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Bailey Saunders + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism + +Author: Arthur Schopenhauer + +Release Date: January 17, 2004 [eBook #10732] +Last Updated: September 25, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESSAYS OF ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER; +STUDIES IN PESSIMISM*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE ESSAYS OF<br /><br /> ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER:<br /><br /> STUDIES IN + PESSIMISM + </h1> + <h2> + By Arthur Schopenhauer + </h2> + <h3> + Translated By T. Bailey Saunders + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> NOTE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> ON THE SUFFERINGS OF THE WORLD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> THE VANITY OF EXISTENCE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> ON SUICIDE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> IMMORTALITY:[1] A DIALOGUE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> FURTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> ON EDUCATION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> OF WOMEN. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> ON NOISE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> A FEW PARABLES. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTE. + </h2> + <p> + The Essays here presented form a further selection from Schopenhauer's <i>Parerga</i>, + brought together under a title which is not to be found in the original, + and does not claim to apply to every chapter in the volume. The first + essay is, in the main, a rendering of the philosopher's remarks under the + heading of <i>Nachträge zur Lehre vom Leiden der Welt</i>, together with + certain parts of another section entitled <i>Nachträge zur Lehre von der + Bejahung und Verneinung des Willens zum Leben</i>. Such omissions as I + have made are directed chiefly by the desire to avoid repeating arguments + already familiar to readers of the other volumes in this series. The <i>Dialogue + on Immortality</i> sums up views expressed at length in the philosopher's + chief work, and treated again in the <i>Parerga</i>. The <i>Psychological + Observations</i> in this and the previous volume practically exhaust the + chapter of the original which bears this title. + </p> + <p> + The essay on <i>Women</i> must not be taken in jest. It expresses + Schopenhauer's serious convictions; and, as a penetrating observer of the + faults of humanity, he may be allowed a hearing on a question which is + just now receiving a good deal of attention among us. + </p> + <h3> + T.B.S. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON THE SUFFERINGS OF THE WORLD. + </h2> + <p> + Unless <i>suffering</i> is the direct and immediate object of life, our + existence must entirely fail of its aim. It is absurd to look upon the + enormous amount of pain that abounds everywhere in the world, and + originates in needs and necessities inseparable from life itself, as + serving no purpose at all and the result of mere chance. Each separate + misfortune, as it comes, seems, no doubt, to be something exceptional; but + misfortune in general is the rule. + </p> + <p> + I know of no greater absurdity than that propounded by most systems of + philosophy in declaring evil to be negative in its character. Evil is just + what is positive; it makes its own existence felt. Leibnitz is + particularly concerned to defend this absurdity; and he seeks to + strengthen his position by using a palpable and paltry sophism.<a + href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1">1</a> It is the + good which is negative; in other words, happiness and satisfaction always + imply some desire fulfilled, some state of pain brought to an end. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>, + cf. <i>Thèod</i>, §153.—Leibnitz argued that evil is a negative + quality—<i>i.e</i>., the absence of good; and that its active and + seemingly positive character is an incidental and not an essential part of + its nature. Cold, he said, is only the absence of the power of heat, and + the active power of expansion in freezing water is an incidental and not + an essential part of the nature of cold. The fact is, that the power of + expansion in freezing water is really an increase of repulsion amongst its + molecules; and Schopenhauer is quite right in calling the whole argument a + sophism.] + </p> + <p> + This explains the fact that we generally find pleasure to be not nearly so + pleasant as we expected, and pain very much more painful. + </p> + <p> + The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at + any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes + to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him compare the + respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the + other. + </p> + <p> + The best consolation in misfortune or affliction of any kind will be the + thought of other people who are in a still worse plight than yourself; and + this is a form of consolation open to every one. But what an awful fate + this means for mankind as a whole! + </p> + <p> + We are like lambs in a field, disporting themselves under the eye of the + butcher, who chooses out first one and then another for his prey. So it is + that in our good days we are all unconscious of the evil Fate may have + presently in store for us—sickness, poverty, mutilation, loss of + sight or reason. + </p> + <p> + No little part of the torment of existence lies in this, that Time is + continually pressing upon us, never letting us take breath, but always + coming after us, like a taskmaster with a whip. If at any moment Time + stays his hand, it is only when we are delivered over to the misery of + boredom. + </p> + <p> + But misfortune has its uses; for, as our bodily frame would burst asunder + if the pressure of the atmosphere was removed, so, if the lives of men + were relieved of all need, hardship and adversity; if everything they took + in hand were successful, they would be so swollen with arrogance that, + though they might not burst, they would present the spectacle of unbridled + folly—nay, they would go mad. And I may say, further, that a certain + amount of care or pain or trouble is necessary for every man at all times. + A ship without ballast is unstable and will not go straight. + </p> + <p> + Certain it is that <i>work, worry, labor</i> and <i>trouble</i>, form the + lot of almost all men their whole life long. But if all wishes were + fulfilled as soon as they arose, how would men occupy their lives? what + would they do with their time? If the world were a paradise of luxury and + ease, a land flowing with milk and honey, where every Jack obtained his + Jill at once and without any difficulty, men would either die of boredom + or hang themselves; or there would be wars, massacres, and murders; so + that in the end mankind would inflict more suffering on itself than it has + now to accept at the hands of Nature. + </p> + <p> + In early youth, as we contemplate our coming life, we are like children in + a theatre before the curtain is raised, sitting there in high spirits and + eagerly waiting for the play to begin. It is a blessing that we do not + know what is really going to happen. Could we foresee it, there are times + when children might seem like innocent prisoners, condemned, not to death, + but to life, and as yet all unconscious of what their sentence means. + Nevertheless, every man desires to reach old age; in other words, a state + of life of which it may be said: "It is bad to-day, and it will be worse + to-morrow; and so on till the worst of all." + </p> + <p> + If you try to imagine, as nearly as you can, what an amount of misery, + pain and suffering of every kind the sun shines upon in its course, you + will admit that it would be much better if, on the earth as little as on + the moon, the sun were able to call forth the phenomena of life; and if, + here as there, the surface were still in a crystalline state. + </p> + <p> + Again, you may look upon life as an unprofitable episode, disturbing the + blessed calm of non-existence. And, in any case, even though things have + gone with you tolerably well, the longer you live the more clearly you + will feel that, on the whole, life is <i>a disappointment, nay, a cheat</i>. + </p> + <p> + If two men who were friends in their youth meet again when they are old, + after being separated for a life-time, the chief feeling they will have at + the sight of each other will be one of complete disappointment at life as + a whole; because their thoughts will be carried back to that earlier time + when life seemed so fair as it lay spread out before them in the rosy + light of dawn, promised so much—and then performed so little. This + feeling will so completely predominate over every other that they will not + even consider it necessary to give it words; but on either side it will be + silently assumed, and form the ground-work of all they have to talk about. + </p> + <p> + He who lives to see two or three generations is like a man who sits some + time in the conjurer's booth at a fair, and witnesses the performance + twice or thrice in succession. The tricks were meant to be seen only once; + and when they are no longer a novelty and cease to deceive, their effect + is gone. + </p> + <p> + While no man is much to be envied for his lot, there are countless numbers + whose fate is to be deplored. + </p> + <p> + Life is a task to be done. It is a fine thing to say <i>defunctus est</i>; + it means that the man has done his task. + </p> + <p> + If children were brought into the world by an act of pure reason alone, + would the human race continue to exist? Would not a man rather have so + much sympathy with the coming generation as to spare it the burden of + existence? or at any rate not take it upon himself to impose that burden + upon it in cold blood. + </p> + <p> + I shall be told, I suppose, that my philosophy is comfortless—because + I speak the truth; and people prefer to be assured that everything the + Lord has made is good. Go to the priests, then, and leave philosophers in + peace! At any rate, do not ask us to accommodate our doctrines to the + lessons you have been taught. That is what those rascals of sham + philosophers will do for you. Ask them for any doctrine you please, and + you will get it. Your University professors are bound to preach optimism; + and it is an easy and agreeable task to upset their theories. + </p> + <p> + I have reminded the reader that every state of welfare, every feeling of + satisfaction, is negative in its character; that is to say, it consists in + freedom from pain, which is the positive element of existence. It follows, + therefore, that the happiness of any given life is to be measured, not by + its joys and pleasures, but by the extent to which it has been free from + suffering—from positive evil. If this is the true standpoint, the + lower animals appear to enjoy a happier destiny than man. Let us examine + the matter a little more closely. + </p> + <p> + However varied the forms that human happiness and misery may take, leading + a man to seek the one and shun the other, the material basis of it all is + bodily pleasure or bodily pain. This basis is very restricted: it is + simply health, food, protection from wet and cold, the satisfaction of the + sexual instinct; or else the absence of these things. Consequently, as far + as real physical pleasure is concerned, the man is not better off than the + brute, except in so far as the higher possibilities of his nervous system + make him more sensitive to every kind of pleasure, but also, it must be + remembered, to every kind of pain. But then compared with the brute, how + much stronger are the passions aroused in him! what an immeasurable + difference there is in the depth and vehemence of his emotions!—and + yet, in the one case, as in the other, all to produce the same result in + the end: namely, health, food, clothing, and so on. + </p> + <p> + The chief source of all this passion is that thought for what is absent + and future, which, with man, exercises such a powerful influence upon all + he does. It is this that is the real origin of his cares, his hopes, his + fears—emotions which affect him much more deeply than could ever be + the case with those present joys and sufferings to which the brute is + confined. In his powers of reflection, memory and foresight, man + possesses, as it were, a machine for condensing and storing up his + pleasures and his sorrows. But the brute has nothing of the kind; whenever + it is in pain, it is as though it were suffering for the first time, even + though the same thing should have previously happened to it times out of + number. It has no power of summing up its feelings. Hence its careless and + placid temper: how much it is to be envied! But in man reflection comes + in, with all the emotions to which it gives rise; and taking up the same + elements of pleasure and pain which are common to him and the brute, it + develops his susceptibility to happiness and misery to such a degree that, + at one moment the man is brought in an instant to a state of delight that + may even prove fatal, at another to the depths of despair and suicide. + </p> + <p> + If we carry our analysis a step farther, we shall find that, in order to + increase his pleasures, man has intentionally added to the number and + pressure of his needs, which in their original state were not much more + difficult to satisfy than those of the brute. Hence luxury in all its + forms; delicate food, the use of tobacco and opium, spirituous liquors, + fine clothes, and the thousand and one things than he considers necessary + to his existence. + </p> + <p> + And above and beyond all this, there is a separate and peculiar source of + pleasure, and consequently of pain, which man has established for himself, + also as the result of using his powers of reflection; and this occupies + him out of all proportion to its value, nay, almost more than all his + other interests put together—I mean ambition and the feeling of + honor and shame; in plain words, what he thinks about the opinion other + people have of him. Taking a thousand forms, often very strange ones, this + becomes the goal of almost all the efforts he makes that are not rooted in + physical pleasure or pain. It is true that besides the sources of pleasure + which he has in common with the brute, man has the pleasures of the mind + as well. These admit of many gradations, from the most innocent trifling + or the merest talk up to the highest intellectual achievements; but there + is the accompanying boredom to be set against them on the side of + suffering. Boredom is a form of suffering unknown to brutes, at any rate + in their natural state; it is only the very cleverest of them who show + faint traces of it when they are domesticated; whereas in the case of man + it has become a downright scourge. The crowd of miserable wretches whose + one aim in life is to fill their purses but never to put anything into + their heads, offers a singular instance of this torment of boredom. Their + wealth becomes a punishment by delivering them up to misery of having + nothing to do; for, to escape it, they will rush about in all directions, + traveling here, there and everywhere. No sooner do they arrive in a place + than they are anxious to know what amusements it affords; just as though + they were beggars asking where they could receive a dole! Of a truth, need + and boredom are the two poles of human life. Finally, I may mention that + as regards the sexual relation, a man is committed to a peculiar + arrangement which drives him obstinately to choose one person. This + feeling grows, now and then, into a more or less passionate love,<a + href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" id="linknoteref-2">2</a> which is + the source of little pleasure and much suffering. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ I have treated this subject + at length in a special chapter of the second volume of my chief work.] + </p> + <p> + It is, however, a wonderful thing that the mere addition of thought should + serve to raise such a vast and lofty structure of human happiness and + misery; resting, too, on the same narrow basis of joy and sorrow as man + holds in common with the brute, and exposing him to such violent emotions, + to so many storms of passion, so much convulsion of feeling, that what he + has suffered stands written and may be read in the lines on his face. And + yet, when all is told, he has been struggling ultimately for the very same + things as the brute has attained, and with an incomparably smaller + expenditure of passion and pain. + </p> + <p> + But all this contributes to increase the measures of suffering in human + life out of all proportion to its pleasures; and the pains of life are + made much worse for man by the fact that death is something very real to + him. The brute flies from death instinctively without really knowing what + it is, and therefore without ever contemplating it in the way natural to a + man, who has this prospect always before his eyes. So that even if only a + few brutes die a natural death, and most of them live only just long + enough to transmit their species, and then, if not earlier, become the + prey of some other animal,—whilst man, on the other hand, manages to + make so-called natural death the rule, to which, however, there are a good + many exceptions,—the advantage is on the side of the brute, for the + reason stated above. But the fact is that man attains the natural term of + years just as seldom as the brute; because the unnatural way in which he + lives, and the strain of work and emotion, lead to a degeneration of the + race; and so his goal is not often reached. + </p> + <p> + The brute is much more content with mere existence than man; the plant is + wholly so; and man finds satisfaction in it just in proportion as he is + dull and obtuse. Accordingly, the life of the brute carries less of sorrow + with it, but also less of joy, when compared with the life of man; and + while this may be traced, on the one side, to freedom from the torment of + <i>care</i> and <i>anxiety</i>, it is also due to the fact that <i>hope</i>, + in any real sense, is unknown to the brute. It is thus deprived of any + share in that which gives us the most and best of our joys and pleasures, + the mental anticipation of a happy future, and the inspiriting play of + phantasy, both of which we owe to our power of imagination. If the brute + is free from care, it is also, in this sense, without hope; in either + case, because its consciousness is limited to the present moment, to what + it can actually see before it. The brute is an embodiment of present + impulses, and hence what elements of fear and hope exist in its nature—and + they do not go very far—arise only in relation to objects that lie + before it and within reach of those impulses: whereas a man's range of + vision embraces the whole of his life, and extends far into the past and + future. + </p> + <p> + Following upon this, there is one respect in which brutes show real wisdom + when compared with us—I mean, their quiet, placid enjoyment of the + present moment. The tranquillity of mind which this seems to give them + often puts us to shame for the many times we allow our thoughts and our + cares to make us restless and discontented. And, in fact, those pleasures + of hope and anticipation which I have been mentioning are not to be had + for nothing. The delight which a man has in hoping for and looking forward + to some special satisfaction is a part of the real pleasure attaching to + it enjoyed in advance. This is afterwards deducted; for the more we look + forward to anything, the less satisfaction we find in it when it comes. + But the brute's enjoyment is not anticipated, and therefore, suffers no + deduction; so that the actual pleasure of the moment comes to it whole and + unimpaired. In the same way, too, evil presses upon the brute only with + its own intrinsic weight; whereas with us the fear of its coming often + makes its burden ten times more grievous. + </p> + <p> + It is just this characteristic way in which the brute gives itself up + entirely to the present moment that contributes so much to the delight we + take in our domestic pets. They are the present moment personified, and in + some respects they make us feel the value of every hour that is free from + trouble and annoyance, which we, with our thoughts and preoccupations, + mostly disregard. But man, that selfish and heartless creature, misuses + this quality of the brute to be more content than we are with mere + existence, and often works it to such an extent that he allows the brute + absolutely nothing more than mere, bare life. The bird which was made so + that it might rove over half of the world, he shuts up into the space of a + cubic foot, there to die a slow death in longing and crying for freedom; + for in a cage it does not sing for the pleasure of it. And when I see how + man misuses the dog, his best friend; how he ties up this intelligent + animal with a chain, I feel the deepest sympathy with the brute and + burning indignation against its master. + </p> + <p> + We shall see later that by taking a very high standpoint it is possible to + justify the sufferings of mankind. But this justification cannot apply to + animals, whose sufferings, while in a great measure brought about by men, + are often considerable even apart from their agency.<a href="#linknote-3" + name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3">3</a> And so we are forced to ask, + Why and for what purpose does all this torment and agony exist? There is + nothing here to give the will pause; it is not free to deny itself and so + obtain redemption. There is only one consideration that may serve to + explain the sufferings of animals. It is this: that the will to live, + which underlies the whole world of phenomena, must, in their case satisfy + its cravings by feeding upon itself. This it does by forming a gradation + of phenomena, every one of which exists at the expense of another. I have + shown, however, that the capacity for suffering is less in animals than in + man. Any further explanation that may be given of their fate will be in + the nature of hypothesis, if not actually mythical in its character; and I + may leave the reader to speculate upon the matter for himself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. <i>Welt als Wille und + Vorstellung</i>, vol. ii. p. 404.] + </p> + <p> + <i>Brahma</i> is said to have produced the world by a kind of fall or + mistake; and in order to atone for his folly, he is bound to remain in it + himself until he works out his redemption. As an account of the origin of + things, that is admirable! According to the doctrines of <i>Buddhism</i>, + the world came into being as the result of some inexplicable disturbance + in the heavenly calm of Nirvana, that blessed state obtained by expiation, + which had endured so long a time—the change taking place by a kind + of fatality. This explanation must be understood as having at bottom some + moral bearing; although it is illustrated by an exactly parallel theory in + the domain of physical science, which places the origin of the sun in a + primitive streak of mist, formed one knows not how. Subsequently, by a + series of moral errors, the world became gradually worse and worse—true + of the physical orders as well—until it assumed the dismal aspect it + wears to-day. Excellent! The <i>Greeks</i> looked upon the world and the + gods as the work of an inscrutable necessity. A passable explanation: we + may be content with it until we can get a better. Again, <i>Ormuzd</i> and + <i>Ahriman</i> are rival powers, continually at war. That is not bad. But + that a God like Jehovah should have created this world of misery and woe, + out of pure caprice, and because he enjoyed doing it, and should then have + clapped his hands in praise of his own work, and declared everything to be + very good—that will not do at all! In its explanation of the origin + of the world, Judaism is inferior to any other form of religious doctrine + professed by a civilized nation; and it is quite in keeping with this that + it is the only one which presents no trace whatever of any belief in the + immortality of the soul.