Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
I do not know what the spirit of a philosopher could more wish to be than a good dancer. For the dance is his ideal, also his fine art, finally also the only kind of piety he knows, his 'divine service.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nietzsche suggests that the essence of philosophy is akin to the art of dance, expressing the philosopher's ideals and spirituality.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche celebrates the idea that the spirit of a philosopher is deeply connected to the practice of dance. He posits that dancing embodies the philosopher’s ideals and serves as a form of artistic expression, encapsulating a sense of beauty and grace. Dance, in this context, is elevated to a spiritual practice, reflecting the philosopher’s engagement with life’s deeper truths and his pursuit of creativity, suggesting that the philosopher's ultimate aspiration is to embody the joy and fluidity of dance.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity, one might say, 'As Nietzsche beautifully expressed, a good dancer embodies the spirit of a philosopher.'
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes →That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
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.
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.
The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
Similar quotes
It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.
Alimony is the curse of the writing class.
My dream concept is that I have a camera and I am trying to photograph what is essentially invisible. And every once in a while I get a glimpse of her and I grab that picture.
Whether I make them or not, there are always sounds to be heard and all of them are excellent.
Film in the 20th century, it's the American art form, like jazz.
Each of his phrases was rather like a little ancient island, inundated by a miniature sea of whiskey.