_Outwardly_: Ages of terrible wars, insurrections, explosions. _Inwardly_: ever more and more weakness among men; _events_ take the _form of excitants._ The Parisian as the type of the European extreme. _Consequences_: (1) Savages (at first, of course, in conformity with the culture that has reigned hitherto); (2) _Sovereign individuals_ (where _powerful_ barbarous _masses_ and emancipation from all that has been, are crossed). The age of greatest stupidity, brutality, and wretchedness in the masses, and _in the highest individuals._ 131. An incalculable number of higher individuals now perish: but he who _escapes their fate_ is as strong as the devil. In this respect we are reminded of the conditions which prevailed in the Renaissance. 132. How are _Good Europeans_ such as ourselves distinguished from the patriots? In the first place, we are atheists and immoralists, but we take care to support the religions and the morality which we associate with the gregarious instinct: for by means of them, an order of men is, so to speak, being prepared, which must at some time or other fall into our hands, which must actually _crave_ for our hands. Beyond Good and Evil,--certainly; but we insist upon the unconditional and strict preservation of herd-morality. We reserve ourselves the right to several kinds of philosophy which it is necessary to learn: under certain circumstances, the pessimistic kind as a hammer; a European Buddhism might perhaps be indispensable. We should probably support the development and the maturation of democratic tendencies; for it conduces to weakness of will: in "Socialism" we recognise a thorn which prevents smug ease. Attitude towards the people.. Our prejudices; we pay attention to the results of cross-breeding. Detached, well-to-do, strong: irony concerning the "press" and its culture. Our care: that scientific men should not become journalists. We mistrust any form of culture that tolerates news-paper reading or writing. We make our accidental positions (as Goethe and Stendhal did), our experiences, a foreground, and we lay stress upon them, so that we may deceive concerning our backgrounds. We ourselves _wait_ and avoid putting our heart into them. They serve us as refuges, such as a wanderer might require and use--but we avoid feeling at home in them. We are ahead of our fellows in that we have had a _disciplina voluntatis._ All strength is directed to the _development of the will,_ an art which allows us to wear masks, an art of understanding _beyond_ the passions (also "super-European" thought at times). This is our preparation before becoming the law-givers of the future and the lords of the earth; if not we, at least our children. Caution where marriage is concerned. 133.