Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
It is nothing but fanaticism and beautiful soulism to expect very much (or even, much only) from humanity when it has forgotten how to wage war.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nietzsche critiques the unrealistic expectations of human nature in the context of conflict and war.
In this quote, Nietzsche highlights the naive belief that humanity can embody beauty and idealism while ignoring the brutal realities of life, particularly the darker aspects of human nature such as conflict and war. He suggests that expecting a higher moral standard from people who have become disconnected from the harsh truths of existence is an act of fanaticism, indicating that an understanding of our primal instincts is essential for genuine progress.
Themes
FanaticismHumanityWarTruthMorality
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a human rights conference might use this quote to emphasize the need for realism in expectations of human behavior.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes βThat which does not kill us makes us stronger.
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Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
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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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