“But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you ambush yourself in caverns and forests.”

—  Friedrich Nietzsche , book Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Source: Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The Way of the Creator.
Context: But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you ambush yourself in caverns and forests. You solitary one, you go the way to yourself! And your way leads you past yourself and your seven devils! You will be a heretic to yourself, and a sorcerer and a soothsayer, and a fool, and a doubter, and a reprobate, and a villain. You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame; how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes!

Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

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Friedrich Nietzsche 655
German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and cl… 1844–1900

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Variant translations
If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.
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Literal translation: Know [the] other, know [the] self, hundred battles without danger; not knowing [the] other but know [the] self, one win one loss; not knowing [the] other, not knowing [the] self, every battle must [be] lost.
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