--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every honest researcher I know admits…" description: "\"Every honest researcher I know admits he's just a professional amateur. He's doing whatever he's doing for the first time. That makes him an amateur. H..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/charles-kettering-5294_amateur_every-honest-researcher-i-know-admits-he_2494580.png" --- # Every honest researcher I know admits he's just a… ![“Every honest researcher I know admits he's just a professional amateur. He's doing whatever he's doing for the first time. That makes him an amateur. He has sense enough to know that he's going to have a lot of trouble, so that makes him a professional.” quote by Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/charles-kettering-5294_amateur_every-honest-researcher-i-know-admits-he_2494580.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/charles-kettering-5294_amateur_every-honest-researcher-i-know-admits-he_2494580.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/charles-kettering-5294_amateur_every-honest-researcher-i-know-admits-he_2494580.png) > “Every honest researcher I know admits he's just a professional amateur. He's doing whatever he's doing for the first time. That makes him an amateur. He has sense enough to know that he's going to have a lot of trouble, so that makes him a professional.” [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A professional acknowledges being an amateur at each new task, yet embraces the learning curve as part of expertise. **In simple terms:** Experts start as beginners each time. Key Takeaway Embrace learning phases to become truly skilled. Themes learning humility professionalism Mood inquisitive optimistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - new projects - skill development - research challenges Key Concepts innovation expertise Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay humble when mastering new skills? - What habits help you transition from novice to professional? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can ignore the need for continual learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-science/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [If there was no fame involved and very minimal money - which is the case for most actors - I'd still be doing it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rylance/if-there-was-no-fame-involved-and-very-minimal-money-which-is-the/) [Mark Rylance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rylance/) > [Every professional was once an amateur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/every-professional-was-once-an-amateur/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [By the time I was 22, I was a professional. A young and flawed professional, but not an amateur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-sondheim/by-the-time-i-was-22-i-was-a-professional-a-young-and-flawed/) [Stephen Sondheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-sondheim/) > [One major difference I observe between professional and amateur writers is that pros can take constructive criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-major-difference-i-observe-between-professional-and-amateur/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I am not a professionally trained professional. I am an amateur professional!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-am-not-a-professionally-trained-professional-i-am-an-amateur/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I think the greatest photographers are the amateur photographers who do it because they love it. Arnold Newman is a good example; he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sexton/i-think-the-greatest-photographers-are-the-amateur-photographers-who/) [John Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sexton/) > [A professional is an amateur who has been working for a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serge-lutens/a-professional-is-an-amateur-who-has-been-working-for-a-long-time/) Serge Lutens > [I'm not the best audience for that because I'm not a great science-fiction fan. I just never got off on space ships and space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-oldman/i-m-not-the-best-audience-for-that-because-i-m-not-a-great-science/) [Gary Oldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-oldman/) > [The way to do great science is to stay away from subjects that are overpopulated, and go to the frontiers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-d-watson/the-way-to-do-great-science-is-to-stay-away-from-subjects-that-are/) [James D. Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-d-watson/) > [What underlies great science is what underlies great art, whether it is visual or written, and that is the ability to distinguish patterns out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/what-underlies-great-science-is-what-underlies-great-art-whether-it/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/people-like-us-who-believe-in-physics-know-that-the-distinction/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm not a great science fiction fan myself. I probably feel that way about Westerns. Like I used to play Cowboys and Indians, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-goddard/i-m-not-a-great-science-fiction-fan-myself-i-probably-feel-that-way/) [Mark Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-goddard/) > [Curiosity is the starting point for great science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kotler/curiosity-is-the-starting-point-for-great-science/) [Philip Kotler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kotler/) > [“It is only by introducing the young to great literature, drama and music, and to the excitement of great science that we open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-anderson/it-is-only-by-introducing-the-young-to-great-literature-drama-and/) Eric Anderson > [After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved science and art tend to coalesce in aesthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/after-a-certain-high-level-of-technical-skill-is-achieved-science-and/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) ## More by Charles Kettering > [Research is an organized method of trying to find out what you are going to do after you cannot do what you are doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/research-is-an-organized-method-of-trying-to-find-out-what-you-are/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [The sure ways to create new ventures of discovery are to keep an open mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/the-sure-ways-to-create-new-ventures-of-discovery-are-to-keep-an-open/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [If a fellow wants to be nobody in the business world, let him neglect sending the mailman to somebody on his behalf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/if-a-fellow-wants-to-be-nobody-in-the-business-world-let-him-neglect/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/every-time-you-tear-a-leaf-off-a-calendar-you-present-a-new-place-for/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Great steps in human progress are made by things that don't work the way philosophy thought they should. If things always worked the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/great-steps-in-human-progress-are-made-by-things-that-don-t-work-the/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Education is man's going forward from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty.Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/education-is-man-s-going-forward-from-cocksure-ignorance-to/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [you must take the problem as it is, and let it be what it wants to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/you-must-take-the-problem-as-it-is-and-let-it-be-what-it-wants-to-be/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [It is man's destiny to ponder on the riddle of existence and, as a byproduct of his wonderment, to create a new life on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/it-is-man-s-destiny-to-ponder-on-the-riddle-of-existence-and-as-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [We must look forward to the future as that is where most of us will be spending the rest of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/we-must-look-forward-to-the-future-as-that-is-where-most-of-us-will/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/there-is-a-great-difference-between-knowing-and-understanding-you-can/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [If I want to stop a research program I can always do it by getting a few experts to sit in on the subject,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/if-i-want-to-stop-a-research-program-i-can-always-do-it-by-getting-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [There will always be a frontier where there is an open mind and a willing hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/there-will-always-be-a-frontier-where-there-is-an-open-mind-and-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Obsolescence is a factor which says that the new thing I bring you is worth more than the unused value of the old thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/obsolescence-is-a-factor-which-says-that-the-new-thing-i-bring-you-is/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Nothing ever built arose to touch the skies unless some man dreamed that it should, some man believed that it could, and some man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/nothing-ever-built-arose-to-touch-the-skies-unless-some-man-dreamed/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [What I believe is that, by proper effort, we make the future almost anything we want to make it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/what-i-believe-is-that-by-proper-effort-we-make-the-future-almost/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) [Explore all 102 Charles Kettering quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) ## More Amateur quotes > [“The amateur doesn't appreciate the need for experimentation. He wants his experts to know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner-2/the-amateur-doesn-t-appreciate-the-need-for-experimentation-he-wants/) [B.F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner-2/) > [A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn't feel like it. An amateur is a man who can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agate/a-professional-is-a-man-who-can-do-his-job-when-he-doesn-t-feel-like/) [James Agate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agate/) > [My father was a GP; my mother was a teacher and amateur actress. My father was a bit of a storyteller, but the acting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ciaran-hinds/my-father-was-a-gp-my-mother-was-a-teacher-and-amateur-actress-my/) [Ciaran Hinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ciaran-hinds/) > [I did a musical when I was 17, an amateur show, and I loved it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taron-egerton/i-did-a-musical-when-i-was-17-an-amateur-show-and-i-loved-it/) [Taron Egerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taron-egerton/) > [Every artist was first an amateur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-artist-was-first-an-amateur/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The definition of a professional is one who does a job well even when they don't like it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sheinwald/the-definition-of-a-professional-is-one-who-does-a-job-well-even-when/) Alan Sheinwald > [I think most amateurs dread playing a 180-plus-yard par 3 even more than a hard par 4. Part of it is psychological: You think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-els/i-think-most-amateurs-dread-playing-a-180-plus-yard-par-3-even-more/) [Ernie Els](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-els/) > [I read a lot of 'Nancy Drew' books as a kid and considered myself a bit of an amateur detective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-cain/i-read-a-lot-of-nancy-drew-books-as-a-kid-and-considered-myself-a-bit/) [Chelsea Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-cain/) > [Professionalism is environmental. Amateurism is anti-environmental. Professionalism merges the individual into patterns of total environment. Amateurism seeks the development of the total awareness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/professionalism-is-environmental-amateurism-is-anti-environmental/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [You count a man's U.S. Amateur titles after he starts winning professional majors. That's something any intelligent golf writer with a sense of history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-jenkins/you-count-a-man-s-u-s-amateur-titles-after-he-starts-winning/) [Dan Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-jenkins/) > [Most amateurs are so worried about mis-hitting the shot or hitting it off line, they don't make an aggressive move. You'd be surprised how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keegan-bradley/most-amateurs-are-so-worried-about-mis-hitting-the-shot-or-hitting-it/) [Keegan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keegan-bradley/) > [Amateur boxing is one of the safest sports around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-calzaghe/amateur-boxing-is-one-of-the-safest-sports-around/) [Joe Calzaghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-calzaghe/) > [“Amateur: One reckless enough to risk being interesting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-barringer/amateur-one-reckless-enough-to-risk-being-interesting/) David Barringer > [Time management is probably the biggest thing I've had to learn to deal with being on the PGA Tour, whether it be media or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rickie-fowler/time-management-is-probably-the-biggest-thing-i-ve-had-to-learn-to/) [Rickie Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rickie-fowler/) > [When people buy, rescue, or otherwise acquire a dog from unscrupulous breeders or amateur rescue groups, they are making a decision with ethical consequences.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-katz/when-people-buy-rescue-or-otherwise-acquire-a-dog-from-unscrupulous/) [Jon Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-katz/) Browse all 352 Amateur quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every honest researcher I know admits he's just a professional amateur. 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