No More Learning

35 1-
Generally Misunderstood. —In conversa-
tion we sometimes observe people endeavouring
to set a trap in which to catch others—not out of
evil-mindedness, as one might suppose, but from
delight in their own shrewdness. Others again
prepare a joke so that some one else may utter it,
they tie the knot so that others may undo it: not


## p. 285 (#377) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY. 285
out of goodwill, as might be supposed, but from
wickedness, and their contempt for coarse intellects.
352.
Centre. —The feeling, " I am the centre of the
world," forcibly comes to us when we are unex-
pectedly overtaken by disgrace: we then feel as if
we were standing dazed in the midst of a surge, and
dazzled by the glance of one enormous eye which
gazes down upon us from all sides and looks us
through and through.
353-
Freedom of Speech. —"The truth must be
told, even if the world should be shivered in
fragments"—so cries the eminent and grandilo-
quent Fichte. —Yes, certainly; but we must have it
first. —What he really means, however, is that each
man should speak his mind, even if everything were
to be turned upside down. This point, however, is
open to dispute.
354-
The Courage for Suffering. —Such as we
now are, we are capable of bearing a tolerable
amount of displeasure, and our stomach is suited
to such indigestible food. If we were deprived
of it, indeed, we should perhaps think the banquet
of life insipid; and if it were not for our willing-
ness to suffer pain we should have to let too many
pleasures escape us!


## p. 286 (#378) ############################################

286 THE DAWN OF DAY.
355-
Admirers. —The man who admires up to the
point that he would be ready to crucify any one
who did not admire, must be reckoned among the
executioners of his party—beware of shaking hands
with him, even when he belongs to your own side.
356-
The Effect of Happiness. —The first effect of
happiness is the feeling of power, and this feeling
longs to manifest itself, whether towards our-
selves or other men, or towards ideas and imaginary
beings. Its most common modes of manifesta-
tion are making presents, derision, and destruction
—all three being due to a common fundamental
instinct.
357-
MORAL Mosquitoes. —Those moralists who are
lacking in the love of knowledge, and who are only
acquainted with the pleasure of giving pain, have
the spirit and tediousness of provincials. Their
pastime, as cruel as it is lamentable, is to observe
their neighbour with the greatest possible closeness,
and, unperceived, to place a pin in such position
that he cannot help pricking himself with it. Such
men have preserved something of the wickedness
of schoolboys, who cannot amuse themselves with-
out hunting and torturing either the living or the
dead.


## p. 287 (#379) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY. 287
358,
Reasons and their Unreason. —You feel a
dislike for him, and adduce innumerable reasons for
this dislike, but I only believe in your dislike and
not in your reasons! You flatter yourself by ad-
ducing as a rational conclusion, both to yourself and
to me, that which happens to be merely a matter
of instinct.
359-
Approving of Something. —We approve oi
marriage in the first place because we are not yet
acquainted with it, in the second place because
we have accustomed ourselves to it, and in the
third place because we have contracted it—that is
to say, in most cases. And yet nothing has been
proved thereby in favour of the value of marriage
in general.
360.
No Utilitarians. —" Power which has greatly
suffered both in deed and in thought is better than
powerlessness which only meets with kind treat-
ment "—such was the Greek way of thinking. In
other words, the feeling of power was prized more
highly by them than any mere utility or fair re-
nown.
361.
Ugly in Appearance. —Moderation appears
to itself to be quite beautiful: it is unaware of the
fact that in the eyes of the immoderate it seems
coarse and insipid, and consequently ugly.


## p. 288 (#380) ############################################

288 THE DAWN OF DAY.
362.
Different in their Hatred. —There are
men who do not begin to hate until they feel weak
and tired: in other respects they are fair-minded
and superior. Others only begin to hate when they
see an opportunity for revenge: in other respects
they carefully avoid both secret and open wrath,
and overlook it whenever there is any occasion
for it.
363-
MEN OFCHANCE. —It is pure hazard which plays
the essential part in every invention, but most men
do not meet with this hazard.
3<54.
Choice of Environment. —We should beware
of livingin an environment where we areneither able
to maintain a dignified silence nor to express our lof-
tier thoughts, so that only our complaints and needs
and the whole story of our misery are left to be told.
We thus become dissatisfied with ourselves and with
our surroundings, and to the discomfort which brings
about our complaints we add the vexation which
we feel at always being in the position of grumb-
lers. But we should, on the contrary, live in a place
where we should be ashamed to speak of ourselves
and where it would not be necessary to do so. —
Who, however, thinks of such things, or of the choice
in such things? We talk about our " fate," brace
up our shoulders, and sigh, "Unfortunate Atlas that
lam! "