<a href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" + id="linknoteref-4">4</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ See <i>Parerga</i>, vol. i. + pp. 139 <i>et seq</i>.] + </p> + <p> + Even though Leibnitz' contention, that this is the best of all possible + worlds, were correct, that would not justify God in having created it. For + he is the Creator not of the world only, but of possibility itself; and, + therefore, he ought to have so ordered possibility as that it would admit + of something better. + </p> + <p> + There are two things which make it impossible to believe that this world + is the successful work of an all-wise, all-good, and, at the same time, + all-powerful Being; firstly, the misery which abounds in it everywhere; + and secondly, the obvious imperfection of its highest product, man, who is + a burlesque of what he should be. These things cannot be reconciled with + any such belief. On the contrary, they are just the facts which support + what I have been saying; they are our authority for viewing the world as + the outcome of our own misdeeds, and therefore, as something that had + better not have been. Whilst, under the former hypothesis, they amount to + a bitter accusation against the Creator, and supply material for sarcasm; + under the latter they form an indictment against our own nature, our own + will, and teach us a lesson of humility. They lead us to see that, like + the children of a libertine, we come into the world with the burden of sin + upon us; and that it is only through having continually to atone for this + sin that our existence is so miserable, and that its end is death. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing more certain than the general truth that it is the + grievous <i>sin of the world</i> which has produced the grievous <i>suffering + of the world</i>. I am not referring here to the physical connection + between these two things lying in the realm of experience; my meaning is + metaphysical. Accordingly, the sole thing that reconciles me to the Old + Testament is the story of the Fall. In my eyes, it is the only + metaphysical truth in that book, even though it appears in the form of an + allegory. There seems to me no better explanation of our existence than + that it is the result of some false step, some sin of which we are paying + the penalty. I cannot refrain from recommending the thoughtful reader a + popular, but at the same time, profound treatise on this subject by + Claudius<a href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5">5</a> + which exhibits the essentially pessimistic spirit of Christianity. It is + entitled: <i>Cursed is the ground for thy sake</i>. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>.—Matthias + Claudius (1740-1815), a popular poet, and friend of Klopstock, Herder and + Leasing. He edited the <i>Wandsbecker Bote</i>, in the fourth part of + which appeared the treatise mentioned above. He generally wrote under the + pseudonym of <i>Asmus</i>, and Schopenhauer often refers to him by this + name.] + </p> + <p> + Between the ethics of the Greeks and the ethics of the Hindoos, there is a + glaring contrast. In the one case (with the exception, it must be + confessed, of Plato), the object of ethics is to enable a man to lead a + happy life; in the other, it is to free and redeem him from life + altogether—as is directly stated in the very first words of the <i>Sankhya + Karika</i>. + </p> + <p> + Allied with this is the contrast between the Greek and the Christian idea + of death. It is strikingly presented in a visible form on a fine antique + sarcophagus in the gallery of Florence, which exhibits, in relief, the + whole series of ceremonies attending a wedding in ancient times, from the + formal offer to the evening when Hymen's torch lights the happy couple + home. Compare with that the Christian coffin, draped in mournful black and + surmounted with a crucifix! How much significance there is in these two + ways of finding comfort in death. They are opposed to each other, but each + is right. The one points to the <i>affirmation</i> of the will to live, + which remains sure of life for all time, however rapidly its forms may + change. The other, in the symbol of suffering and death, points to the <i>denial</i> + of the will to live, to redemption from this world, the domain of death + and devil. And in the question between the affirmation and the denial of + the will to live, Christianity is in the last resort right. + </p> + <p> + The contrast which the New Testament presents when compared with the Old, + according to the ecclesiastical view of the matter, is just that existing + between my ethical system and the moral philosophy of Europe. The Old + Testament represents man as under the dominion of Law, in which, however, + there is no redemption. The New Testament declares Law to have failed, + frees man from its dominion,<a href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" + id="linknoteref-6">6</a> and in its stead preaches the kingdom of grace, + to be won by faith, love of neighbor and entire sacrifice of self. This is + the path of redemption from the evil of the world. The spirit of the New + Testament is undoubtedly asceticism, however your protestants and + rationalists may twist it to suit their purpose. Asceticism is the denial + of the will to live; and the transition from the Old Testament to the New, + from the dominion of Law to that of Faith, from justification by works to + redemption through the Mediator, from the domain of sin and death to + eternal life in Christ, means, when taken in its real sense, the + transition from the merely moral virtues to the denial of the will to + live. My philosophy shows the metaphysical foundation of justice and the + love of mankind, and points to the goal to which these virtues necessarily + lead, if they are practised in perfection. At the same time it is candid + in confessing that a man must turn his back upon the world, and that the + denial of the will to live is the way of redemption. It is therefore + really at one with the spirit of the New Testament, whilst all other + systems are couched in the spirit of the Old; that is to say, + theoretically as well as practically, their result is Judaism—mere + despotic theism. In this sense, then, my doctrine might be called the only + true Christian philosophy—however paradoxical a statement this may + seem to people who take superficial views instead of penetrating to the + heart of the matter. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. Romans vii; Galatians + ii, iii.] + </p> + <p> + If you want a safe compass to guide you through life, and to banish all + doubt as to the right way of looking at it, you cannot do better than + accustom yourself to regard this world as a penitentiary, a sort of a + penal colony, or [Greek: ergastaerion] as the earliest philosopher called + it.<a href="#linknote-7" name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7">7</a> + Amongst the Christian Fathers, Origen, with praiseworthy courage, took + this view,<a href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8" id="linknoteref-8">8</a> + which is further justified by certain objective theories of life. I refer, + not to my own philosophy alone, but to the wisdom of all ages, as + expressed in Brahmanism and Buddhism, and in the sayings of Greek + philosophers like Empedocles and Pythagoras; as also by Cicero, in his + remark that the wise men of old used to teach that we come into this world + to pay the penalty of crime committed in another state of existence—a + doctrine which formed part of the initiation into the mysteries.<a + href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9">9</a> And + Vanini—whom his contemporaries burned, finding that an easier task + than to confute him—puts the same thing in a very forcible way. <i>Man</i>, + he says, <i>is so full of every kind of misery that, were it not repugnant + to the Christian religion, I should venture to affirm that if evil spirits + exist at all, they have posed into human form and are now atoning for + their crimes</i>.<a href="#linknote-10" name="linknoteref-10" + id="linknoteref-10">10</a> And true Christianity—using the word in + its right sense—also regards our existence as the consequence of sin + and error. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. Clem. Alex. Strom. L. + iii, c, 3, p. 399.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Augustine <i>de cìvitate + Dei</i>., L. xi. c. 23.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. <i>Fragmenta de + philosophia</i>.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [<i>De admirandis naturae + arcanis</i>; dial L. p. 35.] + </p> + <p> + If you accustom yourself to this view of life you will regulate your + expectations accordingly, and cease to look upon all its disagreeable + incidents, great and small, its sufferings, its worries, its misery, as + anything unusual or irregular; nay, you will find that everything is as it + should be, in a world where each of us pays the penalty of existence in + his own peculiar way. Amongst the evils of a penal colony is the society + of those who form it; and if the reader is worthy of better company, he + will need no words from me to remind him of what he has to put up with at + present. If he has a soul above the common, or if he is a man of genius, + he will occasionally feel like some noble prisoner of state, condemned to + work in the galleys with common criminals; and he will follow his example + and try to isolate himself. + </p> + <p> + In general, however, it should be said that this view of life will enable + us to contemplate the so-called imperfections of the great majority of + men, their moral and intellectual deficiencies and the resulting base type + of countenance, without any surprise, to say nothing of indignation; for + we shall never cease to reflect where we are, and that the men about us + are beings conceived and born in sin, and living to atone for it. That is + what Christianity means in speaking of the sinful nature of man. + </p> + <p> + <i>Pardon's the word to all</i>! <a href="#linknote-11" + name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11">11</a> Whatever folly men + commit, be their shortcomings or their vices what they may, let us + exercise forbearance; remembering that when these faults appear in others, + it is our follies and vices that we behold. They are the shortcomings of + humanity, to which we belong; whose faults, one and all, we share; yes, + even those very faults at which we now wax so indignant, merely because + they have not yet appeared in ourselves. They are faults that do not lie + on the surface. But they exist down there in the depths of our nature; and + should anything call them forth, they will come and show themselves, just + as we now see them in others. One man, it is true, may have faults that + are absent in his fellow; and it is undeniable that the sum total of bad + qualities is in some cases very large; for the difference of individuality + between man and man passes all measure. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ "Cymbeline," Act v. Sc. + 5.] + </p> + <p> + In fact, the conviction that the world and man is something that had + better not have been, is of a kind to fill us with indulgence towards one + another. Nay, from this point of view, we might well consider the proper + form of address to be, not <i>Monsieur, Sir, mein Herr</i>, but <i>my + fellow-sufferer, Socî malorum, compagnon de miseres</i>! This may perhaps + sound strange, but it is in keeping with the facts; it puts others in a + right light; and it reminds us of that which is after all the most + necessary thing in life—the tolerance, patience, regard, and love of + neighbor, of which everyone stands in need, and which, therefore, every + man owes to his fellow. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE VANITY OF EXISTENCE. + </h2> + <p> + This vanity finds expression in the whole way in which things exist; in + the infinite nature of Time and Space, as opposed to the finite nature of + the individual in both; in the ever-passing present moment as the only + mode of actual existence; in the interdependence and relativity of all + things; in continual Becoming without ever Being; in constant wishing and + never being satisfied; in the long battle which forms the history of life, + where every effort is checked by difficulties, and stopped until they are + overcome. Time is that in which all things pass away; it is merely the + form under which the will to live—the thing-in-itself and therefore + imperishable—has revealed to it that its efforts are in vain; it is + that agent by which at every moment all things in our hands become as + nothing, and lose any real value they possess. + </p> + <p> + That which <i>has been</i> exists no more; it exists as little as that + which has <i>never</i> been. But of everything that exists you must say, + in the next moment, that it has been. Hence something of great importance + now past is inferior to something of little importance now present, in + that the latter is a <i>reality</i>, and related to the former as + something to nothing. + </p> + <p> + A man finds himself, to his great astonishment, suddenly existing, after + thousands and thousands of years of non-existence: he lives for a little + while; and then, again, comes an equally long period when he must exist no + more. The heart rebels against this, and feels that it cannot be true. The + crudest intellect cannot speculate on such a subject without having a + presentiment that Time is something ideal in its nature. This ideality of + Time and Space is the key to every true system of metaphysics; because it + provides for quite another order of things than is to be met with in the + domain of nature. This is why Kant is so great. + </p> + <p> + Of every event in our life we can say only for one moment that it <i>is</i>; + for ever after, that it <i>was</i>. Every evening we are poorer by a day. + It might, perhaps, make us mad to see how rapidly our short span of time + ebbs away; if it were not that in the furthest depths of our being we are + secretly conscious of our share in the exhaustible spring of eternity, so + that we can always hope to find life in it again. + </p> + <p> + Consideration of the kind, touched on above, might, indeed, lead us to + embrace the belief that the greatest <i>wisdom</i> is to make the + enjoyment of the present the supreme object of life; because that is the + only reality, all else being merely the play of thought. On the other + hand, such a course might just as well be called the greatest <i>folly</i>: + for that which in the next moment exists no more, and vanishes utterly, + like a dream, can never be worth a serious effort. + </p> + <p> + The whole foundation on which our existence rests is the present—the + ever-fleeting present. It lies, then, in the very nature of our existence + to take the form of constant motion, and to offer no possibility of our + ever attaining the rest for which we are always striving. We are like a + man running downhill, who cannot keep on his legs unless he runs on, and + will inevitably fall if he stops; or, again, like a pole balanced on the + tip of one's finger; or like a planet, which would fall into its sun the + moment it ceased to hurry forward on its way. Unrest is the mark of + existence. + </p> + <p> + In a world where all is unstable, and nought can endure, but is swept + onwards at once in the hurrying whirlpool of change; where a man, if he is + to keep erect at all, must always be advancing and moving, like an acrobat + on a rope—in such a world, happiness in inconceivable. How can it + dwell where, as Plato says, <i>continual Becoming and never Being</i> is + the sole form of existence? In the first place, a man never is happy, but + spends his whole life in striving after something which he thinks will + make him so; he seldom attains his goal, and when he does, it is only to + be disappointed; he is mostly shipwrecked in the end, and comes into + harbor with masts and rigging gone. And then, it is all one whether he has + been happy or miserable; for his life was never anything more than a + present moment always vanishing; and now it is over. + </p> + <p> + At the same time it is a wonderful thing that, in the world of human + beings as in that of animals in general, this manifold restless motion is + produced and kept up by the agency of two simple impulses—hunger and + the sexual instinct; aided a little, perhaps, by the influence of boredom, + but by nothing else; and that, in the theatre of life, these suffice to + form the <i>primum mobile</i> of how complicated a machinery, setting in + motion how strange and varied a scene! + </p> + <p> + On looking a little closer, we find that inorganic matter presents a + constant conflict between chemical forces, which eventually works + dissolution; and on the other hand, that organic life is impossible + without continual change of matter, and cannot exist if it does not + receive perpetual help from without. This is the realm of <i>finality</i>; + and its opposite would be <i>an infinite existence</i>, exposed to no + attack from without, and needing nothing to support it; [Greek: haei + hosautos dn], the realm of eternal peace; [Greek: oute giguomenon oute + apollumenon], some timeless, changeless state, one and undiversified; the + negative knowledge of which forms the dominant note of the Platonic + philosophy. It is to some such state as this that the denial of the will + to live opens up the way. + </p> + <p> + The scenes of our life are like pictures done in rough mosaic. Looked at + close, they produce no effect. There is nothing beautiful to be found in + them, unless you stand some distance off. So, to gain anything we have + longed for is only to discover how vain and empty it is; and even though + we are always living in expectation of better things, at the same time we + often repent and long to have the past back again. We look upon the + present as something to be put up with while it lasts, and serving only as + the way towards our goal. Hence most people, if they glance back when they + come to the end of life, will find that all along they have been living <i>ad + interim</i>: they will be surprised to find that the very thing they + disregarded and let slip by unenjoyed, was just the life in the + expectation of which they passed all their time. Of how many a man may it + not be said that hope made a fool of him until he danced into the arms of + death! + </p> + <p> + Then again, how insatiable a creature is man! Every satisfaction he + attains lays the seeds of some new desire, so that there is no end to the + wishes of each individual will. And why is this? The real reason is simply + that, taken in itself, Will is the lord of all worlds: everything belongs + to it, and therefore no one single thing can ever give it satisfaction, + but only the whole, which is endless. For all that, it must rouse our + sympathy to think how very little the Will, this lord of the world, really + gets when it takes the form of an individual; usually only just enough to + keep the body together. This is why man is so very miserable. + </p> + <p> + Life presents itself chiefly as a task—the task, I mean, of + subsisting at all, <i>gagner sa vie</i>. If this is accomplished, life is + a burden, and then there comes the second task of doing something with + that which has been won—of warding off boredom, which, like a bird + of prey, hovers over us, ready to fall wherever it sees a life secure from + need. The first task is to win something; the second, to banish the + feeling that it has been won; otherwise it is a burden. + </p> + <p> + Human life must be some kind of mistake. The truth of this will be + sufficiently obvious if we only remember that man is a compound of needs + and necessities hard to satisfy; and that even when they are satisfied, + all he obtains is a state of painlessness, where nothing remains to him + but abandonment to boredom. This is direct proof that existence has no + real value in itself; for what is boredom but the feeling of the emptiness + of life? If life—the craving for which is the very essence of our + being—were possessed of any positive intrinsic value, there would be + no such thing as boredom at all: mere existence would satisfy us in + itself, and we should want for nothing. But as it is, we take no delight + in existence except when we are struggling for something; and then + distance and difficulties to be overcome make our goal look as though it + would satisfy us—an illusion which vanishes when we reach it; or + else when we are occupied with some purely intellectual interest—when + in reality we have stepped forth from life to look upon it from the + outside, much after the manner of spectators at a play. And even sensual + pleasure itself means nothing but a struggle and aspiration, ceasing the + moment its aim is attained. Whenever we are not occupied in one of these + ways, but cast upon existence itself, its vain and worthless nature is + brought home to us; and this is what we mean by boredom. The hankering + after what is strange and uncommon—an innate and ineradicable + tendency of human nature—shows how glad we are at any interruption + of that natural course of affairs which is so very tedious. + </p> + <p> + That this most perfect manifestation of the will to live, the human + organism, with the cunning and complex working of its machinery, must fall + to dust and yield up itself and all its strivings to extinction—this + is the naïve way in which Nature, who is always so true and sincere in + what she says, proclaims the whole struggle of this will as in its very + essence barren and unprofitable. Were it of any value in itself, anything + unconditioned and absolute, it could not thus end in mere nothing. + </p> + <p> + If we turn from contemplating the world as a whole, and, in particular, + the generations of men as they live their little hour of mock-existence + and then are swept away in rapid succession; if we turn from this, and + look at life in its small details, as presented, say, in a comedy, how + ridiculous it all seems! It is like a drop of water seen through a + microscope, a single drop teeming with <i>infusoria</i>; or a speck of + cheese full of mites invisible to the naked eye. How we laugh as they + bustle about so eagerly, and struggle with one another in so tiny a space! + And whether here, or in the little span of human life, this terrible + activity produces a comic effect. + </p> + <p> + It is only in the microscope that our life looks so big. It is an + indivisible point, drawn out and magnified by the powerful lenses of Time + and Space. