There is a third symptom of fatigue: that ambition which actuated the
great thinker when he was young, and which could not then find anything to
satisfy it, has also grown old, and, like one that has no more time to
lose, it begins to snatch at the coarser and more immediate means of its
gratification, means which are peculiar to active, dominating, violent,
and conquering dispositions. From this time onwards the thinker wishes to
found institutions which shall bear his name, instead of erecting mere
brain-structures. What are now to him the ethereal victories and honours
to be met with in the realm of proofs and refutations, or the perpetuation
of his fame in books, or the thrill of exultation in the soul of the
reader? But the institution, on the other hand, is a temple, as he well
knows—a temple of stone, a durable edifice, which will keep its god alive
with more certainty than the sacrifices of rare and tender souls.(17)
Perhaps, too, at this period of his life the old thinker will for the
first time meet with that love which is fitted for a god rather than for a
human being, and his whole nature becomes softened and sweetened in the
rays of such a sun, like fruit in autumn. Yes, he grows more divine and
beautiful, this great old man,—and nevertheless it is old age and
weariness which permit him to ripen in this way, to grow more silent, and
to repose in the luminous adulation of a woman. Now it is all up with his
former desire—a desire which was superior even to his own ego—for real
disciples, followers who would carry on his thought, that is, true
opponents. This desire arose from his hitherto undiminished energy, the
conscious pride he felt in being able at any time to become an opponent
himself,—nay, even the deadly enemy of his own doctrine,—but now his
desire is for resolute partisans, unwavering comrades, auxiliary forces,
heralds, a pompous train of followers. He is now no longer able to bear
that dreadful isolation in which every intellect that advances beyond the
others is compelled to live. From this time forward he surrounds himself
with objects of veneration, companionship, tenderness, and love; but he
also wishes to enjoy the privileges of all religious people, and to
worship what he venerates most highly in his little community—he will even
go as far as to invent a religion for the purpose of having a community.