## p. 289 (#381) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY. 289
36S.
Vanity. —Vanity is the dread of appearing to be
original. Hence it is a lack of pride, but not nec-
essarily a lack of originality.
366.
The Criminal's Grief. —The criminal who
has been found out does not suffer because of the
crime he has committed, but because of the shame
and annoyance caused him either by some blunder
which he has made or by being deprived of his
habitual element; and keen discernment is neces-
sary to distinguish such cases. Every one who has
had much experience of prisons and reformatories is
astonished at the rare instances of really genuine
"remorse," and still more so at the longing shown
to return to the old wicked and beloved crime.
367-
Always appearing Happy. —When, in the
Greece of the third century, philosophy had become
a matter of public emulation, there were not a
few philosophers who became happy through the
thought that others who lived according to differ-
ent principles, and suffered from them, could not
but feel envious of their happiness. They thought
they could refute these other people with their
happiness better than anything else, and to achieve
this object they were content to appear to be
always happy; but, following this practice, they
T


## p. 290 (#382) ############################################

200 THE DAWN OF DAY.
were obliged to become happy in the long run!
This, for example, was the case of the cynics.
368.
The Cause of much Misunderstanding. —
The morality of increasing nervous force is joyful
and restless; the morality of diminishing nervous
force, towards evening, or in invalids and old people,
is passive, calm, patient, and melancholy, and not
rarely even gloomy. In accordance with what we
may possess of one or other of these moralities, we
do not understand that which we lack, and we often
interpret it in others as immorality and weakness.
369-
Raising one's self above one's own Low-
NESs. —" Proud" fellows they are indeed, those who,
in order to establish a sense of their own dignity and
importance, stand in need of other people whom
they may tyrannise and oppress—those whose
powerlessness and cowardice permits some one to
make sublime and furious gestures in their presence
with impunity, so that they require the baseness of
their surroundings to raise themselves for one short
moment above their own baseness ! —For this pur-
pose one man requires a dog, another a friend, a
third a wife, a fourth a party, a fifth, again, one very
rarely to be met with, a whole age.
370.
TO WHAT EXTENT THE THINKER LOVES HIS
Enemy. —Make it a rule never to withhold or con-


## p. 291 (#383) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY.
291
ceal from yourself anything that may be thought
against your own thoughts. Vow it! This is the
essential requirement of honest thinking. You must
undertake such a campaign against yourself every
day. A victory and a conquered position are no
longer your concern, but that of truth and your
defeat also is no longer your concern !
371.
THE EVIL OF STRENGTH. — Violence as the
outcome of passion, for example, of rage, must be
understood from the physiological point of view as
an attempt to avoid an imminent fit of suffocation.
Innumerable acts arising from animal spirits and
vented upon others are simply outlets for getting
rid of sudden congestion by a violent muscular
exertion : and perhaps the entire"evil of strength"
must be considered from this point of view. (This
evil of strength wounds others unintentionally-it
must find an outlet somewhere; while the evil of
weakness wishes to wound and to see signs of suf-
fering. )
372.
TO THE CREDIT OF THE CONNOISSEUR. - As
soon as some one who is no connoisseur begins to
pose as a judge we should remonstrate, whether
it is a male or female whipper-snapper. En-
thusiasm or delight in a thing or a human being
is not an argument; neither is repugnance or
hatred.


## p. 292 (#384) ############################################

292
THE DAWN OF DAY.
373.
TREACHEROUS BLAME_" He has no know-
ledge of men” means in the mouth of some " He
does not know what baseness is "; and in the
mouths of others, “He does not know the excep-
tion and knows only too well what baseness means. "
374
THE VALUE OF SACRIFICE—The more the
rights of states and princes are questioned as to their
right to sacrifice the individual (for example, in the
administration of justice, conscription, etc. ), the more
will the value of self-sacrifice rise.
375.
SPEAKING TOO DISTINCTLY. —There are several
reasons why we articulate our words too distinctly :
in the first place, from distrust of ourselves when
using a new and unpractised language; secondly,
when we distrust others on account of their stupid-
ity or their slowness of comprehension The same
remark applies to intellectual matters: our com-
munications are sometimes too distinct, too painful,
because if it were otherwise those to whom we
communicate our ideas would not understand us.
Consequently the perfect and easy style is only
permissible when addressing a perfect audience.
376.
PLENTY OF SLEEP. —What can we do to arouse
ourselves when we are weary and tired of our ego?


