--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is not intelligible to me is not…" description: "\"What is not intelligible to me is not necessarily unintelligent\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_what-is-not-intelligible-to-me-is-not-ne_1031248.jpg" --- # What is not intelligible to me is not necessarily… ![“What is not intelligible to me is not necessarily unintelligent” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_what-is-not-intelligible-to-me-is-not-ne_1031248.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_what-is-not-intelligible-to-me-is-not-ne_1031248.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/friedrich-nietzsche-15_quote_what-is-not-intelligible-to-me-is-not-ne_1031248.jpg) > “What is not intelligible to me is not necessarily unintelligent” [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. Something unclear to me isn’t automatically unintelligent; lack of understanding isn’t a sign of stupidity. **In simple terms:** Unclear ≠ unintelligent. Key Takeaway Seek understanding before judgment. Themes knowledge humility interpretation Mood inquisitive open‑minded Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - cross‑cultural dialogue - science - art critique Key Concepts epistemology psychology Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you make about others? - How can you improve comprehension? A Different Perspective Complex ideas may remain opaque. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Intelligible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligible/) ## Related quotes > [It is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-is-the-first-duty-of-a-hypothesis-to-be-intelligible/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [The Church must be intelligible to the simple as well as to the shrewd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hugh-benson/the-church-must-be-intelligible-to-the-simple-as-well-as-to-the-shrewd/) [Robert Hugh Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hugh-benson/) > [We don't really want to think that the artist is only very skilled, that he has merely devoted his life to perfecting a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/we-don-t-really-want-to-think-that-the-artist-is-only-very-skilled/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Nowadays to be intelligible is to be found out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/nowadays-to-be-intelligible-is-to-be-found-out/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Anyone who wishes to be understood had better be sure he has made himself intelligible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/anyone-who-wishes-to-be-understood-had-better-be-sure-he-has-made/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Unless one is a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hope/unless-one-is-a-genius-it-is-best-to-aim-at-being-intelligible/) [Anthony Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hope/) > [We see that pedantry has never been held in such esteem for the government of the world as in our times, and it offers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/we-see-that-pedantry-has-never-been-held-in-such-esteem-for-the/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [The present is only intelligible in the light of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/the-present-is-only-intelligible-in-the-light-of-the-past/) [Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/) > [My lectures are published and not published; they will be intelligible to those who heard them, and to none beside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/my-lectures-are-published-and-not-published-they-will-be-intelligible/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Unless you are a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hope/unless-you-are-a-genius-it-is-best-to-aim-at-being-intelligible/) [Anthony Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hope/) > [The Athanasian Creed is to me light and intelligible reading in comparison with much that now passes for science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-athanasian-creed-is-to-me-light-and-intelligible-reading-in/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [We are concerned with the relationship between art and life. Contemporary art is only intelligible in terms of its relationship to our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-elliott/we-are-concerned-with-the-relationship-between-art-and-life/) [David Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-elliott/) > [“we neither of us are able to deliver our conceptions in a manner intelligible to the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/we-neither-of-us-are-able-to-deliver-our-conceptions-in-a-manner/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [“...reality is a system, completely ordered and fully intelligible, with which thought in its advance is more and more identifying itself. We may look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brand-blanshard/reality-is-a-system-completely-ordered-and-fully-intelligible-with/) [Brand Blanshard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brand-blanshard/) > [“There were not words enough in the English language, nor in any language, to make his attitude and conduct intelligible to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/there-were-not-words-enough-in-the-english-language-nor-in-any/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) ## 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 Intelligible quotes > [It is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-is-the-first-duty-of-a-hypothesis-to-be-intelligible/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [“...reality is a system, completely ordered and fully intelligible, with which thought in its advance is more and more identifying itself. We may look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brand-blanshard/reality-is-a-system-completely-ordered-and-fully-intelligible-with/) [Brand Blanshard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brand-blanshard/) > [“we neither of us are able to deliver our conceptions in a manner intelligible to the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/we-neither-of-us-are-able-to-deliver-our-conceptions-in-a-manner/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [We are concerned with the relationship between art and life. Contemporary art is only intelligible in terms of its relationship to our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-elliott/we-are-concerned-with-the-relationship-between-art-and-life/) [David Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-elliott/) > [The Athanasian Creed is to me light and intelligible reading in comparison with much that now passes for science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-athanasian-creed-is-to-me-light-and-intelligible-reading-in/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Unless you are a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hope/unless-you-are-a-genius-it-is-best-to-aim-at-being-intelligible/) [Anthony Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hope/) > [My lectures are published and not published; they will be intelligible to those who heard them, and to none beside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/my-lectures-are-published-and-not-published-they-will-be-intelligible/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The present is only intelligible in the light of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/the-present-is-only-intelligible-in-the-light-of-the-past/) [Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/) > [We see that pedantry has never been held in such esteem for the government of the world as in our times, and it offers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/we-see-that-pedantry-has-never-been-held-in-such-esteem-for-the/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [Unless one is a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hope/unless-one-is-a-genius-it-is-best-to-aim-at-being-intelligible/) [Anthony Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hope/) > [“Anyone who wishes to be understood had better be sure he has made himself intelligible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/anyone-who-wishes-to-be-understood-had-better-be-sure-he-has-made/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Nowadays to be intelligible is to be found out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/nowadays-to-be-intelligible-is-to-be-found-out/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [We don't really want to think that the artist is only very skilled, that he has merely devoted his life to perfecting a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/we-don-t-really-want-to-think-that-the-artist-is-only-very-skilled/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The Church must be intelligible to the simple as well as to the shrewd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hugh-benson/the-church-must-be-intelligible-to-the-simple-as-well-as-to-the-shrewd/) [Robert Hugh Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hugh-benson/) > [“There were not words enough in the English language, nor in any language, to make his attitude and conduct intelligible to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/there-were-not-words-enough-in-the-english-language-nor-in-any/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) [Browse all 19 Intelligible quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligible/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is not intelligible to me is not necessarily unintelligent", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-not-intelligible-to-me-is-not-necessarily-unintelligent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Intelligible" }, "@id": 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