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About this quote

What does it mean?
Seeing life fully includes witnessing the merciful killing that ends it.
In plain terms
Understanding life requires seeing death as part of it.
What can you take from it?
Accept death as an integral aspect of life.

Where it applies

  • grief counseling
  • philosophical contemplation

Putting it to work

  • reflect on mortality
  • cultivate empathy for the dying

Questions to consider

  • How does acknowledging death affect how you live?
  • What does 'merciful' mean in this context?

Another view

The phrasing may romanticize death, overlooking its pain.

More from Friedrich Nietzsche

  1. I did that,' says my memory. 'I could not have done that,' says my pride, and remains inexorable. Eventually - the memory yields.

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  2. The sage as astronomer. - If you still experience the stars as something 'over you,' you still don't have the eyes of a knower.

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  3. There is a great ladder of religious cruelty, and, of its many rungs, three are the most important. People used to make human sacrifices to their god, perhaps …

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