--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thereby men do not flee from being…" description: "\"“Thereby men do not flee from being deceived as much as from being damaged by deception: what they hate at this stage is basically not the deception bu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deception_thereby-men-do-not-flee-from-being-decei_2612188.jpg" --- # Thereby men do not flee from being deceived as much as… ![“Thereby men do not flee from being deceived as much as from being damaged by deception: what they hate at this stage is basically not the deception but the bad, hostile consequences of certain kinds of deceptions. In a similarly limited way man wants the truth: he desires the agreeable…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deception_thereby-men-do-not-flee-from-being-decei_2612188.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deception_thereby-men-do-not-flee-from-being-decei_2612188.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/friedrich-nietzsche-15_deception_thereby-men-do-not-flee-from-being-decei_2612188.jpg) > ““Thereby men do not flee from being deceived as much as from being damaged by deception: what they hate at this stage is basically not the deception but the bad, hostile consequences of certain kinds of deceptions. In a similarly limited way man wants the truth: he desires the agreeable life-preserving consequences of truth, but he is indifferent to pure knowledge, which has no consequences; he is even hostile to possibly damaging and destructive truths.”” [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 avoid deception not because they dislike being misled, but because they fear the harmful outcomes it can cause; similarly, they seek truth only when it benefits them, rejecting knowledge without practical value. **In simple terms:** People fear harmful results of lies and only want useful truth. Key Takeaway Seek truth that serves well‑being, not just knowledge. Themes truth deception consequences human nature knowledge Mood cautious reflective Type philosophical critical analytical When to use this quote - personal decision making - political discourse - media consumption - education - relationships Key Concepts philosophy psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What consequences do you accept for truth? - When should you prioritize knowledge over comfort? A Different Perspective Ignoring harmful truths can perpetuate danger; not all truth is harmless. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consequences Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequences-truth-1843661/) [Deception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deception/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Indifferent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-indifferent-1319104/) [Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths/) [Wants Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wants-truth-573158/) ## Related quotes > [Even if things are as bad as they could possible be, and as meaningless, then matters of truth are themselves indifferent; we may as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/even-if-things-are-as-bad-as-they-could-possible-be-and-as/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [In a mathematical proposition, for example, the objectivity is given, but therefore its truth is also an indifferent truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-a-mathematical-proposition-for-example-the-objectivity-is-given/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“I am pursuing Truth, and am indifferent whither I am led, if she is my only leader.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-rush/i-am-pursuing-truth-and-am-indifferent-whither-i-am-led-if-she-is-my/) [Benjamin Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-rush/) > [I have been allowed to inhabit different shades of human nature and different colours of truth indifferent circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/i-have-been-allowed-to-inhabit-different-shades-of-human-nature-and/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [“There are always consequences to the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-callahan-henry/there-are-always-consequences-to-the-truth/) [Patti Callahan Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-callahan-henry/) > [Only cowards lie, the daring ones never stop speaking truth as they are worth facing the consequences of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/only-cowards-lie-the-daring-ones-never-stop-speaking-truth-as-they/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [“Truth can hurt, can be blind to consequences. Truth can cut. Truth can sever. Too”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-hogan/truth-can-hurt-can-be-blind-to-consequences-truth-can-cut-truth-can/) [Mitchell Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-hogan/) > [As long as a journalist tells the truth, in conscience and fairness, it is not his job to worry about consequences. The truth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bradlee/as-long-as-a-journalist-tells-the-truth-in-conscience-and-fairness-it/) [Ben Bradlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bradlee/) > [“scared as you may be of the consequences of the truth, it don’t hold a candle to the consequences of a lie. Because guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-n-joy/scared-as-you-may-be-of-the-consequences-of-the-truth-it-don-t-hold-a/) [E.N. Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-n-joy/) > [I'd rather suffer the consequences of truth than of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/i-d-rather-suffer-the-consequences-of-truth-than-of-silence/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [I'd rather deal with the consequences of the truth rather than the benefits of a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devin-kelley/i-d-rather-deal-with-the-consequences-of-the-truth-rather-than-the/) [Devin Kelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devin-kelley/) > [It seems like everybody wants the truth, but nobody wants to be honest!