--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That little hypocrites and half-crazed…" description: "\"That little hypocrites and half-crazed people dare to imagine that on their account the laws of nature are constantly broken; such an enhancement of ev..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accounts_that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-p_1966466.jpg" --- # That little hypocrites and half-crazed people dare to… ![“That little hypocrites and half-crazed people dare to imagine that on their account the laws of nature are constantly broken; such an enhancement of every kind of selfishness to infinity, to impudence, cannot be branded with sufficient contempt. And yet Christianity owes its triumph to this…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accounts_that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-p_1966466.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accounts_that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-p_1966466.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accounts_that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-p_1966466.jpg) > “That little hypocrites and half-crazed people dare to imagine that on their account the laws of nature are constantly broken; such an enhancement of every kind of selfishness to infinity, to impudence, cannot be branded with sufficient contempt. And yet Christianity owes its triumph to this pitiable flattery of personal vanity.” [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. Nietzsche criticizes those who claim to defy natural law, seeing it as extreme selfishness and vanity, yet notes Christianity thrives on such self‑flattery. **In simple terms:** People claim they can break nature’s rules, driven by ego, while religion benefits from that ego. Key Takeaway Beware ego‑driven rationalizations that ignore natural limits. Themes ego vanity religion philosophy morality Mood critical skeptical analytical Type philosophical critical reflective When to use this quote - political rhetoric - personal ambition - religious discourse - ethical debates Key Concepts Nihilism self‑interest critique of religion Questions to Reflect On - What motivations lie behind claims of transcending natural limits? - How does ego shape religious or ideological success? A Different Perspective Such claims often ignore practical consequences and can lead to reckless behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt/) [Flattery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flattery/) [Hypocrite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrite/) [Hypocrites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrites/) [Infinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infinity/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws of nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-of-nature/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Selfishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishness/) [Triumph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/triumph/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) ## Related quotes > [Throughout the early Christian period, every great calamity - famine, earthquake, and plague - led to mass conversions, another indirect influence by which epidemic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/throughout-the-early-christian-period-every-great-calamity-famine/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [“the process of evolution does not necessarily mean elevation, enhancement, strengthening.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-process-of-evolution-does-not-necessarily-mean-elevation/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The discipline of suffering, of great suffering- do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far? That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-discipline-of-suffering-of-great-suffering-do-you-not-know-that-2/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Long live impudence! It is my guardian angel in this world.” That”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/long-live-impudence-it-is-my-guardian-angel-in-this-world-that/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [Because impudence is a vice, it does not follow that modesty is a virtue; it is built upon shame, a passion in our nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/because-impudence-is-a-vice-it-does-not-follow-that-modesty-is-a/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [Modern education has devoted itself to the teaching of impudence, and then we complain that we can no longer control our mobs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/modern-education-has-devoted-itself-to-the-teaching-of-impudence-and/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“The maxim, by which we commonly conduct ourselves in our reasonings, is, that the objects, of which we have no experience, resemble those, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-maxim-by-which-we-commonly-conduct-ourselves-in-our-reasonings-is/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Art almost always has its ingredient of impudence, its flouting of established authority, so that it may substitute its own authority and its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shahn/art-almost-always-has-its-ingredient-of-impudence-its-flouting-of/) [Ben Shahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shahn/) > [“Do it, my fellow Americans! Do it for every adolescent anomic skank genius cloistered in his room, getting cranked, rabidly humping his sampler as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/do-it-my-fellow-americans-do-it-for-every-adolescent-anomic-skank/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [Satiation, like any state of vitality, always contains a degree of impudence, and that impudence emerges first and foremost when the sated man instructs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/satiation-like-any-state-of-vitality-always-contains-a-degree-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Long live impudence. It was my guardian angel in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/long-live-impudence-it-was-my-guardian-angel-in-this-world/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Folly often goes beyond her bounds, but impudence knows none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/folly-often-goes-beyond-her-bounds-but-impudence-knows-none/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [I do not believe that since man was in the habit of living on this planet anyone has ever lived possessed of the impudence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-gould/i-do-not-believe-that-since-man-was-in-the-habit-of-living-on-this/) [Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-gould/) > [Impertinence will intermeddle in things in which it has no concern, showing a want of breeding, or, more commonly, a spirit of sheer impudence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-crabbe/impertinence-will-intermeddle-in-things-in-which-it-has-no-concern/) [George Crabbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-crabbe/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## 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 Accounts quotes > [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/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/with-the-truman-book-i-wrote-the-entire-account-of-his-experiences-in/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [You've got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they're the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/you-ve-got-to-exercise-your-health-account-your-bank-account-they-re/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [God puts you where God needs you. You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/god-puts-you-where-god-needs-you-you-are-where-you-are-supposed-to-be/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [Stop trying to treat music like it's a tennis shoe, something to be branded. If the music industry wants to save money, they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-tweedy/stop-trying-to-treat-music-like-it-s-a-tennis-shoe-something-to-be/) [Jeff Tweedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-tweedy/) > [Anyone who thinks science is trying to make human life easier or more pleasant is utterly mistaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/anyone-who-thinks-science-is-trying-to-make-human-life-easier-or-more/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [That surely must be a concern to anyone who decides this drug must be given to stop transmissions, again from mother to child, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabo-mbeki/that-surely-must-be-a-concern-to-anyone-who-decides-this-drug-must-be/) [Thabo Mbeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabo-mbeki/) Browse all 2,677 Accounts quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That little hypocrites and half-crazed people dare to imagine that on their account the laws of nature are constantly broken; such an enhancement of every kind of selfishness to infinity, to impudence, cannot be branded with sufficient contempt. And yet Christianity owes its triumph to this pitiable flattery of personal vanity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-people-dare-to-imagine-that-on/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accounts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-people-dare-to-imagine-that-on/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accounts_that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-p_1966466.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accounts_that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-p_1966466.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed8/friedrich-nietzsche-15_accounts_that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-p_1966466.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That little hypocrites and half-crazed people dare to imagine that on their account the laws of nature are…” — 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": "That little hypocrites and half-crazed people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-people-dare-to-imagine-that-on/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-little-hypocrites-and-half-crazed-people-dare-to-imagine-that-on/#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 } } ] } ```