Who really said it

All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth

Q: Did Friedrich Nietzsche say "All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth"?

No. This sentence appears in no published work of Nietzsche's and in no notebook. There is a real passage behind it — his famous note on perspectivism — but that note says something narrower and more interesting, and it never claims that interpretations prevail through power rather than truth. That clause is somebody else's.

Not sourced to Nietzsche in this form Unknown no first appearance established

Disputed Rights unconfirmed

This sentence appears in no published work of Nietzsche’s and in no notebook. There is a real passage behind it — his famous note on perspectivism — but that note says something narrower and more interesting, and it never claims that interpretations prevail through power rather than truth. That clause is somebody else’s.

Last verified 20 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth” Gegen den Positivismus… nein, gerade Thatsachen giebt es nicht, nur Interpretationen. (Against positivism… no, it is precisely facts that do not exist, only interpretations.) —Friedrich Nietzsche, Nachlass KSA 12, 7[60]. The popular "function of power and not truth" sentence is not his.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Friedrich Nietzsche. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

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In context

Evoking the world of Friedrich Nietzsche — German philosopher & philologist. Theme: "All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

What Nietzsche actually wrote

The real note: Nachlass, KSA 12, 7[60]
Written: Autumn 1885 – autumn 1886 (often mis-dated 1888)
Printed as: The Will to Power §481; Kaufmann, The Portable Nietzsche (1954)
The circulating sentence: No source; first appearance not established

Gegen den Positivismus, welcher bei den Phänomenen stehn bleibt "es giebt nur Thatsachen", würde ich sagen: nein, gerade Thatsachen giebt es nicht, nur Interpretationen. Nachlass, KSA 12, 7[60]

The real note in Nietzsche’s German. Compare it with the sentence in circulation: the famous half (‘only interpretations’) is his; the half that does the ideological work (‘a function of power and not truth’) is not.

Friedrich Nietzsche — Wikiquote (Disputed section)

How we traced it

The circulating sentence has no citation anywhere. Wikiquote files it under Disputed, noting it is often attributed to Nietzsche — especially on social media — but that no citation is ever given Wikiquote ↗.
The passage behind it is the perspectivism note, KSA 12, 7[60]: ‘Against that positivism which stops before phenomena, saying “there are only facts,” I should say: no, it is precisely facts that do not exist, only interpretations.’ The note goes on about drives and a ‘lust to rule’ — the only thread connecting it to power — but it never states that truth-claims prevail by power rather than truth source-check ↗.
Two dating notes worth keeping straight: the note is from autumn 1885–86, not 1888 as usually claimed (the 1888 date comes from a heading in The Portable Nietzsche). And we could not establish any first-print date for the popular sentence — all traceable circulation is quote-aggregator and social-media, post-2000 disputed list ↗.

Mixed, and easy to get wrong. Nietzsche died in 1900, so the German original is public domain worldwide — you may quote and translate KSA 12, 7[60] freely. The popular English sentence has no identified author at all, so there is nobody to credit and nothing to clear; it should simply not be presented as Nietzsche’s. Note separately that Walter Kaufmann’s 1954 English rendering of the real note is in copyright, so quote that briefly with attribution or translate the German yourself. This is not legal advice.

Fact-check

The attribution problem

This is a harder case than an outright fake, because half of it is real. A genuine Nietzschean idea has been fused with a claim he did not make, and the join is invisible unless you go back to the note.

‘a function of power and not truth’ not in the source

The real note argues that facts do not exist independently of interpretation. It does not say that whichever interpretation wins does so through power rather than truth — a much stronger, and much more usable, political claim the real passage ↗.

None ever given unsourced

In every appearance we can find — aggregators, social media, essays — the sentence travels without a work, a section, or a year. Wikiquote keeps it in the Disputed list for exactly that reason Wikiquote ↗.

‘1888’ commonly mis-dated

Where a date is offered at all it is usually 1888, taken from a heading in The Portable Nietzsche. The underlying note is from autumn 1885–86. We could not establish any first-appearance date for the popular sentence itself, and have not invented one.

Not sourced to Nietzsche. The genuine note behind it says ‘it is precisely facts that do not exist, only interpretations’ — and says nothing about power versus truth disputed list ↗.

Context

Why it resonates

The added clause is what makes it quotable. ‘There are no facts, only interpretations’ is an epistemological claim; ‘whichever interpretation prevails is a function of power’ is an accusation, and it can be aimed at anyone who currently holds the floor.

That is why it circulates in arguments about media, science and history far more than in philosophy. It is useful in a way the real note is not — which is usually a sign that someone has improved a quotation.

Half of it is Nietzsche. The half that does the work isn't.

The real note versus the popular sentence

Nietzsche (KSA 12, 7[60]): ‘…no, it is precisely facts that do not exist, only interpretations.’

The note continues about drives and ‘a kind of lust to rule’ — the only thread linking it to power.

Popular sentence: ‘All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.’

Variant: ‘…a function of power and not the truth.’

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Truth Power

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Friedrich Nietzsche — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Lists the sentence under Disputed, with the observation that no citation is ever supplied for it.

"There are no facts, only interpretations" — a source checksocialscienceinsights.com

Identifies the underlying Nachlass note and shows that the real passage says nothing about power versus truth.

Popularly credited author

Why it gets pinned on Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche

1844–1900 · German philosopher & philologist

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) really did argue that there are no bare facts, only interpretations, and really was preoccupied with power as a drive underlying thought. That makes this sentence unusually plausible — it is a fair summary of a position often ascribed to him. But a summary of someone’s philosophy is not a quotation from it, and this one adds a claim about power and truth that his actual note does not make.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Nachlass, KSA 12, 7[60] (autumn 1885–autumn 1886). Printed as The Will to Power §481.

MLA (9th ed.)

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Nachlass, KSA 12, 7[60], autumn 1885–86. Printed as The Will to Power, §481.

APA (7th ed.)

Nietzsche, F. (1885–1886). Nachlass, KSA 12, 7[60]. (Printed as The will to power, §481)

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘All things are subject to interpretation…’?” Last verified 20 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/all-things-are-subject-to-interpretation-whichever