The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV
Nietzsche · en
It tries to acquire strength of will by every kind of asceticism.
It is not expansive, it practises silence; it is cautious in regard to
all charms.
It learns to obey in such a way that obedience provides a test of
self-maintenance. Casuistry is carried to its highest pitch in regard
to points of honour.
It never argues, "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander,"--but conversely! it regards reward, and the ability to repay,
as a privilege, as a distinction.
It does not covet _other_ people's virtues.
922.
The way in which one has to treat raw savages and the impossibility of
dispensing with barbarous methods, becomes obvious, in practice, when
one is transplanted, with all one's European pampering, to a spot such
as the Congo, or anywhere else where it is necessary to maintain one's
mastery over barbarians.
923.
_Warlike and peaceful people._--Art thou a man who has the instincts of
a warrior in thy blood? If this be so, another question must be put. Do
thy instincts impel thee to attack or to defend? The rest of mankind,
all those whose instincts are not warlike, desire peace, concord,
freedom, "equal rights": these things are but names and steps for one
and the same thing. Such men only wish to go where it is not necessary
for them to defend themselves,--such men become discontented with
themselves when they are obliged to offer resistance: they would fain
create circumstances in which war is no longer necessary. If the worst
came to the worst, they would resign themselves, obey, and submit: all
these things are better than waging war--thus does the Christian's
instinct, for instance, whisper to him. In the born warrior's
character there is something of armour, likewise in the choice of his
circumstances and in the development of every one of his qualities,
weapons are best evolved by the latter type, shields are best devised
by the former.
What expedients and what virtues do the unarmed and the undefended
require in order to survive--and even to conquer?
924.
What will become of a man who no longer has any reasons for either
defence or attack? What will remain of his _passions_ when he has lost
those which form his defence and his weapons?
925.