--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What does a philosopher demand of…" description: "\"What does a philosopher demand of himself, first and last? To overcome his time in himself, to become \"timeless.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/friedrich-nietzsche-15_demand_what-does-a-philosopher-demand-of-himsel_54591.jpg" --- # What does a philosopher demand of himself, first and last?… ![“What does a philosopher demand of himself, first and last? To overcome his time in himself, to become "timeless.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/friedrich-nietzsche-15_demand_what-does-a-philosopher-demand-of-himsel_54591.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/friedrich-nietzsche-15_demand_what-does-a-philosopher-demand-of-himsel_54591.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c34/friedrich-nietzsche-15_demand_what-does-a-philosopher-demand-of-himsel_54591.jpg) > “What does a philosopher demand of himself, first and last? To overcome his time in himself, to become "timeless.” [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 philosopher must transcend his own temporal limits, achieving a state beyond ordinary time. **In simple terms:** Self-transcendence Key Takeaway Seek timelessness Themes self-awareness existentialism philosophical growth temporal transcendence Mood contemplative introspective Type aphoristic philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - intellectual pursuit - creative block - spiritual quest Key Concepts self-mastery metacognition Practical Applications - deep meditation - philosophical writing Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience time in your thoughts? - What practices help you feel beyond the present? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Firsts and lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts-and-lasts/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Timeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/timeless/) ## Related quotes > [I try to present something that is full of time. Not timeless, but full of time. I never like a work where we try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson/i-try-to-present-something-that-is-full-of-time-not-timeless-but-full/) [Robert Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson/) > [I don't have a sense of time. Time is timeless to me, and I'm not in a hurry to get older. I mean, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico/i-don-t-have-a-sense-of-time-time-is-timeless-to-me-and-i-m-not-in-a/) [Nico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico/) > [“Moments are precious in life; they transform time into timeless dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/moments-are-precious-in-life-they-transform-time-into-timeless-dreams/) sir kristian goldmund aumann > [The past is not dead; it is not even past. People live on inner time; the moment in which a decisive thought or feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-graham/the-past-is-not-dead-it-is-not-even-past-people-live-on-inner-time/) [Martha Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-graham/) > [In your world everything must have a beginning and an end. If it does not, you call it eternal. In my view, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/in-your-world-everything-must-have-a-beginning-and-an-end-if-it-does/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [If you want more time, spend more time in the Timeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-rydall/if-you-want-more-time-spend-more-time-in-the-timeless/) [Derek Rydall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-rydall/) > [I teach you the Overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? ... The time has come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-teach-you-the-overman-man-is-something-that-shall-be-overcome-what/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Our afflictions brothers and sisters often will not be extinguished, they will be dwarfed and swallowed up in the joy of Christ. That’s how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/our-afflictions-brothers-and-sisters-often-will-not-be-extinguished/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [“Oh, was not all suffering time, were not all forms of tormenting oneself and being afraid time, was not everything hard, everything hostile in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/oh-was-not-all-suffering-time-were-not-all-forms-of-tormenting/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“Sully,for shame!" Jonathan said in reproach, " and don't be foolish! What are we trying to practice everyday? If our friendship depends on things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/sully-for-shame-jonathan-said-in-reproach-and-don-t-be-foolish-what/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/if-our-friendship-depends-on-things-like-space-and-time-then-when-we/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [“You see, science has overcome time and space. Well, Harvey has overcome not only time and space, but any objections.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elwood-p-dowd/you-see-science-has-overcome-time-and-space-well-harvey-has-overcome/) [Elwood P. Dowd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elwood-p-dowd/) > [Overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/overcome-space-and-all-we-have-left-is-here-overcome-time-and-all-we/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [“A myth has been well described as something that in some sense happened once—but that also happens all the time. It is about timeless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/a-myth-has-been-well-described-as-something-that-in-some-sense/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“Light had its allotted time; but timeless and infinite is the reign of the night − the duration of sleep eternal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/light-had-its-allotted-time-but-timeless-and-infinite-is-the-reign-of/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) ## 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 Demand quotes > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [Parents who are stressed or disturbed will have more difficulty in meeting their children's needs. Parents who have little support--from friends, relatives, neighbors, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/parents-who-are-stressed-or-disturbed-will-have-more-difficulty-in/) Sheila Kamerman > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Empires fall, ids explode, great symphonies are written, and behind all of it is a single instinct that demands satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/empires-fall-ids-explode-great-symphonies-are-written-and-behind-all/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [My dogs can't do anything--and what a relief. I don't make any demands of them, and I don't try to shape them or their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-chua/my-dogs-can-t-do-anything-and-what-a-relief-i-don-t-make-any-demands/) [Amy Chua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-chua/) > [The trouble is. . .that everybody sneers at restrictions and demands freedom, till something annoying happens; then they demand angrily what has become of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/the-trouble-is-that-everybody-sneers-at-restrictions-and-demands/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [You be greater than your feelings. I don't demand this of you - life does. Otherwise you'll be washed away by feelings. You'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/you-be-greater-than-your-feelings-i-don-t-demand-this-of-you-life/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [It is an interesting law of romance that a truly strong woman will choose a strong man who disagrees with her over a weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-is-an-interesting-law-of-romance-that-a-truly-strong-woman-will/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [If we get better our customers will demand we get bigger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-truett-cathy/if-we-get-better-our-customers-will-demand-we-get-bigger/) [S. Truett Cathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-truett-cathy/) > [If our faith in God is not the veriest sham, it demands, and will produce, the abandonment sometimes, the subordination always, of external helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/if-our-faith-in-god-is-not-the-veriest-sham-it-demands-and-will/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [Money should be ones demand and command one should not become slave of money..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/money-should-be-ones-demand-and-command-one-should-not-become-slave/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [There was no mistake in us making abortion legal and available on demand. That was what we call progress. 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But once the interaction starts to provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/most-enjoyable-activities-are-not-natural-they-demand-an-effort-that/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Azerbaijan unleashed the war, and was defeated in that war; Azerbaijan asked for truce (including from the Commander of Karabakh's forces) and later started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serzh-sargsyan/azerbaijan-unleashed-the-war-and-was-defeated-in-that-war-azerbaijan/) [Serzh Sargsyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serzh-sargsyan/) [Browse all 3,809 Demand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What does a philosopher demand of himself, first and last? 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