--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Moralities and religions are the…" description: "\"Moralities and religions are the principal means by which one can make whatever one wishes out of man, provided one possesses a superfluity of creative..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_moralities-and-religions-are-the-princip_1274610.jpg" --- # Moralities and religions are the principal means by which… ![“Moralities and religions are the principal means by which one can make whatever one wishes out of man, provided one possesses a superfluity of creative forces and can assert one's will over long periods of time in the form of legislation and customs.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_moralities-and-religions-are-the-princip_1274610.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_moralities-and-religions-are-the-princip_1274610.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/314/friedrich-nietzsche-15_character_moralities-and-religions-are-the-princip_1274610.jpg) > “Moralities and religions are the principal means by which one can make whatever one wishes out of man, provided one possesses a superfluity of creative forces and can assert one's will over long periods of time in the form of legislation and customs.” [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. Religion and morality are tools for shaping humanity, usable when one has abundant creative energy and can enforce will through laws and customs. **In simple terms:** Beliefs can be molded by powerful creators. Key Takeaway Use creativity responsibly. Themes power creativity morality religion Mood provocative philosophical Type theoretical analytical When to use this quote - political reform - legal drafting - cultural movements - personal development Key Concepts will to power social engineering ethical constructivism Questions to Reflect On - Can morality be truly engineered? - What limits should constrain creative power? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on will can ignore individual autonomy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Customs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customs/) [Legislation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legislation/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Morality and religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-and-religion/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religions/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development, they are also among its principal means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/freedoms-are-not-only-the-primary-ends-of-development-they-are-also/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [The preponderance of pain over pleasure is the cause of our fictitious morality and religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-preponderance-of-pain-over-pleasure-is-the-cause-of-our/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Really great moral teachers never do introduce new moralities: it is quacks and cranks who do that. As”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/really-great-moral-teachers-never-do-introduce-new-moralities-it-is/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [It is difficult to separate oneself from one's design moralities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-chipperfield/it-is-difficult-to-separate-oneself-from-one-s-design-moralities/) [David Chipperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-chipperfield/) > [I grow tired of 18th century moralities in a 20th century space-atomic age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-grow-tired-of-18th-century-moralities-in-a-20th-century-space/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [...the nonexistence of God makes more difference to some of us than to others. 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Morality is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/different-moralities-must-share-some-general-features-if-they-are-to/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [Life is a joyous thing essentially, but when you bind life by all these rigid moralities and traditions, and dogmas and creeds, then there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/life-is-a-joyous-thing-essentially-but-when-you-bind-life-by-all/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [All women are brought up from the very earliest years in the belief that their ideal of character is the very opposite to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/all-women-are-brought-up-from-the-very-earliest-years-in-the-belief/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [In statesmanship get formalities right, never mind about the moralities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/in-statesmanship-get-formalities-right-never-mind-about-the-moralities/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## 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 Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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