_Mathematics._--We want to carry the refinement and rigour of mathematics into all the sciences, as far as it is in any way possible, not in the belief that we shall apprehend things in this way, but in order thereby to _assert_ our human relation to things. Mathematics is only a means to general and ultimate human knowledge. 247. _Habits._--All habits make our hand wittier and our wit unhandier. 248. _Books._--Of what account is a book that never carries us away beyond all books? 249. _The Sigh of the Seeker of Knowledge._--"Oh, my covetousness! In this soul there is no disinterestedness--but an all-desiring self, which, by means of many individuals, would fain see as with _its own_ eyes, and grasp as with _its own_ hands--a self bringing back even the entire past, and wanting to lose nothing that could in anyway belong to it! Oh, this flame of my covetousness! Oh, that I were reincarnated in a hundred individuals!"--He who does not know this sigh by experience, does not know the passion of the seeker of knowledge either. 250. _Guilt._--Although the most intelligent judges of the witches, and even the witches themselves, were convinced of the guilt of witchcraft, the guilt, nevertheless, was not there. So it is with all guilt. 251. _Misunderstood Sufferers._--Great natures suffer otherwise than their worshippers imagine; they suffer most severely from the ignoble, petty emotions of certain evil moments; in short, from doubt of their own greatness;--not however from the sacrifices and martyrdoms which their tasks require of them. As long as Prometheus sympathises with men and sacrifices himself for them, he is happy and proud in himself; but on becoming envious of Zeus and of the homage which mortals pay him--then Prometheus suffers! 252. _Better to be in Debt._--"Better to remain in debt than to pay with money which does not bear our stamp!"--that is what our sovereignty prefers. 253. _Always at Home._--One day we attain our _goal_--and then refer with pride to the long journeys we have made to reach it. In truth, we did not notice that we travelled. We got into the habit of thinking that we were _at home_ in every place. 254. _Against Embarrassment._--He who is always thoroughly occupied is rid of all embarrassment. 255. _Imitators._--A: "What? You don't want to have imitators?" B: "I don't want people to do anything _after_ me; I want every one to do something _before_ himself (as a pattern to himself)--just as _I_ do." A: "Consequently--?" 256. _Skinniness._--All profound men have their happiness in imitating the flying-fish at times, and playing on the crests of the waves; they think that what is best of all in things is their surface: their skinniness--_sit venia verbo_. 257. _From Experience._--A person often does not know how rich he is, until he learns from experience what rich men even play the thief on him. 258. _The Deniers of Chance._--No conqueror believes in chance. 259.