---
title: "8 Hardest Quotes By Friedrich Nietzsche"
description: "8 Hardest quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche. Plus more from Friedrich Nietzsche and more Hardest sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f83/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely_933697.jpg"
---

> [Our vanity is hardest to wound precisely when our pride has just been wounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely-when-our-pride-has-just-been/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f83/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely_933697.jpg)

> [Our vanity would have just that which we do best count as that which is hardest for us. The origin of many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-vanity-would-have-just-that-which-we-do-best-count-as-that-which/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_our-vanity-would-have-just-that-which-we_1057973.jpg)

> [This is what is hardest: to close the open hand because one loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/this-is-what-is-hardest-to-close-the-open-hand-because-one-loves/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_this-is-what-is-hardest-to-close-the-ope_1415848.jpg)

> [We become aware, however, that all customs, even the hardest, grow pleasanter and milder with time, and that the severest way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-become-aware-however-that-all-customs-even-the-hardest-grow/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/friedrich-nietzsche-15_culture_we-become-aware-however-that-all-customs_1442675.jpg)

> [At every step one has to wrestle for truth; one has to surrender for it almost everything to which the heart, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/at-every-step-one-has-to-wrestle-for-truth-one-has-to-surrender-for/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_conscience_at-every-step-one-has-to-wrestle-for-tru_2261308.jpg)

> [This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/this-is-the-hardest-of-all-to-close-the-open-hand-out-of-love-and/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/friedrich-nietzsche-15_giver_this-is-the-hardest-of-all-to-close-the_2451323.jpg)

> [It is not when it is dangerous to tell the truth that its advocates are hardest to find, but when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-when-it-is-dangerous-to-tell-the-truth-that-its-advocates/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/friedrich-nietzsche-15_boring_it-is-not-when-it-is-dangerous-to-tell-t_2903697.jpg)

> [Our vanity desires that what we do best should be considered what is hardest for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-vanity-desires-that-what-we-do-best-should-be-considered-what-is/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_desire_our-vanity-desires-that-what-we-do-best_3118420.jpg)

## Other authors on Hardest

## More by Friedrich Nietzsche

> [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/friedrich-nietzsche/#itemlist",
            "name": "8 Hardest Quotes By Friedrich Nietzsche",
            "numberOfItems": 8,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Our vanity is hardest to wound precisely when our pride has just been wounded.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely-when-our-pride-has-just-been/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f83/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely_933697.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f83/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely_933697.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f83/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely_933697.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Our vanity is hardest to wound precisely when our pride has just been wounded.” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Our vanity would have just that which we do best count as that which is hardest for us. The origin of many a morality.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-vanity-would-have-just-that-which-we-do-best-count-as-that-which/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_our-vanity-would-have-just-that-which-we_1057973.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_our-vanity-would-have-just-that-which-we_1057973.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_our-vanity-would-have-just-that-which-we_1057973.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Our vanity would have just that which we do best count as that which is hardest for us. The origin of many a…” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "This is what is hardest: to close the open hand because one loves.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/this-is-what-is-hardest-to-close-the-open-hand-because-one-loves/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_this-is-what-is-hardest-to-close-the-ope_1415848.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_this-is-what-is-hardest-to-close-the-ope_1415848.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_this-is-what-is-hardest-to-close-the-ope_1415848.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“This is what is hardest: to close the open hand because one loves.” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "We become aware, however, that all customs, even the hardest, grow pleasanter and milder with time, and that the severest way of life may become a habit and therefore a pleasure.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-become-aware-however-that-all-customs-even-the-hardest-grow/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/friedrich-nietzsche-15_culture_we-become-aware-however-that-all-customs_1442675.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/friedrich-nietzsche-15_culture_we-become-aware-however-that-all-customs_1442675.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/friedrich-nietzsche-15_culture_we-become-aware-however-that-all-customs_1442675.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“We become aware, however, that all customs, even the hardest, grow pleasanter and milder with time, and that…” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "At every step one has to wrestle for truth; one has to surrender for it almost everything to which the heart, to which our love, our trust in life, cling otherwise. That requires greatness of soul: the service of truth is the hardest service. What does it mean, after all, to have integrity in matters of the spirit? That one is severe against one's heart...that one makes of every Yes and No a matter of conscience.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/at-every-step-one-has-to-wrestle-for-truth-one-has-to-surrender-for/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_conscience_at-every-step-one-has-to-wrestle-for-tru_2261308.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_conscience_at-every-step-one-has-to-wrestle-for-tru_2261308.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_conscience_at-every-step-one-has-to-wrestle-for-tru_2261308.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“At every step one has to wrestle for truth; one has to surrender for it almost everything to which the…” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 6,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/this-is-the-hardest-of-all-to-close-the-open-hand-out-of-love-and/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/friedrich-nietzsche-15_giver_this-is-the-hardest-of-all-to-close-the_2451323.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/friedrich-nietzsche-15_giver_this-is-the-hardest-of-all-to-close-the_2451323.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/friedrich-nietzsche-15_giver_this-is-the-hardest-of-all-to-close-the_2451323.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 7,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "It is not when it is dangerous to tell the truth that its advocates are hardest to find, but when it is boring.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-when-it-is-dangerous-to-tell-the-truth-that-its-advocates/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/friedrich-nietzsche-15_boring_it-is-not-when-it-is-dangerous-to-tell-t_2903697.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/friedrich-nietzsche-15_boring_it-is-not-when-it-is-dangerous-to-tell-t_2903697.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/friedrich-nietzsche-15_boring_it-is-not-when-it-is-dangerous-to-tell-t_2903697.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“It is not when it is dangerous to tell the truth that its advocates are hardest to find, but when it is…” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 8,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Our vanity desires that what we do best should be considered what is hardest for us.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/our-vanity-desires-that-what-we-do-best-should-be-considered-what-is/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_desire_our-vanity-desires-that-what-we-do-best_3118420.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_desire_our-vanity-desires-that-what-we-do-best_3118420.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_desire_our-vanity-desires-that-what-we-do-best_3118420.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Our vanity desires that what we do best should be considered what is hardest for us.” — Friedrich Nietzsche",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/friedrich-nietzsche/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/friedrich-nietzsche/",
            "name": "Hardest Quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/friedrich-nietzsche/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f83/friedrich-nietzsche-15_hardest_our-vanity-is-hardest-to-wound-precisely_933697.jpg"
            },
            "description": "8 Hardest quotes by Friedrich Nietzsche. Plus more from Friedrich Nietzsche and more Hardest sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/friedrich-nietzsche/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/friedrich-nietzsche/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Hardest",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/friedrich-nietzsche/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```