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-seems-like-everybody-wants-the-truth-but-nobody-wants-to-be-honest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The unconscious wants truth. It ceases to speak to those who want something else more than truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-unconscious-wants-truth-it-ceases-to-speak-to-those-who-want/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [When a woman trusts you, respect her for it. She wants nothing but the truth of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drusila-t/when-a-woman-trusts-you-respect-her-for-it-she-wants-nothing-but-the/) [Drusila T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drusila-t/) > [Everyone wants to be truth tellers today while never thinking we are the ones who need the truth told to us. It's quite amusing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sho-baraka/everyone-wants-to-be-truth-tellers-today-while-never-thinking-we-are/) [Sho Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sho-baraka/) ## 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 Deception quotes > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [“The fact that I can get away with something is the very reason why I shouldn’t do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/the-fact-that-i-can-get-away-with-something-is-the-very-reason-why-i/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“And so back to Cassie: who was she? Part of the deception; just a friend or something else…perhaps it was time to find out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-cusick-jones/and-so-back-to-cassie-who-was-she-part-of-the-deception-just-a-friend/) [Melanie Cusick-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-cusick-jones/) > [“Satan wants you to believe that you don't have a choice in the matter. You can't be happy until things go the way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-rietzsch/satan-wants-you-to-believe-that-you-don-t-have-a-choice-in-the-matter/) [Lindsey Rietzsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-rietzsch/) > [No-deal Brexit could be Boris Johnson's biggest deception yet - worse than the Boris bus or the lies that had him sacked as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-davey/no-deal-brexit-could-be-boris-johnson-s-biggest-deception-yet-worse/) [Ed Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-davey/) > [The public should begin to understand that there's nothing that comes out of this campaign, or this Obama White House, that they can believe.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sununu/the-public-should-begin-to-understand-that-there-s-nothing-that-comes/) [John Sununu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sununu/) > [The history of institutions is often a history of deception and illusions; for their virtue depends on the ideas that produce and on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-history-of-institutions-is-often-a-history-of-deception-and/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Speaking of trust, ever since I wrote this book, 'Liespotting,' no one wants to meet me in person anymore - no, no, no, no,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-meyer/speaking-of-trust-ever-since-i-wrote-this-book-liespotting-no-one/) [Pamela Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-meyer/) > [Jack and Jill ran up the hill, both for a little fun. Jack's plan was deception while Jill sought affection. And Jack wouldn't quit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-faria-stolarz/jack-and-jill-ran-up-the-hill-both-for-a-little-fun-jack-s-plan-was/) [Laurie Faria Stolarz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-faria-stolarz/) > [People with psychopathy are very good at reading the minds of their victims. That's probably most clearly seen in deception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-baron-cohen/people-with-psychopathy-are-very-good-at-reading-the-minds-of-their/) [Simon Baron-Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-baron-cohen/) > [Any seeming deception in a statement is costly, not only in the expense of the advertising but in the detrimental effect produced upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wanamaker/any-seeming-deception-in-a-statement-is-costly-not-only-in-the/) [John Wanamaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wanamaker/) > [Knowledge of God's Word is a bulwark against deception, temptation, accusation, even persecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-louis-cole/knowledge-of-god-s-word-is-a-bulwark-against-deception-temptation/) [Edwin Louis Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-louis-cole/) > [In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-musto/in-the-last-few-years-the-very-idea-of-telling-the-truth-the-whole/) [Michael Musto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-musto/) > [“To keep myself from harming or calling N and to stave off the rage and despair, I focus on my extraordinary son, drink midrange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/to-keep-myself-from-harming-or-calling-n-and-to-stave-off-the-rage/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) > [“For me, it´s sloth," I say. "Hedonistic sloth and escapism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/for-me-it-s-sloth-i-say-hedonistic-sloth-and-escapism/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) [Browse all 1,232 Deception quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deception/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Thereby men do not flee from being deceived as much as from being damaged by deception: what they hate at this stage is basically not the deception but the bad, hostile consequences of certain kinds of deceptions. 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