--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God is dead. God remains dead. And we…" description: "\"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_atonement_god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-and-we-have_631758.jpg" --- # God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How… ![“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_atonement_god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-and-we-have_631758.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_atonement_god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-and-we-have_631758.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_atonement_god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-and-we-have_631758.jpg) > “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?” [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. Nietzsche declares the death of traditional moral authority, urging humanity to confront the void and create new values, confronting existential dread. **In simple terms:** Traditional morals are gone; we must forge new meaning. Key Takeaway Create personal values, face existential void. Themes existentialism morality nihilism creation responsibility Mood provocative philosophical Type ethical existential When to use this quote - cultural critique - personal ethics - spiritual crisis Key Concepts death of God self‑overcoming Questions to Reflect On - What new values can guide us today? - How can we find meaning without absolute truths? A Different Perspective The loss of shared values can lead to chaos without collective effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atonement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atonement/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) [Festivals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/festivals/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [God is dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-is-dead/) [Gods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Murderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murderer/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Gods too decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. We have killed him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/gods-too-decompose-god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-we-have-killed-him/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [God is dead, God remains dead, and we have killed him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-and-we-have-killed-him/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-and-we-have-killed-him-yet-his-shadow/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/gods-too-decompose-god-is-dead-god-remains-dead-and-we-have-killed-him/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Have you heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place, and cried incessantly, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/have-you-heard-of-that-madman-who-lit-a-lantern-in-the-bright-morning/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/do-we-smell-nothing-as-yet-of-the-divine-decomposition-gods-too/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [ “Where has God gone?” \[the madman asked\] “I shall tell you. We have killed him – you and I. We are his murderers. But… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/where-has-god-gone-the-madman-asked-i-shall-tell-you-we-have-killed/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“New struggles. -- After Buddha was dead, they still showed his shadow in a cave for centuries -- a colossal, horrible shadow. God is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/new-struggles-after-buddha-was-dead-they-still-showed-his-shadow-in-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“God is dead;1 but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/god-is-dead-1-but-given-the-way-of-men-there-may-still-be-caves-for/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Your god is dead and only the ignorant weep. And if you claim there is a hell, then we shall meet there!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/your-god-is-dead-and-only-the-ignorant-weep-and-if-you-claim-there-is/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [God is dead, but considering the state the species man is in, there will perhaps be caves, for ages yet, in which his shadow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/god-is-dead-but-considering-the-state-the-species-man-is-in-there/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [When Zarathustra was alone . . . he said to his heart: "Could it be possible! This old saint in the forest hath not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-zarathustra-was-alone-he-said-to-his-heart-could-it-be-possible/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“If God on the Cross is God shamming a human tragedy, it turns the Passion of Christ into the Farce of Christ. The death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/if-god-on-the-cross-is-god-shamming-a-human-tragedy-it-turns-the/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [But once a dead God, always a dead God, even resurrected. The Son must have the taste of death forever in his mouth. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/but-once-a-dead-god-always-a-dead-god-even-resurrected-the-son-must/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Perhaps God is not dead; perhaps God himself is mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/perhaps-god-is-not-dead-perhaps-god-himself-is-mad/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## 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 Atonement quotes > [We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/we-cannot-go-back-in-time-and-change-the-past-but-we-can-repent-the/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [I appreciate the written word and spoken word more, but Atonement sort of established so much of me. It was a character that didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saoirse-ronan/i-appreciate-the-written-word-and-spoken-word-more-but-atonement-sort/) [Saoirse Ronan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saoirse-ronan/) > [The Atonement is an event that enables us to be reconciled to God. The word atonement, or 'at-one-ment,' means to restore or to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-c-tingey/the-atonement-is-an-event-that-enables-us-to-be-reconciled-to-god-the/) Earl C. Tingey > [The early Christians made it a part of their religion to look for his return. They looked backward to the cross and the atonement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-early-christians-made-it-a-part-of-their-religion-to-look-for-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And the commencement of atonement is the sense of its necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/and-the-commencement-of-atonement-is-the-sense-of-its-necessity/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“Beloved, no sin of a believer can now be an arrow mortally to wound him, no condemnation can now be a sword to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-spurgeon/beloved-no-sin-of-a-believer-can-now-be-an-arrow-mortally-to-wound/) [Charles H. Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-spurgeon/) > [If you feel guilty or quietly ashamed, seek the power of the Atonement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neill-f-marriott/if-you-feel-guilty-or-quietly-ashamed-seek-the-power-of-the-atonement/) [Neill F. Marriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neill-f-marriott/) > [Jesus perfected his life and became our Christ. Priceless blood of a god was shed, and he became our Savior; his perfected life was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/jesus-perfected-his-life-and-became-our-christ-priceless-blood-of-a/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The Atonement of Christ is the most transcendental event that has ever occurred or that will ever occur, since the sunrise of creation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-r-mcconkie/the-atonement-of-christ-is-the-most-transcendental-event-that-has/) [Bruce R. McConkie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-r-mcconkie/) > [Jesus Christ was the only one capable of performing the magnificent Atonement because He was the only perfect man and the Only Begotten Son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-o-samuelson/jesus-christ-was-the-only-one-capable-of-performing-the-magnificent/) [Cecil O. Samuelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-o-samuelson/) > [The cumulative weight of all mortal sins--past, present, and future--pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/the-cumulative-weight-of-all-mortal-sins-past-present-and-future/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [God thank you for everything you've given us. For the time we have together. And for the miracle of Christmas. Thank you for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/god-thank-you-for-everything-you-ve-given-us-for-the-time-we-have/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) > [Contemplation does not ignore the 'historical Gethsemane', does not ignore the mystery of evil, guilt and its bloody atonement. The happiness of contemplation is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-pieper/contemplation-does-not-ignore-the-historical-gethsemane-does-not/) [Josef Pieper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-pieper/) > [Do you realize how marvelous it is that you can call upon the Atonement? The Lord effected the Atonement for our sakes. And there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyd-k-packer/do-you-realize-how-marvelous-it-is-that-you-can-call-upon-the/) [Boyd K. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyd-k-packer/) > [I would rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-would-rather-believe-a-limited-atonement-that-is-efficacious-for/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) [Browse all 327 Atonement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atonement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? 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