Friedrich_Nietzsche - Untimely_Meditations_(Cambridge_Texts_in_the_History_of_Philosophy__1997)

--:Sclwpenhauer as educatorfrom one point he has just subjected to scrutiny to another, he has tomove his whole seeing-apparatus to this new point. He dissects a pictureinto little patches, like one who employs opera-glasses to viewthe stage and then has a sight now of a head, now of a piece of clothing,but never of anything whole. He never gets to see- these patchesjoined together, his perception of how they are connected is only theresult of a conclusion, and thus he has no very strong conception ofanything universal. Because he is incapable of viewing a piece ofwriting as a whole, for example, he judges it by a few passages or sentencesor errors; he would be tempted to assert that an oil-painting isa disorderly heap of blots. - Thirdly, the sobriety and conventionalityof his nature in its likes and dislikes. This quality leads himto take an especial pleasure in history, insofar as he can trace themotives of men of the past in accordance with the motives he himselfknows of. A mole-tunnel is the right place for a mole. He is secureagainst any artificial or extravagant hypotheses; if he sticks at it, hewill dig out all the commonplace motives that inform the past,because he feels himself to be of the same commonplace species. Forprecisely that reason, of course, he is usually incapable ofunderstanding or appreciating what is rare, great and uncommon,that is to say what is essential and vital, in the past. - Founhly,poverty of feeling and aridity. It makes him capable even of vivisection.He has no inkling of the suffering which knowledge oftenbrings with it, and therefore has no fear of venturing into regionswhere the hearts of others fail them. He is cold and may thereforeeasily seem cruel. He is also considered daring, but he is no moredaring than the mule, which is immune from vertigo. - Fifthly, lowself-esteem, amounting to modesty. Though confined to a wretchedlittle corner, they feel no sense of being sacrificed or wasted, theyoften seem to realize in the depths of them that they are not flyingbut creeping creatures. There is even something touching about thisquality. - Sixth, loyalty towards their teachers and leaders. They sincerelywant to help them, and they are well aware that they can besthelp them through discovery of truth. For their feeling towards themis one of gratitude, for it is only through them that they have gainedentry to the worthy halls of science, which they would never havebeen able to do on their own. He who nowadays knows how to openup a new field within which even the weakest heads can labour withsome degree of success becomes famous in a very shon time: sogreat is the crowd that at once presses in. Every one of these loyal andgrateful people is at the same time a misfortune for the master, to be171