--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not things, but opinions about…" description: "\"It is not things, but opinions about things that have absolutely no existence, which have so deranged mankind!\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deranged_it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-thin_1753590.jpg" --- # It is not things, but opinions about things that have… ![“It is not things, but opinions about things that have absolutely no existence, which have so deranged mankind!” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deranged_it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-thin_1753590.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deranged_it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-thin_1753590.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deranged_it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-thin_1753590.jpg) > “It is not things, but opinions about things that have absolutely no existence, which have so deranged mankind!” [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. Opinions lack substance without grounding in reality, yet they dominate human thought. **In simple terms:** Ideas without facts are empty. Key Takeaway Question assumptions, seek evidence. Themes philosophy epistemology reality Mood critical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political discourse - media consumption - personal beliefs Key Concepts subjectivity truth cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate useful ideas from empty ones? - What role do emotions play in forming opinions? A Different Perspective Some opinions are valuable despite lacking proof. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) ## Related quotes > [Not things, but opinions about things, trouble men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/not-things-but-opinions-about-things-trouble-men/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [ Some things are up to us \[eph' hêmin\] and some things are not up to us. Our opinions are up to us, and our… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/some-things-are-up-to-us-eph-h-min-and-some-things-are-not-up-to-us/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [What on earth have a man's name, degree, academic position, and of all things, opinions, to do with whether a thing is true?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-nibley/what-on-earth-have-a-man-s-name-degree-academic-position-and-of-all/) [Hugh Nibley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-nibley/) > [What disturbs and alarms man are not the things, but his opinions and fancies about the things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-disturbs-and-alarms-man-are-not-the-things-but-his-opinions-and/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“The Greek philosopher Epictetus recognised this two thousand years ago when he wrote: ‘What disturbs and alarms man are not the things but his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/the-greek-philosopher-epictetus-recognised-this-two-thousand-years/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [You can say a lot of things about me, but I own my own opinions. They're not for sale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/you-can-say-a-lot-of-things-about-me-but-i-own-my-own-opinions-they/) [Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/) > [. . . an absurd problem came to the surface: 'How COULD God permit that (crucifixion of Jesus Christ)!' . . . the deranged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/an-absurd-problem-came-to-the-surface-how-could-god-permit-that/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is not things in themselves which trouble us, but our opinions of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/it-is-not-things-in-themselves-which-trouble-us-but-our-opinions-of/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“It's not that I don't have opinions about these things. I just don't feel they're in any way special. Sure, I follow the news.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/it-s-not-that-i-don-t-have-opinions-about-these-things-i-just-don-t/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [Don't hold strong opinions about things you don't truly understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-cudi/don-t-hold-strong-opinions-about-things-you-don-t-truly-understand/) [Kid Cudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-cudi/) > [Men are tormented by the opinions they have of things, and not the things themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/men-are-tormented-by-the-opinions-they-have-of-things-and-not-the/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Most of us now have opinions on such things as road tolling, the U.S. position on climate change, and the correct colour of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-armstrong/most-of-us-now-have-opinions-on-such-things-as-road-tolling-the-u-s/) [Jesse Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-armstrong/) > [Maturity: the confidence to have no opinions on many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/maturity-the-confidence-to-have-no-opinions-on-many-things/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [One thing I learned about people is that they love to give their opinions about things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-mcphee/one-thing-i-learned-about-people-is-that-they-love-to-give-their/) [Katharine McPhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-mcphee/) > [I certainly have opinions about things, but we're a service organization. Our job is to try and realize the director's vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-knoll/i-certainly-have-opinions-about-things-but-we-re-a-service/) [John Knoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-knoll/) ## 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 Deranged quotes > [If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/if-lawyers-are-disbarred-and-clergymen-defrocked-doesn-t-it-follow/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [In a way there's only a fine shade of difference between the healthy and the deranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/in-a-way-there-s-only-a-fine-shade-of-difference-between-the-healthy/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“Ever since her obsession with Jonathan Cain, a deranged transfer student who had been at Sweet Valley for a month, Enid’s life had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-pascal/ever-since-her-obsession-with-jonathan-cain-a-deranged-transfer/) [Francine Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-pascal/) > [By far the greater part of violence that humans inflicted on each other is not the work of criminals or mentally deranged, but of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/by-far-the-greater-part-of-violence-that-humans-inflicted-on-each/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is with happiness as with watches: the less complicated, the less easily deranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-chamfort/it-is-with-happiness-as-with-watches-the-less-complicated-the-less/) [Nicolas Chamfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-chamfort/) > [“Whoever is planning a nuclear war or seriously thinking about using nuclear weapons must directly be taken to a mental hospital! Mad people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/whoever-is-planning-a-nuclear-war-or-seriously-thinking-about-using/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I think we're in a 1970s-level moment of social transition and they're always full of upheaval. As violent and deranged as we can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eden-robinson/i-think-we-re-in-a-1970s-level-moment-of-social-transition-and-they/) [Eden Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eden-robinson/) > [The whole family is a bunch of dangerous freaks...Most are ex-cons or junkies or deranged from inbreeding. Five have died violently, three are back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-dorsey/the-whole-family-is-a-bunch-of-dangerous-freaks-most-are-ex-cons-or/) [Tim Dorsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-dorsey/) > [Screw normal. You know why? 'Cause if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/screw-normal-you-know-why-cause-if-you-re-normal-the-crowd-will/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [How can our hearts not break? How can we hold our tears? How can we bear the pain of losing those loving children and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/how-can-our-hearts-not-break-how-can-we-hold-our-tears-how-can-we/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [As gun owners, my husband and I understand that the Second Amendment is most at risk when a criminal or deranged person commits a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-giffords/as-gun-owners-my-husband-and-i-understand-that-the-second-amendment/) [Gabrielle Giffords](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-giffords/) > [In whatever you do, if you leave a sense of incompleteness, then Creation cannot resent you, ghosts and spirits cannot harm you. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-whatever-you-do-if-you-leave-a-sense-of-incompleteness-then/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [We in Congress must take action to keep assault weapons and high-capacity clips out of the hands of those who are so dangerous or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregorio-sablan/we-in-congress-must-take-action-to-keep-assault-weapons-and-high/) Gregorio Sablan > [Despite all of our efforts to control something, the world is much, much more powerful than us, and more deranged even than us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/despite-all-of-our-efforts-to-control-something-the-world-is-much/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [I hear all of these liberals so concerned with people's health and so critical of tobacco cause it kills, it's deadly, and secondhand and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-hear-all-of-these-liberals-so-concerned-with-people-s-health-and-so/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) Browse all 103 Deranged quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not things, but opinions about things that have absolutely no existence, which have so deranged mankind!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-things-that-have-absolutely-no/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deranged" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-things-that-have-absolutely-no/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deranged_it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-thin_1753590.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deranged_it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-thin_1753590.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deranged_it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-thin_1753590.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not things, but opinions about things that have absolutely no existence, which have so deranged mankind!” — 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": "It is not things, but opinions...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-things-that-have-absolutely-no/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-not-things-but-opinions-about-things-that-have-absolutely-no/#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 } } ] } ```