Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
It quite often happens that the old man is subject to the delusion of a great moral renewal and rebirth, and from this experience he passes judgments on the work and course of his life, as if he had only now become clear-sighted; and yet the inspiration behind this feeling of well-being and these confident judgements is not wisdom, but weariness .
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that old age may bring a false sense of clarity and moral renewal, but it often stems from exhaustion rather than true wisdom.
Friedrich Nietzsche points out that many elderly people may feel a sense of moral clarity and renewal in their judgments about life. However, this apparent insight is not a result of genuine wisdom but rather a product of weariness and fatigue that comes with age. It highlights the potential for misunderstanding one's own reflections as profound insights when they may simply be a response to the burdens of a long life.
Themes
WisdomOld AgeRenewalDelusionJudgments
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on aging and perspective, one might say, 'As Nietzsche highlights, many elders feel a false sense of clarity in their judgments.'
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.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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