--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is the unspeakable misery of a life so…" description: "\"“It is the unspeakable misery of a life so false as his, that it steals the pith and substance out of whatever realities there are around us, and which..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd6/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_falsity_it-is-the-unspeakable-misery-of-a-life-s_2704517.jpg" --- # It is the unspeakable misery of a life so false as his… ![“It is the unspeakable misery of a life so false as his, that it steals the pith and substance out of whatever realities there are around us, and which were meant by Heaven to be the spirit’s joy and nutriment. To the untrue man, the whole universe is false—it is impalpable—it shrinks to nothing…” quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd6/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_falsity_it-is-the-unspeakable-misery-of-a-life-s_2704517.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd6/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_falsity_it-is-the-unspeakable-misery-of-a-life-s_2704517.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd6/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_falsity_it-is-the-unspeakable-misery-of-a-life-s_2704517.jpg) > ““It is the unspeakable misery of a life so false as his, that it steals the pith and substance out of whatever realities there are around us, and which were meant by Heaven to be the spirit’s joy and nutriment. To the untrue man, the whole universe is false—it is impalpable—it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. And he himself in so far as he shows himself in a false light, becomes a shadow, or, indeed, ceases to exist.”” [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A false or dishonest life empties one’s experience, making reality feel unreal and diminishing one’s existence. **In simple terms:** Living a lie empties life and perception. Key Takeaway Seek truth to enrich existence. Themes truth authenticity existence Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - relationships - career decisions - ethical dilemmas - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy spirituality psychology Questions to Reflect On - What truths are you avoiding? - How does honesty shape your reality? A Different Perspective Truth can be painful; confronting it may cause loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Falsity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsity/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“To the untrue man, the whole universe is false--it is impalpable--it shrinks to nothing within his grasp.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/to-the-untrue-man-the-whole-universe-is-false-it-is-impalpable-it-2/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [To the untrue man, the whole universe is false- it is impalpable- it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. And he himself is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/to-the-untrue-man-the-whole-universe-is-false-it-is-impalpable-it/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are brown eyes in the world, after all, as well as blue, and one pair of brown that meant heaven to me as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-nesbit/there-are-brown-eyes-in-the-world-after-all-as-well-as-blue-and-one/) [E. Nesbit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-nesbit/) > [“Mañana will always mean mañana. But for my first few months in Zacatecas, that was all I heard- mañana. It was a lovely sounding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/ma-ana-will-always-mean-ma-ana-but-for-my-first-few-months-in/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [“There was never meant to be death, he told them, and now there would be no more death. There was never meant to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-dodd/there-was-never-meant-to-be-death-he-told-them-and-now-there-would-be/) [Philip Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-dodd/) > [“Is that all?" asked Flambeau after a long pause. "Have we got to the dull truth at last?" "Oh, no," said Father Brown. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/is-that-all-asked-flambeau-after-a-long-pause-have-we-got-to-the-dull/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“You can't rule out the impossible, because you never know which of your assumptions about what was possible might turn out, in the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-can-t-rule-out-the-impossible-because-you-never-know-which-of/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“In the restaurant of life, the false Salafi can do no more than eat the menu.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdal-hakim-murad/in-the-restaurant-of-life-the-false-salafi-can-do-no-more-than-eat/) [Abdal Hakim Murad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdal-hakim-murad/) > [“Looking back on the past six months, Margaret realized the chaotic nature of our daily life, and its difference from the orderly sequence that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/looking-back-on-the-past-six-months-margaret-realized-the-chaotic/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [We come together only to go apart again. The law of life can't be avoided. The law comes into operation the moment we detach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-come-together-only-to-go-apart-again-the-law-of-life-can-t-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/i-would-say-that-99-per-cent-of-what-my-father-has-written-about-his/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [In an age in which we can project an image and score that image based on immediate Facebook and Twitter feedback, thus making a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/in-an-age-in-which-we-can-project-an-image-and-score-that-image-based/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [If you deny animality present within, you deny your very source of life. And then you will always be false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/if-you-deny-animality-present-within-you-deny-your-very-source-of/) Senoraroy > [In academic life, false ideas are merely false, and useless ones can be fun to play with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/in-academic-life-false-ideas-are-merely-false-and-useless-ones-can-be/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [There is no true life within a false