"The Life" as the
Proceeds
of Life.
Nietzsche - v06 - Human All-Too-Human - a
481.
High Politics and their Detriments. —
Just as a nation does not suffer the greatest
losses that war and readiness for war involve
through the expenses of the war, or the stoppage
of trade and traffic, or through the maintenance
of a standing army,—however great these losses
may now be, when eight European States expend
yearly the sum of five milliards of marks thereon,
—but owing to the fact that year after year its
ablest, strongest, and most industrious men are
withdrawn in extraordinary numbers from their
proper occupations and callings to be turned into
soldiers: in the same way, a nation that sets
about practising high politics and securing a
decisive voice among the great Powers does not
suffer its greatest losses where they are usually
supposed to be. In fact, from this time onward
it constantly sacrifices a number of its most
conspicuous talents upon the "Altar of the
Fatherland" or of national ambition, whilst
formerly other spheres of activity were open to
those talents which are now swallowed up by
politics. But apart from these public hecatombs,
and in reality much more horrible, there is a
drama which is constantly being performed
simultaneously in a hundred thousand acts; every
able, industrious, intellectually striving man of
a nation that thus covets political laurels, is
vol. 1. z
## p. 353 (#518) ############################################
352 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
in the splendour of courts, in subordination to
the mighty and influential, or for such as wish
to be heads of the Church. (It teaches how to
slink crouching into the underground passages
to favour. )
480.
Envy and Inertia in Different Courses.
—The two opposing parties, the socialist and the
national,—or whatever they may be called in the
different countries of Europe,—are worthy of each
other; envy and laziness are the motive powers in
each of them. In the one camp they desire to
work as little as possible with their hands, in the
other as little as possible with their heads; in
the latter they hate and envy prominent, self-
evolving individuals, who do not willingly allow
themselves to be drawn up in rank and file for
the purpose of a collective effect; in the former
they hate and envy the better social caste, which
is more favourably circumstanced outwardly,
whose peculiar mission, the production of the
highest blessings of culture, makes life inwardly
all the harder and more painful. Certainly, if
it be possible to make the spirit of the collective
effect the spirit of the higher classes of society,
the socialist crowds are quite right, when they
also seek outward equalisation between them-
selves and these classes, since they are certainly
internally equalised with one another already in
head and heart. Live as higher men, and always
do the deeds of higher culture,—thus everything
that lives will acknowledge your right, and the
## p. 353 (#519) ############################################
A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 353
order of society, whose summit ye are, will be
safe from every evil glance and attack!
481.
High Politics and their Detriments. —
Just as a nation does not suffer the greatest
losses that war and readiness for war involve
through the expenses of the war, or the stoppage
of trade and traffic, or through the maintenance
of a standing army,—however great these losses
may now be, when eight European States expend
yearly the sum of five milliards of marks thereon,
—but owing to the fact that year after year its
ablest, strongest, and most industrious men are
withdrawn in extraordinary numbers from their
proper occupations and callings to be turned into
soldiers: in the same way, a nation that sets
about practising high politics and securing a
decisive voice among the great Powers does not
suffer its greatest losses where they are usually
supposed to be. In fact, from this time onward
it constantly sacrifices a number of its most
conspicuous talents upon the "Altar of the
Fatherland" or of national ambition, whilst
formerly other spheres of activity were open to
those talents which are now swallowed up by
politics. But apart from these public hecatombs,
and in reality much more horrible, there is a
drama which is constantly being performed
simultaneously in a hundred thousand acts; every
able, industrious, intellectually striving man of
a nation that thus covets political laurels, is
vol. 1. Z
## p. 353 (#520) ############################################
352 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
in the splendour of courts, in subordination to
the mighty and influential, or for such as wish
to be heads of the Church. (It teaches how to
slink crouching into the underground passages
to favour. )
480.
Envy and Inertia in Different Courses.
