Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
A man far oftener appears to have a decided character from persistently following his temperament than from persistently following his principles.
Interpretation
What this quote means
One's character is often shaped more by natural inclinations than by adherence to moral principles.
Friedrich Nietzsche suggests that a person's character is primarily defined by their inherent traits and behaviors rather than strictly by the ethical principles they choose to uphold. This implies that our innate tendencies and consistent behaviors often reveal more about who we are than our attempts to conform to a set of ideals or morals. In other words, authenticity in following our true nature can be more telling of our character than merely trying to live up to external standards of principles.
Themes
CharacterTemperamentPrinciplesNaturePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on personal ethics, one might quote Nietzsche to emphasize the importance of authenticity over strict moral adherence.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes βThat 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 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.
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
Similar quotes
Freedom is a state of mind, I said wondering where I'd heard it before, not a state of being. We are all slaves to gravity and morality and the vicissitudes of nature. Our genes govern us much more than we'd like to think. Our bodies can not know absolute freedom but our minds can, can at least try.
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The essence in obedience consists in the fact that a person comes to view himself as an instrument for carrying out another person's wishes and he therefore no longer regards himself as responsible for his actions.
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We will be a better country when each religious group can trust its members to obey the dictates of their own religious faith without assistance from the legal structure of the country.
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As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard.
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Some people probably think of the Resurrection as a desperate last moment expedient to save the Hero from a situation which had got out of the Author's control.
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Each of us has a natural right, from God, to defend his person, his liberty, and his property.
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