--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: (a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily…" description: "\"“(a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily make a person clever. (b) Cleverness didn't necessarily make a good prime minister. (c) If a person couldn't ev..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/arundhati-roy-346_cleverness_a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-mak_2078582.jpg" --- # (a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily make a person… ![“(a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily make a person clever. (b) Cleverness didn't necessarily make a good prime minister. (c) If a person couldn't even run a pickle factory profitably, how was that person going to run a whole country? And, most important of all: (d) All Indian mothers are…” quote by Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/arundhati-roy-346_cleverness_a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-mak_2078582.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/arundhati-roy-346_cleverness_a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-mak_2078582.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/arundhati-roy-346_cleverness_a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-mak_2078582.jpg) > ““(a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily make a person clever. (b) Cleverness didn't necessarily make a good prime minister. (c) If a person couldn't even run a pickle factory profitably, how was that person going to run a whole country? And, most important of all: (d) All Indian mothers are obsessed with their sons and are therefore poor judges of their abilities.”” [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intelligence, leadership, and moral judgment are not guaranteed by education, wealth, or cultural bias. **In simple terms:** Success depends on competence, not background or gender bias. Key Takeaway Assess ability, not pedigree. Themes leadership education bias competence governance Mood critical reflective Type analytical political When to use this quote - political appointments - business management - family expectations - national governance Key Concepts meritocracy ethical leadership cultural stereotypes Questions to Reflect On - How do we ensure meritocracy in leadership? - What checks prevent cultural bias in decision making? A Different Perspective Bias can obscure true talent and lead to poor decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Prime minister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prime-minister/) ## Related quotes > [Going to Oxford didn't necessarily make a person clever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-make-a-person-clever/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“She smiled at and spoke to each person. It was as though she couldn't come into contact with anyone or anything without imparting some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-leighton/she-smiled-at-and-spoke-to-each-person-it-was-as-though-she-couldn-t/) [M. Leighton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-leighton/) > [“Whenever I saw a person I couldn't place, I quickly looked at their legs - as if that would help me identify them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adele-levine/whenever-i-saw-a-person-i-couldn-t-place-i-quickly-looked-at-their/) [Adele Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adele-levine/) > [“A person couldn't make something last if it wasn't meant to, like a person couldn't be someone they weren't. And trying only prolonged the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-lyn-kelly/a-person-couldn-t-make-something-last-if-it-wasn-t-meant-to-like-a/) [Mira Lyn Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-lyn-kelly/) > [“He was a person who couldn't fake a smile but smiled often.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-lockhart/he-was-a-person-who-couldn-t-fake-a-smile-but-smiled-often/) [E. Lockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-lockhart/) > [“They thought he was only what they could see. A nice boy but a bit of a goof, a bit of a show-off. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/they-thought-he-was-only-what-they-could-see-a-nice-boy-but-a-bit-of/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Besides, if a person couldn't cry over a random dead body in their trunk, that they may or may not have killed, then what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stylo-fantome/besides-if-a-person-couldn-t-cry-over-a-random-dead-body-in-their/) Stylo Fantome > [“I haven't met a person I couldn't learn from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mbida/i-haven-t-met-a-person-i-couldn-t-learn-from/) [Stephanie Mbida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mbida/) > [Songwriting is such an intricate part of me as an artist and as a person; I couldn't just let someone else do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/songwriting-is-such-an-intricate-part-of-me-as-an-artist-and-as-a/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [“But near the end of the hour I was also telling him how face-to-face with another person I couldn't speak. There was always a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/but-near-the-end-of-the-hour-i-was-also-telling-him-how-face-to-face/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Destiny, she’d learned, was written in the heavens; a person couldn’t take what the universe didn’t wish to give.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/destiny-she-d-learned-was-written-in-the-heavens-a-person-couldn-t/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [She had a way of seeing the beauty in others, even, and perhaps most especially, when that person couldn't see it in themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-had-a-way-of-seeing-the-beauty-in-others-even-and-perhaps-most/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I think you’re the first guy I’ve met in person who I couldn’t stop staring at.” Was”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-erickson/i-think-you-re-the-first-guy-i-ve-met-in-person-who-i-couldn-t-stop/) [Megan Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-erickson/) > [Andy was a nonverbal person; you couldn't get directions out of him. All he knew was what was modern in art was what wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-morrissey/andy-was-a-nonverbal-person-you-couldn-t-get-directions-out-of-him/) [Paul Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-morrissey/) > [“Rumi observed, “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-w-dyer/rumi-observed-sell-your-cleverness-and-purchase-bewilderment/) [Wayne W. Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-w-dyer/) ## More by Arundhati Roy > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [In 2001, we were told that the war in Afghanistan was a feminist mission. The marines were liberating Afghan women from the Taliban. Can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/in-2001-we-were-told-that-the-war-in-afghanistan-was-a-feminist/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Poverty is a crime and the poor are terrorists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/poverty-is-a-crime-and-the-poor-are-terrorists/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Flat muscled and honey coloured. Sea secrets in his eyes. A silver raindrop in his ear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/flat-muscled-and-honey-coloured-sea-secrets-in-his-eyes-a-silver/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Fiction and non-fiction are only different techniques of story telling. For reasons I do not fully understand, fiction dances out of me. Non-fiction is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/fiction-and-non-fiction-are-only-different-techniques-of-story/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [NGOs