--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Insanity in individuals is something rare…" description: "\"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bc/friedrich-nietzsche-15_groups_insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rar_1925323.jpg" --- # Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups… ![“Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bc/friedrich-nietzsche-15_groups_insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rar_1925323.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bc/friedrich-nietzsche-15_groups_insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rar_1925323.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bc/friedrich-nietzsche-15_groups_insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rar_1925323.jpg) > “Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” [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. Individual madness is rare, but collective madness is common throughout history. **In simple terms:** Groups often act irrationally. Key Takeaway Question group norms and think independently. Themes society madness collective behavior history Mood critical skeptical provocative Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - political movements - corporate culture - social media trends Key Concepts philosophy political theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - When have you followed a crowd blindly? - How can you foster independent thought? A Different Perspective Group pressure can suppress dissent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups/) [Groups Parties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups-parties-2305106/) [Individuals Rare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individuals-rare-2980668/) [Insanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insanity/) [Insanity Individuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insanity-individuals-2980667/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Rare Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rare-groups-2980669/) ## Related quotes > [In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-individuals-insanity-is-rare-but-in-groups-parties-nations-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Madness is rare in individuals, but in groups, parties, nations and ages is it the rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-rare-in-individuals-but-in-groups-parties-nations-and-ages/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Madness is something rare in individuals — but in groups, parties, peoples, and ages, it is the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-something-rare-in-individuals-but-in-groups-parties/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [There is always some madness in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/there-is-always-some-madness-in-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Where does one go from a world of insanity? Somewhere on the other side of despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/where-does-one-go-from-a-world-of-insanity-somewhere-on-the-other/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Love is insanity, apparently.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-ann-haydu/love-is-insanity-apparently/) [Corey Ann Haydu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-ann-haydu/) > [“People who smile while they are alone used to be called insane, until we invented smartphones and social media.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/people-who-smile-while-they-are-alone-used-to-be-called-insane-until/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Madness is no madness when shared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/madness-is-no-madness-when-shared/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [“I keep thinking that insanity is a state where a person can’t tell what’s real. Well, what’s real now is insane—and if I accepted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-keep-thinking-that-insanity-is-a-state-where-a-person-can-t-tell/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every isolated passion, is, in isolation, insane; sanity may be defined as synthesis of insanities. Every dominant passion generates a dominant fear, the fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/every-isolated-passion-is-in-isolation-insane-sanity-may-be-defined/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [There is considerable danger that a man will be crazy between dinner and supper; but it will not directly answer any good purposethat I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/there-is-considerable-danger-that-a-man-will-be-crazy-between-dinner/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I guess if everybody went crazy together nobody would notice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-guess-if-everybody-went-crazy-together-nobody-would-notice/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Everyone is on the verge of insanity ... insanity meaning on the verge of the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-is-on-the-verge-of-insanity-insanity-meaning-on-the-verge-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“insanity is the inability to communicate your ideas. It’s as if you were in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/insanity-is-the-inability-to-communicate-your-ideas-it-s-as-if-you/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Not everyone is capable of madness; and of those lucky enough to be capable, not many have the courage for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/not-everyone-is-capable-of-madness-and-of-those-lucky-enough-to-be/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) ## 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 Groups quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. 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They represent that race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-mcduffie/if-you-do-a-black-character-or-a-female-character-or-an-asian/) [Dwayne McDuffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-mcduffie/) > [I have a really grounded group of friends, and they like me no matter what. I think it's really important to know who your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-guthy/i-have-a-really-grounded-group-of-friends-and-they-like-me-no-matter/) [Jackson Guthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-guthy/) > [You can't have a movie with a group of people that are significant players in the story, that push forward the plot, without introducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/you-can-t-have-a-movie-with-a-group-of-people-that-are-significant/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [I'm really thankful to God, man. Like now, I'm really making a real comeback with my group. With or without a record, with or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ike-turner/i-m-really-thankful-to-god-man-like-now-i-m-really-making-a-real/) [Ike Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ike-turner/) > [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [If you chose a particular religion, you were siding with the government religion of whatever region you were in. That's never been true in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/if-you-chose-a-particular-religion-you-were-siding-with-the/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hinton/the-urban-literate-southern-california-sub-group-of-the-early-atomic/) [Sam Hinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-hinton/) > [Curiously, the righteous Pharisees had little historical impact, save for a brief time in a remote corner of the Roman Empire. But Jesus' disciples…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/curiously-the-righteous-pharisees-had-little-historical-impact-save/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) [Browse all 5,557 Groups quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rare-but-in-groups-parties/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Groups" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rare-but-in-groups-parties/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bc/friedrich-nietzsche-15_groups_insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rar_1925323.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bc/friedrich-nietzsche-15_groups_insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rar_1925323.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bc/friedrich-nietzsche-15_groups_insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rar_1925323.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” — 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": "Insanity in individuals is something rare...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rare-but-in-groups-parties/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/insanity-in-individuals-is-something-rare-but-in-groups-parties/#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 } } ] } ```