--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we have a great goal we are superior…" description: "\"When we have a great goal we are superior even to justice, not merely to our deeds and our judges.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deeds_when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superio_657885.jpg" --- # When we have a great goal we are superior even to justice… ![“When we have a great goal we are superior even to justice, not merely to our deeds and our judges.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deeds_when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superio_657885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deeds_when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superio_657885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deeds_when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superio_657885.jpg) > “When we have a great goal we are superior even to justice, not merely to our deeds and our judges.” [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. Pursuing lofty goals can make one feel morally superior, eclipsing even justice and the judgments of others. **In simple terms:** Great goals can breed a sense of moral superiority. Key Takeaway Beware hubris when aiming high. Themes ambition morality ego justice power Mood introspective critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - political leadership - personal ambition - social movements - legal reform Key Concepts Nietzschean philosophy ethical relativism Questions to Reflect On - Do your goals justify feeling above justice? - How does this mindset affect accountability? A Different Perspective Superiority can blind one to ethical limits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) ## Related quotes > [Everybody tries to score a great goal, and I am lucky I have netted a few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zlatan-ibrahimovic/everybody-tries-to-score-a-great-goal-and-i-am-lucky-i-have-netted-a/) [Zlatan Ibrahimovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zlatan-ibrahimovic/) > [All human history moves towards one great goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/all-human-history-moves-towards-one-great-goal/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [I look at the occasion, and this was one of the biggest so far in my career. It was a bit of a gamble,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-van-persie/i-look-at-the-occasion-and-this-was-one-of-the-biggest-so-far-in-my/) [Robin van Persie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-van-persie/) > [America is the last great goal of these migrations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/america-is-the-last-great-goal-of-these-migrations/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [“Acquiring wisdom is great but it is not the goal, applying it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idowu-koyenikan/acquiring-wisdom-is-great-but-it-is-not-the-goal-applying-it-is/) [idowu koyenikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idowu-koyenikan/) > [No great goal was ever easily achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/no-great-goal-was-ever-easily-achieved/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [A great goal in life is the only fortune worth finding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-kennedy/a-great-goal-in-life-is-the-only-fortune-worth-finding/) [Jackie Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-kennedy/) > [Individual honors and scoring championships are great, but my No. 1 goal is to win the Stanley Cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-crosby/individual-honors-and-scoring-championships-are-great-but-my-no-1/) [Sidney Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-crosby/) > [Whether our efforts are, or not, favored by life, let us be able to say, when we come near to the great goal, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-pasteur/whether-our-efforts-are-or-not-favored-by-life-let-us-be-able-to-say/) [Louis Pasteur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-pasteur/) > [ I love being superior to myself better than \[to\] my equals. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/i-love-being-superior-to-myself-better-than-to-my-equals/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“In every dream you pursue, you attract its respective version of opposition. Going back will not solve any problem; Regrets will not change anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/in-every-dream-you-pursue-you-attract-its-respective-version-of/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“The pretty ones are usually unhappy. They expect everyone to be enamored of their beauty. How can a person be content when their happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cornell-michel/the-pretty-ones-are-usually-unhappy-they-expect-everyone-to-be/) [J. Cornell Michel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cornell-michel/) > [Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/once-made-equal-to-man-woman-becomes-his-superior/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“Superiority complex does not mean "pride" although it appears to be so in the eyes of those who want to see it so. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/superiority-complex-does-not-mean-pride-although-it-appears-to-be-so/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [I think the first villain that I ever played was on 'Stargate'. I was this superior being that would take over a human host…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-durand/i-think-the-first-villain-that-i-ever-played-was-on-stargate-i-was/) [Kevin Durand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-durand/) ## 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 Deeds quotes > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [Time often serves to justify a deed which seems at first unjustifiable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-p-ryan/time-often-serves-to-justify-a-deed-which-seems-at-first-unjustifiable/) Donald P. Ryan > [When deeds speak, words are nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/when-deeds-speak-words-are-nothing/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) > [Somehow, what's in our hearts, good or bad is eventually translated into words and deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/somehow-what-s-in-our-hearts-good-or-bad-is-eventually-translated/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [Honest people don't hide their deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/honest-people-don-t-hide-their-deeds/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Mechanical instruments, potentially a vehicle of rational human purposes, are scarcely a blessing when they enable the gossip of the village idiot and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/mechanical-instruments-potentially-a-vehicle-of-rational-human/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [Tis e'er the wont of simple folk to prize the deed and o'erlook the motive, and of learned folk to discount the deed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/tis-e-er-the-wont-of-simple-folk-to-prize-the-deed-and-o-erlook-the/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/how-oft-the-sight-of-means-to-do-ill-deeds-makes-ill-deeds-done/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A nation of character is filled with citizens who gradually build lives based on the living awareness that their deeds are judged by eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-keyes/a-nation-of-character-is-filled-with-citizens-who-gradually-build/) [Alan Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-keyes/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [I rejoice that the reign of Christ is such, while it thrills the soul with emotions, and opens before the highest intellect the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-simpson/i-rejoice-that-the-reign-of-christ-is-such-while-it-thrills-the-soul/) [Matthew Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-simpson/) > [The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-oswald-sanders/the-final-estimate-of-men-shows-that-history-cares-not-an-iota-for/) [J. Oswald Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-oswald-sanders/) > [The World's a Printing-House, our words, our thoughts, Our deeds, are characters of several sizes. Each soul is a Compos'tor, of whose faults The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/the-world-s-a-printing-house-our-words-our-thoughts-our-deeds-are/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) [Browse all 2,029 Deeds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we have a great goal we are superior even to justice, not merely to our deeds and our judges.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superior-even-to-justice-not-merely/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deeds" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superior-even-to-justice-not-merely/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deeds_when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superio_657885.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deeds_when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superio_657885.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aac/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deeds_when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superio_657885.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we have a great goal we are superior even to justice, not merely to our deeds and our judges.” — 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": "When we have a great goal...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superior-even-to-justice-not-merely/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-we-have-a-great-goal-we-are-superior-even-to-justice-not-merely/#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 } } ] } ```