Psychology Quote by Friedrich Nietzsche
““truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins. We still do not know where the urge for truth comes from; for as yet we have heard only of the obligation imposed by society that it should exist: to be truthful means using the customary metaphors—in moral terms: the obligation to lie according to a fixed convention, to lie herd-like in a style obligatory for all. . . .””
About This Quote
Source Book: Beyond Good and Evil, 1886
Truth is a construct, shaped by language and societal expectations, not an absolute.
In simple terms: Truth depends on cultural metaphors and conventions.
Key Takeaway
Question the foundations of what you accept as true.
Themes
philosophy
truth
language
Mood
critical
introspective
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- academic discourse
- personal belief systems
- political rhetoric
- art criticism
Key Concepts
metaphor
social construct
epistemology
morality
Questions to Reflect On
- What assumptions underlie your “truths”?
- How do societal pressures shape your honesty?
A Different Perspective
Absolute truth may be unattainable, leading to relativism.
![“Truth is a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, anthropomorphisms, in short a sum of human relations which have been subjected to poetic and rhetorical intensification, translation and decoration […]; truths are illusions of which we have forgotten that they are illusions, metaphors which have…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/079/friedrich-nietzsche-15_anthropomorphism_truth-is-a-mobile-army-of-metaphors-meto_2293268.jpg)
