And when, upon the bridge between two centuries of decadence, a _force majeure_ of genius and will revealed itself, strong enough to weld Europe into political and economic unity, the Germans finally, with their "Wars of Liberation," robbed Europe of the meaning of Napoleon's existence, a prodigy of meaning. Thus they have upon their conscience all that followed, nationalism, the _névrose nationale_ from which Europe is suffering, and the perpetuation of the system of little states, of petty politics. Last of all, the Germans have upon their conscience their attitude to himself, their indifference, their lack of recognition, the silence in which they buried his life's work. The Germans are bad company. And although his autobiography ends with a poem in which he affects a scorn of fame, "that coin in which the whole world pays, but which he receives with gloved hands and tramples underfoot with loathing "--yet his failure to win renown in Germany during his lifetime contributed powerfully to foster his antipathy. The exaltation that marks the whole tone of the work, the unrestrained self-esteem which animates it and is ominous of the near approach of madness, have not deprived _Ecce Homo_ of its character of surpassing greatness. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Friedrich Nietzsche, by Georg Brandes