In opposition to the aristocratic valuation (good = noble, beautiful, happy, favoured by the gods) the slave morality then is this: The wretched alone are the good; those who suffer and are heavy laden, the sick and the ugly, they are the only pious ones. On the other hand, you, ye noble and rich, are to all eternity the evil, the cruel, the insatiate, the ungodly, and after death the damned. Whereas noble morality was the manifestation of great self-esteem, a continual yea-saying, slave morality is a continual Nay, a Thou shalt not, a negation.
criticism · An Essay on Aristocratic Radicalism
Noble yea versus slave nay
Brandes summarises Nietzsche's contrast: noble morality is continual yea-saying, slave morality a continual 'Thou shalt not'.
- Affirmation (Yea-saying, amor fati)Affirmation is the root of noble valuation.
- Revaluation of values (old and new tables)Slave morality inverts noble values by negation.