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Friedrich Nietzsche
(15 Oct 1884 - 25 Aug 1900)
German philosopher who denounced religion and promoted a doctrine of the "super man." His works include Thus Spake Zarathustra (1891).
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Science Quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche (8)
''Faith' as an imperative is a veto against science—in praxi, it means lies at any price.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The Antichrist (1888) collected in Twilight of the Idols, with The Antichrist and Ecce Homo, translated by Anthony M. Ludovici (2007), 140.
Morality is the herd-instinct of the individual.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The Joyful Wisdom (1882). Quoted in Willard Huntington Wright, What Nietzsche taught (1915), 124.
Our treasure lies in the beehives of our knowledge. We are perpetually on our way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind. The only thing that lies close to our heart is the desire to bring something home to the hive.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The Genealogy of Morals (1887), as translated by Francis Golffing (1956), 149. In another translation, by Maudemarie Clark and Alan J. Swensen, it appears as: 'It has rightly been said: "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also"; our treasure is where the beehives of our knowledge stand. We are forever underway towards them, as born winged animals and honey-gathers of the spirit, concerned will all our heart about only one thing—"bringing home" something.'
Science … has no consideration for ultimate purposes, any more than Nature has, but just as the latter occasionally achieves things of the greatest suitableness without intending to do so, so also true science, as the imitator of nature in ideas, will occasionally and in many ways further the usefulness and welfare of man,—but also without intending to do so.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Human, All Too Human (1878). Quoted in Willard Huntington Wright, What Nietzsche taught (1915), 57.
Species do not grow more perfect: the weaker dominate the strong, again and again— the reason being that they are the great majority, and they are also cleverer. Darwin forgot the mind (—that is English!): the weak possess more mind. ... To acquire mind, one must need mind—one loses it when one no longer needs it.
[Criticism of Darwin's Origin of Species.]
[Criticism of Darwin's Origin of Species.]
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The Twilight of the Idols (1888), translated by R. J. Hollingdale, Twilight of the Idols and the Anti Christ (1990), 67. Also see alternate translations.
See also: | Charles Darwin (168) | Evolution (223) | Intellect (47) | Majority (6) | Origin Of Species (28) | Perfection (9) | Species (43) | Survival (13) | Weak (4)
Species do not evolve towards perfection: the weak always prevail over the strong—simply because they are the majority, and because they are also the more crafty. Darwin forgot the intellect (that is English!), the weak have more intellect. In order to acquire intellect, one must be in need of it. One loses it when one no longer needs it.
[Criticism of Darwin's Origin of Species.]
[Criticism of Darwin's Origin of Species.]
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The Twilight of the Idols (1888) collected in Twilight of the Idols, with The Antichrist and Ecce Homo, translated by Anthony M. Ludovici (2007), 56. Also see alternate translations.
See also: | Crafty (2) | Charles Darwin (168) | Evolution (223) | Intellect (47) | Majority (6) | Origin Of Species (28) | Species (43) | Survival (13) | Weak (4)
The species does not grow in perfection: the weak again and again get the upper hand of the strong,—and their large number and their greater cunning are the cause of it. Darwin forgot the intellect (that was English!); the weak have more intellect. ... One must need intellect in order to acquire it; one loses it when it is no longer necessary.
[Criticism of Darwin's Origin of Species.]
[Criticism of Darwin's Origin of Species.]
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The Twilight of the Idols (1888) collected in The Case of Wagner: Nietzsche Contra Wagner, The Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, translated by Thomas Common (1896), 177. Also see alternate translations.
See also: | Crafty (2) | Charles Darwin (168) | Evolution (223) | Intellect (47) | Majority (6) | Origin Of Species (28) | Species (43) | Survival (13) | Weak (4)
Whereas the man of action binds his life to reason and its concepts so that he will not be swept away and lost, the scientific investigator builds his hut right next to the tower of science so that he will be able to work on it and to find shelter for himself beneath those bulwarks which presently exist.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (1873). Collected in Keith Ansell-Pearson (ed.), and Duncan Large (ed.), The Nietzsche Reader (2006), 121.
Quotes by others about Friedrich Nietzsche (1)
Science is wonderful at destroying metaphysical answers, but incapable of providing substitute ones. Science takes away foundations without providing a replacement. Whether we want to be there or not, science has put us in the position of having to live without foundations. It was shocking when Nietzsche said this, but today it is commonplace; our historical position—and no end to it is in sight—is that of having to philosophise without 'foundations'.
Quoted in Hilary Putnam (ed.), The Many Faces of Realism: The Paul Carns Lectures (1987), 29.
