Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his blood.
Genuine
Yes. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Part 1, chapter 7 (“Reading and Writing”, Vom Lesen und Schreiben), said by Zarathustra. These are the character’s words, not a statement in Nietzsche’s own voice.
Found word for word by program in the German original and in Thomas Common’s English translation (1909).
The wording people share differs slightly from the text; the words in the text are underlined below.
- Work
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Also sprach Zarathustra), 1883
- Where
- Part 1, chapter 7 (“Reading and Writing”, Vom Lesen und Schreiben)
- Found at
- Paragraph 365 of the German text, 399 of the English
- Translation
- Thomas Common, 1909
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
Thus spake Zarathustra1.
Vom Lesen und Schreiben
Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with his blood. Write with blood, and thou wilt find that blood is spirit.
Von allem Geschriebenen liebe ich nur Das, was Einer mit seinem Blute schreibt. Schreibe mit Blut: und du wirst erfahren, dass Blut Geist ist.
It is no easy task to understand unfamiliar blood; I hate the reading idlers.
Es ist nicht leicht möglich, fremdes Blut zu verstehen: ich hasse die lesenden Müssiggänger.
He who knoweth the reader, doeth nothing more for the reader. Another century of readers—and spirit itself will stink.
Wer den Leser kennt, der thut Nichts mehr für den Leser. Noch ein Jahrhundert Leser—und der Geist selber wird stinken.
Every one being allowed to learn to read, ruineth in the long run not only writing but also thinking.
Dass Jedermann lesen lernen darf, verdirbt auf die Dauer nicht allein das Schreiben, sondern auch das Denken.
The scene
In the chapter on reading and writing Zarathustra tells his disciples what he wants from a writer: not the idle reader’s book but one written with the writer’s own blood, which he calls spirit. He goes on to say that whoever writes in blood and maxims wants to be learned by heart, not read, and that aphorisms should be peaks, “and those to whom they are spoken, big and tall”. He then calls himself one who has looked down on all the spirit of gravity and laughs when he looks below him.
What it means
Only writing that costs the writer something, that comes out of lived suffering and commitment, is worth loving; blood is where spirit shows.
Often misread
Used as a general slogan for authentic or confessional writing. Zarathustra goes on to say that a writer in blood wants to be learnt by heart, not read, and the chapter ends in a laughing mastery of gravity: the demand is for a hard, high style, not for pouring out one’s feelings.
Topics
Related quotes
- What we do in life echoes in eternity. (not found) Marcus Aurelius
- Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde
- One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.
- What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal.
- For this is your duty, to act well the part that is given to you; but to select the part, belongs to another. Epictetus
Sources
- en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Part I, chapter 7; checked 25 October 2026)
Cite it
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Part 1, chapter 7 (“Reading and Writing”, Vom Lesen und Schreiben), translated by Thomas Common (1909). Spoken by Zarathustra. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/written-with-blood/ (31 October 2026).
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Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
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