No More Learning

421.
An Opportunity for Feminine Magnan-
► , IMITY. — If we could disregard the claims of
custom in our thinking we might consider whether
nature and reason do not suggest several marriages
"\ for men, one after another: perhaps that, at the
age of twenty-two, he should first marry an older
girl who is mentally and morally his superior, and
* can be his leader through all the dangers of the
twenties (ambition, hatred, self-contempt, and
passions of all kinds). This woman's affection
'would subsequently change entirely into maternal
love, and she would not only submit to it but
would encourage the man in the most salutary
* manner, if in his thirties he contracted an alliance
with quite a young girl whose education he


## p. 308 (#434) ############################################

308 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
i
himself should take in hand. Marriage is a
necessary institution for the twenties; a useful,
but not necessary, institution for the thirties; for
later life it is often harmful, and promotes the
mental deterioration of the man.
422.
The Tragedy of Childhood. —Perhaps it
not infrequently happens that noble men with lofty
aims have to fight their hardest battle in child-
hood; by having perchance to carry out their
principles in opposition to a base-minded father
addicted to feigning and falsehood, or living, like
Lord Byron, in constant warfare with a childish
and passionate mother. He who has had such
an experience will never be able to forget all his
life who has been his greatest and most dangerous
enemy.
423-
Parental Folly. —The grossest mistakes in
judging a man are made by his parents,—this is
a fact, but how is it to be explained? Have the
parents too much experience of the child and
cannot any longer arrange this experience into a
unity? It has been noticed that it is only in
the earlier period of their sojourn in foreign
countries that travellers rightly grasp the general
distinguishing features of a people; the better
they come to know it, they are the less able to
see what is typical and distinguishing in a people.
As soon as they grow short-sighted their eyes
cease to be long-sighted. Do parents, therefore,


## p. 309 (#435) ############################################

WIFE AND CHILD. 309
judge their children falsely because they have
never stood far enough away from them? The
following is quite another explanation: people
are no longer accustomed to reflect on what is
close at hand and surrounds them, but just accept
it. Perhaps the usual thoughtlessness of parents
is the reason why they judge so wrongly when
once they are compelled to judge their children.
424.
The Future of Marriage. —The noble
and liberal-minded women who take as their
mission the education and elevation of the female
sex, should not overlook one point of view:
Marriage regarded in its highest aspect, as the
spiritual friendship of two persons of opposite \ -
~sexes, and accordingly such as is hoped for in '~~,-*c
future, contracted for the purpose of producing
and educating a new generation,—such marriage,
which only makes use of the sensual, so to speak,
as a rare and occasional means to a higher
purpose, will, it is to be feared, probably need a
natural auxiliary, namely, concubinage. For if,
on the grounds of his health, the wife is also
to serve for the sole satisfaction of the man's
sexual needs, a wrong perspective, opposed to the
aims indicated, will have most influence in the
choice of a wife. The aims referred to: the
production of descendants, will be accidental, and
their successful education highly improbable. A
good wife, who has to be friend, helper, child-bearer,
mother, family-head and manager, and has even


## p. 310 (#436) ############################################

3IO HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
perhaps to conduct her own business and affairs
separately from those of the husband, cannot at
the same time be a concubine; it would, in general,
be asking too much of her. In the future, there-
fore, a state of things might take place the
opposite of what existed at Athens in the time
of Pericles; the men, whose wives were then little
more to them than concubines, turned besides to
the Aspasias, because they longed for the charms
of a companionship gratifying both to head and
heart, such as the grace and intellectual suppleness
of women could alone provide. All human in-
stitutions, just like marriage, allow only a moderate
amount of practical idealising, failing which coarse
remedies immediately become necessary.
425.
The "Storm and Stress" Period of
Women. —In the three or four civilised countries
of Europe, it is possible, by several centuries of
education, to make out of women anything we
like,—even men, not in a sexual sense, of course,
but in every other. Under such influences they
will acquire all the masculine virtues and forces,
at the same time, of course, they must also have
taken all the masculine weaknesses and vices into
the bargain: so much, as has been said, we can
command. But how shall we endure the inter-
mediate state thereby induced, which may even
last two or three centuries, during which feminine
follies and injustices, woman's original birthday
endowment, will still maintain the ascendancy


## p. 311 (#437) ############################################

WIFE AND CHILD. 311
over all that has been otherwise gained and
acquired? This will be the time when indigna-
tion will be the peculiar masculine passion;
indignation, because all arts and sciences have
been overflowed and choked by an unprecedented
dilettanteism, philosophy talked to death by brain-
bewildering chatter, politics more fantastic and
partisan than ever, and society in complete dis-
organisation, because the conservatrices of ancient
customs have become ridiculous to themselves,
and have endeavoured in every way to place
themselves outside the pale of custom. If indeed
women had their greatest power in custom, where
will they have to look in order to reacquire a
similar plenitude of power after having renounced
custom?
426.
Free-Spirit and Marriage. — Will free-
thinkers live with women? In general, I think
that, like the prophesying birds of old, like the
truth-thinkers and truth-speakers of the present,
they must prefer to fly alone.
427.
The Happiness of Marriage. —Everything
to which we are accustomed draws an ever-
tightening cobweb-net around us; and presently
we notice that the threads have become cords,
and that we ourselves sit in the middle like
a spider that has here got itself caught and
must feed on its own blood. Hence the free
spirit hates all rules and customs, all that is


