--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One must give value to their existence by…" description: "\"One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-b_2707785.jpg" --- # One must give value to their existence by behaving as if… ![“One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-b_2707785.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-b_2707785.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-b_2707785.jpg) > “One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art.” [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. Living as if life were art elevates existence, encouraging creativity and self‑expression. **In simple terms:** Treat life like a work of art. Key Takeaway Cultivate creativity and purpose. Themes art existence self‑expression Mood philosophical inspirational Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal development - education - career - daily routines Key Concepts existentialism aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to live artistically? - How can you create art in everyday life? A Different Perspective Not everyone embraces artistic living. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Behaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-behaving-2784808/) [Existence Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-work-2158395/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Ones Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ones-existence-2784809/) [Value Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value-existence-615621/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [“Now, most people bear life without any considerable grumbling, and consequently believe in the value of existence, but precisely because each one is solely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/now-most-people-bear-life-without-any-considerable-grumbling-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is a mistake to talk about the artist looking for his subject. In fact, the subject grows within him like a fruit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/it-is-a-mistake-to-talk-about-the-artist-looking-for-his-subject-in/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [It is certain that those who have the living faith in their hearts see at once that all existence is none other than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/it-is-certain-that-those-who-have-the-living-faith-in-their-hearts/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [We live in an ironic society where even play is turned into work. But the highest existence is not work; the highest level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-hyers/we-live-in-an-ironic-society-where-even-play-is-turned-into-work-but/) [Conrad Hyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-hyers/) > [“In the independent existence that work gives the thing, working consciousness finds itself again as an independent consciousness. Work is restrained desire. In forming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-georg-gadamer/in-the-independent-existence-that-work-gives-the-thing-working/) [Hans-Georg Gadamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-georg-gadamer/) > [Life is even more beautiful when you found someone who knows how to value your existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhiel14/life-is-even-more-beautiful-when-you-found-someone-who-knows-how-to/) [Rhiel14](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhiel14/) > [“I believe love is when you are willing to value someone's or something's existence above your own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isamu-fukui/i-believe-love-is-when-you-are-willing-to-value-someone-s-or/) [Isamu Fukui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isamu-fukui/) > [Agreeable society is the first essential in constituting the happiness and of course the value of our existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/agreeable-society-is-the-first-essential-in-constituting-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [It is beyond our reach to know the value of our own existence without the absolute truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/it-is-beyond-our-reach-to-know-the-value-of-our-own-existence-without/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [“We come into this world priceless, with no value befitting our precious tiny frame. As we grow older we begin to assign value to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-woytowich/we-come-into-this-world-priceless-with-no-value-befitting-our/) [Solomon Woytowich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-woytowich/) > [“Without the absolute truth, to know the truth value of our own existence is beyond our strengths/limits/possibilities. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/without-the-absolute-truth-to-know-the-truth-value-of-our-own/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [I have a calling in my soul, if you like, to try to make my life in some way worthwhile. What is the value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-have-a-calling-in-my-soul-if-you-like-to-try-to-make-my-life-in/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [What is the value of your existence?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-evans/what-is-the-value-of-your-existence/) [Stephen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-evans/) > [“The proof of a system's value is its existence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-proof-of-a-system-s-value-is-its-existence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The perceived world is the always-presupposed foundation of all rationality, all value, and all existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/the-perceived-world-is-the-always-presupposed-foundation-of-all/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) ## 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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-by-behaving-as-if-ones-very/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-by-behaving-as-if-ones-very/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-b_2707785.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-b_2707785.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_art_one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-b_2707785.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art.” — 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": "One must give value to their...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-by-behaving-as-if-ones-very/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-must-give-value-to-their-existence-by-behaving-as-if-ones-very/#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 } } ] } ```