--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I want to know whether you are a person…" description: "\"I want to know whether you are a person devoted to creating or to exchanging in some respect or other: as a creator you belong tothe free, as an exchan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creating_i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person_662414.jpg" --- # I want to know whether you are a person devoted to… ![“I want to know whether you are a person devoted to creating or to exchanging in some respect or other: as a creator you belong tothe free, as an exchanger you are their slave and instrument.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creating_i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person_662414.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creating_i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person_662414.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creating_i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person_662414.jpg) > “I want to know whether you are a person devoted to creating or to exchanging in some respect or other: as a creator you belong tothe free, as an exchanger you are their slave and instrument.” [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. It contrasts creators, who act freely, with exchangers, who become tools serving others, urging a choice of autonomy. **In simple terms:** Creators are free; exchangers are bound. Key Takeaway Choose creative freedom. Themes freedom creativity autonomy exchange power dynamics Mood provocative thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - artistic work - collaboration - employment - trade Key Concepts Existentialism social contract creative economics Questions to Reflect On - Do you see yourself as creator or exchanger? - Can one be both? A Different Perspective The dichotomy oversimplifies complex interdependence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) ## Related quotes > [As Muslims the way we show respect to the creator is by respecting creation and this is why we have to reconcile ourselves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/as-muslims-the-way-we-show-respect-to-the-creator-is-by-respecting/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [“Add value to yourself by exchanging your time with knowledge”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/add-value-to-yourself-by-exchanging-your-time-with-knowledge/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Debasement was limited at first to one’s own territory. It was then found that one could do better by taking bad coins across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-p-kindleberger/debasement-was-limited-at-first-to-one-s-own-territory-it-was-then/) [Charles P. Kindleberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-p-kindleberger/) > [Between the action sequences, the pleasure lies in observing impeccably dressed Brits exchanging barbed witticisms - making it, basically, Downton Abbey with cyber crime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-longworth/between-the-action-sequences-the-pleasure-lies-in-observing/) [Karina Longworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-longworth/) > [Libraries are not just for reading in, but for sociable thinking, exploring, exchanging ideas and falling in love. They were never silent. Technology will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-macintyre/libraries-are-not-just-for-reading-in-but-for-sociable-thinking/) [Ben Macintyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-macintyre/) > [ In those days \[batch processing\] programmers never even documented their programs, because it was assumed that nobody else would ever use them. Now, however,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fano/in-those-days-batch-processing-programmers-never-even-documented/) Robert Fano > [Every day, three times per second, we produce the equivalent of the amount of data that the Library of Congress has in it's entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/every-day-three-times-per-second-we-produce-the-equivalent-of-the/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-you-do-today-is-important-because-you-are-exchanging-a-day-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Progress is achieved by exchanging our theories for new ones which go further than the old, until we find one based on a larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/progress-is-achieved-by-exchanging-our-theories-for-new-ones-which-go/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [I'm not so interested in technology for technology's sake. I don't need incredibly sophisticated climate-control systems. And I'm absolutely amazed at the time people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabelle-selldorf/i-m-not-so-interested-in-technology-for-technology-s-sake-i-don-t/) [Annabelle Selldorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabelle-selldorf/) > [I like America anyway. In Japan we are much more formal. If two friends are separated for a long time and they meet they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sessue-hayakawa/i-like-america-anyway-in-japan-we-are-much-more-formal-if-two-friends/) [Sessue Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sessue-hayakawa/) > [In every encounter we either give life or we drain it; there is no neutral exchange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/in-every-encounter-we-either-give-life-or-we-drain-it-there-is-no/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [International educational exchange is the most significant current project designed to continue the process of humanizing mankind to the point, we would hope, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/international-educational-exchange-is-the-most-significant-current/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [I'm exchanging molecules every 30 days with the natural world and in a spiritual sense I know I am a part of it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-exchanging-molecules-every-30-days-with-the-natural-world-and-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Yet friendship, I believe, is essential to intellectuals. It is probably the growth hormone the mind requires as it begins its activity of producing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/yet-friendship-i-believe-is-essential-to-intellectuals-it-is-probably/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) ## 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 Creating quotes > [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [People who are creating history don't realize they're creating it at the time it's happening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-dreymon/people-who-are-creating-history-don-t-realize-they-re-creating-it-at/) [Alexander Dreymon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-dreymon/) > [When I am creating art, I have absolutely no social responsibility. It's like dreaming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cronenberg/when-i-am-creating-art-i-have-absolutely-no-social-responsibility-it/) [David Cronenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cronenberg/) > [Europe is creating the flight of refugees that's tearing it apart politically, and leading rightwing nationalist parties to gain power to withdraw from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/europe-is-creating-the-flight-of-refugees-that-s-tearing-it-apart/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [You can disseminate your art, and it's all such easy access now. The upside to it is that more people are creating than ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-clarke/you-can-disseminate-your-art-and-it-s-all-such-easy-access-now-the/) [Stanley Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-clarke/) > [“It didn’t matter that the scarves weren’t even all that special or great or that I was making far too many to actually keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-vercillo/it-didn-t-matter-that-the-scarves-weren-t-even-all-that-special-or/) [Kathryn Vercillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-vercillo/) > [I think, if I had my choice, I would spend all my time in the studio writing, and creating music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-condon/i-think-if-i-had-my-choice-i-would-spend-all-my-time-in-the-studio/) [Zach Condon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-condon/) > [Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/your-problem-is-how-you-are-going-to-spend-this-one-odd-and-precious/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Without a vision there is no possibility of creating something larger than what al-ready exists. An entrepreneur has to be able to bring something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/without-a-vision-there-is-no-possibility-of-creating-something-larger/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Creating a top team and being in a position to win the Tour de France will give me a nice feeling. But I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-alonso/creating-a-top-team-and-being-in-a-position-to-win-the-tour-de-france/) [Fernando Alonso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-alonso/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You wind up creating from silence, like painting a picture on a blank canvas that could bring tears to somebody's eyes. As songwriters, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-atkins/you-wind-up-creating-from-silence-like-painting-a-picture-on-a-blank/) [Rodney Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-atkins/) > [Intimacy requires an ability to both merge and be separate, to come together and be apart, like oscillating on a giant swing from oneness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-sophia-kasl/intimacy-requires-an-ability-to-both-merge-and-be-separate-to-come/) [Charlotte Sophia Kasl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-sophia-kasl/) > [Creating something new is easy, creating something that lasts is the challenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-braun/creating-something-new-is-easy-creating-something-that-lasts-is-the/) [Adam Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-braun/) [Browse all 3,972 Creating quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I want to know whether you are a person devoted to creating or to exchanging in some respect or other: as a creator you belong tothe free, as an exchanger you are their slave and instrument.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person-devoted-to-creating-or-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creating" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person-devoted-to-creating-or-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creating_i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person_662414.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creating_i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person_662414.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creating_i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person_662414.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I want to know whether you are a person devoted to creating or to exchanging in some respect or other: as a…” — 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": "I want to know whether you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person-devoted-to-creating-or-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-want-to-know-whether-you-are-a-person-devoted-to-creating-or-to/#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 } } ] } ```