In a final chapter, under the caption of "Things I Owe to the Ancients," Nietzsche outlines the inspirational source of many of his doctrines and literary habits. This chapter is important only to the student who wishes to go to the remoter influences in Nietzsche's writings, and for that reason I have omitted from the following excerpts any quotation from it. EXCERPTS FROM "THE TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS" Man thinks woman profound--why? Because he can never fathom her depths. Woman is not even shallow. 5 The trodden worm curls up. This testifies to its caution. It thus reduces its chances of being trodden upon again. In the language of morality: Humility. 5-6 The Church combats passion by means of excision of all kinds: its practise, its "remedy," is _castration._ It never inquires "how can a desire be spiritualised, beautified, deified?"--In all ages it has laid the weight of discipline in the process of extirpation (the extirpation of sensuality, pride, lust of dominion, lust of property, and revenge).--But to attack the passions at their roots, means attacking life itself at its source: the method of the Church is hostile to life. 27 Only degenerates find radical methods indispensable: weakness of will, or more strictly speaking, the inability not to react to a stimulus, is in itself simply another form of degeneracy. Radical and mortal hostility to sensuality, remains a suspicious symptom: it justifies one in being suspicious of the general state of one who goes to such extremes. 27 A man is productive only in so far as he is rich in contrasted instincts; he can remain young only on condition that his soul does not begin to take things easy and to yearn for peace. 28-29 All naturalism is morality--that is to say, every sound morality is ruled by a life instinct--any one of the laws of life is fulfilled by the definite canon "thou shalt," "thou shalt not," and any sort of obstacle or hostile element in the road of life is thus cleared away. Conversely, the morality which is antagonistic to nature--that is to say, almost every morality that has been taught, honoured and preached hitherto, is directed precisely against the life-instincts.... 30 Morality, as it has been understood hitherto, is the instinct of degeneration itself, which converts itself into an imperative: it says: "Perish!" It is the death sentence of men who are already doomed. 31 Morality, in so far it condemns _per se,_ and _not_ out of any aim, consideration or motive of life, is a specific error, for which no one should feel any mercy, a degenerate idiosyncrasy, that has done an unutterable amount of harm. 32 Every mistake is in every sense the sequel to degeneration of the instincts to disintegration of the will. This is almost the definition of evil. 35 Morality and religion are completely and utterly parts of the psychology of error: in every particular case cause and effect are confounded. 41