## p. 312 (#438) ############################################

312 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
"
permanent and definitive, hence he painfully
tears asunder again and again the net around
him, though in consequence thereof he will suffer
from numerous wounds, slight and severe; for he
must break off every thread from himself, from
his body and soul. He must learn to love where
he has hitherto hated, and vice versa. Indeed, it
must not be a thing impossible for him to sow
dragon's teeth in the same field in which he
formerly scattered the abundance of his bounty.
From this it can be inferred whether he is suited
for the happiness of marriage.
428.
Too Intimate. — When we live on too
intimate terms with a person it is as if we were
again and again handling a good engraving with
our fingers; the time comes when we have soiled
and damaged paper in our hands, and nothing
more. A man's soul also gets worn out by
constant handling; at least, it eventually appears
so to us—never again do we see its original design
and beauty. We always lose through too familiar
association with women and friends; and some-
times we lose the pearl of our life thereby.
429.
^ The Golden Cradle. —The free spirit will
always feel relieved when he has finally resolved
to shake off the motherly care and guardianship
with which women' surround him. What harm
will a rough wind, from which he has been so


## p. 313 (#439) ############################################

WIFE AND CHILD. 313
anxiously protected, do him? Of what consequence
is a genuine disadvantage, loss, misfortune, sick-
ness, illness, fault, or folly more or less in his life,
compared with the bondage of the golden cradle,
the peacock's-feather fan, and the oppressive feel-
ing that he must, in addition, be grateful because
he is waited on and spoiled like a baby? Hence
it is that the milk which is offered him by the
motherly disposition of the women about him can
so readily turn into gall.
430.
A Voluntary Victim. —There is nothing
by which able women can so alleviate the lives of
their husbands, should these be great and famous,
as by becoming, so to speak, the receptacle for the
general disfavour and occasional ill-humour of the
rest of mankind. Contemporaries are usually ac-
customed to overlook many mistakes, follies, and
even flagrant injustices in their great men if only
they can find some one to maltreat and kill, as a
proper victim for the relief of their feelings. A
wife not infrequently has the ambition to present
herself for this sacrifice, and then the husband
may indeed feel satisfied,—he being enough of an
egoist to have such a voluntary storm, rain, and
lightning-conductor beside him.
431-
Agreeable Adversaries. —The natural in-
clination of women towards quiet, regular, happily


## p. 314 (#440) ############################################

314 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
tuned existences and intercourse, the oil-like and
calming effect of their influence upon the sea of
life, operates unconsciously against the heroic
inner impulse of the free spirit. Without know-
ing it, women act as if they were taking away the
stones from the path of the wandering mineral-
ogist in order that he might not strike his foot
against them—when he has gone out for the
very purpose of striking against them.
432.
The Discord of Two Concords. —Woman
wants to serve, and finds her happiness therein;
the free spirit does not want to be served, and
therein finds his happiness.
433-
XANTIPPE. —Socrates found a wife such as he
required,—but he would not have sought her had
he known her sufficiently well; even the heroism
of his free spirit would not have gone so far. As
a matter of fact, Xantippe forced him more and
more into his peculiar profession, inasmuch as she
made house and home doleful and dismal to him;
she taught him to live in the streets and wher-
ever gossiping and idling went on, and thereby
made him the greatest Athenian street-dia-
lectician, who had, at last, to compare himself
to a gad-fly which a god had set on the neck of
the beautiful horse Athens to prevent it from
resting.


## p. 315 (#441) ############################################

WIFE AND CHILD. 315
434-
Blind to the Future. —Just as mothers have
senses and eye only for those pains of their children
that are evident to the senses and eye, so the
wives of men of high aspirations cannot accustom
themselves to see their husbands suffering, starv-
ing, or slighted,—although all this is, perhaps, not
only the proof that they havei rightly chosen their
attitude in life, but even the guarantee that their
great aims must be achieved some time. Wome:
always intrigue privately against the higher soul^
of their husbands; they want to cheat them out
of their future for the sake of a painless and
comfortable present.
435-
Authority and Freedom. —However highly
women may honour their husbands, they honour
still more the powers and ideas recognised by
society; they have been accustomed for mil-
lennia to go along with their hands folded on
their breasts, and their heads bent before every-
thing dominant, disapproving of all resistance to
public authority. They therefore unintentionally,
and as if from instinct, hang themselves as a drag
on the wheels of free-spirited, independent en-
deavour, and in certain circumstances make their
husbands highly impatient, especially when the
latter persuade themselves that it is really love
which prompts the action of their wives. To
disapprove of women's methods and generously
to honour the motives that prompt them—that is
man's nature and often enough his despair.


## p. 316 (#442) ############################################

316 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
436.
Ceterum Censeo—It is laughable when a com-
pany of paupers decree the abolition of the right
of inheritance, and it is not less laughable when
childless persons labour for the practical law-
giving of a country: they have not enough ballast
in their ship to sail safely over the ocean of the
future. But it seems equally senseless if a man
who has chosen for his mission the widest know-
ledge and estimation of universal existence, burdens
himself with personal considerations for a family,
with the support, protection, and care of wife and
child, and in front of his telescope hangs that
gloomy veil through which hardly a ray from the
distant firmament can penetrate. Thus I, too,
agree with the opinion that in matters of the
highest philosophy all married men are to be
suspected.
437-
FINALLY. —There are many kinds of hemlock,
and fate generally finds an opportunity to put a
cup of this poison to the lips of the free spirit,—
in order to "punish" him, as every one then says.
What do the women do about him then? They
cry and lament, and perhaps disturb the sunset-
calm of the thinker, as they did in the prison at
Athens. "Oh Crito, bid some one take those
women away! " said Socrates at last.


