--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is an instinct for growth, for…" description: "\"Life is an instinct for growth, for survival, for the accumulation of forces, for power.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e53/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accumulation_life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survi_2211358.jpg" --- # Life is an instinct for growth, for survival, for the… ![“Life is an instinct for growth, for survival, for the accumulation of forces, for power.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e53/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accumulation_life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survi_2211358.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e53/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accumulation_life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survi_2211358.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e53/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accumulation_life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survi_2211358.jpg) > “Life is an instinct for growth, for survival, for the accumulation of forces, for power.” [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. Life drives an instinctual push toward growth, survival, and accumulation of power. **In simple terms:** Life seeks growth, survival, and power. Key Takeaway Embrace growth and pursue power wisely. Themes existentialism philosophy human nature Mood thought‑provoking serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - leadership - political strategy - education Key Concepts will to power survival instinct growth mindset Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance ambition with morality? - What defines healthy power? A Different Perspective Power pursuit can lead to ethical compromises. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accumulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) ## Related quotes > [The whole life of instinct serves the one end of bringing about death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-whole-life-of-instinct-serves-the-one-end-of-bringing-about-death/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“I wanted to touch the edges of my life - the same instinct, I think, that inspires young mortals to flip tractors and enlist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/i-wanted-to-touch-the-edges-of-my-life-the-same-instinct-i-think-that/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [I think life is instinct, and I just really go by that. That's one of the things I've learned - to always trust my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-goldstein/i-think-life-is-instinct-and-i-just-really-go-by-that-that-s-one-of/) [Lori Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-goldstein/) > [the anxiety arising from the perpetual activity of the death instinct, though never eliminated, is counteracted and kept at bay by the power of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-klein/the-anxiety-arising-from-the-perpetual-activity-of-the-death-instinct/) [Melanie Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-klein/) > [Everything that I've ever made in my life is from my instinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genndy-tartakovsky/everything-that-i-ve-ever-made-in-my-life-is-from-my-instinct/) [Genndy Tartakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genndy-tartakovsky/) > [Everything I've done in my life has been by instinct. I never had any doubt I could do anything... I always knew I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-riddell/everything-i-ve-done-in-my-life-has-been-by-instinct-i-never-had-any/) Elizabeth Riddell > [“You breathed life back into me. It was instinct for me to be there with you. I didn’t want to save you, I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarryn-fisher/you-breathed-life-back-into-me-it-was-instinct-for-me-to-be-there/) [Tarryn Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarryn-fisher/) > [I have one instinct stronger than any other thing in life, and that is the instinct for survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/i-have-one-instinct-stronger-than-any-other-thing-in-life-and-that-is/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [I have not come to know atheism as a result of logical reasoning and still less as an event in my life: in me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-have-not-come-to-know-atheism-as-a-result-of-logical-reasoning-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Fear is a survival instinct; fear in its way is a comfort for it means that somewhere hope is alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/fear-is-a-survival-instinct-fear-in-its-way-is-a-comfort-for-it-means/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [Man is an animal with primary instincts of survival. Consequently his ingenuity has developed first and his soul afterwards. The progress of science is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-chaplin/man-is-an-animal-with-primary-instincts-of-survival-consequently-his/) [Charlie Chaplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-chaplin/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Survival is my primary instinct...it's out of my control. It's stronger than me. It's an outside force, a voice that says 'do this for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/survival-is-my-primary-instinct-it-s-out-of-my-control-it-s-stronger/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [“Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts; it may be all you have to trust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-murray/sometimes-you-just-have-to-trust-your-instincts-it-may-be-all-you/) [Jocelyn Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-murray/) > [There was the natural human survival instinct to be optimistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-demick/there-was-the-natural-human-survival-instinct-to-be-optimistic/) [Barbara Demick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-demick/) ## 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 Accumulation quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very-cloistered-existence-as-most/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-accumulation-of-all-powers-legislative-executive-and-judiciary-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-think-that-only-daring-speculation-can-lead-us-further-and-not/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [There has been, for some reason (or more likely an unfortunate accumulation of reasons) a trend over the past several decades for parents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/there-has-been-for-some-reason-or-more-likely-an-unfortunate/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [Ageing is, simply and clearly, the accumulation of damage in the body. That's all that ageing is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/ageing-is-simply-and-clearly-the-accumulation-of-damage-in-the-body/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [For me, personally, there is one really interesting thing. You're all a bit too young for that, but when you get to a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/for-me-personally-there-is-one-really-interesting-thing-you-re-all-a/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [The mounting burden of taxation not only undermines individual incentives to increased work and earnings, but in a score of ways discourages capital accumulation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/the-mounting-burden-of-taxation-not-only-undermines-individual/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high social importance, there will be great changes in the code of morals. We shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/when-the-accumulation-of-wealth-is-no-longer-of-high-social/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving. This is the grand paradox. You get most by giving most. Conversely, by receiving much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-johnson/the-soul-lives-forever-by-giving-not-receiving-this-is-the-grand/) [Julian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-johnson/) > [Forgiveness of the present is even more important than forgiveness of the past. If you forgive every moment - allow it to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/forgiveness-of-the-present-is-even-more-important-than-forgiveness-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/too-much-and-too-long-we-seem-to-have-surrendered-community/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) [Browse all 412 Accumulation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life is an instinct for growth, for survival, for the accumulation of forces, for power.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survival-for-the-accumulation-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accumulation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survival-for-the-accumulation-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e53/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accumulation_life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survi_2211358.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e53/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accumulation_life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survi_2211358.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e53/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accumulation_life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survi_2211358.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life is an instinct for growth, for survival, for the accumulation of forces, for power.” — 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": "Life is an instinct for growth,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survival-for-the-accumulation-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/life-is-an-instinct-for-growth-for-survival-for-the-accumulation-of/#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 } } ] } ```