Note 20 — VI
Joan Riviere translation
In Goethe’s Mephistopheles we have a quite exceptionally striking identification of the principle of evil with the instinct of destruction:
‘All entities that be Deserve their end—nonentity.’
‘So all that you name sin, destruction— Wickedness, briefly—proves to be The native element for me.’
As his adversary, the devil himself cites not what is holy and good, but the power in nature working towards the creation and renewal of life—that is, Eros.
‘From air, from water, germs in thousands, As from the soil, break forth, break free, Dry, wet, warm, cold—a pullulation! Had I not laid on flame a reservation, Nothing were set apart for me.’