## p. 317 (#443) ############################################

EIGHTH DIVISION.
A GLANCE AT THE STATE.
438.
Asking to be Heard. —The demagogic dis-
position and the intention of working upon the
masses is at present common to all political
parties; on this account they are all obliged to
change their principles into great al fresco follies
and thus make a show of them. In this matter
there is no further alteration to be made: indeed,
it is superfluous even to raise a finger against it;
for here Voltaire's saying applies: "Quand la
populace se mile de raisonner, tout est perdu"
Since this has happened we have to accommodate
ourselves to the new conditions, as we have to
accommodate ourselves when an earthquake has
displaced the old boundaries and the contour of the
land and altered the value of property. More-
over, when it is once for all a question in the politics
of all parties to make life endurable to the great-
est possible majority, this majority may always
decide what they understand by an endurable life;
if they believe their intellect capable of finding the
right means to this end why should we doubt
about it? They want, once for all, to be the
architects of their own good or ill fortune; and


## p. 318 (#444) ############################################

318 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
their feeling of free choice and their pride in ti he
five or six ideas that their brain conceals an id
brings to light, really makes life so agreeable tVo
them that they gladly put up with the fatal conl-
sequences of their narrow-mindedness, there i:s
little to object to, provided that their narrow-
(mindedness does not go so far as to demand thai:
everything shall become politics in this sense, that
mil shall live and act according to this standard.
\For, in the first place, it must be more than ever
permissible for some people to keep aloof from
politics and to stand somewhat aside. To this
they are also impelled by the pleasure of free
choice, and connected with this there may even be
; some little pride in keeping silence when too many,
'and only the many, are speaking. Then this
small group must be excused if they do not attach
such great importance to the happiness of the
majority (nations or strata of population may be
understood thereby), and are occasionally guilty
of an ironical grimace; for their seriousness lies
elsewhere, their conception of happiness is quite
different, and their aim cannot be encompassed
by every clumsy hand that has just five fingers.
Finally, there comes from time to time—what is
certainly most difficult to concede to them, but
must also be conceded—a moment when they
emerge from their silent solitariness and try once
more the strength of their lungs; they then call
to each other like people lost in a wood, to make
themselves known and for mutual encouragement;
. whereby, to be sure, much becomes audible that
sounds evil to ears for which it is not intended.


## p. 319 (#445) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 319
Soon, however, silence again prevails in the wood,
such silence that the buzzing, humming, and
fluttering of the countless insects that live in,
above, and beneath it, are again plainly heard.
439-
Culture and Caste. —A higher culture can t
only originate where there are two distinct castes I
of society: that of the working class, and that of/
the leisured class who are capable of true leisure J y
or, more strongly expressed, the caste of com-
pulsory labour and the caste of free labour. The
point of view of the division of happiness is not
essential when it is a question of the production
of a higher culture; in any case, however, the
leisured caste is more susceptible to suffering and
suffer more, their pleasure in existence is less and
their task is greater. Now supposing there should
be quite an interchange between the two castes,
so that on the one hand the duller and less
intelligent families and individuals are lowered
from the higher caste into the lower, and, on the
other hand, the freer men of the lower caste obtain
access to the higher, a condition of things would
be attained beyond which one can only perceive
the open sea of vague wishes. Thus speaks to us
the vanishing voice of the olden time; but where
are there still ears to hear it?
440.
Of Good Blood. — That which men and
women of good blood possess much more than


## p. 320 (#446) ############################################

320 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
others, and which gives them an undoubted right
to be more highly appreciated, are two arts which
are always increased by inheritance: the art of
being able to command, and the art of proud
obedience. Now wherever commanding is the
business of the day (as in the great world of
commerce and industry), there results something
similar to these families of good blood, only the
noble bearing in obedience is lacking which is an
inheritance from feudal conditions and hardly
grows any longer in the climate of our culture.
441.
SUBORDINATION. —The subordination which
is so highly valued in military and official ranks
will soon become as incredible to us as the secret
tactics of the Jesuits have already become; and
when this subordination is no longer possible a
(multitude of astonishing results will no longer be
/attained, and the world will be all the poorer,
lit must disappear, for its foundation is disappear-
ing, the belief in unconditional authority, in
ultimate truth; even in military ranks physical
compulsion is not sufficient to produce it, but only
the inherited adoration of the princely as of some-
thing superhuman. In freer circumstances people
(subordinate themselves only on conditions, in
compliance with a mutual contract, consequently
^fith all the provisos of self-interest.
442.
The National Army. —The greatest dis-
advantage of the national army, now so much


