Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
I have not come to know atheism as a result of logical reasoning and still less as an event in my life: in me it is a matter of instinct.
Interpretation
Nietzsche expresses that his atheism stems from an innate intuition rather than rational thought or life experiences.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche reveals that his rejection of theism is not rooted in strict logical arguments or significant life events but is instead a fundamental aspect of his being. He suggests that his atheism arises from a deep-seated instinct, emphasizing a more personal and subconscious realization of his beliefs rather than a reasoned conclusion.
In practice
During a debate on belief systems, one might quote Nietzsche to highlight how instinct can influence one's views on the existence of God.
Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
That 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.
I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.
I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the half-way, the almost, the just-about, the in-between.
I was forced to stretch my thinking, to realize that sincere and honest people could believe in very divergent religious doctrines.
We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence.
I would like to see us get this place right first before we have the arrogance to put significantly flawed civilizations out onto other planets, even though they may be utterly uninhabited.
To Yossarian, the idea of pennants as prizes was absurd. No money went with them, no class privileges. Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.
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