Nietzsche saw naught but decadence and illusion in humanitarianism and nationalism. To profess a love for the masses seemed to him to be ridiculous and to profess a love for one race or tribe of men, in preference to all others, seemed to him no less so. Thus he denied the validity of two ideals which lie at the base of all civilized systems of government, and constitute, in fact, the very conception of the state. He called himself, not a German, but "a good European." "We good Europeans," he said, "are not French enough to 'love mankind.' A man must be afflicted by an excess of Gallic eroticism to approach mankind with ardour. Mankind! Was there ever a more hideous old woman among all the old women? No, we do not love mankind!... On the other hand, we are not German enough to advocate nationalism and race-hatred, or to take delight in that national blood-poisoning which sets up quarantines between the nations of Europe. We are too unprejudiced for that--too perverse, too fastidious, too well-informed, too much travelled. We prefer to live on mountains--apart, unseasonable.... We are too diverse and mixed in race to be patriots. We are, in a word, good Europeans--the rich heirs of millenniums of European thought.... "We rejoice in everything, which like ourselves, loves danger, war and adventure--which does not make compromises, nor let itself be captured, conciliated or faced.... We ponder over the need of a new order of things--even of a new slavery, for the strengthening and elevation of the human race always involves the existence of slaves...."[11] "The horizon is unobstructed.... Our ships can start on their voyage once more in the face of danger.... The sea--our sea!--lies before us!"[12] [1] "_Also sprach Zarathustra_," IV. [2] That of Wisconsin at the 1907 session. [3] This has been done, time and again, by the legislature of every state in the Union, and the overturning of such legislation occupies part of the time of all the state courts of final judicature year after year. [4] That of South Carolina. [5] _Vide_ the chapter on "Civilization." [6] Said the Chicago _Tribune_, "the best all-round newspaper in the United States," in a leading article, June 10, 1907: "Jeremy Bentham speaks of 'an incoherent and undigested mass of law, shot down, as from a rubbish cart, upon the heads of the people.' This is a fairly accurate summary of the work of the average American legislature, from New York to Texas.... Bad, crude and unnecessary laws make up a large part of the output of every session.... Roughly speaking, the governor who vetoes the most bills is the best governor. When a governor vetoes none the legitimate presumption is, not that the work of the legislature was flawless, but that he was timid, not daring to oppose ignorant popular sentiment ... or that he had not sense enough to recognize a bad measure when he saw it." [7] "_Morgenröte_," § 5.