
ProverbWisdom
German origin1886
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he does not become one
Meaning: In struggling against evil, we risk adopting the very characteristics we oppose.
Who said it? Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 1886
Origin: From Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil (1886), aphorism 146, which continues: "And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
Equivalents in German
German: Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht zum Ungeheuer wird (literally: Whoever fights with monsters had better see to it that he does not become a monster)
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Compliments and insults from around the world, from the sweet to the savage.
- 目に入れても痛くない (Me ni irete mo itakunai) Said of someone you adore completely, often a child or grandchild.
- Bête comme ses pieds Really not very bright.
- Avoir un poil dans la main To be incurably lazy.
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