Friedrich Nietzsche

Table of contents

1 (1844-1900) 2 Attributed 3 From "The Gay Science"

(1844-1900)

• "Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein."
  • Translation: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
  • Source: Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146

• "Was aus Liebe gethan wird, geschieht immer jenseits von Gut und Böse."
  • Translation: "What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil."
  • Source; Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 153

• "Aus der Kriegsschule des Lebens. - Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker."
  • Translation: "Out of life's school of war. - What does not destroy me, makes me stronger."
  • Note: Often quoted as "That which does not kill me, makes me stronger".
  • Source: Götzen-Dämmerung (Twilight of the Idols), Aphorism 8.

• "Einige werden posthum geboren."
  • Translation: Some men are born posthumously.
  • Source: Der Antichrist (The Antichrist), Foreword.

• "Was sagt dein Gewissen? - 'Du sollst der werden, der du bist.'"
  • Translation: "What does your conscience say? - 'You shall become the person you are.'"
  • Note: This is often rendered as "Become who you are."
  • Note: It is noted here and here that the phrase was first used by , and was merely re-used by Nietzsche.
  • Source: Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (The Gay Science), Third Book, Aphorism 270.

• "Die Leugner des Zufalls. - 'Kein Sieger glaubt an den Zufall.'"
  • Translation: "The denial of chance. - 'No victor believes in chance.'"
  • Source: Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (The Gay Science), Third Book, Aphorism 258.

• "Desshalb will er das Weib, als das gefährlichste Spielzeug"
  • Translation: "For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything."
  • Source: Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra), Chapter 18, Old and Young Women.

• "Man macht heute nur Geld mit kranker Musik"
  • Translation: "Only sick music makes money today."
  • Note: The complete quote is "Only sick music makes money today; our big theaters subsist on Wagner"
  • Source: Der Fall Wagner (The Case of Wagner), Section 5

• "Plato ist langweilig"
  • Translation: "Plato is boring"
  • Note: Often quoted as "Plato is a bore".
  • Source: Götzen-Dämmerung (Twilight of the Idols), What I Owe to the Ancients.

• "Also aber rathe ich euch, meine Freunde: misstraut Allen, in welchen der Trieb, zu strafen, mächtig ist! Das ist Volk schlechter Art und Abkunft; aus ihren Gesichtern blickt der Henker und der Spürhund. Misstraut allen Denen, die viel von ihrer Gerechtigkeit reden! Wahrlich, ihren Seelen fehlt es nicht nur an Honig. Und wenn sie sich selber "die Guten und Gerechten" nennen, so vergesst nicht, dass ihnen zum Pharisäer Nichts fehlt als - Macht!"
  • "But thus do I counsel you, my friends: distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful! They are people of bad race and lineage; out of their countenances peer the hangman and the sleuth-hound. Distrust all those who talk much of their justice! Verily, in their souls not only honey is lacking. And when they call themselves "the good and just," forget not, that for them to be Pharisees, nothing is lacking but- power!" (Thomas Common translation)
  • Variant:"But thus I counsel you, my friends: Mistrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful. They are people of a low sort and stock; the hangman and the bloodhound look out of their faces. Mistrust all who talk much of their justice! Verily, their souls lack more than honey. And when they call themselves the good and the just, do not forget that they would be pharisees, if only they had-- power."
  • Source: Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) Ch.29 The Tarantulas
  • Variant: Beware of those in whom the will to punish is strong.
  • (Similar statements are attributed to Goethe, and to Dostoevsky)