Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The Refinement of Shame. People are not ashamed to think something foul, but they are ashamed when they think these foul thoughts are attributed to them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Shame often arises from societal perceptions of one's thoughts rather than the thoughts themselves.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche discusses the nature of shame, highlighting that individuals may privately entertain dark or impure thoughts without internal conflict, but they feel shame when they believe such thoughts are linked to their identity or reputation. This reflects the complex relationship between inner thoughts and external perceptions, suggesting that shame is a social construct rather than an intrinsic moral response.
Themes
ShameThoughtsIdentityPerceptionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about mental health and the stigma surrounding certain thoughts.
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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