# Nietzsche question



## Scott (Mar 15, 2006)

Anyone have a quote in which Nietzsche says that we killed God and therefore we have to make our own meaning / rules? Looking for something short and preferably in one of his literary and symbolic writings (like a story). I like the Parable of the Madman but the end does not really say that we must make our own meaning. The statement about becoming gods seems more tied to the grandeur of the deed rather than the need for making our own rules. Or am I wrong on this?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Mar 15, 2006)

Here is a famous quote by Nietzsche which might be what you have in mind:



> God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? - Nietzsche, _The Gay Science_


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## turmeric (Mar 15, 2006)

Somewhere in _Also Sprache Zarathustra_ perhaps...

[Edited on 3-15-2006 by turmeric]


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Mar 15, 2006)

The quote is from the Gay Science, as Andrew pointed out, but the rest of what your post says is off base, in my opinion.


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Mar 15, 2006)

> _New Struggles._ -- After Buddha was dead, his shadow was still shown for centuries in a cave -- a tremendous, gruesome shadow. God is dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. -- And we -- we still have to vanquish his shadow, too.
> *Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science. Aphorism 108. (p. 167)*


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