--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even great spirits have only their…" description: "\"Even great spirits have only their five-fingers' breadth of experience - just beyond it their thinking ceases and their endless empty space and stupidi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_breadth_even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five_2204914.jpg" --- # Even great spirits have only their five-fingers' breadth… ![“Even great spirits have only their five-fingers' breadth of experience - just beyond it their thinking ceases and their endless empty space and stupidity begins.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_breadth_even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five_2204914.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_breadth_even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five_2204914.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_breadth_even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five_2204914.jpg) > “Even great spirits have only their five-fingers' breadth of experience - just beyond it their thinking ceases and their endless empty space and stupidity begins.” [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. Nietzsche observes that human understanding is limited to a small scope; beyond that, thought collapses into ignorance and emptiness. **In simple terms:** Human knowledge is narrow; beyond it lies ignorance. Key Takeaway Recognize and respect intellectual limits. Themes knowledge limits humility intellectual arrogance Mood thought‑provoking cautionary Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - research - creative problem solving - leadership development Key Concepts philosophy epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What are the boundaries of your expertise? - How can you stay open to unknowns? A Different Perspective Over‑confidence can blind us to new possibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breadth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breadth/) [Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) [Ceases Endless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceases-endless-4858657/) [Empty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty/) [Empty space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty-space/) [Endless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless/) [Fingers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fingers/) [Five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five/) [Five fingers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-fingers/) [Great spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-spirit/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarian/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Space Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-stupidity-4858658/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity/) [Stupidity Begins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity-begins-4858656/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Ceases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-ceases-1732385/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“I’d say where thinking ends, stupidity begins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-d-say-where-thinking-ends-stupidity-begins/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What further helps to reveal reality is when our personal thinking ceases to take reality for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/what-further-helps-to-reveal-reality-is-when-our-personal-thinking/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Instead of being lost in your thinking, when you awaken you recognize yourself as the awareness behind it. 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Chronicler hesitated for a bare moment before reaching out quickly, as if he were sticking his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/after-an-awkward-pause-bast-extended-his-hand-chronicler-hesitated/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [To all my haters. Roses are red, Violets are blue, God gave me five fingers, And the middle one is for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylee/to-all-my-haters-roses-are-red-violets-are-blue-god-gave-me-five/) [Kylee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylee/) > [“Do you want to know something? I have three pairs of kid gloves. I've had kid mittens before from the Christmas tree, but never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/do-you-want-to-know-something-i-have-three-pairs-of-kid-gloves-i-ve/) [Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Roses are red, violets are blue. God gave me five fingers, the middle one is for you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/roses-are-red-violets-are-blue-god-gave-me-five-fingers-the-middle/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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. 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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 Breadth quotes > [Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chalmers/every-man-is-a-missionary-now-and-forever-for-good-or-for-evil/) [Thomas Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chalmers/) > [It used to be that companies with industrial economies of scale created business success. Now, success will come from the information economies of scale,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/it-used-to-be-that-companies-with-industrial-economies-of-scale/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [What is a Person? is a clear and comprehensive reconsideration of the meaning of human personhood as the central core of social structures. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-a-person-is-a-clear-and-comprehensive-reconsideration-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/how-do-i-love-thee-let-me-count-the-ways-i-love-thee-to-the-depth-and/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [We must seek the loving-kindness of God in all the breadth and open-air of common life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-a-smith/we-must-seek-the-loving-kindness-of-god-in-all-the-breadth-and-open/) [George A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-a-smith/) > [ \[Footnote:\] Pliny the Elder described a Whale called "Balaena or Whirlpool, which is so long and broad as to take up more in length… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/footnote-pliny-the-elder-described-a-whale-called-balaena-or/) [Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/) > [The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow "expertise" and "theoretical sophistication" (a preposterous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today-is-not-ignorant-students-but/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [A line is length without breadth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euclid/a-line-is-length-without-breadth/) [Euclid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euclid/) > [ A woman artist could be one of those intuitive geniuses \[who\] have kept their childlike spirit and have added to it breadth of vision… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-stieglitz/a-woman-artist-could-be-one-of-those-intuitive-geniuses-who-have-kept/) [Alfred Stieglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-stieglitz/) > [For globalization to work for America, it must work for working people. We should measure the success of our economy by the breadth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-globalization-to-work-for-america-it-must-work-for-working-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Joshua chose the simple life ... because it gave him the freedom to expand the breadth of his inner life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-girzone/joshua-chose-the-simple-life-because-it-gave-him-the-freedom-to/) [Joseph Girzone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-girzone/) > [“The height of your success will be measured with reference to the depth from which you started.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-height-of-your-success-will-be-measured-with-reference-to-the/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Most men are within a finger's breadth of being mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diogenes/most-men-are-within-a-finger-s-breadth-of-being-mad/) [Diogenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diogenes/) > [Christian theology is a hair's breadth away from nihilism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milbank/christian-theology-is-a-hair-s-breadth-away-from-nihilism/) [John Milbank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milbank/) > [If we stand in the openings of the present moment, with all the length and breadth of our faculties unselfishly adjusted to what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cogswell-upham/if-we-stand-in-the-openings-of-the-present-moment-with-all-the-length/) [Thomas Cogswell Upham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cogswell-upham/) [Browse all 171 Breadth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breadth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Even great spirits have only their five-fingers' breadth of experience - just beyond it their thinking ceases and their endless empty space and stupidity begins.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five-fingers-breadth-of-experience/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Breadth" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five-fingers-breadth-of-experience/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_breadth_even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five_2204914.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_breadth_even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five_2204914.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_breadth_even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five_2204914.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even great spirits have only their five-fingers' breadth of experience - just beyond it their thinking…” — 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": "Even great spirits have only their...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five-fingers-breadth-of-experience/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/even-great-spirits-have-only-their-five-fingers-breadth-of-experience/#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 } } ] } ```