_(a)_ Among the oppressed and slaves of all kinds, in the form of will
to "_freedom_": the mere fact of breaking loose from something seems to
be an end in itself (in a religio-moral sense: "One is only answerable
to one's own conscience"; "evangelical freedom," etc. etc.),
_(b)_ In the case of a stronger species, ascending to power, in the
form of the will to overpower. If this fails, then it shrinks to the
"will to justice"--that is to say, to the will to the same measure of
rights as the ruling caste possesses.
_(c)_ In the case of the strongest, richest, most independent, and
most courageous, in the form of "love of humanity," of "love of the
people," of the "gospel," of "truth" of "God," of "pity," of self
sacrifice," etc. etc.; in the form of overpowering, of deeds of
capture, of imposing service on some one, of an instinctive reckoning
of one's self as part of a great mass of power to which one attempts
to give a direction: the hero, the prophet, the Cæsar, the Saviour,
the bell-wether. (The love of the sexes also belongs to this category,
it will overpower something, possess it utterly, and it looks like
self-abnegation. At bottom it is only the love of one's instrument, of
one's "horse"--the conviction that things belong to one because one is
in a position to use them.)
_"Freedom," "Justice," "Love"_!!!
777.
_Love._--Behold this love and pity of women--what could be more
egoistic? ... And when they do sacrifice themselves and their honour
or reputation, to whom do they sacrifice themselves? To the man? Is it
not rather to an unbridled desire? These desires are quite as selfish,
even though they may be beneficial to others and provoke gratitude.
... To what extent can such a hyperfœtation of one valuation sanctify
everything else!!
778.
_"Senses," "Passions."._--When the fear of the senses and of the
passions and of the desires becomes so great as to warn us against
them, it is already a symptom of _weakness:_ extreme measures always
characterise abnormal conditions. That which is lacking here, or more
precisely that which is decaying, is the power to resist an impulse:
when one feels instinctively that one must yield,--that is to say, that
one must react,--then it is an excellent thing to avoid opportunities
(temptations).
The stimulation of the senses is only a temptation in so far as those
creatures are concerned whose systems are easily swayed and influenced:
on the other hand, in the case of remarkable constitutional obtuseness
and hardness, strong stimuli are necessary in order to set the
functions in motion. Dissipation can only be objected to in the case of
one who has no right to it; and almost all passions have fallen into
disrepute thanks to those who were not strong enough to convert them to
their own advantage.
One should understand that passions are open to the same objections as
illnesses: yet we should not be justified in doing without illnesses,
and still less without passions. We require the abnormal; we give life
a tremendous shock by means of these great illnesses.