The Will to Power · Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
529.
The great misapprehensions:-- (1) The senseless _overestimation of consciousness,_ its elevation to the dignity of an entity: "a spirit," "a soul," something that feels, thinks, and wills; (2) The spirit regarded as a _cause,_ especially where finality, system, and co-ordination appear; (3) Consciousness classed as the highest form attainable, as the most superior kind of being, as "God"; (4) Will introduced wherever effects are observed; (5) The "real world" regarded as the spiritual world, accessible by means of the facts of consciousness; (6) Absolute knowledge regarded as the faculty of consciousness, wherever knowledge exists at all. _Consequences:_-- Every step forward consists of a step forward in consciousness; every step backwards is a step into unconsciousness (unconsciousness was regarded as a falling-back upon the _passions_ and _senses--_as a state of _animalism ..._.) Man approaches reality and real being through dialectics: man _departs_ from them by means of instincts, senses, and automatism.... To convert man into a spirit, would mean to make a god of him: spirit, will, goodness--all one. _All goodness_ must take its root in spirituality, must be a fact of consciousness. Every step made towards _something better_ can be only a step forward in _consciousness._ (g) Judgment. True--false.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.