--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How ironical that it is by means of…" description: "\"How ironical that it is by means of speech that man can degrade himself below the level of dumb creation -- for a chatterbox is truly of a lower catego..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_how-ironical-that-it-is-by-means-of-spee_2794207.jpg" --- # How ironical that it is by means of speech that man can… ![“How ironical that it is by means of speech that man can degrade himself below the level of dumb creation -- for a chatterbox is truly of a lower category than a dumb creature.” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_how-ironical-that-it-is-by-means-of-spee_2794207.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_how-ironical-that-it-is-by-means-of-spee_2794207.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/soren-kierkegaard-578_categories_how-ironical-that-it-is-by-means-of-spee_2794207.jpg) > “How ironical that it is by means of speech that man can degrade himself below the level of dumb creation -- for a chatterbox is truly of a lower category than a dumb creature.” [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Kierkegaard warns that excessive speech can diminish a person’s intellectual stature, suggesting that mindless chatter lowers one to the level of a mere animal. **In simple terms:** Talk without thought reduces humanity. Key Takeaway Speak thoughtfully, listen more. Themes philosophy communication human nature existentialism Mood reflective philosophical Type existential ethical When to use this quote - education - public speaking - personal growth - media literacy Key Concepts authenticity self‑reflection speech ethics Questions to Reflect On - What does meaningful speech require? - How to balance speaking and listening? A Different Perspective Silence can also be harmful if it hides truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chatterbox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chatterbox/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) ## Related quotes > [The soul that is within me no man can degrade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/the-soul-that-is-within-me-no-man-can-degrade/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“He made an impassioned speech about man fading in the shadow of the machine, losing our individual rights as our computer technology takes over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-goodman/he-made-an-impassioned-speech-about-man-fading-in-the-shadow-of-the/) [David A. Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-goodman/) > [They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. I am not the one that is being degraded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/they-cannot-degrade-frederick-douglass-the-soul-that-is-within-me-no/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [The true speech of man is idiomatic, if not of the earth and sky, then at least of the saloon and the bleachers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/the-true-speech-of-man-is-idiomatic-if-not-of-the-earth-and-sky-then/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [What is one man's hate speech is another man's poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flemming-rose/what-is-one-man-s-hate-speech-is-another-man-s-poetry/) [Flemming Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flemming-rose/) > [Man cannot degrade woman without himself falling into degradation; he cannot elevate her without at the same time elevating himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-walker/man-cannot-degrade-woman-without-himself-falling-into-degradation-he/) Alexander Walker > [Seriously, I will probably out-talk you if you come up to me because I'm a chatterbox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-kinsey/seriously-i-will-probably-out-talk-you-if-you-come-up-to-me-because-i/) [Angela Kinsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-kinsey/) > [The voice you believe will determine the future you experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-furtick/the-voice-you-believe-will-determine-the-future-you-experience/) [Steven Furtick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-furtick/) > [I'm kind of a chatterbox and I talk really fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-m-kind-of-a-chatterbox-and-i-talk-really-fast/) [Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/) > [“In Ms Yuka's class he once wrote a poem about it called: 'Listen' The last lines were - I know you know you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/in-ms-yuka-s-class-he-once-wrote-a-poem-about-it-called-listen-the/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I'm not approachable by someone who says, "Let's try some drugs," or something like that. 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I don't talk to myself; it's just not my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-chandor/when-i-have-people-around-i-m-a-chatterbox-but-when-i-m-alone-i-never/) [J. C. Chandor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-chandor/) > [I'm a chatterbox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-a-chatterbox/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Soren Kierkegaard > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Christians remind me of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christians-remind-me-of-schoolboys-who-want-to-look-up-the-answers-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream-i-was-rapt-into-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Be that self which one truly is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/be-that-self-which-one-truly-is/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I go fishing for a thousand monsters in the depths of my own self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-go-fishing-for-a-thousand-monsters-in-the-depths-of-my-own-self/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant… My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-addition-to-my-other-numerous-acquaintances-i-have-one-more/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Future is everything that past has forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/future-is-everything-that-past-has-forgotten/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Without risk, faith is an impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/without-risk-faith-is-an-impossibility/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-only-one-confidant-and-that-is-the-silence-of-night/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A road well begun is the battle half won. The important thing is to make a beginning and get under way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-road-well-begun-is-the-battle-half-won-the-important-thing-is-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have, I believe, the courage to doubt everything; I have, I believe, the courage to fight against everything; but I do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-i-believe-the-courage-to-doubt-everything-i-have-i-believe-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) [Explore all 462 Soren Kierkegaard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More Categories quotes > [...the number of saintly men has not yet risen to the level where the census makes them a separate statistical category.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stigler/the-number-of-saintly-men-has-not-yet-risen-to-the-level-where-the/) [George Stigler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stigler/) > [As a politician - particularly as a politician in a coalition - you quickly realise that compromise is a part of the game. 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For me it \[policy\] is about concepts and substance. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-juncker/i-don-t-think-in-national-categories-for-me-it-policy-is-about/) [Jean-Claude Juncker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-juncker/) > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [We don't need to complicate all the "reasons" behind our emotions. It's much simpler than that. Two categories .. good feelings, bad feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/we-don-t-need-to-complicate-all-the-reasons-behind-our-emotions-it-s/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [I put the truth out there, I put the historical facts into Hip Hop to show us how much history repeats itself and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immortal-technique/i-put-the-truth-out-there-i-put-the-historical-facts-into-hip-hop-to/) [Immortal Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immortal-technique/) > [I am devoting my lecture in this seminar to a discussion of the possibility that we are now entering a Jewish century, a time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-a-siegel/i-am-devoting-my-lecture-in-this-seminar-to-a-discussion-of-the/) Martin A. 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