1001Philosophers

Friedrich Nietzsche vs Soren Kierkegaard on Virtue

Both reject the standardized ethics of nineteenth-century European bourgeois life as a substitute for serious moral existence. Kierkegaard's alternative is the ethical-religious cultivation of the single individual standing before God; Nietzsche's is the cultivation of higher individuals whose virtues are the virtues of life-affirmation rather than self-denial. The two philosophers share contempt for herd morality but recommend opposite paths beyond it.

About this topic

Virtue has been a central category of ethics since the Greeks treated it as the excellence proper to a human being. Plato analyzed the cardinal virtues, Aristotle developed virtue ethics as habituated dispositions of character, and Confucian and Buddhist traditions parallel this concern with cultivated moral excellence. Medieval thinkers added the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity to the classical inheritance. The modern revival of virtue ethics in the twentieth century returned attention to character and practical wisdom as the ground of moral life.

For a side-by-side overview of the two philosophers more broadly, see the full Friedrich Nietzsche vs Soren Kierkegaard comparison. To browse philosophy more widely on this theme, see the Virtue quotes hub.

Representative quotes on virtue

Friedrich Nietzsche on virtue

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “Become who you are.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:

    “The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”

Soren Kierkegaard on virtue

  • “Purity of heart is to will one thing.”

    The two guides call out to a man early and late. And yet, no, for when remorse calls to a man it is always late. The call to find the way again by seeking out God in the confession of sins is always at the eleventh hour. Whether you are young or old, whether you have sinned much or little, whether you have offended much or neglected much, the guilt makes this call come at the eleventh hour. The in

  • Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:

    “To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”

  • Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:

    “Faith is the highest passion in a human being.”

  • Attributed to Soren Kierkegaard:

    “Boredom is the root of all evil.”

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