--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We attack not only to hurt someone, to…" description: "\"We attack not only to hurt someone, to defeat him, but perhaps also simply to become conscious of our own strength.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_assault_we-attack-not-only-to-hurt-someone-to-de_2662633.jpg" --- # We attack not only to hurt someone, to defeat him, but… ![“We attack not only to hurt someone, to defeat him, but perhaps also simply to become conscious of our own strength.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_assault_we-attack-not-only-to-hurt-someone-to-de_2662633.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_assault_we-attack-not-only-to-hurt-someone-to-de_2662633.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_assault_we-attack-not-only-to-hurt-someone-to-de_2662633.jpg) > “We attack not only to hurt someone, to defeat him, but perhaps also simply to become conscious of our own strength.” [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. We attack not just to harm but to become aware of our own strength through conflict. **In simple terms:** Conflict reveals personal strength. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges for self‑knowledge. Themes strength conflict self‑awareness Mood provocative philosophical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - sports - political activism - personal crises - creative competition Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What non‑violent ways reveal strength? - How do you measure personal power? A Different Perspective Violence can cause unnecessary harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assault/) [Attack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attack/) [Attack Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attack-hurt-2440841/) [Attacking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attacking/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Conscious Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious-strength-2440842/) [Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) [Defeat Simply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat-simply-2160034/) [Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt/) [Hurt Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt-defeat-2440843/) [Hurts someone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurts-someone/) [Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength/) ## Related quotes > [But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-the-proles-if-only-they-could-somehow-become-conscious-of-their/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Insecurities can take your courage and your conscious. If you will just be wise with your self both courage and conscious will be your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crayton-hotchkiss/insecurities-can-take-your-courage-and-your-conscious-if-you-will/) [Crayton Hotchkiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crayton-hotchkiss/) > [Some people are not actually afraid of defeat. They are simply afraid of realizing later on that they would have won if they had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/some-people-are-not-actually-afraid-of-defeat-they-are-simply-afraid/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [To me defeat in anything is merely temporary. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/to-me-defeat-in-anything-is-merely-temporary-defeat-simply-tells-me/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [Defeat is simply a signal to press onward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/defeat-is-simply-a-signal-to-press-onward/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [People who live in an age of corruption are witty and slanderous; they know that there are other kinds of murder than by dagger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/people-who-live-in-an-age-of-corruption-are-witty-and-slanderous-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I'm not unaware of how I'm perceived, I just don't care about it. Unless I really hurt someone's feelings. I care about that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-m-not-unaware-of-how-i-m-perceived-i-just-don-t-care-about-it/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [To hurt someone you know will forgive you is the unkindiest thing of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/to-hurt-someone-you-know-will-forgive-you-is-the-unkindiest-thing-of/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I made the contract with God years ago, that no matter what came through, I would say it, but if I ever hurt someone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-browne/i-made-the-contract-with-god-years-ago-that-no-matter-what-came/) [Sylvia Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-browne/) > [Bad things are always going to happen in life; People will eventually hurt you, but you can't use that as an excuse to hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/bad-things-are-always-going-to-happen-in-life-people-will-eventually/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [I'm starting to believe that happily ever after includes people doing things that upset each other. We all get cranky, or impatient, or worried,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ferris/i-m-starting-to-believe-that-happily-ever-after-includes-people-doing/) [Jean Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ferris/) > [I would never intentionally want to hurt someone's feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-bareilles/i-would-never-intentionally-want-to-hurt-someone-s-feelings/) [Sara Bareilles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-bareilles/) > [I hurt someone's feelings once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-de-niro/i-hurt-someone-s-feelings-once/) [Robert De Niro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-de-niro/) > [Sometimes you don't have to mean to hurt someone to hurt someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-you-don-t-have-to-mean-to-hurt-someone-to-hurt-someone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## 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? 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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 Assault quotes > [In an attempt to hinder, if not altogether halt, the next move of God, Satan has sent forth an army of faultfinding demons against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-frangipane/in-an-attempt-to-hinder-if-not-altogether-halt-the-next-move-of-god/) [Francis Frangipane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-frangipane/) > [There is an all-out assault now on the Christian community in this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/there-is-an-all-out-assault-now-on-the-christian-community-in-this/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I don't know how I can feel safe with Donald Trump, who bragged about sexual assault having the most power of anyone in America,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-pozner/i-don-t-know-how-i-can-feel-safe-with-donald-trump-who-bragged-about/) [Jennifer Pozner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-pozner/) > [At Ohio State University, to avoid being guilty of 'sexual assault' or 'sexual violence,' you and your partner now apparently have to agree on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/at-ohio-state-university-to-avoid-being-guilty-of-sexual-assault-or/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. 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