--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nonsense is so good only because common…" description: "\"Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.\" — George Santayana" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc1/george-santayana-478_common-sense_nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common_1707033.png" --- # Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited. ![“Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc1/george-santayana-478_common-sense_nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common_1707033.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc1/george-santayana-478_common-sense_nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common_1707033.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc1/george-santayana-478_common-sense_nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common_1707033.png) > “Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Common sense is limited, making nonsense appear valuable as a contrast. **In simple terms:** Nonsense seems valuable because common sense is limited. Key Takeaway Question the limits of your assumptions. Themes philosophy critical thinking creativity Mood thoughtful skeptical Type philosophical provocative When to use this quote - debates - creative brainstorming - problem solving - education Key Concepts Epistemology cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish useful nonsense from harmful? - When does challenging common sense become reckless? A Different Perspective Nonsense can mislead if taken seriously. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Nonsense Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense-good-709732/) [Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense/) [Sense Limited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-limited-1208062/) ## Related quotes > [When in doubt, make no sense. No sense is good. And nonsense is good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/when-in-doubt-make-no-sense-no-sense-is-good-and-nonsense-is-good/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) > [Much of the blame is the malarkey that artists have created to glorify war, which as we all know, is nonsense, and a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/much-of-the-blame-is-the-malarkey-that-artists-have-created-to/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Good nonsense is good sense in disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/good-nonsense-is-good-sense-in-disguise/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [“Nonsense, my good man! What we lose in vigor, we only gain in wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-kennedy/nonsense-my-good-man-what-we-lose-in-vigor-we-only-gain-in-wisdom/) [James Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-kennedy/) > [“Uncommon sense is common nonsense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton-3/uncommon-sense-is-common-nonsense/) [G K Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton-3/) > [Common sense, in so far as it exists, is all for the bourgeoisie. Nonsense is the privilege of the aristocracy. The worries of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-jean-nathan/common-sense-in-so-far-as-it-exists-is-all-for-the-bourgeoisie/) [George Jean Nathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-jean-nathan/) > [...science is nothing but developed perception, interpreted intent, common-sense rounded out and minutely articulated. It is therefore as much an instinctive product, as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/science-is-nothing-but-developed-perception-interpreted-intent-common/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To demand 'sense' is the hallmark of nonsense. Nature does not make sense. Nothing makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/to-demand-sense-is-the-hallmark-of-nonsense-nature-does-not-make/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“To recognize bullshit, nose is better than ear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/to-recognize-bullshit-nose-is-better-than-ear/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Common sense often makes good law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/common-sense-often-makes-good-law/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [I'm not stupid. I mean, I didn't go to college but I've got a lot of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jackson/i-m-not-stupid-i-mean-i-didn-t-go-to-college-but-i-ve-got-a-lot-of/) [Stephen Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jackson/) > [“People think common sense is common - but it's not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-cherry/people-think-common-sense-is-common-but-it-s-not/) [Don Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-cherry/) > [Common sense is very uncommon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-greeley/common-sense-is-very-uncommon/) [Horace Greeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-greeley/) > [“Listen: Common sense doesn't mean what it used to mean." -Matthias Chalmers, STAIRWAY2 HEAVEN”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-thompson/listen-common-sense-doesn-t-mean-what-it-used-to-mean-matthias/) [Chaz Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-thompson/) > [Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/common-sense-is-the-guy-who-tells-you-that-you-ought-to-have-had-your/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Common sense quotes > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/common-sense-is-the-guy-who-tells-you-that-you-ought-to-have-had-your/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Below the 40th latitude there is no law; below the 50th no god; below the 60th no common sense and below the 70th no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley/below-the-40th-latitude-there-is-no-law-below-the-50th-no-god-below/) [Kim Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley/) > [I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness - nay, I have never found common sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/i-have-never-seen-either-a-drop-of-piety-or-a-grain-of-truth-or/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [How is it that labels like 'centrist' and 'moderate,' which common sense tells us should reflect the views of a majority of Americans, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehdi-hasan/how-is-it-that-labels-like-centrist-and-moderate-which-common-sense/) [Mehdi Hasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehdi-hasan/) > [“It was true that common sense wasn’t her forte. It wasn’t that she was silly or stupid, but she heard so many more voices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-goddard/it-was-true-that-common-sense-wasn-t-her-forte-it-wasn-t-that-she-was/) [Donna Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-goddard/) > [“The accident in your rearview mirror already happened. The one in front of you is still preventable. Pay attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nakia-r-laushaul/the-accident-in-your-rearview-mirror-already-happened-the-one-in/) [Nakia R. Laushaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nakia-r-laushaul/) > [In Raleigh, partisan battles, power struggles and lawsuits might grab the headlines, but we have to work together where we can. To look beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-cooper/in-raleigh-partisan-battles-power-struggles-and-lawsuits-might-grab/) [Roy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-cooper/) > [“Listen: Common sense doesn't mean what it used to mean." -Matthias Chalmers, STAIRWAY2 HEAVEN”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-thompson/listen-common-sense-doesn-t-mean-what-it-used-to-mean-matthias/) [Chaz Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-thompson/) > [“when people’s brains are in defensive mode, it becomes harder to see common sense. Small disagreements can end up holding back progress beyond reason.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-webb/when-people-s-brains-are-in-defensive-mode-it-becomes-harder-to-see/) [Caroline Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-webb/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [ As we have seen after every other \[Donald\] Trump controversy, this one only increased their enthusiasm for him. His supporters thought the idea of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-inskeep/as-we-have-seen-after-every-other-donald-trump-controversy-this-one/) [Steve Inskeep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-inskeep/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Browse all 1,942 Common sense quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Santayana" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common-sense-is-so-limited/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common sense" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common-sense-is-so-limited/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc1/george-santayana-478_common-sense_nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common_1707033.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc1/george-santayana-478_common-sense_nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common_1707033.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc1/george-santayana-478_common-sense_nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common_1707033.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.” — George Santayana", "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": "George Santayana", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nonsense is so good only because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common-sense-is-so-limited/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/nonsense-is-so-good-only-because-common-sense-is-so-limited/#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 } } ] } ```