VII

To be true⁠—that can few be! And he who can, will not! Least of all, however, can the good be true.

Oh, those good ones! Good men never speak the truth. For the spirit, thus to be good, is a malady.

They yield, those good ones, they submit themselves; their heart repeateth, their soul obeyeth: he, however, who obeyeth, doth not listen to himself!

All that is called evil by the good, must come together in order that one truth may be born. O my brethren, are ye also evil enough for this truth?

The daring venture, the prolonged distrust, the cruel Nay, the tedium, the cutting-into-the-quick⁠—how seldom do these come together! Out of such seed, however⁠—is truth produced!

Beside the bad conscience hath hitherto grown all knowledge! Break up, break up, ye discerning ones, the old tables!