--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are unknown to ourselves, we men of…" description: "\"“We are unknown to ourselves, we men of knowledge--and with good reason. We have never sought ourselves--how could it happen that we should ever find o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/friedrich-nietzsche-15_knowledge_we-are-unknown-to-ourselves-we-men-of-kn_62432.jpg" --- # We are unknown to ourselves, we men of knowledge--and with… ![“We are unknown to ourselves, we men of knowledge--and with good reason. We have never sought ourselves--how could it happen that we should ever find ourselves?” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/friedrich-nietzsche-15_knowledge_we-are-unknown-to-ourselves-we-men-of-kn_62432.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/friedrich-nietzsche-15_knowledge_we-are-unknown-to-ourselves-we-men-of-kn_62432.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/friedrich-nietzsche-15_knowledge_we-are-unknown-to-ourselves-we-men-of-kn_62432.jpg) > ““We are unknown to ourselves, we men of knowledge--and with good reason. We have never sought ourselves--how could it happen that we should ever find ourselves?”” [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. Humans lack self-awareness because they prioritize external knowledge over introspection, making true self-discovery unlikely without deliberate effort. **In simple terms:** Self-knowledge is rare without intentional reflection. Key Takeaway Self-awareness requires active seeking. Themes self-awareness philosophy existentialism knowledge introspection Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal growth - psychotherapy - leadership development - creative writing Key Concepts human nature knowledge limits Practical Applications - mindfulness training - coaching Questions to Reflect On - How can one cultivate self-awareness? - What barriers prevent self-exploration? A Different Perspective null ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nietzsche/) [Self knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [Because they know not the forces of nature, and in order that they may have comrades in their ignorance, they suffer not that others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-of-conches/because-they-know-not-the-forces-of-nature-and-in-order-that-they-may/) [William of Conches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-of-conches/) > [No sooner met but they looked, no sooner looked than they loved than they sighed, no sooner sighed but they asked one another the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/no-sooner-met-but-they-looked-no-sooner-looked-than-they-loved-than/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/unknown-men-most-of-the-confidences-were-unsought-frequently-i-have/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“I travelled among unknown men in lands beyond the sea . . .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wordsworth/i-travelled-among-unknown-men-in-lands-beyond-the-sea/) Wordsworth > [Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/do-you-see-a-man-who-excels-in-his-work-he-will-stand-before-kings-he/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [I travelled among unknown men, In lands beyond the sea; Nor England! did I know till then What love I bore to thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/i-travelled-among-unknown-men-in-lands-beyond-the-sea-nor-england-did/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [“We take other men's knowledge and opinions upon trust; which is an idle and superficial learning. We must make it our own. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/we-take-other-men-s-knowledge-and-opinions-upon-trust-which-is-an/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-dunan-page/for-opinion-in-good-men-is-but-knowledge-in-the-making/) Anne Dunan-page > [Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, for opinion in good men is but knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/where-there-is-much-desire-to-learn-there-of-necessity-will-be-much/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The natural desire of good men is knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-natural-desire-of-good-men-is-knowledge/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Men should take their knowledge from the Sun, the Moon and the Stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/men-should-take-their-knowledge-from-the-sun-the-moon-and-the-stars/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/we-can-be-knowledgeable-with-other-men-s-knowledge-but-we-cannot-be/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I am afraid that I do not believe that any body of men can have enough knowledge of the past, the present and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-cowperthwaite/i-am-afraid-that-i-do-not-believe-that-any-body-of-men-can-have/) [John James Cowperthwaite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-cowperthwaite/) > [We can be knowledgable with other men's knowledge but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/we-can-be-knowledgable-with-other-men-s-knowledge-but-we-cannot-be/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [What men call knowledge, is the reasoned acceptance of false appearances. Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/what-men-call-knowledge-is-the-reasoned-acceptance-of-false/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) ## 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 Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [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/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We are unknown to ourselves, we men of knowledge--and with good reason. 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