--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't use that exotic word \"ideals\". We…" description: "\"“Don't use that exotic word \"ideals\". We have a good enough native word: \"lies\".”\" — Henrik Ibsen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/henrik-ibsen-1419_good-enough_don-t-use-that-exotic-word-ideals-we-hav_584213.jpg" --- # Don't use that exotic word "ideals". We have a good enough… ![“Don't use that exotic word "ideals". We have a good enough native word: "lies".” quote by Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/henrik-ibsen-1419_good-enough_don-t-use-that-exotic-word-ideals-we-hav_584213.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/henrik-ibsen-1419_good-enough_don-t-use-that-exotic-word-ideals-we-hav_584213.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/henrik-ibsen-1419_good-enough_don-t-use-that-exotic-word-ideals-we-hav_584213.jpg) > ““Don't use that exotic word "ideals". We have a good enough native word: "lies".”” [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker argues that the native term “lies” captures the concept of “ideals” better than a foreign word. **In simple terms:** Native word “lies” suffices for “ideals”. Key Takeaway Consider language nuances before borrowing terms. Themes language precision cultural authenticity philosophy Mood analytical thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - cross‑cultural communication - education - literary analysis Key Concepts semantics translation studies Questions to Reflect On - When is borrowing a foreign term justified? - How do language choices affect meaning? A Different Perspective Some concepts may lack exact native equivalents. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-enough/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Ideals Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals-good-4796136/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Word Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-ideals-1840834/) [Word Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-lies-1840833/) ## Related quotes > [Don't use that foreign word: ideals. We have the excellent native word: lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/don-t-use-that-foreign-word-ideals-we-have-the-excellent-native-word/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“...fairy tales, just a fancy word for lies...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/fairy-tales-just-a-fancy-word-for-lies/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [“Like Hitler, the President used the word lies to mean statements of fact not to his liking and presented journalism as a campaign against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/like-hitler-the-president-used-the-word-lies-to-mean-statements-of/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [A Dominican monk, Father Henri Didon, used it as a watchword for his pupils in sports at Arcueil College in Paris. Baron Pierre De…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/a-dominican-monk-father-henri-didon-used-it-as-a-watchword-for-his/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [With a full century of contrary proof in our possession and despite our demonstrated capacity for cooperative teamwork, some among us seem to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/with-a-full-century-of-contrary-proof-in-our-possession-and-despite/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [If you abide in the love of Christ, rooted in the faith, you will encounter, even amid setbacks and suffering, the source of true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/if-you-abide-in-the-love-of-christ-rooted-in-the-faith-you-will/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [The hardest thing about being a guy is that women don't accept that you really are just a simple, pathetic, labrador retriever-like creature. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/the-hardest-thing-about-being-a-guy-is-that-women-don-t-accept-that/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [my definition of the ideal man is 'that particular man with whom a woman happens to be in love at that particular time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-boothe-luce/my-definition-of-the-ideal-man-is-that-particular-man-with-whom-a/) [Clare Boothe Luce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare-boothe-luce/) > [One can be a great artist without being a great technician. There have been many famous ballet stars who did not have the ideal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-bujones/one-can-be-a-great-artist-without-being-a-great-technician-there-have/) [Fernando Bujones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-bujones/) > [We fight to defend our democratic ideals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-austin/we-fight-to-defend-our-democratic-ideals/) [Lloyd Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-austin/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [“What you seem so unwilling to accept, even now, is this: that the ideals which supported the old Republic had no correspondence to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-williams/what-you-seem-so-unwilling-to-accept-even-now-is-this-that-the-ideals/) [John Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-williams/) > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) ## More by Henrik Ibsen > [The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That's one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/the-majority-is-never-right-never-i-tell-you-that-s-one-of-these-lies/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [What's to become of the morally sound? Left out in the cold, I suppose. We must heal the sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/what-s-to-become-of-the-morally-sound-left-out-in-the-cold-i-suppose/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“To be oneself on a basis of gold is no better than founding one’s house on the sand. For your watch, and your ring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/to-be-oneself-on-a-basis-of-gold-is-no-better-than-founding-one-s/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Look into any man's heart you please, and you will always find, in every one, at least one black spot which he has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/look-into-any-man-s-heart-you-please-and-you-will-always-find-in/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Different people have different duties assigned them by Nature; Nature has given one the power or the desire to do this, the other that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/different-people-have-different-duties-assigned-them-by-nature-nature/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [There is always a risk in being alive, and if you are more alive, there is more risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/there-is-always-a-risk-in-being-alive-and-if-you-are-more-alive-there/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [It is not for a care-free existence I am fighting, but for the possibility of devoting myself to the task which I believe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/it-is-not-for-a-care-free-existence-i-am-fighting-but-for-the/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“Nora: It's true Torvald. When I lived at home with Papa, he used to tell me his opinion about everything, and so I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/nora-it-s-true-torvald-when-i-lived-at-home-with-papa-he-used-to-tell/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Each bird must sing with his own throat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/each-bird-must-sing-with-his-own-throat/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [I propose to raise a revolution against the lie that the majority has the monopoly of the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/i-propose-to-raise-a-revolution-against-the-lie-that-the-majority-has/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [But I almost think we are all of us ghosts. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/but-i-almost-think-we-are-all-of-us-ghosts-it-is-not-only-what-we/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/a-thousand-words-leave-not-the-same-deep-impression-as-does-a-single/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Home life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/home-life-ceases-to-be-free-and-beautiful-as-soon-as-it-is-founded-on/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [“You see, the fact is that the strongest man upon earth is he who stands most alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/you-see-the-fact-is-that-the-strongest-man-upon-earth-is-he-who/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) [Explore all 229 Henrik Ibsen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) ## More Good enough quotes > [“Ain’t got no shit to fuckin worry on, dig. 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You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sacha-dhawan/being-of-indian-heritage-is-a-challenge-and-it-s-a-blessing-as-well/) [Sacha Dhawan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sacha-dhawan/) > [The creative strength is good enough and deep enough to bring itself to flower and to grow in spite of this sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-greenberg/the-creative-strength-is-good-enough-and-deep-enough-to-bring-itself/) [Joanne Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-greenberg/) > [~You told me that you have feelings me then next thing you know you ignore me then I see you flirting with other girls……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-eyes/you-told-me-that-you-have-feelings-me-then-next-thing-you-know-you/) [Angel\_eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-eyes/) > [“Something had been confirmed: I was worth giving a shit about; I was getting to be a successful sick person. Sick is when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/something-had-been-confirmed-i-was-worth-giving-a-shit-about-i-was/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [The first thing you put on in the morning is your lingerie, and you have to look at yourself and tell yourself that you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rain-dove/the-first-thing-you-put-on-in-the-morning-is-your-lingerie-and-you/) [Rain Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rain-dove/) > [I may never be good enough for everybody. But I'll always be the best for someone who's contented to have me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-may-never-be-good-enough-for-everybody-but-i-ll-always-be-the-best/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The fear of not being good enough, the fear of disappointing other people and the fear of failure can really hurt one's personality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/the-fear-of-not-being-good-enough-the-fear-of-disappointing-other/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) > [“Why do people kill themselves? I think they do it when they can no longer find a reason to keep going. When nothing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beth-miller/why-do-people-kill-themselves-i-think-they-do-it-when-they-can-no/) [Mary Beth Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beth-miller/) > [I wasn't good enough. I had a little talent but not enough. 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