th, of something unconditioned by yea or nay, of Carlylism, if I may
be allowed the word, is a need of _weakness_. The man of faith, the
"believer" of any sort, is necessarily a dependent man--such a man
cannot posit _himself_ as a goal, nor can he find goals within himself.
The "believer" does not belong to himself; he can only be a means to an
end; he must be _used up_; he needs some one to use him up. His instinct
gives the highest honours to an ethic of self-effacement; he is prompted
to embrace it by everything: his prudence, his experience, his vanity.
Every sort of faith is in itself an evidence of self-effacement, of
self-estrangement.... When one reflects how necessary it is to the great
majority that there be regulations to restrain them from without and
hold them fast, and to what extent control, or, in a higher sense,
_slavery_, is the one and only condition which makes for the well-being
of the weak-willed man, and especially woman, then one at once
understands conviction and "faith." To the man with convictions they are
his backbone. To _avoid_ seeing many things, to be impartial about
nothing, to be a party man through and through, to estimate all values
strictly and infallibly--these are conditions necessary to the existence
of such a man. But by the same token they are _antagonists_ of the
truthful man--of the truth.... The believer is not free to answer the
question, "true" or "not true," according to the dictates of his own
conscience: integrity on _this_ point would work his instant downfall.
The pathological limitations of his vision turn the man of convictions
into a fanatic--Savonarola, Luther, Rousseau, Robespierre,
Saint-Simon--these types stand in opposition to the strong,
_emancipated_ spirit. But the grandiose attitudes of these _sick_
intellects, these intellectual epileptics, are of influence upon the
great masses--fanatics are picturesque, and mankind prefers observing
poses to listening to _reasons_....

55.

--One step further in the psychology of conviction, of "faith." It is
now a good while since I first proposed for consideration the question
whether convictions are not even more dangerous enemies to truth than
lies. ("Human, All-Too-Human," I, aphorism 483.)[27] This time I desire
to put the question definitely: is there any actual difference between
a lie and a conviction?--All the world believes that there is; but what
is not believed by all the world!--Every conviction has its