## p. 321 (#447) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 321
glorified, lies in the squandering of men of the
highest civilisation; it is only by the favourable-
ness of all circumstances that there are such men
at all; how carefully and anxiously should we deal
with them, since long periods are required to
create the chance conditions for the production of
such delicately organised brains! But as the
Greeks wallowed in the blood of Greeks, so do
Europeans now in the blood of Europeans: and
indeed, taken relatively, it is mostly the highly
cultivated who are sacrificed, those who promise
an abundant and excellent posterity; for such
stand in the front of the battle as commanders,
and also expose themselves to most danger, by
reason of their higher ambition. At present, when
quite other and higher tasks are assigned than
patria and honor, the rough Roman patriotism
is either something dishonourable or a sign of
being behind the times.
443-
Hope as Presumption. —Our social order will
slowly melt away, as all former orders have done,
as soon as the suns of new opinions have shone
upon mankind with a new glow. We can only
wish this melting away in the hope thereof, and
we are only reasonably entitled to hope when we
believe that we and our equals have more strength
in heart and head than the representatives of the
existing state of things. As a rule, therefore, this
hope will be a presumption, an over-estimation.
VOL. I. X


## p. 321 (#448) ############################################

320 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
others, and which gives them an undoubted right
to be more highly appreciated, are two arts which
are always increased by inheritance: the art of
being able to command, and the art of proud
obedience. Now wherever commanding is the
business of the day (as in the great world of
commerce and industry), there results something
similar to these families of good blood, only the
noble bearing in obedience is lacking which is an
inheritance from feudal conditions and hardly
grows any longer in the climate of our culture.
441.
Subordination. —The subordination which
is so highly valued in military and official ranks
will soon become as incredible to us as the secret
tactics of the Jesuits have already become; and
when this subordination is no longer possible a
■multitude of astonishing results will no longer be
/attained, and the world will be all the poorer.
lIt must disappear, for its foundation is disappear-
ling, the belief in unconditional authority, in
ultimate truth; even in military ranks physical
compulsion is not sufficient to produce it, but only
the inherited adoration of the princely as of some-
Shing superhuman. In freer circumstances people
ubordinate themselves only on conditions, in
ompliance with a mutual contract, consequently
nth all the provisos of self-interest.
442.
The National Army. —The greatest dis-
advantage of the national army, now so much
"
1


## p. 321 (#449) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 321
glorified, lies in the squandering of men of the
highest civilisation; it is only by the favourable-
ness of all circumstances that there are such men
at all; how carefully and anxiously should we deal
with them, since long periods are required to
create the chance conditions for the production of
such delicately organised brains! But as the
Greeks wallowed in the blood of Greeks, so do
Europeans now in the blood of Europeans: and
indeed, taken relatively, it is mostly the highly
cultivated who are sacrificed, those who promise
an abundant and excellent posterity; for such
stand in the front of the battle as commanders,
and also expose themselves to most danger, by
reason of their higher ambition. At present, when
quite other and higher tasks are assigned than
patria and honor, the rough Roman patriotism
is either something dishonourable or a sign of
being behind the times.
443-
Hope as Presumption. —Our social order will
slowly melt away, as all former orders have done,
as soon as the suns of new opinions have shone
upon mankind with a new glow. We can only
wish this melting away in the hope thereof, and
we are only reasonably entitled to hope when we
believe that we and our equals have more strength
in heart and head than the representatives of the
existing state of things. As a rule, therefore, this
hope will be a presumption, an over-estimation.
vOl. 1. X
I


## p. 321 (#450) ############################################

320 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
others, and which gives them an undoubted right
to be more highly appreciated, are two arts which
are always increased by inheritance: the art of
being able to command, and the art of proud
obedience. Now wherever commanding is the
business of the day (as in the great world of
commerce and industry), there results something
similar to these families of good blood, only the
noble bearing in obedience is lacking which is an
inheritance from feudal conditions and hardly
grows any longer in the climate of our culture.
441.
SUBORDINATION. —The subordination which
is so highly valued in military and official ranks
will soon become as incredible to us as the secret
tactics of the Jesuits have already become; and
when this subordination is no longer possible a
(multitude of astonishing results will no longer be
/attained, and the world will be all the poorer,
lIt must disappear, for its foundation is disappear-
ling, the belief in unconditional authority, in
Wtimate truth; even in military ranks physical
compulsion is not sufficient to produce it, but only
the inherited adoration of the princely as of some-
thing superhuman. In freer circumstances people
[subordinate themselves only on conditions, in
compliance with a mutual contract, consequently
yith all the provisos of self-interest.
442.
The National Army. —The greatest dis-
advantage of the national army, now so much
^
1


## p. 321 (#451) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 321
glorified, lies in the squandering of men of the
highest civilisation; it is only by the favourable-
ness of all circumstances that there are such men
at all; how carefully and anxiously should we deal
with them, since long periods are required to
create the chance conditions for the production of
such delicately organised brains! But as the
Greeks wallowed in the blood of Greeks, so do
Europeans now in the blood of Europeans: and
indeed, taken relatively, it is mostly the highly
cultivated who are sacrificed, those who promise
an abundant and excellent posterity; for such
stand in the front of the battle as commanders,
and also expose themselves to most danger, by
reason of their higher ambition. At present, when
quite other and higher tasks are assigned than
patria and honor, the rough Roman patriotism
is either something dishonourable or a sign of
being behind the times.
443-
Hope as Presumption. —Our social order will
slowly melt away, as all former orders have done,
as soon as the suns of new opinions have shone
upon mankind with a new glow. We can only
wish this melting away in the hope thereof, and
we are only reasonably entitled to hope when we
believe that we and our equals have more strength
in heart and head than the representatives of the
existing state of things. As a rule, therefore, this
hope will be a presumption, an over-estimation.
vol. 1. X


