Level-headed Cruelty
In fact,
these philosophers [of the future] admit
to taking pleasure
in saying
no,
in dissecting,
and in a certain level-headed cruelty
that knows how to guide a knife with assurance and subtlety,
even when the heart is bleeding.
They will be more severe
(and perhaps not always with themselves alone)
than humane people might wish them to be.
They will not engage with “truth”
in such a way that it “pleases” or “elevates” or “inspires” them;
they will hardly believe that the truth,
of all things, would keep the feelings this amused.
These severe spirits will smile
when they hear someone say:
“This thought elevates me: how could it fail to be true?”
Or: “This work charms me: how could it fail to be beautiful?”
Or: “That artist ennobles me: how could he fail to be noble?”
– they might be ready not just with a smile
but with a genuine disgust
for all these
over-enthusiasms,
idealisms,
femininities,
hermaphrodisms.
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. by Judith Butler, aphorism 210
