--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How can any one become a thinker if he…" description: "\"“How can any one become a thinker if he does not spend at least a third part of the day without passions, men, and books?”\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/friedrich-nietzsche-15_books_how-can-any-one-become-a-thinker-if-he-d_3141954.jpg" --- # How can any one become a thinker if he does not spend at… ![“How can any one become a thinker if he does not spend at least a third part of the day without passions, men, and books?” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/friedrich-nietzsche-15_books_how-can-any-one-become-a-thinker-if-he-d_3141954.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/friedrich-nietzsche-15_books_how-can-any-one-become-a-thinker-if-he-d_3141954.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/friedrich-nietzsche-15_books_how-can-any-one-become-a-thinker-if-he-d_3141954.jpg) > ““How can any one become a thinker if he does not spend at least a third part of the day without passions, men, and books?”” [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. He argues that true thinking requires periods free from external influences and passions **In simple terms:** Thinking needs time away from passions and distractions Key Takeaway Allocate quiet time for deep thought Themes philosophy self‑reflection intellectual discipline Mood contemplative provocative Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - Academic study - personal meditation - creative work - decision making Key Concepts Nietzschean philosophy mindfulness critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can one balance passion and detachment in thinking? - What practices foster uninterrupted contemplation? A Different Perspective Neglects the role of emotions in insight ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Day Passions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-passions-5602351/) [Passions Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passions-men-447707/) [Spend Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spend-day/) [Thinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker/) [Thinker Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker-does-296912/) ## Related quotes > [“An enlightened thinker does not waste his precious time thinking about what others think of what he thinks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/an-enlightened-thinker-does-not-waste-his-precious-time-thinking/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [A positive thinker does not refuse to recognize the negative; he refuses to dwell on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/a-positive-thinker-does-not-refuse-to-recognize-the-negative-he-2/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/no-one-can-be-a-great-thinker-who-does-not-recognize-that-as-a/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-passions-of-men-are-commonly-more-potent-than-their-reason/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Gods are nothing without their worshipers; they act on the affairs and the passions of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-morris/gods-are-nothing-without-their-worshipers-they-act-on-the-affairs-and/) [Janet Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-morris/) > [When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/when-the-sword-is-once-drawn-the-passions-of-men-observe-no-bounds-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [“Science has not given men more self-control, more kindliness, or more power of discounting their passions in deciding upon a course of action. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/science-has-not-given-men-more-self-control-more-kindliness-or-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to leave pictures that persist the good are ever too luke-warm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-the-wicked-passions-of-men-s-hearts-alone-seem-strong-enough-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The paths of which you were just speaking have been traced by all young men of ardent imaginations. 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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 Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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