Becoming is robbed of its innocence when any particular condition of things is traced to a will, to intentions and to responsible actions.
 Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols (1889). copy citation

add
Author Friedrich Nietzsche
Source Twilight of the Idols
Topic innocence action
Date 1889
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Anthony M. Ludovici
Weblink https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52263/52263-h/52263-h.htm

Context

“the psychology of the whole process of inculcating the sense of responsibility. Wherever men try to trace responsibility home to anyone, it is the instinct of punishment and of the desire to judge which is active. Becoming is robbed of its innocence when any particular condition of things is traced to a will, to intentions and to responsible actions. The doctrine of the will was invented principally for the purpose of punishment,—that is to say, with the intention of tracing guilt. The whole of ancient psychology, or the psychology of the will, is the outcome of the fact that its originators, who were the priests at the head of ancient communities, wanted to create for themselves a right to administer punishments—or the right for God to do so.” source