## p. 321 (#452) ############################################

320 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
others, and which gives them an undoubted right
to be more highly appreciated, are two arts which
are always increased by inheritance: the art of
being able to command, and the art of proud
obedience. Now wherever commanding is the
business of the day (as in the great world of
commerce and industry), there results something
similar to these families of good blood, only the
noble bearing in obedience is lacking which is an
inheritance from feudal conditions and hardly
grows any longer in the climate of our culture.
441.
Subordination. —The subordination which
is so highly valued in military and official ranks
will soon become as incredible to us as the secret
tactics of the Jesuits have already become; and
when this subordination is no longer possible a
■multitude of astonishing results will no longer be
(attained, and the world will be all the poorer,
lIt must disappear, for its foundation is disappear-
ling, the belief in unconditional authority, in
^ultimate truth; even in military ranks physical
compulsion is not sufficient to produce it, but only
the inherited adoration of the princely as of some-
thing superhuman.
In freer circumstances people
(subordinate themselves only on conditions, in
compliance with a mutual contract, consequently
yith all the provisos of self-interest.
442.
The National Army. —The greatest dis-
advantage of the national army, now so much
^
1


## p. 321 (#453) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 321
glorified, lies in the squandering of men of the
highest civilisation; it is only by the favourable-
ness of all circumstances that there are such men
at all; how carefully and anxiously should we deal
with them, since long periods are required to
create the chance conditions for the production of
such delicately organised brains! But as the
Greeks wallowed in the blood of Greeks, so do
Europeans now in the blood of Europeans: and
indeed, taken relatively, it is mostly the highly
cultivated who are sacrificed, those who promise
an abundant and excellent posterity; for such
stand in the front of the battle as commanders,
and also expose themselves to most danger, by
reason of their higher ambition. At present, when
quite other and higher tasks are assigned than
patria and honor, the rough Roman patriotism
is either something dishonourable or a sign of
being behind the times.
443-
Hope as Presumption. —Our social order will
slowly melt away, as all former orders have done,
as soon as the suns of new opinions have shone
upon mankind with a new glow. We can only
wish this melting away in the hope thereof, and
we are only reasonably entitled to hope when we
believe that we and our equals have more strength
in heart and head than the representatives of the
existing state of things. As a rule, therefore, this
hope will be a presumption, an over-estimation.
vOl. 1. X


## p. 321 (#454) ############################################

320 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
others, and which gives them an undoubted right
to be more highly appreciated, are two arts which
are always increased by inheritance: the art of
being able to command, and the art of proud
obedience. Now wherever commanding is the
business of the day (as in the great world of
commerce and industry), there results something
similar to these families of good blood, only the
noble bearing in obedience is lacking which is an
inheritance from feudal conditions and hardly
grows any longer in the climate of our culture.
441.
Subordination. —The subordination which
is so highly valued in military and official ranks
will soon become as incredible to us as the secret
tactics of the Jesuits have already become; and
when this subordination is no longer possible a
■multitude of astonishing results will no longer be
(attained, and the world will be all the poorer,
lIt must disappear, for its foundation is disappear-
ling, the belief in unconditional authority, in
ultimate truth; even in military ranks physical
compulsion is not sufficient to produce it, but only
the inherited adoration of the princely as of some-
thing superhuman. In freer circumstances people
(subordinate themselves only on conditions, in
compliance with a mutual contract, consequently
yith all the provisos of self-interest.
442.
The National Army. —The greatest dis-
advantage of the national army, now so much
^
1


## p. 321 (#455) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 321
glorified, lies in the squandering of men of the
highest civilisation; it is only by the favourable-
ness of all circumstances that there are such men
at all; how carefully and anxiously should we deal
with them, since long periods are required to
create the chance conditions for the production of
such delicately organised brains! But as the
Greeks wallowed in the blood of Greeks, so do
Europeans now in the blood of Europeans: and
indeed, taken relatively, it is mostly the highly
cultivated who are sacrificed, those who promise
an abundant and excellent posterity; for such
stand in the front of the battle as commanders,
and also expose themselves to most danger, by
reason of their higher ambition. At present, when
quite other and higher tasks are assigned than
patria and honor, the rough Roman patriotism
is either something dishonourable or a sign of
being behind the times.
443-
Hope as Presumption. —Our social order willi
slowly melt away, as all former orders have done, I
as soon as the suns of new opinions have shone
upon mankind with a new glow. We can only
wish this melting away in the hope thereof, and
we are only reasonably entitled to hope when we
believe that we and our equals have more strength
in heart and head than the representatives of the
existing state of things. As a rule, therefore, this
hope will be a presumption, an over-estimation.
vol. 1. X
I


