31. "To Live is to Suffer" -- Selected Quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche

Quotes
by
Friedrich Nietzsche
 
"One often
contradicts
an opinion
when what is
uncongenial
is really
the tone
in which it
was conveyed."
 
"Anyone
who has declared
someone else
to be an Idiot,
a Bad Apple,
is annoyed
when it turns out
in the end
that he isn't!"
 
"Arrogance
on the part
of the Meritorious
is even more Offensive
to us
than the Arrogance
of those without Merit:
for Merit itself
is offensive!"
 
"It is good
to express a thing twice
right at the outset
and so to give it
a right foot
and also a left one.

Truth
can surely stand
on one leg,
but with two
it will be able
to walk and get around."
 
"The Aphorism --
in which I am
the 'first master'
among Germans --
are the Forms of 'Eternity'.

My ambition

is to say in ten sentences
what everyone else says
in a book --
(what everyone else
does not say in a book!)."
 
"Egoism
is the very essence
of a noble soul."
 
"In every real man
a child is hidden
that wants to play."
 
"Those who
cannot understand how
to put their thoughts 'on ice'
should not enter into
the 'heat' of Debate."
 
"I assess
the power of a Will
by how much
Resistance,
Pain,
and Torture
it endures,
and knows how
to turn to its advantage."
 
"It is not
when Truth is dirty,
but when it is shallow,
that the lover of Knowledge
is reluctant
to step into its waters."
 
"We hear
only those Questions
for which we are in a position
to find Answers."
 
"In everything
one thing
is impossible:
Rationality."
 
"Our Vanity
is hardest to wound
precisely when
our Pride
has just been wounded."
 
"No one lies
so boldly
as the man
who is indignant."
 
"Does Wisdom
perhaps appear
on the earth
as a Raven
which is inspired
by the smell of
Carrion?"
 
"We do not Hate
as long as we still attach
a 'lesser' Value,
but only when we attach
an 'Equal'
or a 'greater' Value!"
 
"Whoever
has provoked men to Rage
against him
has always gained a party
in his favor, too!"
 
"Of all that is written,
I love only
what a person has written
with his own blood."
 
"Nothing
has been purchased
more dearly
than the little bit
of Reason
and sense of Freedom
which now constitutes
our pride."
 
"Every man
is a creative Cause
of what happens,
a Primum Mobile
with an original
movement."
 
"You have 'Your way'.
I have 'My way'.

As for 'the Right way',
'the Correct way',
and 'the Only way' --
it does not exist!"
 
"A good Writer
possesses not only
his own spirit
but also the spirit
of his Friends."
 
"Go up close
to your Friend,
but do not
go over to him!

We should also respect
the Enemy
in our Friend."
 
"Words
are but Symbols
for the relations of things
to one another and to us;
nowhere
do they touch upon
'absolute' Truth."
 
"All things
are subject to
Interpretation;
whichever
Interpretation
prevails
at a given time
is a function
of Power
and not Truth."
 
"A great value
of antiquity
lies in the fact
that its writings
are the only ones
that modern men
still read
with exactness."
 
"Thoughts
are the shadows
of our Feelings --
always darker,
emptier and simpler."
 
"Wit
is the epitaph
of an Emotion."
 
"There are no
'eternal' Facts,
as there are no
'absolute' Truths."
 
"There are no Facts,
only Interpretations."
 
"In the course of history,
men come to see that
'iron necessity'
is neither 'iron'
nor 'necessary'."
 
"Before the Effect
one believes in
different Causes
than one does
after the Effect."
 
"'Necessity'
is not
an established 'fact',
but an interpretation."
 
"There are various Eyes.
Even the Sphinx has eyes!

And as a result
there are various 'Truths',
and as a result,
there is no 'Truth'."
 
"What can everyone do?

'Praise' and 'Blame'!

This is Human Virtue;
this is Human Madness!"
 
"'Character'
is determined
more by the lack
of certain Experiences
than by those
one has had!"
 
"What then,
in the last resort,
are the

'Truths' of Mankind?

They are
the irrefutable
Errors of Mankind!"
 
"All Credibility,
all good Conscience,
all Evidence of Truth
come only from
the Senses."
 
