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If you crush a cockroach, you're a hero. If you crush a beautiful butterfly, you're a villain. Morals have aesthetic criteria.

— Friedrich Nietzsche Misattributed

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Source, in full

Sometimes attributed to Nietzsche, the quote appears in none of his works, the likely origin is a 2012 tweet, where it was not attributed to Nietzsche. There are no earlier examples on reddit and also none on google books.

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Heroes

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)

All Friedrich Nietzsche quotes →

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Jean Paul Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

The blood of the heroes is closer to God than the ink of the philosophers and the prayers of the faithful.

Julius Evola Revolt Against the Modern World (1934)

Heroism is a myth you tell idealistic young people—specifically when you want them to go bleed for you.

Brandon Sanderson Rhythm of War (2020)

Attribution

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.