--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do ask yourself why you, the individual…" description: "\"Do ask yourself why you, the individual, exist, and if you can get no other answer try for once to justify the meaning of your existence as it were a p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aim_do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-e_1872593.jpg" --- # Do ask yourself why you, the individual, exist, and if you… ![“Do ask yourself why you, the individual, exist, and if you can get no other answer try for once to justify the meaning of your existence as it were a posteriori by setting before yourself an aim, a goal, a 'to this end', an exalted and noble 'to this end'.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aim_do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-e_1872593.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aim_do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-e_1872593.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aim_do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-e_1872593.jpg) > “Do ask yourself why you, the individual, exist, and if you can get no other answer try for once to justify the meaning of your existence as it were a posteriori by setting before yourself an aim, a goal, a 'to this end', an exalted and noble 'to this end'.” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote urges personal reflection on existence, urging one to define a purposeful aim and justify one's life through a chosen noble goal. **In simple terms:** Reflect on why you exist and set a noble purpose. Key Takeaway Define a meaningful purpose for yourself. Themes existence purpose self‑reflection meaning goal‑setting Mood contemplative determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - personal development - creative projects - philanthropy Key Concepts existentialism nihilism self‑actualization Questions to Reflect On - What personal aim gives your life meaning? - How can you align daily actions with this aim? A Different Perspective Purpose may be socially constructed and not universally valid. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble/) [Pursuit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pursuit/) [Setting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/setting/) ## Related quotes > [ When I wrote the story \["The Cartographers"\], I'd just gone through a breakup with a woman I'd loved dearly. Without this other person in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-weinstein/when-i-wrote-the-story-the-cartographers-i-d-just-gone-through-a/) [Alexander Weinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-weinstein/) > [Then we shall... be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/then-we-shall-be-able-to-take-part-in-the-discussion-of-the-question/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [Where do we come from? Do souls really exist? I can't answer these questions, especially not at 6am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/where-do-we-come-from-do-souls-really-exist-i-can-t-answer-these/) [Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/) > [Try for once to justify the meaning of your existence as it were a posteriori by setting yourself an aim, a goal... an exalted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/try-for-once-to-justify-the-meaning-of-your-existence-as-it-were-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“To what end the ‘world’ exists, to what end ‘man­kind’ exists, ought not to concern us at all for the moment except as objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-what-end-the-world-exists-to-what-end-man-kind-exists-ought-not-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The individual cannot exist outside of the many spheres of the deeply interconnected webs of life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/the-individual-cannot-exist-outside-of-the-many-spheres-of-the-deeply/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“I think that the individual cannot exist in a vacuum. Cannot exist in isolation. He is the member of a tribe, a church, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adiele/i-think-that-the-individual-cannot-exist-in-a-vacuum-cannot-exist-in/) [Faith Adiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adiele/) > [Certain faults are necessary to the individual if he is to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/certain-faults-are-necessary-to-the-individual-if-he-is-to-exist/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I think everyone is a case-by-case basis. 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Lorimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-lorimer/) > [He that humbleth himself wishes to be exalted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-that-humbleth-himself-wishes-to-be-exalted/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [He who humbles himself wants to be exalted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-who-humbles-himself-wants-to-be-exalted/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [You look up when you wish to be exalted. And I look down because I am exalted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/you-look-up-when-you-wish-to-be-exalted-and-i-look-down-because-i-am/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I must make MAGICK the essential factor in the life of ALL. In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/i-must-make-magick-the-essential-factor-in-the-life-of-all-in/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [A sense of a wider meaning to one's existence is what raises a man beyond mere getting and spending. If he lacks this sense,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/a-sense-of-a-wider-meaning-to-one-s-existence-is-what-raises-a-man/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) ## 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/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Aim quotes > [If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/if-you-aim-at-nothing-you-will-hit-it-every-time/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The Christian man must aim at that complete obedience to God in which life finds its highest happiness, its greatest good, its perfect consummation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barclay/the-christian-man-must-aim-at-that-complete-obedience-to-god-in-which/) [William Barclay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barclay/) > [ He \[an earnest young reporter\] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/he-an-earnest-young-reporter-seemed-to-share-the-view-of-many/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [In Bosnia, little children shot in the head by a guy who thinks it's okay to aim his gun at a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-amanpour/in-bosnia-little-children-shot-in-the-head-by-a-guy-who-thinks-it-s/) [Christiane Amanpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-amanpour/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [My aim was to make money for the bank. You lose track of the amounts involved when you are engaged in this kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-kerviel/my-aim-was-to-make-money-for-the-bank-you-lose-track-of-the-amounts/) [Jerome Kerviel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-kerviel/) > [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/) [Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/) > [My main aim has always been to do good quality films with roles that have some substance. With Power and Beauty there were loads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-henstridge/my-main-aim-has-always-been-to-do-good-quality-films-with-roles-that/) [Natasha Henstridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-henstridge/) > [ I really enjoyed it - being involved in watching rushes and playback \[in "The Invisible Woman"\]. Ralph \[Fiennes\] was very open to my input,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-really-enjoyed-it-being-involved-in-watching-rushes-and-playback-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [My aim is to be counted among the top players.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babar-azam/my-aim-is-to-be-counted-among-the-top-players/) [Babar Azam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babar-azam/) > [The single aim of my life is that every child is: free to be a child, free to grow and develop, free to eat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailash-satyarthi/the-single-aim-of-my-life-is-that-every-child-is-free-to-be-a-child/) [Kailash Satyarthi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailash-satyarthi/) > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/prescribing-hard-work-for-the-soft-or-easy-work-for-the-hardy-is/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [To be normal is the ultimate aim of the unsuccessful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/to-be-normal-is-the-ultimate-aim-of-the-unsuccessful/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) Browse all 3,047 Aim quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Do ask yourself why you, the individual, exist, and if you can get no other answer try for once to justify the meaning of your existence as it were a posteriori by setting before yourself an aim, a goal, a 'to this end', an exalted and noble 'to this end'.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-exist-and-if-you-can-get-no/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aim" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-exist-and-if-you-can-get-no/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aim_do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-e_1872593.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aim_do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-e_1872593.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aim_do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-e_1872593.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Do ask yourself why you, the individual, exist, and if you can get no other answer try for once to justify…” — Friedrich Nietzsche", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Friedrich Nietzsche", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Do ask yourself why you, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-exist-and-if-you-can-get-no/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/do-ask-yourself-why-you-the-individual-exist-and-if-you-can-get-no/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```