195

The Jews - a people "born for slavery," as Tacitus and the entire ancient world said, "the chosen people among peoples," as they themselves said and believed - the Jews achieved the amazing feat of inverting values, thanks to which life on earth for two millennia has possessed a new and dangerous appeal.5 Their prophets fused "rich," "godless," "evil," "violent," and "sensuous" into a unity and for the first time coined the word "world" as a word connoting shame. In this inversion of values (to which belongs the use of the word for "poor" as a synonym for "holy" and "friend") lies the significance of the Jewish people: with them begins the slave rebellion in morality.

5. . . . Tacitus : Publius Cornelius Tacitus (56-117), famous Roman historian.
Friedrich Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil
Part V - Aphorism # 195

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