--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Original minds are not distinguished by…" description: "\"Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is over-looked as someth..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by_29728.jpg" --- # Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to… ![“Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is over-looked as something new.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by_29728.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by_29728.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by_29728.jpg) > “Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is over-looked as something new.” [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. True insight comes from reinterpreting familiar phenomena, not merely discovering novel ones. **In simple terms:** Seeing the familiar anew. Key Takeaway Reframe the ordinary to uncover hidden value. Themes perception creativity innovation wisdom analysis Mood curiosity inspiration Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - product design - academic research - strategic planning - marketing - teaching Key Concepts pattern recognition contextual thinking Practical Applications - ideation sessions - problem‑solving workshops Questions to Reflect On - How might you challenge assumptions about what is 'new'? - What familiar elements could be re‑examined for fresh insight? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Familiar things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar-things/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [New things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-things/) [Originality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originality/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“But he’s the most familiar thing in this house, and I fall asleep better, listening to Baz breathe, than I have since winter break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/but-he-s-the-most-familiar-thing-in-this-house-and-i-fall-asleep/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [The name Albert Murray was never household familiar. Yet he was one of the truly original minds of 20th-century American letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chatterton-williams/the-name-albert-murray-was-never-household-familiar-yet-he-was-one-of/) [Thomas Chatterton Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chatterton-williams/) > [We are obliged to regard many of our original minds as crazy at least until we have become as clever as they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-are-obliged-to-regard-many-of-our-original-minds-as-crazy-at-least/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Many have original minds who do not think it - they are led away by custom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/many-have-original-minds-who-do-not-think-it-they-are-led-away-by/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Marriage made people old and familiar, while still young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/marriage-made-people-old-and-familiar-while-still-young/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Give me the old familiar walk, postoffice and all, with this ever new self, with this infinite expectation and faith, which does not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/give-me-the-old-familiar-walk-postoffice-and-all-with-this-ever-new/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Down in the deep, up in the sky , I see them always, far or nigh, And I shall see them till I die…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/down-in-the-deep-up-in-the-sky-i-see-them-always-far-or-nigh-and-i/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting. Try to kill it all away, but I remember everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nine-inch-nails/the-needle-tears-a-hole-the-old-familiar-sting-try-to-kill-it-all/) [Nine Inch Nails](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nine-inch-nails/) > [“SILENCE THAT OLD FAMILIAR SOUND.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-teets/silence-that-old-familiar-sound/) [William Teets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-teets/) > [“Rage -- that old familiar friend that got him through the hardest of times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-jordan/rage-that-old-familiar-friend-that-got-him-through-the-hardest-of/) [Sophie Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-jordan/) > [Take me to that old familiar place. Take me to memories we wont erase. Show me all that we once had. All the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/take-me-to-that-old-familiar-place-take-me-to-memories-we-wont-erase/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [“Sometimes an old familiar pain is easier to live with then a sudden unfamiliar pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-c-martin/sometimes-an-old-familiar-pain-is-easier-to-live-with-then-a-sudden/) [K.C. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-c-martin/) > [Give me the old familiar world, post-office and all, with this ever new self, with this infinite expectation and faith, which does not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/give-me-the-old-familiar-world-post-office-and-all-with-this-ever-new/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“The rebel in him flared to life like an old, familiar friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-stewart/the-rebel-in-him-flared-to-life-like-an-old-familiar-friend/) [J.M. Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-stewart/) ## 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 Creativity quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/) Andrei Amalrik > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/) Christoph Niemann > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is over-looked as something new.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creativity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by_29728.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by_29728.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by_29728.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old…” — 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": "Original minds are not distinguished by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/#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 } } ] } ```