Friedrich_Nietzsche - Untimely_Meditations_(Cambridge_Texts_in_the_History_of_Philosophy__1997)

On the uses and disadvantages of history for lifeunconditional will to justice is there anything great in that strivingfor truth which is everywhere so thoughtlessly glorified: whereasin the eyes of less clear-sighted men a whole host of the most variousdrives - curiosity, flight from boredo:rn, envy, vanity, the desirefor amusement, fo r example - can be involved in the striving fortruth, though in reality they have nothing whatever to do withtruth, which has its roots in justice. Thus the world seems to befull of those who 'serve truth', yet the virtue of justice is rarelypresent, even more rarely recognized and almost always mortallyhated: while on the other hand the horde of those who onlyappear virtuous is at all times received with pomp and honour.The truth is that few serve truth because few possess the pure willto justice, and of these few only a few also possess the strengthactually to be just. To possess only the will is absolutely notenough: and the most terrible sufferings sustained by mankindhave proceeded precisely from those possessing he drive to justicebut lacking the power of judgment; which is why nothing wouldpromote the general wellbeing more mightily than to sow theseeds of correct judgment as widely as possible, so that the fanaticwould be distinguished from the judge and the blind desire to bea judge from the conscious ability to judge. But where could ameans of implanting the power of judgment be fo und! - man willalways remain in doubt and trepidation whether, when truth andjustice are spoken of, it is a fanatic or a judge who is speaking tothem. That is why they must be forgiven if they have alwaysextended an especially cordial welcome to those 'servants oftruth ' who possess neither the will nor the power to judge and setthemselves the task of seeking 'pure, self-subsistent' knowledge or,more clearly, truth that eventuates in nothing. There are verymany truths that are a matter of complete indifference; there areproblems whose just solution does not demand even an effort, letalone a sacrifice. In this region of indifference and absence ofdanger a man may well succeed in becoming a cold demon ofknowledge: and nonetheless, even if in favourable times wholecohorts of scholars and inquirers are transformed into suchdemons - it will always fortunately be possible that such an agewill suffer from a lack of a stern and great sense of justice, that is,of the noblest centre of the so-called drive to truth.Now picture to yourself the historical virtuoso of the present day:is he the justest man of his time? It is true he has developed in himselfsuch a tenderness and susceptibility of feeling that nothinghuman is alien to him; the most various ages and persons continue