--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These people who are always briskly doing…" description: "\"These people who are always briskly doing something and as busy as waltzing mice, they have little, sharp, staccato ideas, such as: \"I see where I can ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/brenda-ueland-3836_annuals_these-people-who-are-always-briskly-doin_1140940.png" --- # These people who are always briskly doing something and as… ![“These people who are always briskly doing something and as busy as waltzing mice, they have little, sharp, staccato ideas, such as: "I see where I can make an annual cut of $3.47 in my meat budget." But they have no slow, big ideas.” quote by Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/brenda-ueland-3836_annuals_these-people-who-are-always-briskly-doin_1140940.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/brenda-ueland-3836_annuals_these-people-who-are-always-briskly-doin_1140940.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/brenda-ueland-3836_annuals_these-people-who-are-always-briskly-doin_1140940.png) > “These people who are always briskly doing something and as busy as waltzing mice, they have little, sharp, staccato ideas, such as: "I see where I can make an annual cut of $3.47 in my meat budget." But they have no slow, big ideas.” [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She critiques people who focus on many minor, precise ideas but lack expansive, visionary thinking. **In simple terms:** Too many tiny ideas, no big vision. Key Takeaway Balance detail with big-picture thinking. Themes creativity focus vision Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - brainstorming sessions - strategic planning - idea prioritization - innovation workshops Key Concepts Psychology productivity Questions to Reflect On - How can you nurture both detail and vision? - What big idea excites you? A Different Perspective Big ideas may seem riskier and harder to act on. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Big idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-idea/) [Big ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-ideas/) [Budgets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/budgets/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I am not going to make promises I can't keep. 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Science, when sufficiently abstracted, approaches Philosophy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-golway/there-is-a-current-perception-is-that-science-has-overtaken/) [Tom Golway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-golway/) > [The job of the leader is to get the big ideas right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petraeus/the-job-of-the-leader-is-to-get-the-big-ideas-right/) [David Petraeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petraeus/) > [You never know when some small thing will lead to a big idea. Travel is very inspirational - but it's in the ordinary that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adriana-trigiani/you-never-know-when-some-small-thing-will-lead-to-a-big-idea-travel/) [Adriana Trigiani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adriana-trigiani/) > [I've never been shy about big ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-x-suarez/i-ve-never-been-shy-about-big-ideas/) [Francis X. Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-x-suarez/) > [All the big ideas for getting us onto a lower carbon trajectory involve a lot of people doing a lot of work, and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/all-the-big-ideas-for-getting-us-onto-a-lower-carbon-trajectory/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [People laugh at me because I use big words. 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Every moment of the day your mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-maccready/the-only-big-ideas-i-ve-ever-had-came-from-daydreaming-but-modern/) [Paul MacCready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-maccready/) > [“You want the story of my life? Big ideas, small results.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-stanwyck/you-want-the-story-of-my-life-big-ideas-small-results/) [Barbara Stanwyck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-stanwyck/) > [Believe in something larger than yourself... get involved in the big ideas of your time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bush/believe-in-something-larger-than-yourself-get-involved-in-the-big/) [Barbara Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bush/) > [“I had another idea.” Ben rolled so that he could grin down at Maddox. “Yeah?” Maddox generally liked Ben’s big ideas—not that he wasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabeth-albert/i-had-another-idea-ben-rolled-so-that-he-could-grin-down-at-maddox/) [Annabeth Albert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabeth-albert/) ## More by Brenda Ueland > [“At least I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had. 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I am free, healthy with a good complexion. It is that automobile addict who should be ashamed:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/running-is-the-right-thing-to-do-i-am-free-healthy-with-a-good/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny; whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/the-only-good-teachers-for-you-are-those-friends-who-love-you-who/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [... when I am really alone some power seems to grow in me. ... Conjugality made me think of a three-legged race, where two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/when-i-am-really-alone-some-power-seems-to-grow-in-me-conjugality/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“In the same way there is much, much in all of us, but we do not know it. No one ever calls it out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/in-the-same-way-there-is-much-much-in-all-of-us-but-we-do-not-know-it/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/when-we-are-listened-to-it-creates-us-makes-us-unfold-and-expand/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“...the best way to know the Truth or Beauty is to try to express it. 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