--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Philosophers are not honest enough in…" description: "\"Philosophers are not honest enough in their work, although they make a lot of virtuous noise when the problem of truthfulness is touched even remotely...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abstract_philosophers-are-not-honest-enough-in-th_2246266.jpg" --- # Philosophers are not honest enough in their work, although… ![“Philosophers are not honest enough in their work, although they make a lot of virtuous noise when the problem of truthfulness is touched even remotely. They all pose as if they had discovered and reached their real opinions through the self-development of a cold, pure, divinely unconcerned…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abstract_philosophers-are-not-honest-enough-in-th_2246266.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abstract_philosophers-are-not-honest-enough-in-th_2246266.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/470/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abstract_philosophers-are-not-honest-enough-in-th_2246266.jpg) > “Philosophers are not honest enough in their work, although they make a lot of virtuous noise when the problem of truthfulness is touched even remotely. They all pose as if they had discovered and reached their real opinions through the self-development of a cold, pure, divinely unconcerned dialectic...; while at bottom it is an assumption, a hunch, indeed a kind of "inspiration" most often a desire of the heart that has been filtered and made abstract that they defend with reasons they have sought after the fact.” [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. Philosophers often claim objective rigor while their arguments are driven by hidden personal desires and unexamined assumptions. **In simple terms:** Philosophers hide personal motives behind logical claims. Key Takeaway Question your own biases when evaluating ideas. Themes philosophy truth motivation Mood skeptical reflective Type critical analytical When to use this quote - academic debate - personal decision making - ethical analysis Key Concepts epistemology psychology bias Questions to Reflect On - What hidden motives influence your conclusions? - How can you separate genuine insight from wishful thinking? A Different Perspective The claim of pure rationality can be self‑deceptive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Bottom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottom/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Dialectic Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialectic-assumption-5112964/) [Dialectics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialectics/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Hunches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunches/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Noise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noise/) [Not honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-honest/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosophers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophers/) [Philosophers Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophers-honest-5112962/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-development/) [Touched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/touched/) [Truthfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truthfulness/) [Unconcerned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unconcerned/) [Unconcerned Dialectic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unconcerned-dialectic-5112963/) [Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous/) ## Related quotes > [Courageous, unconcerned, scornful, coercive - so wisdom wisheth us; she is a woman, and ever loveth only a warrior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/courageous-unconcerned-scornful-coercive-so-wisdom-wisheth-us-she-is/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I would love to say how nice it is to see you again, but that would be a lie. And I am nothing if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/i-would-love-to-say-how-nice-it-is-to-see-you-again-but-that-would-be/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [You don't have to have blind faith for anything. Blind faith leads to fanaticism. You shouldn't have blind faith at all. You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/you-don-t-have-to-have-blind-faith-for-anything-blind-faith-leads-to/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [If we do not control our minds with our Buddha nature, do not practice seriously, are not honest to ourselves and do not examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ching-hai/if-we-do-not-control-our-minds-with-our-buddha-nature-do-not-practice/) [Ching Hai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ching-hai/) > [You ever hear girls say that? "I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual." I like to reply with "I'm not honest, but you're interesting!"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tosh/you-ever-hear-girls-say-that-i-m-not-religious-but-i-m-spiritual-i/) [Daniel Tosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tosh/) > [I would say that today, dishonesty is the rule, and honesty the exception. It could be, statistically, that more people are honest than dishonest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/i-would-say-that-today-dishonesty-is-the-rule-and-honesty-the/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [Until I read Anne Frank's diary, I had found books a literal escape from what could be the harsh reality around me. After I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/until-i-read-anne-frank-s-diary-i-had-found-books-a-literal-escape/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [If your not honest with yourself, how the hell are you gonna be honest with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phife-dawg/if-your-not-honest-with-yourself-how-the-hell-are-you-gonna-be-honest/) [Phife Dawg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phife-dawg/) > [It's easy to be taken advantage of if you're not honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-heigl/it-s-easy-to-be-taken-advantage-of-if-you-re-not-honest/) [Katherine Heigl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-heigl/) > [People know when they've betrayed themselves. They are very much aware when they are not honest with themselves. They hear the voice that says,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/people-know-when-they-ve-betrayed-themselves-they-are-very-much-aware/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [When we are not honest, we are cut off from a significant resource of ourselves, a vital dimension that is necessary for unity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-moustakas/when-we-are-not-honest-we-are-cut-off-from-a-significant-resource-of/) [Clark Moustakas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-moustakas/) > [If she be not honest, chaste, and true, there's no man happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-she-be-not-honest-chaste-and-true-there-s-no-man-happy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I never deal in transformations, for they are not honest, and no respectable sorceress likes to make things appear to be what they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/i-never-deal-in-transformations-for-they-are-not-honest-and-no/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [You can't truly love someone if you also love yourself, just as you can't love someone if you are not honest with them and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-stone/you-can-t-truly-love-someone-if-you-also-love-yourself-just-as-you/) [Benjamin Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-stone/) > [Honesty is always the best policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/honesty-is-always-the-best-policy/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) ## 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 Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Philosophers are not honest enough in their work, although they make a lot of virtuous noise when the problem of truthfulness is touched even remotely. 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