--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: we are privileged to live among brilliant…" description: "\"“we are privileged to live among brilliant and passionately inquisitive people, and in time when the search for knowledge is generally prized”\" — Carl ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/carl-sagan-160_knowledge_we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brillian_618185.jpg" --- # we are privileged to live among brilliant and passionately… ![“we are privileged to live among brilliant and passionately inquisitive people, and in time when the search for knowledge is generally prized” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/carl-sagan-160_knowledge_we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brillian_618185.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/carl-sagan-160_knowledge_we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brillian_618185.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/carl-sagan-160_knowledge_we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brillian_618185.jpg) > ““we are privileged to live among brilliant and passionately inquisitive people, and in time when the search for knowledge is generally prized”” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living among curious minds fuels progress; society values knowledge when it is prized. **In simple terms:** Curiosity drives societal progress. Key Takeaway Foster curiosity in yourself and others. Themes curiosity knowledge progress community Mood hopeful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - research labs - public discourse - innovation Key Concepts intellectual growth collective advancement Questions to Reflect On - How can you encourage curiosity? - What barriers hinder knowledge appreciation? A Different Perspective Not all societies prioritize knowledge equally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brilliant Passionately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant-passionately-5007035/) [Generally Prized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generally-prized-5007036/) [Inquisitive People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquisitive-people-2148074/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Passionately Inquisitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passionately-inquisitive-5007034/) [Privileged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privileged/) [Search for knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/search-for-knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [Inquisitive people aren't really very attractive, are they?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-clark-macinnes/inquisitive-people-aren-t-really-very-attractive-are-they/) [Helen Clark MacInnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-clark-macinnes/) > [The human race is inquisitive about other people's lives, but negligent to correct their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/the-human-race-is-inquisitive-about-other-people-s-lives-but/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [All of us cherish our beliefs. They are, to a degree, self-defining. When someone comes along who challenges our belief system as insufficiently well-based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/all-of-us-cherish-our-beliefs-they-are-to-a-degree-self-defining-when/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We are rare and precious because we are alive, because we can think as well as we can. We are privileged to influence and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-rare-and-precious-because-we-are-alive-because-we-can-think-as/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Our posturings, our imagined self-importance , the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe are challenged by this point of pale light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/our-posturings-our-imagined-self-importance-the-delusion-that-we-have-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable. Science and democracy began - in their civilized incarnations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-values-of-science-and-the-values-of-democracy-are-concordant-in/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Al-Askarî gives examples of the high esteem shown to scholars and the important position in society they occupy, often in spite of their lowly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-rosenthal/al-askar-gives-examples-of-the-high-esteem-shown-to-scholars-and-the/) [Franz Rosenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-rosenthal/) > [Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/three-passions-simple-but-overwhelmingly-strong-have-governed-my-life-2/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Intelligence is one of the greatest human gifts. But all too often a search for knowledge drives out the search for love. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/intelligence-is-one-of-the-greatest-human-gifts-but-all-too-often-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [I think within our music there is a real strong idea of search, search for identity, search for place, search for time, search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-kerr/i-think-within-our-music-there-is-a-real-strong-idea-of-search-search/) [Jim Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-kerr/) > [In an honest search for knowledge, you quite often have to abide by ignorance for an indefinite period.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-schrodinger/in-an-honest-search-for-knowledge-you-quite-often-have-to-abide-by/) [Erwin Schrodinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-schrodinger/) > [“But I've learned that intelligence alone doesn't mean a damned thing. Here in your university, intelligence, education, knowledge, have all become great idols. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/but-i-ve-learned-that-intelligence-alone-doesn-t-mean-a-damned-thing/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [“If this conviction had not been a strongly emotional one and if those searching for knowledge had not been inspired by Spinoza 's Amor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/if-this-conviction-had-not-been-a-strongly-emotional-one-and-if-those/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/three-passions-simple-but-overwhelmingly-strong-have-governed-my-life/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [My mother taught me three things, respect, knowledge-search for knowledge, it's an eternal journey. That's like my hair-cut, the line, 360 degrees, find knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/my-mother-taught-me-three-things-respect-knowledge-search-for/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-our-time-we-have-sifted-the-sands-of-mars-we-have-established-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ “\[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :\] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-about-fulfilled-prophecies-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Don't judge everyone else by your own limited experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/don-t-judge-everyone-else-by-your-own-limited-experience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-who-enslave-castrate-experiment-on-and-fillet-other-animals/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every star may be a sun to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-star-may-be-a-sun-to-someone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Explore all 1,043 Carl Sagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [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/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“we are privileged to live among brilliant and passionately inquisitive people, and in time when the search for knowledge is generally prized”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carl Sagan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brilliant-and-passionately/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knowledge" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brilliant-and-passionately/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/carl-sagan-160_knowledge_we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brillian_618185.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/carl-sagan-160_knowledge_we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brillian_618185.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/carl-sagan-160_knowledge_we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brillian_618185.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“we are privileged to live among brilliant and passionately inquisitive people, and in time when the search…” — Carl Sagan", "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": "Carl Sagan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“we are privileged to live among...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brilliant-and-passionately/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-privileged-to-live-among-brilliant-and-passionately/#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 } } ] } ```