"Morality
is the 'herd-instinct'
in the Individual."
 
"Fear
is the mother
of Morality."
 
"Idleness
is the parent
of Psychology."
 
"Fanatics
are picturesque;
Mankind would rather see
Gestures
than listen to Reasons."
 
"There are horrible people
who instead of solving
a Problem,
tangle it up
and make it
harder to solve
for anyone who wants
to deal with it!

Whoever does not

know how
to 'hit the nail
on the head'
should be asked
not to 'hit' it at all!"
 
"Judgments,
Value Judgments
concerning life,
for or against,
can in the last resort
never be True:
they possess value
only as symptoms,
they come into consideration
only as symptoms
-- in themselves
such judgments
are stupidities."
 
"And we should
call every Truth
false
which was not
accompanied
by at least one laugh."
 
"Many a man
fails
as an Original Thinker
simply because
his Memory is too good."
 
"Convictions
are more
dangerous foes
of Truth
than lies."
 
"Whoever feels
predestined to
See and not to Believe
will find all 'Believers'
'too Noisy' and 'Pushy' --
he guards against them!"
 
"For Art to exist,
for any sort
of aesthetic activity
to exist,
a certain
physiological precondition
is indispensable:
intoxication."
 
"To forget one's
Purpose
is the commonest form
of Stupidity."
 
"Art
is the proper
Task
of Life."
 
"Love
is not consolation.
It is Light."
 
"Many are stubborn
in pursuit
of the Path
they have chosen,
few
in pursuit
of the Goal."
 
"One should die proudly
when it is no longer possible
to live proudly!"
 
"One has to pay dearly
for immortality;
one has to die
several times
while one is still alive."
 
"When one has
a great deal to put into it
a Day
has a hundred 'pockets'!"
 
"The world itself
is 'the Will to Power' --
and nothing else!

And you yourself
are 'the Will to Power' --
and nothing else!"
 
"The Lie
is a condition
of Life."
 
"The Irrationality
of a thing
is no argument
against its existence --
rather a condition
of it!"
 
"The most common Lie
is that
which one lies
to himself;
lying to others
is relatively an exception."
 
"To Live is to Suffer;
to Survive
is to find some Meaning
in the Suffering."
 
"He who has a
'Why' to live
can bear
almost any 'How'."
 
"It is impossible
to Suffer
without making someone
pay for it;
every Complaint
already contains
Revenge!"
 

"It is always consoling

to think of Suicide:
in that way
one gets through
many a bad night!"
 
"Perhaps I know best
why it is Man alone who Laughs --
he alone Suffers so deeply
that he had to invent Laughter."
 
"There is more Wisdom
in your Body
than in your
deepest Philosophy."
 
"Our Treasure lies
in the 'beehive'
of our Knowledge.

We are perpetually
on the way thither,
being 'by nature'
winged insects
and Honey-gatherers
of the Mind."
 
"The Individual
has always had to
Struggle
to keep from being
overwhelmed
by the Tribe!

If you try it,

you will be
Lonely often,
and sometimes
Frightened.

But no price

is too high to pay
for the privilege
of owning
Yourself!"
 
"When a hundred men
stand together,
each of them loses his mind
and gets another one."
 
"In large States
Public Education
will always be 'Mediocre',
for the same reason
that in large Kitchens
the Cooking
is usually 'Bad'!"
 
"In Individuals,
Insanity
is rare;
but in Groups,
Parties,
Nations
and Epochs,
it is the Rule!"
 
"The surest way
to corrupt a youth
is to instruct him
to hold in higher Esteem
'those who Think Alike'
than 'those
who Think Differently'."
 
"The man of Knowledge
must be able not only
to 'Love his Enemies'
but also
to 'Hate his Friends'!"
 
"Rejoicing in our Joy,
not suffering
over our suffering,
makes someone
a Friend."
 
"To use the same
Words
is not a sufficient
guarantee
of Understanding;
one must use
the same Words
for the same genus
of inward Experience --
ultimately
one must have
one's Experiences
in common."
 
"The Doer
alone
Learneth."
 
"The best weapon
against an Enemy
is another Enemy!"
 
