Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
We have to be careful that in throwing out the devil, we don't throw out the best part of ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Be cautious in rejecting negative aspects of oneself, as it may lead to losing valuable qualities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's quote reflects the idea that while it is important to eliminate harmful or negative traits, one must also be careful not to discard the positive and valuable aspects of their character. The 'devil' symbolizes the darker parts of ourselves, but those parts can also contribute significantly to our identity and humanity. Thus, a balance must be found to maintain both the good and the bad that make us whole.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal growth, one might say, 'We have to be careful that in throwing out the devil, we don't throw out the best part of ourselves.'
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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In April 1917 the illusion of isolation was destroyed, America came to the end of innocence, and of the exuberant freedom of bachelor independence. That the responsibilities of world power have not made us happier is no surprise. To help ourselves manage them, we have replaced the illusion of isolation with a new illusion of omnipotence.
Maybe we ought to consider a Golden Rule in foreign policy: Don't do to other nations what we don't want happening to us. We endlessly bomb these countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?
Laws are partly formed for the sake of good men, in order to instruct them how they may live on friendly terms with one another, and partly for the sake of those who refuse to be instructed, whose spirit cannot be subdued, or softened, or hindered from plunging into evil.