will-to-power
Drive to dominate
Will-to-power is the drive to assert and expand one's strength, influence, or mastery—a concept central to Nietzsche's philosophy.
For Nietzsche, it describes a fundamental human impulse underlying ambition, creativity, and self-overcoming, not merely domination over others.
The term often appears in discussions of motivation and power dynamics: His relentless ambition reflected a pure will-to-power.
Sometimes used loosely to describe any aggressive drive for control.
Earnest sustained endeavor
- aspirationStrong desire for achievement
- self-assertionInsisting on recognition
- achievementAccomplished goal or deed
- determinationFirmness of purpose
drive · goal-seeking · enterprise · initiative · endeavor · pursuit · hunger · yearning
Self-surpassing human ideal
- self-overcomingSurpassing your former limits
- transvaluationReassessing fundamental worth
- master moralityValues exalting strength over weakness
- slave moralityEthics born from oppression
nihilism · overman · value creation · herd instinct · Dionysian · Apollonian · becoming · creative destruction
Power to enforce obedience
- controlAuthority to direct
- supremacyHighest rank or power
- hegemonyDominant group's control
- subjugationForcing into submission
tyranny · mastery · command · influence · domination · imperialism · ascendancy · conquest
striving
Earnest sustained endeavor
- aspirationStrong desire for achievement
- self-assertionInsisting on recognition
- achievementAccomplished goal or deed
determination · drive · goal-seeking · enterprise · initiative · endeavor · pursuit · hunger · yearning · ascent
Übermensch
Self-surpassing human ideal
- self-overcomingSurpassing your former limits
- transvaluationReassessing fundamental worth
- master moralityValues exalting strength over weakness
slave morality · nihilism · overman · value creation · herd instinct · Dionysian · Apollonian · becoming · creative destruction · self-mastery
authority
Power to enforce obedience
subjugation · tyranny · mastery · command · influence · domination · imperialism · ascendancy · conquest · coercion
life-force
Animating spiritual energy
impulse · vigor · potency · dynamism · momentum · force · thrust · creative energy · assertiveness · intensity
will-to-powerresignation
Voluntary relinquishment of position
passivity · defeatism · submission · slave morality · apathy
will-to-powerslave morality
Ethics born from oppression
nihilism · asceticism · world-weariness · otherworldliness · quietism
will-to-powerself-abnegation
Renouncing one's own interests
self-sacrifice · servility · altruism · humility · meekness
will, wills, willed, willing, willingly, unwilling, unwillingly, willingness, unwillingness