Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Those who are bent on revolutionizing society may be divided into those who seek something for themselves thereby and those who seek something for their children and grandchildren.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nietzsche distinguishes between self-serving revolutionaries and those motivated by the well-being of future generations.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche reflects on the motives behind social revolution. He asserts that revolutionaries can be categorized into two types: those who pursue change primarily for their own benefits and those who are driven by a vision of improving society for the sake of future generations. This distinction highlights the varying intentions behind efforts to alter the social order, emphasizing a self-centered approach versus an altruistic one.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social change, this quote may highlight the differences in motivations.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes βThat which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
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.
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.
The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
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