The Will to Power · Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
923.
_Warlike and peaceful people._--Art thou a man who has the instincts of a warrior in thy blood? If this be so, another question must be put. Do thy instincts impel thee to attack or to defend? The rest of mankind, all those whose instincts are not warlike, desire peace, concord, freedom, "equal rights": these things are but names and steps for one and the same thing. Such men only wish to go where it is not necessary for them to defend themselves,--such men become discontented with themselves when they are obliged to offer resistance: they would fain create circumstances in which war is no longer necessary. If the worst came to the worst, they would resign themselves, obey, and submit: all these things are better than waging war--thus does the Christian's instinct, for instance, whisper to him. In the born warrior's character there is something of armour, likewise in the choice of his circumstances and in the development of every one of his qualities, weapons are best evolved by the latter type, shields are best devised by the former. What expedients and what virtues do the unarmed and the undefended require in order to survive--and even to conquer? What will become of a man who no longer has any reasons for either defence or attack? What will remain of his _passions_ when he has lost those which form his defence and his weapons?
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.