Oldal 123 [123]
Clearly, he ís speaking primarily of tímes when the sense of
“the same” eclipses all other criteria, or rather it takes their place,
as Schopenhauer might have experienced himself just a few dec¬
ades later in his own country. He himself puts meritocracy above
all else. It cannot be stressed enough. If that does not work, then
misanthropy is the antidote: he would even pay the bill of the table
beside him at the restaurant just so no one would sit beside him.
These two go very well side by side: the real fear of the stranger,
and the transformation of the mediocrity of the same into greatness
on the other side. That is, fear of my own littleness, although one
can easily disprove the other. But who would think of that? That
is no longer interesting at such times.