--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth…" description: "\"A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ariadne_a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth_1334037.jpg" --- # A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his… ![“A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ariadne_a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth_1334037.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ariadne_a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth_1334037.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ariadne_a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth_1334037.jpg) > “A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne.” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person who avoids truth seeks only personal fantasies, like Theseus following his own thread. **In simple terms:** Avoiding truth leads to self‑deception. Key Takeaway Pursue truth over comforting lies. Themes truth self‑deception philosophy Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - academic study - personal introspection - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism mythic symbolism self‑knowledge Questions to Reflect On - What personal "Ariadne" guides you? - Can truth be harmful? A Different Perspective May undervalue the role of myths in guiding meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ariadne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ariadne/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Still more labyrinthine buds the rose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/still-more-labyrinthine-buds-the-rose/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“So, Ariadne was the babe with the ball of twine and the plan.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-cross/so-ariadne-was-the-babe-with-the-ball-of-twine-and-the-plan/) [Claire Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-cross/) > [These bright roofs, these steep towers, these jewel-lakes, these skeins of railroad line - all spoke to her and she answered. She was glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/these-bright-roofs-these-steep-towers-these-jewel-lakes-these-skeins/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Whoever has the desire to pursue philosophy correctly should look to Nature's Archetype in every matter, so that by taking up Ariadne's thread in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athanasius-kircher/whoever-has-the-desire-to-pursue-philosophy-correctly-should-look-to/) Athanasius Kircher > [“She became his Ariadne, leading him through the labyrinth of books, stopping now and then to pass another one to him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-leon/she-became-his-ariadne-leading-him-through-the-labyrinth-of-books/) [Donna Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-leon/) > [Theseus made unscrupulous use of Ariadne (whom he left on an island where Bacchus later found her-I always think that really meant she took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/theseus-made-unscrupulous-use-of-ariadne-whom-he-left-on-an-island/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) > [“Ariadne in the labyrinth. The most alive of worlds, human beings with the tenderest flesh, are made of marble. I strew devastation as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/ariadne-in-the-labyrinth-the-most-alive-of-worlds-human-beings-with/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [It will be easy for us the first time we receive that ball of yarn from Ariadne (love) and then go through all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/it-will-be-easy-for-us-the-first-time-we-receive-that-ball-of-yarn/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“He is greater than you will ever be. Not because of rank. It’s not a man’s rank that makes him a man. It’s how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-escobar/he-is-greater-than-you-will-ever-be-not-because-of-rank-it-s-not-a/) [Victoria Escobar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-escobar/) > [“Just as you will never lose me, you will never lose your crown. Your coronet will guide sailors to safety through the labyrinth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-saint/just-as-you-will-never-lose-me-you-will-never-lose-your-crown-your/) Jennifer Saint > [“I had not fooled myself with false hope. I was a goddess, and he a mortal, and both of us were imprisoned. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/i-had-not-fooled-myself-with-false-hope-i-was-a-goddess-and-he-a/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [“And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-martyr/and-when-we-say-also-that-the-word-who-is-the-first-birth-of-god-was/) [Justin Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-martyr/) > [The real is near, you do not have to seek it; and a man who seeks truth will never find it. Truth is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/the-real-is-near-you-do-not-have-to-seek-it-and-a-man-who-seeks-truth/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“We should not be ashamed to acknowledge truth from whatever source it comes to us, even if it is brought to us by former…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-kindi-muammad-ibn-ysuf/we-should-not-be-ashamed-to-acknowledge-truth-from-whatever-source-it/) al-Kindi Muammad ibn Ysuf > [Anyone who seeks truth seeks God, whether or not he realizes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-stein/anyone-who-seeks-truth-seeks-god-whether-or-not-he-realizes-it/) [Edith Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-stein/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Ariadne quotes > [“And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-martyr/and-when-we-say-also-that-the-word-who-is-the-first-birth-of-god-was/) [Justin Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-martyr/) > [“I had not fooled myself with false hope. I was a goddess, and he a mortal, and both of us were imprisoned. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/i-had-not-fooled-myself-with-false-hope-i-was-a-goddess-and-he-a/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [“Just as you will never lose me, you will never lose your crown. Your coronet will guide sailors to safety through the labyrinth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-saint/just-as-you-will-never-lose-me-you-will-never-lose-your-crown-your/) Jennifer Saint > [“He is greater than you will ever be. Not because of rank. It’s not a man’s rank that makes him a man. It’s how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-escobar/he-is-greater-than-you-will-ever-be-not-because-of-rank-it-s-not-a/) [Victoria Escobar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-escobar/) > [It will be easy for us the first time we receive that ball of yarn from Ariadne (love) and then go through all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/it-will-be-easy-for-us-the-first-time-we-receive-that-ball-of-yarn/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“Ariadne in the labyrinth. The most alive of worlds, human beings with the tenderest flesh, are made of marble. I strew devastation as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/ariadne-in-the-labyrinth-the-most-alive-of-worlds-human-beings-with/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [Theseus made unscrupulous use of Ariadne (whom he left on an island where Bacchus later found her-I always think that really meant she took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/theseus-made-unscrupulous-use-of-ariadne-whom-he-left-on-an-island/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) > [“She became his Ariadne, leading him through the labyrinth of books, stopping now and then to pass another one to him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-leon/she-became-his-ariadne-leading-him-through-the-labyrinth-of-books/) [Donna Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-leon/) > [Whoever has the desire to pursue philosophy correctly should look to Nature's Archetype in every matter, so that by taking up Ariadne's thread in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athanasius-kircher/whoever-has-the-desire-to-pursue-philosophy-correctly-should-look-to/) Athanasius Kircher > [These bright roofs, these steep towers, these jewel-lakes, these skeins of railroad line - all spoke to her and she answered. She was glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/these-bright-roofs-these-steep-towers-these-jewel-lakes-these-skeins/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [“So, Ariadne was the babe with the ball of twine and the plan.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-cross/so-ariadne-was-the-babe-with-the-ball-of-twine-and-the-plan/) [Claire Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-cross/) [Browse all 12 Ariadne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ariadne/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth-but-only-his-ariadne/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ariadne" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth-but-only-his-ariadne/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ariadne_a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth_1334037.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ariadne_a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth_1334037.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ariadne_a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth_1334037.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne.” — Friedrich Nietzsche", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A labyrinthine man never seeks the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth-but-only-his-ariadne/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-labyrinthine-man-never-seeks-the-truth-but-only-his-ariadne/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```