Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Under conditions of peace the warlike man attacks himself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nietzsche suggests that in times of peace, those with a combative nature may turn their aggression inward.
Friedrich Nietzsche's quote highlights the idea that aggressive and warlike individuals often find themselves in conflict during peaceful times, leading to self-destructive behavior. Instead of directing their energy outward, they may engage in self-criticism, doubt, or even self-sabotage, illustrating a profound internal struggle that reflects their nature in the absence of external conflict.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health, one might say, 'As Nietzsche pointed out, under conditions of peace, the warlike man attacks himself, reminding us of the importance of self-compassion.'
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.
Similar quotes
It takes no effort to love. The state has its own innate joy. Questions answer themselves if you are aware enough. Life is safe; flowing with the current of being is the simplest way to live. Resistance never really succeeds. Controlling the flow of life is impossible.
Karma means that all actions have consequences. Grace means that in a moment of atonement -taking responsibility, making amends, asking for forgiveness - all karma is burned.
Look around, and you see everywhere the exertions and acts of individuals restricted, regulated, or promoted, on the principle of the common welfare.
And if we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?
How can we resent the life we've created for ourselves? Who's to blame, who's to credit, but us? Who can change it, any time we wish, but us?
And I can imagine Farmer saying he doesn't care if no one else is willing to follow their example. He's still going to make these hikes, he'd insist, because if you say that seven hours is too long to walk for two families of patients, you're saying that their lives matter less than some others', and the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.