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About this quote

What does it mean?
Man surpasses the bee by creating his own conceptual material rather than merely using natural resources.
In plain terms
Humans make their own ideas instead of just using what nature gives.
What can you take from it?
Cultivate self‑generated concepts for higher achievement.

Where it applies

  • creative writing
  • scientific theory
  • artistic design

Putting it to work

  • practice reflective thinking
  • synthesize new ideas

Questions to consider

  • When does self‑creation become self‑deception?
  • How do you validate your concepts?

Another view

Self‑generated concepts can be detached from reality.

More from Friedrich Nietzsche

  1. One may certainly admire man as a mighty genius of construction, who succeeds in piling an infinitely complicated dome of concepts upon an unstable foundation,…

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  2. When someone hides something behind a bush and looks for it again in the same place and finds it there as well, there is not much to praise in such seeking and…

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  3. Everything which distinguishes man from the animals depends upon this ability to volatilize perceptual metaphors in a schema, and thus to dissolve an image int…

    Permalink to quote #21

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