--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Clever people, people who are driven to…" description: "\"“Clever people, people who are driven to succeed, know what they do not know, and try to reduce their ignorance using their curiosity and some patience..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c07/david-k-mullaly-86773_ignorance_clever-people-people-who-are-driven-to-s_1721050.jpg" --- # Clever people, people who are driven to succeed, know what… ![“Clever people, people who are driven to succeed, know what they do not know, and try to reduce their ignorance using their curiosity and some patience.” quote by David K. Mullaly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c07/david-k-mullaly-86773_ignorance_clever-people-people-who-are-driven-to-s_1721050.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c07/david-k-mullaly-86773_ignorance_clever-people-people-who-are-driven-to-s_1721050.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c07/david-k-mullaly-86773_ignorance_clever-people-people-who-are-driven-to-s_1721050.jpg) > ““Clever people, people who are driven to succeed, know what they do not know, and try to reduce their ignorance using their curiosity and some patience.”” David K. Mullaly ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Curiosity and patience help intelligent, ambitious people recognize their knowledge gaps and work to fill them. **In simple terms:** Smart, driven people use curiosity and patience to learn what they don’t know. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity and patience to reduce ignorance. Themes learning humility growth curiosity patience Mood inspirational reflective Type motivational thought‑provoking When to use this quote - personal development - coaching - research - skill building Key Concepts self‑improvement education leadership innovation Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to turn curiosity into action? - How does patience influence learning outcomes? A Different Perspective Patience alone may not overcome deep‑seated biases; curiosity must be directed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Clever People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever-people/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [The phenomenon of economic ignorance is so widespread, and its consequences so frightening, that the objective of reducing that ignorance becomes a goal invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-kirzner/the-phenomenon-of-economic-ignorance-is-so-widespread-and-its/) Israel Kirzner > [Just as full sunlight completely dispels all darkness but even a few rays provide a measure of light, so, if we complete the practice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geshe-kelsang-gyatso/just-as-full-sunlight-completely-dispels-all-darkness-but-even-a-few/) [Geshe Kelsang Gyatso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geshe-kelsang-gyatso/) > [Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/clever-people-will-recognize-and-tolerate-nothing-but-cleverness/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [I was the subject of an experiment in love. I lived my life under her gaze, undergoing certain trials for her so that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-was-the-subject-of-an-experiment-in-love-i-lived-my-life-under-her/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Clever people can copy the handwriting of an artist - it's like forging a person's signature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/clever-people-can-copy-the-handwriting-of-an-artist-it-s-like-forging/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [Humor is important. If you're going to tell any sort of realistic story, you're going to have to have humor in it, because people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/humor-is-important-if-you-re-going-to-tell-any-sort-of-realistic/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [As so often happens in philosophy, clever people accept a false general principle on a priori grounds and then devote endless labour and ingenuity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-broad/as-so-often-happens-in-philosophy-clever-people-accept-a-false/) [C. D. Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-broad/) > [“Clever people are entertaining and stupid ones give me such a pleasant sense of superiority.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwen-bristow/clever-people-are-entertaining-and-stupid-ones-give-me-such-a/) [Gwen Bristow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwen-bristow/) > [Capable people do not understand incapacity; clever people do not understand stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/capable-people-do-not-understand-incapacity-clever-people-do-not/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I wish I were one of those terribly clever people who, when they write their autobiographies, always say, when I was fifteen months old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-seaton/i-wish-i-were-one-of-those-terribly-clever-people-who-when-they-write/) [George Seaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-seaton/) > [Clever people are always the best conversations lexicon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/clever-people-are-always-the-best-conversations-lexicon/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The inspiration comes from everywhere, from what I grew up with. There's so much silliness and nonsense in the world that we regard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/the-inspiration-comes-from-everywhere-from-what-i-grew-up-with-there/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [Sometimes all you need to do to win clever people over to a principle is to present it in the form of a shocking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/sometimes-all-you-need-to-do-to-win-clever-people-over-to-a-principle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I am trying to write novels for properly clever people, but I also want them to be proper novels that also stick in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/i-am-trying-to-write-novels-for-properly-clever-people-but-i-also/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. … Aristotle, so far as I know, was the first man to proclaim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/man-is-a-rational-animal-so-at-least-i-have-been-told-aristotle-so/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) ## More by David K. Mullaly > [“if you wish to trust him, you must only trust him to act like a beast. When you give him your oath of loyalty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-k-mullaly/if-you-wish-to-trust-him-you-must-only-trust-him-to-act-like-a-beast/) David K. Mullaly > [“you can only rely on the great ones to be a danger to the rest of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-k-mullaly/you-can-only-rely-on-the-great-ones-to-be-a-danger-to-the-rest-of-us/) David K. Mullaly Explore all 3 David K. Mullaly quotes ## More Clever quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“There was once an old but clever donkey, who never liked the sting of any bee, Nor for all the Slung mud, did he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/there-was-once-an-old-but-clever-donkey-who-never-liked-the-sting-of/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/good-people-are-found-not-changed-recently-i-read-a-headline-that/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [If she is stupid enough to let you go, you're clever enough not to look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-is-stupid-enough-to-let-you-go-you-re-clever-enough-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Need to go to the pharmacy, because I'm so sick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-matthews/need-to-go-to-the-pharmacy-because-i-m-so-sick/) Tasha Matthews > [My valour is certainly going! - it is sneaking off! - I feel it oozing out as it were at the palms of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/my-valour-is-certainly-going-it-is-sneaking-off-i-feel-it-oozing-out/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [People may say that what I do is very clever, but it's not really at all. It's not Swift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-bremner/people-may-say-that-what-i-do-is-very-clever-but-it-s-not-really-at/) [Rory Bremner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-bremner/) > [I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-do-remember-what-i-said-the-promise-to-protect-her-if-i-d-done-that/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [“Regrets are like mistresses," he informed her. "I ..." Her hand dropped from the handle. "What?" "Good men don't have them." She blinked at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-johnson/regrets-are-like-mistresses-he-informed-her-i-her-hand-dropped-from/) [Alissa Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-johnson/) > [I love clever lyrics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-hayes/i-love-clever-lyrics/) [Walker Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-hayes/) [Browse all 2,116 Clever quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Clever people, people who are driven to succeed, know what they do not know, and try to reduce their ignorance using their curiosity and some patience.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David K. 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