Woman is the opposite of the dandy. Thus she must inspire horror. Woman
is hungry, and she wants to eat, thirsty, and she wants to drink. She
is proud, and she, wants to be....
True merit!
Woman is _natural_, that is to say, abominable.
Also, she is always vulgar, that is, the opposite of the dandy.
_In regard to the Legion of Honor_. He who seeks the cross seems to
say: "If I am not decorated for having done my duty, I shall not go
ahead."
If a man has merit, what is the good in decorating him? If he has not,
then he can be decorated, since that will give him a lustre.
To consent to be decorated, is to recognize that the state has the
right to judge you, to adorn you, et cetera.
Furthermore, if not pride, Christian humility should defend the cross.
_Calculation in favor of God._ Nothing exists without an end. Hence my
existence has an end. What end? I do not know. Hence it is not I that
have marked it. Hence it is some one wiser than I. Hence I must pray to
some one to enlighten me. That is the wisest part.
The dandy ought to aspire uninterruptedly to be sublime. He should live
and sleep before a mirror.
V
Analysis of counter-religions; example: sacred prostitution.
What is sacred prostitution? Nervous excitation. Pagan mysticism.
Mysticism, link between paganism and Christianity. Paganism and
Christianity are reciprocal proofs.
Revolution and the worship of Reason prove the concept of Sacrifice.
Superstition is the reservoir of all truths.