There will always be a need of bad authors; for they meet the taste of
readers of an undeveloped, immature age.... 1, 185
The born aristocrats of the mind are not in too much of a hurry; their
creations appear and fall from the tree on some quiet autumn evening,
without being rashly desired, instigated, or pushed aside by new
matter. The unceasing desire to create is vulgar, and betrays envy,
jealousy, and ambition. If a man _is_ something, it is not really
necessary for him to do anything--and yet he does a great deal. There
is a human species higher even than the "productive" man.... 1, 189
Deviating natures are of the utmost importance wherever there is to
be progress. Every wholesale progress must be preceded by a partial
weakening. The strongest natures _retain_ the type, the weaker ones
help it to _develop_. 1, 208
In the knowledge of truth, what really matters is the _possession_ of
it, not the impulse under which it was sought, the way in which it was
found. 1, 210
The fettered spirit does not take up his position from conviction,
but from habit; he is a Christian, for instance, not because he
had a comprehension of different creeds and could take his choice;
he is an Englishman, not because he decided for England, but he
found Christianity and England ready-made and accepted them without
any reason, just as one who is born in a wine-country becomes a
wine-drinker. 1, 211
The restriction of views, which habit has made instinct, leads to what
is called strength of character. 1, 212-213
The highest intelligence and the warmest heart cannot exist together
in one person, and the wise man who passes judgment upon life looks
beyond goodness and only regards it as something which is not without
value in the general summing-up of life. The wise man must _oppose_
those digressive wishes of unintelligent goodness, because he has an
interest in the continuance of his type and in the eventual appearance
of the highest intellect; at least, he will not advance the founding of
the "perfect State," inasmuch as there is only room in it for wearied
individuals. 1, 218-219
Interest in Education will acquire great strength only from the moment
when belief in a God and His care is renounced.... An education that no
longer believes in miracles must pay attention to three things: first,
how much energy is inherited? secondly, by what means can new energy
be aroused? thirdly, how can the individual be adapted to so many and
manifold claims of culture without being disquieted and destroying his
personality,--in short, how can the individual be initiated into the
counterpoint of private and public culture, how can he lead the melody
and at the same time accompany it. 1, 224-225
A higher culture must give man a double brain, two brain-chambers, so
to speak, one to feel science and the other to feel non-science, which
can lie side by side, without confusion, divisible, exclusive; this
is a necessity of health. In one part lies the source of strength,
in the other lies the regulator; it must be heated with illusions,
onesidednesses, passions; and the malicious and dangerous consequences
of overheating must be averted by the help of conscious Science. 1, 232
Simultaneous things hold together, it is said. A relative dies far
away, and at the same time we dream about him,--Consequently! But
countless relatives die and we do not dream about them.... This species
of superstition is found again in a refined form in historians and
delineators of culture, who usually have a kind of hydrophobic horror
of all that senseless mixture, in which individual and national life is
so rich. 1, 235
It is true that in the spheres of higher culture there must always be
a supremacy, but henceforth this supremacy lies in the hands of the
_oligarchs of the mind._ In spite of local and political separation
they form a cohesive society, whose members _recognise and acknowledge_
each other, whatever public opinion and the verdicts of review and
newspaper writers who influence the masses may circulate in favour
of or against them. Mental superiority, which formerly divided and
embittered, nowadays generally _unites._ ... Oligarchs are necessary
to each other, they are each other's best joy, they understand their
signs, but each is nevertheless free, he fights and conquers in _his_
place and perishes rather than submit. 1, 243
The greatest advance that men have made lies in their acquisition of
the art to _reason rightly._ 1, 249-250
The strength and weakness of mental productiveness depend far less on
inherited talents than on the accompanying amount of _elasticity._
1, 250
Whoever, in the present day, still derives his development from
religious sentiments, and perhaps lives for some length of time
afterwards in metaphysics and art, has assuredly gone back a
considerable distance and begins his race with other modern men
under unfavourable conditions; he apparently loses time and space.
But because he stays in those domains where ardour and energy are
liberated and force flows continuously as a volcanic stream out of an
inexhaustible source, he goes forward all the more quickly as soon as
he has freed himself at the right moment from those dominators....
