Philologist Quotes

“All truths are bloody truths to me.”

“There are no facts, only interpretations.”

“When somebody dies we usually need reasons for consolation, not so much to alleviate our pain as to excuse ourselves for so readily feeling consoled.”

“But thus do I counsel you, my friends: distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful! Distrust all those who talk much of their justice!”

“In a seriously intended intellectual emancipation a person's mute passions and cravings also hope to find their advantage.”

“Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.”

“When one has not had a good father, one must create one.”

“Men submit from habit to everything that seeks power.”

“I love the great despisers because they are the great adorers.”

“Reckoned physiologically, everything ugly weakens and afflicts man. It recalls decay, danger, impotence; he actually suffers a loss of energy in its presence. The effect of the ugly can be measured with a dynamometer. Whenever man feels in any way depressed, he senses the proximity of something ugly. His feeling of power, his will to power, his courage, his pride - they decline with the ugly, they increase with the beautiful.”

“The humanity of famous intellectuals lies in being wrong with gracious courtesy when dealing with those who are not famous.”

“When we talk in company we lose our unique tone of voice, and this leads us to make statements which in no way correspond to our real thoughts.”

“Behind all their personal vanity, women themselves always have an impersonal contempt for woman.”

“Unpleasant, even dangerous, qualities can be found in every nation and every individual: it is cruel to demand that the Jew be an exception. In him, these qualities may even be dangerous and revolting to an unusual degree; and perhaps the young stock-exchange Jew is altogether the most disgusting invention of mankind.”

“These four, however, seek the freedom of their will at the very point where they are most securely chained. It is as if the silkworm sought freedom of will in spinning. What is the reason?”

“He who does not lie does not know what truth is.”

“When one is young, one venerates and despises without that art of nuances which constitutes the best gain of life.”

“Their usual mistaken premise is that they affirm some consensus among people, at least among tame peoples, concerning certain moral principles, and then conclude that these principles must be unconditionally binding also for you and me-or conversely, they see that among different peoples moral valuations are necessarily different and infer from this that no morality is binding-both of which are equally childish.”

“I want to speak to the despisers of the body. I would not have them learn and teach differently, but merely say farewell to their own bodies-- and thus become silent.”

“The grand style follows suit with all great passion. It disdains to please, it forgets to persuade. It commands. It wills.”

“In the true man there is a child concealed who wants to play.”

“Phlegmatic natures can be inspired to enthusiasm only by being made into fanatics.”

“As a human being Plato mingles regal, exclusive, and self-contained features with melancholy compassion.”

“A physician who treated me as a nervous case for a while said in the end "No! It is not a matter of your nerves; it is I who am nervous".”

“Good prose is written only face to face with poetry.”