Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Religion originates from fear and need, emerging through rational shortcuts.
In plain terms
Religion is born from fear and necessity, using reason as a pathway.
What can you take from it?
['origin', 'need']

Where it applies

  • spiritual discussions
  • cultural analysis

Putting it to work

  • examine personal motivations
  • question rationalizations

Questions to consider

  • What other factors shape religion?
  • Can fear be a positive force?

Another view

Reduces complex faith traditions to a single cause.

More from Friedrich Nietzsche

  1. At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid. (Thus Spoke Zarathustra)

    Permalink to quote #212
  2. I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.

    Permalink to quote #214
  3. A woman may very well form a friendship with a man, but for this to endure, it must be assisted by a little physical antipathy.

    Permalink to quote #211

Related quotes

  1. Bless yourself with holy water, have Masses said, and so on; by a simple and natural process this will make you believe, and will dull you - will quiet your pr…

    Blaise PascalBlaise Pascal quote #12
  2. I stick to what I know. If I've objected strongly to Christianity, it has been because Christianity is deeply branded by a very virulent humiliation motif. One…

    Ingmar BergmanIngmar Bergman quote #29
  3. Religion isn't invented by man. Men are invented by religion. Men invent responses to Quality, and among these responses is an understanding of what they thems…

    Robert M. PirsigRobert M. Pirsig quote #32