1, 252
Whoever wishes to reap happiness and comfort in life should always
avoid higher culture. 1, 255-250
All mankind is divided, as it was at all times and is still, into
slaves and freemen; for whoever has not two-thirds of his day for
himself is a slave.... 1, 259
If idleness is really the _beginning_ of all vice, it finds itself,
therefore, at least in near neighbourhood of all the virtues; the idle
man is still a better man than the active. You do not suppose that in
speaking of idleness and idlers I am alluding to you, you sluggards?
1, 260
I believe that every one must have his own opinion about everything
concerning which opinions are possible, because he himself is a
peculiar, unique thing, which assumes towards all other things a new
and never hitherto existing attitude. 1, 260-261
Whoever earnestly desires to be free will therewith and without any
compulsion lose all inclination for faults and vices; he will also be
more rarely overcome by anger and vexation. 1, 261-262
You must have loved religion and art as you loved mother and
nurse,--otherwise you cannot be wise. But you must be able to see
beyond them, to outgrow them; if you remain under their ban you do not
understand them. 1, 264
The rage for equality may so manifest itself that we seek either to
draw all others down to ourselves (by belittling, disregarding, and
tripping up), or ourselves and all others upwards (by recognition,
assistance, and congratulation). 1, 268
We set no special value on the possession of a virtue until we perceive
that it is entirely lacking in our adversary. 1, 269
We forget our pretensions when we are always conscious of being amongst
meritorious people; being alone implants presumption in us. The young
are pretentious, for they associate with their equals, who are all
ciphers but would fain have a great significance. 1, 271
In warring against stupidity, the most just and gentle of men at last
become brutal. They are thereby, perhaps, taking the proper course for
defence; for the most appropriate argument for a stupid brain is the
clenched fist. But because, as has been said, their character is just
and gentle, they suffer more by this means of protection than they
injure their opponents by it. 1, 284
The perfect woman is a higher type of humanity than the perfect man,
and also something much rarer. 1, 295
Every one bears within him an image of woman, inherited from his
mother: it determines his attitude towards woman as a whole, whether to
honour, despise, or remain generally indifferent to them. 1, 295-296
Mothers are readily jealous of the friends of sons who are particularly
successful. As a rule mother loves _herself_ in her son more than the
son. 1, 296
If married couples did not live together, happy marriages would be more
frequent. 1, 298
As a rule women love a distinguished man to the extent that they wish
to possess him exclusively. They would gladly keep him under lock and
key, if their vanity did not forbid, but vanity demands that he should
also appear distinguished before others. 1, 299
Those girls who mean to trust exclusively to their youthful charms
for their provision in life, and whose cunning is further prompted by
worldly mothers, have just the same aims as courtesans, only they are
wiser and less honest. 1, 300
For goodness' sake let us not give our classical education to girls!
1, 301
The intellect of woman manifests itself as perfect mastery, presence
of mind, and utilisation of all advantages. They transmit it as a
fundamental quality to their children, and the father adds thereto the
darker background of the will. His influence determines as it were
the rhythm and harmony with which the new life is to be performed;
but its melody is derived from the mother. For those who know how to
put a thing properly: women have intelligence, men have character and
passion. This does not contradict the fact that men actually achieve
so much more with their intelligence: they have deeper and more
powerful impulses; and it is these which carry their understanding (in
itself something passive) to such an extent. Women are often silently
surprised at the great respect men pay to their character. When,
therefore, in the choice of a partner men seek specially for a being
of deep and strong character, and women for a being of intelligence,
brilliancy, and presence of mind, it is plain that at bottom men seek
for the ideal man, and women for the ideal woman,--consequently not
for the complement but for the completion of their own excellence.
1, 302-303.