## p. 321 (#456) ############################################

320 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
others, and which gives them an undoubted right
to be more highly appreciated, are two arts which
are always increased by inheritance: the art of
being able to command, and the art of proud
obedience. Now wherever commanding is the
business of the day (as in the great world of
commerce and industry), there results something
similar to these families of good blood, only the
noble bearing in obedience is lacking which is an
inheritance from feudal conditions and hardly
grows any longer in the climate of our culture.
441.
Subordination. —The subordination which
is so highly valued in military and official ranks
will soon become as incredible to us as the secret
tactics of the Jesuits have already become; and
when this subordination is no longer possible a
(multitude of astonishing results will no longer be
/attained, and the world will be all the poorer,
lIt must disappear, for its foundation is disappear-
ling, the belief in unconditional authority, in
Wtimate truth; even in military ranks physical
compulsion is not sufficient to produce it, but only
the inherited adoration of the princely as of some-
thing superhuman. In freer circumstances people
[subordinate themselves only on conditions, in
compliance with a mutual contract, consequently
jrith all the provisos of self-interest.
442.
The National Army. —The greatest dis-
advantage of the national army, now so much
r
~\


## p. 321 (#457) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 321
glorified, lies in the squandering of men of the
highest civilisation; it is only by the favourable-
ness of all circumstances that there are such men
at all; how carefully and anxiously should we deal
with them, since long periods are required to
create the chance conditions for the production of
such delicately organised brains! But as the
Greeks wallowed in the blood of Greeks, so do
Europeans now in the blood of Europeans: and
indeed, taken relatively, it is mostly the highly
cultivated who are sacrificed, those who promise
an abundant and excellent posterity; for such
stand in the front of the battle as commanders,
and also expose themselves to most danger, by
reason of their higher ambition. At present, when
quite other and higher tasks are assigned than
patria and honor, the rough Roman patriotism
is either something dishonourable or a sign of
being behind the times.
443-
Hope as Presumption. —Our social order will
slowly melt away, as all former orders have done,
as soon as the suns of new opinions have shone
upon mankind with a new glow. We can only
wish this melting away in the hope thereof, and
we are only reasonably entitled to hope when we
believe that we and our equals have more strength
in heart and head than the representatives of the
existing state of things. As a rule, therefore, this
hope will be a presumption, an over-estimation.
vol. 1. X
I


## p. 321 (#458) ############################################

320 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
others, and which gives them an undoubted right
to be more highly appreciated, are two arts which
are always increased by inheritance: the art of
being able to command, and the art of proud
obedience. Now wherever commanding is the
business of the day (as in the great world of
commerce and industry), there results something
similar to these families of good blood, only the
noble bearing in obedience is lacking which is an
inheritance from feudal conditions and hardly
grows any longer in the climate of our culture.
441.
Subordination. —The subordination which
is so highly valued in military and official ranks
will soon become as incredible to us as the secret
tactics of the Jesuits have already become; and
when this subordination is no longer possible a
(multitude of astonishing results will no longer be
/attained, and the world will be all the poorer,
lIt must disappear, for its foundation is disappear-
ling, the belief in unconditional authority, in
Wimate truth; even in military ranks physical
compulsion is not sufficient to produce it, but only
the inherited adoration of the princely as of some-
thing superhuman. In freer circumstances people
(subordinate themselves only on conditions, in
compliance with a mutual contract, consequently
jrith all the provisos of self-interest.
442.
The National Army. —The greatest dis-
advantage of the national army, now so much
r
1


## p. 321 (#459) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 321
glorified, lies in the squandering of men of the
highest civilisation; it is only by the favourable-
ness of all circumstances that there are such men
at all; how carefully and anxiously should we deal
with them, since long periods are required to
create the chance conditions for the production of
such delicately organised brains! But as the
Greeks wallowed in the blood of Greeks, so do
Europeans now in the blood of Europeans: and
indeed, taken relatively, it is mostly the highly
cultivated who are sacrificed, those who promise
an abundant and excellent posterity; for such
stand in the front of the battle as commanders,
and also expose themselves to most danger, by
reason of their higher ambition. At present, when
quite other and higher tasks are assigned than
patria and honor, the rough Roman patriotism
is either something dishonourable or a sign of
being behind the times.
443-
Hope as Presumption. —Our social order will i
slowly melt away, as all former orders have done,!
as soon as the suns of new opinions have shone
upon mankind with a new glow. We can only
wish this melting away in the hope thereof, and
we are only reasonably entitled to hope when we
believe that we and our equals have more strength
in heart and head than the representatives of the
existing state of things. As a rule, therefore, this
hope will be a presumption, an over-estimation.
vol. 1. X
\


## p. 322 (#460) ############################################


322 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
■ I
444.
War. —Against war it may be said that it
makes the victor stupid and the vanquished re-
vengeful. In favour of war it may be said that
it barbarises in both its above-named results, and
thereby makes more natural; it is the sleep or
the winter period of culture; man emerges from
it with greater strength for good and for evil.
445-
In the Prince's Service. —To be able to
act quite regardlessly it is best for a statesman
to carry out his work not for himself but for a
prince. The eye of the spectator is dazzled by
the splendour of this general disinterestedness, so
that it does not see the malignancy and severity
which the work of a statesman brings with it. *
446.
A Question of Power, not of Right. —As
regards Socialism, in the eyes of those who always
consider higher utility, if it is really a rising
against their oppressors of those who for centuries
have been oppressed and downtrodden, there is
no problem of right involved (notwithstanding the
ridiculous, effeminate question," Howfar ought we to
grant its demands ? ") but only a problem of power
(" How far can we make use of its demands ? ");
* This aphorism may have been suggested by Nietzsche's
observing the behaviour of his great contemporary, Bismarck,
towards the dynasty. —J. M. K.