have a complicated space in neoliberal politics. They are supposed to mop up the anger. Even when they are doing good work, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/ngos-have-a-complicated-space-in-neoliberal-politics-they-are/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I've never been that person who thought that because I've written one novel, I should write another and another. It's only when there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/i-ve-never-been-that-person-who-thought-that-because-i-ve-written-one/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-is-such-a-supreme-folly-to-believe-that-nuclear-weapons-are-deadly/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I think one of the saddest things that's happening to literature is that it's getting over-simplified by this diet of simple political ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/i-think-one-of-the-saddest-things-that-s-happening-to-literature-is/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The only dream worth having, I told her, is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/the-only-dream-worth-having-i-told-her-is-to-dream-that-you-will-live/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Truly, there's no alternative to stupidity. Cretinism is the mother of fascism. I have no defence against it, really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/truly-there-s-no-alternative-to-stupidity-cretinism-is-the-mother-of/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/the-secret-of-the-great-stories-is-that-they-have-no-secrets-the/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“stilts, the ground floors given over to parking. It’s a good idea in this car-maddened city,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/stilts-the-ground-floors-given-over-to-parking-it-s-a-good-idea-in/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“Perhaps it’s true that things can change in a day. That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/perhaps-it-s-true-that-things-can-change-in-a-day-that-a-few-dozen/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) [Explore all 628 Arundhati Roy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) ## More Cleverness quotes > [“Rumi observed, “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-w-dyer/rumi-observed-sell-your-cleverness-and-purchase-bewilderment/) [Wayne W. Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-w-dyer/) > [“Passion often makes a madman of the cleverest man, and renders the greatest fools clever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/passion-often-makes-a-madman-of-the-cleverest-man-and-renders-the/) [François de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [If we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric, compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/if-we-fail-to-appreciate-the-soul-that-easternism-gives-us-then-what/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [A fool is a person who guesses and gets it wrong, a clever man is one who guesses, regardless of time period, and gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/a-fool-is-a-person-who-guesses-and-gets-it-wrong-a-clever-man-is-one/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Ultimately, of course, you must decide for yourself whether the subjective psychological effects created by your evolved cognitive biases reflect an objective reality, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bering/ultimately-of-course-you-must-decide-for-yourself-whether-the/) [Jesse Bering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-bering/) > [Limits have to be set on how far one can simply use the... cleverness that we have to make changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/limits-have-to-be-set-on-how-far-one-can-simply-use-the-cleverness/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Sometimes people try way too hard to sound clever on Facebook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-people-try-way-too-hard-to-sound-clever-on-facebook/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many of the greatest men have owed their success to industry rather than to cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/many-of-the-greatest-men-have-owed-their-success-to-industry-rather/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [What a curious picture it is to find man, homo sapiens, of divine origin, we are told, seriously considering going underground to escape the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/what-a-curious-picture-it-is-to-find-man-homo-sapiens-of-divine/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [“Neither the Russians nor the Americans were the cleverest people, or the most experienced, in the world that followed 1945. The French were rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-fehrenbach-2/neither-the-russians-nor-the-americans-were-the-cleverest-people-or/) [T.R. Fehrenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-fehrenbach-2/) > [Where there is simplicity, there are a hundred Angels, but where there is cleverness - there are none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-of-optina/where-there-is-simplicity-there-are-a-hundred-angels-but-where-there/) Ambrose of Optina > [Human integrity is determined by the heart, not by cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/human-integrity-is-determined-by-the-heart-not-by-cleverness/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [In late modernity we grow more and more accustomed to politicians and public figures who are indebted to their appetites for their "values," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/in-late-modernity-we-grow-more-and-more-accustomed-to-politicians-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [The art of investment has one characteristic that is not generally appreciated. A creditable, if unspectacular, result can be achieved by the lay investor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-art-of-investment-has-one-characteristic-that-is-not-generally/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) Browse all 406 Cleverness quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“(a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily make a person clever. (b) Cleverness didn't necessarily make a good prime minister. (c) If a person couldn't even run a pickle factory profitably, how was that person going to run a whole country? And, most important of all: (d) All Indian mothers are obsessed with their sons and are therefore poor judges of their abilities.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arundhati Roy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-make-a-person-clever-b/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cleverness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-make-a-person-clever-b/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/arundhati-roy-346_cleverness_a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-mak_2078582.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/arundhati-roy-346_cleverness_a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-mak_2078582.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d40/arundhati-roy-346_cleverness_a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-mak_2078582.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“(a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily make a person clever. (b) Cleverness didn't necessarily make a good…” — Arundhati Roy", "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": "Arundhati Roy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“(a) Going to Oxford didn't necessarily...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-make-a-person-clever-b/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/a-going-to-oxford-didn-t-necessarily-make-a-person-clever-b/#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 } } ] } ```