"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?"
About this Quote
Nietzsche’s genius is the pivot. He doesn’t let the reader settle into virtue. The follow-up jab about boredom detonates the saintly pose. If life is “a hundred times too short,” then martyrdom-by-obsession isn’t noble; it’s a failure of imagination. He frames moralizing fixation as a species of boredom: the mind that can’t create, can only police. That’s the sharper insult in his toolkit, because it targets the secret engine of many ethical performances: not love of the good, but addiction to drama.
Context matters. Nietzsche wrote in a Europe thick with certainties: Christian morality, rising nationalism, the promise that history had an obvious direction. He distrusted systems that claimed moral purity while producing cruelty as a byproduct. The line is less “be careful” than “watch your own incentives.” If your righteousness depends on monsters, you’ll eventually start breeding them - in others, and in yourself.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: Voices of Wisdom: Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes (Sara Tabandeh) modern compilation
Evidence: Sara Tabandeh. Art raises its head where creeds relax. Friedrich Nietzsche He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves? Friedrich ... Other candidates (2) Friedrich Nietzsche (Friedrich Nietzsche) compilation49.1% d good and evil aphorism 146 ist das leben nicht hundert mal zu kurz sich in ihm zu langweilen is not life a hundred ... The Nietzsche-Wagner correspondence (Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-19..., 1921) primary35.5% word was wagners reply he grew red in the face and stared at me with a look of astonished dignity i would give a hund... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Nietzsche, Friedrich. (2026, February 7). He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves? FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/he-who-fights-with-monsters-might-take-care-lest-34841/
Chicago Style
Nietzsche, Friedrich. "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?" FixQuotes. February 7, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/he-who-fights-with-monsters-might-take-care-lest-34841/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?" FixQuotes, 7 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/he-who-fights-with-monsters-might-take-care-lest-34841/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.