## p. 323 (#461) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 323
the same, therefore, as in the case of a natural
force,—steam, for instance,—which is either forced
by man into his service, as a machine-god, or
\ * which, in case of defects of the machine, that is to
-:! r"' say, defects of human calculation in its construc-
m. i'_ tion, destroys it and man together. In order to
mft. "' solve this question of power we must know how
'-'s' strong Socialism is, in what modification it may
1 "* yet be employed as a powerful lever in the
"* present mechanism of political forces; under cer-
tain circumstances *we should do all we can to
strengthen it. With every great force—be it the
,ic( most dangerous—men have to think how they
,$ can make of it an instrument for their purposes.
jm Socialism acquires a right only if war seems to
jgi have taken place between the two powers, the
<jjj representatives of the old and the new, when,
sgt however, a wise calculation of the greatest
ii', possible preservation and advantageousness to
both sides gives rise to a desire for a treaty.
Without treaty no right. So far, however, there
,. , is neither war nor treaty on the ground in question,
"therefore no rights, no " ought. "
447-
Utilising the most Trivial Dishonesty. —
The power of the press consists in the fact that
every individual who ministers to it only feels
himself bound and constrained to a very small
extent. He usually expresses his opinion, but
sometimes also does not express it in order to
serve his party or the politics of his country, or



## p. 323 (#462) ############################################

322 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
444-
War. —Against war it may be said that it
makes the victor stupid and the vanquished re-
vengeful. In favour of war it may be said that
it barbarises in both its above-named results, and
thereby makes more natural; it is the sleep or
the winter period of culture; man emerges from
it with greater strength for good and for evil.
445-
In the Prince's Service. —To be able to
act quite regardlessly it is best for a statesman
to carry out his work not for himself but for a
prince. The eye of the spectator is dazzled by
the splendour of this general disinterestedness, so
that it does not see the malignancy and severity
which the work of a statesman brings with it. *
446.
A Question of Power, not of Right. —As
regards Socialism, in the eyes of those who always
consider higher utility, if it is really a rising
against their oppressors of those who for centuries
have been oppressed and downtrodden, there is
no problem of right involved (notwithstanding the
ridiculous, effeminate question," Howfar ought we to
grant its demands? ") but only a problem of power
(" How far can we make use of its demands ? ");
* This aphorism may have been suggested by Nietzsche's
observing the behaviour of his great contemporary, Bismarck,
towards the dynasty. —J. M. K.


## p. 323 (#463) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE-
323
/
the same, therefore, as in the case of a natural
force,—steam, for instance,—which is either forced
by man into his service, as a machine-god, or
which, in case of defects of the machine, that is to
say, defects of human calculation in its construc-
tion, destroys it and man together. In order to
solve this question of power we must know how
strong Socialism is, in what modification it may
yet be employed as a powerful lever in the
present mechanism of political forces; under cer-
tain circumstances we should do all we can to
strengthen it. With every great force—be it the
most dangerous—men have to think how they
can make of it an instrument for their purposes.
Socialism acquires a right only if war seems to
have taken place between the two powers, the
representatives of the old and the new, when,
however, a wise calculation of the greatest
possible preservation and advantageousness to
both sides gives rise to a desire for a treaty.
Without treaty no right. So far, however, there
is neither war nor treaty on the ground in question,
therefore no rights, no " ought. "
*l
*
\
447-
Utilising the most Trivial Dishonesty. —
The power of the press consists in the fact that
every individual who ministers to it only feels
himself bound and constrained to a very small
extent. He usually expresses his opinion, but
sometimes also does not express it in order to
serve his party or the politics of his country, or


## p. 324 (#464) ############################################

324 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
even himself. Such little faults of dishonesty, or
perhaps only of a dishonest silence, are not hard
to bear by the individual, but the consequences
are extraordinary, because these little faults are
committed by many at the same time. Each one
says to himself: "For such small concessions I
live better and can make my income; by the
want of such little compliances I make myself
impossible. " Because it seems almost morally
indifferent to write a line more (perhaps even
without signature), or not to write it, a person
who has money and influence can make any
opinion a public one. He who knows that most
people are weak in trifles, and wishes to attain
his own ends thereby, is always dangerous.
448.
Too Loud a Tone in Grievances. —Through
the fact that an account of a bad state of things
(for instance, the crimes of an administration,
bribery and arbitrary favour in political or learned
bodies) is greatly exaggerated, it fails in its effect
on intelligent people, but has all the greater effect
on the unintelligent (who would have remained
indifferent to an accurate and moderate account).
But as these latter are considerably in the majority,
and harbour in themselves stronger will-power
and more impatient desire for action, the ex-
aggeration becomes the cause of investigations,
punishments, promises, and reorganisations. In
so far it is useful to exaggerate the accounts of
bad states of things.


