Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes

Without music, life would be a mistake. That which does not kill us makes us stronger. In heaven, all the interesting people are missing. There are no facts, only interpretations. And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. 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. I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you. You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star. It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them! There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness. Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed. The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. 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. I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time. The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind. 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. Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings always darker, emptier and simpler. Faith: not wanting to know what the truth is. The thought of suicide is a great consolation: by means of it one gets through many a dark night. Every deep thinker is more afraid of being understood than of being misunderstood. Is man merely a mistake of God's? Or God merely a mistake of man? Man is the cruelest animal. The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time. No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone. When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago. We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all. The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything. There are no beautiful surfaces without a terrible depth. Be careful, lest in casting out your demon you exorcise the best thing in you. There are two different types of people in the world, those who want to know, and those who want to believe. All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking. We have art in order not to die of the truth. Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you. A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance. One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too. All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent. Invisible threads are the strongest ties. One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters. Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders. Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter. There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings. Art is the proper task of life. That which is done out of love is always beyond good and evil. In truth,there was only one christian and he died on the cross. A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.

Friedrich Nietzsche

1844 - 1900