Macmillan

"
"But
We
It
the
this
"I
BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL 223
to digressfrom 'myself,' and always without faith in the
result,owing to an unconquerabledistrust of the possibility
of self-knowledge, which has led me so far as to feel a contradictio
in adjectoeven in the idea of 'directknowledge'
which theorists allow themselves: "
matter of fact is
almost the most certain thingI know about myself. There
must be a sort of repugnance in me to believe anything
definite about
"
myself. Is
there perhapssome enigma therein?
Probably;but forttmately nothingfor my own teeth."
Perhapsit betraysthe speciesto which I belong?" ^but not
to myself,as
is sufficiently agreeableto me."
282
what has "
happenedto you? do not know,"
he said,hesitatingly; "perhapsthe Harpieshave flown over
my table. "
sometimes happensnowadays that a gentle,
sober,retiring man becomes suddenlymad, breaks the plates,
upsets the table,shrieks, raves, and shocks and
everybody"
himself" finally withdraws,ashamed,and ragingat whither?
for what purpose? To famish apart? To suffocate with his
memories? To him who has the desires of a loftyand
daintysoul,and only seldom finds his table laid and his
food prepared,the dangerwill always be great" nowadays,
however,it is extraordinarily so. Thrown into the midst of
a noisyand plebeianage,
with which he does not like to eat
out of the same dish,he may readilyperishof hunger and
thirst" or, should he nevertheless finally "fall to,"of sudden
nausea.
"
have probablyall sat at tables to which we
did not belong;and preciselythe most spiritual of us, who
are most difficultto nourish,know the dangerousdyspepsia
which originates from a sudden insightand disillusionment
about our food and our messmates "
after-dinner nausea.