All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman: a laughingstock or a painful embarrassment.

For the woman, the man is a means: the end is always the child.

Danger alone acquaints us with our own resources, our virtues, our armor and weapons, our spirit, and forces us to be strong.

I would only believe in a god who could dance. And when I saw my devil I found him serious, thorough, profound, and solemn: it was the spirit of gravity—through him all things fall. Not by wrath does one kill but by laughter. Come, let us kill the spirit of gravity!

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

You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.

Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty.