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Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Struggling against evil can lead to becoming evil oneself if one is not careful.

This quote by Friedrich Nietzsche warns individuals who oppose malevolent forces that they must be vigilant not to adopt the same qualities they detest. It suggests a profound psychological insight into the dangers of combating darkness without self-reflection, as prolonged exposure to negativity can alter one's own character and values.

Themes

MonstersAbyssSelf-AwarenessEvilPsychology

In practice

Example use cases

This quote is fitting for a discussion on ethics in leadership seminars.

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