"He who fights
with 'Monsters'
might take care
lest he thereby
become
a 'Monster'."
 
"And if you
gaze for long
into an Abyss,
the 'Abyss'
gazes also
into You!"
 
"People
who have given us
their complete
Confidence
believe that they have
a Right to ours!

The inference is false --
a Gift confers no Rights."
 
"Talking much about oneself
can also be a means
to conceal oneself."
 
"The True Man
wants two things:
Danger and Play.
For that reason
he wants Woman,
as the
most dangerous plaything."
 
"Ah -- Women!
They make the Highs
'higher'
and the lows
more frequent!"
 
"'Stupid as a Man',
say the Women!

'Cowardly as a Woman',
say the Men!

Stupidity in a Woman
is Unwomanly!"
 
"Behind all their
personal Vanity,
Women themselves
always have an
impersonal
Contempt
for Woman!"
 
"When marrying,
ask yourself this question:
Do you believe
that you will be able to
Converse well
with this person
into your old age?

Everything else in Marriage

is transitory!"
 
"It is not
a lack of Love,
but a lack of
Friendship
that makes
Unhappy Marriages."
 
"Love
is Blind;
Friendship
closes its eyes!"
 
"One ought to hold on
to one's Heart;
for if one lets it go,
one soon loses control
of the Head too."
 
"There is always
some Madness
in Love.

But there is also always

some Reason
in Madness!"
 
"Two great European
Narcotics:
Alcohol
and
'Christianity'."
 
"The word
'Christianity'
is already
a Misunderstanding --
in reality
there has been only one
'Christian',
and He died
on the Cross!"
 
"There cannot be
a 'God'
because
if there were one,
I could not believe
that I
was not He!"
 
"God is a thought
who makes
'crooked'
all that is
'straight'."
 
"Glance into the World
just as though Time
were gone:
and everything
'crooked'
will become
'straight' to you!"
 
"Today I love myself
as I love my god --
who could charge me
with a 'Sin' today?

I know only 'sins'
against my god;
but who knows
My God?!"
 
"Once
Spirit was 'God',
then it became 'Man',
and now
it is even becoming
'Mob'!"
 
"Although the most
acute Judges
of the Witches
and even the
Witches themselves,
were convinced
of the 'Guilt' of Witchery,
the 'Guilt' nevertheless
was Non-existent!

It is thus

with all 'Guilt'!"
 
"Let us beware
of saying
that 'Death
is the Opposite
of Life'.

The Living Being

is only a species
of the Dead,
and a very rare species!"
 
"I still live,
I still think;
I still
have to live,
or I still
have to think!"
 
"The abdomen
is the Reason
why Man does not
readily take himself
to be a 'god'."
 
"When one
has not had
a good Father,
one must create one."
 
"Every Church
is a 'stone'
on the 'grave'
of a God-Man;
it does not want Him
to rise up again
under any circumstances!"
 
"There is,
in general,
good reason to suppose
that in several respects
the gods could all benefit
from instruction
by us Human Beings.

We Humans are
-- more Humane!"
 
"Whoever has Witnessed
another's Ideal
becomes
his inexorable 'Judge'
and, as it were,
his 'evil' Conscience!"
 
"Whatever is done
for Love
always occurs
beyond
'Good' and 'Evil'!"
 
"And we should consider
every day 'lost'
on which
we have not Danced
at least once!"
 
"We love Life,
not because
we are used to Living,
but because
we are used to Loving."
 
"What do you regard
as most Humane?

To spare someone
Shame."
 
"To be ashamed
of one's 'Immorality' --
that is 'a step on the staircase'
at whose end
one is also ashamed
of one's 'Morality'."
 
"There is not enough
Love and Goodness
in the world
to permit giving any of it
away
to Imaginary Beings!"
 
"I would believe
only
in a God
that knows how
to Dance."
 
"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'!"
 
"The 'Kingdom of Heaven'
is a condition of the heart --
not something that comes
'upon the earth'
or 'after death'."
 
"There are no
'Moral phenomena' at all,
but only a 'Moral Interpretation'
of phenomena."
 
