---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If there is something to pardon in…"
description: "\"If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_forgiveness_if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-every_2222006.jpg"
---

#  If there is something to pardon in everything, there is…

![“If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_forgiveness_if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-every_2222006.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_forgiveness_if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-every_2222006.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_forgiveness_if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-every_2222006.jpg)

> “If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.”

[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.

Every act contains both pardonable and condemnable aspects.

**In simple terms:** Both forgiveness and condemnation coexist.

Key Takeaway

Balance judgment.

Themes

morality dualism ethics

Mood

critical thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- legal decisions
- personal relationships
- leadership
- conflict resolution

Key Concepts

philosophy human nature

Questions to Reflect On

- When should you forgive versus condemn?
- How do you navigate moral ambiguity?

A Different Perspective

Complexity can paralyze decision‑making.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Condemn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condemn/) [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Pardon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pardon/) [Pardon Condemn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pardon-condemn-4403511/)

## Related quotes

> [It is surely better to pardon too much, than to condemn too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/it-is-surely-better-to-pardon-too-much-than-to-condemn-too-much/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

> [I condemn Christianity; I bring against the Christian Church the most terrible of all accusations that an accuser has ever had in his mouth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-condemn-christianity-i-bring-against-the-christian-church-the-most/)

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

> [No one has needed favours more than I, and generally, few have been less unwilling to accept them; but in this case, favour to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/no-one-has-needed-favours-more-than-i-and-generally-few-have-been/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [Phones rang constantly, as if the White House was conducting some kind of pardon telethon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-olson/phones-rang-constantly-as-if-the-white-house-was-conducting-some-kind/)

[Barbara Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-olson/)

> [There is no sin that God cannot pardon. All we need to do is ask for forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/there-is-no-sin-that-god-cannot-pardon-all-we-need-to-do-is-ask-for/)

[Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/)

> [Men that have much business must have much pardon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/men-that-have-much-business-must-have-much-pardon/)

[Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverb/)

> [When you see a condemned man on his way to the gallows, it moves you to pity. If you could do something to free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-mary-claret/when-you-see-a-condemned-man-on-his-way-to-the-gallows-it-moves-you/)

[Anthony Mary Claret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-mary-claret/)

> [Let what offends God offend me, and what God pardons, I pardon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/let-what-offends-god-offend-me-and-what-god-pardons-i-pardon/)

[Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/)

> [God give you pardon from gratitude and other mild forms of servitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-creeley/god-give-you-pardon-from-gratitude-and-other-mild-forms-of-servitude/)

[Robert Creeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-creeley/)

> [Sincerity is a great but rare virtue, and we pardon to it much complaining, and the betrayal of many weaknesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/sincerity-is-a-great-but-rare-virtue-and-we-pardon-to-it-much/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [The President can pardon us again... and again and again, but... picketing will continue, and sooner or later, he will have to do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-paul/the-president-can-pardon-us-again-and-again-and-again-but-picketing/)

[Alice Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-paul/)

> [When the New Testament speaks about the fullness of grace which we find in Christ, it does not mean only forgiveness, pardon and justification.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-b-ferguson/when-the-new-testament-speaks-about-the-fullness-of-grace-which-we/)

[Sinclair B. Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-b-ferguson/)

> [When my heart became constricted and my paths became narrow I took my hope in Your pardon and forgiveness as an opening and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-shafi-i/when-my-heart-became-constricted-and-my-paths-became-narrow-i-took-my/)

[Al-Shafi‘i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-shafi-i/)

> [Pardon is granted to necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/pardon-is-granted-to-necessity/)

[Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/)

> [What better can we do than prostrate fall before Him reverent, and there confess humbly our faults, and pardon beg with tears watering the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/what-better-can-we-do-than-prostrate-fall-before-him-reverent-and/)

[John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/)

## 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 Condemn quotes

> [If you condemn someone who has committed a crime to be tortured, that would be unconstitutional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/if-you-condemn-someone-who-has-committed-a-crime-to-be-tortured-that/)

[Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/)

> [“Going to the extreme of inviting and welcoming people into your church in order to hear you condemn them or to know from your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/going-to-the-extreme-of-inviting-and-welcoming-people-into-your/)

[Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/)

> [When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-there-is-injustice-dare-to-be-the-first-to-condemn-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Fix, commit, condemn yourself”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/fix-commit-condemn-yourself/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [...The people love him. So how can we condemn him?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-zuma/the-people-love-him-so-how-can-we-condemn-him/)

[Jacob Zuma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-zuma/)

> [It is rash to condemn where you are ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-rash-to-condemn-where-you-are-ignorant/)

[Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/)

> [You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes truth isn't good enough. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bale/you-ll-hunt-me-you-ll-condemn-me-set-the-dogs-on-me-because-that-s/)

[Christian Bale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bale/)

> [Many governments are quick to condemn Assad, but a dwindling number of them would celebrate a rebel victory in Damascus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/many-governments-are-quick-to-condemn-assad-but-a-dwindling-number-of/)

[Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/)

> [I condemn all statements - made in sincerity or jest - that threaten or suggest the use of violence against the president of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-broun/i-condemn-all-statements-made-in-sincerity-or-jest-that-threaten-or/)

[Paul Broun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-broun/)

> [The wretch condemn'd with life to part, Still, still on hope relies; And every pang that rends the heart Bids expectation rise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/the-wretch-condemn-d-with-life-to-part-still-still-on-hope-relies-and/)

[Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/)

> [We like to think the best of ourselves. We like to believe we always say and do the right things. We like to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/we-like-to-think-the-best-of-ourselves-we-like-to-believe-we-always/)

[Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/)

> [Condemn me, it does not matter: history will absolve me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/condemn-me-it-does-not-matter-history-will-absolve-me/)

[Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/)

> [“Lewis Richardson wrote that his quest to analyze peace with numbers sprang from two prejudices. As a Quaker, he believed that "the moral evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/lewis-richardson-wrote-that-his-quest-to-analyze-peace-with-numbers/)

[Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/)

> [“this other man within us, has got to be handled. Do not listen to him; turn on him; speak to him; condemn him; upbraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/this-other-man-within-us-has-got-to-be-handled-do-not-listen-to-him/)

[D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/)

> [The U.N. Security Council did not to condemn the Qana massacre, due to the U.S. veto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-nasrallah/the-u-n-security-council-did-not-to-condemn-the-qana-massacre-due-to/)

[Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-nasrallah/)

[Browse all 185 Condemn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condemn/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-everything-there-is-also-something/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Condemn"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-everything-there-is-also-something/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_forgiveness_if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-every_2222006.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_forgiveness_if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-every_2222006.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/friedrich-nietzsche-15_forgiveness_if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-every_2222006.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.” — 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": "If there is something to pardon...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-everything-there-is-also-something/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-there-is-something-to-pardon-in-everything-there-is-also-something/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
