and I think of the
poor people who now crowd together with their
many cares, which they are unaccustomed to con-
ceal; all of them, therefore, ready and anxious to
give pain to one another, and thus provide them-
selves with a pitiable kind of comfort, even in bad
weather. This, this only, is the poverty of the
poor!
207.
The Envious Man. —That is an envious man—
it is not desirable that he should have children;
he would be envious of them, because he can no
longer be a child.
208.
A Great Man ! —Because a person is "a great
man," we are not authorised to infer that he is a
man. Perhaps he is only a boy, or a chameleon
of all ages, or a bewitched girl.
209.
A Mode of Asking for Reasons. —There is a mode
of asking for our reasons which not only makes us
forget our best reasons, but also arouses in us a
spite and repugnance against reason generally:—
a very stupefying mode of questioning, and properly
an artifice of tyrannical men!
210.
Moderation in Diligence. —One must not be
anxious to surpass the diligence of one's father—
that would make one ill.


## p. 198 (#256) ############################################

198 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
211.
Secret Enemies. —To be able to keep a secret
enemy—that is a luxury which the morality even
of the highest-minded persons can rarely afford.
212.
Not Letting oneself be Deluded. —His spirit has
bad manners, it is hasty and always stutters with
impatience; so that one would hardly suspect the
deep breathing and the large chest of the soul in
which it resides.
213.
The Way to Happiness. —A sage asked of a fool
the way to happiness. The fool answered without
delay, like one who had been asked the way to the
next town: "Admire yourself, and live on the
street! " "Hold," cried the sage, " you require too
much; it suffices to admire oneself! " The fool
replied: "But how can one constantly admire
without constantly despising? "
214.
Faith Saves. —Virtue gives happiness and a state
of blessedness only to those who have a strong
faith in their virtue:—not, however, to the more
refined souls whose virtue consists of a profound
distrust of themselves and of all virtue. After all,
therefore, it is " faith that saves" here also ! —and
be it well observed, not virtue!


## p. 199 (#257) ############################################

THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 199
215.
The Ideal and the Material. —You have a noble
ideal before your eyes: but are you also such a
noble stone that such a divine image could be
formed out of you? And without that—is not all
your labour barbaric sculpturing? A blasphemy
of your ideal?
216.
Danger in the Voice. —With a very loud voice
a person is almost incapable of reflecting on
subtle matters.
217.
Cause and Effect. —Before the effect one believes
in other causes than after the effect.
218.
My Antipathy. —I do not like those people who,
in order to produce an effect, have to burst like
bombs, and in whose neighbourhood one is always
in danger of suddenly losing one's hearing—or
even something more.
219.
The Object of Punishment. —The object of punish-
ment is to improve him who punishes,—that is the
ultimate appeal of those who justify punishment.
220.
Sacrifice. —The victims think otherwise than the
spectators about sacrifice and sacrificing: but they
have never been allowed to express their opinion.


## p. 200 (#258) ############################################

2CO THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
221.
Consideration. —Fathers and sons are much more
considerate of one another than mothers and
daughters.
222.
Poet and Liar. —The poet sees in the liar his
foster-brother whose milk he has drunk up; the
latter has thus remained wretched, and has not
even attained to a good conscience.
223.
Vicariousness of the Senses. —" We have also eyes
in order to hear with them,"—said an old confessor
who had grown deaf; "and among the blind he
that has the longest ears is king. "
224.
Animal Criticism. —I fear the animals regard
man as a being like themselves, very seriously
endangered by a loss of sound animal understand-
ing ; — they regard him perhaps as the absurd
animal, the laughing animal, the crying animal,
the unfortunate animal.
225.
The Natural. —" Evil has always had the great
effect! And Nature is evil! Let us therefore be
natural! "—so reason secretly the great aspirants
after effect, who are too often counted among great
men.


## p. 201 (#259) ############################################

THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 201
226.
The Distrustful and their Style. —We say the
strongest things simply, provided people are about
us who believe in our strength:—such an environ-
ment educates to "simplicity of style. " The
distrustful, on the other hand, speak emphatically;
they make things emphatic.
227.
Fallacy, Fallacy. — He cannot rule himself;
therefore that woman concludes that it will be
easy to rule him, and throws out her lines to
catch him ;—the poor creature, who in a short
time will be his slave.
228.
Against Mediators. —He who attempts to mediate
between two decided thinkers is rightly called
mediocre: he has not an eye for seeing the unique;
similarising and equalising are signs of weak eyes.
229.
Obstinacy and Loyalty. —Out of obstinacy he
holds fast to a cause of which the questionableness
has become obvious,—he calls that, however, his
"loyalty. "
230.
Lack of Reserve. —His whole nature fails to
convince—that results from the fact that he has
never been reticent about a good action he has
performed.


## p. 202 (#260) ############################################

202 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
231.
The "Plodders"—Persons slow of apprehension
think that slowness forms part of knowledge.
232.
Dreaming. —Either one does not dream at all,
or one dreams in an interesting manner. One
must learn to be awake in the same fashion:—
either not at all, or in an interesting manner.
233-
The most Dangerous Point of View. —What I
now do, or neglect to do, is as important for all
that is to come, as the greatest event of the past:
in this immense perspective of effects all actions
are equally great and small.
234-
Consolatory Words of a Musician. —" Your life
does not sound into people's ears: for them you
live a dumb life, and all refinements of melody,
all fond resolutions in following or leading the
way, are concealed from them. To be sure you do
not parade the thoroughfares with regimental
music,—but these good people have no right to
say on that account that your life is lacking in
music. He that hath ears let him hear. "
235-
Spirit and Character. —Many a one attains his
full height of character, but his spirit is not adapted
to the elevation,—and many a one reversely.
\


## p. 203 (#261) ############################################

THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III 203
236.
To Move the Multitude. —Is it not necessary for
him who wants to move the multitude to give a
stage representation of himself? Has he not first
to translate himself into the grotesquely obvious,
and then set forth his whole personality and cause
in that vulgarised and simplified fashion?
237-
The Polite Man. —" He is so polite! "—Yes, he
has always a sop for Cerberus with him, and is
so timid that he takes everybody for Cerberus,
even you and me,—that is his " politeness. "
238.
Without Envy. —He is wholly without envy, but
there is no merit therein: for he wants to conquer
a land which no one has yet possessed and hardly
any one has even seen.
239-
The Joyless Person. —A single joyless person
is enough to make constant displeasure and a
clouded heaven in a household; and it is only
by a miracle that such a person is lacking! —
Happiness is not nearly such a contagious disease;
—how is that?
240.
On the Sea-Shore. —I would not build myself a
house (it is an element of my happiness not to be
a house-owner! ). If I had to do so, however, I
should build it, like many of the Romans, right


## p. 203 (#262) ############################################

202 THE JOYFUL WISDOM, III
231.
The "Plodders. "—Persons slow of apprehension
think that slowness forms part of knowledge.
232.
Dreaming. —Either one does not dream at all,
or one dreams in an interesting manner. One
must learn to be awake in the same fashion :—
either not at all, or in an interesting manner.
233-
The most Dangerous Point of View.