Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Of all writings I love only that which is written with blood. Write with blood: and you will discover that blood is spirit.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the depth and passion required in writing, suggesting that true expression comes from one's very essence.
Friedrich Nietzsche highlights the idea that authentic writing stems from profound personal experience and emotional intensity. By metaphorically suggesting that one should 'write with blood,' he implies that true artistry and meaningful expression emerge when an individual pours their soul and deepest feelings into their work. This process not only reveals the true nature of the writer but also resonates with readers on a spiritual level, as it encapsulates the essence of one's being.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity, I quoted Nietzsche to emphasize the importance of genuine expression.
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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But this was the only way of life that humans knew for their first 6m years on the planet. In giving it up over the past few thousand years, we have lost our vulnerability to disease and cold and wild animals, but we have also lost good ways to bring up children, look after old people, stave off diabetes and heart disease and understand the real dangers of everyday life.
America makes prodigious mistakes, America has colossal faults, but one thing cannot be denied: America is always on the move. She may be going to Hell, of course, but at least she isn't standing still.
If you want to be given everything, give everything up.
A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. And you devalue the citizenship of every Canadian in this place and in this country when you break down and make it conditional for anyone.
When I reached adulthood, even now, I could afford to belong to a country club. But I could never belong to a private club because of my experience as a child, because it would isolate me from the whole of humanity.
This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it.