292 



FOOT-NOTES TO EVOLUTION. 



of conditions, external and internal. He is like the 

 watch which changes its rate of movement at all sorts 

 of intervals, that will run off the whole twenty-four 

 hours in a minute, and then will not move at all for a 

 day to come. He must have a hard head who would 

 butt against the stone wall of society and make an im- 

 pression upon it. The sound nervous system is one 

 well buried in skull and flesh. It knows not the "pride 

 of vibrancy," the "bliss of the beautiful," nor the mys- 

 tic " sensations of the elect mind." It has no love for 

 the "flowers of evil," the " litany of Satan," nor any 

 aspect of what Starr King called the "rotten side of 

 things." It is satisfied with the life and duties of to- 

 day, and can find pleasure in these rather than in frantic 

 attempts to seize the unknown day after to-morrow.* 

 The sober man will not believe that " that which is pro- 

 found loves the mask," nor that what actually "occurs 

 is spoiled for art." To him, as to Marcus Aurelius, 

 " the gods are still at the head of the administration, 

 and they will have nothing but the best." So in that 

 part of the universe where he finds himself he finds also 

 his duty. 



"The normal man," Nordau wisely says, " with his 

 clear mind, logical thought, sound judgment, and strong 



will, sees where the degenerate only 

 The normal man. tt 1 j .. u ^1 



gropes. He plans and acts where the 



latter dozes and dreams. He drives him without effort 

 from all the places where the life-springs of Nature 

 bubble up; and, in possession of all the good things 

 of the earth, he leaves to the impotent degenerate the 

 shelter of the hospital, lunatic asylum, and prison in 

 contemptuous pity. Let us imagine the drivelling Zoro- 

 aster of Nietsche with his cardboard lions, eagles, and 



* " Erst das Uebermorgen gehbrt mir." — Nietsche. 



