“Because in all ages, as long as mankind has existed, there have also been human herds (family alliances, communities, tribes, peoples, states, churches), and always a great number who obey in proportion to the small number who command – in view, therefore, of the fact that obedience has been most practiced and fostered among mankind hitherto, one may reasonably suppose that, generally speaking, the need for obedience is now innate in every one, as a kind of formal conscience which gives the command
‘Thou shalt unconditionally do something, thou shalt unconditionally refrain from something’
…in short, ‘Thou shalt’.
This need tries to satisfy itself and to fill its form with a content; according to its strength, impatience, and eagerness, it at once seizes with an omnivorous, undiscriminating appetite, and accepts whatever is shouted into its ear by all sorts of commanders–parents, teachers, laws, class prejudices, or public opinion.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, paragraph 199
