Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
One unconsciously takes it for granted that doer and sufferer think and feel alike, and according to this supposition we measure the guilt of the one by the pain of the other.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the common misconception that the experiences of the doer and the sufferer are identical, leading to flawed judgments about guilt and pain.
Friedrich Nietzsche's quote addresses the fallacy in assuming that those who cause harm (the doer) and those who suffer from it (the sufferer) have similar emotional experiences. This misunderstanding can result in unfair assessments of moral responsibility, as it overlooks the subjective nature of pain and guilt. Nietzsche encourages a deeper analysis of how we evaluate the actions and feelings of others, advocating for an awareness of the intrinsic differences in personal experiences.
Themes
GuiltPainExpectationsEmpathyPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a philosophical discussion about the ethics of actions and consequences.
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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