--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you know the why, you can live any how." description: "\"If you know the why, you can live any how.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how_2476051.jpg" --- # If you know the why, you can live any how. ![“If you know the why, you can live any how.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how_2476051.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how_2476051.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how_2476051.jpg) > “If you know the why, you can live any how.” [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. Understanding purpose empowers one to endure any circumstance. **In simple terms:** Know why; adapt any how. Key Takeaway Find your purpose to guide actions. Themes purpose resilience philosophy Mood reflective motivational Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - career planning - personal growth - overcoming adversity - leadership Key Concepts existentialism motivation Questions to Reflect On - What drives your current actions? - How can you stay adaptable when purpose changes? A Different Perspective Purpose may shift over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [I now know I can live without basketball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-taurasi/i-now-know-i-can-live-without-basketball/) [Diana Taurasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-taurasi/) > [I love those who do not know how to live for today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-love-those-who-do-not-know-how-to-live-for-today/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [As long as you know you have enough to live on, take some risks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-taylor/as-long-as-you-know-you-have-enough-to-live-on-take-some-risks/) [Diana Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-taylor/) > [I don't know how one should live - but I know that one should live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/i-don-t-know-how-one-should-live-but-i-know-that-one-should-live/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [We want people to know that Live Nation can serve all their live-music needs. If we're going to be the ones who have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-rapino/we-want-people-to-know-that-live-nation-can-serve-all-their-live/) [Michael Rapino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-rapino/) > [Trust yourself, then you will know how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/trust-yourself-then-you-will-know-how-to-live/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [As Soon As You Trust On Yourself, You Will Know How To Live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/as-soon-as-you-trust-on-yourself-you-will-know-how-to-live/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [When you know how to die, you know how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/movie/when-you-know-how-to-die-you-know-how-to-live/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/movie/) > [If we know how to pray, we know how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/if-we-know-how-to-pray-we-know-how-to-live/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [The only way to know is to Live, Learn, and Grow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/the-only-way-to-know-is-to-live-learn-and-grow/) [Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/) > [To know nothing about yourself is to live. To know yourself badly is to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/to-know-nothing-about-yourself-is-to-live-to-know-yourself-badly-is/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Wisdom isn't what you know.It's how you live!.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-isn-t-what-you-know-it-s-how-you-live/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everythink happens for our own good, know it and live in dat way..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myself/everythink-happens-for-our-own-good-know-it-and-live-in-dat-way/) Myself > [“Now those dogs know where we live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-hunter/now-those-dogs-know-where-we-live/) [Erin Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-hunter/) > [Only when you know how to die can you know how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/only-when-you-know-how-to-die-can-you-know-how-to-live/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) ## 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 Know quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [“To know someone, to be known. That matters more than he'd ever thought it would.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/to-know-someone-to-be-known-that-matters-more-than-he-d-ever-thought/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [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/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/) [Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/) > [Don't get too attached to someone you know you can't be together with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/don-t-get-too-attached-to-someone-you-know-you-can-t-be-together-with/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [I know what you're thinking... and you oughtta be ashamed of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-preston/i-know-what-you-re-thinking-and-you-oughtta-be-ashamed-of-yourself/) Robert Preston > [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [I have always been a big meta guy because I think the way journalism is practiced in Washington, and the way everyone sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/i-have-always-been-a-big-meta-guy-because-i-think-the-way-journalism/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) > [“Take your time to find and understand what you don’t know and in the end, you shall know that it is not all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/take-your-time-to-find-and-understand-what-you-don-t-know-and-in-the/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) Browse all 22,299 Know quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you know the why, you can live any how.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Know" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how_2476051.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how_2476051.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how_2476051.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you know the why, you can live any how.” — 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": "If you know the why, you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/if-you-know-the-why-you-can-live-any-how/#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 } } ] } ```