The Little Review, December 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 9)Various
General
The Little Review, December 1914 (Vol. 1, No. 9)
Various
Literature, Modern -- 20th century -- Periodicals
Yes, indeed! It is a narrow, a very narrow gate through which men enter
into life; a small, a very small path that leads to this narrow gate.
There is room for only one man at a time—only one! There is one
precaution with which man must sharpen all his wits, if he is to have
regard for the way, so that he may at no moment lose sight of the way;
or if his feet are not to lose their hold and slip, if he is not to grow
dizzy and plunge into the abyss. This is not every man’s thing; it costs
stress and strain and tension; it needs sharp eyes, cool head, firm and
brave heart. It is much easier to stroll along the broad way, where one
keeps step with another, where many wander along together; and if there
but be one that is the guide of all, then of course all follow that one
step by step. On this broad way no one need take upon himself any
responsibility for the right way. Should the leader mislead his blind
followers, the latter would disbelieve their own eyes rather than their
leader, would “confess” that the false broad way was nevertheless the
right way, rather than condemn their own blindness and indolence. These
are the _Herdenmenschen_, the herd men who cannot understand that there
is a strength which only the man feels who stands alone. These are the
men who have no stay in themselves and seek their stay, therefore, in
dependence upon others; possess no supplies of their own, and ever
therefore only consume the capital which others amass.
Friedrich Nietzsche summoned men out and away from this herd. Friedrich
Nietzsche warned men of the broad way and guided their minds to the
solitary paths which are difficult and perilous indeed, but along which
the true life is to be lived. These small paths, these are the paths of
the creative: “Where man becomes a new force, and a new law, a wheel
rolling of itself, and a first mover!” There every force of his being
becomes a living creative force. No thought is repeated, no feeling, no
decision, is a copy of something which was before. This is a new faith
in man. He does not need to live by borrowing. There is a stratum in his
own soul, in whose hidden depths veins of gold are concealed, gold that
he needs but to mine in order to have a worth of his own, a wealth of
his own. This is a new love to the man who conceals undreamt of riches
underneath his poor shell, divine living seedcorn preserved with
germinating power underneath all the burden of the dead that overlay
him. Here Nietzsche, the godless one, chimes with the godly Gallet who
values the error which man of himself finds more highly than the truth
he learns by rote. To be sure, man possesses this that is his very own,
this power of the creator, in his soul, not in his coat, not in his
manners, not in life’s forms of social intercourse. The man is still far
from having everything his very own, if he be only different from
others, if he only says “no” to what others say “yes.” There are people
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