--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The most important thing is not to work…" description: "\"“The most important thing is not to work on things that other people are working on because otherwise all you'll do is get the same result as everybody..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/david-jewitt-93968_asteroids_the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work_1169396.jpg" --- # The most important thing is not to work on things that… ![“The most important thing is not to work on things that other people are working on because otherwise all you'll do is get the same result as everybody else and you won't make any discoveries, you'll just confirm what's already known.” quote by David Jewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/david-jewitt-93968_asteroids_the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work_1169396.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/david-jewitt-93968_asteroids_the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work_1169396.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/david-jewitt-93968_asteroids_the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work_1169396.jpg) > ““The most important thing is not to work on things that other people are working on because otherwise all you'll do is get the same result as everybody else and you won't make any discoveries, you'll just confirm what's already known.”” [David Jewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jewitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Don't follow others' work; create original discoveries instead. **In simple terms:** Avoid copying; pursue new ideas. Key Takeaway Seek originality. Themes innovation research science Mood inspirational challenging Type Asteroids:0 Astronomy:0 Discoveries:1 Important thing:1 Research:1 Science:1 Work Things:0 Make Discoveries:1 Discoveries Ll:0 When to use this quote - academic research - startup development - artistic creation - problem solving Key Concepts philosophy creative thinking Questions to Reflect On - What unique perspective can you offer? - How do you balance learning from others and innovating? A Different Perspective Risk of isolation without collaboration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asteroids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroids/) [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Discoveries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discoveries/) [Discoveries Ll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discoveries-ll-3383779/) [Important thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-thing/) [Make Discoveries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-discoveries-276791/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Work Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-things/) ## Related quotes > [“The most important thing is not to work on things that other people are working on because otherwise all you'll do is get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jewitt/the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work-on-things-that-other-people/) [David Jewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jewitt/) > [I have generally sought to work on questions that I thought were both interesting and approachable, yet not too widely appreciated. To struggle to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-w-szostak/i-have-generally-sought-to-work-on-questions-that-i-thought-were-both/) [Jack W. Szostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-w-szostak/) > [“All we know for sure is that if some astronomer turned a telescope to a far-off star cluster tonight and found incontrovertible evidence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-kean/all-we-know-for-sure-is-that-if-some-astronomer-turned-a-telescope-to/) [Sam Kean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-kean/) > [I mean, how would anyone learn anything if they weren't curious? How would scientists make discoveries? -- We all have the right to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annette-curtis-klause/i-mean-how-would-anyone-learn-anything-if-they-weren-t-curious-how/) [Annette Curtis Klause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annette-curtis-klause/) > [Serendipity is the way to make discoveries, by accident but also by sagacity, of things one is not in quest of. Based on experience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-bejan/serendipity-is-the-way-to-make-discoveries-by-accident-but-also-by/) [Adrian Bejan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-bejan/) > [I get intrigued by a first lin and I write to find out why it means something to me. You make discoveries just the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-get-intrigued-by-a-first-lin-and-i-write-to-find-out-why-it-means/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [It is strange that only extraordinary men make the discoveries, which later appear so easy and simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/it-is-strange-that-only-extraordinary-men-make-the-discoveries-which/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [When I write, I make discoveries about my feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-carson-levine/when-i-write-i-make-discoveries-about-my-feelings/) [Gail Carson Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-carson-levine/) > [The secret of all those who make discoveries is that they regard nothing as impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/the-secret-of-all-those-who-make-discoveries-is-that-they-regard/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) > [To make discoveries, you have to be curious about why the universe is the way it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/to-make-discoveries-you-have-to-be-curious-about-why-the-universe-is/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I want to make my own discoveries…….penetrate the evil which attracts me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-want-to-make-my-own-discoveries-penetrate-the-evil-which-attracts-me/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [There seems to be one quality of mind which seems to be of special and extreme advantage in leading him to make discoveries. