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Nothing is so treacherous as the obvious.
Joseph A. Schumpeter
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that what seems obvious can often be misleading and deceptive.

Joseph A. Schumpeter's quote highlights the danger of assuming that things which appear obvious are inherently true or reliable. It implies that one should question common perceptions and explore deeper insights, as surface-level understandings can mask complexities and lead to misjudgments.

Themes

ObviousDeceptionTruthPerceptionUnderstanding

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion on critical thinking, this quote can encourage people to question assumptions.

More from Joseph A. Schumpeter

This civilization is rapidly passing away, however. Let us rejoice or else lament the fact as much as everyone of us likes; but do not let us shut our eyes to it.
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Capitalism stands its trial before judges who have the sentence of death in their pockets. They are going to pass it, whatever the defense they may hear; the only success victorious defense can possibly produce is a change in the indictment.
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We always plan too much and always think too little.
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The function of entrepreneurs is to reform or revolutionize the pattern of production by exploiting an invention or, more generally, an untried technological possibility for producing a new commodity or producing an old one in a new way, by opening up a new source of supply of materials or a new outlet for products, by reorganizing an industry and so on.
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It is however always important to remember that the ability to see things in their correct perspective may be, and often is, divorced from the ability to reason correctly and vice versa. That is why a man may be a very good theorist and yet talk absolute nonsense.
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Capitalism inevitably and by virtue of the very logic of its civilization creates, educates and subsidizes a vested interest in social unrest.
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