Nietzsche argues that the human soul is motivated to carry out actions, and made capable of doing so, by various inner drives, or wills. The strongest of these is the will to power, which Nietzsche sees as not only the primary force behind human decision-making, but the very instinct of life itself. The will to power makes itself manifest in humanity’s desire for material and spiritual success, security, and even domination. Moreover, Nietzsche believes that natural laws, rather than being guaranteed and governing the conduct of various wills, are in fact nothing more than the result of many different wills competing with each other, all pursuing power for their own sake.
The Will to Power Quotes in Beyond Good and Evil
The Beyond Good and Evil quotes below are all either spoken by The Will to Power or refer to The Will to Power. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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9. What Is Noble
Quotes
“Exploitation” does not belong to a corrupt or imperfect and primitive society: it belongs the essence of what lives, as a basic organic function; it is a consequence of the will to power, which is after all the will of life.
If this should be an innovation as a theory—as a reality it is the primordial fact of all history: people ought to be honest with themselves at least that far.
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The Will to Power Term Timeline in Beyond Good and Evil
The timeline below shows where the term The Will to Power appears in Beyond Good and Evil. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
1. On the Prejudices of Philosophers
...the world in its own image and is therefore an expression of what he calls the will to power , or the drive to dominate and control. Seen from this perspective, the moral and...
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...not because it has laws but because it does not and is driven instead by the will to power . Nietzsche coyly admits that this, too, is merely an interpretation, and hopes that the...
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