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A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack on one's convictions.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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Interpretation

What this quote means

It takes more courage to question and challenge one’s own beliefs than to simply hold onto them.

In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche highlights the often overlooked bravery required to critically examine and challenge one’s own convictions. Rather than simply having steadfastness in beliefs, true courage lies in the willingness to confront and scrutinize those beliefs, which can lead to greater understanding and personal growth.

Themes

CourageConvictionsBeliefsPhilosophySelf-Examination

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a philosophy class discussion about the nature of belief and conviction.

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Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
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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 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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Quote by Friedrich Nietzsche | QuoteProject