## p. 293 (#385) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY.
293
Some recommend the gambling table, others Chris-
tianity, and others again electricity. But the best
remedy, my dear hypochondriac, is, and always will
be, plenty of sleep in both the literal and figurative
sense of the word. Thus another morning will at
length dawn upon us. The knack of worldly wisdom
is to find the proper time for applying this remedy
in both its forms.
377.
WHAT WE MAY CONCLUDE FROM FANTASTIC
IDEALS. —Where our deficiencies are, there also is
our enthusiasm. The enthusiastic principle “love
your enemies ” had to be invented by the Jews, the
best haters that ever existed ; and the finest glori-
fications of chastity have been written by those who
in their youth led dissolute and licentious lives.
378.
CLEAN HANDS AND CLEAN WALLS. - Do not
paint the picture either of God or the devil on your
walls: for in so doing you will spoil your walls as
well as your surroundings. *
379.
PROBABLE AND IMPROBABLE. — A woman
secretly loved a man, raised him far above her, and
* That is, do not speak either of God or the devil. The
German proverb runs : “ Man soll den Teufel nicht an die
Wand malen, sonst kommt er. "-TR.


## p. 294 (#386) ############################################

294
THE DAWN OF DAY.
said to herself hundreds of times in her inmost heart,
“If a man like that were to love me, I should look
upon it as a condescension before which I should
have to humble myself in the dust. " —And the man
entertained the same feelings towards the woman,
and in his inmost heart he felt the very same
thought. When at last both their tongues were
loosened, and they had communicated their most
secret thoughts to one another, a deep and medita-
tive silence ensued. Then the woman said in a cold
voice: “The thing is quite clear! We are neither
of us that which we loved! If you are what you
say you are, and nothing more, then I have humbled
myself in vain and loved you; the demon misled me
as well as you. ” This very probable story never
happens—and why doesn't it?
380.
TESTED ADVICE. —Of all the means of consola-
tion there is none so efficacious for him who has
need of it as the declaration that in his case no
consolation can be given. This implies such a dis-
tinction that the afflicted person will at once raise
his head again.
381.
KNOWING ONE'S “INDIVIDUALITY. "—We too
often forget that in the eyes of strangers who see
us for the first time we are quite different beings
from what we consider ourselves to be in most
cases we exhibit nothing more than one particular
characteristic which catches the eye of the stranger,


## p. 295 (#387) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY.
295
and determines the impression we make on him.
Thus the most peaceful and fair-minded man, if
only he has a big moustache, may, as it were, re-
pose in the shade of this moustache; for ordinary
eyes will merely see in him the accessory of a big
moustache, that is to say, a military, irascible, and
occasionally violent character, and will act accord-
ingly.
382.
GARDENERS AND GARDENS. —Wet dreary days,
loneliness, and unkind words give rise within us
to conclusions like fungi; some morning we find
that they have grown up in front of us we know
not whence, and there they scowl at us, sullen and
morose. Woe to the thinker who instead of being
the gardener of his plants, is merely the soil from
which they spring.
383.
THE COMEDY OF PITY. --However much we
may feel for an unhappy friend of ours, we always
act with a certain amount of insincerity in his
presence: we refrain from telling him everything
we think, and how we think it, with all the circum-
spection of a doctor standing by the bedside of a
patient who is seriously ill.
384.
CURIOUS SAINTS. — There are pusillanimous
people who have a bad opinion of everything that


