The conviction reigns that it is only through the sacrifices and accomplishments of the ancestors that the tribe exists--and that one has to pay them back with sacrifices and accomplishments; one thus recognizes a debt that constantly grows greater, since these forebears never cease, in their continued existence as powerful spirits, to accord the tribe new advantages and new strength.
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals/Ecce Homo
ancestors, history, legacy, nietzsche, religion