# 88 explained — Beyond Good and Evil

> Chapter companion for Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

A single, aphoristic observation on the suspicion that arises when clever people display embarrassment, suggesting a potential disconnect between their intellect and their character or honesty.

## Themes in this chapter

### Psychology as the Fundamental Science

The excerpt is a psychological insight, analyzing the significance of an emotional reaction (embarrassment) in supposedly intelligent people as a potential sign of dishonesty or weakness.

## Key lines

> One begins to distrust very clever persons when they become embarrassed.

When highly intelligent people show embarrassment, it naturally makes one suspicious of them.

_A concise psychological maxim linking emotional display to a judgment of trustworthiness, implying that true intellectual mastery should not be accompanied by such social awkwardness or guilt._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/88
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters