---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One has to know the size of one's stomach."
description: "\"One has to know the size of one's stomach.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/527/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomac_513533.jpg"
---

#  One has to know the size of one's stomach.

![“One has to know the size of one's stomach.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/527/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomac_513533.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/527/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomac_513533.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/527/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomac_513533.jpg)

> “One has to know the size of one's stomach.”

[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.

One must understand personal limits before overreaching.

**In simple terms:** Know your limits before overextending.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and respect personal capacity.

Themes

self‑knowledge limits humility

Mood

thoughtful cautious

Type

philosophical advisory

When to use this quote

- career planning
- dieting
- budgeting
- relationship boundaries

Key Concepts

philosophy ethics personal development

Questions to Reflect On

- What are your personal limits?
- How to balance ambition with capacity?

A Different Perspective

Ignoring limits can lead to burnout.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Know Size](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-size-1189313/) [Know thyself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-thyself/) [Size](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/size/) [Size Stomach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/size-stomach-4346201/) [Stomach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stomach/) [Thyself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thyself/)

## Related quotes

> [“The laziness level of a society can be understood from the size of their stomach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/the-laziness-level-of-a-society-can-be-understood-from-the-size-of/)

[M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/)

> [A matter that becomes clear ceases to concern us.--What was that god thinking who counseled, "Know thyself!" Did he perhaps mean,"Cease to concern yourself!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-matter-that-becomes-clear-ceases-to-concern-us-what-was-that-god/)

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

> [Active, successful natures act, not according to the maxim, "know thyself," but as if prompted by the commandment: will a self, and so become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/active-successful-natures-act-not-according-to-the-maxim-know-thyself/)

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

> [I already know my size. I don't need reminding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/i-already-know-my-size-i-don-t-need-reminding/)

[Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/)

> [There are two sentences inscribed upon the Ancient oracle... "Know thyself" and "Nothing too much"; and upon these all other precepts depend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/there-are-two-sentences-inscribed-upon-the-ancient-oracle-know/)

[Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/)

> [All too willingly man sees himself as the centre of the universe, as something not belonging to the rest of nature but standing apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/all-too-willingly-man-sees-himself-as-the-centre-of-the-universe-as/)

[Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/)

> [“If you don't know what you want, others will want you for what they know! You must know yourself!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/if-you-don-t-know-what-you-want-others-will-want-you-for-what-they/)

[Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/)

> [Know thyself because what else is there to know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-connor/know-thyself-because-what-else-is-there-to-know/)

[Sarah Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-connor/)

> [The height of all philosophy is to know thyself; and the end of this knowledge is to know God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/the-height-of-all-philosophy-is-to-know-thyself-and-the-end-of-this/)

[Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/)

> [My friend...care for your psyche...know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/my-friend-care-for-your-psyche-know-thyself-for-once-we-know/)

[Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/)

> [Knowledge can be acquired by a suitable and complete study, no matter what the starting point is. Only one must know how to 'learn.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/knowledge-can-be-acquired-by-a-suitable-and-complete-study-no-matter/)

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

> [Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/make-it-thy-business-to-know-thyself-which-is-the-most-difficult/)

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

> [Know thyself and thou wilt know the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pythagoras/know-thyself-and-thou-wilt-know-the-universe/)

[Pythagoras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pythagoras/)

> [The aim of human life is to know thyself. Think for yourself. Question authority. Think with your friends. Create, create new realities. Philosophy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/the-aim-of-human-life-is-to-know-thyself-think-for-yourself-question/)

[Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/)

> [Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/know-thyself-a-maxim-as-pernicious-as-it-is-ugly-whoever-studies/)

[Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/)

## 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 Know quotes

> [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/)

[Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/)

> [“To know someone, to be known. That matters more than he'd ever thought it would.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/to-know-someone-to-be-known-that-matters-more-than-he-d-ever-thought/)

[Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/)

> [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/)

> [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/)

[Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/)

> [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/)

[Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/)

> [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/)

[Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/)

> [Don't get too attached to someone you know you can't be together with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/don-t-get-too-attached-to-someone-you-know-you-can-t-be-together-with/)

[Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/)

> [I know what you're thinking... and you oughtta be ashamed of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-preston/i-know-what-you-re-thinking-and-you-oughtta-be-ashamed-of-yourself/)

[Robert Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-preston/)

> [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/)

[Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/)

> [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/)

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

> [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/)

[Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/)

> [I have always been a big meta guy because I think the way journalism is practiced in Washington, and the way everyone sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/i-have-always-been-a-big-meta-guy-because-i-think-the-way-journalism/)

[Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/)

> [“Take your time to find and understand what you don’t know and in the end, you shall know that it is not all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/take-your-time-to-find-and-understand-what-you-don-t-know-and-in-the/)

[Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/)

> [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/)

[Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/)

[Browse all 22,299 Know quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "One has to know the size of one's stomach.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomach/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Know"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomach/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/527/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomac_513533.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/527/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomac_513533.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/527/friedrich-nietzsche-15_know_one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomac_513533.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“One has to know the size of one's stomach.” — 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": "One has to know the size...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomach/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-has-to-know-the-size-of-one-s-stomach/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
