--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Madness is not a consequence of…" description: "\"Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/friedrich-nietzsche-15_certainty_madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertai_1640388.jpg" --- # Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of… ![“Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/friedrich-nietzsche-15_certainty_madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertai_1640388.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/friedrich-nietzsche-15_certainty_madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertai_1640388.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/friedrich-nietzsche-15_certainty_madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertai_1640388.jpg) > “Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty.” [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. Certainty can trap the mind, leading to madness, whereas uncertainty leaves room for growth. **In simple terms:** Certainty breeds madness, uncertainty allows growth. Key Takeaway Question assumptions, stay open. Themes philosophy psychology certaintyertainty Mood thoughtful provocative Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - decision making - creative brainstorming - personal belief systems - scientific research Key Concepts existentialism cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance confidence with doubt? - When has certainty limited you? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis can also cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Consequence Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence-uncertainty-562801/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Madness Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness-consequence-562800/) [Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainty/) [Uncertainty Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainty-certainty-459022/) ## Related quotes > [Madness is the result not of uncertainty but certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-the-result-not-of-uncertainty-but-certainty/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-allen-paulos/uncertainty-is-the-only-certainty-there-is-and-knowing-how-to-live/) [John Allen Paulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-allen-paulos/) > [I have devoted my life to uncertainty. Certainty is the death of wisdom, thought, creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shekhar-kapur/i-have-devoted-my-life-to-uncertainty-certainty-is-the-death-of/) [Shekhar Kapur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shekhar-kapur/) > [My friends call me a 'pace-setter.' Sometimes I am impatient, I think, but you must be fast and flexible in business because uncertainty is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guler-sabanci/my-friends-call-me-a-pace-setter-sometimes-i-am-impatient-i-think-but/) [Guler Sabanci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guler-sabanci/) > [“All I know is that I'd rather face uncertainty with you than all the certainty in the world with someone else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-carson/all-i-know-is-that-i-d-rather-face-uncertainty-with-you-than-all-the/) [Aimee Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-carson/) > [“Uncertainty is a certainty in life. Unknown is well-known in life. Uncertainty and unknown gives space for the impossible to become possible. Real change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/uncertainty-is-a-certainty-in-life-unknown-is-well-known-in-life/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [Madness is the result not of uncertainty but of certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-the-result-not-of-uncertainty-but-of-certainty/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [ \[Friedrich\] Nietzsche said something marvellous, he said "Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty", and this is fanaticism. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/friedrich-nietzsche-said-something-marvellous-he-said-madness-is-not/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“I'd rather have a uncertainty than certainty. I don't want to know what's going to happen. It can't be good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/i-d-rather-have-a-uncertainty-than-certainty-i-don-t-want-to-know/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [Uncertainty would be the only certainty there's, and realizing how to stay with insecurity could be the only protection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-allen-paulos/uncertainty-would-be-the-only-certainty-there-s-and-realizing-how-to/) [John Allen Paulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-allen-paulos/) > [“Uncertainty is the only certainty in this world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-gross/uncertainty-is-the-only-certainty-in-this-world/) [Andrew Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-gross/) > [In terms of the game theory, we might say the universe is so constituted as to maximize play. The best games are not those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-leonard/in-terms-of-the-game-theory-we-might-say-the-universe-is-so/) [George Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-leonard/) > [It is some fundamental certainty which a noble soul has about itself, something which is not to be sought, is not to be found,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-some-fundamental-certainty-which-a-noble-soul-has-about-itself/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [ALGEBRA is a general Method of Computation by certain Signs and Symbols which have been contrived for this Purpose, and found convenient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/algebra-is-a-general-method-of-computation-by-certain-signs-and/) [Colin Maclaurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-maclaurin/) > [We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. We seek happiness, and find only misery and death. We cannot but desire truth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-desire-truth-and-find-within-ourselves-only-uncertainty-we-seek/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## 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 Certainty quotes > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [Sometimes we have the absolute certainty there's something inside us that's so hideous and monstrous that if we ever search it out we won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-selby-jr/sometimes-we-have-the-absolute-certainty-there-s-something-inside-us/) [Hubert Selby, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-selby-jr/) > [The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-past-and-the-future-become-unimportant-there-is-only-that-moment/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [As a businessman, I know that businesses need certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/as-a-businessman-i-know-that-businesses-need-certainty/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [It is suggested that in domestic violence at least the presence or absence of a firearm, or of any other type of weapon, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-greenwood/it-is-suggested-that-in-domestic-violence-at-least-the-presence-or/) [Colin Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-greenwood/) > [Every single person who is a member of our party deserves to have certainty. They deserve to know that my attention and focus is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annamie-paul/every-single-person-who-is-a-member-of-our-party-deserves-to-have/) [Annamie Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annamie-paul/) > [The significance and volume of repairs that are needed across the country demand that we give state and local governments the long-term certainty they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-graves/the-significance-and-volume-of-repairs-that-are-needed-across-the/) [Sam Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-graves/) > [“Death is the one great certainty in life. That’s what my dad used to say. Nothing else is certain. Not love. Not happiness. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mila-gray/death-is-the-one-great-certainty-in-life-that-s-what-my-dad-used-to/) [Mila Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mila-gray/) > [ \[I\]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bacon/i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-at-certainty-without-doubt-and/) [Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bacon/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [As the future is never known with certainty, the evaluation of the prospective benefits requires the formation of expectations. 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Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-t-mortensen/) > [Finding someone that trusted my vision helped me find certainty in who I was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/finding-someone-that-trusted-my-vision-helped-me-find-certainty-in/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) [Browse all 1,776 Certainty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertainty-but-of-certainty/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Certainty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertainty-but-of-certainty/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/friedrich-nietzsche-15_certainty_madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertai_1640388.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/friedrich-nietzsche-15_certainty_madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertai_1640388.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/friedrich-nietzsche-15_certainty_madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertai_1640388.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Madness is not a consequence of uncertainty but of certainty.” — 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": "Madness is not a consequence of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertainty-but-of-certainty/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/madness-is-not-a-consequence-of-uncertainty-but-of-certainty/#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 } } ] } ```