--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is originality? To see something…" description: "\"What is originality? To see something that is as yet without a name, that is as yet impossible to designate, even though it staresus in the face. The w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_what-is-originality-to-see-something-tha_2499016.jpg" --- # What is originality? To see something that is as yet… ![“What is originality? To see something that is as yet without a name, that is as yet impossible to designate, even though it staresus in the face. The way it usually is with people, it is a thing's name that makes it perceptible to them in the first place.--For the most part, the original ones have…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_what-is-originality-to-see-something-tha_2499016.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_what-is-originality-to-see-something-tha_2499016.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_what-is-originality-to-see-something-tha_2499016.jpg) > “What is originality? To see something that is as yet without a name, that is as yet impossible to designate, even though it staresus in the face. The way it usually is with people, it is a thing's name that makes it perceptible to them in the first place.--For the most part, the original ones have also been the name-givers.” [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. Originality is recognizing something fundamentally new before language can label it, and naming it makes it understandable. **In simple terms:** Seeing new things before naming them. Key Takeaway Observe and name the unseen. Themes creativity perception language Mood curious reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - artistic innovation - scientific discovery - personal insight - cultural shifts Key Concepts existentialism phenomenology Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify the unnamed? - What limits does naming impose? A Different Perspective Naming can constrain perception, limiting further exploration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Original](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original/) [Originality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originality/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Actual philosophers... are commanders and law-givers: they say "thus it shall be!", it is they who determine the Wherefore and Whither of mankind, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/actual-philosophers-are-commanders-and-law-givers-they-say-thus-it/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The greatest giver of alms is cowardice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-greatest-giver-of-alms-is-cowardice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If you're not prepared to be wrong, you're not prepared to be original.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/if-you-re-not-prepared-to-be-wrong-you-re-not-prepared-to-be-original/) [Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/) > [“Improvement is not enough, you also need innovation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/improvement-is-not-enough-you-also-need-innovation/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [No man who values originality will ever be original. But try to tell the truth as you see it, try to do any bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/no-man-who-values-originality-will-ever-be-original-but-try-to-tell/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Be yourself. Be original.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona/be-yourself-be-original/) Fiona > [“You couldn't get more original than Laura. Laura. Yes, she was an original, all right. One of a kind. Did they break her mold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/you-couldn-t-get-more-original-than-laura-laura-yes-she-was-an/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Improvement is not enough, you also needs innovation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/improvement-is-not-enough-you-also-needs-innovation/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [The best way to be original is to be yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-best-way-to-be-original-is-to-be-yourself/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When you haven't figured out who you are and what you offer the world, it's awfully easy to get hoodwinked into thinking you're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-lubin-sherman/when-you-haven-t-figured-out-who-you-are-and-what-you-offer-the-world/) Ellen Lubin-Sherman > [I'll develop my own image. I'm an original man. A one and only. I just need some help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-shepard/i-ll-develop-my-own-image-i-m-an-original-man-a-one-and-only-i-just/) [Sam Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-shepard/) > [To be original, or different, is felt to be "dangerous."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/to-be-original-or-different-is-felt-to-be-dangerous/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [Johnny U was an American original, a piece of work like none other, excepting maybe Paul Bunyan and Horatio Alger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-deford/johnny-u-was-an-american-original-a-piece-of-work-like-none-other/) [Frank Deford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-deford/) > [Being good is more important than being original. Originality is a product, not an intention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rand/being-good-is-more-important-than-being-original-originality-is-a/) [Paul Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rand/) > [“Instead of trying to be original, try being you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aegelis/instead-of-trying-to-be-original-try-being-you/) [Aegelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aegelis/) ## 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": "What is originality? To see something that is as yet without a name, that is as yet impossible to designate, even though it staresus in the face. The way it usually is with people, it is a thing's name that makes it perceptible to them in the first place.--For the most part, the original ones have also been the name-givers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-originality-to-see-something-that-is-as-yet-without-a-name/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creativity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-originality-to-see-something-that-is-as-yet-without-a-name/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_what-is-originality-to-see-something-tha_2499016.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_what-is-originality-to-see-something-tha_2499016.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/friedrich-nietzsche-15_creativity_what-is-originality-to-see-something-tha_2499016.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is originality? To see something that is as yet without a name, that is as yet impossible to designate…” — 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": "What is originality? To see something...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-originality-to-see-something-that-is-as-yet-without-a-name/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-originality-to-see-something-that-is-as-yet-without-a-name/#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 } } ] } ```