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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.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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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

RevolutionSocietySelflessnessFutureLegacy

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about social change, this quote may highlight the differences in motivations.

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Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
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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 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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