--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many a man fails to become a thinker for…" description: "\"“Many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason that his memory is too good.”\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/461/friedrich-nietzsche-15_memory_many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for_1290817.jpg" --- # Many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason… ![“Many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason that his memory is too good.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/461/friedrich-nietzsche-15_memory_many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for_1290817.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/461/friedrich-nietzsche-15_memory_many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for_1290817.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/461/friedrich-nietzsche-15_memory_many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for_1290817.jpg) > ““Many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason that his memory is too good.”” [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. People with strong memories rely on recall rather than original thought, hindering deep thinking. **In simple terms:** Good memory can limit original thinking. Key Takeaway Cultivate thinking beyond memory. Themes thinking memory originality Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic research - creative writing - problem solving - education Key Concepts philosophy cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How can you think beyond what you remember? - What practices develop original thought? A Different Perspective Memory alone doesn't guarantee insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fails Thinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fails-thinker-4204727/) [Man Fails](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-fails-394208/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-good-301798/) [Reason Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-memory-290383/) ## Related quotes > [Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory it too good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-man-fails-as-an-original-thinker-simply-because-his-memory-it/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-man-fails-as-an-original-thinker-simply-because-his-memory-is/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Reason and memory are nearly always at odds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/reason-and-memory-are-nearly-always-at-odds/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Maybe the reason my memory is so bad is that I always do at least two things at once. It's easier to forget something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/maybe-the-reason-my-memory-is-so-bad-is-that-i-always-do-at-least-two/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [“From \*the form of time and of the single dimension\* of the series of representations, on account of which the intellect, in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/from-the-form-of-time-and-of-the-single-dimension-of-the-series-of/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [The man who fails while trying to do good has more honor than he who succeeds by accident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/the-man-who-fails-while-trying-to-do-good-has-more-honor-than-he-who/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [Many a man never fails because he never tries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-macewen/many-a-man-never-fails-because-he-never-tries/) [Norman MacEwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-macewen/) > [A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/a-man-who-fails-well-is-greater-than-one-who-succeeds-badly/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [When a man fails to understand something he is conscious of a discord, and seeks for the cause of it not in himself, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/when-a-man-fails-to-understand-something-he-is-conscious-of-a-discord/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [No man fails who does his best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/no-man-fails-who-does-his-best/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Every man fails in any aspect because of a girl in him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymonds/every-man-fails-in-any-aspect-because-of-a-girl-in-him/) [Raymonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymonds/) > [A father is a man who fails every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/a-father-is-a-man-who-fails-every-day/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [A man who fails is funny... if my sketches teach anything, it is that, for the male, sex is a snare and a delusion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-hill/a-man-who-fails-is-funny-if-my-sketches-teach-anything-it-is-that-for/) [Benny Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-hill/) > [The man who fails because he aims astray or because he does not aim at all is to be found everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-arthur-swinnerton/the-man-who-fails-because-he-aims-astray-or-because-he-does-not-aim/) [Frank Arthur Swinnerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-arthur-swinnerton/) ## 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 Memory quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [“Maybe there is something when it all ends. Maybe there is memory, memory of the person you loved, when you lived. Maybe this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-ellison/maybe-there-is-something-when-it-all-ends-maybe-there-is-memory/) [Kate Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-ellison/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [“The whole town rushed outside to celebrate this crowded minute when the time of suffering had ended and the time of forgetting had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-whole-town-rushed-outside-to-celebrate-this-crowded-minute-when/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/i-have-a-memory-like-an-elephant-i-remember-every-elephant-i-ve-ever/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/your-memory-is-a-monster-you-forget-it-doesn-t-it-simply-files-things/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [My first Olympics memory was watching Haile Gebrselassie in Sydney 2000. His sprint finish to defend his title really moved me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-farah/my-first-olympics-memory-was-watching-haile-gebrselassie-in-sydney/) [Mo Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-farah/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [My greatest memories as a kid were playing sports with my dad and watching sports with my dad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-teixeira/my-greatest-memories-as-a-kid-were-playing-sports-with-my-dad-and/) [Mark Teixeira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-teixeira/) > [What’s the use of remembering anything? If it was unpleasant it was unpleasant and if it was pleasant it’s over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/what-s-the-use-of-remembering-anything-if-it-was-unpleasant-it-was/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [Always remember a little thing can change everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-remember-a-little-thing-can-change-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If God knows me I will never forget him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/if-god-knows-me-i-will-never-forget-him/) [Trunxbeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trunxbeats/) [Browse all 12,248 Memory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason that his memory is too good.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for-the-sole-reason-that-his/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Memory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for-the-sole-reason-that-his/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/461/friedrich-nietzsche-15_memory_many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for_1290817.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/461/friedrich-nietzsche-15_memory_many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for_1290817.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/461/friedrich-nietzsche-15_memory_many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for_1290817.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason that his memory is too good.” — 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": "“Many a man fails to become...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for-the-sole-reason-that-his/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-man-fails-to-become-a-thinker-for-the-sole-reason-that-his/#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 } } ] } ```