--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The intellectual is an individual endowed…" description: "\"“The intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty for representing, embodying, articulating a message, a view, an attitude, philosophy or opini..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/edward-w-said-17556_intellectual_the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowe_1742852.jpg" --- # The intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty… ![“The intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty for representing, embodying, articulating a message, a view, an attitude, philosophy or opinion to, as well as for, a public. And this role has an edge to it, and cannot be played without a sense of being someone whose place ti is publicly…” quote by Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/edward-w-said-17556_intellectual_the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowe_1742852.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/edward-w-said-17556_intellectual_the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowe_1742852.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/edward-w-said-17556_intellectual_the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowe_1742852.jpg) > ““The intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty for representing, embodying, articulating a message, a view, an attitude, philosophy or opinion to, as well as for, a public. And this role has an edge to it, and cannot be played without a sense of being someone whose place ti is publicly to raise embarrassing questions, to confront orthodoxy and dogma (rather than to produce them), to be someone who cannot easily be co-opted by governments or corporations, and whose raison d'etre is to represent all those people and issues that are routinely forgotten or swept under the rug.”” [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The intellectual’s duty is to voice marginalized perspectives, challenge dominant narratives, and resist co‑option by power. **In simple terms:** Intellectuals speak for the ignored and question authority. Key Takeaway Speak truth, resist domination. Themes critical thought public responsibility justice freedom of expression Mood defiant reflective Type philosophical political inspirational When to use this quote - academic conferences - media commentary - activist writing - policy advising Key Concepts public sphere marginalization power dynamics ethical duty Questions to Reflect On - How can you amplify unheard voices? - When does critique become obstruction? A Different Perspective May be dismissed as elitist or impractical in mass politics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faculty Representing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faculty-representing-1534469/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Intellectual Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual-individual-1534468/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-opinion-1534470/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Public Role](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-role-598386/) [Raison d'etre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/raison-d-etre/) [Role](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/role/) ## Related quotes > [The intellectual is an individual with a specific public role in society that cannot be reduced simply to . . a faceless professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-intellectual-is-an-individual-with-a-specific-public-role-in/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [In my opinion a mathematician, in so far as he is a mathematician, need not preoccupy himself with philosophy-an opinion, moreover, which has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-lebesgue/in-my-opinion-a-mathematician-in-so-far-as-he-is-a-mathematician-need/) [Henri Lebesgue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-lebesgue/) > [ “In so far as he \[sic\] is concerned with liberal, that is to say liberating, education, his public role has two goals: What he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/in-so-far-as-he-sic-is-concerned-with-liberal-that-is-to-say/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) > [A public role endures for the literary high-command, as sages and seers, speaking out on social and political issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tibor-fischer/a-public-role-endures-for-the-literary-high-command-as-sages-and/) [Tibor Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tibor-fischer/) > [“The development of an image is a mysterious thing: once a public figure has been cast in a public role, it is almost impossible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-h-white/the-development-of-an-image-is-a-mysterious-thing-once-a-public/) [Theodore H. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-h-white/) > [I'm particularly interested in the public role that all buildings play. I believe that we architects should try to go beyond our basic obligations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-pelli/i-m-particularly-interested-in-the-public-role-that-all-buildings/) [Cesar Pelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-pelli/) > [“To Mr. Blot, who went through life an unconscious example of the raison d'être of the British Empire, a shipwreck was merely one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-otis-skinner/to-mr-blot-who-went-through-life-an-unconscious-example-of-the-raison/) [Cornelia Otis Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-otis-skinner/) > [Edward Snowden is anything but narcissist. In fact, I wonder every day how he could come up with the courage, muster the courage to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-wilkerson/edward-snowden-is-anything-but-narcissist-in-fact-i-wonder-every-day/) [Lawrence Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-wilkerson/) > [Men forget that a value judgment has a raison d'être only as a preparation for an action and a meaning solely in relation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/men-forget-that-a-value-judgment-has-a-raison-d-tre-only-as-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The novel has accompanied man uninterruptedly and faithfully since the beginning of the Modern Era. It was then that the "passion to know," which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-novel-has-accompanied-man-uninterruptedly-and-faithfully-since/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Government and state can never be perfect because they owe their raison d'être to the imperfection of man and can attain their end, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/government-and-state-can-never-be-perfect-because-they-owe-their/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [“The personal checks and balances that most of us bring to bear when we are employed in other activities - we ask ourselves if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghuram-g-rajan/the-personal-checks-and-balances-that-most-of-us-bring-to-bear-when/) [Raghuram G. Rajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghuram-g-rajan/) > [“We are women. We talk. We all do. I love to talk. It's my reason for being. No. It's my raison d'etre. Now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-valtsioti/we-are-women-we-talk-we-all-do-i-love-to-talk-it-s-my-reason-for/) [Suzy Valtsioti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-valtsioti/) > [I try to find stories that I would think that everyone would find interesting, and just a good entertaining story, and then if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-jewison/i-try-to-find-stories-that-i-would-think-that-everyone-would-find/) [Norman Jewison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-jewison/) > [The "social contract," in the only sense in which it is not completely mythical, is a contract among conquerors, which loses its raison d'être…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-social-contract-in-the-only-sense-in-which-it-is-not-completely/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) ## More by Edward W. Said > [“Modern Orientalism embodies a systematic discipline of accumulation. Far from this being exclusively an intellectual or theoretical feature, it made Orientalism tend fatally towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/modern-orientalism-embodies-a-systematic-discipline-of-accumulation/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Not one of our political spokespeople—the same is true of the Arabs since Abdel Nasser’s time—ever speaks with self-respect and dignity of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/not-one-of-our-political-spokespeople-the-same-is-true-of-the-arabs/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“It remains the professional Orientalist's job to piece together a portrait, a restored picture as it were, of the Orient or the Oriental; fragments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/it-remains-the-professional-orientalist-s-job-to-piece-together-a/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Intellectual representations are the activity itself, dependent on a kind of consciousness that is skeptical, engaged, unremittingly devote to rational investigation and moral judgement;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/intellectual-representations-are-the-activity-itself-dependent-on-a/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Out of this unstable mix of technocracy and national security you have a nostalgia developing for colonialism or religion—atavistic in my opinion, but some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/out-of-this-unstable-mix-of-technocracy-and-national-security-you/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Every writer on the Orient (and this is true even of Homer) assumes some Oriental precedent, some previous knowledge of the Orient, to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/every-writer-on-the-orient-and-this-is-true-even-of-homer-assumes/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Music requires a particular type of education which is simply not given to most people. And, as a result, it’s set further apart. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/music-requires-a-particular-type-of-education-which-is-simply-not/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“No one today is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman, or Muslim, or American are not more than starting-points, which if followed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/no-one-today-is-purely-one-thing-labels-like-indian-or-woman-or/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“They weren't like us and for that reason deserved to be ruled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/they-weren-t-like-us-and-for-that-reason-deserved-to-be-ruled/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Liberation as an intellectual mission, born in the resistance and opposition to the confinements and ravages of imperialism, has now shifted from the settled,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/liberation-as-an-intellectual-mission-born-in-the-resistance-and/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Criticism must think of itself as life-enhancing and constitutively opposed to every form of tyranny, domination, and abuse; its social goals are non-coercive knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/criticism-must-think-of-itself-as-life-enhancing-and-constitutively/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“The Orient is watched, since its almost (but never quite) offensive behavior issues out of a reservoir of infinite peculiarity; the European, whose sensibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/the-orient-is-watched-since-its-almost-but-never-quite-offensive/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“There has been no major revolution in modern history without intellectuals; conversely there has been no major counterrevolutionary movement without intellectuals. Intellectuals have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/there-has-been-no-major-revolution-in-modern-history-without/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Texts are not finished objects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/texts-are-not-finished-objects/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Orientalism is after all a system for citing works and authors . \_\_ Orientalism”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/orientalism-is-after-all-a-system-for-citing-works-and-authors/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) [Explore all 22 Edward W. Said quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) ## More Intellectual quotes > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/i-am-convinced-that-we-will-never-build-a-democratic-state-based-on/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Today it is the skeptics who are the social conformists, though because of powerful intellectual propaganda they continue to enjoy thinking of themselves as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/today-it-is-the-skeptics-who-are-the-social-conformists-though/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [Love isn't intellectual - it's visceral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-mcgillis/love-isn-t-intellectual-it-s-visceral/) [Kelly McGillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-mcgillis/) > [Faith is the avenue to salvation. Not intellectual understanding. Not money. Not your works. Just simple faith. How much faith? The faith of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/faith-is-the-avenue-to-salvation-not-intellectual-understanding-not/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ \[Our understanding is\] not intellectual, but instinctive. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/our-understanding-is-not-intellectual-but-instinctive/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [It only takes a day to change someone from an anti-intellectual to an intellectual by persuading him that he might be one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/it-only-takes-a-day-to-change-someone-from-an-anti-intellectual-to-an/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [This film business, perhaps more so in America than in Europe, has always been about young sexuality. It's not true of theatre, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-bisset/this-film-business-perhaps-more-so-in-america-than-in-europe-has/) [Jacqueline Bisset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-bisset/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Browse all 3,782 Intellectual quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty for representing, embodying, articulating a message, a view, an attitude, philosophy or opinion to, as well as for, a public. And this role has an edge to it, and cannot be played without a sense of being someone whose place ti is publicly to raise embarrassing questions, to confront orthodoxy and dogma (rather than to produce them), to be someone who cannot easily be co-opted by governments or corporations, and whose raison d'etre is to represent all those people and issues that are routinely forgotten or swept under the rug.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward W. Said" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowed-with-a-faculty-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Intellectual" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowed-with-a-faculty-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/edward-w-said-17556_intellectual_the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowe_1742852.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/edward-w-said-17556_intellectual_the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowe_1742852.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30d/edward-w-said-17556_intellectual_the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowe_1742852.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty for representing, embodying, articulating a…” — Edward W. Said", "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": "Edward W. Said", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The intellectual is an individual endowed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowed-with-a-faculty-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/the-intellectual-is-an-individual-endowed-with-a-faculty-for/#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 } } ] } ```