When and where has any man, _of any note at all,_ resembled the
Christian ideal?--at least in the eyes of those who are psychologists
and triers of the heart and reins. Look at all Plutarch's heroes! 180
The _higher_ man distinguishes himself from the _lower_ by his
fearlessness and his readiness to challenge misfortune: it is a
sign of _degeneration_ when eudemonistic values begin to prevail
(physiological fatigue and enfeeblement of will-power). Christianity,
with its prospect of "blessedness," is the typical attitude of mind of
a suffering and impoverished species of man. Abundant strength will be
active, will suffer, and will go under. 182
All ideals are dangerous; because they lower and brand realities; they
are all poisons. 183
These "conditions of salvation" of which the Christian is conscious are
merely variations of the same diseased state--the interpretation of an
attack of epilepsy by means of a particular formula which is provided,
_not_ by science, but by religious mania. 190
_A pang of conscience_ in a man is a sign that his character is not
yet equal to his _deed._ There is such a thing as a pang of conscience
after _good deeds:_ in this case it is their unfamiliarity, their
incompatibility with an old environment. 192
We immoralists prefer to disbelieve in "faults." We believe that all
deeds, of what kind soever, are identically the same at root; just as
deeds which turn _against_ us may be useful from an economical point
of view, and even _generally desirable._ In certain individual cases,
we admit that we might well have been _spared_ a given action; the
circumstances alone predisposed us in its favour. Which of us, if
_favoured_ by circumstances, would not already have committed every
possible crime? ... That is why, one should never say: "Thou shouldst
never have done such and such a thing," but only: "How strange it
is that I have not done such and such a thing hundreds of times
already!"--As a matter of fact, only a very small number of acts are
_typical_ acts and real epitomes of a personality, and seeing what a
small number of people really are personalities, a single act very
rarely characterises a man. Acts are mostly dictated by circumstances;
they are superficial or merely reflex movements performed in response
to a stimulus, long before the depths of our beings are affected or
consulted in the matter. 192-193.
Experience teaches us that, in every case in which a man has elevated
himself to any great extent above the average of his fellows, every
high degree of _power_ always involves a corresponding degree of
_freedom_ from Good and Evil as also from "true" and "false," and
cannot take into account what goodness dictates. 200
What is Christian "virtue" and "love of men," if not precisely this
mutual assistance with a view to survival, this solidarity of the weak,
this thwarting of selection? What is Christian altruism, if it is not
the mob-egotism of the weak which divines that, if everybody looks
after everybody else, every individual will be preserved for a longer
period of time?... He who does not consider this attitude of mind
as _immoral,_ as a crime against life, himself belongs to the sickly
crowd, and also shares their instincts.... Genuine love of mankind
exacts sacrifice for the good of the species--it is hard, full of
self-control, because it needs human sacrifices. 203
What deserves the most rigorous condemnation, is the ambiguous and
cowardly infirmity of purpose of a religion like _Christianity,_--or
rather like the _Church,--_which, instead of recommending death and
self-destruction, actually protects all the botched and bungled, and
encourages them to propagate their kind. 204
Let us see what the "genuine Christian" does of all the things which
his instincts forbid him to do:--he covers beauty, pride, riches,
self-reliance, brilliancy, knowledge, and power with suspicion and
_mud_--in short, _all culture:_ his object is to deprive the latter of
its _clean conscience._ 200
What is it we combat in Christianity? That it aims at destroying
the strong, at breaking their spirit, at exploiting their moments
of weariness and debility, at converting their proud assurance
into anxiety and conscience-trouble; that it knows how to poison
the noblest instincts and to infect them with disease, until their
strength, their will to power, turns inwards, against themselves--until
the strong perish through their excessive self-contempt and
self-immolation. 209