To study, in all its moods, in the works of nature and in the works of man, the eternal and universal law of gradation, by degrees, little by little, with forces progressively increasing, like compound interest in finance. It is the same with artistic and literary ease; it is the same with the variable treasure of the will. LVI The rout of little _littérateurs_ to be seen at funerals, distributing handshakes and commending themselves to the memory of the letter writer. Of the funerals of famous men. Molière.--My opinion of Tartuffe is that it is not a comedy, but a pamphlet. An atheist, if only he is well-bred, would think, in connection with the play, that serious questions should never be betrayed to the riff-raff. LVII To glorify the worship of images (my great, my one, my primitive passion). To glorify vagabondage and what may be called bohemianism. Worship of sensation, multiplied and expressing itself in music. Refer this to Liszt. Of the need of beating women. One can chastise what one loves. Thus with children. But that implies the misery of scorning what one loves. Of cuckoldom and of cuckolds. The misery of the cuckold. It springs from his pride, from a false conception of honor and of happiness, and from a love foolishly turned from God to be attributed to creatures. It is ever the worshipping animal deluded with its idol. LVIII Music conveys the idea of space. All the arts, more or less; since they are _number_ and number is a translation of space. Daily to wish to be the greatest of men! LXI Nations have great men only in spite of themselves. Apropos of the actor and of my childish dreams, a chapter on what constitutes, in the human soul, the calling of the actor, the glory of the actor, the art of the actor and his situation in the world. The theory of Legouvé. Is Legouvé a cold farceur, a Swift, who tried whether France would swallow a new absurdity? His choice. Good, in the sense that Samson is not an actor. Of the true greatness of pariahs. Perhaps even, virtue harms the talents of pariahs. LXII Commerce is, in its essence, _satanic_. Commerce, is the loan returned, it is the loan with an understanding: Return more than I gave you. --The spirit of everything commercial is completely depraved. --Commerce is _natural_, hence it is _infamous_. --The least infamous of tradesmen is he who says: "Let us be virtuous that we may gain much more money than the fools who are vicious." For the tradesman, honesty itself is a speculation. Commerce is Satanic, because it is one of the forms of egoism, the lowest, and the most vile. LXIII When Jesus Christ said: "Blessed are they that hunger, for they shall be filled!" Jesus Christ was gambling on probabilities. LXIV The world progresses only through misunderstanding. It is by universal misunderstanding that all the world agrees. For if, unfortunately, they understood one another, people could never agree.