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Who really said it

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule

Written by Friedrich Nietzsche 1844–1900 · German philosopher & classical philologist
Verified Free to reuse

Genuinely Nietzsche — this is aphorism 156 of the “Epigrams and Interludes” (Sprüche und Zwischenspiele) in Beyond Good and Evil (1886). The German reads “Der Irrsinn ist bei Einzelnen etwas Seltenes, — aber bei Gruppen, Parteien, Völkern, Zeiten die Regel.” The popular English simply reorders the opening of Helen Zimmern’s public-domain translation, whose second half (“in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule”) it matches word for word.

Last verified 16 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule” Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (1886), aphorism 156, trans. Helen Zimmern

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Provenance

The source

Work
Beyond Good and Evil (Jenseits von Gut und Böse)
Location
Part Four, “Epigrams and Interludes,” aphorism 156
First published
1886, in German (Leipzig: C. G. Naumann)
Translation
Helen Zimmern, 1907 (public domain)

Insanity in individuals is something rare — but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule. Aphorism 156

Aphorism 156, in Helen Zimmern’s public-domain translation. The version that circulates online (“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups …”) reorders only the opening clause; the German original is “Der Irrsinn ist bei Einzelnen etwas Seltenes, — aber bei Gruppen, Parteien, Völkern, Zeiten die Regel.”

Beyond Good and Evil, Part IV (Helen Zimmern translation)

How we traced it

Public domain

Both the underlying work and the standard English rendering are in the public domain in the United States: the German original was published in 1886, and Helen Zimmern’s English translation appeared in 1907 — both well before 1931. Note that later copyrighted translations (e.g. Walter Kaufmann, 1966; R. J. Hollingdale) phrase the aphorism differently (“madness … peoples … ages”).

This reflects the original work, which is public domain. If your exact English wording comes from a specific modern translation, that translation may itself still be under copyright — check the edition you quote.

Fact-check

The wording, sorted out

The attribution here is correct — this really is Nietzsche. The only thing worth flagging is the wording: the famous English line is a lightly reworded version of the published translations, and it is almost never cited to a specific source.

An internet rewording of Helen Zimmern’s translation reordered

No standard published translation opens “In individuals, insanity is rare.” Zimmern’s 1907 text reads “Insanity in individuals is something rare — but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule.” The viral version simply flips the first clause; the second half is identical.

Different translators, same aphorism

Later versions differ in vocabulary rather than meaning — e.g. Hollingdale’s “Madness is something rare in individuals — but in groups, parties, peoples, epochs it is the rule.” Choice of “insanity/madness” and “nations/peoples” is a translator’s decision, not a change of source.

Bottom line: really Nietzsche, really Beyond Good and Evil, aphorism 156 (1886). The quoted English just reorders the opening of the public-domain translation.

Context

Why it endures

The remark sits inside a chapter of one-line epigrams, and it distills a recurring Nietzschean suspicion of the herd: that reason is an individual achievement and rarely a collective one. Detached from that setting, it now travels as a standalone verdict on mobs, parties, and mass movements.

Because the thought is genuinely his and the phrasing only lightly altered, the line is that unusual thing among viral ‘quotes’ — a real one, drifting only in its exact words.

Insanity in individuals is something rare — but in groups … it is the rule.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Truth Power

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Beyond Good and Evil, Part IV (Wikisource)en.wikisource.org

Helen Zimmern’s public-domain translation; aphorism 156 in full.
Beyond Good and Evil (Project Gutenberg)gutenberg.org

Complete public-domain English text (Zimmern translation).
Beyond Good and Evil (Wikiquote)en.wikiquote.org

Sourced page giving the German original of §156 and multiple translations.
Jenseits von Gut und Böse, §151–160 (Zeno.org)zeno.org

German text archive showing the original wording of aphorism 156.
Quote as commonly circulated (Goodreads)goodreads.com

The reordered English wording as it spreads online, credited to Beyond Good and Evil.

The true author

About Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche

1844–1900 · German philosopher & classical philologist

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher and former classical philologist whose work on morality, nihilism, and the psychology of belief reshaped modern thought. Beyond Good and Evil (1886) is one of his mature works, and its fourth part, “Epigrams and Interludes,” is a run of aphorisms — of which this remark on the madness of crowds is number 156.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future, trans. Helen Zimmern (1907), Part IV, “Epigrams and Interludes,” aphorism 156; German original Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1886), §156.

MLA (9th ed.)

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future. Translated by Helen Zimmern, 1907, pt. 4, aph. 156.

APA (7th ed.)

Nietzsche, F. (1907). Beyond good and evil: Prelude to a philosophy of the future (H. Zimmern, Trans.). (Original work published 1886)

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/in-individuals-insanity-is-rare-but-in-groups-parties

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