--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Preparatory men. I welcome all signs that…" description: "\"“Preparatory men. I welcome all signs that a more manly, a warlike, age is about to begin, an age which, above all, will give honor to valor once again..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/friedrich-nietzsche-15_freedom_preparatory-men-i-welcome-all-signs-that_1848219.jpg" --- # Preparatory men. I welcome all signs that a more manly, a… ![“Preparatory men. I welcome all signs that a more manly, a warlike, age is about to begin, an age which, above all, will give honor to valor once again. For this age shall prepare the way for one yet higher, and it shall gather the strength which this higher age will need one day - this age which…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/friedrich-nietzsche-15_freedom_preparatory-men-i-welcome-all-signs-that_1848219.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/friedrich-nietzsche-15_freedom_preparatory-men-i-welcome-all-signs-that_1848219.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/friedrich-nietzsche-15_freedom_preparatory-men-i-welcome-all-signs-that_1848219.jpg) > ““Preparatory men. I welcome all signs that a more manly, a warlike, age is about to begin, an age which, above all, will give honor to valor once again. For this age shall prepare the way for one yet higher, and it shall gather the strength which this higher age will need one day - this age which is to carry heroism into the pursuit of knowledge and wage wars for the sake of thoughts and their consequences. To this end we now need many preparatory valorous men who cannot leap into being out of nothing - any more than out of the sand and slime of our present civilisation and metropolitanism: men who are bent on seeking for that aspect in all things which must be overcome; men characterised by cheerfulness, patience, unpretentiousness, and contempt for all great vanities, as well as by magnanimity in victory and forbearance regarding the small vanities of the vanquished; men possessed of keen and free judgement concerning all victors and the share of chance in every victory and every fame; men who have their own festivals, their own weekdays, their own periods of mourning, who are accustomed to command with assurance and are no less ready to obey when necessary, in both cases equally proud and serving their own cause; men who are in greater danger, more fruitful, and happier! For, believe me, the secret of the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment of existence is: to live dangerously! Build your cities under Vesuvius! Send your ships into uncharted seas! Live at war with your peers and yourselves! Be robbers and conquerors, as long as you cannot be rulers and owners, you lovers of knowledge! Soon the age will be past when you could be satisfied to live like shy deer, hidden in the woods! At long last the pursuit of knowledge will reach out for its due: it will want to rule and own, and you with it!”” [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. The future demands bold, courageous individuals who embrace risk, challenge conventions, and pursue knowledge with heroic vigor, even amid societal decay. **In simple terms:** Bold action and daring pursuit of knowledge drive progress. Key Takeaway Embrace risk, challenge norms, and pursue knowledge boldly. Themes courage risk knowledge heroism innovation Mood inspirational provocative Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - scientific research - artistic creation - political activism - personal development Key Concepts existentialism philosophy cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - What risks are worth taking for growth? - How can one be heroic without harming others? A Different Perspective Excessive aggression may lead to conflict without constructive outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Heroes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heroes/) [Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independence/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life affirming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-affirming/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Pursuit of knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pursuit-of-knowledge/) [Role models](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/role-models/) ## Related quotes > [To learn to see- to accustom the eye to calmness, to patience, and to allow things to come up to it; to defer judgment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-learn-to-see-to-accustom-the-eye-to-calmness-to-patience-and-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Preparatory human beings. - I welcome all signs that a more virile, warlike age is about to begin, which will restore honour to courage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/preparatory-human-beings-i-welcome-all-signs-that-a-more-virile/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I enjoy the preparatory elements of travel - packing my bags and choosing my outfits - but my favourite part is getting there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-monaghan/i-enjoy-the-preparatory-elements-of-travel-packing-my-bags-and/) [Dominic Monaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-monaghan/) > [All who in this world render true service to God or man receive a preparatory training in the school of sorrow. The weightier the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/all-who-in-this-world-render-true-service-to-god-or-man-receive-a/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [“this life is a kind of preparatory school for the great life that is awaiting us beyond death and time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/this-life-is-a-kind-of-preparatory-school-for-the-great-life-that-is/) [D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-martyn-lloyd-jones/) > [The wreckage of stars - I built a world from this wreckage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-wreckage-of-stars-i-built-a-world-from-this-wreckage/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Genius is the union of man and God in the acts of the soul. Great men are always greater than their deeds. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/genius-is-the-union-of-man-and-god-in-the-acts-of-the-soul-great-men/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) > [Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still. He will never talk well and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/talking-to-men-for-god-is-a-great-thing-but-talking-to-god-for-men-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Lofty posts make great men greater still, and small men much smaller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/lofty-posts-make-great-men-greater-still-and-small-men-much-smaller/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [The fewer men, the greater share of honor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-fewer-men-the-greater-share-of-honor/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If we are mark'd to die, we are enow To do our country loss; and if to live, The fewer men, the greater share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-we-are-mark-d-to-die-we-are-enow-to-do-our-country-loss-and-if-to/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Pendants have for two thousand years reiterated the notion that women have a more lively spirit, men more solidity; that women have more delicacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/pendants-have-for-two-thousand-years-reiterated-the-notion-that-women/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [No business, no movement, no activity on the part of man or a group of men can become any greater than the thinking minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-spencer-lewis/no-business-no-movement-no-activity-on-the-part-of-man-or-a-group-of/) Harvey Spencer Lewis > [Though in the order of nature angels rank above men, yet, by scale of justice, good men are of greater value than bad angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/though-in-the-order-of-nature-angels-rank-above-men-yet-by-scale-of/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [If we must live with a perpetual sense that the world and the men in it are greater than we and too much for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/if-we-must-live-with-a-perpetual-sense-that-the-world-and-the-men-in/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) ## 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 Freedom quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [We live in the greatest country in the world because of the veterans who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and the security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-husted/we-live-in-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-because-of-the-veterans/) [Jon Husted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-husted/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [“No one was more surprised than I to realize that my newfound freedom had been purchased by giving up on eternity and settling for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-jessop/no-one-was-more-surprised-than-i-to-realize-that-my-newfound-freedom/) [Carolyn Jessop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-jessop/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“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/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [I don't want to be famous famous. I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) [Browse all 30,110 Freedom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Preparatory men. I welcome all signs that a more manly, a warlike, age is about to begin, an age which, above all, will give honor to valor once again. For this age shall prepare the way for one yet higher, and it shall gather the strength which this higher age will need one day - this age which is to carry heroism into the pursuit of knowledge and wage wars for the sake of thoughts and their consequences. To this end we now need many preparatory valorous men who cannot leap into being out of nothing - any more than out of the sand and slime of our present civilisation and metropolitanism: men who are bent on seeking for that aspect in all things which must be overcome; men characterised by cheerfulness, patience, unpretentiousness, and contempt for all great vanities, as well as by magnanimity in victory and forbearance regarding the small vanities of the vanquished; men possessed of keen and free judgement concerning all victors and the share of chance in every victory and every fame; men who have their own festivals, their own weekdays, their own periods of mourning, who are accustomed to command with assurance and are no less ready to obey when necessary, in both cases equally proud and serving their own cause; men who are in greater danger, more fruitful, and happier! For, believe me, the secret of the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment of existence is: to live dangerously! Build your cities under Vesuvius! Send your ships into uncharted seas! Live at war with your peers and yourselves! Be robbers and conquerors, as long as you cannot be rulers and owners, you lovers of knowledge! Soon the age will be past when you could be satisfied to live like shy deer, hidden in the woods! 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