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON SUICIDE. + </h2> + <p> + As far as I know, none but the votaries of monotheistic, that is to say, + Jewish religions, look upon suicide as a crime. This is all the more + striking, inasmuch as neither in the Old nor in the New Testament is there + to be found any prohibition or positive disapproval of it; so that + religious teachers are forced to base their condemnation of suicide on + philosophical grounds of their own invention. These are so very bad that + writers of this kind endeavor to make up for the weakness of their + arguments by the strong terms in which they express their abhorrence of + the practice; in other words, they declaim against it. They tell us that + suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice; that only a madman could be + guilty of it; and other insipidities of the same kind; or else they make + the nonsensical remark that suicide is <i>wrong</i>; when it is quite + obvious that there is nothing in the world to which every man has a more + unassailable title than to his own life and person. + </p> + <p> + Suicide, as I have said, is actually accounted a crime; and a crime which, + especially under the vulgar bigotry that prevails in England, is followed + by an ignominious burial and the seizure of the man's property; and for + that reason, in a case of suicide, the jury almost always brings in a + verdict of insanity. Now let the reader's own moral feelings decide as to + whether or not suicide is a criminal act. Think of the impression that + would be made upon you by the news that some one you know had committed + the crime, say, of murder or theft, or been guilty of some act of cruelty + or deception; and compare it with your feelings when you hear that he has + met a voluntary death. While in the one case a lively sense of indignation + and extreme resentment will be aroused, and you will call loudly for + punishment or revenge, in the other you will be moved to grief and + sympathy; and mingled with your thoughts will be admiration for his + courage, rather than the moral disapproval which follows upon a wicked + action. Who has not had acquaintances, friends, relations, who of their + own free will have left this world; and are these to be thought of with + horror as criminals? Most emphatically, No! I am rather of opinion that + the clergy should be challenged to explain what right they have to go into + the pulpit, or take up their pens, and stamp as a crime an action which + many men whom we hold in affection and honor have committed; and to refuse + an honorable burial to those who relinquish this world voluntarily. They + have no Biblical authority to boast of, as justifying their condemnation + of suicide; nay, not even any philosophical arguments that will hold + water; and it must be understood that it is arguments we want, and that we + will not be put off with mere phrases or words of abuse. If the criminal + law forbids suicide, that is not an argument valid in the Church; and + besides, the prohibition is ridiculous; for what penalty can frighten a + man who is not afraid of death itself? If the law punishes people for + trying to commit suicide, it is punishing the want of skill that makes the + attempt a failure. + </p> + <p> + The ancients, moreover, were very far from regarding the matter in that + light. Pliny says: <i>Life is not so desirable a thing as to be protracted + at any cost. Whoever you are, you are sure to die, even though your life + has been full of abomination and crime. The chief of all remedies for a + troubled mind is the feeling that among the blessings which Nature gives + to man, there is none greater than an opportune death; and the best of it + is that every one can avail himself of it.<a href="#linknote-12" + name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12">12</a></i> And elsewhere the + same writer declares: <i>Not even to God are all things possible; for he + could not compass his own death, if he willed to die, and yet in all the + miseries of our earthly life, this is the best of his gifts to man.<a + href="#linknote-13" name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13">13</a></i> + Nay, in Massilia and on the isle of Ceos, the man who could give valid + reasons for relinquishing his life, was handed the cup of hemlock by the + magistrate; and that, too, in public.<a href="#linknote-14" + name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14">14</a> And in ancient times, how + many heroes and wise men died a voluntary death. Aristotle,<a + href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15">15</a> it is + true, declared suicide to be an offence against the State, although not + against the person; but in Stobaeus' exposition of the Peripatetic + philosophy there is the following remark: <i>The good man should flee life + when his misfortunes become too great; the bad man, also, when he is too + prosperous</i>. And similarly: <i>So he will marry and beget children and + take part in the affairs of the State, and, generally, practice virtue and + continue to live; and then, again, if need be, and at any time necessity + compels him, he will depart to his place of refuge in the tomb.<a + href="#linknote-16" name="linknoteref-16" id="linknoteref-16">16</a></i> + And we find that the Stoics actually praised suicide as a noble and heroic + action, as hundreds of passages show; above all in the works of Seneca, + who expresses the strongest approval of it. As is well known, the Hindoos + look upon suicide as a religious act, especially when it takes the form of + self-immolation by widows; but also when it consists in casting oneself + under the wheels of the chariot of the god at Juggernaut, or being eaten + by crocodiles in the Ganges, or being drowned in the holy tanks in the + temples, and so on. The same thing occurs on the stage—that mirror + of life. For example, in <i>L'Orphelin de la Chine</i><a + href="#linknote-17" name="linknoteref-17" id="linknoteref-17">17</a> a + celebrated Chinese play, almost all the noble characters end by suicide; + without the slightest hint anywhere, or any impression being produced on + the spectator, that they are committing a crime. And in our own theatre it + is much the same—Palmira, for instance, in <i>Mahomet</i>, or + Mortimer in <i>Maria Stuart</i>, Othello, Countess Terzky.<a + href="#linknote-18" name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18">18</a> Is + Hamlet's monologue the meditation of a criminal? He merely declares that + if we had any certainty of being annihilated by it, death would be + infinitely preferable to the world as it is. But <i>there lies the rub</i>! + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Hist. Nat. Lib. xxviii., + 1.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ Loc. cit. Lib. ii. c. 7.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ 3 Valerius Maximus; hist. + Lib. ii., c. 6, § 7 et 8. Heraclides Ponticus; fragmenta de rebus + publicis, ix. Aeliani variae historiae, iii., 37. Strabo; Lib. x., c. 5, + 6.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Eth. Nichom</i>., v. + 15.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ Stobaeus. <i>Ecl. Eth</i>.. + ii., c. 7, pp. 286, 312] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Traduit par St. Julien, + 1834.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>.—Palmira: + a female slave in Goethe's play of <i>Mahomet</i>. Mortimer: a would-be + lover and rescuer of Mary in Schiller's <i>Maria Stuart</i>. Countess + Terzky: a leading character in Schiller's <i>Wallenstein's Tod</i>.] + </p> + <p> + The reasons advanced against suicide by the clergy of monotheistic, that + is to say, Jewish religions, and by those philosophers who adapt + themselves thereto, are weak sophisms which can easily be refuted.<a + href="#linknote-19" name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19">19</a> The + most thorough-going refutation of them is given by Hume in his <i>Essay on + Suicide</i>. This did not appear until after his death, when it was + immediately suppressed, owing to the scandalous bigotry and outrageous + ecclesiastical tyranny that prevailed in England; and hence only a very + few copies of it were sold under cover of secrecy and at a high price. + This and another treatise by that great man have come to us from Basle, + and we may be thankful for the reprint.<a href="#linknote-20" + name="linknoteref-20" id="linknoteref-20">20</a> It is a great disgrace to + the English nation that a purely philosophical treatise, which, proceeding + from one of the first thinkers and writers in England, aimed at refuting + the current arguments against suicide by the light of cold reason, should + be forced to sneak about in that country, as though it were some rascally + production, until at last it found refuge on the Continent. At the same + time it shows what a good conscience the Church has in such matters. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ See my treatise on the <i>Foundation + of Morals</i>, § 5.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Essays on Suicide</i> + and the <i>Immortality of the Soul</i>, by the late David Hume, Basle, + 1799, sold by James Decker.] + </p> + <p> + In my chief work I have explained the only valid reason existing against + suicide on the score of mortality. It is this: that suicide thwarts the + attainment of the highest moral aim by the fact that, for a real release + from this world of misery, it substitutes one that is merely apparent. But + from a <i>mistake</i> to a <i>crime</i> is a far cry; and it is as a crime + that the clergy of Christendom wish us to regard suicide. + </p> + <p> + The inmost kernel of Christianity is the truth that suffering—<i>the + Cross</i>—is the real end and object of life. Hence Christianity + condemns suicide as thwarting this end; whilst the ancient world, taking a + lower point of view, held it in approval, nay, in honor.<a + href="#linknote-21" name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21">21</a> But + if that is to be accounted a valid reason against suicide, it involves the + recognition of asceticism; that is to say, it is valid only from a much + higher ethical standpoint than has ever been adopted by moral philosophers + in Europe. If we abandon that high standpoint, there is no tenable reason + left, on the score of morality, for condemning suicide. The extraordinary + energy and zeal with which the clergy of monotheistic religions attack + suicide is not supported either by any passages in the Bible or by any + considerations of weight; so that it looks as though they must have some + secret reason for their contention. May it not be this—that the + voluntary surrender of life is a bad compliment for him who said that <i>all + things were very good</i>? If this is so, it offers another instance of + the crass optimism of these religions,—denouncing suicide to escape + being denounced by it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>.—Schopenhauer + refers to <i>Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung</i>, vol. i., § 69, where + the reader may find the same argument stated at somewhat greater length. + According to Schopenhauer, moral freedom—the highest ethical aim—is + to be obtained only by a denial of the will to live. Far from being a + denial, suicide is an emphatic assertion of this will. For it is in + fleeing from the pleasures, not from the sufferings of life, that this + denial consists. When a man destroys his existence as an individual, he is + not by any means destroying his will to live. On the contrary, he would + like to live if he could do so with satisfaction to himself; if he could + assert his will against the power of circumstance; but circumstance is too + strong for him.] + </p> + <p> + It will generally be found that, as soon as the terrors of life reach the + point at which they outweigh the terrors of death, a man will put an end + to his life. But the terrors of death offer considerable resistance; they + stand like a sentinel at the gate leading out of this world. Perhaps there + is no man alive who would not have already put an end to his life, if this + end had been of a purely negative character, a sudden stoppage of + existence. There is something positive about it; it is the destruction of + the body; and a man shrinks from that, because his body is the + manifestation of the will to live. + </p> + <p> + However, the struggle with that sentinel is, as a rule, not so hard as it + may seem from a long way off, mainly in consequence of the antagonism + between the ills of the body and the ills of the mind. If we are in great + bodily pain, or the pain lasts a long time, we become indifferent to other + troubles; all we think about is to get well. In the same way great mental + suffering makes us insensible to bodily pain; we despise it; nay, if it + should outweigh the other, it distracts our thoughts, and we welcome it as + a pause in mental suffering. It is this feeling that makes suicide easy; + for the bodily pain that accompanies it loses all significance in the eyes + of one who is tortured by an excess of mental suffering. This is + especially evident in the case of those who are driven to suicide by some + purely morbid and exaggerated ill-humor. No special effort to overcome + their feelings is necessary, nor do such people require to be worked up in + order to take the step; but as soon as the keeper into whose charge they + are given leaves them for a couple of minutes, they quickly bring their + life to an end. + </p> + <p> + When, in some dreadful and ghastly dream, we reach the moment of greatest + horror, it awakes us; thereby banishing all the hideous shapes that were + born of the night. And life is a dream: when the moment of greatest horror + compels us to break it off, the same thing happens. + </p> + <p> + Suicide may also be regarded as an experiment—a question which man + puts to Nature, trying to force her to an answer. The question is this: + What change will death produce in a man's existence and in his insight + into the nature of things? It is a clumsy experiment to make; for it + involves the destruction of the very consciousness which puts the question + and awaits the answer. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IMMORTALITY:<a href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" + id="linknoteref-22">22</a> A DIALOGUE. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>.—The + word immortality—<i>Unsterblichkeit</i>—does not occur in the + original; nor would it, in its usual application, find a place in + Schopenhauer's vocabulary. The word he uses is <i>Unzerstörbarkeit—indestructibility</i>. + But I have preferred <i>immortality</i>, because that word is commonly + associated with the subject touched upon in this little debate. If any + critic doubts the wisdom of this preference, let me ask him to try his + hand at a short, concise, and, at the same time, popularly intelligible + rendering of the German original, which runs thus: <i>Zur Lehre von der + Unzerstörbarkeit unseres wahren Wesens durch den Tod: Meine dialogische + Schlussbelustigung</i>.] + </p> + <h3> + THRASYMACHOS—PHILALETHES. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. Tell me now, in one word, what shall I be after my + death? And mind you be clear and precise. + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. All and nothing! + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. I thought so! I gave you a problem, and you solve it + by a contradiction. That's a very stale trick. + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. Yes, but you raise transcendental questions, and you + expect me to answer them in language that is only made for immanent + knowledge. It's no wonder that a contradiction ensues. + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. What do you mean by transcendental questions and + immanent knowledge? I've heard these expressions before, of course; they + are not new to me. The Professor was fond of using them, but only as + predicates of the Deity, and he never talked of anything else; which was + all quite right and proper. He argued thus: if the Deity was in the world + itself, he was immanent; if he was somewhere outside it, he was + transcendent. Nothing could be clearer and more obvious! You knew where + you were. But this Kantian rigmarole won't do any more: it's antiquated + and no longer applicable to modern ideas. Why, we've had a whole row of + eminent men in the metropolis of German learning— + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. (Aside.) German humbug, he means. + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. The mighty Schleiermacher, for instance, and that + gigantic intellect, Hegel; and at this time of day we've abandoned that + nonsense. I should rather say we're so far beyond it that we can't put up + with it any more. What's the use of it then? What does it all mean? + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. Transcendental knowledge is knowledge which passes + beyond the bounds of possible experience, and strives to determine the + nature of things as they are in themselves. Immanent knowledge, on the + other hand, is knowledge which confines itself entirely with those bounds; + so that it cannot apply to anything but actual phenomena. As far as you + are an individual, death will be the end of you. But your individuality is + not your true and inmost being: it is only the outward manifestation of + it. It is not the <i>thing-in-itself</i>, but only the phenomenon + presented in the form of time; and therefore with a beginning and an end. + But your real being knows neither time, nor beginning, nor end, nor yet + the limits of any given individual. It is everywhere present in every + individual; and no individual can exist apart from it. So when death + comes, on the one hand you are annihilated as an individual; on the other, + you are and remain everything. That is what I meant when I said that after + your death you would be all and nothing. It is difficult to find a more + precise answer to your question and at the same time be brief. The answer + is contradictory, I admit; but it is so simply because your life is in + time, and the immortal part of you in eternity. You may put the matter + thus: Your immortal part is something that does not last in time and yet + is indestructible; but there you have another contradiction! You see what + happens by trying to bring the transcendental within the limits of + immanent knowledge. It is in some sort doing violence to the latter by + misusing it for ends it was never meant to serve. + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. Look here, I shan't give twopence for your + immortality unless I'm to remain an individual. + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. Well, perhaps I may be able to satisfy you on this + point. Suppose I guarantee that after death you shall remain an + individual, but only on condition that you first spend three months of + complete unconsciousness. + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. I shall have no objection to that. + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. But remember, if people are completely unconscious, + they take no account of time. So, when you are dead, it's all the same to + you whether three months pass in the world of consciousness, or ten + thousand years. In the one case as in the other, it is simply a matter of + believing what is told you when you awake. So far, then, you can afford to + be indifferent whether it is three months or ten thousand years that pass + before you recover your individuality. + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. Yes, if it comes to that, I suppose you're right. + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. And if by chance, after those ten thousand years have + gone by, no one ever thinks of awakening you, I fancy it would be no great + misfortune. You would have become quite accustomed to non-existence after + so long a spell of it—following upon such a very few years of life. + At any rate you may be sure you would be perfectly ignorant of the whole + thing. Further, if you knew that the mysterious power which keeps you in + your present state of life had never once ceased in those ten thousand + years to bring forth other phenomena like yourself, and to endow them with + life, it would fully console you. + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. Indeed! So you think you're quietly going to do me + out of my individuality with all this fine talk. But I'm up to your + tricks. I tell you I won't exist unless I can have my individuality. I'm + not going to be put off with 'mysterious powers,' and what you call + 'phenomena.' I can't do without my individuality, and I won't give it up. + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. You mean, I suppose, that your individuality is such a + delightful thing, so splendid, so perfect, and beyond compare—that + you can't imagine anything better. Aren't you ready to exchange your + present state for one which, if we can judge by what is told us, may + possibly be superior and more endurable? + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. Don't you see that my individuality, be it what it + may, is my very self? To me it is the most important thing in the world. