Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Some people are born after their time, meaning they are not understood in their own era.
In plain terms
A few are only appreciated after they die.
What can you take from it?
Recognize that impact may be delayed.

Where it applies

  • creative work
  • social reform

Putting it to work

  • preserving ideas for future generations

Questions to consider

  • Do you feel misunderstood now?
  • How might future societies view your work?

Another view

Not all posthumous recognition is deserved.

More from Friedrich Nietzsche

  1. First principle: one must need to be strong - otherwise one will never become strong. - Those large hothouses [Treibhauser] for the strong, for the strongest k…

    Permalink to quote #170
  2. What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? All that is born of weakness. What is happiness? Th…

    Permalink to quote #172
  3. How is freedom measured, in individuals as in nations? By the resistance which must be overcome, by the effort [Muhe] it costs to remain on top. The highest ty…

    Permalink to quote #169

Related quotes

  1. But Argos can do without the house of Atreus. Ancient houses are not eternal.

    Constantine P. CavafyConstantine P. Cavafy quote #1
  2. At present, I am a poet trying to be a soldier. To tell the truth, I am not interested in writing nowadays, except in so far as writing is the expression of so…

    Joyce KilmerJoyce Kilmer quote #1
  3. Think of your forefathers! Think of your posterity!

    John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams quote #1