—The two opposing parties, the socialist and the
national,—or whatever they may be called in the
different countries of Europe,—are worthy of each
other; envy and laziness are the motive powers in
each of them. In the one camp they desire to
work as little as possible with their hands, in the
other as little as possible with their heads; in
the latter they hate and envy prominent, self-
evolving individuals, who do not willingly allow
themselves to be drawn up in rank and file for
the purpose of a collective effect; in the former
they hate and envy the better social caste, which
is more favourably circumstanced outwardly,
whose peculiar mission, the production of the
highest blessings of culture, makes life inwardly
all the harder and more painful. Certainly, if
it be possible to make the spirit of the collective
effect the spirit of the higher classes of society,
the socialist crowds are quite right, when they
also seek outward equalisation between them-
selves and these classes, since they are certainly
internally equalised with one another already in
head and heart. Live as higher men, and always
do the deeds of higher culture,—thus everything
that lives will acknowledge your right, and the
## p. 353 (#521) ############################################
A GLANCE AT THE STATE. 353
order of society, whose summit ye are, will be
safe from every evil glance and attack!
481.
High Politics and their Detriments. —
Just as a nation does not suffer the greatest
losses that war and readiness for war involve
through the expenses of the war, or the stoppage
of trade and traffic, or through the maintenance
of a standing army,—however great these losses
may now be, when eight European States expend
yearly the sum of five milliards of marks thereon,
—but owing to the fact that year after year its
ablest, strongest, and most industrious men are
withdrawn in extraordinary numbers from their
proper occupations and callings to be turned into
soldiers: in the same way, a nation that sets
about practising high politics and securing a
decisive voice among the great Powers does not
suffer its greatest losses where they are usually
supposed to be. In fact, from this time onward
it constantly sacrifices a number of its most
conspicuous talents upon the "Altar of the
Fatherland" or of national ambition, whilst
formerly other spheres of activity were open to
those talents which are now swallowed up by
politics. But apart from these public hecatombs,
and in reality much more horrible, there is a
drama which is constantly being performed
simultaneously in a hundred thousand acts; every
able, industrious, intellectually striving man of
a nation that thus covets political laurels, is
vol. 1. z
## p. 354 (#522) ############################################
TT1
I
354 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
swayed by this covetousness, and no lei tfoger
belongs entirely to himself alone as he fisl did
formerly; the new daily questions and can t;S of
the public welfare devour a daily tribute ogef the
intellectual and emotional capital of every cit izen;
the sum of all these sacrifices and losse ;s of
individual energy and labour is so enon: nous,
that the political growth of a nation allEfoost
necessarily entails an intellectual impoverishnWnt
and lassitude, a diminished capacity for Kthe
performance of works that require great concen-
tration and specialisation. The question m&y
finally be asked: "Does it then pay, all trhis
bloom and magnificence of the total (which
indeed only manifests itself as the fear of the
new Colossus in other nations, and as the com-
pulsory favouring by them of national trade and
commerce) when all the nobler, finer, and more
intellectual plants and products, in which its soil
was hitherto so rich, must be sacrificed to this
coarse and opalescent flower of the nation ? *
482.
Repeated Once More. —Public opinion—
private laziness.
* This is once more an allusion to modern Germany.
-J. M. K.
## p. 355 (#523) ############################################
NINTH DIVISION.
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF.
483.
The Enemies of Truth. —Convictions are more
dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
484.
A Topsy-Turvy World. — We criticise a
thinker more severely when he puts an unpleasant
statement before us; and yet it would be more
reasonable to do so when we find his statement
pleasant.
485.
Decided Character. —A man far oftener ap-
pears to have a decided character from persistently
following his temperament than from persistently
following his principles.
486.
The One Thing Needful. —One thing a
man must have: either a naturally light disposition
or a disposition lightened by art and knowledge.
## p. 356 (#524) ############################################
356 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
487.
The Passion for Things. —Whoever sets his
passion on things (sciences, arts, the common weal,
the interests of culture) withdraws much fervour
from his passion for persons (even when they
are the representatives of those things; as states-
men, philosophers, and artists are the representa-
tives of their creations).
488.
Calmness in Action. —As a cascade in its
descent becomes more deliberate and suspended,
so the great man of action usually acts with more
calmness than his strong passions previous to
action would lead one to expect.
