--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All things that are truly great are at…" description: "\"All things that are truly great are at first thought impossible.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/friedrich-nietzsche-15_all-things_all-things-that-are-truly-great-are-at-f_2703163.jpg" --- # All things that are truly great are at first thought… ![“All things that are truly great are at first thought impossible.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/friedrich-nietzsche-15_all-things_all-things-that-are-truly-great-are-at-f_2703163.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/friedrich-nietzsche-15_all-things_all-things-that-are-truly-great-are-at-f_2703163.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/friedrich-nietzsche-15_all-things_all-things-that-are-truly-great-are-at-f_2703163.jpg) > “All things that are truly great are at first thought impossible.” [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. Great achievements often first seem impossible. **In simple terms:** Big things start as impossible ideas. Key Takeaway Persist despite initial doubt. Themes philosophy achievement determination Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - Innovation - sports - artistic creation Key Concepts Existentialism will to power Questions to Reflect On - What makes an impossible idea plausible? - How to sustain motivation? A Different Perspective Failure can discourage continued effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-thought/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [Things that are truly great will be timeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-storch/things-that-are-truly-great-will-be-timeless/) [Scott Storch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-storch/) > [All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/all-truly-great-thoughts-are-conceived-by-walking/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Performing and creativity were the only things I was truly passionate about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-hope-fletcher/performing-and-creativity-were-the-only-things-i-was-truly-passionate/) [Carrie Hope Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-hope-fletcher/) > [Within itself the soul sees all things more truly than as they exist in different things outside itself. And the more it goes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-of-cusa/within-itself-the-soul-sees-all-things-more-truly-than-as-they-exist/) [Nicholas of Cusa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-of-cusa/) > [“To be truly great and greatly true Is to align your thoughts, words and actions in all you do”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-akomas-jr/to-be-truly-great-and-greatly-true-is-to-align-your-thoughts-words/) [George Akomas Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-akomas-jr/) > [To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-become-truly-great-one-has-to-stand-with-people-not-above-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [AR Rahman is truly great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paresh-rawal/ar-rahman-is-truly-great/) [Paresh Rawal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paresh-rawal/) > [I think continually of those who were truly great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/i-think-continually-of-those-who-were-truly-great/) [Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/) > [Nothing can be truly great which is not right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nothing-can-be-truly-great-which-is-not-right/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I am the only one who can make America truly great again!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-am-the-only-one-who-can-make-america-truly-great-again/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [What proves the hero truly great,Is never, never to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mallet/what-proves-the-hero-truly-great-is-never-never-to-despair/) [David Mallet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mallet/) > [When you meet someone who is truly great, he makes you believe you can be great, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-argov/when-you-meet-someone-who-is-truly-great-he-makes-you-believe-you-can-2/) [Sherry Argov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-argov/) > [All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/all-truly-great-thoughts-are-conceived-while-walking/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“All truly great things are conceived by walking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/all-truly-great-things-are-conceived-by-walking/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Without an unreserved surrender to His grace, complete mastery over thought is impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/without-an-unreserved-surrender-to-his-grace-complete-mastery-over/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## 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. 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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 All things quotes > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [To explicate the uses of the Brain seems as difficult a task as to paint the Soul, of which it is commonly said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-willis/to-explicate-the-uses-of-the-brain-seems-as-difficult-a-task-as-to/) [Thomas Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-willis/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... 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They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Standing as a witness in all things means being kind in all things, being the first to say hello, being the first to smile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-d-nadauld/standing-as-a-witness-in-all-things-means-being-kind-in-all-things/) [Margaret D. 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