Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Insanity is uncommon in individuals but prevalent in large groups or societies.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche reflects on the nature of human behavior, suggesting that while a single person's irrationality may be an exception, collective madness can be the norm when people come together in groups, such as political parties or entire nations. This highlights how societal dynamics can lead to widespread irrationality and often dangerous ideologies, illustrating the need for critical thinking and individual discernment within communal settings.
Themes
InsanityGroupsSocietyIrrationalityCollective
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the impacts of mass media on public opinion.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes βThat 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 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.
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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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