489.
NOT TOO Deep. —Persons who grasp a matter
in all its depth seldom remain permanently true
to it. They have just brought the depth up into
the light, and there is always much evil to be seen
there.
490.
The Illusion of Idealists. —All idealists
imagine that the cause which they serve is
essentially better than all other causes, and will
not believe that if their cause is really to flourish
it requires precisely the same evil-smelling manure
which all other human undertakings have need of.
## p. 357 (#525) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 357
491.
Self-Observation. — Man is exceedingly
well protected from himself and guarded against
his self-exploring and self-besieging; as a rule he
can perceive nothing of himself but his outworks.
The actual fortress is inaccessible, and even in-
visible, to him, unless friends and enemies become
* traitors and lead him inside by secret paths.
492.
The Right Calling. —Men can seldom hold
on to a calling unless they believe or persuade
themselves that it is really more important than any
other. Women are the same with their lovers.
493-
Nobility of Disposition. —Nobility of dis-
position consists largely in good-nature and
absence of distrust, and therefore contains precisely
that upon which money-grabbing and successful
men take a pleasure in walking with superiority
and scorn.
494-
Goal and Path. —Many are obstinate with
regard to the once-chosen path, few with regard
to the goal.
495-
The Offensiveness in an Individual Way
OF Life. —All specially individual lines of con-
duct excite irritation against him who adopts
them; people feel themselves reduced to the
## p. 358 (#526) ############################################
358 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
level of commonplace creatures by the extra-
ordinary treatment he bestows on himself.
496.
The Privilege of Greatness. —It is the
privilege of greatness to confer intense happiness
with insignificant gifts.
497-
Unintentionally Noble. —A person behaves
with unintentional nobleness when he has accus-
tomed himself to seek naught from others and
always to give to them.
498.
A Condition of Heroism. —When a person
wishes to become a hero, the serpent must previ-
ously have become a dragon, otherwise he lacks
his proper enemy.
499.
FRIEndS. —Fellowship in joy, and not sym-
pathy in sorrow, makes people friends.
500.
Making Use of Ebb and Flow. —For the
purpose of knowledge we must know how to
make use of the inward current which draws us
towards a thing, and also of the current which
after a time draws us away from it.
## p. 359 (#527) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 359
Soi.
Joy in Itself. —" Joy in the Thing " people
say; but in reality it is joy in itself by means of
the thing.
502.
The Unassuming Man. —He who is unas-
suming towards persons manifests his presumption
all the more with regard to things (town, State,
society, time, humanity). That is his revenge.
503.
Envy and Jealousy. —Envy and jealousy
are the pudenda of the human soul. The com-
parison may perhaps be carried further.
504.
The Noblest Hypocrite. —It is a very noble
hypocrisy not to talk of one's self at all.
505.
Vexation. —Vexation is a physical disease,
which is not by any means cured when its cause
is subsequently removed.
506.
The Champions of Truth. —Truth does not
find fewest champions when it is dangerous to
speak it, but when it is dull.
## p. 359 (#528) ############################################
358 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
level of commonplace creatures by the extra-
ordinary treatment he bestows on himself.
496.
The Privilege of Greatness. —It is the
privilege of greatness to confer intense happiness
with insignificant gifts.
497-
Unintentionally Noble. —A person behaves
with unintentional nobleness when he has accus-
tomed himself to seek naught from others and
always to give to them.
498.
A Condition of Heroism. —When a person
wishes to become a hero, the serpent must previ-
ously have become a dragon, otherwise he lacks
his proper enemy.
499-
Friends. —Fellowship in joy, and not sym-
pathy in sorrow, makes people friends.
500.
Making Use of Ebb and Flow. —For the
purpose of knowledge we must know how to
make use of the inward current which draws us
towards a thing, and also of the current which
after a time draws us away from it.
## p. 359 (#529) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 359
50I.
JOY IN Itself. —" Joy in the Thing " people
say; but in reality it is joy in itself by means of
the thing.
502.
The Unassuming Man. —He who is unas-
suming towards persons manifests his presumption
all the more with regard to things (town, State,
society, time, humanity). That is his revenge.
503.
Envy and Jealousy. —Envy and jealousy
are the pudenda of the human soul. The com-
parison may perhaps be carried further.
504.
The Noblest Hypocrite. —It is a very noble
hypocrisy not to talk of one's self at all.
505.
VEXATION. —Vexation is a physical disease,
which is not by any means cured when its cause
is subsequently removed.
506.
The Champions of Truth. —Truth does not
find fewest champions when it is dangerous to
speak it, but when it is dull.
## p. 360 (#530) ############################################
36c HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
507.
More Troublesome even than Enemies.
—Persons of whose sympathetic attitude we are
not, in all circumstances, convinced, while for some
reason or other (gratitude, for instance) we are
obliged to maintain the appearance of unqualified
sympathy with them, trouble our imagination
far more than our enemies do.
508.
Free Nature. —We are so fond of being
out among Nature, because it has no opinions
about us.
509.
Each Superior in one Thing. —In civil-
ised intercourse every one feels himself superior to
all others in at least one thing; kindly feelings
generally are based thereon, inasmuch as every one
can, in certain circumstances, render help, and is
therefore entitled to accept help without shame.
510.
Consolatory Arguments. —In the case of
a death we mostly use consolatory arguments not
so much to alleviate the grief as to make excuses
for feeling so easily consoled.
511.
Persons Loyal to their Convictions. —
Whoever is very busy retains his general views
and opinions almost unchanged. So also does
## p. 361 (#531) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 361
every one who labours in the service of an idea;
he will nevermore examine the idea itself, he no
longer has any time to do so; indeed, it is
against his interests to consider it as still admit-
ting of discussion.
512.
Morality and Quantity. — The higher
morality of one man as compared with that of
another, often lies merely in the fact that his
aims are quantitively greater. The other, living
in a circumscribed sphere, is dragged down by
petty occupations.
5 13.
"The Life" as the Proceeds of Life. —
A man may stretch himself out ever so far with
his knowledge; he may seem to himself ever so
objective, but eventually he realises nothing there-
from but his own biography.
514-
Iron Necessity. —Iron necessity is a thing
which has been found, in the course of history, to
be neither iron nor necessary.
515-
From Experience. — The unreasonableness
of a thing is no argument against its existence,
but rather a condition thereof.
516.
TRUTH. — Nobody dies nowadays of fatal
truths, there are too many antidotes to them.
## p. 362 (#532) ############################################
362 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
'
■J*
517.
A Fundamental Insight. — There is no
pre-established harmony between the promotion
of truth and the welfare of mankind.
518.
Man's Lot. —He who thinks most deeply
knows that he is always in the wrong, however
he may act and decide.
O
519-
TRUTH AS ClRCE. —Error has made animals
into men; is truth perhaps capable of making man
into an animal again?
520.
The Danger of Our Culture. — We
belong to a period of which the culture is in
danger of being destroyed by the appliances of
culture.
521.
Greatness Means Leading the Way. —
No stream is large and copious of itself, but
becomes great by receiving and leading on so
many tributary streams. It is so, also, with all
intellectual greatnesses. It is only a question of
some one indicating the direction to be followed
by so many affluents; not whether he was richly
or poorly gifted originally.
## p. 363 (#533) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 363
522.
A Feeble Conscience. —People who talk
about their importance to mankind have a feeble
conscience for common bourgeois rectitude, keep-
ing of contracts, promises, etc.
, 523.
Desiring to be Loved. —The demand to be
loved is the greatest of presumptions.
524.
Contempt for Men. —The most unequivocal
sign of contempt for man is to regard everybody
merely as a means to one's own ends, or of no
account whatever.
525.
Partisans through Contradiction. —
Whoever has driven men to fury against himself
has also gained a party in his favour.
526.
Forgetting Experiences. —Whoever thinks
much and to good purpose easily forgets his own
experiences, but not the thoughts which these
experiences have called forth.