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>For God is God and I am I</i>. +</pre> + <p> + <i>I</i> want to exist, <i>I, I</i>. That's the main thing. I don't care + about an existence which has to be proved to be mine, before I can believe + it. + </p> + <p> + <i>Philalethes</i>. Think what you're doing! When you say <i>I, I, I</i> + want to exist, it is not you alone that says this. Everything says it, + absolutely everything that has the faintest trace of consciousness. It + follows, then, that this desire of yours is just the part of you that is + <i>not individual</i>—the part that is common to all things without + distinction. It is the cry, not of the individual, but of existence + itself; it is the intrinsic element in everything that exists, nay, it is + the cause of anything existing at all. This desire craves for, and so is + satisfied with, nothing less than existence in general—not any + definite individual existence. No! that is not its aim. It seems to be so + only because this desire—this <i>Will</i>—attains + consciousness only in the individual, and therefore looks as though it + were concerned with nothing but the individual. There lies the illusion—an + illusion, it is true, in which the individual is held fast: but, if he + reflects, he can break the fetters and set himself free. It is only + indirectly, I say, that the individual has this violent craving for + existence. It is <i>the Will to Live</i> which is the real and direct + aspirant—alike and identical in all things. Since, then, existence + is the free work, nay, the mere reflection of the will, where existence + is, there, too, must be will; and for the moment the will finds its + satisfaction in existence itself; so far, I mean, as that which never + rests, but presses forward eternally, can ever find any satisfaction at + all. The will is careless of the individual: the individual is not its + business; although, as I have said, this seems to be the case, because the + individual has no direct consciousness of will except in himself. The + effect of this is to make the individual careful to maintain his own + existence; and if this were not so, there would be no surety for the + preservation of the species. From all this it is clear that individuality + is not a form of perfection, but rather of limitation; and so to be freed + from it is not loss but gain. Trouble yourself no more about the matter. + Once thoroughly recognize what you are, what your existence really is, + namely, the universal will to live, and the whole question will seem to + you childish, and most ridiculous! + </p> + <p> + <i>Thrasymachos</i>. You're childish yourself and most ridiculous, like + all philosophers! and if a man of my age lets himself in for a + quarter-of-an-hour's talk with such fools, it is only because it amuses me + and passes the time. I've more important business to attend to, so + Good-bye. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FURTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. + </h2> + <p> + There is an unconscious propriety in the way in which, in all European + languages, the word <i>person</i> is commonly used to denote a human + being. The real meaning of <i>persona</i> is <i>a mask</i>, such as actors + were accustomed to wear on the ancient stage; and it is quite true that no + one shows himself as he is, but wears his mask and plays his part. Indeed, + the whole of our social arrangements may be likened to a perpetual comedy; + and this is why a man who is worth anything finds society so insipid, + while a blockhead is quite at home in it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Reason deserves to be called a prophet; for in showing us the consequence + and effect of our actions in the present, does it not tell us what the + future will be? This is precisely why reason is such an excellent power of + restraint in moments when we are possessed by some base passion, some fit + of anger, some covetous desire, that will lead us to do things whereof we + must presently repent. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <i>Hatred</i> comes from the heart; <i>contempt</i> from the head; and + neither feeling is quite within our control. For we cannot alter our + heart; its basis is determined by motives; and our head deals with + objective facts, and applies to them rules which are immutable. Any given + individual is the union of a particular heart with a particular head. + </p> + <p> + Hatred and contempt are diametrically opposed and mutually exclusive. + There are even not a few cases where hatred of a person is rooted in + nothing but forced esteem for his qualities. And besides, if a man sets + out to hate all the miserable creatures he meets, he will not have much + energy left for anything else; whereas he can despise them, one and all, + with the greatest ease. True, genuine contempt is just the reverse of + true, genuine pride; it keeps quite quiet and gives no sign of its + existence. For if a man shows that he despises you, he signifies at least + this much regard for you, that he wants to let you know how little he + appreciates you; and his wish is dictated by hatred, which cannot exist + with real contempt. On the contrary, if it is genuine, it is simply the + conviction that the object of it is a man of no value at all. Contempt is + not incompatible with indulgent and kindly treatment, and for the sake of + one's own peace and safety, this should not be omitted; it will prevent + irritation; and there is no one who cannot do harm if he is roused to it. + But if this pure, cold, sincere contempt ever shows itself, it will be met + with the most truculent hatred; for the despised person is not in a + position to fight contempt with its own weapons. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Melancholy is a very different thing from bad humor, and of the two, it is + not nearly so far removed from a gay and happy temperament. Melancholy + attracts, while bad humor repels. + </p> + <p> + Hypochondria is a species of torment which not only makes us unreasonably + cross with the things of the present; not only fills us with groundless + anxiety on the score of future misfortunes entirely of our own + manufacture; but also leads to unmerited self-reproach for what we have + done in the past. + </p> + <p> + Hypochondria shows itself in a perpetual hunting after things that vex and + annoy, and then brooding over them. The cause of it is an inward morbid + discontent, often co-existing with a naturally restless temperament. In + their extreme form, this discontent and this unrest lead to suicide. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Any incident, however trivial, that rouses disagreeable emotion, leaves an + after-effect in our mind, which for the time it lasts, prevents our taking + a clear objective view of the things about us, and tinges all our + thoughts: just as a small object held close to the eye limits and distorts + our field of vision. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + What makes people <i>hard-hearted</i> is this, that each man has, or + fancies he has, as much as he can bear in his own troubles. Hence, if a + man suddenly finds himself in an unusually happy position, it will in most + cases result in his being sympathetic and kind. But if he has never been + in any other than a happy position, or this becomes his permanent state, + the effect of it is often just the contrary: it so far removes him from + suffering that he is incapable of feeling any more sympathy with it. So it + is that the poor often show themselves more ready to help than the rich. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + At times it seems as though we both wanted and did not want the same + thing, and felt at once glad and sorry about it. For instance, if on some + fixed date we are going to be put to a decisive test about anything in + which it would be a great advantage to us to come off victorious, we shall + be anxious for it to take place at once, and at the same time we shall + tremble at the thought of its approach. And if, in the meantime, we hear + that, for once in a way, the date has been postponed, we shall experience + a feeling both of pleasure and of annoyance; for the news is + disappointing, but nevertheless it affords us momentary relief. It is just + the same thing if we are expecting some important letter carrying a + definite decision, and it fails to arrive. + </p> + <p> + In such cases there are really two different motives at work in us; the + stronger but more distant of the two being the desire to stand the test + and to have the decision given in our favor; and the weaker, which touches + us more nearly, the wish to be left for the present in peace and quiet, + and accordingly in further enjoyment of the advantage which at any rate + attaches to a state of hopeful uncertainty, compared with the possibility + that the issue may be unfavorable. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + In my head there is a permanent opposition-party; and whenever I take any + step or come to any decision—though I may have given the matter + mature consideration—it afterwards attacks what I have done, + without, however, being each time necessarily in the right. This is, I + suppose, only a form of rectification on the part of the spirit of + scrutiny; but it often reproaches me when I do not deserve it. The same + thing, no doubt, happens to many others as well; for where is the man who + can help thinking that, after all, it were better not to have done + something that he did with great deliberation: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Quid tam dextro pede concipis ut te + Conatus non poeniteat votique peracti</i>? + +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + Why is it that <i>common</i> is an expression of contempt? and that <i>uncommon, + extraordinary, distinguished</i>, denote approbation? Why is everything + that is common contemptible? + </p> + <p> + <i>Common</i> in its original meaning denotes that which is peculiar to + all men, <i>i.e</i>., shared equally by the whole species, and therefore + an inherent part of its nature. Accordingly, if an individual possesses no + qualities beyond those which attach to mankind in general, he is a <i>common + man. Ordinary</i> is a much milder word, and refers rather to intellectual + character; whereas <i>common</i> has more of a moral application. + </p> + <p> + What value can a creature have that is not a whit different from millions + of its kind? Millions, do I say? nay, an infiniture of creatures which, + century after century, in never-ending flow, Nature sends bubbling up from + her inexhaustible springs; as generous with them as the smith with the + useless sparks that fly around his anvil. + </p> + <p> + It is obviously quite right that a creature which has no qualities except + those of the species, should have to confine its claim to an existence + entirely within the limits of the species, and live a life conditioned by + those limits. + </p> + <p> + In various passages of my works,<a href="#linknote-23" + name="linknoteref-23" id="linknoteref-23">23</a> I have argued that whilst + a lower animal possesses nothing more than the generic character of its + species, man is the only being which can lay claim to possess an + individual character. But in most men this individual character comes to + very little in reality; and they may be almost all ranged under certain + classes: <i>ce sont des espèces</i>. Their thoughts and desires, like + their faces, are those of the species, or, at any rate, those of the class + to which they belong; and accordingly, they are of a trivial, every-day, + common character, and exist by the thousand. You can usually tell + beforehand what they are likely to do and say. They have no special stamp + or mark to distinguish them; they are like manufactured goods, all of a + piece. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Grundprobleme der + Ethik</i>, p. 48; <i>Welt als Wille und Vorstellung</i>, vol. i. p. 338.] + </p> + <p> + If, then, their nature is merged in that of the species, how shall their + existence go beyond it? The curse of vulgarity puts men on a par with the + lower animals, by allowing them none but a generic nature, a generic form + of existence. Anything that is high or great or noble, must then, as a + mater of course, and by its very nature, stand alone in a world where no + better expression can be found to denote what is base and contemptible + than that which I have mentioned as in general use, namely, <i>common</i>. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Will, as the <i>thing-in-itself</i>, is the foundation of all being; it is + part and parcel of every creature, and the permanent element in + everything. Will, then, is that which we possess in common with all men, + nay, with all animals, and even with lower forms of existence; and in so + far we are akin to everything—so far, that is, as everything is + filled to overflowing with will. On the other hand, that which places one + being over another, and sets differences between man and man, is intellect + and knowledge; therefore in every manifestation of self we should, as far + as possible, give play to the intellect alone; for, as we have seen, the + will is the <i>common</i> part of us. Every violent exhibition of will is + common and vulgar; in other words, it reduces us to the level of the + species, and makes us a mere type and example of it; in that it is just + the character of the species that we are showing. So every fit of anger is + something <i>common</i>—every unrestrained display of joy, or of + hate, or fear—in short, every form of emotion; in other words, every + movement of the will, if it's so strong as decidedly to outweigh the + intellectual element in consciousness, and to make the man appear as a + being that <i>wills</i> rather than <i>knows</i>. + </p> + <p> + In giving way to emotion of this violent kind, the greatest genius puts + himself on a level with the commonest son of earth. Contrarily, if a man + desires to be absolutely uncommon, in other words, great, he should never + allow his consciousness to be taken possession of and dominated by the + movement of his will, however much he may be solicited thereto. For + example, he must be able to observe that other people are badly disposed + towards him, without feeling any hatred towards them himself; nay, there + is no surer sign of a great mind than that it refuses to notice annoying + and insulting expressions, but straightway ascribes them, as it ascribes + countless other mistakes, to the defective knowledge of the speaker, and + so merely observes without feeling them. This is the meaning of that + remark of Gracian, that nothing is more unworthy of a man than to let it + be seen that he is one—<i>el mayor desdoro de un hombre es dar + muestras de que es hombre</i>. + </p> + <p> + And even in the drama, which is the peculiar province of the passions and + emotions, it is easy for them to appear common and vulgar. And this is + specially observable in the works of the French tragic writers, who set no + other aim before themselves but the delineation of the passions; and by + indulging at one moment in a vaporous kind of pathos which makes them + ridiculous, at another in epigrammatic witticisms, endeavor to conceal the + vulgarity of their subject. I remember seeing the celebrated Mademoiselle + Rachel as Maria Stuart: and when she burst out in fury against Elizabeth—though + she did it very well—I could not help thinking of a washerwoman. She + played the final parting in such a way as to deprive it of all true tragic + feeling, of which, indeed, the French have no notion at all. The same part + was incomparably better played by the Italian Ristori; and, in fact, the + Italian nature, though in many respects very different from the German, + shares its appreciation for what is deep, serious, and true in Art; herein + opposed to the French, which everywhere betrays that it possesses none of + this feeling whatever. + </p> + <p> + The noble, in other words, the uncommon, element in the drama—nay, + what is sublime in it—is not reached until the intellect is set to + work, as opposed to the will; until it takes a free flight over all those + passionate movements of the will, and makes them subject of its + contemplation. Shakespeare, in particular, shows that this is his general + method, more especially in Hamlet. And only when intellect rises to the + point where the vanity of all effort is manifest, and the will proceeds to + an act of self-annulment, is the drama tragic in the true sense of the + word; it is then that it reaches its highest aim in becoming really + sublime. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of + the world. This is an error of the intellect as inevitable as that error + of the eye which lets us fancy that on the horizon heaven and earth meet. + This explains many things, and among them the fact that everyone measures + us with his own standard—generally about as long as a tailor's tape, + and we have to put up with it: as also that no one will allow us to be + taller than himself—a supposition which is once for all taken for + granted. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + There is no doubt that many a man owes his good fortune in life solely to + the circumstance that he has a pleasant way of smiling, and so wins the + heart in his favor. + </p> + <p> + However, the heart would do better to be careful, and to remember what + Hamlet put down in his tablets—<i>that one may smile, and smile, and + be a villain</i>. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Everything that is really fundamental in a man, and therefore genuine + works, as such, unconsciously; in this respect like the power of nature. + That which has passed through the domain of consciousness is thereby + transformed into an idea or picture; and so if it comes to be uttered, it + is only an idea or picture which passes from one person to another. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly, any quality of mind or character that is genuine and lasting, + is originally unconscious; and it is only when unconsciously brought into + play that it makes a profound impression. If any like quality is + consciously exercised, it means that it has been worked up; it becomes + intentional, and therefore matter of affectation, in other words, of + deception. + </p> + <p> + If a man does a thing unconsciously, it costs him no trouble; but if he + tries to do it by taking trouble, he fails. This applies to the origin of + those fundamental ideas which form the pith and marrow of all genuine + work. Only that which is innate is genuine and will hold water; and every + man who wants to achieve something, whether in practical life, in + literature, or in art, must <i>follow the rules without knowing them</i>. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Men of very great capacity, will as a rule, find the company of very + stupid people preferable to that of the common run; for the same reason + that the tyrant and the mob, the grandfather and the grandchildren, are + natural allies. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + That line of Ovid's, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram</i>, +</pre> + <p> + can be applied in its true physical sense to the lower animals alone; but + in a metaphorical and spiritual sense it is, alas! true of nearly all men + as well. All their plans and projects are merged in the desire of physical + enjoyment, physical well-being. They may, indeed, have personal interests, + often embracing a very varied sphere; but still these latter receive their + importance entirely from the relation in which they stand to the former. + This is not only proved by their manner of life and the things they say, + but it even shows itself in the way they look, the expression of their + physiognomy, their gait and gesticulations. Everything about them cries + out; <i>in terram prona</i>! + </p> + <p> + It is not to them, it is only to the nobler and more highly endowed + natures—men who really think and look about them in the world, and + form exceptional specimens of humanity—that the next lines are + applicable; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri + Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus</i>. + +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + No one knows what capacities for doing and suffering he has in himself, + until something comes to rouse them to activity: just as in a pond of + still water, lying there like a mirror, there is no sign of the roar and + thunder with which it can leap from the precipice, and yet remain what it + is; or again, rise high in the air as a fountain. When water is as cold as + ice, you can have no idea of the latent warmth contained in it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Why is it that, in spite of all the mirrors in the world, no one really + knows what he looks like? + </p> + <p> + A man may call to mind the face of his friend, but not his own. Here, + then, is an initial difficulty in the way of applying the maxim, <i>Know + thyself</i>. + </p> + <p> + This is partly, no doubt, to be explained by the fact that it is + physically impossible for a man to see himself in the glass except with + face turned straight towards it and perfectly motionless; where the + expression of the eye, which counts for so much, and really gives its + whole character to the face, is to a great extent lost. But co-existing + with this physical impossibility, there seems to me to be an ethical + impossibility of an analogous nature, and producing the same effect. A man + cannot look upon his own reflection as though the person presented there + were <i>a stranger</i> to him; and yet this is necessary if he is to take + <i>an objective view</i>. In the last resort, an objective view means a + deep-rooted feeling on the part of the individual, as a moral being, that + that which he is contemplating is <i>not himself</i><a href="#linknote-24" + name="linknoteref-24" id="linknoteref-24">24</a>; and unless he can take + this point of view, he will not see things in a really true light, which + is possible only if he is alive to their actual defects, exactly as they + are. Instead of that, when a man sees himself in the glass, something out + of his own egotistic nature whispers to him to take care to remember that + <i>it is no stranger, but himself, that he is looking at</i>; and this + operates as a <i>noli me tang ere</i>, and prevents him taking an + objective view. It seems, indeed, as if, without the leaven of a grain of + malice, such a view were impossible. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. <i>Grundprobleme der + Ethik</i>, p. 275.] + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + According as a man's mental energy is exerted or relaxed, will life appear + to him either so short, and petty, and fleeting, that nothing can possibly + happen over which it is worth his while to spend emotion; that nothing + really matters, whether it is pleasure or riches, or even fame, and that + in whatever way a man may have failed, he cannot have lost much—or, + on the other hand, life will seem so long, so important, so all in all, so + momentous and so full of difficulty that we have to plunge into it with + our whole soul if we are to obtain a share of its goods, make sure of its + prizes, and carry out our plans. This latter is the immanent and common + view of life; it is what Gracian means when he speaks of the serious way + of looking at things—<i>tomar muy de veras el vivir</i>. The former + is the transcendental view, which is well expressed in Ovid's <i>non est + tanti</i>—it is not worth so much trouble; still better, however, by + Plato's remark that nothing in human affairs is worth any great anxiety—[Greek: + oute ti ton anthropinon axion esti megalaes spoudaes.] This condition of + mind is due to the intellect having got the upper hand in the domain of + consciousness, where, freed from the mere service of the will, it looks + upon the phenomena of life objectively, and so cannot fail to gain a clear + insight into its vain and futile character. But in the other condition of + mind, will predominates; and the intellect exists only to light it on its + way to the attainment of its desires. + </p> + <p> + A man is great or small according as he leans to the one or the other of + these views of life. