Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
We must remain as close to the flowers, the grass, and the butterflies as the child is who is not yet so much taller than they are. We adults, on the other hand, have outgrown them and have to lower ourselves to stoop down to them. It seems to me that the grass hates us when we confess our love for it. Whoever would partake of all good things must understand how to be small at times.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of humility and connection to nature, suggesting that adults often lose the simplicity and wonder of childhood.
In this quote, Nietzsche reflects on the relationship between humans and nature, particularly how the innocence and curiosity of children allows them to connect more genuinely with the natural world. He suggests that as adults, we often lose that connection due to our perceived superiority and social growth. Nietzsche advocates for the need to embrace humility and to sometimes 'lower' ourselves, recognizing the importance of viewing the world with child-like wonder and appreciation, which can lead to a more meaningful experience of life's beauty.
Themes
NatureHumilityChildhoodConnectionBeauty
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about environmental awareness to highlight the importance of connecting with nature.
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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