--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A person of limited intelligence but high…" description: "\"“A person of limited intelligence but high conscientiousness can make a valuable employee; a person of higher intelligence but very low conscientiousne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/geoffrey-miller-33444_employee_a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-hig_1428140.jpg" --- # A person of limited intelligence but high… ![“A person of limited intelligence but high conscientiousness can make a valuable employee; a person of higher intelligence but very low conscientiousness is almost unemployable.” quote by Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/geoffrey-miller-33444_employee_a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-hig_1428140.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/geoffrey-miller-33444_employee_a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-hig_1428140.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/geoffrey-miller-33444_employee_a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-hig_1428140.jpg) > ““A person of limited intelligence but high conscientiousness can make a valuable employee; a person of higher intelligence but very low conscientiousness is almost unemployable.”” [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intelligence alone doesn't guarantee work value; conscientiousness is crucial for reliability and productivity. **In simple terms:** Hard work matters more than raw intellect. Key Takeaway Cultivate diligence. Themes work reliability productivity Mood reflective practical Type advice observational When to use this quote - job interviews - team projects - performance reviews - career planning Key Concepts conscientiousness intelligence employee value Questions to Reflect On - How can you boost your conscientiousness? - What tasks benefit most from diligence? A Different Perspective High IQ without effort often leads to underperformance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscientiousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientiousness/) [Employee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employee/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) ## Related quotes > [People high in conscientiousness get better grades in high school and college; they commit fewer crimes; and they stay married longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tough/people-high-in-conscientiousness-get-better-grades-in-high-school-and/) [Paul Tough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tough/) > [In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-adenauer/in-view-of-the-fact-that-god-limited-the-intelligence-of-man-it-seems/) [Konrad Adenauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-adenauer/) > [The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-receptivity-of-the-masses-is-very-limited-their-intelligence-is/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [“mentioning 'our days' as people of limited intelligence are fond of doing, imagining that they have discovered and appraised the peculiarities of 'our days'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/mentioning-our-days-as-people-of-limited-intelligence-are-fond-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Physics is a hobby of mine, as much as a person of limited intelligence can understand physics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-d-levinson/physics-is-a-hobby-of-mine-as-much-as-a-person-of-limited/) Arthur D. Levinson > [People of limited intelligence are fond of talking about "these days," imagining that they have discovered and appraised the peculiarities of "these days" and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/people-of-limited-intelligence-are-fond-of-talking-about-these-days/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-propaganda-must-be-popular-and-its-intellectual-level-must-be-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/all-propaganda-must-be-popular-and-its-intellectual-level-must-be/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [I'm usually taken for a non-intellectual, a person of limited intelligence. I don't know why, but I figure it's because physically I don't look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/i-m-usually-taken-for-a-non-intellectual-a-person-of-limited/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [“Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/because-of-their-limited-intelligence-they-never-came-close-to/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Even with limited intelligence, knowing oneself is not as difficult as some say, but to act according to what one has realized about oneself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/even-with-limited-intelligence-knowing-oneself-is-not-as-difficult-as/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [I have a limited intelligence and I've used it in a particular direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/i-have-a-limited-intelligence-and-i-ve-used-it-in-a-particular/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [“What matters, instead, is whether we are able to help her develop a very different set of qualities, a list that includes persistence, self-control,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tough/what-matters-instead-is-whether-we-are-able-to-help-her-develop-a/) [Paul Tough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tough/) > [Safe popular freedom consists of four things, the diffusion of liberty, of intelligence, of property, and of conscientiousness, and cannot be compounded of any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cook/safe-popular-freedom-consists-of-four-things-the-diffusion-of-liberty/) [Joseph Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-cook/) > [“The men and women who scored highest on conscientiousness—that is, who control their impulses, who were dependable and goal-oriented—had 89 percent lower risk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bradley-hagerty/the-men-and-women-who-scored-highest-on-conscientiousness-that-is-who/) [Barbara Bradley Hagerty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bradley-hagerty/) ## More by Geoffrey Miller > [If you don't have the willpower to stop eating carbs, you won't have the willpower to do a dissertation. #truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/if-you-don-t-have-the-willpower-to-stop-eating-carbs-you-won-t-have/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [These capacities for randomness may have been amplified into human creativity through sexual and social selection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/these-capacities-for-randomness-may-have-been-amplified-into-human/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“Thus the name of the game when it comes to evolution is not obtaining food or other resources: it is reproduction. Which came first,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/thus-the-name-of-the-game-when-it-comes-to-evolution-is-not-obtaining/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [Scientific theories never dictate human values, but they can often cast new light on ethical issues. From a sexual selection viewpoint, moral philosophy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/scientific-theories-never-dictate-human-values-but-they-can-often/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“Psychopathy is basically the absence of sympathy. There are fewer female psychopaths, perhaps because female psychophats would not have shown sufficient sympathy to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/psychopathy-is-basically-the-absence-of-sympathy-there-are-fewer/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“Our responsibility is not to speculate endlessly about the