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + People of very brilliant ability think little of admitting their errors + and weaknesses, or of letting others see them. They look upon them as + something for which they have duly paid; and instead of fancying that + these weaknesses are a disgrace to them, they consider they are doing them + an honor. This is especially the case when the errors are of the kind that + hang together with their qualities—<i>conditiones sine quibus non</i>—or, + as George Sand said, <i>les défauts de ses vertus</i>. + </p> + <p> + Contrarily, there are people of good character and irreproachable + intellectual capacity, who, far from admitting the few little weaknesses + they have, conceal them with care, and show themselves very sensitive to + any suggestion of their existence; and this, just because their whole + merit consists in being free from error and infirmity. If these people are + found to have done anything wrong, their reputation immediately suffers. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + With people of only moderate ability, modesty is mere honesty; but with + those who possess great talent, it is hypocrisy. Hence, it is just as + becoming in the latter to make no secret of the respect they bear + themselves and no disguise of the fact that they are conscious of unusual + power, as it is in the former to be modest. Valerius Maximus gives some + very neat examples of this in his chapter on self-confidence, <i>de + fiducia sui</i>. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Not to go to the theatre is like making one's toilet without a mirror. But + it is still worse to take a decision without consulting a friend. For a + man may have the most excellent judgment in all other matters, and yet go + wrong in those which concern himself; because here the will comes in and + deranges the intellect at once. Therefore let a man take counsel of a + friend. A doctor can cure everyone but himself; if he falls ill, he sends + for a colleague. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + In all that we do, we wish, more or less, to come to the end; we are + impatient to finish and glad to be done. But the last scene of all, the + general end, is something that, as a rule, we wish as far off as may be. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Every parting gives a foretaste of death; every coming together again a + foretaste of the resurrection. This is why even people who were + indifferent to each other, rejoice so much if they come together again + after twenty or thirty years' separation. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Intellects differ from one another in a very real and fundamental way: but + no comparison can well be made by merely general observations. It is + necessary to come close, and to go into details; for the difference that + exists cannot be seen from afar; and it is not easy to judge by outward + appearances, as in the several cases of education, leisure and occupation. + But even judging by these alone, it must be admitted that many a man has + <i>a degree of existence</i> at least ten times as high as another—in + other words, exists ten times as much. + </p> + <p> + I am not speaking here of savages whose life is often only one degree + above that of the apes in their woods. Consider, for instance, a porter in + Naples or Venice (in the north of Europe solicitude for the winter months + makes people more thoughtful and therefore reflective); look at the life + he leads, from its beginning to its end:—driven by poverty; living + on his physical strength; meeting the needs of every day, nay, of every + hour, by hard work, great effort, constant tumult, want in all its forms, + no care for the morrow; his only comfort rest after exhaustion; continuous + quarreling; not a moment free for reflection; such sensual delights as a + mild climate and only just sufficient food will permit of; and then, + finally, as the metaphysical element, the crass superstition of his + church; the whole forming a manner of life with only a low degree of + consciousness, where a man hustles, or rather is hustled, through his + existence. This restless and confused dream forms the life of how many + millions! + </p> + <p> + Such men <i>think</i> only just so much as is necessary to carry out their + will for the moment. They never reflect upon their life as a connected + whole, let alone, then, upon existence in general; to a certain extent + they may be said to exist without really knowing it. The existence of the + mobsman or the slave who lives on in this unthinking way, stands very much + nearer than ours to that of the brute, which is confined entirely to the + present moment; but, for that very reason, it has also less of pain in it + than ours. Nay, since all pleasure is in its nature negative, that is to + say, consists in freedom from some form of misery or need, the constant + and rapid interchange between setting about something and getting it done, + which is the permanent accompaniment of the work they do, and then again + the augmented form which this takes when they go from work to rest and the + satisfaction of their needs—all this gives them a constant source of + enjoyment; and the fact that it is much commoner to see happy faces + amongst the poor than amongst the rich, is a sure proof that it is used to + good advantage. + </p> + <p> + Passing from this kind of man, consider, next, the sober, sensible + merchant, who leads a life of speculation, thinks long over his plans and + carries them out with great care, founds a house, and provides for his + wife, his children and descendants; takes his share, too, in the life of a + community. It is obvious that a man like this has a much higher degree of + consciousness than the former, and so his existence has a higher degree of + reality. + </p> + <p> + Then look at the man of learning, who investigates, it may be, the history + of the past. He will have reached the point at which a man becomes + conscious of existence as a whole, sees beyond the period of his own life, + beyond his own personal interests, thinking over the whole course of the + world's history. + </p> + <p> + Then, finally, look at the poet or the philosopher, in whom reflection has + reached such a height, that, instead of being drawn on to investigate any + one particular phenomenon of existence, he stands in amazement <i>before + existence itself</i>, this great sphinx, and makes it his problem. In him + consciousness has reached the degree of clearness at which it embraces the + world itself: his intellect has completely abandoned its function as the + servant of his will, and now holds the world before him; and the world + calls upon him much more to examine and consider it, than to play a part + in it himself. If, then, the degree of consciousness is the degree of + reality, such a man will be said to exist most of all, and there will be + sense and significance in so describing him. + </p> + <p> + Between the two extremes here sketched, and the intervening stages, + everyone will be able to find the place at which he himself stands. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + We know that man is in general superior to all other animals, and this is + also the case in his capacity for being trained. Mohammedans are trained + to pray with their faces turned towards Mecca, five times a day; and they + never fail to do it. Christians are trained to cross themselves on certain + occasions, to bow, and so on. Indeed, it may be said that religion is the + <i>chef d'oeuvre</i> of the art of training, because it trains people in + the way they shall think: and, as is well known, you cannot begin the + process too early. There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be + firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before + the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great + solemnity. For as in the case of animals, so in that of men, training is + successful only when you begin in early youth. + </p> + <p> + Noblemen and gentlemen are trained to hold nothing sacred but their word + of honor—to maintain a zealous, rigid, and unshaken belief in the + ridiculous code of chivalry; and if they are called upon to do so, to seal + their belief by dying for it, and seriously to regard a king as a being of + a higher order. + </p> + <p> + Again, our expressions of politeness, the compliments we make, in + particular, the respectful attentions we pay to ladies, are a matter of + training; as also our esteem for good birth, rank, titles, and so on. Of + the same character is the resentment we feel at any insult directed + against us; and the measure of this resentment may be exactly determined + by the nature of the insult. An Englishman, for instance, thinks it a + deadly insult to be told that he is no gentleman, or, still worse, that he + is a liar; a Frenchman has the same feeling if you call him a coward, and + a German if you say he is stupid. + </p> + <p> + There are many persons who are trained to be strictly honorable in regard + to one particular matter, while they have little honor to boast of in + anything else. Many a man, for instance, will not steal your money; but he + will lay hands on everything of yours that he can enjoy without having to + pay for it. A man of business will often deceive you without the slightest + scruple, but he will absolutely refuse to commit a theft. + </p> + <p> + Imagination is strong in a man when that particular function of the brain + which enables him to observe is roused to activity without any necessary + excitement of the senses. Accordingly, we find that imagination is active + just in proportion as our senses are not excited by external objects. A + long period of solitude, whether in prison or in a sick room; quiet, + twilight, darkness—these are the things that promote its activity; + and under their influence it comes into play of itself. On the other hand, + when a great deal of material is presented to our faculties of + observation, as happens on a journey, or in the hurly-burly of the world, + or, again, in broad daylight, the imagination is idle, and, even though + call may be made upon it, refuses to become active, as though it + understood that that was not its proper time. + </p> + <p> + However, if the imagination is to yield any real product, it must have + received a great deal of material from the external world. This is the + only way in which its storehouse can be filled. The phantasy is nourished + much in the same way as the body, which is least capable of any work and + enjoys doing nothing just in the very moment when it receives its food + which it has to digest. And yet it is to this very food that it owes the + power which it afterwards puts forth at the right time. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Opinion is like a pendulum and obeys the same law. If it goes past the + centre of gravity on one side, it must go a like distance on the other; + and it is only after a certain time that it finds the true point at which + it can remain at rest. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + By a process of contradiction, distance in space makes things look small, + and therefore free from defect. This is why a landscape looks so much + better in a contracting mirror or in a <i>camera obscura</i>, than it is + in reality. The same effect is produced by distance in time. The scenes + and events of long ago, and the persons who took part in them, wear a + charming aspect to the eye of memory, which sees only the outlines and + takes no note of disagreeable details. The present enjoys no such + advantage, and so it always seems defective. + </p> + <p> + And again, as regards space, small objects close to us look big, and if + they are very close, we may be able to see nothing else, but when we go a + little way off, they become minute and invisible. It is the same again as + regards time. The little incidents and accidents of every day fill us with + emotion, anxiety, annoyance, passion, as long as they are close to us, + when they appear so big, so important, so serious; but as soon as they are + borne down the restless stream of time, they lose what significance they + had; we think no more of them and soon forget them altogether. They were + big only because they were near. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <i>Joy</i> and <i>sorrow</i> are not ideas of the mind, but affections of + the will, and so they do not lie in the domain of memory. We cannot recall + our joys and sorrows; by which I mean that we cannot renew them. We can + recall only the <i>ideas</i> that accompanied them; and, in particular, + the things we were led to say; and these form a gauge of our feelings at + the time. Hence our memory of joys and sorrows is always imperfect, and + they become a matter of indifference to us as soon as they are over. This + explains the vanity of the attempt, which we sometimes make, to revive the + pleasures and the pains of the past. Pleasure and pain are essentially an + affair of the will; and the will, as such, is not possessed of memory, + which is a function of the intellect; and this in its turn gives out and + takes in nothing but thoughts and ideas, which are not here in question. + </p> + <p> + It is a curious fact that in bad days we can very vividly recall the good + time that is now no more; but that in good days, we have only a very cold + and imperfect memory of the bad. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + We have a much better memory of actual objects or pictures than for mere + ideas. Hence a good imagination makes it easier to learn languages; for by + its aid, the new word is at once united with the actual object to which it + refers; whereas, if there is no imagination, it is simply put on a + parallel with the equivalent word in the mother tongue. + </p> + <p> + Mnemonics should not only mean the art of keeping something indirectly in + the memory by the use of some direct pun or witticism; it should, rather, + be applied to a systematic theory of memory, and explain its several + attributes by reference both to its real nature, and to the relation in + which these attributes stand to one another. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + There are moments in life when our senses obtain a higher and rarer degree + of clearness, apart from any particular occasion for it in the nature of + our surroundings; and explicable, rather, on physiological grounds alone, + as the result of some enhanced state of susceptibility, working from + within outwards. Such moments remain indelibly impressed upon the memory, + and preserve themselves in their individuality entire. We can assign no + reason for it, nor explain why this among so many thousand moments like it + should be specially remembered. It seems as much a matter of chance as + when single specimens of a whole race of animals now extinct are + discovered in the layers of a rock; or when, on opening a book, we light + upon an insect accidentally crushed within the leaves. Memories of this + kind are always sweet and pleasant. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It occasionally happens that, for no particular reason, long-forgotten + scenes suddenly start up in the memory. This may in many cases be due to + the action of some hardly perceptible odor, which accompanied those scenes + and now recurs exactly same as before. For it is well known that the sense + of smell is specially effective in awakening memories, and that in general + it does not require much to rouse a train of ideas. And I may say, in + passing, that the sense of sight is connected with the understanding,<a + href="#linknote-25" name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25">25</a> the + sense of hearing with the reason,<a href="#linknote-26" + name="linknoteref-26" id="linknoteref-26">26</a> and, as we see in the + present case, the sense of smell with the memory. Touch and Taste are more + material and dependent upon contact. They have no ideal side. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [<i>Wierfache Wurzel</i> § + 21.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Parerga</i> vol. ii, § + 311.] + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It must also be reckoned among the peculiar attributes of memory that a + slight state of intoxication often so greatly enhances the recollection of + past times and scenes, that all the circumstances connected with them come + back much more clearly than would be possible in a state of sobriety; but + that, on the other hand, the recollection of what one said or did while + the intoxication lasted, is more than usually imperfect; nay, that if one + has been absolutely tipsy, it is gone altogether. We may say, then, that + whilst intoxication enhances the memory for what is past, it allows it to + remember little of the present. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Men need some kind of external activity, because they are inactive within. + Contrarily, if they are active within, they do not care to be dragged out + of themselves; it disturbs and impedes their thoughts in a way that is + often most ruinous to them. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I am not surprised that some people are bored when they find themselves + alone; for they cannot laugh if they are quite by themselves. The very + idea of it seems folly to them. + </p> + <p> + Are we, then, to look upon laughter as merely O signal for others—a + mere sign, like a word? What makes it impossible for people to laugh when + they are alone is nothing but want of imagination, dullness of mind + generally—[Greek: anaisthaesia kai bradutaes psuchaes], as + Theophrastus has it.<a href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27" + id="linknoteref-27">27</a> The lower animals never laugh, either alone or + in company. Myson, the misanthropist, was once surprised by one of these + people as he was laughing to himself. <i>Why do you laugh</i>? he asked; + <i>there is no one with you. That is just why I am laughing</i>, said + Myson. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Characters</i>, c. + 27.] + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Natural <i>gesticulation</i>, such as commonly accompanies any lively + talk, is a language of its own, more widespread, even, than the language + of words—so far, I mean, as it is independent of words and alike in + all nations. It is true that nations make use of it in proportion as they + are vivacious, and that in particular cases, amongst the Italians, for + instance, it is supplemented by certain peculiar gestures which are merely + conventional, and therefore possessed of nothing more than a local value. + </p> + <p> + In the universal use made of it, gesticulation has some analogy with logic + and grammar, in that it has to do with the form, rather than with the + matter of conversation; but on the other hand it is distinguishable from + them by the fact that it has more of a moral than of an intellectual + bearing; in other words, it reflects the movements of the will. As an + accompaniment of conversation it is like the bass of a melody; and if, as + in music, it keeps true to the progress of the treble, it serves to + heighten the effect. + </p> + <p> + In a conversation, the gesture depends upon the form in which the + subject-matter is conveyed; and it is interesting to observe that, + whatever that subject-matter may be, with a recurrence of the form, the + very same gesture is repeated. So if I happen to see—from my window, + say—two persons carrying on a lively conversation, without my being + able to catch a word, I can, nevertheless, understand the general nature + of it perfectly well; I mean, the kind of thing that is being said and the + form it takes. There is no mistake about it. The speaker is arguing about + something, advancing his reasons, then limiting their application, then + driving them home and drawing the conclusion in triumph; or he is + recounting his experiences, proving, perhaps, beyond the shadow of a + doubt, how much he has been injured, but bringing the clearest and most + damning evidence to show that his opponents were foolish and obstinate + people who would not be convinced; or else he is telling of the splendid + plan he laid, and how he carried it to a successful issue, or perhaps + failed because the luck was against him; or, it may be, he is saying that + he was completely at a loss to know what to do, or that he was quick in + seeing some traps set for him, and that by insisting on his rights or by + applying a little force, he succeeded in frustrating and punishing his + enemies; and so on in hundreds of cases of a similar kind. + </p> + <p> + Strictly speaking, however, what I get from gesticulation alone is an + abstract notion of the essential drift of what is being said, and that, + too, whether I judge from a moral or an intellectual point of view. It is + the quintessence, the true substance of the conversation, and this remains + identical, no matter what may have given rise to the conversation, or what + it may be about; the relation between the two being that of a general idea + or class-name to the individuals which it covers. + </p> + <p> + As I have said, the most interesting and amusing part of the matter is the + complete identity and solidarity of the gestures used to denote the same + set of circumstances, even though by people of very different temperament; + so that the gestures become exactly like words of a language, alike for + every one, and subject only to such small modifications as depend upon + variety of accent and education. And yet there can be no doubt but that + these standing gestures, which every one uses, are the result of no + convention or collusion. They are original and innate—a true + language of nature; consolidated, it may be, by imitation and the + influence of custom. + </p> + <p> + It is well known that it is part of an actor's duty to make a careful + study of gesture; and the same thing is true, to a somewhat smaller + degree, of a public speaker. This study must consist chiefly in watching + others and imitating their movements, for there are no abstract rules + fairly applicable to the matter, with the exception of some very general + leading principles, such as—to take an example—that the + gesture must not follow the word, but rather come immediately before it, + by way of announcing its approach and attracting the hearer's attention. + </p> + <p> + Englishmen entertain a peculiar contempt for gesticulation, and look upon + it as something vulgar and undignified. This seems to me a silly prejudice + on their part, and the outcome of their general prudery. For here we have + a language which nature has given to every one, and which every one + understands; and to do away with and forbid it for no better reason than + that it is opposed to that much-lauded thing, gentlemanly feeling, is a + very questionable proceeding. