ABSTRACT
The voluntary beggar resembles a typical ascetic Jesus-figure that Nietzsche portrays throughout his works. He is warm-hearted, immature, slightly rebellious, and tied up with the herd in a sympathetic way—as is the Buddha. To become the founder of a religion, Nietzsche writes, one must be psychologically infallible in their knowledge of average souls and bring them together. Nietzsche refers to Jesus and Buddha as religious founders who have enjoyed "a long festival" of recognition among mediocre types. He regards the inconsistent Christian type as a hostile, "perfect bigot". The beggar has some attributes in common with Zarathustra. They both seek earthly happiness and know personal rejection by angry crowds. Nietzsche regards both Buddhism and Christianity as spiritually weak, nihilistic herd religions that perpetuate mediocrity and elevate pity. In Daybreak, Nietzsche notes the superiority of Socrates over Christians and Brahmins, making a distinction between the morality of custom and individual morality.
