Single Idea 20266

[catalogued under 19. Language / F. Communication / 1. Rhetoric]

Full Idea

It is not yet enough to prove a thing, one must seduce people to accept it or raise them up to it. That is why a knowledgeable person ought to learn to speak his wisdom: and often in such a way that it sounds like foolishness.

Gist of Idea

It is essential that wise people learn to express their wisdom, possibly even as foolishness

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (Dawn (Daybreak) [1881], 330)

Book Reference

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Dawn (Daybreak) (v 5)', ed/tr. Smith, Brittain [Stanford 2011], p.198


A Reaction

Kant comes to mind. He has needed endless exegesis by people who write better than him. Have there been even greater philosophers who couldn't express their wisdom at all? Cratylus, perhaps!

Related Idea

Idea 578 Cratylus decided speech was hopeless, and his only expression was the movement of a finger [Cratylus, by Aristotle]