122 THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA, II
suffering, but a hard bed, as it were, a field-bed : thus thou wilt be of most use for him.
And if a friend doth wrong unto thee, say : ' I forgive thee what thou didst unto me, but that thou didst so unto thyself, how could I forgive that ? '
Thus speaketh all great love : it even overcometh for- giveness and pity.
One must keep fast one's heart. For if one letteth it go, how soon the head runneth away !
Alas ! where in the world have greater follies hap- pened than with the pitiful ? And what in the world hath done more harm than the follies of the pitiful ?
Woe unto all loving ones who do not possess an elevation which is above their pity !
Thus the devil once said unto me : ' Even God hath his own hell : that is his love unto men.'
And recently I heard the word said : ' God is dead ; he hath died of his pity for men.'
Beware of pity : a heavy cloud will one day come from it for men. Verily, I understand about weather- forecasts !
But remember this word also : All great love is lifted above all its pity, for it seeketh to create what it loveth !
' Myself I sacrifice unto my love, and my neighbour as myself,' thus runneth the speech of all creators.
But all creators are hard."
Thus spake Zarathustra.
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