“And why are you so firmly and triumphantly certain that only what is normal and positive – in short, only well being – is good for man? Is reason mistaken about what is good? After all, perhaps prosperity isn’t the only that that pleases mankind, perhaps he is just as attracted to suffering. Perhaps suffering is just as good for him as prosperity. Sometimes a man is intensely, even passionately attached to suffering – that is a fact. About this there is no need to consult universal history: ask yourself, if you are a man and have ever lived in some degree. As for my own personal opinion, I find it somehow unseemly to love only wellbeing. Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, smashing things is sometimes very pleasant. I am not here standing up for suffering, or for wellbeing either. I am standing out for my own caprices and for having them guaranteed when necessary. There is no place for suffering in farces, for example, I know that. It is quite inconceivable in a millennium: suffering is doubt, negation, and what sort of millennium would it be of which one could have any doubts? All the same, I am certain that man will never deny himself destruction and chaos. Suffering – after all, that is the sole cause of consciousness. Although I declared to begin with that in my opinion consciousness is man’s supreme misfortune, I know that man loves it and would not change it for any gratification. Consciousness is infinitely greater than, for example, two and two make four. After twice two is achieved there will of course be nothing left to do, much less to learn. All that will then be possible will be to shut off one’s five senses and immerse oneself in meditation. But with consciousness, even if it has the same result, I mean that there will be nothing to do, at least one could sometimes resort to self-flagellation, and that stimulates, at any rate. It may be retrograde, but all the same its better than nothing.”
