mpty, sad existence, embittered by troubles of every kind,
and always uncertain: we would rather be amazed that it was a matter of
any consequence whether one attained a few years earlier to the place
where after an ephemeral existence he has billions of years to be. In
such phenomena, then, it becomes visible that I am right in declaring
that _the will to live_ is that which cannot be further explained, but
lies at the foundation of all explanations, and that this, far from
being an empty word, like the absolute, the infinite, the idea, and
similar expressions, is the most real thing we know, nay, the kernel of
reality itself.

But if now, abstracting for a while from this interpretation drawn from
our inner being, we place ourselves as strangers over against nature, in
order to comprehend it objectively, we find that from the grade of
organized life upwards it has only one intention--that of the
_maintenance of the species_. To this end it works, through the immense
superfluity of germs, through the urgent vehemence of the sexual
instinct, through its willingness to adapt itself to all circumstances
and opportunities, even to the production of bastards, and through the
instinctive maternal affection, the strength of which is so great that
in many kinds of animals it even outweighs self-love, so that the mother
sacrifices her life in order to preserve that of the young. The
individual, on the contrary, has for nature only an indirect value, only
so far as it is the means of maintaining the species. Apart from this,
its existence is to nature a matter of indifference; indeed nature even
leads it to destruction as soon as it has ceased to be useful for this
end. Why the individual exists would thus be clear; but why does the
species itself exist? That is a question which nature when considered
merely objectively cannot answer. For in vain do we seek by
contemplating her for an end of this restless striving, this ceaseless
pressing into existence, this anxious care for the maintenance of the
species. The strength and the time of the individuals are consumed in
the effort to procure sustenance for themselves and their young, and are
only just sufficient, sometimes even not sufficient, for this. The whole
thing, when regarded thus purely objectively, and indeed as extraneous
to us, looks as if nature was only concerned that of all her (Platonic)
_Ideas_, i.e., permanent forms, none should be lost. For the individuals
are fl