Q0072

Friedrich Nietzsche

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

How one becomes what one is.
Thinker Friedrich Nietzsche
School Philosophy of Life
Source Ecce Homo (subtitle; from Pindar)
Theme Self
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Ecce Homo (subtitle; from Pindar), within the tradition of Philosophy of Life. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of self, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Friedrich Nietzsche's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Friedrich Nietzsche. (n.d.). How one becomes what one is. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0072

MLA: Friedrich Nietzsche. “How one becomes what one is..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0072.

Chicago: Friedrich Nietzsche. “How one becomes what one is..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0072.

Same thinker

More from Friedrich Nietzsche

  1. From the military school of life. — What does not kill me makes me stronger.
  2. Amor fati: let that be my love from now on!
  3. Man is something that shall be overcome.
  4. This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more…
  5. One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

All quotations by Friedrich Nietzsche

Same theme

More on self

  1. A friend is another self.
  2. A person's character is their destiny.
  3. I searched for myself.
  4. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
  5. Claim yourself for yourself.

Browse the self theme