Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Where is the lightning to lick you with its tongue? Where is the madness with which you should be cleansed? Behold, I show you the Superman. He is this lightning, he is this madness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the transformative nature of the 'Superman' concept and challenges conventional morality.
In this quote, Nietzsche introduces the idea of the 'Superman' as a figure embodying extraordinary qualities that can provoke both fear and admiration. The imagery of lightning and madness suggests a radical departure from traditional values, implying that true greatness comes from embracing chaos and transcendence, rather than conforming to societal norms. Nietzsche challenges individuals to seek their own paths and redefine what it means to be human.
Themes
NietzscheSupermanLightningMadnessTransformation
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on personal development, a speaker might quote Nietzsche to inspire attendees to explore their potential.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes →That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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By helping readers understand these mechanics, I hope they will appreciate why freedom is for everyone, why it is essential for our security and why the free world plays a critically important role in advancing democracy around the globe.
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Being alone makes us stronger. That’s the honest truth. But it’s cold comfort, since even if I wanted company no one will come near me anymore.
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The little word is has its tragedies: it marries and identifies different things with the greatest innocence; and yet no two are ever identical, and if therein lies the charm of wedding them and calling them one, therein too lies the danger.
George SantayanaRead
The true, unacknowledged purpose of capital punishment is to inspire fear and awe -- fear and awe of the State.
Edward AbbeyRead