Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The Great Man... is colder, harder, less hesitating, and without fear of 'opinion'; he lacks the virtues that accompany respect and 'respectability,' and altogether everything that is the 'virtue of the herd.' If he cannot lead, he goes alone... He knows he is incommunicable: he finds it tasteless to be familiar... When not speaking to himself, he wears a mask. There is a solitude within him that is inaccessible to praise or blame.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote describes the nature of a true great man who is unyielding and solitary, unfazed by societal opinions and conventional virtues.
Friedrich Nietzsche's quote reflects on the qualities of a 'Great Man,' who embodies strength, independence, and a lack of concern for public opinion or societal norms. This person is set apart from the masses, not conforming to the 'virtues of the herd' and often experiencing a profound solitude. Nietzsche suggests that the great individual's internal landscape is untouched by external praise or criticism, highlighting their unique position in society and their reluctance to fully connect with others, as they often wear a metaphorical mask to navigate interpersonal relationships.
Themes
Great ManSolitudeIndependenceSocietyVirtuePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about individualism and personal integrity.
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.
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