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A law-book never recites the utility, the grounds, the casuistical antecedents of a law: for if it did so it would lose the imperative tone, the “thou shall,” on which obedience is based.

— Friedrich Nietzsche

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More quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche

The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous toy.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.

Beyond Good and Evil (1886)

The spiritualization of sensuality is called love.

Twilight of the Idols (1889)

Gradually it has become clear to me what every great philosophy has been: namely, the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir.

Beyond Good and Evil (1886)

They are not clean enough for me, either: they all disturb their waters so that they may seem deep.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

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If the church ... does not make God's liberation of the oppressed central in its mission and proclamation, how can it rest easy with a condemned criminal as the dominant symbol of its message?

James H. Cone Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology (1986)

It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing.

Muhammad

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Friedrich Nietzsche (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.