Every deep thinker is more afraid of being understood than of being misunderstood

This quote by Friedrich Nietzsche means that individuals who think deeply and have complex ideas are often hesitant to share their thoughts with others because there is something very tragic and difficult to face about what life is, and what meaning it has.

There are only a small percentage of people who can face it, and they tend to pay a weighty price for this knowledge. A good example would be about Hamlet, the son of Queen Gertrude. Nietzsche said that it was not at all a state of uncertainty that had made Hamlet crazy, but rather the opposite, which was a state of overwhelming certainty about things.

In a way it is much better, or to say a much happier result, when people do not understand the deeper thinker. It is a less emotional epiphany to take away a lighter and easier message than that which is conveyed. Staying on the surface of life, and playing things light and easy is a good approach for most people.

Every deep thinker is more afraid of being understood than of being misunderstood

Friedrich Nietzsche

Let us suppose the deep thinker really is understood. Then that means the reader must have been hurt by life significantly, to the point that truth became more important to them than the enjoyment of life on a more superficial level.

There is a part of Nietzsche that prefers this doesn’t happen, as he understands all too well the costs of descending to the depths of being a deep thinker.