527.
Sticking to an Opinion. — One person
sticks to an opinion because he takes pride in
having acquired it himself,—another sticks to it
because he has learnt it with difficulty and is
## p. 363 (#534) ############################################
354 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
swayed by this covetousness, and no lcj tnger
belongs entirely to himself alone as he,ia did
formerly; the new daily questions and can ^s of
the public welfare devour a daily tribute o gf the
intellectual and emotional capital of every cit izen;
the sum of all these sacrifices and losse s of
individual energy and labour is so enon nous,
that the political growth of a nation al^most
necessarily entails an intellectual impoverishnkient
and lassitude, a diminished capacity for fthe
performance of works that require great concen-
tration and specialisation. The question m^y
finally be asked: "Does it then pay, all this
bloom and magnificence of the total (which
indeed only manifests itself as the fear of the
new Colossus in other nations, and as the com-
pulsory favouring by them of national trade and
commerce) when all the nobler, finer, and more
intellectual plants and products, in which its soil
was hitherto so rich, must be sacrificed to this
coarse and opalescent flower of the nation ? *
482.
Repeated Once More. —Public opinion—
private laziness.
* This is once more an allusion to modern Germany.
—J. M. K.
## p. 363 (#535) ############################################
NINTH DIVISION.
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF.
483.
The Enemies of Truth. —Convictions are more
dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
484.
A Topsy-Turvy World. — We criticise a
thinker more severely when he puts an unpleasant
statement before us; and yet it would be more
reasonable to do so when we find his statement
pleasant.
485.
Decided Character. —A man far oftener ap-
pears to have a decided character from persistently
following his temperament than from persistently
following his principles.
486.
The One Thing Needful. —One thing a
man must have: either a naturally light disposition
or a disposition lightened by art and knowledge.
## p. 363 (#536) ############################################
356 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
487.
The Passion for Things. —Whoever sets his
passion on things (sciences, arts, the common weal,
the interests of culture) withdraws much fervour
from his passion for persons (even when they
are the representatives of those things; as states-
men, philosophers, and artists are the representa-
tives of their creations).
488.
Calmness in Action. —As a cascade in its
descent becomes more deliberate and suspended,
so the great man of action usually acts with more
calmness than his strong passions previous to
action would lead one to expect
.
489.
Not TOO Deep. —Persons who grasp a matter
in all its depth seldom remain permanently true
to it. They have just brought the depth up into
the light, and there is always much evil to be seen
there.
490.
The Illusion of Idealists. —All idealists
imagine that the cause which they serve is
essentially better than all other causes, and will
not believe that if their cause is really to flourish
it requires precisely the same evil-smelling manure
which all other human undertakings have need of.
## p. 363 (#537) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 357
491.
Self-Observation. — Man is exceedingly
well protected from himself and guarded against
his self-exploring and self-besieging; as a rule he
can perceive nothing of himself but his outworks.
The actual fortress is inaccessible, and even in-
visible, to him, unless friends and enemies become
traitors and lead him inside by secret paths.
492.
The Right Calling. —Men can seldom hold
on to a calling unless they believe or persuade
themselves that it is really more important than any
other. Women are the same with their lovers.
493-
Nobility of Disposition. —Nobility of dis-
position consists largely in good-nature and
absence of distrust, and therefore contains precisely
that upon which money-grabbing and successful
men take a pleasure in walking with superiority
and scorn.
494-
Goal and Path. —Many are obstinate with
regard to the once-chosen path, few with regard
to the goal.
495-
The Offensiveness in an Individual Way
OF Life. —All specially individual lines of con-
duct excite irritation against him who adopts
them; people feel themselves reduced to the
## p. 363 (#538) ############################################
358 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
level of commonplace creatures by the extra-
ordinary treatment he bestows on himself.
496.
The Privilege of Greatness. —It is the
privilege of greatness to confer intense happiness
with insignificant gifts.
497-
Unintentionally Noble. —A person behaves
with unintentional nobleness when he has accus-
tomed himself to seek naught from others and
always to give to them.
