--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What the learned world tends to offer is…" description: "\"What the learned world tends to offer is one second-hand scrap of information illustrating ideas derived from another second-hand scrap of information...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8b/alfred-north-whitehead-836_hands_what-the-learned-world-tends-to-offer-is_1415129.png" --- # What the learned world tends to offer is one second-hand… ![“What the learned world tends to offer is one second-hand scrap of information illustrating ideas derived from another second-hand scrap of information. The second-handedness of the learned world is the secret of its mediocrity.” quote by Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8b/alfred-north-whitehead-836_hands_what-the-learned-world-tends-to-offer-is_1415129.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8b/alfred-north-whitehead-836_hands_what-the-learned-world-tends-to-offer-is_1415129.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8b/alfred-north-whitehead-836_hands_what-the-learned-world-tends-to-offer-is_1415129.png) > “What the learned world tends to offer is one second-hand scrap of information illustrating ideas derived from another second-hand scrap of information. The second-handedness of the learned world is the secret of its mediocrity.” [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The scholarly world relies on second‑hand knowledge, leading to mediocrity. **In simple terms:** Learning from others' summaries limits originality. Key Takeaway Seek primary sources and original thought. Themes knowledge mediocrity originality Mood critical reflective Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - academic research - policy making - media reporting - education - creative writing Key Concepts epistemology secondary sources Questions to Reflect On - How can you verify the originality of information? - What steps ensure you move beyond summaries? A Different Perspective Original insight still requires critical analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Handedness Learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handedness-learned-4996893/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Illustrating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illustrating/) [Information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/information/) [Information Second](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/information-second-3148638/) [Learned World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learned-world-357781/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocrity/) [Offers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offers/) [Scrap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scrap/) [Second hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-hand/) [Second Handedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-handedness-4996892/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Tends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-tends-2722122/) ## Related quotes > [“Scientists now know the brain receives 400 billion bits of information each second. To give you some idea of just how much information that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-grout/scientists-now-know-the-brain-receives-400-billion-bits-of/) [Pam Grout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-grout/) > [The strongest human instinct is to impart information, the second strongest is to resist it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/the-strongest-human-instinct-is-to-impart-information-the-second/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) > [Everything in our world tends to be built on either/ors, and either/ors inevitably make enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/everything-in-our-world-tends-to-be-built-on-either-ors-and-either/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) > [“The world tends to recognize the unique and the loud, the rich and the self-serving, not those who do ordinary things extraordinarily well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-myron/the-world-tends-to-recognize-the-unique-and-the-loud-the-rich-and-the/) [Vicki Myron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-myron/) > [If one devalues rationality, the world tends to fall apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-von-trier/if-one-devalues-rationality-the-world-tends-to-fall-apart/) [Lars von Trier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-von-trier/) > [I had learned so much about the world that I had decided to withdraw from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/i-had-learned-so-much-about-the-world-that-i-had-decided-to-withdraw/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [Let me put it this way: when I read, I learned the world was not as small as my house. And that everybody in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mcmillan/let-me-put-it-this-way-when-i-read-i-learned-the-world-was-not-as/) [Terry McMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mcmillan/) > [We could use up two Eternities in learning all that is to be learned about our own world and the thousands of nations that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-could-use-up-two-eternities-in-learning-all-that-is-to-be-learned/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [However exquisitely human nature may have been described by writers, the true practical system can be learned only in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/however-exquisitely-human-nature-may-have-been-described-by-writers/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [For the mind and the imagination, bookstores aren't enough, college courses aren't enough, the Internet isn't enough. Those resources are all governed by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-vendler/for-the-mind-and-the-imagination-bookstores-aren-t-enough-college/) [Helen Vendler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-vendler/) > [“Despite all that I had taught, I had learned nothing about the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-benjamin/despite-all-that-i-had-taught-i-had-learned-nothing-about-the-world/) [Melanie Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-benjamin/) > [“By the time you are old enough to pick up a book like this one, you have learned it: the world is not your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/by-the-time-you-are-old-enough-to-pick-up-a-book-like-this-one-you/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [The more I learned about the world I thought I knew and all the ones I didn't, the more everything threaded together, leading everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/the-more-i-learned-about-the-world-i-thought-i-knew-and-all-the-ones/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [By not going to school I learned that the world is a beautiful place and needs to be discovered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-hauer/by-not-going-to-school-i-learned-that-the-world-is-a-beautiful-place/) [Rutger Hauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-hauer/) > [I learned a world from each / one whom I loved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-learned-a-world-from-each-one-whom-i-loved/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) ## More by Alfred North Whitehead > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/philosophy-begins-in-wonder-and-at-the-end-when-philosophic-thought/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [On the ostensible exactitude of certain branches of human knowledge, including mathematics. The exactness is a fake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/on-the-ostensible-exactitude-of-certain-branches-of-human-knowledge/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [It is this union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalisation which forms the novelty in our present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/it-is-this-union-of-passionate-interest-in-the-detailed-facts-with/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of infinitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/our-minds-are-finite-and-yet-even-in-these-circumstances-of/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The many become one and are increased by one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-many-become-one-and-are-increased-by-one/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/art-is-the-imposing-of-a-pattern-on-experience-and-our-aesthetic/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The future belongs to those who can rise above the confines of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-future-belongs-to-those-who-can-rise-above-the-confines-of-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Common sense is genius in homespun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/common-sense-is-genius-in-homespun/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Everyone is a philosopher. Not everyone is good at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/everyone-is-a-philosopher-not-everyone-is-good-at-it/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Do not teach too many subjects and what you teach, teach thoroughly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/do-not-teach-too-many-subjects-and-what-you-teach-teach-thoroughly/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are cavalry charges in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/civilization-advances-by-extending-the-number-of-important-operations/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) [Explore all 356 Alfred North Whitehead quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## More Hands quotes > [When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/when-i-passed-the-chancellor-he-arose-waved-his-hand-at-me-and-i/) [Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/) > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. 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Sometimes you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-always-step-on-the-plane-with-my-right-foot-and-touch-the-outside/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. 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