by producing some work which contributes to the general good, and redounds to the honor of humanity at large.  Another, again, may use his wealth to further philanthropic schemes, and make himself well-deserving of his fellowmen.  But a man who does none of these things, who does not even try to do them, who never attempts to learn the rudiments of any branch of knowledge so that he may at least do what he can towards promoting it—­such a one, born as he is into riches, is a mere idler and thief of time, a contemptible fellow.  He will not even be happy, because, in his case, exemption from need delivers him up to the other extreme of human suffering, boredom, which is such martyrdom to him, that he would have been better off if poverty had given him something to do.  And as he is bored he is apt to be extravagant, and so lose the advantage of which he showed himself unworthy.  Countless numbers of people find themselves in want, simply because, when they had money, they spent it only to get momentary relief from the feeling of boredom which oppressed them.

It is quite another matter if one’s object is success in political life, where favor, friends and connections are all-important, in order to mount by their aid step by step on the ladder of promotion, and perhaps gain the topmost rung.  In this kind of life, it is much better to be cast upon the world without a penny; and if the aspirant is not of noble family, but is a man of some talent, it will redound to his advantage to be an absolute pauper.  For what every one most aims at in ordinary contact with his fellows is to prove them inferior to himself; and how much more is this the case in politics.  Now, it is only an absolute pauper who has such a thorough conviction of his own complete, profound and positive inferiority from every point of view, of his own utter insignificance and worthlessness, that he can take his place quietly in the political machine.[1] He is the only one who can keep on bowing low enough, and even go right down upon his face if necessary; he alone can submit to everything and laugh at it; he alone knows the entire worthlessness of merit; he alone uses his loudest voice and his boldest type whenever he has to speak or write of those who are placed over his head, or occupy any position of influence; and if they do a little scribbling, he is ready to applaud it as a masterwork.  He alone understands how to beg, and so betimes, when he is hardly out of his boyhood, he becomes a high priest of that hidden mystery which Goethe brings to light.

Uber’s Niedertraechtige Niemand sich beklage:  Denn es ist das Machtige Was man dir auch sage: 

—­it is no use to complain of low aims; for, whatever people may say, they rule the world.

[Footnote 1:  Translator’s Note.—­Schopenhauer is probably here making one of his most virulent attacks upon Hegel; in this case on account of what he thought to be the philosopher’s abject servility to the government of his day.  Though the Hegelian system has been the fruitful mother of many liberal ideas, there can be no doubt that Hegel’s influence, in his own lifetime, was an effective support of Prussian bureaucracy.]