Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Has there ever been anything filthier on earth than the saints in the wilderness? Around them was not only the devil loose around them- but also the swine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the inherent flaws in those who are often idealized, suggesting that even saints are subject to corruption and temptation.
Friedrich Nietzsche's quote presents a provocative examination of morality and sainthood by juxtaposing the holy with the profane. It posits that even the most revered figures, such as saints, are not immune to the influences of evil and temptation, represented here by the devil and swine. This serves as a commentary on the complexity of human nature, implying that purity and virtue are often surrounded by vice, and challenges the notion of moral absolutism.
Themes
SaintsWildernessMoralityTemptationHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the complexities of human morality in a philosophical debate.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes →That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
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Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
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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 — as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne — 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.
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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.
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The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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