--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must be cruel as well as…" description: "\"We must be cruel as well as compassionate: let us guard against becoming poorer than nature is!\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_becoming_we-must-be-cruel-as-well-as-compassionat_1204282.jpg" --- # We must be cruel as well as compassionate: let us guard… ![“We must be cruel as well as compassionate: let us guard against becoming poorer than nature is!” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_becoming_we-must-be-cruel-as-well-as-compassionat_1204282.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_becoming_we-must-be-cruel-as-well-as-compassionat_1204282.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/friedrich-nietzsche-15_becoming_we-must-be-cruel-as-well-as-compassionat_1204282.jpg) > “We must be cruel as well as compassionate: let us guard against becoming poorer than nature is!” [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 must balance cruelty with compassion, preventing ourselves from becoming morally or spiritually impoverished like nature. **In simple terms:** Balance harshness and kindness to avoid moral decay. Key Takeaway Cultivate compassionate strength. Themes morality balance human nature compassion Mood reflective serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - leadership - policy making - personal growth - environmental stewardship Key Concepts ethical philosophy existentialism Questions to Reflect On - When is firmness necessary? - How do you maintain compassion under pressure? A Different Perspective Excessive cruelty can harm relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Compassionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassionate/) [Compassionate Let](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassionate-let-3624976/) [Cruel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel/) [Cruel Compassionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel-compassionate-1087774/) [Cruelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruelty/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Poorer Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poorer-nature-3624975/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [“Gamache nodded. It was what made his job so fascinating, and so difficult. How the same person could be both kind and cruel, compassionate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-penny/gamache-nodded-it-was-what-made-his-job-so-fascinating-and-so/) [Louise Penny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-penny/) > [“Life sometimes reminds us that it is sometimes heartless by giving something or someone we really need to someone who does not need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/life-sometimes-reminds-us-that-it-is-sometimes-heartless-by-giving/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [If one is cruel to himself, how can we expect him to be compassionate with others?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasdai-ibn-shaprut/if-one-is-cruel-to-himself-how-can-we-expect-him-to-be-compassionate/) [Hasdai ibn Shaprut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hasdai-ibn-shaprut/) > [As you become more conscious of your cruelty, of your violence, gross and subtle, you start becoming more and more compassionate. Not that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/as-you-become-more-conscious-of-your-cruelty-of-your-violence-gross/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Soft feathers cannot make a cruel bird kind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munia-khan/soft-feathers-cannot-make-a-cruel-bird-kind/) [Munia Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munia-khan/) > [“That's not cruel. This is. You come here in the middle of the night, expecting me to be awake, and ask—no, demand—me to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/that-s-not-cruel-this-is-you-come-here-in-the-middle-of-the-night/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [It is so cruel, when the one you love with all of your heart, KNOWS what you hunger for,but still chooses to starve you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/it-is-so-cruel-when-the-one-you-love-with-all-of-your-heart-knows/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [“He who makes fun of a short and fat man’s weight is much less cruel than he who makes fun of his height.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/he-who-makes-fun-of-a-short-and-fat-man-s-weight-is-much-less-cruel/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The civilised cultures are the most cruel. It's the same with education - often it breeds sadistic forms of cruelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-mckay/the-civilised-cultures-are-the-most-cruel-it-s-the-same-with/) [Nellie McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-mckay/) > [“Cruelty is easy, and it breeds only misery. Kindness is harder, and you have to be brave to give it. To be cruel, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-h-cosway/cruelty-is-easy-and-it-breeds-only-misery-kindness-is-harder-and-you/) [L.H. Cosway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-h-cosway/) > [Cruelty depends on an understanding of cruelty, and the ability to choose against it. Or to choose to ignore it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/cruelty-depends-on-an-understanding-of-cruelty-and-the-ability-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Cruelty was the devil, and most people were, in one way or another, cruel. Tyranny, suppression, persecution, torture, slavery, war, neglect - all were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/cruelty-was-the-devil-and-most-people-were-in-one-way-or-another/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Cruelty is all out of ignorance. If you knew what was in store for you, you wouldn't hurt anybody, because whatever you do comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-nelson/cruelty-is-all-out-of-ignorance-if-you-knew-what-was-in-store-for-you/) [Willie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-nelson/) > [I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-must-be-cruel-only-to-be-kind-thus-bad-begins-and-worse-remains/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [You must learn that to endure cruelty is to become cruel yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bleach/you-must-learn-that-to-endure-cruelty-is-to-become-cruel-yourself/) [Bleach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bleach/) ## 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 Becoming quotes > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) [Jennifer Siebel Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-siebel-newsom/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Becoming famous is a really shocking thing, especially when you don't have aspirations to it. It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [When other boys dreamt of going to the moon or becoming doctors, I wanted to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-other-boys-dreamt-of-going-to-the-moon-or-becoming-doctors-i/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. 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I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-m-getting-to-a-point-where-everything-is-becoming-streamlined-in-my/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [The term 'Pre-Raphaelite' is in danger of becoming one of the most misused tags in art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wood/the-term-pre-raphaelite-is-in-danger-of-becoming-one-of-the-most/) [Christopher Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-wood/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. 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