Mário Ferreira dos Santos, about Nietzsche, in free translation:
He was the adversary of the State, the modern monster, the Moloch of our days, the devourer of men and consciences, the most brutal creation of human weakness and who will end up totally tiring it, to the point of one day abhorring all forms of oppression, and destroying them with an impetus that will make the pages of history tremble. It will not be easy to understand this for the man of today, this captive who licks his shackles, this “Haustier,” this domesticated animal who has grown accustomed to worshipping the monster of which he speaks.
The note is dated 1957. What to say? A little over half a century, and we can verify the accuracy of Mario’s brilliant observation. The collapse of the modern state is inevitable, however… the “captive who licks the shackles” continues, passive, to lick them, in a state of admirable unconsciousness in which he does not show the slightest sign of exhaustion. The situation has only worsened: the monster has grown, its dominion has expanded, and it no longer has any shame. The question, however, remains unanswered: until when? On the one hand, the reaction is inevitable; on the other, awakening seems distant. What is clear is that, as Mário predicted, the day will come when the “devourer of men and consciences” will be faced with a violent and extraordinary explosion, coming from an apparently perpetual lethargy.
