@20728 —For there to be art, for there to be
any aesthetic activity and observation, one physiological prerequisite is
indispensable: intoxication.
Intoxication must already have heightened the sensitivity of the whole machine: otherwise, no art will be forthcoming. All kinds of intoxication, as different as their causes may be, have this
power: above all, the intoxication of sexual excitement, that oldest and
most primordial form of intoxication. Likewise the intoxication that follows all great cravings, all strong emotions; the intoxication of the festival,
of the competition, of daredevilry, of victory, of every extreme commotion; the intoxication of cruelty; the intoxication of destruction; intoxication due to certain meteorological influences, such as the intoxication of
spring; or under the influence of narcotics; finally, the intoxication of the
will, the intoxication of an overloaded and swollen will
any aesthetic activity and observation, one physiological prerequisite is
indispensable: intoxication.
Intoxication must already have heightened the sensitivity of the whole machine: otherwise, no art will be forthcoming. All kinds of intoxication, as different as their causes may be, have this
power: above all, the intoxication of sexual excitement, that oldest and
most primordial form of intoxication. Likewise the intoxication that follows all great cravings, all strong emotions; the intoxication of the festival,
of the competition, of daredevilry, of victory, of every extreme commotion; the intoxication of cruelty; the intoxication of destruction; intoxication due to certain meteorological influences, such as the intoxication of
spring; or under the influence of narcotics; finally, the intoxication of the
will, the intoxication of an overloaded and swollen will