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON EDUCATION. + </h2> + <p> + The human intellect is said to be so constituted that <i>general ideas</i> + arise by abstraction from <i>particular observations</i>, and therefore + come after them in point of time. If this is what actually occurs, as + happens in the case of a man who has to depend solely upon his own + experience for what he learns—who has no teacher and no book,—such + a man knows quite well which of his particular observations belong to and + are represented by each of his general ideas. He has a perfect + acquaintance with both sides of his experience, and accordingly, he treats + everything that comes in his way from a right standpoint. This might be + called the <i>natural</i> method of education. + </p> + <p> + Contrarily, the <i>artificial</i> method is to hear what other people say, + to learn and to read, and so to get your head crammed full of general + ideas before you have any sort of extended acquaintance with the world as + it is, and as you may see it for yourself. You will be told that the + particular observations which go to make these general ideas will come to + you later on in the course of experience; but until that time arrives, you + apply your general ideas wrongly, you judge men and things from a wrong + standpoint, you see them in a wrong light, and treat them in a wrong way. + So it is that education perverts the mind. + </p> + <p> + This explains why it so frequently happens that, after a long course of + learning and reading, we enter upon the world in our youth, partly with an + artless ignorance of things, partly with wrong notions about them; so that + our demeanor savors at one moment of a nervous anxiety, at another of a + mistaken confidence. The reason of this is simply that our head is full of + general ideas which we are now trying to turn to some use, but which we + hardly ever apply rightly. This is the result of acting in direct + opposition to the natural development of the mind by obtaining general + ideas first, and particular observations last: it is putting the cart + before the horse. Instead of developing the child's own faculties of + discernment, and teaching it to judge and think for itself, the teacher + uses all his energies to stuff its head full of the ready-made thoughts of + other people. The mistaken views of life, which spring from a false + application of general ideas, have afterwards to be corrected by long + years of experience; and it is seldom that they are wholly corrected. This + is why so few men of learning are possessed of common-sense, such as is + often to be met with in people who have had no instruction at all. + </p> + <p> + <i>To acquire a knowledge of the world</i> might be defined as the aim of + all education; and it follows from what I have said that special stress + should be laid upon beginning to acquire this knowledge <i>at the right + end</i>. As I have shown, this means, in the main, that the particular + observation of a thing shall precede the general idea of it; further, that + narrow and circumscribed ideas shall come before ideas of a wide range. It + means, therefore, that the whole system of education shall follow in the + steps that must have been taken by the ideas themselves in the course of + their formation. But whenever any of these steps are skipped or left out, + the instruction is defective, and the ideas obtained are false; and + finally, a distorted view of the world arises, peculiar to the individual + himself—a view such as almost everyone entertains for some time, and + most men for as long as they live. No one can look into his own mind + without seeing that it was only after reaching a very mature age, and in + some cases when he least expected it, that he came to a right + understanding or a clear view of many matters in his life, that, after + all, were not very difficult or complicated. Up till then, they were + points in his knowledge of the world which were still obscure, due to his + having skipped some particular lesson in those early days of his + education, whatever it may have been like—whether artificial and + conventional, or of that natural kind which is based upon individual + experience. + </p> + <p> + It follows that an attempt should be made to find out the strictly natural + course of knowledge, so that education may proceed methodically by keeping + to it; and that children may become acquainted with the ways of the world, + without getting wrong ideas into their heads, which very often cannot be + got out again. If this plan were adopted, special care would have to be + taken to prevent children from using words without clearly understanding + their meaning and application. The fatal tendency to be satisfied with + words instead of trying to understand things—to learn phrases by + heart, so that they may prove a refuge in time of need, exists, as a rule, + even in children; and the tendency lasts on into manhood, making the + knowledge of many learned persons to consist in mere verbiage. + </p> + <p> + However, the main endeavor must always be to let particular observations + precede general ideas, and not <i>vice versa</i>, as is usually and + unfortunately the case; as though a child should come feet foremost into + the world, or a verse be begun by writing down the rhyme! The ordinary + method is to imprint ideas and opinions, in the strict sense of the word, + <i>prejudices</i>, on the mind of the child, before it has had any but a + very few particular observations. It is thus that he afterwards comes to + view the world and gather experience through the medium of those + ready-made ideas, rather than to let his ideas be formed for him out of + his own experience of life, as they ought to be. + </p> + <p> + A man sees a great many things when he looks at the world for himself, and + he sees them from many sides; but this method of learning is not nearly so + short or so quick as the method which employs abstract ideas and makes + hasty generalizations about everything. Experience, therefore, will be a + long time in correcting preconceived ideas, or perhaps never bring its + task to an end; for wherever a man finds that the aspect of things seems + to contradict the general ideas he has formed, he will begin by rejecting + the evidence it offers as partial and one-sided; nay, he will shut his + eyes to it altogether and deny that it stands in any contradiction at all + with his preconceived notions, in order that he may thus preserve them + uninjured. So it is that many a man carries about a burden of wrong + notions all his life long—crotchets, whims, fancies, prejudices, + which at last become fixed ideas. The fact is that he has never tried to + form his fundamental ideas for himself out of his own experience of life, + his own way of looking at the world, because he has taken over his ideas + ready-made from other people; and this it is that makes him—as it + makes how many others!—so shallow and superficial. + </p> + <p> + Instead of that method of instruction, care should be taken to educate + children on the natural lines. No idea should ever be established in a + child's mind otherwise than by what the child can see for itself, or at + any rate it should be verified by the same means; and the result of this + would be that the child's ideas, if few, would be well-grounded and + accurate. It would learn how to measure things by its own standard rather + than by another's; and so it would escape a thousand strange fancies and + prejudices, and not need to have them eradicated by the lessons it will + subsequently be taught in the school of life. The child would, in this + way, have its mind once for all habituated to clear views and + thorough-going knowledge; it would use its own judgment and take an + unbiased estimate of things. + </p> + <p> + And, in general, children should not form their notions of what life is + like from the copy before they have learned it from the original, to + whatever aspect of it their attention may be directed. Instead, therefore, + of hastening to place <i>books</i>, and books alone, in their hands, let + them be made acquainted, step by step, with <i>things</i>—with the + actual circumstances of human life. And above all let care be taken to + bring them to a clear and objective view of the world as it is, to educate + them always to derive their ideas directly from real life, and to shape + them in conformity with it—not to fetch them from other sources, + such as books, fairy tales, or what people say—then to apply them + ready-made to real life. For this will mean that their heads are full of + wrong notions, and that they will either see things in a false light or + try in vain to <i>remodel the world</i> to suit their views, and so enter + upon false paths; and that, too, whether they are only constructing + theories of life or engaged in the actual business of it. It is incredible + how much harm is done when the seeds of wrong notions are laid in the mind + in those early years, later on to bear a crop of prejudice; for the + subsequent lessons, which are learned from real life in the world have to + be devoted mainly to their extirpation. <i>To unlearn the evil</i> was the + answer, according to Diogenes Laertius,<a href="#linknote-28" + name="linknoteref-28" id="linknoteref-28">28</a> Antisthenes gave, when he + was asked what branch of knowledge was most necessary; and we can see what + he meant. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ vi. 7.] + </p> + <p> + No child under the age of fifteen should receive instruction in subjects + which may possibly be the vehicle of serious error, such as philosophy, + religion, or any other branch of knowledge where it is necessary to take + large views; because wrong notions imbibed early can seldom be rooted out, + and of all the intellectual faculties, judgment is the last to arrive at + maturity. The child should give its attention either to subjects where no + error is possible at all, such as mathematics, or to those in which there + is no particular danger in making a mistake, such as languages, natural + science, history and so on. And in general, the branches of knowledge + which are to be studied at any period of life should be such as the mind + is equal to at that period and can perfectly understand. Childhood and + youth form the time for collecting materials, for getting a special and + thorough knowledge of the individual and particular things. In those years + it is too early to form views on a large scale; and ultimate explanations + must be put off to a later date. The faculty of judgment, which cannot + come into play without mature experience, should be left to itself; and + care should be taken not to anticipate its action by inculcating + prejudice, which will paralyze it for ever. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, the memory should be specially taxed in youth, since it + is then that it is strongest and most tenacious. But in choosing the + things that should be committed to memory the utmost care and forethought + must be exercised; as lessons well learnt in youth are never forgotten. + This precious soil must therefore be cultivated so as to bear as much + fruit as possible. If you think how deeply rooted in your memory are those + persons whom you knew in the first twelve years of your life, how + indelible the impression made upon you by the events of those years, how + clear your recollection of most of the things that happened to you then, + most of what was told or taught you, it will seem a natural thing to take + the susceptibility and tenacity of the mind at that period as the + ground-work of education. This may be done by a strict observance of + method, and a systematic regulation of the impressions which the mind is + to receive. + </p> + <p> + But the years of youth allotted to a man are short, and memory is, in + general, bound within narrow limits; still more so, the memory of any one + individual. Since this is the case, it is all-important to fill the memory + with what is essential and material in any branch of knowledge, to the + exclusion of everything else. The decision as to what is essential and + material should rest with the masterminds in every department of thought; + their choice should be made after the most mature deliberation, and the + outcome of it fixed and determined. Such a choice would have to proceed by + sifting the things which it is necessary and important for a man to know + in general, and then, necessary and important for him to know in any + particular business or calling. Knowledge of the first kind would have to + be classified, after an encyclopaedic fashion, in graduated courses, + adapted to the degree of general culture which a man may be expected to + have in the circumstances in which he is placed; beginning with a course + limited to the necessary requirements of primary education, and extending + upwards to the subjects treated of in all the branches of philosophical + thought. The regulation of the second kind of knowledge would be left to + those who had shown genuine mastery in the several departments into which + it is divided; and the whole system would provide an elaborate rule or + canon for intellectual education, which would, of course, have to be + revised every ten years. Some such arrangement as this would employ the + youthful power of the memory to best advantage, and supply excellent + working material to the faculty of judgment, when it made its appearance + later on. + </p> + <p> + A man's knowledge may be said to be mature, in other words, it has reached + the most complete state of perfection to which he, as an individual, is + capable of bringing it, when an exact correspondence is established + between the whole of his abstract ideas and the things he has actually + perceived for himself. This will mean that each of his abstract ideas + rests, directly or indirectly, upon a basis of observation, which alone + endows it with any real value; and also that he is able to place every + observation he makes under the right abstract idea which belongs to it. + Maturity is the work of experience alone; and therefore it requires time. + The knowledge we derive from our own observation is usually distinct from + that which we acquire through the medium of abstract ideas; the one coming + to us in the natural way, the other by what people tell us, and the course + of instruction we receive, whether it is good or bad. The result is, that + in youth there is generally very little agreement or correspondence + between our abstract ideas, which are merely phrases in the mind, and that + real knowledge which we have obtained by our own observation. It is only + later on that a gradual approach takes place between these two kinds of + knowledge, accompanied by a mutual correction of error; and knowledge is + not mature until this coalition is accomplished. This maturity or + perfection of knowledge is something quite independent of another kind of + perfection, which may be of a high or a low order—the perfection, I + mean, to which a man may bring his own individual faculties; which is + measured, not by any correspondence between the two kinds of knowledge, + but by the degree of intensity which each kind attains. + </p> + <p> + For the practical man the most needful thing is to acquire an accurate and + profound knowledge of <i>the ways of the world</i>. But this, though the + most needful, is also the most wearisome of all studies, as a man may + reach a great age without coming to the end of his task; whereas, in the + domain of the sciences, he masters the more important facts when he is + still young. In acquiring that knowledge of the world, it is while he is a + novice, namely, in boyhood and in youth, that the first and hardest + lessons are put before him; but it often happens that even in later years + there is still a great deal to be learned. + </p> + <p> + The study is difficult enough in itself; but the difficulty is doubled by + <i>novels</i>, which represent a state of things in life and the world, + such as, in fact, does not exist. Youth is credulous, and accepts these + views of life, which then become part and parcel of the mind; so that, + instead of a merely negative condition of ignorance, you have positive + error—a whole tissue of false notions to start with; and at a later + date these actually spoil the schooling of experience, and put a wrong + construction on the lessons it teaches. If, before this, the youth had no + light at all to guide him, he is now misled by a will-o'-the-wisp; still + more often is this the case with a girl. They have both had a false view + of things foisted on them by reading novels; and expectations have been + aroused which can never be fulfilled. This generally exercises a baneful + influence on their whole life. In this respect those whose youth has + allowed them no time or opportunity for reading novels—those who + work with their hands and the like—are in a position of decided + advantage. There are a few novels to which this reproach cannot be + addressed—nay, which have an effect the contrary of bad. First and + foremost, to give an example, <i>Gil Blas</i>, and the other works of Le + Sage (or rather their Spanish originals); further, <i>The Vicar of + Wakefield</i>, and, to some extent Sir Walter Scott's novels. <i>Don + Quixote</i> may be regarded as a satirical exhibition of the error to + which I am referring. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + OF WOMEN. + </h2> + <p> + Schiller's poem in honor of women, <i>Würde der Frauen</i>, is the result + of much careful thought, and it appeals to the reader by its antithetic + style and its use of contrast; but as an expression of the true praise + which should be accorded to them, it is, I think, inferior to these few + words of Jouy's: <i>Without women, the beginning of our life would be + helpless; the middle, devoid of pleasure; and the end, of consolation</i>. + The same thing is more feelingly expressed by Byron in <i>Sardanapalus</i>: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>The very first + Of human life must spring from woman's breast, + Your first small words are taught you from her lips, + Your first tears quench'd by her, and your last sighs + Too often breathed out in a woman's hearing, + When men have shrunk from the ignoble care + Of watching the last hour of him who led them</i>. + + (Act I Scene 2.) +</pre> + <p> + These two passages indicate the right standpoint for the appreciation of + women. + </p> + <p> + You need only look at the way in which she is formed, to see that woman is + not meant to undergo great labor, whether of the mind or of the body. She + pays the debt of life not by what she does, but by what she suffers; by + the pains of child-bearing and care for the child, and by submission to + her husband, to whom she should be a patient and cheering companion. The + keenest sorrows and joys are not for her, nor is she called upon to + display a great deal of strength. The current of her life should be more + gentle, peaceful and trivial than man's, without being essentially happier + or unhappier. + </p> + <p> + Women are directly fitted for acting as the nurses and teachers of our + early childhood by the fact that they are themselves childish, frivolous + and short-sighted; in a word, they are big children all their life long—a + kind of intermediate stage between the child and the full-grown man, who + is man in the strict sense of the word. See how a girl will fondle a child + for days together, dance with it and sing to it; and then think what a + man, with the best will in the world, could do if he were put in her + place. + </p> + <p> + With young girls Nature seems to have had in view what, in the language of + the drama, is called <i>a striking effect</i>; as for a few years she + dowers them with a wealth of beauty and is lavish in her gift of charm, at + the expense of all the rest of their life; so that during those years they + may capture the fantasy of some man to such a degree that he is hurried + away into undertaking the honorable care of them, in some form or other, + as long as they live—a step for which there would not appear to be + any sufficient warranty if reason only directed his thoughts. Accordingly, + Nature has equipped woman, as she does all her creatures, with the weapons + and implements requisite for the safeguarding of her existence, and for + just as long as it is necessary for her to have them. Here, as elsewhere, + Nature proceeds with her usual economy; for just as the female ant, after + fecundation, loses her wings, which are then superfluous, nay, actually a + danger to the business of breeding; so, after giving birth to one or two + children, a woman generally loses her beauty; probably, indeed, for + similar reasons. + </p> + <p> + And so we find that young girls, in their hearts, look upon domestic + affairs or work of any kind as of secondary importance, if not actually as + a mere jest. The only business that really claims their earnest attention + is love, making conquests, and everything connected with this—dress, + dancing, and so on. + </p> + <p> + The nobler and more perfect a thing is, the later and slower it is in + arriving at maturity. A man reaches the maturity of his reasoning powers + and mental faculties hardly before the age of twenty-eight; a woman at + eighteen. And then, too, in the case of woman, it is only reason of a sort—very + niggard in its dimensions. That is why women remain children their whole + life long; never seeing anything but what is quite close to them, cleaving + to the present moment, taking appearance for reality, and preferring + trifles to matters of the first importance. For it is by virtue of his + reasoning faculty that man does not live in the present only, like the + brute, but looks about him and considers the past and the future; and this + is the origin of prudence, as well as of that care and anxiety which so + many people exhibit. Both the advantages and the disadvantages which this + involves, are shared in by the woman to a smaller extent because of her + weaker power of reasoning. She may, in fact, be described as + intellectually short-sighted, because, while she has an intuitive + understanding of what lies quite close to her, her field of vision is + narrow and does not reach to what is remote; so that things which are + absent, or past, or to come, have much less effect upon women than upon + men. This is the reason why women are more often inclined to be + extravagant, and sometimes carry their inclination to a length that + borders upon madness. In their hearts, women think that it is men's + business to earn money and theirs to spend it—- if possible during + their husband's life, but, at any rate, after his death. The very fact + that their husband hands them over his earnings for purposes of + housekeeping, strengthens them in this belief. + </p> + <p> + However many disadvantages all this may involve, there is at least this to + be said in its favor; that the woman lives more in the present than the + man, and that, if the present is at all tolerable, she enjoys it more + eagerly. This is the source of that cheerfulness which is peculiar to + women, fitting her to amuse man in his hours of recreation, and, in case + of need, to console him when he is borne down by the weight of his cares. + </p> + <p> + It is by no means a bad plan to consult women in matters of difficulty, as + the Germans used to do in ancient times; for their way of looking at + things is quite different from ours, chiefly in the fact that they like to + take the shortest way to their goal, and, in general, manage to fix their + eyes upon what lies before them; while we, as a rule, see far beyond it, + just because it is in front of our noses. In cases like this, we need to + be brought back to the right standpoint, so as to recover the near and + simple view. + </p> + <p> + Then, again, women are decidedly more sober in their judgment than we are, + so that they do not see more in things than is really there; whilst, if + our passions are aroused, we are apt to see things in an exaggerated way, + or imagine what does not exist. + </p> + <p> + The weakness of their reasoning faculty also explains why it is that women + show more sympathy for the unfortunate than men do, and so treat them with + more kindness and interest; and why it is that, on the contrary, they are + inferior to men in point of justice, and less honorable and conscientious. + For it is just because their reasoning power is weak that present + circumstances have such a hold over them, and those concrete things, which + lie directly before their eyes, exercise a power which is seldom + counteracted to any extent by abstract principles of thought, by fixed + rules of conduct, firm resolutions, or, in general, by consideration for + the past and the future, or regard for what is absent and remote. + Accordingly, they possess the first and main elements that go to make a + virtuous character, but they are deficient in those secondary qualities + which are often a necessary instrument in the formation of it.