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-darwin/there-seems-to-be-one-quality-of-mind-which-seems-to-be-of-special/) [Francis Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-darwin/) > [We make our discoveries through our mistakes: we watch one another's success: and where there is freedom to experiment there is hope to improve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-make-our-discoveries-through-our-mistakes-we-watch-one-another-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[Those\] who have an excessive faith in their theories or in their ideas are not only poorly disposed to make discoveries, but they also… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/those-who-have-an-excessive-faith-in-their-theories-or-in-their-ideas/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [“he would have been the first to scoff at the notion of labeling himself anything other than an explorer. His words to me were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-holley/he-would-have-been-the-first-to-scoff-at-the-notion-of-labeling/) [Val Holley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-holley/) ## More by David Jewitt > [“The most important thing is not to work on things that other people are working on because otherwise all you'll do is get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jewitt/the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work-on-things-that-other-people/) [David Jewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jewitt/) [Explore all 2 David Jewitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jewitt/) ## More Asteroids quotes > [I've said multiple times that the world's first trillionaire is going to be the person who exploits the resources of asteroids, the natural resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-ve-said-multiple-times-that-the-world-s-first-trillionaire-is-going/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [But to carve the Grand Canyon, Earth required millions of years. To excavate Meteor Crater, the universe, using a sixty-thousand-ton asteroid traveling upward of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/but-to-carve-the-grand-canyon-earth-required-millions-of-years-to/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [There is enough material in the Kuiper Belt to build anything out there. We could gobble up all the little asteroids, filtering out all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/there-is-enough-material-in-the-kuiper-belt-to-build-anything-out/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) > [We could not wipe ourselves out with a nuclear war. I do not want so sound too positive. It would be a catastrophe, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/we-could-not-wipe-ourselves-out-with-a-nuclear-war-i-do-not-want-so/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [Most of the solar system resides beyond the orbits of the asteroids. There is more to learn there about general planetary processes than on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-porco/most-of-the-solar-system-resides-beyond-the-orbits-of-the-asteroids/) [Carolyn Porco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-porco/) > [We've actually named asteroids for other famous women in history, like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. But it's really this Malala one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/we-ve-actually-named-asteroids-for-other-famous-women-in-history-like/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [Think about the strangeness of today's situation. Thirty, forty years ago, we were still debating about what the future will be: communist, fascist, capitalist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/think-about-the-strangeness-of-today-s-situation-thirty-forty-years/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [I only hope that we shall not wait to adopt the program until after our astronomers have reported a new and unsuspected asteroid moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/i-only-hope-that-we-shall-not-wait-to-adopt-the-program-until-after/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [Asteroids are deep-space bodies orbiting the Sun, not the Earth, and traveling to one would mean sending humans into solar orbit for the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/asteroids-are-deep-space-bodies-orbiting-the-sun-not-the-earth-and/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/) [Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/) > [We want to build colonies on the Moon, Mars, the Moons of other planets, and even nearby asteroids. We want to make space tourism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goldin/we-want-to-build-colonies-on-the-moon-mars-the-moons-of-other-planets/) [Daniel Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goldin/) > [Consider that the overwhelming majority of those 40,000 near-Earth asteroids are small enough to fit on the parking lot at the mall. And while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/consider-that-the-overwhelming-majority-of-those-40-000-near-earth/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Mars could very well be a staging location for the resources of the asteroid belt. We have to learn how to get a payback…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/mars-could-very-well-be-a-staging-location-for-the-resources-of-the/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [If the Chinese are the first to the asteroids or the first to Mars, good for them, as far as I'm concerned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/if-the-chinese-are-the-first-to-the-asteroids-or-the-first-to-mars/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) > [Asteroids have hit the Earth millions of times. We can see them as shooting stars every night. When they get bigger, things get complicated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/asteroids-have-hit-the-earth-millions-of-times-we-can-see-them-as/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) [Browse all 144 Asteroids quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroids/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The most important thing is not to work on things that other people are working on because otherwise all you'll do is get the same result as everybody else and you won't make any discoveries, you'll just confirm what's already known.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Jewitt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jewitt/the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work-on-things-that-other-people-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asteroids" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jewitt/the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work-on-things-that-other-people-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/david-jewitt-93968_asteroids_the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work_1169396.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/david-jewitt-93968_asteroids_the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work_1169396.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/david-jewitt-93968_asteroids_the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work_1169396.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The most important thing is not to work on things that other people are working on because otherwise all…” — David Jewitt", "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": "David Jewitt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jewitt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The most important thing is not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jewitt/the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work-on-things-that-other-people-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jewitt/the-most-important-thing-is-not-to-work-on-things-that-other-people-2/#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 } } ] } ```