Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Insanity is uncommon in individuals but prevalent in large groups or societies.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche reflects on the nature of human behavior, suggesting that while a single person's irrationality may be an exception, collective madness can be the norm when people come together in groups, such as political parties or entire nations. This highlights how societal dynamics can lead to widespread irrationality and often dangerous ideologies, illustrating the need for critical thinking and individual discernment within communal settings.
Themes
InsanityGroupsSocietyIrrationalityCollective
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the impacts of mass media on public opinion.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes βThat which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Similar quotes
The practice of altruism is the authentic way to live as a human being, and it is not just for religious people. As human beings, our purpose is to live meaningful lives, to develop a warm heart. There is meaning in being everyone's friend. The real source of peace amongst our families, friends and neighbours is love and compassion.
Dalai LamaRead
Law is the essential foundation of stability and order both within societies and in international relations.
J. William FulbrightRead
I court not the votes of the fickle mob.
HoraceRead
In Nicaragua, liberty, equality and the rule of law were the stuff of dreams. But in Paris I discovered the value of those words.
Bianca JaggerRead
Age steals away all things, even the mind.
VirgilRead
Look, boys, it ever strike you that the world not real at all? It ever strike you that we have the only mind in the world and you just thinking up everything else? Like me here, having the only mind in the world, and thinking up you people here, thinking up the war and all the houses and the ships and them in the harbour. That ever cross your mind?
V. S. NaipaulRead