Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes
Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher, classical philologist, and cultural critic. He challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality, declaring that God is dead and proposing a revaluation of values. The quotes below are attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche, organized by topic.
Friedrich Nietzsche on God
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”
Friedrich Nietzsche on Life
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“What does not kill me makes me stronger.”
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“Become who you are.”
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man.”
Friedrich Nietzsche on Love
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.”
Friedrich Nietzsche on Mind
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.”
Friedrich Nietzsche on Truth
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.”
Friedrich Nietzsche on Virtue
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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.”
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Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche:
“The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”
Things actually not said by Friedrich Nietzsche
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as Friedrich Nietzsche but are in fact from someone else. Did Friedrich Nietzsche say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
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Did Friedrich Nietzsche say this? No.
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
Although evocative of Nietzsche's recurring use of dance and music as metaphors for life-affirmation, this exact line does not appear in any of his published or notebook works. It is a 20th-century aphorism with no identified original author.
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Did Friedrich Nietzsche say this? No.
“Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed.”
This sentence is widely circulated online as Nietzsche but does not appear in any of his published or notebook works. The actual author has not been identified.