life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-true-life-within-a-false-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Nathaniel Hawthorne > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-trees-reflected-in-the-river-they-are-unconscious-of-a-spiritual/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire, I longed to kindle one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/my-heart-was-a-habitation-large-enough-for-many-guests-but-lonely-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/wherever-there-is-a-heart-and-an-intellect-the-diseases-of-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Generosity is the flower of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/generosity-is-the-flower-of-justice/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“he seemed to be in quest for mental food, not heart sustenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/he-seemed-to-be-in-quest-for-mental-food-not-heart-sustenance/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/unfathomable-to-mere-mortals-is-the-lore-of-fiends/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Possibly, he was in a state of second growth and recovery, and was constantly assimilating nutriment for his spirit and intellect from sights, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/possibly-he-was-in-a-state-of-second-growth-and-recovery-and-was/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-wonder-then-should-we-be-frightened-by-the-aspect-of-a-monster/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-we-call-real-estate-the-solid-ground-to-build-a-house-on-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The bookworm of great libraries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-bookworm-of-great-libraries/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-are-many-things-in-this-world-that-a-child-must-not-ask-about/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Explore all 526 Nathaniel Hawthorne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## More Falsity quotes > [The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-statesmen-will-invent-cheap-lies-putting-the-blame-upon-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Every friendship travels at sometime through the black valley of despair. This tests every aspect of your affection. You lose the attraction and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-friendship-travels-at-sometime-through-the-black-valley-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The fate of the physiology of the brain is independent of the truth and falsity of my assertions relative to the laws of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-joseph-gall/the-fate-of-the-physiology-of-the-brain-is-independent-of-the-truth/) Franz Joseph Gall > [The best society, the best human existence, arrives when humans most closely determine the truth, and act on the truth, and separate it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-rodgers/the-best-society-the-best-human-existence-arrives-when-humans-most/) Dave Rodgers > [Don't imitate: imitation creates falsity, pseudo-ness, inauthenticity. Just feel your own way and don't bother about what others say. It is nobody else's business.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-imitate-imitation-creates-falsity-pseudo-ness-inauthenticity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We do not wish incorrect and unsound doctrines to be handed down to posterity under the sanction of great names, to be received and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/we-do-not-wish-incorrect-and-unsound-doctrines-to-be-handed-down-to/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you take only what is worth having. He who takes advice about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-clason/advice-is-one-thing-that-is-freely-given-away-but-watch-that-you-take/) [George S. Clason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-clason/) > [The question of relevance comes before that of truth, because to ask whether a statement is true or false presupposes that it is relevant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/the-question-of-relevance-comes-before-that-of-truth-because-to-ask/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [if i dont want to be known, i cannot be known.the best actor can divide role from self.the best liar can divide truth from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ming-dao-deng/if-i-dont-want-to-be-known-i-cannot-be-known-the-best-actor-can/) [Ming-Dao Deng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ming-dao-deng/) > [Falsity cannot keep an idea from being beautiful; there are certain errors of such ingenuity that one could regret their not ranking among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/falsity-cannot-keep-an-idea-from-being-beautiful-there-are-certain/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [“And so even the righteous heart is besieged by the blinding light of false knowledge. Falsity is like an ocean that presses around solitary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-so-even-the-righteous-heart-is-besieged-by-the-blinding-light-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-know-that-most-men-including-those-at-ease-with-problems-of-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The old idea that words possess magical powers is false; but its falsity is the distortion of a very important truth. Words do have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-old-idea-that-words-possess-magical-powers-is-false-but-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [People don't want other people to get high, because if you get high, you might see the falsity of the fabric of the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/people-don-t-want-other-people-to-get-high-because-if-you-get-high/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [Almost all political campaigns involve falsity and playacting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-lowry/almost-all-political-campaigns-involve-falsity-and-playacting/) [Rich Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-lowry/) [Browse all 72 Falsity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is the unspeakable misery of a life so false as his, that it steals the pith and substance out of whatever realities there are around us, and which were meant by Heaven to be the spirit’s joy and nutriment. 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