"There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude"
- Friedrich Nietzsche
About this Quote
This quote by Friedrich Nietzsche is a warning against permitting appreciation to end up being a concern. It recommends that some individuals are so grateful for favors done to them that they become oppressed to the individual who did them the favor. This can cause a scenario where the individual is so indebted to the other that they are not able to make their own choices or take control of their own life. This quote is a reminder to be appreciative for favors done to us, but to likewise bear in mind how far we take our gratitude. We ought to not permit ourselves to become so indebted to another that we are unable to make our own choices.
"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us"
"If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it"
"There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain"