“That for which we find words is something already dead in our hearts. There is always a kind of contempt in the act of speaking.”
Explore This Quote Further
Analysis of Quote by Nietzsche
The quote by Nietzsche delves into the idea that our emotions and feelings are often lost or diluted when we try to put them into words. The act of putting words to our deepest emotions can sometimes trivialize or diminish their true significance. Nietzsche suggests that there is a level of disdain or detachment inherent in verbal communication, as words may fail to capture the true essence of our emotions. This quote highlights the limitations of language in expressing the depth of human experience and emotion.
The Power of Silence
In today's digital age where communication is constant and ubiquitous, Nietzsche's words highlight the value of silence and introspection. The quote serves as a reminder that sometimes words are inadequate to truly express our deepest emotions and thoughts. In a society where speaking out is often seen as a sign of strength, it is important to remember the power of silence and the ability to truly listen to our innermost feelings.
Nietzsche on Speaking and Contempt
“That for which we find words is something already dead in our hearts. There is always a kind of contempt in the act of speaking.” - Nietzsche
This quote by Nietzsche highlights the idea that once we are able to put our feelings and experiences into words, it loses its true essence and becomes something shallow. Speaking about something may demonstrate a lack of true understanding or connection to it.
Reflection Questions
This quote by Nietzsche brings forth the idea that once we articulate our thoughts and feelings, they lose their original essence and sincerity. It challenges us to think about the authenticity of our words and the depth of emotion behind them. Reflect on the following questions to delve deeper into this concept:
Have you ever experienced a moment where putting your feelings into words made them lose their impact or significance?
How does the act of speaking about something affect your perception of it? Do you find that you start to view it differently once it is verbalized?
In what ways can nonverbal forms of communication, such as art or music, convey emotions more effectively than words?
How can we strive to communicate with more sincerity and authenticity in our interactions with others, despite the potential for words to detract from the true depth of our feelings?
Similar quotes
“That for which we find words is something already dead in our hearts”
“We no longer have a sufficiently high estimate of ourselves when we communicate. Our true experiences are not garrulous. They could not communicate themselves if they wanted to: they lack words. We have already grown beyond whatever we have words for. In all talking there lies a grain of contempt. Speech, it seems, was devised only for the average medium, communicable. The speaker has already vulgarized himself by speaking.”
“A rebel can be a miserable and contemptible man; but there is nothing contemptible in a revolt as such - and to be a rebel in view of contemporary society does not in itself lower the value of a man. There are even cases in which one might have to honour a rebel,because he finds something in our society against which war ought to be waged - he wakens us from our slumber.”
“The slow arrow of beauty. The most noble kind of beauty is that which does not carry us away suddenly, whose attacks are not violent or intoxicating (this kind easily awakens disgust), but rather the kind of beauty which infiltrates slowly, which we carry along with us almost unnoticed, and meet up with again in dreams; finally, after it has for a long time lain modestly in our heart, it takes complete possession of us, filling our eyes with tears, our hearts with longing. What do we long for when we see beauty? To be beautiful. We think much happiness must be connected with it. But that is an error.”
“Moral contempt is a far greater indignity and insult than any kind of crime.”
“Virtue is under certain circumstances merely an honorable form of stupidity: who could be ill-disposed toward it on that account? And this kind of virtue has not been outlived even today. A kind of sturdy peasant simplicity, which, however, is possible in all classes and can be encountered only with respect and a smile, believes even today that everything is in good hands, namely in the "hands of God"; and when it maintains this proportion with the same modest certainty as it would that two and two make four, we others certainly refrain from contradicting. Why disturb THIS pure foolishness? Why darken it with our worries about man, people, goal, future? And even if we wanted to do it, we could not. They project their own honorable stupidity and goodness into the heart of things (the old God, deus myops, still lives among them!); we others — we read something else into the heart of things: our own enigmatic nature, our contradictions, our deeper, more painful, more mistrustful wisdom.”