Human, All Too Human 157strength. Now I can only hope to become free little by little; and I have
sensed so far that I am becoming freer. So my day of actual work is most
likely on its way" (8,94). This entry dates from the summer of 1875. At
that time, he was in a transitional phase, as we have seen. The will to
sober knowledge was gaining the upper hand. During this summer,
therefore, while still dreaming of creativity, he declared his intention "to
bring to light lack of reason in human affairs with no holds barred...
to move human knowledge forward!" (8,45). Where should this knowl-
edge be heading, and what ought to be its purpose?
Nietzsche's astonishingly pragmatic answer indicated how much dis-
tance he had gained from Wagner's pessimism and aesthetic mysticism
of redemption. Nietzsche explained that his investigations served to dif-
ferentiate which evils in human affairs are "fundamental and incorrigi-
ble" and which can be "improved" (8,45). In this way, the original plan
for a personal detoxification evolved into a universal program of
enlightenment. Just as Nietzsche aspired to contribute to the project of
moving "human knowledge forward," he also recognized that this type
of work could be achieved only by means of individual inquiries and ini-
tiatives. How might he be capable of systematically and exhaustively
exploring this enormous continent that has suddenly been revealed to
him! He was too impatient and, as he admitted, too "cruel." He wanted
to attack; "in every attack there is fife and drum," as he said later.
However, he did not merely wish to attack contemporaries such as
David Friedrich Strauss and Eduard von Hartmann, but rather to clear
out the underbrush of opinions that had choked off the growth of
human facts. Myths, the meaning and significance of which he had just
finished defending—notably, the Wagnerian mythology of art—now
struck him as mystifications that would need to be combatted.
However, Nietzsche observed himself closely enough to recognize
the origin of this cruel desire to attack. In September 1876, after his
return from Bayreuth, he wrote: "Benefit of a depressed mood: People
who live under an internal pressure tend to excess—even of thought.
Cruelty is often a sign of a troubled inner disposition that yearns for