<a + href="#linknote-29" name="linknoteref-29" id="linknoteref-29">29</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ In this respect they may + be compared to an animal organism which contains a liver but no + gall-bladder. Here let me refer to what I have said in my treatise on <i>The + Foundation of Morals</i>, § 17.] + </p> + <p> + Hence, it will be found that the fundamental fault of the female character + is that it has <i>no sense of justice</i>. This is mainly due to the fact, + already mentioned, that women are defective in the powers of reasoning and + deliberation; but it is also traceable to the position which Nature has + assigned to them as the weaker sex. They are dependent, not upon strength, + but upon craft; and hence their instinctive capacity for cunning, and + their ineradicable tendency to say what is not true. For as lions are + provided with claws and teeth, and elephants and boars with tusks, bulls + with horns, and cuttle fish with its clouds of inky fluid, so Nature has + equipped woman, for her defence and protection, with the arts of + dissimulation; and all the power which Nature has conferred upon man in + the shape of physical strength and reason, has been bestowed upon women in + this form. Hence, dissimulation is innate in woman, and almost as much a + quality of the stupid as of the clever. It is as natural for them to make + use of it on every occasion as it is for those animals to employ their + means of defence when they are attacked; they have a feeling that in doing + so they are only within their rights. Therefore a woman who is perfectly + truthful and not given to dissimulation is perhaps an impossibility, and + for this very reason they are so quick at seeing through dissimulation in + others that it is not a wise thing to attempt it with them. But this + fundamental defect which I have stated, with all that it entails, gives + rise to falsity, faithlessness, treachery, ingratitude, and so on. Perjury + in a court of justice is more often committed by women than by men. It + may, indeed, be generally questioned whether women ought to be sworn in at + all. From time to time one finds repeated cases everywhere of ladies, who + want for nothing, taking things from shop-counters when no one is looking, + and making off with them. + </p> + <p> + Nature has appointed that the propagation of the species shall be the + business of men who are young, strong and handsome; so that the race may + not degenerate. This is the firm will and purpose of Nature in regard to + the species, and it finds its expression in the passions of women. There + is no law that is older or more powerful than this. Woe, then, to the man + who sets up claims and interests that will conflict with it; whatever he + may say and do, they will be unmercifully crushed at the first serious + encounter. For the innate rule that governs women's conduct, though it is + secret and unformulated, nay, unconscious in its working, is this: <i>We + are justified in deceiving those who think they have acquired rights over + the species by paying little attention to the individual, that is, to us. + The constitution and, therefore, the welfare of the species have been + placed in our hands and committed to our care, through the control we + obtain over the next generation, which proceeds from us; let us discharge + our duties conscientiously</i>. But women have no abstract knowledge of + this leading principle; they are conscious of it only as a concrete fact; + and they have no other method of giving expression to it than the way in + which they act when the opportunity arrives. And then their conscience + does not trouble them so much as we fancy; for in the darkest recesses of + their heart, they are aware that in committing a breach of their duty + towards the individual, they have all the better fulfilled their duty + towards the species, which is infinitely greater.<a href="#linknote-30" + name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30">30</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ A more detailed + discussion of the matter in question may be found in my chief work, <i>Die + Welt als Wille und Vorstellung</i>, vol. ii, ch. 44.] + </p> + <p> + And since women exist in the main solely for the propagation of the + species, and are not destined for anything else, they live, as a rule, + more for the species than for the individual, and in their hearts take the + affairs of the species more seriously than those of the individual. This + gives their whole life and being a certain levity; the general bent of + their character is in a direction fundamentally different from that of + man; and it is this to which produces that discord in married life which + is so frequent, and almost the normal state. + </p> + <p> + The natural feeling between men is mere indifference, but between women it + is actual enmity. The reason of this is that trade-jealousy—<i>odium + figulinum</i>—which, in the case of men does not go beyond the + confines of their own particular pursuit; but, with women, embraces the + whole sex; since they have only one kind of business. Even when they meet + in the street, women look at one another like Guelphs and Ghibellines. And + it is a patent fact that when two women make first acquaintance with each + other, they behave with more constraint and dissimulation than two men + would show in a like case; and hence it is that an exchange of compliments + between two women is a much more ridiculous proceeding than between two + men. Further, whilst a man will, as a general rule, always preserve a + certain amount of consideration and humanity in speaking to others, even + to those who are in a very inferior position, it is intolerable to see how + proudly and disdainfully a fine lady will generally behave towards one who + is in a lower social rank (I do not mean a woman who is in her service), + whenever she speaks to her. The reason of this may be that, with women, + differences of rank are much more precarious than with us; because, while + a hundred considerations carry weight in our case, in theirs there is only + one, namely, with which man they have found favor; as also that they stand + in much nearer relations with one another than men do, in consequence of + the one-sided nature of their calling. This makes them endeavor to lay + stress upon differences of rank. + </p> + <p> + It is only the man whose intellect is clouded by his sexual impulses that + could give the name of <i>the fair sex</i> to that under-sized, + narrow-shouldered, broad-hipped, and short-legged race; for the whole + beauty of the sex is bound up with this impulse. Instead of calling them + beautiful, there would be more warrant for describing women as the + un-aesthetic sex. Neither for music, nor for poetry, nor for fine art, + have they really and truly any sense or susceptibility; it is a mere + mockery if they make a pretence of it in order to assist their endeavor to + please. Hence, as a result of this, they are incapable of taking a <i>purely + objective interest</i> in anything; and the reason of it seems to me to be + as follows. A man tries to acquire <i>direct</i> mastery over things, + either by understanding them, or by forcing them to do his will. But a + woman is always and everywhere reduced to obtaining this mastery <i>indirectly</i>, + namely, through a man; and whatever direct mastery she may have is + entirely confined to him. And so it lies in woman's nature to look upon + everything only as a means for conquering man; and if she takes an + interest in anything else, it is simulated—a mere roundabout way of + gaining her ends by coquetry, and feigning what she does not feel. Hence, + even Rousseau declared: <i>Women have, in general, no love for any art; + they have no proper knowledge of any; and they have no genius</i>.<a + href="#linknote-31" name="linknoteref-31" id="linknoteref-31">31</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Lettre à d'Alembert, Note + xx.] + </p> + <p> + No one who sees at all below the surface can have failed to remark the + same thing. You need only observe the kind of attention women bestow upon + a concert, an opera, or a play—the childish simplicity, for example, + with which they keep on chattering during the finest passages in the + greatest masterpieces. If it is true that the Greeks excluded women from + their theatres they were quite right in what they did; at any rate you + would have been able to hear what was said upon the stage. In our day, + besides, or in lieu of saying, <i>Let a woman keep silence in the church</i>, + it would be much to the point to say <i>Let a woman keep silence in the + theatre</i>. This might, perhaps, be put up in big letters on the curtain. + </p> + <p> + And you cannot expect anything else of women if you consider that the most + distinguished intellects among the whole sex have never managed to produce + a single achievement in the fine arts that is really great, genuine, and + original; or given to the world any work of permanent value in any sphere. + This is most strikingly shown in regard to painting, where mastery of + technique is at least as much within their power as within ours—and + hence they are diligent in cultivating it; but still, they have not a + single great painting to boast of, just because they are deficient in that + objectivity of mind which is so directly indispensable in painting. They + never get beyond a subjective point of view. It is quite in keeping with + this that ordinary women have no real susceptibility for art at all; for + Nature proceeds in strict sequence—<i>non facit saltum</i>. And + Huarte<a href="#linknote-32" name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32">32</a> + in his <i>Examen de ingenios para las scienzias</i>—a book which has + been famous for three hundred years—denies women the possession of + all the higher faculties. The case is not altered by particular and + partial exceptions; taken as a whole, women are, and remain, + thorough-going Philistines, and quite incurable. Hence, with that absurd + arrangement which allows them to share the rank and title of their + husbands they are a constant stimulus to his ignoble ambitions. And, + further, it is just because they are Philistines that modern society, + where they take the lead and set the tone, is in such a bad way. + Napoleon's saying—that <i>women have no rank</i>—should be + adopted as the right standpoint in determining their position in society; + and as regards their other qualities Chamfort<a href="#linknote-33" + name="linknoteref-33" id="linknoteref-33">33</a> makes the very true + remark: <i>They are made to trade with our own weaknesses and our follies, + but not with our reason. The sympathies that exist between them and men + are skin-deep only, and do not touch the mind or the feelings or the + character</i>. They form the <i>sexus sequior</i>—the second sex, + inferior in every respect to the first; their infirmities should be + treated with consideration; but to show them great reverence is extremely + ridiculous, and lowers us in their eyes. When Nature made two divisions of + the human race, she did not draw the line exactly through the middle. + These divisions are polar and opposed to each other, it is true; but the + difference between them is not qualitative merely, it is also + quantitative. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>.—- + Juan Huarte (1520?-1590) practised as a physician at Madrid. The work + cited by Schopenhauer is known, and has been translated into many + languages.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>.—See + <i>Counsels and Maxims</i>, p. 12, Note.] + </p> + <p> + This is just the view which the ancients took of woman, and the view which + people in the East take now; and their judgment as to her proper position + is much more correct than ours, with our old French notions of gallantry + and our preposterous system of reverence—that highest product of + Teutonico-Christian stupidity. These notions have served only to make + women more arrogant and overbearing; so that one is occasionally reminded + of the holy apes in Benares, who in the consciousness of their sanctity + and inviolable position, think they can do exactly as they please. + </p> + <p> + But in the West, the woman, and especially the <i>lady</i>, finds herself + in a false position; for woman, rightly called by the ancients, <i>sexus + sequior</i>, is by no means fit to be the object of our honor and + veneration, or to hold her head higher than man and be on equal terms with + him. The consequences of this false position are sufficiently obvious. + Accordingly, it would be a very desirable thing if this Number-Two of the + human race were in Europe also relegated to her natural place, and an end + put to that lady nuisance, which not only moves all Asia to laughter, but + would have been ridiculed by Greece and Rome as well. It is impossible to + calculate the good effects which such a change would bring about in our + social, civil and political arrangements. There would be no necessity for + the Salic law: it would be a superfluous truism. In Europe the <i>lady</i>, + strictly so-called, is a being who should not exist at all; she should be + either a housewife or a girl who hopes to become one; and she should be + brought up, not to be arrogant, but to be thrifty and submissive. It is + just because there are such people as <i>ladies</i> in Europe that the + women of the lower classes, that is to say, the great majority of the sex, + are much more unhappy than they are in the East. And even Lord Byron says: + <i>Thought of the state of women under the ancient Greeks—convenient + enough. Present state, a remnant of the barbarism of the chivalric and the + feudal ages—artificial and unnatural. They ought to mind home—and + be well fed and clothed—but not mixed in society. Well educated, + too, in religion—but to read neither poetry nor politics— + nothing but books of piety and cookery. Music—drawing—dancing—also + a little gardening and ploughing now and then. I have seen them mending + the roads in Epirus with good success. Why not, as well as hay-making and + milking</i>? + </p> + <p> + The laws of marriage prevailing in Europe consider the woman as the + equivalent of the man—start, that is to say, from a wrong position. + In our part of the world where monogamy is the rule, to marry means to + halve one's rights and double one's duties. Now, when the laws gave women + equal rights with man, they ought to have also endowed her with a + masculine intellect. But the fact is, that just in proportion as the + honors and privileges which the laws accord to women, exceed the amount + which nature gives, is there a diminution in the number of women who + really participate in these privileges; and all the remainder are deprived + of their natural rights by just so much as is given to the others over and + above their share. For the institution of monogamy, and the laws of + marriage which it entails, bestow upon the woman an unnatural position of + privilege, by considering her throughout as the full equivalent of the + man, which is by no means the case; and seeing this, men who are shrewd + and prudent very often scruple to make so great a sacrifice and to + acquiesce in so unfair an arrangement. + </p> + <p> + Consequently, whilst among polygamous nations every woman is provided for, + where monogamy prevails the number of married women is limited; and there + remains over a large number of women without stay or support, who, in the + upper classes, vegetate as useless old maids, and in the lower succumb to + hard work for which they are not suited; or else become <i>filles de joie</i>, + whose life is as destitute of joy as it is of honor. But under the + circumstances they become a necessity; and their position is openly + recognized as serving the special end of warding off temptation from those + women favored by fate, who have found, or may hope to find, husbands. In + London alone there are 80,000 prostitutes. What are they but the women, + who, under the institution of monogamy have come off worse? Theirs is a + dreadful fate: they are human sacrifices offered up on the altar of + monogamy. The women whose wretched position is here described are the + inevitable set-off to the European lady with her arrogance and pretension. + Polygamy is therefore a real benefit to the female sex if it is taken as a + whole. And, from another point of view, there is no true reason why a man + whose wife suffers from chronic illness, or remains barren, or has + gradually become too old for him, should not take a second. The motives + which induce so many people to become converts to Mormonism<a + href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34" id="linknoteref-34">34</a> + appear to be just those which militate against the unnatural institution + of monogamy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Translator's Note</i>.—The + Mormons have recently given up polygamy, and received the American + franchise in its stead.] + </p> + <p> + Moreover, the bestowal of unnatural rights upon women has imposed upon + them unnatural duties, and, nevertheless, a breach of these duties makes + them unhappy. Let me explain. A man may often think that his social or + financial position will suffer if he marries, unless he makes some + brilliant alliance. His desire will then be to win a woman of his own + choice under conditions other than those of marriage, such as will secure + her position and that of the children. However fair, reasonable, fit and + proper these conditions may be, and the woman consents by foregoing that + undue amount of privilege which marriage alone can bestow, she to some + extent loses her honor, because marriage is the basis of civic society; + and she will lead an unhappy life, since human nature is so constituted + that we pay an attention to the opinion of other people which is out of + all proportion to its value. On the other hand, if she does not consent, + she runs the risk either of having to be given in marriage to a man whom + she does not like, or of being landed high and dry as an old maid; for the + period during which she has a chance of being settled for life is very + short. And in view of this aspect of the institution of monogamy, + Thomasius' profoundly learned treatise, <i>de Concubinatu</i>, is well + worth reading; for it shows that, amongst all nations and in all ages, + down to the Lutheran Reformation, concubinage was permitted; nay, that it + was an institution which was to a certain extent actually recognized by + law, and attended with no dishonor. It was only the Lutheran Reformation + that degraded it from this position. It was seen to be a further + justification for the marriage of the clergy; and then, after that, the + Catholic Church did not dare to remain behind-hand in the matter. + </p> + <p> + There is no use arguing about polygamy; it must be taken as <i>de facto</i> + existing everywhere, and the only question is as to how it shall be + regulated. Where are there, then, any real monogamists? We all live, at + any rate, for a time, and most of us, always, in polygamy. And so, since + every man needs many women, there is nothing fairer than to allow him, + nay, to make it incumbent upon him, to provide for many women. This will + reduce woman to her true and natural position as a subordinate being; and + the <i>lady</i>—that monster of European civilization and + Teutonico-Christian stupidity—will disappear from the world, leaving + only <i>women</i>, but no more <i>unhappy women</i>, of whom Europe is now + full. + </p> + <p> + In India, no woman is ever independent, but in accordance with the law of + Mamu,<a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35" id="linknoteref-35">35</a> + she stands under the control of her father, her husband, her brother or + her son. It is, to be sure, a revolting thing that a widow should immolate + herself upon her husband's funeral pyre; but it is also revolting that she + should spend her husband's money with her paramours—the money for + which he toiled his whole life long, in the consoling belief that he was + providing for his children. Happy are those who have kept the middle + course—<i>medium tenuere beati</i>. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ Ch. V., v. 148.] + </p> + <p> + The first love of a mother for her child is, with the lower animals as + with men, of a purely <i>instinctive</i> character, and so it ceases when + the child is no longer in a physically helpless condition. After that, the + first love should give way to one that is based on habit and reason; but + this often fails to make its appearance, especially where the mother did + not love the father. The love of a father for his child is of a different + order, and more likely to last; because it has its foundation in the fact + that in the child he recognizes his own inner self; that is to say, his + love for it is metaphysical in its origin. + </p> + <p> + In almost all nations, whether of the ancient or the modern world, even + amongst the Hottentots,<a href="#linknote-36" name="linknoteref-36" + id="linknoteref-36">36</a> property is inherited by the male descendants + alone; it is only in Europe that a departure has taken place; but not + amongst the nobility, however. That the property which has cost men long + years of toil and effort, and been won with so much difficulty, should + afterwards come into the hands of women, who then, in their lack of + reason, squander it in a short time, or otherwise fool it away, is a + grievance and a wrong as serious as it is common, which should be + prevented by limiting the right of women to inherit. In my opinion, the + best arrangement would be that by which women, whether widows or + daughters, should never receive anything beyond the interest for life on + property secured by mortgage, and in no case the property itself, or the + capital, except where all male descendants fail. The people who make money + are men, not women; and it follows from this that women are neither + justified in having unconditional possession of it, nor fit persons to be + entrusted with its administration. <a href="#linknote-37" + name="linknoteref-37" id="linknoteref-37">37</a>When wealth, in any true + sense of the word, that is to say, funds, houses or land, is to go to them + as an inheritance they should never be allowed the free disposition of it. + In their case a guardian should always be appointed; and hence they should + never be given the free control of their own children, wherever it can be + avoided. The vanity of women, even though it should not prove to be + greater than that of men, has this much danger in it, that it takes an + entirely material direction. They are vain, I mean, of their personal + beauty, and then of finery, show and magnificence. That is just why they + are so much in their element in society. It is this, too, which makes them + so inclined to be extravagant, all the more as their reasoning power is + low. Accordingly we find an ancient writer describing woman as in general + of an extravagant nature—[Greek: Gynae to synolon esti dapanaeron + Physei][2] But with men vanity often takes the direction of non-material + advantages, such as intellect, learning, courage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ Leroy, <i>Lettres + philosophiques sur l'intelligence et la perfectibilité des animaux, avec + quelques lettres sur l'homme</i>, p. 298, Paris, 1802.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ Brunck's <i>Gnomici + poetae graeci</i>, v. 115.] + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Politics</i><a href="#linknote-38" name="linknoteref-38" + id="linknoteref-38">38</a> Aristotle explains the great disadvantage which + accrued to the Spartans from the fact that they conceded too much to their + women, by giving them the right of inheritance and dower, and a great + amount of independence; and he shows how much this contributed to Sparta's + fall. May it not be the case in France that the influence of women, which + went on increasing steadily from the time of Louis XIII., was to blame for + that gradual corruption of the Court and the Government, which brought + about the Revolution of 1789, of which all subsequent disturbances have + been the fruit? However that may be, the false position which women + occupy, demonstrated as it is, in the most glaring way, by the institution + of the <i>lady</i>, is a fundamental defect in our social scheme, and this + defect, proceeding from the very heart of it, must spread its baneful + influence in all directions. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ Bk. I, ch. 9.] + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + That woman is by nature meant to obey may be seen by the fact that every + woman who is placed in the unnatural position of complete independence, + immediately attaches herself to some man, by whom she allows herself to be + guided and ruled. It is because she needs a lord and master. If she is + young, it will be a lover; if she is old, a priest. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON NOISE. + </h2> + <p> + Kant wrote a treatise on <i>The Vital Powers</i>. I should prefer to write + a dirge for them. The superabundant display of vitality, which takes the + form of knocking, hammering, and tumbling things about, has proved a daily + torment to me all my life long. There are people, it is true—nay, a + great many people—who smile at such things, because they are not + sensitive to noise; but they are just the very people who are also not + sensitive to argument, or thought, or poetry, or art, in a word, to any + kind of intellectual influence. The reason of it is that the tissue of + their brains is of a very rough and coarse quality. On the other hand, + noise is a torture to intellectual people. In the biographies of almost + all great writers, or wherever else their personal utterances are + recorded, I find complaints about it; in the case of Kant, for instance, + Goethe, Lichtenberg, Jean Paul; and if it should happen that any writer + has omitted to express himself on the matter, it is only for want of an + opportunity. + </p> + <p> + This aversion to noise I should explain as follows: If you cut up a large + diamond into little bits, it will entirely lose the value it had as a + whole; and an army divided up into small bodies of soldiers, loses all its + strength. So a great intellect sinks to the level of an ordinary one, as + soon as it is interrupted and disturbed, its attention distracted and + drawn off from the matter in hand; for its superiority depends upon its + power of concentration—of bringing all its strength to bear upon one + theme, in the same way as a concave mirror collects into one point all the + rays of light that strike upon it. Noisy interruption is a hindrance to + this concentration. That is why distinguished minds have always shown such + an extreme dislike to disturbance in any form, as something that breaks in + upon and distracts their thoughts. Above all have they been averse to that + violent interruption that comes from noise. Ordinary people are not much + put out by anything of the sort. The most sensible and intelligent of all + nations in Europe lays down the rule, <i>Never Interrupt</i>! as the + eleventh commandment. Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of + interruption. It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of + thought. Of course, where there is nothing to interrupt, noise will not be + so particularly painful. Occasionally it happens that some slight but + constant noise continues to bother and distract me for a time before I + become distinctly conscious of it. All I feel is a steady increase in the + labor of thinking—just as though I were trying to walk with a weight + on my foot. At last I find out what it is. Let me now, however, pass from + genus to species. The most inexcusable and disgraceful of all noises is + the cracking of whips—a truly infernal thing when it is done in the + narrow resounding streets of a town. I denounce it as making a peaceful + life impossible; it puts an end to all quiet thought. That this cracking + of whips should be allowed at all seems to me to show in the clearest way + how senseless and thoughtless is the nature of mankind. No one with + anything like an idea in his head can avoid a feeling of actual pain at + this sudden, sharp crack, which paralyzes the brain, rends the thread of + reflection, and murders thought. Every time this noise is made, it must + disturb a hundred people who are applying their minds to business of some + sort, no matter how trivial it may be; while on the thinker its effect is + woeful and disastrous, cutting his thoughts asunder, much as the + executioner's axe severs the head from the body. No sound, be it ever so + shrill, cuts so sharply into the brain as this cursed cracking of whips; + you feel the sting of the lash right inside your head; and it affects the + brain in the same way as touch affects a sensitive plant, and for the same + length of time. + </p> + <p> + With all due respect for the most holy doctrine of utility, I really + cannot see why a fellow who is taking away a wagon-load of gravel or dung + should thereby obtain the right to kill in the bud the thoughts which may + happen to be springing up in ten thousand heads—the number he will + disturb one after another in half an hour's drive through the town. + Hammering, the barking of dogs, and the crying of children are horrible to + hear; but your only genuine assassin of thought is the crack of a whip; it + exists for the purpose of destroying every pleasant moment of quiet + thought that any one may now and then enjoy. If the driver had no other + way of urging on his horse than by making this most abominable of all + noises, it would be excusable; but quite the contrary is the case. This + cursed cracking of whips is not only unnecessary, but even useless. Its + aim is to produce an effect upon the intelligence of the horse; but + through the constant abuse of it, the animal becomes habituated to the + sound, which falls upon blunted feelings and produces no effect at all. + The horse does not go any faster for it. You have a remarkable example of + this in the ceaseless cracking of his whip on the part of a cab-driver, + while he is proceeding at a slow pace on the lookout for a fare. If he + were to give his horse the slightest touch with the whip, it would have + much more effect. Supposing, however, that it were absolutely necessary to + crack the whip in order to keep the horse constantly in mind of its + presence, it would be enough to make the hundredth part of the noise. For + it is a well-known fact that, in regard to sight and hearing, animals are + sensitive to even the faintest indications; they are alive to things that + we can scarcely perceive. The most surprising instances of this are + furnished by trained dogs and canary birds. + </p> + <p> + It is obvious, therefore, that here we have to do with an act of pure + wantonness; nay, with an impudent defiance offered to those members of the + community who work with their heads by those who work with their hands. + That such infamy should be tolerated in a town is a piece of barbarity and + iniquity, all the more as it could easily be remedied by a police-notice + to the effect that every lash shall have a knot at the end of it. There + can be no harm in drawing the attention of the mob to the fact that the + classes above them work with their heads, for any kind of headwork is + mortal anguish to the man in the street. A fellow who rides through the + narrow alleys of a populous town with unemployed post-horses or + cart-horses, and keeps on cracking a whip several yards long with all his + might, deserves there and then to stand down and receive five really good + blows with a stick. + </p> + <p> + All the philanthropists in the world, and all the legislators, meeting to + advocate and decree the total abolition of corporal punishment, will never + persuade me to the contrary! There is something even more disgraceful than + what I have just mentioned. Often enough you may see a carter walking + along the street, quite alone, without any horses, and still cracking away + incessantly; so accustomed has the wretch become to it in consequence of + the unwarrantable toleration of this practice. A man's body and the needs + of his body are now everywhere treated with a tender indulgence. Is the + thinking mind then, to be the only thing that is never to obtain the + slightest measure of consideration or protection, to say nothing of + respect? Carters, porters, messengers—these are the beasts of burden + amongst mankind; by all means let them be treated justly, fairly, + indulgently, and with forethought; but they must not be permitted to stand + in the way of the higher endeavors of humanity by wantonly making a noise. + How many great and splendid thoughts, I should like to know, have been + lost to the world by the crack of a whip? If I had the upper hand, I + should soon produce in the heads of these people an indissoluble + association of ideas between cracking a whip and getting a whipping. + </p> + <p> + Let us hope that the more intelligent and refined among the nations will + make a beginning in this matter, and then that the Germans may take + example by it and follow suit.<a href="#linknote-39" name="linknoteref-39" + id="linknoteref-39">39</a> Meanwhile, I may quote what Thomas Hood says of + them<a href="#linknote-40" name="linknoteref-40" id="linknoteref-40">40</a>: + <i>For a musical nation, they are the most noisy I ever met with</i>. That + they are so is due to the fact, not that they are more fond of making a + noise than other people—they would deny it if you asked them—but + that their senses are obtuse; consequently, when they hear a noise, it + does not affect them much. It does not disturb them in reading or + thinking, simply because they do not think; they only smoke, which is + their substitute for thought. The general toleration of unnecessary noise—the + slamming of doors, for instance, a very unmannerly and ill-bred thing—is + direct evidence that the prevailing habit of mind is dullness and lack of + thought. In Germany it seems as though care were taken that no one should + ever think for mere noise—to mention one form of it, the way in + which drumming goes on for no purpose at all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ According to a notice + issued by the Society for the Protection of Animals in Munich, the + superfluous whipping and the cracking of whips were, in December, 1858, + positively forbidden in Nuremberg.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ In <i>Up the Rhine</i>.] + </p> + <p> + Finally, as regards the literature of the subject treated of in this + chapter, I have only one work to recommend, but it is a good one. I refer + to a poetical epistle in <i>terzo rimo</i> by the famous painter Bronzino, + entitled <i>De' Romori: a Messer Luca Martini</i>. It gives a detailed + description of the torture to which people are put by the various noises + of a small Italian town. Written in a tragicomic style, it is very + amusing. The epistle may be found in <i>Opere burlesche del Berni, Aretino + ed altri</i>, Vol. II., p. 258; apparently published in Utrecht in 1771. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A FEW PARABLES. + </h2> + <p> + In a field of ripening corn I came to a place which had been trampled down + by some ruthless foot; and as I glanced amongst the countless stalks, + every one of them alike, standing there so erect and bearing the full + weight of the ear, I saw a multitude of different flowers, red and blue + and violet. How pretty they looked as they grew there so naturally with + their little foliage! But, thought I, they are quite useless; they bear no + fruit; they are mere weeds, suffered to remain only because there is no + getting rid of them. And yet, but for these flowers, there would be + nothing to charm the eye in that wilderness of stalks. They are emblematic + of poetry and art, which, in civic life—so severe, but still useful + and not without its fruit—play the same part as flowers in the corn. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + There are some really beautifully landscapes in the world, but the human + figures in them are poor, and you had not better look at them. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The fly should be used as the symbol of impertinence and audacity; for + whilst all other animals shun man more than anything else, and run away + even before he comes near them, the fly lights upon his very nose. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Two Chinamen traveling in Europe went to the theatre for the first time. + One of them did nothing but study the machinery, and he succeeded in + finding out how it was worked. The other tried to get at the meaning of + the piece in spite of his ignorance of the language. Here you have the + Astronomer and the Philosopher. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Wisdom which is only theoretical and never put into practice, is like a + double rose; its color and perfume are delightful, but it withers away and + leaves no seed. + </p> + <p> + No rose without a thorn. Yes, but many a thorn without a rose. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + A wide-spreading apple-tree stood in full bloom, and behind it a straight + fir raised its dark and tapering head. <i>Look at the thousands of gay + blossoms which cover me everywhere</i>, said the apple-tree; <i>what have + you to show in comparison? Dark-green needles! That is true</i>, replied + the fir, <i>but when winter comes, you will be bared of your glory; and I + shall be as I am now</i>. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Once, as I was botanizing under an oak, I found amongst a number of other + plants of similar height one that was dark in color, with tightly closed + leaves and a stalk that was very straight and stiff. When I touched it, it + said to me in firm tones: <i>Let me alone; I am not for your collection, + like these plants to which Nature has given only a single year of life. I + am a little oak</i>. + </p> + <p> + So it is with a man whose influence is to last for hundreds of years. As a + child, as a youth, often even as a full-grown man, nay, his whole life + long, he goes about among his fellows, looking like them and seemingly as + unimportant. But let him alone; he will not die. Time will come and bring + those who know how to value him. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The man who goes up in a balloon does not feel as though he were + ascending; he only sees the earth sinking deeper under him. + </p> + <p> + There is a mystery which only those will understand who feel the truth of + it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Your estimation of a man's size will be affected by the distance at which + you stand from him, but in two entirely opposite ways according as it is + his physical or his mental stature that you are considering. The one will + seem smaller, the farther off you move; the other, greater. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Nature covers all her works with a varnish of beauty, like the tender + bloom that is breathed, as it were, on the surface of a peach or a plum. + Painters and poets lay themselves out to take off this varnish, to store + it up, and give it us to be enjoyed at our leisure. We drink deep of this + beauty long before we enter upon life itself; and when afterwards we come + to see the works of Nature for ourselves, the varnish is gone: the artists + have used it up and we have enjoyed it in advance. Thus it is that the + world so often appears harsh and devoid of charm, nay, actually repulsive. + It were better to leave us to discover the varnish for ourselves. This + would mean that we should not enjoy it all at once and in large + quantities; we should have no finished pictures, no perfect poems; but we + should look at all things in that genial and pleasing light in which even + now a child of Nature sometimes sees them—some one who has not + anticipated his aesthetic pleasures by the help of art, or taken the + charms of life too early. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The Cathedral in Mayence is so shut in by the houses that are built round + about it, that there is no one spot from which you can see it as a whole. + This is symbolic of everything great or beautiful in the world. It ought + to exist for its own sake alone, but before very long it is misused to + serve alien ends. People come from all directions wanting to find in it + support and maintenance for themselves; they stand in the way and spoil + its effect. To be sure, there is nothing surprising in this, for in a + world of need and imperfection everything is seized upon which can be used + to satisfy want. Nothing is exempt from this service, no, not even those + very things which arise only when need and want are for a moment lost + sight of—the beautiful and the true, sought for their own sakes. + </p> + <p> + This is especially illustrated and corroborated in the case of + institutions—whether great or small, wealthy or poor, founded, no + matter in what century or in what land, to maintain and advance human + knowledge, and generally to afford help to those intellectual efforts + which ennoble the race. Wherever these institutions may be, it is not long + before people sneak up to them under the pretence of wishing to further + those special ends, while they are really led on by the desire to secure + the emoluments which have been left for their furtherance, and thus to + satisfy certain coarse and brutal instincts of their own. Thus it is that + we come to have so many charlatans in every branch of knowledge. The + charlatan takes very different shapes according to circumstances; but at + bottom he is a man who cares nothing about knowledge for its own sake, and + only strives to gain the semblance of it that he may use it for his own + personal ends, which are always selfish and material. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Every hero is a Samson. The strong man succumbs to the intrigues of the + weak and the many; and if in the end he loses all patience he crushes both + them and himself. Or he is like Gulliver at Lilliput, overwhelmed by an + enormous number of little men. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + A mother gave her children Aesop's fables to read, in the hope of + educating and improving their minds; but they very soon brought the book + back, and the eldest, wise beyond his years, delivered himself as follows: + <i>This is no book for us; it's much too childish and stupid. You can't + make us believe that foxes and wolves and ravens are able to talk; we've + got beyond stories of that kind</i>! + </p> + <p> + In these young hopefuls you have the enlightened Rationalists of the + future. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + A number of porcupines huddled together for warmth on a cold day in + winter; but, as they began to prick one another with their quills, they + were obliged to disperse. However the cold drove them together again, when + just the same thing happened. At last, after many turns of huddling and + dispersing, they discovered that they would be best off by remaining at a + little distance from one another. In the same way the need of society + drives the human porcupines together, only to be mutually repelled by the + many prickly and disagreeable qualities of their nature. The moderate + distance which they at last discover to be the only tolerable condition of + intercourse, is the code of politeness and fine manners; and those who + transgress it are roughly told—in the English phrase—<i>to + keep their distance</i>. By this arrangement the mutual need of warmth is + only very moderately satisfied; but then people do not get pricked. A man + who has some heat in himself prefers to remain outside, where he will + neither prick other people nor get pricked himself. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESSAYS OF ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER; +STUDIES IN PESSIMISM*** + + +******* This file should be named 10732-h.htm or 10732-h.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/3/10732 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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