Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Suspicious.- To admit a belief merely because it is a custom - but that means to be dishonest, cowardly, lazy! - And so could dishonesty, cowardice and laziness be the preconditions for morality?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the uncritical acceptance of beliefs based solely on tradition, suggesting that such behavior is morally questionable.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche challenges the idea of adhering to beliefs simply because they are customary. He argues that accepting beliefs without critical examination can be seen as dishonest, cowardly, and lazy, raising the question of whether such traits could ever serve as a foundation for genuine morality. Nietzsche’s thought prompts us to reflect upon our beliefs and evaluate their validity beyond societal expectations.
Themes
BeliefsCustomsMoralityCritical ThinkingPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on morality, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of questioning societal norms.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes →That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Similar quotes
It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man's deeper nature is soon found out.
Oscar WildeRead
For the things that are seen are temporal, but things that are unseen are eternal.
Madeleine L'EngleRead
There are ways in, journeys to the center of life, through time; through air, matter, dream and thought. The ways are not always mapped or charted, but sometimes being lost, if there is such a thing, is the sweetest place to be. And always, in this search, a person might find that she is already there, at the center of the world. It may be a broken world, but it is glorious nonetheless.
Linda HoganRead
This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled. But there are moments when we can... reconcile and embrace the whole mess, and that's what I mean by 'Hallelujah.'
Leonard CohenRead
Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.
Carol Moseley BraunRead
A government capable of controlling the whole, and bringing its force to a point, is one of the prerequisites for national liberty. We combine in society, with an expectation to have our persons and properties defended against unreasonable exactions either at home or abroad.
Oliver EllsworthRead