288

There are human beings who have spirit in an inevitable way. They may toss and turn as they wish and hold their hands in front of their tell-tale eyes (- as if the hand were not a give away!-): finally it always comes out that they have something which they are hiding, that is, spirit. One of the most sophisticated ways to deceive, at least for as long as possible, and to present oneself successfully as stupider than one is - what in common life is often as desirable as an umbrella - is called enthusiasm, including what belongs with it, for example, virtue. For, as Galiani, who must have known, says:- vertu est enthousiasme [virtue is enthusiasm].

Friedrich Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil
Part IX - Aphorism # 288

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