"To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question"
About this Quote
Hoffer’s line lands like a quiet dare: say the “obvious” out loud, and you’ve already admitted it might not hold. The sentence is built on a social truth most of us learn early - that confidence often relies on leaving certain things unspoken. When someone insists “We’re all on the same page,” the room suddenly wonders who isn’t. When a leader announces “This process is fair,” the word “fair” starts to feel like a defense brief. The obvious, once articulated, becomes an object you can inspect, and inspection is the first step toward disbelief.
The intent is less anti-clarity than anti-performance. Hoffer is suspicious of declarations that exist to manage perception rather than to convey information. “Spell out” suggests labor, even pedantry - a deliberate slowing down that exposes motive. Why are you taking the time to underline what supposedly needs no underlining? That question, once raised, shifts power: the speaker is no longer simply describing reality; they’re lobbying for it.
Context matters. Hoffer, a self-taught American thinker writing in the wake of mass movements and ideological salesmanship, knew how easily “common sense” gets weaponized. Authoritarian rhetoric thrives on the unexamined “everyone knows.” His aphorism cuts both ways: it warns that propaganda collapses when forced into specifics, but it also admits a darker irony - that some truths (about intimacy, loyalty, institutional rot) survive precisely because polite society agrees not to name them. Saying the obvious can be an act of honesty, but it’s never neutral; it changes the temperature in the room.
The intent is less anti-clarity than anti-performance. Hoffer is suspicious of declarations that exist to manage perception rather than to convey information. “Spell out” suggests labor, even pedantry - a deliberate slowing down that exposes motive. Why are you taking the time to underline what supposedly needs no underlining? That question, once raised, shifts power: the speaker is no longer simply describing reality; they’re lobbying for it.
Context matters. Hoffer, a self-taught American thinker writing in the wake of mass movements and ideological salesmanship, knew how easily “common sense” gets weaponized. Authoritarian rhetoric thrives on the unexamined “everyone knows.” His aphorism cuts both ways: it warns that propaganda collapses when forced into specifics, but it also admits a darker irony - that some truths (about intimacy, loyalty, institutional rot) survive precisely because polite society agrees not to name them. Saying the obvious can be an act of honesty, but it’s never neutral; it changes the temperature in the room.
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APA Style (7th ed.)
Hoffer, Eric. (2026, January 18). To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-spell-out-the-obvious-is-often-to-call-it-in-23518/
Chicago Style
Hoffer, Eric. "To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-spell-out-the-obvious-is-often-to-call-it-in-23518/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"To spell out the obvious is often to call it in question." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-spell-out-the-obvious-is-often-to-call-it-in-23518/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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