--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It isn't the instrument that influences…" description: "\"It isn't the instrument that influences High-Minded or Low-Minded; it's the quality of Mind itself.\" — Cynthia Ozick" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/cynthia-ozick-2945_influence_it-isn-t-the-instrument-that-influences_2839886.png" --- # It isn't the instrument that influences High-Minded or… ![“It isn't the instrument that influences High-Minded or Low-Minded; it's the quality of Mind itself.” quote by Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/cynthia-ozick-2945_influence_it-isn-t-the-instrument-that-influences_2839886.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/cynthia-ozick-2945_influence_it-isn-t-the-instrument-that-influences_2839886.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/cynthia-ozick-2945_influence_it-isn-t-the-instrument-that-influences_2839886.png) > “It isn't the instrument that influences High-Minded or Low-Minded; it's the quality of Mind itself.” [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mind quality, not instrument, determines thought level. **In simple terms:** Mind quality matters, not tools. Key Takeaway Cultivate a refined mind. Themes philosophy mindset intellect Mood thoughtful academic Type philosophical self‑improvement When to use this quote - education - personal growth - spiritual practice Key Concepts Cognitive quality inner development Questions to Reflect On - How can you improve your mental quality? - What habits nurture high‑mind thinking? A Different Perspective Tools can still influence outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Music making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-making/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) ## Related quotes > [A low-minded person should not be given good advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-low-minded-person-should-not-be-given-good-advice/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [They (low-minded) ones should never be trusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/they-low-minded-ones-should-never-be-trusted/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The man with the greatest soul will always face the greatest war with the low minded person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-man-with-the-greatest-soul-will-always-face-the-greatest-war-with/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Low minded people are fraudulent, wicked and chaeat. They shouldnot be trusted. To h ave faith in low minded ones is mistake in policy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/low-minded-people-are-fraudulent-wicked-and-chaeat-they-shouldnot-be/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The low minded are fond of deception the nature of low-minded people never changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/the-low-minded-are-fond-of-deception-the-nature-of-low-minded-people/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [What is important in meditation is the quality of the mind and the heart.It is not what you achieve, or what you say you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/what-is-important-in-meditation-is-the-quality-of-the-mind-and-the/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Success is a process, a quality of mind and way of being, an outgoing affirmation of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-noble/success-is-a-process-a-quality-of-mind-and-way-of-being-an-outgoing/) [Alex Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-noble/) > [Children share with geniuses an open, inquiring, uninhibited quality of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-guy-suits/children-share-with-geniuses-an-open-inquiring-uninhibited-quality-of/) Chauncey Guy Suits > [“There are at least two ways to believe in the idea of quality. 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Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-things-you-think-about-determine-the-quality-of-your-mind-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fortitude: That quality of mind which does not care what happens so long as it does not happen to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/fortitude-that-quality-of-mind-which-does-not-care-what-happens-so/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [“p5-what they need..is a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills-2/p5-what-they-need-is-a-quality-of-mind-that-will-help-them-to-use/) [C.Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills-2/) ## More by Cynthia Ozick > [History ... isn't simply what has happened. It's a judgment on what has happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/history-isn-t-simply-what-has-happened-it-s-a-judgment-on-what-has/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [The novelist's intuition for the sacred differs from the translator's interrogation of the sacred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/the-novelist-s-intuition-for-the-sacred-differs-from-the-translator-s/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [Advances in technology neither impede nor augment literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/advances-in-technology-neither-impede-nor-augment-literature/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“The Germans are sentimental. Their word Heimweh . The English say homesick; the same in plain Swedish. Hemsjuk . 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Religion in all its forms is dedication to Someone Else's work, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/dedication-to-one-s-work-in-the-world-is-the-only-possible-sanctifica/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [What was lost in the European cataclysm was not only the Jewish past--the whole life of a civilization--but also a major share ofthe Jewish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/what-was-lost-in-the-european-cataclysm-was-not-only-the-jewish-past/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/we-take-for-granted-the-very-things-that-most-deserve-our-gratitude/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) [Explore all 144 Cynthia Ozick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) ## More Influence quotes > [My coach, Robert Allen, helped me a lot. He had more influence on my growth as a player than anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamarcus-aldridge/my-coach-robert-allen-helped-me-a-lot-he-had-more-influence-on-my/) [LaMarcus Aldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamarcus-aldridge/) > [Life is not about how much you have but how much you have affect others life positively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-not-about-how-much-you-have-but-how-much-you-have-affect/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [DECIDE, v.i. To succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/decide-v-i-to-succumb-to-the-preponderance-of-one-set-of-influences/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. 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Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/treason-implies-responsibility-for-something-control-over-something/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [We believe a scientist because he can substantiate his remarks, not because he is eloquent and forcible in his enunciation. In fact, we distrust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-a-richards/we-believe-a-scientist-because-he-can-substantiate-his-remarks-not/) [I. A. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-a-richards/) > [It seemed to me that the human beings I met reacted pretty much the same to the same stimuli. Different idioms,yes. Circumstances and conditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/it-seemed-to-me-that-the-human-beings-i-met-reacted-pretty-much-the/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chalmers/every-man-is-a-missionary-now-and-forever-for-good-or-for-evil/) [Thomas Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chalmers/) > [My influences are jazz, blues, European classical music; they are rock music and pop music. So many kinds of music. World music from different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rokia-traore/my-influences-are-jazz-blues-european-classical-music-they-are-rock/) [Rokia Traore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rokia-traore/) > [Influences come from everywhere. 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