Help with Nietzsche Quotes

February 1, 2006 6:59 PM

I need help with some Nietzsche quotes.

I've sort of asked this question before, but somewhat indirectly. Now I'm about to submit this paper for publication, so everything needs to be as close to perfect as possible.

I am looking for the source of the following two Nietzsche quotes. I know they come from Nietzsche, but I need the name of the books in which they were originally written. Keep in mind, they might each come from a different book. Also be aware that since they have been translated from German, the quotes may differ slightly from those below.

Quote 1: “Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.”

Quote 2: "When a hundred men stand together, each of them loses his mind and gets another one."

Any help will be much appreciated.

posted by JPowers to education (6 comments total)

I don't have a direct answer to your question, but maybe you could do a search of some of the Nietzsche ebooks at Project Gutenberg. Command-F could really come in handy, especially if you have the quotes in the original German as well.
posted by slogger at 7:19 PM on February 1, 2006

Dude, I tried. This was the closest thing I found.
posted by tcobretti at 8:32 PM on February 1, 2006

I would AskPhilosophers. If they're not apocryphal (quite common with Nietzsche), someone there might well recall them from memory.
posted by disarray at 9:28 PM on February 1, 2006

I have read most of Nietzsche's texts, and tho my recall is far from perfect, I have a strong hunch that these are apocryphal.
posted by ori at 12:22 AM on February 2, 2006

I know they come from Nietzsche

You do not know they come from Nietzsche! You know other people say they come from Nietzsche! I can't believe you've spent all this time worrying about these quotes without accepting the possibility (likelihood?) that these are, as ori says, apocryphal (as are many, many, many widely attributed quotes). If correct quotes are important to your paper, leave these out. If your paper is built around them, acknowledge them as "attributed," don't claim he actually said them.
posted by languagehat at 5:51 AM on February 2, 2006

Why not scour a few college websites for Existential philosophers. I'm sure a focused search like that would be more help than asking here.

Most professors would be happy to help you out as long as you are polite.
posted by oddman at 6:46 AM on February 2, 2006