<
■"
517-
A Fundamental Insight.
■"
517-
A Fundamental Insight.
Nietzsche - v06 - Human All-Too-Human - a
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. — 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.
513-
"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.
5 14.
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.
Si6.
Truth. — Nobody dies nowadays of fatal
truths, there are too many antidotes to them.
## p. 363 (#544) ############################################
362 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
<
■"
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 (#545) ############################################
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.
, S23.
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. 364 (#546) ############################################
364 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
proud of having understood it; both of them,
therefore, out of vanity.
528.
Avoiding the Light. —Good deeds avoid the
light just as anxiously as evil deeds; the latter
fear that pain will result from publicity (as punish-
ment), the former fear that pleasure will vanish
with publicity (the pure pleasure per se, which
ceases as soon as satisfaction of vanity is added
to it).
529.
The Length of the Day. —When one has
much to put into them, a day has a hundred
pockets.
530.
The Genius of Tyranny. —When an invin-
cible desire to obtain tyrannical power has been
awakened in the soul, and constantly keeps up
its fervour, even a very mediocre talent (in poli-
ticians, artists, etc. ) gradually becomes an almost
irresistible natural force.
531-
y The Enemy's Life. —He who lives by fighting
with an enemy has an interest in the preservation
of the enemy's life. *
* This is why Nietzsche pointed out later on that he had
an interest in the preservation of Christianity, and that he
was sure his teaching would not undermine this faith—just
as little as anarchists have undermined kings; but have left
them seated all the more firmly on their thrones. —J. M. K.
## p. 365 (#547) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 365
532.
More Important. — Unexplained, obscure
matters are regarded as more important than
explained, clear ones.
533-
Valuation of Services Rendered. —We
estimate services rendered to us according to the
value set on them by those who render them, not
according to the value they have for us.
534-
UNHAPPINESS. —The distinction associated with
unhappiness (as if it were a sign of stupidity, un-
ambitiousness, or commonplaceness to feel happy)
is so great that when any one says to us, " How
happy you are! " we usually protest.
535-
Imagination in Anguish. — When one is
afraid of anything, one's imagination plays the
part of that evil spirit which springs on one's back
just when one has the heaviest load to bear.
536.
The Value of Insipid Opponents. —We
sometimes remain faithful to a cause merely
because its opponents never cease to be insipid.
537-
The Value of a Profession. —A profession
makes us thoughtless; that is its greatest blessing.
## p. 366 (#548) ############################################
366 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
For it is a bulwark behind which we are permitted
to withdraw when commonplace doubts and cares
assail us.
538.
Talent. —Many a man's talent appears less
than it is, because he has always set himself too
heavy tasks.
539-
YOUTH. —Youth is an unpleasant period; for
then it is not possible or not prudent to be pro-
ductive in any sense whatsoever.
540.
Too Great Aims. —Whoever aims publicly at
great things and at length perceives secretly that
he is too weak to achieve them, has usually also
insufficient strength to renounce his aims publicly,
and then inevitably becomes a hypocrite.
541.
In the Current. —Mighty waters sweep
many stones and shrubs away with them; mighty
spirits many foolish and confused minds.
S42.
The Dangers of Intellectual Emanci-
pation. —In a seriously intended intellectual
emancipation a person's mute passions and crav-
ings also hope to find their advantage.
## p. 367 (#549) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 367
543-
The Incarnation of the Mind. —When any
one thinks much and to good purpose, not only
his face but also his body acquires a sage look.
544-
Seeing Badly and Hearing Badly. —The
man who sees little always sees less than there is
to see; the man who hears badly always hears
something more than there is to hear.
545-
Self-Enjoyment in Vanity. —The vain man
does not wish so much to be prominent as to feel
himself prominent; he therefore disdains none of
the expedients for self-deception and self-out-
witting. It is not the opinion of others that he
sets his heart on, but his opinion of their opinion.
546.
Exceptionally Vain. —He who is usually
self-sufficient becomes exceptionally vain, and
keenly alive to fame and praise when he is
physically ill. The more he loses himself the
more he has to endeavour to regain his position
by means of the opinion of others.
. 547-
The " Witty. "—Those who seek wit do not
possess it.
## p. 367 (#550) ############################################
366 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
For it is a bulwark behind which we are permitted
to withdraw when commonplace doubts and cares
assail us.
538.
TALENT. —Many a man's talent appears less
than it is, because he has always set himself too
heavy tasks.
539-
Youth. —Youth is an unpleasant period; for
then it is not possible or not prudent to be pro-
ductive in any sense whatsoever.
540.
