--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys!…" description: "\"Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over one another and thus drag one another into the mud and the depth. They all want to get to th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8df/friedrich-nietzsche-15_cold_watch-them-clamber-these-swift-monkeys-t_1603439.jpg" --- # Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over… ![“Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over one another and thus drag one another into the mud and the depth. They all want to get to the throne: that is their madness — as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne — and often the throne also on mud. Mad they all…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8df/friedrich-nietzsche-15_cold_watch-them-clamber-these-swift-monkeys-t_1603439.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8df/friedrich-nietzsche-15_cold_watch-them-clamber-these-swift-monkeys-t_1603439.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8df/friedrich-nietzsche-15_cold_watch-them-clamber-these-swift-monkeys-t_1603439.jpg) > “Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over one another and thus drag one another into the mud and the depth. They all want to get to the throne: that is their madness — as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne — and often the throne also on mud. Mad they all appear to me, clambering monkeys and overardent. Foul smells their idol, the cold monster: foul, they smell to me altogether, these idolators.” [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. Human ambition creates competition and chaos, yet true happiness is elusive and often tangled with desire. **In simple terms:** Desire leads to conflict and confusion. Key Takeaway Question your pursuits. Themes ambition competition happiness illusion Mood cynical melancholic Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - career advancement - political power - social status - personal relationships Key Concepts existentialism human nature meaninglessness Questions to Reflect On - What does the “throne” represent for you? - Can contentment exist without competition? A Different Perspective Success may bring more turmoil than fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Idols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idols/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Monkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkey/) [Monkeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkeys/) [Monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) ## Related quotes > [The Refinement of Shame. 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It may be a violation of all the basic rules of human decency, but its not a foul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-walton/come-on-that-was-no-foul-it-may-be-a-violation-of-all-the-basic-rules/) [Bill Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-walton/) > [Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ring-out-false-pride-in-place-and-blood-the-civic-slander-and-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) ## 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. 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