To say I don’t love everything I read from Nietzsche would be an understatement. Ignoring some of his more tone deaf quotes, I found Nietzsche’s nihilism a useful philosophy, but only as a stepping stone, a stop along the journey to other more useful and more complete ways of seeing the world. This quote, however, still speaks to me as something profound.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
Freidrich Nietzsche, Jenseits von Gut und Böse (1886) ch. 4, no. 146
There are those that would be willing to kill in the name of ending murder. There are those that would take away the rights of others in order to secure their own rights. Don’t become the monster you are trying to fight. Opposing violence is not the same as creating peace. Using the tactics of those you believe are causing harm will not leave you unchanged–the abyss stares back.
This is important to keep in mind during this time of working for change in our world. We forget that identifying with a fixed mental position creates the opposing polarity. Relax. When you see others as yourself, the right action is natural and easy.
Inner Clarity Wellness and Coaching 