"There is not enough 'religion'
in the world
even to destroy 'religion'!"
 
"Not Necessity,
not Desire --
no, the love of Power
is the Demon of Men.

Let them have everything --

Health,
Food,
a Place to Live,
Entertainment --
they are and remain
Unhappy
and low-spirited:
for the Demon waits
and waits
and will be
satisfied."
 
"There is a rollicking
'Kindness'
that looks like
'Malice'!"
 
"The 'Bad'
gains 'respect'
through Imitation,
the 'Good'
loses it,
especially in Art."
 
"Art
raises its head
where Creeds
relax."
 
"When Art dresses
in worn-out material
it is most easily
recognized
as Art."
 
"Admiration
for a quality
or an Art
can be so strong
that it deters us
from striving
to possess it."
 
"The essence
of all beautiful Art,
all great Art,
is Gratitude!"
 
"In Music
the Passions
enjoy themselves."
 
"Without Music,
Life would be a Mistake!"
 
"We have Art
in order not to die
of the Truth!"
 
"Art
is not merely
an Imitation of the Reality
of Nature,
but in truth
a metaphysical Supplement
to the reality of nature,
placed alongside thereof
for its conquest."
 
"Nothing is
'beautiful',
only Man:
on this piece of
Naiveté
rests all Aesthetics,
it is the first Truth
of Aesthetics.

Let us immediately
add its second:
nothing is 'ugly'
but 'degenerate' Man --
the domain
of Aesthetic Judgment
is therewith defined."
 
"An Artist
has no Home
in Europe
except
in Paris!"
 
"On the mountains
of Truth
you can never climb
in vain:
either you will reach
a point higher up today,
or you will be
training your powers
so that you will be able
to climb higher tomorrow."
 
"Whenever I climb
I am followed by a dog
called 'Ego'."
 
"He who would learn
to fly one day
must first learn
to stand and walk
and run and climb
and dance;
one cannot fly
into flying."
 
"One must still have
Chaos
in oneself
to be able
to give birth
to a dancing star."
 
"We must not
study ourselves
while having
an experience."
 
"The best Author
will be the one
who is ashamed
to become a Writer."
 
"Do whatever
you Will,
but first
be such
as are
able to Will."
 
"When one
does away
with oneself
one does
the most estimable
thing possible --
one thereby
almost deserves
to Live!"
 
"Whoever despises himself
nonetheless
respects himself
as 'one who despises'."
 
"In the consciousness
of the 'Truth'
he has perceived,
Man now sees everywhere
only the awfulness
or the Absurdity of Existence
and loathing seizes him."
 
"In the last analysis,
even the best man
is evil:
in the last analysis,
even the best woman
is bad."
 
"The Demand to be Loved
is the greatest of all
arrogant presumptions!"
 
"Some are made Modest
by great Praise,
others Insolent."
 
"There are slavish Souls
who carry their Appreciation
for Favors done them
so far
that they strangle themselves
with the rope of Gratitude."
 
"There is an innocence in 'Admiration';
it is found in those
to whom it has never yet occurred
that they, too,
might be 'Admired' some day."
 
"I love those
who do not know how
to live for today."
 
"The desire to annoy no one --
to harm no one --
can equally well be
the Sign of a 'Just'
as of
an 'Anxious'
Disposition."
 
"These people 'abstain',
it is true --
but the bitch 'Sensuality'
glares Enviously
out of all they do!"
 
"Is not Life
a hundred times too short
for us
to bore ourselves?"
 
"Success
has always been
a great Liar!"
 
"The Future
influences
the Present
just as much as
the Past."
 
"The Press,
the Machine,
the Railway,
the Telegraph
are premises
whose 'thousand-year conclusion'
no one has yet dared to draw!"
 
"When one
has finished building
one's 'house',
one suddenly realizes
that
in the process
one has Learned
something
that one really
needed to Know
in the worst way --
before one began!"
 
"All sciences
are now under
the Obligation
to prepare the ground
for the future task
of the
Philosopher,
which is to solve
the problem of
Value,
to determine
the true hierarchy
of
Values!"
 
+++

[Found online
(in a less theatrical form) at:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/f/friedrich_nietzsche.html ]