54 Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes on Life, Truth and Perseverance

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who believed that humans should find their own identities through self realization, and without the reliance or ‘crutch’ of religion or spirituality. Such was his influence that, although unqualified for the job, Nietzsche was hired as the extraordinary professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in 1869 on the recommendation of Professor Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl – his own Professor of Philology.

Unpopular with many people, Nietzsche’s idea that ‘God is Dead’ was behind his belief that it was humans who created moral systems and powers, and that they could dispose of the idea of God as easily as they had ‘invented’ him. Writing in a new and provocative way, Nietzsche went on to develop the idea that the world doesn’t exist outside of our own imagination, and that without suffering we cannot be fulfilled.

Despite his controversial reputation, he has become one of the most influential philosophers of all time, and his ideas can be discovered through these Nietzsche quotes. Thought-provoking and still valid today, these writings will challenge you to look at life in a new and sometimes startling way.

Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes on Everything

“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.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings — always darker, emptier and simpler.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“There are two different types of people in the world, those who want to know, and those who want to believe.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“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.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“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

“A matter that becomes clear ceases to concern us.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“In heaven, all the interesting people are missing.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

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

“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“The author must keep his mouth shut when his work starts to speak.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“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.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“That which needs to be proved cannot be worth much.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Be careful, lest in casting out your demon you exorcise the best thing in you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“It is my ambition to say in ten sentences; what others say in a whole book.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes on Life

“Underneath this reality in which we live and have our being, another and altogether different reality lies concealed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Life is that which must overcome itself again and again.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Art is the proper task of life.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“If you know the why, you can live any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“The demand to be loved is the greatest of all arrogant presumptions.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“One ought to hold on to one’s heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes on Perseverance

“He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“I assess the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them.” – Friedrich Nietzsche