Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
All religions bear traces of the fact that they arose during the intellectual immaturity of the human race - before it had learned the obligations to speak the truth. Not one of them makes it the duty of its god to be truthful and understandable in his communications.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nietzsche critiques the intellectual development of humanity in relation to religion, suggesting that religions were formed during a time of lack of understanding about truth.
Friedrich Nietzsche's quote discusses the origins of religions, highlighting that they emerged during a time when humanity was not yet mature enough to fully comprehend the concept of truth. He points out that none of these religions impose a duty on their gods to be truthful or clear in their messages, which reflects a broader critique of religious doctrine and its relationship with human understanding. Nietzsche's assertion challenges the notion of divine communication, suggesting that it lacks the obligation of clarity and honesty expected from human interactions.
Themes
ReligionTruthIntellectual MaturityCommunicationPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical debate, one could use this quote to illustrate the limitations of religious teachings.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes →That 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 — as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne — 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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