[Books and Habits from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn by Lafcadio Hearn]@TWC D-Link bookBooks and Habits from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn CHAPTER VIII 2/18
It is not nonsense at all, but fact, and I think that I can give you a correct idea of the realities in the case.
Leaving Nietzsche entirely alone, then, let us ask if it is possible to suppose a condition of human existence above morality,--that is to say, more moral than the most moral ideal which a human brain can conceive? We may answer, it is quite possible, and it is not only possible, but it has actually been predicted by many great thinkers, including Herbert Spencer. We have been brought up to think that there can be nothing better than virtue, than duty, than strictly following the precepts of a good religion.
However, our ideas of goodness and of virtue necessarily imply the existence of the opposite qualities.
To do a good thing because it is our duty to do it, implies a certain amount of resolve, a struggle against difficulty.
The virtue of honesty is a term implying the difficulty of being perfectly honest.
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