--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many a peacock hides his peacock tail…" description: "\"Many a peacock hides his peacock tail from all eyes--and calls it his pride.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/friedrich-nietzsche-15_bird_many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-fr_145205.jpg" --- # Many a peacock hides his peacock tail from all eyes--and… ![“Many a peacock hides his peacock tail from all eyes--and calls it his pride.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/friedrich-nietzsche-15_bird_many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-fr_145205.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/friedrich-nietzsche-15_bird_many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-fr_145205.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/friedrich-nietzsche-15_bird_many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-fr_145205.jpg) > “Many a peacock hides his peacock tail from all eyes--and calls it his pride.” [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. A peacock hides its tail yet calls it pride, showing vanity. **In simple terms:** A peacock hides its tail but calls it pride. Key Takeaway Recognize when pride masks insecurity. Themes pride vanity self-image Mood critical reflective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal branding - public speaking - leadership Key Concepts psychology social perception Questions to Reflect On - What do you hide to appear proud? - How does vanity affect relationships? A Different Perspective Pride can become arrogance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Hides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hides/) [Hides Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hides-peacock-1629934/) [Modesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modesty/) [Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacock/) [Peacock Hides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacock-hides-1629933/) [Peacock Tail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacock-tail-1629935/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Tails](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tails/) ## Related quotes > [It dances today, my heart, like a peacock it dances, it dances. It sports a mosaic of passions like a peacock’s tail, It soars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/it-dances-today-my-heart-like-a-peacock-it-dances-it-dances-it-sports/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [It's an awful stretcher to believe that a peacock's tail was thus formed but ... most people just don't get it - I must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-s-an-awful-stretcher-to-believe-that-a-peacock-s-tail-was-thus/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The Ferrari is exactly the same in the human context as the peacock's tail is on the peacock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gad-saad/the-ferrari-is-exactly-the-same-in-the-human-context-as-the-peacock-s/) [Gad Saad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gad-saad/) > [Animals use a broad range of strategies to advertise themselves in the mating market. In some instances, visual cues highlight a morphological feature -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gad-saad/animals-use-a-broad-range-of-strategies-to-advertise-themselves-in/) [Gad Saad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gad-saad/) > [To frame the little animal, provide All the gay hues that wait on female pride: Let Nature guide thee; sometimes golden wire The shining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/to-frame-the-little-animal-provide-all-the-gay-hues-that-wait-on/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [The sun fades like the spreading Of a peacock's tail, as though twilight Might be read as a warning to those desperate For easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-sun-fades-like-the-spreading-of-a-peacock-s-tail-as-though/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Peacocks have the bright feathers. Fish have the long tails. Women have the mall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-rallison/peacocks-have-the-bright-feathers-fish-have-the-long-tails-women-have/) [Janette Rallison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-rallison/) > [The sparrow is sorry for the peacock at the burden of its tail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sparrow-is-sorry-for-the-peacock-at-the-burden-of-its-tail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I do not believe that any peacock envies another peacock his tail, because every peacock is persuaded that his own tail is the finest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/i-do-not-believe-that-any-peacock-envies-another-peacock-his-tail/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [How come it can’t fly no better than a chicken?’ Milkman asked. Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/how-come-it-can-t-fly-no-better-than-a-chicken-milkman-asked-too-much/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [As regards this vice, we read that the peacock is more guilty of it than any other animal. For it is always contemplating the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/as-regards-this-vice-we-read-that-the-peacock-is-more-guilty-of-it/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [The virus that causes AIDS is the trickiest pathogen scientists have ever confronted. It mutates furiously, it has decoys to evade the immune system,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-berkley/the-virus-that-causes-aids-is-the-trickiest-pathogen-scientists-have/) [Seth Berkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-berkley/) > [Everything that is visible hides something that is invisible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-magritte/everything-that-is-visible-hides-something-that-is-invisible/) [Rene Magritte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-magritte/) > [Inside Everyone Hides One Desire Outside No One Would Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/inside-everyone-hides-one-desire-outside-no-one-would-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God hides Himself behind causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-rollin/god-hides-himself-behind-causes/) [Charles Rollin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-rollin/) ## 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 Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) [Nina Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-schuyler/) > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Many a peacock hides his peacock tail from all eyes--and calls it his pride.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-from-all-eyes-and-calls-it-his/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-from-all-eyes-and-calls-it-his/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/friedrich-nietzsche-15_bird_many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-fr_145205.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/friedrich-nietzsche-15_bird_many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-fr_145205.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83e/friedrich-nietzsche-15_bird_many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-fr_145205.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Many a peacock hides his peacock tail from all eyes--and calls it his pride.” — 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 peacock hides his peacock...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-from-all-eyes-and-calls-it-his/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-a-peacock-hides-his-peacock-tail-from-all-eyes-and-calls-it-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 } } ] } ```