“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche

I became an ardent fan of Friedrich Nietzsche ever since I chanced upon the translated version of one of his (in my opinion, most brilliant of) works, Der Antichrist (translated as The Antichrist in English). It was a most delightful read indeed and below lies a short extract of the introduction by the translator, H.L. Mencken. To wit:

“No man of sound information, at the time Nietzsche planned “The Antichrist,” actually believed that the world was created in seven days, or that its fauna was once overwhelmed by a flood as a penalty for the sins of man, or that Noah saved the boa constrictor, the prairie dog and the pediculus capitis by taking a pair of each into the ark, or that Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt, or that a fragment of the True Cross could cure hydrophobia. Such notions, still almost universally prevalent in Christendom a century before, were now confined to the great body of ignorant and credulous men—that is, to ninety-five or ninety-six percent, of the race.”

I hope that you may enjoy Nietzche's brilliant writings as much as I have, and here is a link to an online publication of The Antichrist.

I shall end off with another quote by Nietzche:

“After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands.”

Oh god this had me in stitches his sense of humour is impeccable!