Note 135 — III The ‘Clerks’—The Great Betrayal (continued 2)

This it the only reason why Nietzsche extols art, and declares (along with all modern moralism) the supremacy of the artist over the philosopher, because art seems to him to possess the value of action. Apart from this point of view, it seems just to say with one of his critics: ‘At bottom Nietzsche despised art and artists.... In art he condemns a feminine principle, the mimicry of the actor, the love of dress and all that glitters.... Remember the eloquent page where he praises Shakespeare, the greatest of poets, for having abased the figure of the poet, whom he treats as a stage-player, before Caesar, that divine man.’ (C. Schuwer, Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale, April, 1926.) For Sorel art is great because it is an anticipation of intense production, as it tends to manifest itself more and more in our society.