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Our crime against criminals lies in the fact that we treat them like rascals.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Nietzsche suggests that society's treatment of criminals is misguided and overly simplistic.

In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche critiques the societal approach to crime and criminals, pointing out that treating them merely as 'rascals' does not address the underlying issues of morality, justice, and human nature. He implies that our response to criminal behavior lacks depth and fails to consider the complexities of individual circumstances and societal influences.

Themes

CrimeSocietyJusticePhilosophyMoralityHuman Nature

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about criminal justice reform, this quote can highlight the importance of understanding the complexities of criminal behavior.

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Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over one another and thus drag one another into the mud and the depth. They all want to get to the throne: that is their madness β€” as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne β€” and often the throne also on mud. Mad they all appear to me, clambering monkeys and overardent. Foul smells their idol, the cold monster: foul, they smell to me altogether, these idolators.
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Reason is the cause of our falsification of the evidence of the senses. In so far as the senses show becoming, passing away, change, they do not lie.
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The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
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