The hierarchy of possessions ... is not fixed and equal at all times; if any one prefers vengeance to justice he is moral according to the standard of an earlier civilisation, but immoral according to the present one. 1, 63 People who are cruel nowadays must be accounted for by us as the grades of earlier civilisations which have survived.... 1, 63 Certainly we should _exhibit_ pity, but take good care not to _feel_ it, for the unfortunate are so _stupid_ that to them the exhibition of pity is the greatest good in the world. 1, 68 The thirst for pity is the thirst for self-gratification.... 1, 69 There must be self-deception in order that this and that may _produce_ great _effects._ For men believe in the truth of everything that is visibly, strongly believed in. 1, 71 One of the commonest mistakes is this: because some one is truthful and honest towards us, he must speak the truth. 1, 71 Why do people mostly speak the truth in daily life?... Because ... the path of compulsion and authority is surer than that of cunning. 1,72 One may promise actions, but no sentiments, for these are involuntary. 1,76 Our crime against criminals lies in the fact that we treat them like rascals. 1,79 Every virtue has its privileges; for example, that of contributing its own little fagot to the scaffold of every condemned man. 1, 80 Why do we over-estimate love to the disadvantage of justice, and say the most beautiful things about it, as if it were something very much higher than the latter? Is it not visibly more stupid than justice? Certainly, but precisely for that reason all the _pleasanter_ for every one. 1, 81 Hope,--in reality ... is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of man. 1, 82 One will seldom go wrong if one attributes extreme actions to vanity, average ones to habit, and petty ones to fear. 1, 83 Religion is rich in excuses to reply to the demand for suicide, and thus it ingratiates itself with those who wish to cling to life. 1, 85-86 The injustice of the powerful, which, more than anything else, rouses indignation in history, is by no means so great as it appears.... One unconsciously takes it for granted that doer and sufferer think and feel alike, and according to this supposition we measure the guilt of the one by the pain of the other. 1, 86-87 When virtue has slept, it will arise again all the fresher. 1, 87 What a great deal of pleasure morality gives! Only think what a sea of pleasant tears has been shed over descriptions of noble and unselfish deeds! This charm of life would vanish if the belief in absolute irresponsibility Were to obtain supremacy. 1, 90