It is a sign of women's wisdom that they have almost always known how
to get themselves supported, like drones in a bee-hive. Let us just
consider what this meant originally, and why men do not depend upon
women for their support. Of a truth it is because masculine vanity and
reverence are greater than feminine wisdom; for women have known how to
secure for themselves by their subordination the greatest advantage,
in fact, the upper hand. Even the care of children may originally
have been used by the wisdom of women as an excuse for withdrawing
themselves as much as possible from work. And at present they still
understand when they are really active (as housekeepers, for instance)
how to make a bewildering fuss about it, so that the merit of their
activity is usually ten times over-estimated by men. 1, 303
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. 1, 308
Marriage regarded in its highest aspect, as the spiritual friendship
of two persons of opposite sexes, and accordingly such as is hoped for
in 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. 1, 309
We always lose through too familiar association with women and friends;
and sometimes we lose the pearl of of our life thereby. 1, 312
Women always intrigue privately against the higher souls of their
husbands; they want to cheat them out of their future for the sake of a
painless and comfortable present. 1, 315
It is laughable when a company 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 knowledge and estimation of universal existence,
burdens himself with personal considerations of 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 1, too, agree with the opinion
that in matters of the highest philosophy all married men are to be
suspected. 1, 316
A higher culture can only originate where there are two distinct castes
of society: that of the working class, and that of the leisured class
who are capable of true leisure; or, more strongly expressed, the caste
of compulsory labour and the caste of free labour. 1, 319
Against war it may be said that it makes the victor stupid and the
vanquished revengeful. 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. 1, 322
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, "How far _ought_ we to grant its demands?") but
only a problem of _power_ ("How far _can_ we make use of its demands?")
1, 322
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 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? 1, 326-327
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.
1, 327
Those who are bent on revolutionising society may be divided into
those who seek something for themselves thereby and those who seek
something for their children and grandchildren. The latter are the
more dangerous, for they have the belief and the good conscience of
disinterestedness. 1, 329
The fact that we regard the gratification of vanity as of more account
than all other forms of well-being (security, position, and pleasures
of all sorts), is shown to a ludicrous extent by every one wishing for
the abolition of slavery and utterly abhorring to put any one into
this position.... We protest in the name of the "dignity of man"; but,
expressed more simply, that is just our darling vanity which feels
non-equality, and inferiority in public estimation, to be the hardest
lot of all. 1, 330
In all institutions into which the sharp breeze of public criticism
does not penetrate an innocent corruption grows up like a fungus (for
instance, in learned bodies and senates). 1, 336
The belief in a divine regulation of political affairs, in a mystery
in the existence of the State, is of religious origin: if religion
disappears, the State will inevitably lose its old veil of Isis, and
will no longer arouse veneration. The sovereignty of the people,
looked at closely, serves also to dispel the final fascination and
superstition in the realm of these sentiments; modern democracy is the
historical form of the _decay of the State._ 1, 342
Socialism is the fantastic younger brother of almost decrepit
despotism, which it wants to succeed; its efforts are, therefore,
in the deepest sense reactionary. For it desires such an amount of
State Power as only despotism has possessed,--indeed, it outdoes
all the past, in that it aims at the complete annihilation of the
individual, whom it deems an unauthorised luxury of nature, which
is to be improved by it into an appropriate _organ of the general
community._ Owing to its relationship, it always appears in proximity
to excessive developments of power, like the old typical socialist,
Plato, at the court of the Sicilian tyrant; it desires (and under
certain circumstances furthers) the Cæsarian despotism of this century,
because, as has been said, it would like to become its heir. But even
this inheritance would not suffice for its objects, it requires the
most submissive prostration of all citizens before the absolute State,
such as has never yet been realised, and as it can no longer even count
upon the old religious piety towards the State, but must rather strive
involuntarily and continuously for the abolition thereof,--because
it strives for the abolition of all existing _States,_--it can only
hope for existence occasionally, here and there for short periods, by
means of the extremest terrorism. It is therefore silently preparing
itself for reigns of terror, and drives the word "justice" like a nail
into the heads of the half-cultured masses in order to deprive them
completely of their understanding (after they had already suffered
seriously from the half-culture), and to provide them with a good
conscience for the bad game they are to play. Socialism may serve to
teach, very brutally and impressively, the danger of all accumulations
of State power, and may serve so far to inspire distrust of the State
itself. 1, 343-344
It is nothing but fanaticism and beautiful soulism to expect very much
(or even, much only) from humanity when it has forgotten how to wage
war. 1, 349
Wealth necessarily creates an aristocracy of race, for it permits the
choice of the most beautiful women and the engagement of the best
teachers; it allows a man cleanliness, time for physical exercises,
and, above all, immunity from dulling physical labour. 1, 351