“Whoever despises himself nonetheless respects himself as one who despises.”
- October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900
- Born in Germany
- Philosopher, poet, and classical philologist
- With works such as “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” “Beyond Good and Evil,” and “The Genealogy of Morals,” he questioned traditional morality, religion, and truth, and had a major impact on modern philosophy.
Quote
“Whoever despises himself nonetheless respects himself as one who despises.”
Explanation
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche suggests a paradoxical truth about the nature of self-despair and self-respect. Even someone who despises themselves is still engaging in an act of self-valuation, as they are positioning themselves as someone who has the capacity to judge and despise. Nietzsche points out that even in the act of self-loathing, there is an underlying respect for oneself—because the individual is asserting their own authority over their feelings and making a moral or evaluative judgment about their own worth. In other words, self-despising individuals are not entirely disconnected from their self-worth because their ability to despise demonstrates that they still recognize themselves as an entity capable of valuation and judgment, even if that judgment is negative.
Historically, Nietzsche often critiqued the moral frameworks that encourage self-loathing or self-denial, particularly those of Christianity and other religious or cultural systems that emphasize humility, guilt, or self-sacrifice. He argued that such systems promoted a damaging self-image, leading individuals to devalue their own potential. However, he also saw that even in these acts of self-denigration, there was an assertion of individual power, however negative it might seem. Nietzsche’s point is that people’s relationship with themselves is always complex, even in self-hate, because self-judgment—whether positive or negative—still affirms the individual’s capacity to think and act.
In modern contexts, this quote can be applied to the way self-criticism and self-judgment function in our own lives today. Many people, in moments of self-doubt or depression, feel a sense of despair or even self-loathing. However, Nietzsche’s words suggest that this self-despair, while painful, still reflects an active engagement with oneself. The individual who despises themselves may still value themselves, in a twisted way, through their ability to make judgments about their own worth. Nietzsche’s insight encourages us to recognize that self-worth is often entangled with our self-criticism and that true growth comes from learning to transform our judgments, turning them into more empowering assessments of ourselves.