## p. 296 (#388) ############################################

296
THE DAWN OF DAY.
is best in their works, and who at the same time
interpret and comment upon them badly: but also,
by a kind of revenge, they entertain a bad opinion
of the sympathy of others, and do not believe in
sympathy at all; they are ashamed to appear to
be carried away from themselves, and feel a defiant
comfort in appearing or becoming ridiculous. —
States of soul like these are to be found in melan-
choly artists.
385.
VAIN PEOPLE. We are like shop-windows,
where we ourselves are constantly arranging, con-
cealing, or setting in the foreground those supposed
qualities which others attribute to us—in order to
deceive ourselves.
386.
PATHETIC AND NAIVE. —It may be a very
vulgar habit to let no opportunity slip of assuming
a pathetic air for the sake of the enjoyment to be
experienced in imagining the spectator striking his
breast and feeling himself to be small and miser-
able. Consequently it may also be the indication of
a noble mind to make fun of pathetic situations,
and to behave in an undignified manner in them.
The old, warlike nobility of France possessed that
kind of distinction and delicacy.
387.
A REFLECTION BEFORE MARRIAGE. -Suppos-
ing she loved me, what a burden she would be to


## p. 297 (#389) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY.
297
me in the long run! and supposing that she did
not love me, what a much greater burden she would
be to me in the long run! We have to choose
between two different kinds of burdens; therefore
let us marry.
388.
RASCALITY WITH A GOOD CONSCIENCE. — It is
exceedingly annoying to be cheated in small
bargains in certain countries, in the Tyrol, for
example, because, in addition to the bad bargain,
we are compelled to accept the evil countenance
and coarse greediness of the man who has cheated
us, together with his bad conscience and his hostile
feeling against us. At Venice, on the other hand,
the cheater is highly delighted at his successful
fraud, and is not in the least angry with the man
he has cheated—nay, he is even inclined to show
him some kindness, and above all to have a hearty
laugh with him if he likes. In short, one must
possess wit and a good conscience in order to be
a knave, and this will almost reconcile the cheated
one with the cheat. *
389.
RATHER TOO AWKWARD. —Good people who
are too awkward to be polite and amiable promptly
endeavour to return an act of politeness by an
important service, or by a contribution beyond their
power. It is touching to see them timidly pro-
* The case of that other witty Venetian, Casanova. —TR.


## p. 298 (#390) ############################################

298
THE DAWN OF DAY.
ducing their gold coins when others have offered
them their gilded coppers !
390.
HIDING ONE'S INTELLIGENCE. —When we sur-
prise some one in the act of hiding his intelligence
from us we call him evil: the more so if we sus-
pect that it is his civility and benevolence which
have induced him to do so.
391.
THE EVIL MOMENT. -Lively dispositions only
lie for a moment: after this they have deceived
themselves, and are convinced and honest.
392.
THE CONDITION OF POLITENESS. -Politeness
is a very good thing, and really one of the four
chief virtues (although the last), but in order that
it may not result in our becoming tiresome to one
another the person with whom I have to deal must
be either one degree more or less polite than 1-
otherwise we should never get on, and the ointment
would not only anoint us, but would cement us
together.
393.
DANGEROUS VIRTUES.
—“ He forgets nothing,
but forgives everything ”—wherefore he shall be
doubly detested, for he causes us double shame by
his memory and his magnanimity.


## p. 299 (#391) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY.
299
394.
WITHOUT VANITY. —Passionate people think
little of what others may think; their state of mind
raises them above vanity.
395.
CONTEMPLATION. -In some thinkers the con-
templative state peculiar to a thinker is always the
consequence of a state of fear, in others always of
desire. In the former, contemplation thus seems
allied to the feeling of security, in the latter to the
feeling of surfeit—in other words, the former are
spirited in their mood, the latter over-satiated and
neutral.
396.
HUNTING. —The one is hunting for agreeable
truths, the other for disagreeable ones. But even
the former takes greater pleasure in the hunt than
in the booty.
397.
EDUCATION. —Education is a continuation of
procreation, and very often a kind of supplementary
varnishing of it.
398.
HOW TO RECOGNISE THE CHOLERIC. -Of two
persons who are struggling together, or who love
and admire one another, the more choleric will
always be at a disadvantage. The same remark
applies to two nations.


## p. 299 (#392) ############################################

286
THE DAWN OF DAY.
355.
ADMIRERS. --The man who admires up to the
point that he would be ready to crucify any one
who did not admire, must be reckoned among the
executioners of his party—beware of shaking hands
with him, even when he belongs to your own side.
356.
THE EFFECT OF HAPPINESS. —The first effect of
happiness is the feeling of power, and this feeling
longs to manifest itself, whether towards our-
selves or other men, or towards ideas and imaginary
beings. Its most common modes of manifesta-
tion are making presents, derision, and destruction
—all three being due to a common fundamental
instinct.
357.
MORAL MOSQUITOES. —Those moralists who are
lacking in the love of knowledge, and who are only
acquainted with the pleasure of giving pain, have
the spirit and tediousness of provincials. Their
pastime, as cruel as it is lamentable, is to observe
their neighbour with the greatest possible closeness,
and, unperceived, to place a pin in such position
that he cannot help pricking himself with it. Such
men have preserved something of the wickedness
of schoolboys, who cannot amuse themselves with-
out hunting and torturing either the living or the
dead,


## p. 299 (#393) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY.
287
358.
REASONS AND THEIR UNREASON. —You feel a
dislike for him, and adduce innumerable reasons for
this dislike, but I only believe in your dislike and
not in your reasons! You flatter yourself by ad-
ducing as a rational conclusion, both to yourself and
to me, that which happens to be merely a matter
of instinct.
359.
APPROVING OF SOMETHING. –We approve of
marriage in the first place because we are not yet
acquainted with it, in the second place because
we have accustomed ourselves to it, and in the
third place because we have contracted it—that is
to say, in most cases. And yet nothing has been
proved thereby in favour of the value of marriage
in general.
360.
NO UTILITARIANS. —“ Power which has greatly
suffered both in deed and in thought is better than
powerlessness which only meets with kind treat-
ment”—such was the Greek way of thinking. In
other words, the feeling of power was prized more
highly by them than any mere utility or fair re-
nown.
361.
UGLY IN APPEARANCE. —Moderation appears
to itself to be quite beautiful: it is unaware of the
fact that in the eyes of the immoderate it seems
coarse and insipid, and consequently ugly.


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288
THE DAWN OF DAY.
362.
DIFFERENT IN THEIR HATRED. —There are
men who do not begin to hate until they feel weak
and tired : in other respects they are fair-minded
and superior. Others only begin to hate when they
see an opportunity for revenge: in other respects
they carefully avoid both secret and open wrath,
and overlook it whenever there is any occasion
for it.
363.
MEN OF CHANCE. —It is pure hazard which plays
the essential part in every invention, but most men
do not meet with this hazard.
364.
CHOICE OF ENVIRONMENT. —We should beware
of living in an environment where we are neither able
to maintain a dignified silence nor to express our lof-
tier thoughts, so that only our complaints and needs
and the whole story of our misery are left to be told.
We thus become dissatisfied with ourselves and with
our surroundings, and to the discomfort which brings
about our complaints we add the vexation which
we feel at always being in the position of grumb-
lers. But we should, on the contrary, live in a place
where we should be ashamed to speak of ourselves
and where it would not be necessary to do so. -
Who, however, thinks of such things, or of the choice
in such things? We talk about our “fate,” brace
up our shoulders, and sigh, “Unfortunate Atlas that
I am! ”


## p. 299 (#395) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY.
289
365.
VANITY. –Vanity is the dread of appearing to be
original. Hence it is a lack of pride, but not nec-
essarily a lack of originality.
366.
THE CRIMINAL'S GRIEF. —The criminal who
has been found out does not suffer because of the
crime he has committed, but because of the shame
and annoyance caused him either by some blunder
which he has made or by being deprived of his
habitual element; and keen discernment is neces-
sary to distinguish such cases. Every one who has
had much experience of prisons and reformatories is
astonished at the rare instances of really genuine
“ remorse," and still more so at the longing shown
to return to the old wicked and beloved crime.
367.
ALWAYS APPEARING HAPPY. —When, in the
Greece of the third century, philosophy had become
a matter of public emulation, there were not a
few philosophers who became happy through the
thought that others who lived according to differ-
ent principles, and suffered from them, could not
but feel envious of their happiness. They thought
they could refute these other people with their
happiness better than anything else, and to achieve
this object they were content to appear to be
always happy ; but, following this practice, they


## p. 299 (#396) ############################################

290
THE DAWN OF DAY.
were obliged to become happy in the long run!
This, for example, was the case of the cynics.
368.
THE CAUSE OF MUCH MISUNDERSTANDING. —
The morality of increasing nervous force is joyful
and restless; the morality of diminishing nervous
force, towards evening, or in invalids and old people,
is passive, calm, patient, and melancholy, and not
rarely even gloomy. In accordance with what we
may possess of one or other of these moralities, we
do not understand that which we lack, and we often
interpret it in others as immorality and weakness.
369.
RAISING ONE'S SELF ABOVE ONE'S OWN Low-
NESS. —“ Proud” fellows they are indeed, those who,
in order to establish a sense of their own dignity and
importance, stand in need of other people whom
they may tyrannise and oppress—those whose
powerlessness and cowardice permits some one to
make sublime and furious gestures in their presence
with impunity, so that they require the baseness of
their surroundings to raise themselves for one short
moment above their own baseness ! -For this pur-
pose one man requires a dog, another a friend, a
third a wife, a fourth a party, a fifth, again, one very
rarely to be met with, a whole age.
370.
TO WHAT EXTENT THE THINKER LOVES HIS
ENEMY. —Make it a rule never to withhold or con-


