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For all things are baptized at the font of eternity, and beyond good and evil; good and evil themselves, however, are but intervening shadows and damp afflictions and passing clouds.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the nature of good and evil as transient notions that are ultimately overshadowed by deeper truths.

In this quote, Nietzsche suggests that all concepts, including good and evil, are part of a larger, timeless reality that transcends them. He argues that good and evil are merely fleeting illusions—like shadows or clouds—that obscure the more profound and eternal essence of existence. This perspective encourages a deeper inquiry into the nature of morality and the human experience.

Themes

GoodEvilPhilosophyEternityTransience

In practice

Example use cases

During a philosophy class discussion on morality and ethics.

More from Friedrich Nietzsche

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 — 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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