498.
A Condition of Heroism. —When a person
wishes to become a hero, the serpent must previ-
ously have become a dragon, otherwise he lacks
his proper enemy.
499.
FRIENDS. —Fellowship in joy, and not sym-
pathy in sorrow, makes people friends.
500.
Making Use of Ebb and Flow. —For the
purpose of knowledge we must know how to
make use of the inward current which draws us
towards a thing, and also of the current which
after a time draws us away from it.
## p. 363 (#539) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 359
50I.
Joy in Itself. —" Joy in the Thing " people
say; but in reality it is joy in itself by means of
the thing.
502.
The Unassuming Man. —He who is unas-
suming towards persons manifests his presumption
all the more with regard to things (town, State,
society, time, humanity). That is his revenge.
503-
Envy and Jealousy. —Envy and jealousy
are the pudenda of the human soul. The com-
parison may perhaps be carried further.
504.
The Noblest Hypocrite. —It is a very noble
hypocrisy not to talk of one's self at all.
505.
Vexation. —Vexation is a physical disease,
which is not by any means cured when its cause
is subsequently removed.
506.
The Champions of Truth. —Truth does not
find fewest champions when it is dangerous to
speak it, but when it is dull.
## p. 363 (#540) ############################################
358 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
level of commonplace creatures by the extra-
ordinary treatment he bestows on himself.
496.
The Privilege of Greatness. —It is the
privilege of greatness to confer intense happiness
with insignificant gifts.
497-
Unintentionally Noble. —A person behaves
with unintentional nobleness when he has accus-
tomed himself to seek naught from others and
always to give to them.
498.
A Condition of Heroism. —When a person
wishes to become a hero, the serpent must previ-
ously have become a dragon, otherwise he lacks
his proper enemy.
499.
FRIENDS. —Fellowship in joy, and not sym-
pathy in sorrow, makes people friends.
500.
Making Use of Ebb and Flow. —For the
purpose of knowledge we must know how to
make use of the inward current which draws us
towards a thing, and also of the current which
after a time draws us away from it.
## p. 363 (#541) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 359
5OI.
Joy in Itself. —" Joy in the Thing " people
say; but in reality it is joy in itself by means of
the thing.
502.
The Unassuming Man. —He who is unas-
suming towards persons manifests his presumption
all the more with regard to things (town, State,
society, time, humanity). That is his revenge.
503.
Envy and Jealousy. —Envy and jealousy
are the pudenda of the human soul. The com-
parison may perhaps be carried further.
504.
The Noblest Hypocrite. —It is a very noble
hypocrisy not to talk of one's self at all.
505.
VEXATION. —Vexation is a physical disease,
which is not by any means cured when its cause
is subsequently removed.
506.
The Champions of Truth. —Truth does not
find fewest champions when it is dangerous to
speak it, but when it is dull.
## p. 363 (#542) ############################################
36c HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
507.
More Troublesome even than Enemies.
—Persons of whose sympathetic attitude we are
not, in all circumstances, convinced, while for some
reason or other (gratitude, for instance) we are
obliged to maintain the appearance of unqualified
sympathy with them, trouble our imagination
far more than our enemies do.
508.
Free Nature. —We are so fond of being
out among Nature, because it has no opinions
about us.
509.
Each Superior in one Thing. —In civil-
ised intercourse every one feels himself superior to
all others in at least one thing; kindly feelings
generally are based thereon, inasmuch as every one
can, in certain circumstances, render help, and is
therefore entitled to accept help without shame.
510.
Consolatory Arguments. —In the case of
a death we mostly use consolatory arguments not
so much to alleviate the grief as to make excuses
for feeling so easily consoled.
511.
Persons Loyal to their Convictions. —
Whoever is very busy retains his general views
and opinions almost unchanged. So also does
## p. 363 (#543) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 361
every one who labours in the service of an idea;
he will nevermore examine the idea itself, he no
longer has any time to do so; indeed, it is
against his interests to consider it as still admit-
ting of discussion.
Si 2.
Morality and Quantity.
