| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: and how close the alliance ought to be between Catholicism and
Royalty. Charles the Fifth, drunk with the wine of Charlemagne's cup,
believing too blindly in the strength of his monarchy, and confident
of sharing the world with Suleiman, did not at first feel the blow at
his head; but no sooner had Cardinal Granvelle made him aware of the
extent of the wound than he abdicated. The Guises had but one scheme,
--that of annihilating heresy at a single blow. This blow they were
now to attempt, for the first time, to strike at Amboise; failing
there they tried it again, twelve years later, at the Saint-
Bartholomew,--on the latter occasion in conjunction with Catherine de'
Medici, enlightened by that time by the flames of a twelve years' war,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche: sky, now glows--perhaps glows out. For this, we artists among the
spectators and philosophers, are--grateful to the Jews.
251. It must be taken into the bargain, if various clouds and
disturbances--in short, slight attacks of stupidity--pass over
the spirit of a people that suffers and WANTS to suffer from
national nervous fever and political ambition: for instance,
among present-day Germans there is alternately the anti-French
folly, the anti-Semitic folly, the anti-Polish folly, the
Christian-romantic folly, the Wagnerian folly, the Teutonic
folly, the Prussian folly (just look at those poor historians,
the Sybels and Treitschkes, and their closely bandaged heads),
Beyond Good and Evil |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: uprightness[17] in fulfilment of engagements, contracts, covenants. If
so, I say it is to be expected that these several matters, thanks to
emulous ambition, will one and all be vigorously cultivated.
Vigorously! why, yes, upon my soul, and what a rush there would be!
How in the pursuit of honour they would tear along where duty called:
with what promptitude pour in their money contributions[18] at a time
of crisis.
[15] See "Revenues," iii. 3; A. Zurborg, "de. Xen. Lib. qui {Poroi}
inscribitur," p. 42.
[16] Cf. "Hell." III. iv. 16; IV. ii. 5 foll.
[17] "In reward for justice in, etc." See "Revenues," l.c.; and for
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