QuoteProject
Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstance require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about.
Harry Frankfurt
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that people often speak without full understanding, leading to confusion or misinformation.

Harry Frankfurt's quote highlights the inevitability of insincerity or lack of clarity in communication, particularly when individuals feel compelled to express opinions or information without sufficient knowledge. This phenomenon not only muddles conversations but can also lead to a broader cultural acceptance of superficiality over genuine understanding, creating a landscape where misinformation thrives.

Themes

CommunicationUnderstandingKnowledgeOpinionMisinformation

In practice

Example use cases

During a debate about public policy, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of informed discussion.

More from Harry Frankfurt

It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction.
Harry FrankfurtRead
Recognizing truth requires selflessness. You have to leave yourself out of it so you can find out the way things are in themselves, not the way they look to you or how you feel about them or how you would like them to be.
Harry FrankfurtRead
One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit.
Harry FrankfurtRead
The fact about himself that the liar hides is that he is attempting to lead us away from a correct apprehension of reality; we are not to know that he wants us to believe something he supposes to be false. The fact about himself that the bullshitter hides, on the other hand, is that the truth-values of his statements are of no central interest to him . . . He does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose.
Harry FrankfurtRead

Similar quotes

So great an advantage is given to sin and Satan by your temper and disposition, that without extraordinary watchfulness, care, and diligence, they will prevail against your soul.
John OwenRead
What could ever be a sufficient reason for excusing in any way the direct murder of the innocent? This is precisely what we are dealing with here. Whether inflicted upon the mother or upon the child, it is against the precept of God and the law of nature: 'Thou shalt not kill.'
Pope Pius XiRead
Never take your obedience as the reason God blesses you; obedience is the outcome of being rightly related to God.
Oswald ChambersRead
In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices.
EpictetusRead
The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule.
Albert EinsteinRead
Instead of buying six things, buy one thing that you really like. Don't keep buying just for the sake of it.
Vivienne WestwoodRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.