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one does not only wish to be understood when one writes; one wishes just as surely not to be understood.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that when writing, a person desires both understanding and the ambiguity that can lead to multiple interpretations.

Friedrich Nietzsche's quote reflects the dual nature of communication in writing; while the writer seeks clarity and comprehension from the reader, there is also an inherent desire for complexity and misunderstanding. This interplay allows for deeper engagement, where readers can draw their own meanings and insights, thereby enriching the experience of the text. It acknowledges the subjective nature of language and the varied interpretations that can arise from it.

Themes

UnderstandingWritingCommunicationInterpretationAmbiguity

In practice

Example use cases

In a writing workshop, when discussing the complexity of creative expression.

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Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
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That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
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Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
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Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over one another and thus drag one another into the mud and the depth. They all want to get to the throne: that is their madness β€” as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne β€” and often the throne also on mud. Mad they all appear to me, clambering monkeys and overardent. Foul smells their idol, the cold monster: foul, they smell to me altogether, these idolators.
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Reason is the cause of our falsification of the evidence of the senses. In so far as the senses show becoming, passing away, change, they do not lie.
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The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
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