--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would…" description: "\"“It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would say, “it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” The”\" — Alexander Kennedy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/alexander-kennedy-54528_quote_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say_1360618.jpg" --- # It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would say, “it’s just that… ![“It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would say, “it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” The” quote by Alexander Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/alexander-kennedy-54528_quote_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say_1360618.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/alexander-kennedy-54528_quote_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say_1360618.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/alexander-kennedy-54528_quote_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say_1360618.jpg) > ““It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would say, “it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”   The”” [Alexander Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Persistence, not innate intelligence, leads to solving complex problems. **In simple terms:** Stay longer with challenges. Key Takeaway Prioritize perseverance over talent. Themes perseverance learning problem solving Mood motivational inspirational Type educational professional When to use this quote - software development - research - academic study - personal projects Key Concepts growth mindset cognitive endurance Questions to Reflect On - What problems have you solved by persistence? - When is talent more crucial than effort? A Different Perspective May overlook the value of innate ability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Longer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longer/) [Problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems/) [Problems Longer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems-longer-1507729/) [Smart Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smart-say-601925/) [Stay Problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stay-problems-3020482/) ## Related quotes > [Its not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/its-not-that-i-m-so-smart-it-s-just-that-i-stay-with-problems-longer/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. —ALBERT EINSTEIN1”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-johnston/it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-it-s-just-that-i-stay-with-problems-longer/) [Peter H. Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-johnston/) > [Its not that I'm so smart,its just that I stay with problems longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chin-chin-2/its-not-that-i-m-so-smart-its-just-that-i-stay-with-problems-longer/) [Chin Chin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chin-chin-2/) > [If being smart is what you say it is, I will remain a fool my entire life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masashi-kishimoto/if-being-smart-is-what-you-say-it-is-i-will-remain-a-fool-my-entire/) [Masashi Kishimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masashi-kishimoto/) > [“I'm going away anyway. I am. Do you hear me? I may be ugly and clumsy, but one thing I am not, I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-hong-kingston/i-m-going-away-anyway-i-am-do-you-hear-me-i-may-be-ugly-and-clumsy/) [Maxine Hong Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-hong-kingston/) > [I find the Aussies are great and just let you be. The odd time, somebody has something smart to say, but it's very rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronan-keating/i-find-the-aussies-are-great-and-just-let-you-be-the-odd-time/) [Ronan Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronan-keating/) > [Some of these kids just don't plain know how good they are: how smart and how much they have to say. You can tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/some-of-these-kids-just-don-t-plain-know-how-good-they-are-how-smart/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“It wasn’t me?” I snap. “That’s got to be the goddamn dumbest thing you’ve ever said to me. You’re way too smart to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-park/it-wasn-t-me-i-snap-that-s-got-to-be-the-goddamn-dumbest-thing-you-ve/) [Jessica Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-park/) > [“On Receiving Straight As on My Report Card “Hot damn! You’re a smart kid—I don’t care what people say about you!…I’m kidding, nobody says…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-halpern/on-receiving-straight-as-on-my-report-card-hot-damn-you-re-a-smart/) [Justin Halpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-halpern/) > [“Einstein used to say, ‘It’s not that I’m smarter, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.’ Yogis”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/om-swami/einstein-used-to-say-it-s-not-that-i-m-smarter-it-s-just-that-i-stay/) [Om Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/om-swami/) > [My success wasn't so much due to intelligence, but the fact that I stuck with problems longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/my-success-wasn-t-so-much-due-to-intelligence-but-the-fact-that-i/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“Crying only makes your problems last longer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-woon/crying-only-makes-your-problems-last-longer/) [Yvonne Woon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-woon/) > [“From that day to this, I have made it a rule to throw into the wastebasket all the problems that I can no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/from-that-day-to-this-i-have-made-it-a-rule-to-throw-into-the/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [With all the technology we're inventing and what they're coming up with scientifically, people are having longer lifetimes. It's scary, but in the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-murphy/with-all-the-technology-we-re-inventing-and-what-they-re-coming-up/) [Brittany Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittany-murphy/) > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) ## More by Alexander Kennedy > [“Their Jewishness is visible in their physical appearance, and one notices their Jewish heritage in their intellectual work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/their-jewishness-is-visible-in-their-physical-appearance-and-one/) [Alexander Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/) > [“In a letter he wrote in 1953, Einstein related, “Every individual has to retain his way of thinking if he does not want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/in-a-letter-he-wrote-in-1953-einstein-related-every-individual-has-to/) [Alexander Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/) > [“Einstein later discovered the value of a disciplined regimen, but in his youth he despised it in all its forms,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/einstein-later-discovered-the-value-of-a-disciplined-regimen-but-in/) [Alexander Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/) > [“Anywhere in the universe, at rest or in motion, the speed of light remains constant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/anywhere-in-the-universe-at-rest-or-in-motion-the-speed-of-light/) [Alexander Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/) > [“Franklin embraced the idea that the new nation could survive only if the people who lived in it were virtuous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/franklin-embraced-the-idea-that-the-new-nation-could-survive-only-if/) [Alexander Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/) [Explore all 6 Alexander Kennedy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/) ## More Longer quotes > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [With all the technology we're inventing and what they're coming up with scientifically, people are having longer lifetimes. It's scary, but in the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-murphy/with-all-the-technology-we-re-inventing-and-what-they-re-coming-up/) [Brittany Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittany-murphy/) > [I like surrounding myself with people who think in sort of the timeframes I do, which is often longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hinkie/i-like-surrounding-myself-with-people-who-think-in-sort-of-the/) [Sam Hinkie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-hinkie/) > [Well of course there's been a great deal of progress over the last 40 years. We don't have laws that segregate black people within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/well-of-course-there-s-been-a-great-deal-of-progress-over-the-last-40/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Every day, I read about new ideas and research that could help someone I care about live a longer and healthier life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rath/every-day-i-read-about-new-ideas-and-research-that-could-help-someone/) [Tom Rath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rath/) > [The first time I went to Abbey Road and put those headphones on, I discovered I had two voices. 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I no longer want that. My own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-okonedo/as-a-child-i-certainly-wanted-to-have-hair-that-i-could-grow-long-and/) [Sophie Okonedo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-okonedo/) > [People aren't religious because it's easy not to be. Like anything, it's habitual, and once it's a habit it's no longer hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matisyahu/people-aren-t-religious-because-it-s-easy-not-to-be-like-anything-it/) [Matisyahu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matisyahu/) [Browse all 1,598 Longer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would say, “it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”   The”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alexander Kennedy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say-it-s-just-that-i-stay-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Longer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say-it-s-just-that-i-stay-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/alexander-kennedy-54528_quote_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say_1360618.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/alexander-kennedy-54528_quote_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say_1360618.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/alexander-kennedy-54528_quote_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say_1360618.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It’s not that I’m so smart,” he would say, “it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” The” — Alexander Kennedy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alexander Kennedy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kennedy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It’s not that I’m so smart,”...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say-it-s-just-that-i-stay-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kennedy/it-s-not-that-i-m-so-smart-he-would-say-it-s-just-that-i-stay-with/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```