---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In order to think and infer it is…"
description: "\"“In order to think and infer it is necessary to assume beings: logic handles only formulas for what remains the same. That is why this assumption would..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_human-relations_in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necess_2618815.jpg"
---

#  In order to think and infer it is necessary to assume…

![“In order to think and infer it is necessary to assume beings: logic handles only formulas for what remains the same. That is why this assumption would not be a proof of reality: 'beings' are part of our perspective. ... The fictitious world of subject, substance, 'reason,' etc., is needed-: there…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_human-relations_in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necess_2618815.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_human-relations_in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necess_2618815.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_human-relations_in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necess_2618815.jpg)

> ““In order to think and infer it is necessary to assume beings: logic handles only formulas for what remains the same. That is why this assumption would not be a proof of reality: 'beings' are part of our perspective. ... The fictitious world of subject, substance, 'reason,' etc., is needed-: there is in us a power to order, simplify, falsify, artificially distinguish. ... What then is truth? A moveable host of metaphors, metonomies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which, after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical, and binding. Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions; they are metaphors that have become worn out and have been drained of sensuous force,””

[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.

Truth is seen as a mutable collection of metaphors shaped by human perspective rather than an objective constant.

**In simple terms:** Truth is a human-made metaphor, not fixed reality.

Key Takeaway

Recognize truth’s fluid, constructed nature.

Themes

philosophy epistemology language relativism

Mood

reflective skeptical

Type

philosophical analytical

When to use this quote

- academic discourse
- critical essays
- philosophical debates
- teaching philosophy
- writing

Key Concepts

metaphor construction perspective truth reality

Questions to Reflect On

- How do we navigate decisions when truth is seen as constructed?
- Can we find stable foundations amid metaphorical truth?

A Different Perspective

Truth may be dismissed as mere illusion, undermining confidence in knowledge.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Human relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-relations/) [Metaphors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphors/)

## Related quotes

> [Truth is a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, anthropomorphisms, in short a sum of human relations which have been subjected to poetic and rhetorical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/truth-is-a-mobile-army-of-metaphors-metonyms-anthropomorphisms-in-2/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-then-is-truth-a-movable-host-of-metaphors-metonymies-and/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [truths are illusions of which one has forgotten that they are illusions, metaphors that have become worn-out and deprived of their sensuous force, coins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/truths-are-illusions-of-which-one-has-forgotten-that-they-are/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“What therefore is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonymies, anthropomorphisms: in short a sum of human relations which became poetically and rhetorically intensified,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-therefore-is-truth-a-mobile-army-of-metaphors-metonymies/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“What, then, is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms – in short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-then-is-truth-a-mobile-army-of-metaphors-metonyms-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Truth is a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, anthropomorphisms, in short, a sum of human relations which were poetically and rhetorically heightened, transferred, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/truth-is-a-mobile-army-of-metaphors-metonyms-anthropomorphisms-in/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/truths-are-illusions-about-which-one-has-forgotten-that-this-is-what/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [What, then is truth?... Truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-then-is-truth-truths-are-illusions-about-which-one-has-forgotten/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Are designations congruent with things? Is language the adequate expression of all realities? It is only by means of forgetfulness that man can ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-neitzsche/are-designations-congruent-with-things-is-language-the-adequate/)

Friedrich Neitzsche

> [The drive toward the formation of metaphors is the fundamental human drive, which one cannot for a single instant dispense with in thought ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-drive-toward-the-formation-of-metaphors-is-the-fundamental-human/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Time, space, and causality are only metaphors of knowledge, with which we explain things to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/time-space-and-causality-are-only-metaphors-of-knowledge-with-which/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [We believe that we know something about the things themselves when we speak of trees, colors, snow, and flowers; and yet we possess nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-believe-that-we-know-something-about-the-things-themselves-when-we/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Love is not coercion, and the state is only an agent of coercion. It has no other function and can work no other way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-mcdurmon/love-is-not-coercion-and-the-state-is-only-an-agent-of-coercion-it/)

Joel McDurmon

> [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/)

[Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/)

> [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

## 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 Human relations quotes

> [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

> [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/)

[Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/)

> [“Love is not coercion, and the state is only an agent of coercion. It has no other function and can work no other way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-mcdurmon/love-is-not-coercion-and-the-state-is-only-an-agent-of-coercion-it/)

Joel McDurmon

> [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/)

[Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/)

> [“And slowly a discussion begins - as Morrie has wanted all along - about the effect of silence on human relations. Why are we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/and-slowly-a-discussion-begins-as-morrie-has-wanted-all-along-about/)

[Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/)

> [ If \[people\] place such things as friendship and family ties above their own productive work, yes, then they are immoral. Friendship, family life and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-people-place-such-things-as-friendship-and-family-ties-above-their/)

[Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/)

> [At the critical juncture in all human relationships, there is only one question: What would love do now?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/at-the-critical-juncture-in-all-human-relationships-there-is-only-one/)

[Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/)

> [Anarchists are opposed to violence; everyone knows that. The main plank of anarchism is the removal of violence from human relations. It is life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/anarchists-are-opposed-to-violence-everyone-knows-that-the-main-plank/)

[Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/)

> [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [More than in any other human relationship, overwhelmingly more, motherhood means being instantly interruptible, responsive, and responsible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/more-than-in-any-other-human-relationship-overwhelmingly-more/)

[Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/)

> [A talent for drama is not a talent for writing, but is ability to articulate human relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/a-talent-for-drama-is-not-a-talent-for-writing-but-is-ability-to/)

[Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/)

> [Just as, in travel, one may miss seeing the sunset because one cannot find the ticket-office or is afraid of missing the train, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-origo/just-as-in-travel-one-may-miss-seeing-the-sunset-because-one-cannot/)

[Iris Origo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-origo/)

> [In Europe, where human relations like clothes are supposed to last, one's got to be wearable. In France one has to be interesting, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sybille-bedford/in-europe-where-human-relations-like-clothes-are-supposed-to-last-one/)

[Sybille Bedford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sybille-bedford/)

> [With the Fall all became abnormal. It is not just that the individual is separated from God by his true moral guilt, but each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-schaeffer/with-the-fall-all-became-abnormal-it-is-not-just-that-the-individual/)

[Francis Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-schaeffer/)

> [An honorable human relationship ... is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/an-honorable-human-relationship-is-a-process-delicate-violent-often/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

[Browse all 352 Human relations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-relations/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“In order to think and infer it is necessary to assume beings: logic handles only formulas for what remains the same. That is why this assumption would not be a proof of reality: 'beings' are part of our perspective. ... The fictitious world of subject, substance, 'reason,' etc., is needed-: there is in us a power to order, simplify, falsify, artificially distinguish. ... What then is truth? A moveable host of metaphors, metonomies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which, after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical, and binding. Truths are illusions which we have forgotten are illusions; they are metaphors that have become worn out and have been drained of sensuous force,”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necessary-to-assume-beings-logic/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Human relations"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necessary-to-assume-beings-logic/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_human-relations_in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necess_2618815.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_human-relations_in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necess_2618815.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_human-relations_in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necess_2618815.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“In order to think and infer it is necessary to assume beings: logic handles only formulas for what remains…” — 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": "“In order to think and infer...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necessary-to-assume-beings-logic/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-order-to-think-and-infer-it-is-necessary-to-assume-beings-logic/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
