Authors / Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche quotes

1844–1900 · German philosopher

Nietzsche wrote in aphorisms on purpose: short, explosive sentences meant to be read slowly. All quotations here are English translations, so wording varies from book to book — we give the work and section so you can check.

7 real · 1 not theirs

Really theirs

7 quotes traced to Friedrich Nietzsche's own work or a reliable witness.

Sourced

What does not destroy me, makes me stronger.

Source: Twilight of the Idols, "Maxims and Arrows" 8 (1888)

Sourced

If we have our own why in life, we shall get along with almost any how.

Source: Twilight of the Idols, "Maxims and Arrows" 12 (1888)

Sourced

Without music, life would be a mistake.

Source: Twilight of the Idols, "Maxims and Arrows" 33 (1888)

Sourced

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

Spoken by "the madman" in a parable — a diagnosis of culture, not a cheer.

Source: The Gay Science, §125 (1882)

Sourced

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.

Source: Beyond Good and Evil, §146 (1886)

Sourced

One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

Source: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Prologue §5 (1883)

Sourced

There are no facts, only interpretations.

Source: Notebooks (1886–87), published posthumously

Not theirs

1 famous lines credited to Friedrich Nietzsche that are misquoted, unsourced or belong to someone else.

Not theirs

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

Actually: No source in Nietzsche's works; the attribution is modern.