Too Great Aims. —Whoever aims publicly at
great things and at length perceives secretly that
he is too weak to achieve them, has usually also
insufficient strength to renounce his aims publicly,
and then inevitably becomes a hypocrite.
541.
In the Current. —Mighty waters sweep
many stones and shrubs away with them; mighty
spirits many foolish and confused minds.
542.
The Dangers of Intellectual Emanci-
pation. —In a seriously intended intellectual
emancipation a person's mute passions and crav-
ings also hope to find their advantage.
## p. 367 (#551) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 367
543-
The Incarnation of the Mind. —When any
one thinks much and to good purpose, not only
his face but also his body acquires a sage look.
544-
Seeing Badly and Hearing Badly. —The
man who sees little always sees less than there is
to see; the man who hears badly always hears
something more than there is to hear.
545-
Self-Enjoyment in Vanity. —The vain man
does not wish so much to be prominent as to feel
himself prominent; he therefore disdains none of
the expedients for self-deception and self-out-
witting. It is not the opinion of others that he
sets his heart on, but his opinion of their opinion.
546.
Exceptionally Vain. —He who is usually
self-sufficient becomes exceptionally vain, and
keenly alive to fame and praise when he is
physically ill. The more he loses himself the
more he has to endeavour to regain his position
by means of the opinion of others.
'547-
The " Witty. "—Those who seek wit do not
possess it.
## p. 368 (#552) ############################################
368 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
548.
A Hint to the Heads of Parties. —When
one can make people publicly support a cause they
have also generally been brought to the point of
inwardly declaring themselves in its favour, be-
cause they wish to be regarded as consistent.
549-
Contempt. —Man is more sensitive to the
contempt of others than to self-contempt.
5SO.
The Tie of Gratitude. . —There are servile
souls who carry so far their sense of obligation for
benefits received that they strangle themselves with
the tie of gratitude.
551.
The Prophet's Knack. —In predicting before-
hand the procedure of ordinary individuals, it must
be taken for granted that they always make use
of the smallest intellectual expenditure in freeing
themselves from disagreeable situations.
552.
Man's Sole Right. —He who swerves from
the traditional is a victim of the unusual; he who
keeps to the traditional is its slave. The man is
ruined in either case.
## p. 369 (#553) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 369
553-
Below the Beast. —When a man roars with
laughter he surpasses all the animals by his
vulgarity.
554-
Partial Knowledge. —He who speaks a
foreign language imperfectly has more enjoyment
therein than he who speaks it well. The enjoy-
ment is with the partially initiated.
555-
Dangerous Helpfulness. —There are people
who wish to make human life harder for no other
reason than to be able afterwards to offer men
their life-alleviating recipes—their Christianity, for
example.
556.
Industriousness and Conscientiousness.
—Industriousness and conscientiousness are often
antagonists, owing to the fact that industrious-
ness wants to pluck the fruit sour from the tree
while conscientiousness wants to let it hang too
long, until it falls and is bruised.
557-
Casting Suspicion. —We endeavour to cast
suspicion on persons whom we cannot endure.
vol. 1. 2A
## p. 370 (#554) ############################################
370 HUMAN, ALL-TOO-HUMAN.
558.
The Conditions are Lacking. —Many people
wait all their lives for the opportunity to be good
in their own way.
5 59-
Lack of Friends. —Lack of friends leads to
the inference that a person is envious or presump-
tuous. Many a man owes his friends merely to the
fortunate circumstance that he has no occasion
for envy.
560.
Danger in Manifoldness. —With one talent
more we often stand less firmly than with one less;
just as a table stands better on three feet than on
561.
An Exemplar for Others. —Whoever wants
to set a good example must add a grain of folly
to his virtue; people then imitate their exemplar
and at the same time raise themselves above him,
a thing they love to do.
562.
Being a Target. —The bad things others say
about us are often not really aimed at us, but are
the manifestations of spite or ill-humour occasioned
by quite different causes.
## p. 371 (#555) ############################################
MAN ALONE BY HIMSELF. 371
563.
Easily Resigned. —We suffer but little on
account of ungratified wishes if we have exercised
our imagination in distorting the past.
S64.
In Danger. —One is in greatest danger of
being run over when one has just got out of
the way of a carriage.
S65.
The R6le According to the Voice. —
Whoever is obliged to speak louder than he
naturally does (say, to a partially deaf person
or before a large audience), usually exaggerates
what he has to communicate. Many a one
becomes a conspirator, malevolent gossip, or
intriguer, merely because his voice is best suited
for whispering.
566.
Love and Hatred. —Love and hatred are
not blind, but are dazzled by the fire which they
carry about with them.
567.