## p. 325 (#465) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 325
449.
The Apparent Weather - Makers of
Politics. —Just as people tacitly assume that
he who understands the weather, and foretells it
about a day in advance, makes the weather, so
even the educated and learned, with a display of
superstitious faith, ascribe to great statesmen as
their most special work all the important changes
and conjunctures that have taken place during
their administration, when it is only evident that
they knew something thereof a little earlier than
other people and made their calculations accord-
ingly,—thus they are also looked upon as weather-
makers—and this belief is not the least important
instrument of their power.
450.
New and Old Conceptions of Govern-
ment. —To draw such a distinction between
Government and people as if two separate spheres
of power, a stronger and higher, and a weaker and
lower, negotiated and came to terms with each other,
is a remnant of transmitted political sentiment,
which still accurately represents the historic estab-
lishment of the conditions of power in most States.
When Bismarck, for instance, describes the con-
stitutional system as a compromise between
Government and people, he speaks in accordance
with a principle which has its reason in history
(from whence, to be sure, it also derives its ad-
mixture of folly, without which nothing human


## p. 326 (#466) ############################################

326 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
can exist). On the other hand, we must now
learn — in accordance with a principle which
has originated only in the brain and has still to
make history—that Government is nothing but
an organ of the people,—not an attentive, honour-
able "higher" in relation to a " lower " accustomed
:o modesty. Before we accept this hitherto un-
listorical and arbitrary, although logical, formula-
ion of the conception of Government, let us but
:onsider its consequences, for the relation between
people and Government is the strongest typical
Relation, after the pattern of which the relationship
between teacher and pupil, master and servants,
father and family, leader and soldier, master and
apprentice, is unconsciously formed. At present,
under the influence of the prevailing constitutional
system of government, all these relationships are
changing a little,—they are becoming com-
promises. But how they will have to be reversed
anH shifted, and change name and nature, when
that newest of all conceptions has got the upper
hand everywhere in people's minds! —to achieve
which, however, a century may yet be required. In
this matter there is nothing further to be wished
for except caution and slow development.
451.
Justice as the Decoy-Cry of Parties. —
Well may noble (if not exactly very intelligent)
representatives of the governing classes asseverate:
"We will treat men equally and grant them
equal rights "; so far a socialistic mode of thought


## p. 327 (#467) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 327
which is based on justice is possible; but, as has
been said, only within the ranks of the governing
class, which in this case practises justice with
sacrifices and abnegations. On the other hand,
to demand equality of rights, as do the Socialists
of the subject caste, is by no means the outcome
of justice, but of covetousness. If you expose
bloody pieces of flesh to a beast, and withdraw
them again, until it finally begins to roar, do
you think that roaring implies justice?
452.
Possession and Justice. —When the Socialists
point out that the division of property at the
present day is the consequence of countless deeds
of injustice and violence, and, in summa, repudiate
obligation to anything with so unrighteous a basis,
they only perceive something isolated. The entire
past of ancient civilisation is built up on violence,
slavery, deception, and error; we, however, cannot
annul ourselves, the heirs of all these conditions,
nay, the concrescences of all this past, and are
not entitled to demand the withdrawal of a single
fragment thereof. The unjust disposition lurks
also in the souls of non-possessors; they are not
better than the possessors and have no moral
prerogative; for at one time or another their
ancestors have been possessors. Not forcible
new distributions, but gradual transformations of ]
opinion are necessary; justice in all matters must
become greater, the instinct of violence weaker.


## p. 327 (#468) ############################################

326 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
can exist). On the other hand, we must now
learn — in accordance with a principle which
has originated only in the brain and has still to
make history—that Government is nothing but
an organ of the people,—not an attentive, honour-
able " higher" in relation to a " lower " accustomed
:o modesty. Before we accept this hitherto un-
listorical and arbitrary, although logical, formula-
ion of the conception of Government, let us but
:onsider its consequences, for the relation between
people and Government is the strongest typical
/relation, after the pattern of which the relationship
between teacher and pupil, master and servants,
father and family, leader and soldier, master and
apprentice, is unconsciously formed. At present,
under the influence of the prevailing constitutional
system of government, all these relationships are
changing a little,—they are becoming com-
promises. But how they will have to be reversed
anil shifted, and change name and nature, when
that newest of all conceptions has got the upper
hand everywhere in people's minds! —to achieve
which, however, a century may yet be required. In
this matter there is nothing further to be wished
for except caution and slow development.
451.
Justice as the Decoy-Cry of Parties. —
Well may noble (if not exactly very intelligent)
representatives of the governing classes asseverate:
"We will treat men equally and grant them
equal rights "; so far a socialistic mode of thought


## p. 327 (#469) ############################################

A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 327
which is based on justice is possible; but, as has
been said, only within the ranks of the governing
class, which in this case practises justice with
sacrifices and abnegations. On the other hand,
to demand equality of rights, as do the Socialists
of the subject caste, is by no means the outcome
of justice, but of covetousness. If you expose
bloody pieces of flesh to a beast, and withdraw
them again, until it finally begins to roar, do
you think that roaring implies justice?
452.
Possession and Justice. —When the Socialists
point out that the division of property at the
present day is the consequence of countless deeds
of injustice and violence, and, in summa, repudiate
obligation to anything with so unrighteous a basis,
they only perceive something isolated. The entire
past of ancient civilisation is built up on violence,
slavery, deception, and error; we, however, cannot
annul ourselves, the heirs of all these conditions,
nay, the concrescences of all this past, and are
not entitled to demand the withdrawal of a single
fragment thereof. The unjust disposition lurks
also in the souls of non-possessors; they are not
better than the possessors and have no moral
prerogative; for at one time or another their
ancestors have been possessors. Not forcible
new distributions, but gradual transformations of |
opinion are necessary; justice in all matters must
become greater, the instinct of violence weaker.


## p. 328 (#470) ############################################

328 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
453-
The Helmsman of the Passions.