## p. 299 (#397) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY. 2QI
ceal from yourself anything that may be thought
against your own thoughts. Vow it! This is the
essential requirement of honest thinking. You must
undertake such a campaign against yourself every
day. A victory and a conquered position are no
longer your concern, but that of truth—and your
defeat also is no longer your concern!
371-
The Evil of Strength. —Violence as the
outcome of passion, for example, of rage, must be
understood from the physiological point of view as
an attempt to avoid an imminent fit of suffocation.
Innumerable acts arising from animal spirits and
vented upon others are simply outlets for getting
rid of sudden congestion by a violent muscular
exertion: and perhaps the entire " evil of strength"
must be considered from this point of view. (This
evil of strength wounds others unintentionally—it
must find an outlet somewhere; while the evil of
weakness wishes to wound and to see signs of suf-
fering. )
372.
To the Credit of the Connoisseur. —As
soon as some one who is no connoisseur begins to
pose as a judge we should remonstrate, whether
it is a male or female whipper-snapper. En-
thusiasm or delight in a thing or a human being
is not an argument; neither is repugnance or
hatred.


## p. 299 (#398) ############################################

292 THE DAWN OF DAY.
373-
Treacherous Blame. —" He has no know-
ledge of men" means in the mouth of some " He
does not know what baseness is"; and in the
mouths of others, " He does not know the excep-
tion and knows only too well what baseness means. "
374-
The Value of Sacrifice. —The more the
rights of states and princes are questioned as to their
right to sacrifice the individual (for example, in the
administration of justice, conscription, etc. ), the more
will the value of self-sacrifice rise.
375-
Speaking too distinctly. —There are several
reasons why we articulate our words too distinctly:
in the first place, from distrust of ourselves when
using a new and unpractised language; secondly,
when we distrust others on account of their stupid-
ity or their slowness of comprehension. The same
remark applies to intellectual matters: our com-
munications are sometimes too distinct, too painful,
because if it were otherwise those to whom we
communicate our ideas would not understand us.
Consequently the perfect and easy style is only
permissible when addressing a perfect audience.
376.
Plenty of Sleep. —What can we do to arouse
ourselves when we are weary and tired of our ego?


## p. 299 (#399) ############################################

THE DAWN OF DAY. 293
Some recommend the gambling table, others Chris-
tianity, and others again electricity. But the best
remedy, my dear hypochondriac, is, and always will
be, plenty of sleep in both the literal and figurative
sense of the word. Thus another morning will at
length dawn upon us. The knack of worldly wisdom
is to find the proper time for applying this remedy
in both its forms.
377-
What we may conclude from fantastic
Ideals. —Where our deficiencies are, there also is
our enthusiasm. The enthusiastic principle "love
your enemies " had to be invented by the Jews, the
best haters that ever existed; and the finest glori-
fications of chastity have been written by those who
in their youth led dissolute and licentious lives.
378.
Clean Hands and clean Walls. —Do not
paint the picture either of God or the devil on your
walls: for in so doing you will spoil your walls as
well as your surroundings. *
379-
Probable and Improbable. — A woman
secretly loved a man, raised him far above her, and
* That is, do not speak either of God or the devil. The
German proverb runs : "Man soil den Teufel nicht an die
Wand malen, sonst kommt er. "—Tr.


