Page:Thus Spake Zarathustra - Alexander Tille - 1896.djvu/156

 122 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II

suffering, but a hard bed, as it were, a field-bed : thus thou wilt be of most use for him.

And if a friend doth wrong unto thee, say : ' I forgive thee what thou didst unto me, but that thou didst so unto thyself, how could I forgive that ? '

Thus speaketh all great love : it even overcometh for- giveness and pity.

One must keep fast one's heart. For if one letteth it go, how soon the head runneth away !

Alas ! where in the world have greater follies hap- pened than with the pitiful ? And what in the world hath done more harm than the follies of the pitiful ?

Woe unto all loving ones who do not possess an elevation which is above their pity !

Thus the devil once said unto me : ' Even God hath his own hell : that is his love unto men.'

And recently I heard the word said : ' God is dead ; he hath died of his pity for men.'

Beware of pity : a heavy cloud will one day come from it for men. Verily, I understand about weather- forecasts !

But remember this word also : All great love is lifted above all its pity, for it seeketh to create what it loveth !

' Myself I sacrifice unto my love, and my neighbour as myself,' thus runneth the speech of all creators.

But all creators are hard."

Thus spake Zarathustra.

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