134. Genius

The greater the intellectual wealth slumbering in a person, the more difficult it becomes for him to communicate with the world. Significant creations are always present first as dark premonitions in the developing soul. This unclear premonition of later emerging achievements creates a feeling of insecurity in the mind. There is no firm ground on which a man can walk with firm steps. The insignificant spirit has soon found this ground. The less someone has to say, the more easily his spiritual content works its way to the surface of his mind. This is the source of the confident demeanor of lesser talents at an age when the greater are still completely in the dark about their life's tasks. Great spiritual treasures lie deep within the human spirit and are difficult to raise. The path to them leads over cliffs and precipices. The genius does not easily find access to his own inner being. Therefore, more than the ordinary mind, he longs for a guide, for an educator. His thirst for spiritual greatness drives him to seek it in others until he has found his own. That is why people who later achieve great things show unlimited devotion to their predecessors at the beginning of their work. They immerse themselves in their creations and schools of thought and create in their spirit. They begin their careers as more or less interesting imitators.

Here, then, we are dealing with the ideal of the cognizant human being who has shed the affects and feelings based on false estimates. All is silent in him, only knowledge speaks. He lets nature prevail in him without wanting to master it. But he recognizes that he cannot master it. He seeks to recognize the motives of his actions without warming to them. He is indifferent to everything except knowledge. He cares little whether he is good or evil, as long as he recognizes why he is so.

Nietzsche has discovered the Socratic man in himself. He rules the will in order to live only in the imagination. The world becomes a means for him to refine himself intellectually, to perfect himself.