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294 THE DAWN OF DAY.
said to herself hundreds of times in her inmost heart,
"If a man like that were to love me, I should look
upon it as a condescension before which I should
have to humble myself in the dust. "—And the man
entertained the same feelings towards the woman,
and in his inmost heart he felt the very same
thought. When at last both their tongues were
loosened, and they had communicated their most
secret thoughts to one another, a deep and medita-
tive silence ensued. Then the woman said in a cold
voice: "The thing is quite clear! We are neither
of us that which we loved! If you are what you
say you are, and nothing more, then I have humbled
myself in vain and loved you; the demon misled me
as well as you. " This very probable story never
happens—and why doesn't it?
380.
Tested Advice. —Of all the means of consola-
tion there is none so efficacious for him who has
need of it as the declaration that in his case no
consolation can be given. This implies such a dis-
tinction that the afflicted person will at once raise
his head again.
381.
Knowing one's "Individuality. "—We too
often forget that in the eyes of strangers who see
us for the first time we are quite different beings
from what we consider ourselves to be—in most
cases we exhibit nothing more than one particular
characteristic which catches the eye of the stranger,


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THE DAWN OF DAY. 295
and determines the impression we make on him.
Thus the most peaceful and fair-minded man, if
only he has a big moustache, may, as it were, re-
pose in the shade of this moustache; for ordinary
eyes will merely see in him the accessory of a big
moustache, that is to say, a military, irascible, and
occasionally violent character, and wiTTact accord-
ingly.
382.
Gardeners and Gardens. —Wet dreary days,
loneliness, and unkind words give rise within us
to conclusions like fungi; some morning we find
that they have grown up in front of us we know
not whence, and there they scowl at us, sullen and
morose. Woe to the thinker who instead of being
the gardener of his plants, is merely the soil from
which they spring.
383-
The Comedy of Pity. —However much we
may feel for an unhappy friend of ours, we always
act with a certain amount of insincerity in his
presence: we refrain from telling him everything
we think, and how we think it, with all the circum-
spection of a doctor standing by the bedside of a
patient who is seriously ill.
384.
CURIOUS SAINTs. — There are pusillanimous
people who have a bad opinion of everything that
r


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296 THE DAWN OF DAY.
is best in their works, and who at the same time
interpret and comment upon them badly: but also,
by a kind of revenge, they entertain a bad opinion
of the sympathy of others, and do not believe in
sympathy at all; they are ashamed to appear to
be carried away from themselves, and feel a defiant
comfort in appearing or becoming ridiculous. —
States of soul like these are to be found in melan-
choly artists.
385-
Vain People. —We are like shop-windows,
where we ourselves are constantly arranging, con-
cealing, or setting in the foreground those supposed
qualities which others attribute to us—in order to
deceive ourselves.
386.
Pathetic and Naive. —It may be a very
vulgar habit to let no opportunity slip of assuming
a pathetic air for the sake of the enjoyment to be
experienced in imagining the spectator striking his
breast and feeling himself to be small and miser-
able. Consequently it may also be the indication of
a noble mind to make fun of pathetic situations,
and to behave in an undignified manner in them.
The old, warlike nobility of France possessed that
kind of distinction and delicacy.
387-
A Reflection before Marriage. —Suppos-
ing she loved me, what a burden she would be to


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THE DAWN OF DAY. 297
me in the long run! and supposing that she did
not love me, what a much greater burden she would
be to me in the long run! We have to choose
between two different kinds of burdens; therefore
let us marry.
388.
Rascality with a good Conscience. —It is
exceedingly annoying to be cheated in small
bargains in certain countries,—in the Tyrol, for
example,—because, in addition to the bad bargain,
we are compelled to accept the evil countenance
and coarse greediness of the man who has cheated
us, together with his bad conscience and his hostile
feeling against us. At Venice, on the other hand,
the cheater is highly delighted at his successful
fraud, and is not in the least angry with the man
he has cheated—nay, he is even inclined to show
him some kindness, and above all to have a hearty
laugh with him if he likes. —In short, one must
possess wit and a good conscience in order to be
a knave, and this will almost reconcile the cheated
one with the cheat. *
389.
Rather too Awkward. —Good people who
are too awkward to be polite and amiable promptly
endeavour to return an act of politeness by an
important service, or by a contribution beyond their
power. It is touching to see them timidly pro-
* The case of that other witty Venetian, Casanova. —Tr.


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298 THE DAWN OF DAY.
ducing their gold coins when others have offered
them their gilded coppers!
390.
Hiding one's Intelligence. —When we sur-
prise some one in the act of hiding his intelligence
from us we call him evil: the more so if we sus-
pect that it is his civility and benevolence which
have induced him to do so.
391-
The Evil Moment. —Lively dispositions only
lie for a moment: after this they have deceived
themselves, and are convinced and honest.