--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With the unknown, one is confronted with…" description: "\"With the unknown, one is confronted with danger, discomfort, and care; the first instinct is to abolish these painful states. First principle: any expl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abolish_with-the-unknown-one-is-confronted-with_3025802.jpg" --- # With the unknown, one is confronted with danger… ![“With the unknown, one is confronted with danger, discomfort, and care; the first instinct is to abolish these painful states. First principle: any explanation is better than none. . . . The causal instinct is thus conditional upon, and excited by, the feeling of fear. The "why?" shall, if at all…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abolish_with-the-unknown-one-is-confronted-with_3025802.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abolish_with-the-unknown-one-is-confronted-with_3025802.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e9/friedrich-nietzsche-15_abolish_with-the-unknown-one-is-confronted-with_3025802.jpg) > “With the unknown, one is confronted with danger, discomfort, and care; the first instinct is to abolish these painful states. First principle: any explanation is better than none. . . . The causal instinct is thus conditional upon, and excited by, the feeling of fear. The "why?" shall, if at all possible, not give the cause for its own sake so much as for a particular kind of cause -- a cause that is comforting, liberating, and relieving.” [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 instinctively fear the unknown and seek comforting explanations, yet true understanding requires confronting discomfort. **In simple terms:** Fear drives us to simplify; true insight needs discomfort. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty for deeper knowledge. Themes philosophy psychology knowledge Mood inquisitive analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - scientific research - personal growth - decision making Key Concepts fear causality comfort seeking Questions to Reflect On - What fears limit your learning? - How can you tolerate uncertainty? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on comfort can hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Comforting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comforting/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Discomfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discomfort/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) ## Related quotes > [To regard states of distress in general as an objection, as something which must be abolished is the greatest nonsense on earth; having the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-regard-states-of-distress-in-general-as-an-objection-as-something/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [When death brings at last the desired forgetfulness, it abolishes life and being together, and sets the seal on the knowledge that "being" is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-death-brings-at-last-the-desired-forgetfulness-it-abolishes-life/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Both love of mankind, and respect for their rights are duties; the former however is only a conditional, the latter an unconditional, purely imperative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/both-love-of-mankind-and-respect-for-their-rights-are-duties-the/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Devotion means your involvement with life is no more conditional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/devotion-means-your-involvement-with-life-is-no-more-conditional/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [All love is conditional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-love-is-conditional/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Computer mediation seems to bathe action in a more conditional light: perhaps it happened; perhaps it didn't. 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Marxist feminists made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/victorian-feminists-made-the-mistake-of-making-membership-of-the/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [A money-lender--he serves you in the present tense; he lends you in the conditional mood; keeps you in the conjunctive; and ruins you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/a-money-lender-he-serves-you-in-the-present-tense-he-lends-you-in-the/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“How did you deal with it? How do you stop loving someone?” “The Creator didn’t make love conditional,” Jona said. “Love is what makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-v-brett/how-did-you-deal-with-it-how-do-you-stop-loving-someone-the-creator/) [Peter V. Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-v-brett/) > [It would be really nice to be able to put out releases that wouldn't be conditional upon an album format, and just put out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-greenwood/it-would-be-really-nice-to-be-able-to-put-out-releases-that-wouldn-t/) [Colin Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-greenwood/) > [And the reason is found in the first lie - the lie which you hold as the truth about God - that God cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/and-the-reason-is-found-in-the-first-lie-the-lie-which-you-hold-as/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald-2/integrity-is-not-a-conditional-word-it-doesn-t-blow-in-the-wind-or/) John D MacDonald > [If my love is without sacrifice, it is selfish. Such a love is barter, for there is exchange of love and devotion in return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-my-love-is-without-sacrifice-it-is-selfish-such-a-love-is-barter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) ## 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 Abolish quotes > [To be creative means to connect. 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Shall we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/do-not-suppose-that-abuses-are-eliminated-by-destroying-the-object/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [Throughout the last century there were multiple attempts at giving Afghan women more autonomy, to change marriage laws, to abolish the practice of bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/throughout-the-last-century-there-were-multiple-attempts-at-giving/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [But perhaps the next step isn't to, once again, expand the otherwise narrow definition of marriage but to altogether abolish the false distinction between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kohn/but-perhaps-the-next-step-isn-t-to-once-again-expand-the-otherwise/) [Sally Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kohn/) > [I know we can't abolish prejudice through laws, but we can set up guidelines for our actions by legislation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-we-can-t-abolish-prejudice-through-laws-but-we-can-set-up/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we need is someone to abolish the House Of Lords, get rid of the Royal Family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boorman/what-we-need-is-someone-to-abolish-the-house-of-lords-get-rid-of-the/) [John Boorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boorman/) > [There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/there-is-not-a-right-too-long-denied-to-which-we-do-not-aspire-in/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [Environmental scientists also show us clearly that from the environmental and ecological points of view that nuclear war is not preventable. The only way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tadatoshi-akiba/environmental-scientists-also-show-us-clearly-that-from-the/) Tadatoshi Akiba > [We should abolish 'work.' By that I mean abolishing the distinction between work and leisure, one of the greatest mistakes of the last century,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/we-should-abolish-work-by-that-i-mean-abolishing-the-distinction/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) > [The Bolsheviks started not just on the killing of private property; they were trying to abolish money itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/the-bolsheviks-started-not-just-on-the-killing-of-private-property/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [Let us leave the EEC, abolish human rights laws, take TV sets, pool tables and phones out of prisons, bring back corporal and capital…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-bates/let-us-leave-the-eec-abolish-human-rights-laws-take-tv-sets-pool/) [Ken Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-bates/) > [Government spending cannot create additional jobs. If the government provides the funds required by taxing the citizens or by borrowing from the public, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/government-spending-cannot-create-additional-jobs-if-the-government/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be a less folly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/liberty-is-to-faction-what-air-is-to-fire-an-aliment-without-which-it/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I know in London a Welsh hairdresser who has striven so vehemently to abolish his accent that he sounds like a man speaking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/i-know-in-london-a-welsh-hairdresser-who-has-striven-so-vehemently-to/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) Browse all 300 Abolish quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With the unknown, one is confronted with danger, discomfort, and care; the first instinct is to abolish these painful states. First principle: any explanation is better than none. . . . The causal instinct is thus conditional upon, and excited by, the feeling of fear. 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