possible futures of our daughter species, but to become, with as much panache as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/our-responsibility-is-not-to-speculate-endlessly-about-the-possible/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“Men write more books. Men give more lectures. Men ask more questions after lectures. Men post more e-mail to Internet discussion groups. To say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/men-write-more-books-men-give-more-lectures-men-ask-more-questions/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“David Buss has amassed a lot of evidence that human females across many cultures tend to prefer males who have high social status, good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/david-buss-has-amassed-a-lot-of-evidence-that-human-females-across/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“You could be the fittest person imaginable in terms of strength, intelligence, disease resistance and vitality, but if you fail to reproduce your contribution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/you-could-be-the-fittest-person-imaginable-in-terms-of-strength/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“Existing political philosophies all developed before evolutionary game theory, so they do not take equilibrium selection into account. Socialism pretends that individuals are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/existing-political-philosophies-all-developed-before-evolutionary/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“Imagine a young Isaac Newton time-travelling from 1670s England to teach Harvard undergrads in 2017. After the time-jump, Newton still has an obsessive, paranoid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/imagine-a-young-isaac-newton-time-travelling-from-1670s-england-to/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [If most of your courtship attempts have succeeded, you must be a very attractive and charming person who has been aiming too low.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/if-most-of-your-courtship-attempts-have-succeeded-you-must-be-a-very/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [“The healthy brain theory proposes that our minds are clusters of fitness indicators: persuasive salesmen like art, music, and humor, that do their best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/the-healthy-brain-theory-proposes-that-our-minds-are-clusters-of/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) > [Consumerism is hard to describe when it's the ocean and we're the plankton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/consumerism-is-hard-to-describe-when-it-s-the-ocean-and-we-re-the/) [Geoffrey Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) [Explore all 15 Geoffrey Miller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/) ## More Conscientiousness quotes > [“The men and women who scored highest on conscientiousness—that is, who control their impulses, who were dependable and goal-oriented—had 89 percent lower risk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bradley-hagerty/the-men-and-women-who-scored-highest-on-conscientiousness-that-is-who/) [Barbara Bradley Hagerty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bradley-hagerty/) > [Safe popular freedom consists of four things, the diffusion of liberty, of intelligence, of property, and of conscientiousness, and cannot be compounded of any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cook/safe-popular-freedom-consists-of-four-things-the-diffusion-of-liberty/) [Joseph Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-cook/) > [“What matters, instead, is whether we are able to help her develop a very different set of qualities, a list that includes persistence, self-control,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tough/what-matters-instead-is-whether-we-are-able-to-help-her-develop-a/) [Paul Tough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tough/) > [Public money ought to be touched with the most scrupulous consciousness of honor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/public-money-ought-to-be-touched-with-the-most-scrupulous/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“The 'big five' factors of personality are neuroticism (which reflects emotional stability), extroversion (seeking the company of others), openness (interest in new experiences, ideas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-clifton/the-big-five-factors-of-personality-are-neuroticism-which-reflects/) [Donald O. Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-clifton/) > [Persons who reach the higher rungs in business management, selling, engineering, religious work, writing, acting, and in every other pursuit get there by following…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-j-schwartz/persons-who-reach-the-higher-rungs-in-business-management-selling/) [David J. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-j-schwartz/) > [Some aim to be deft, others to be laboriously careful. Neither dexterity nor conscientiousness is enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chai-lu/some-aim-to-be-deft-others-to-be-laboriously-careful-neither/) Chai Lu > [“We attract to our lives what we desire most and our intent enhances our ability to ascend or may serve as a one-way-ticket to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seraphine-abrams/we-attract-to-our-lives-what-we-desire-most-and-our-intent-enhances/) Seraphine Abrams > [Sincerity is the indispensable ground of all conscientiousness, and by consequence of all heartfelt religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/sincerity-is-the-indispensable-ground-of-all-conscientiousness-and-by/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“...the results have consistently suggested that introversion and extroversion, like other major personality traits such as agreeableness and conscientiousness, are about 40 to 50 percent heritable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/the-results-have-consistently-suggested-that-introversion-and/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [Public money ought to be touched with the most scrupulous conscientiousness of honor. It is not the produce of riches only, but of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/public-money-ought-to-be-touched-with-the-most-scrupulous-2/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [I daily examine myself on three points: In planning for others, have I failed in conscientiousness? In intercourse with friends, have I been insincere?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/i-daily-examine-myself-on-three-points-in-planning-for-others-have-i/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [First conscientiousness you have been respect to own's regional language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/first-conscientiousness-you-have-been-respect-to-own-s-regional/) Mak\_786 > [Newspapers. . . give us the bald, sordid, disgusting facts of life. They chronicle, with degrading avidity, the sins of the second-rate, and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/newspapers-give-us-the-bald-sordid-disgusting-facts-of-life-they/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [What matters most in a child’s development, they say, is not how much information we can stuff into her brain in the first few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tough/what-matters-most-in-a-child-s-development-they-say-is-not-how-much/) [Paul Tough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tough/) [Browse all 36 Conscientiousness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscientiousness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A person of limited intelligence but high conscientiousness can make a valuable employee; a person of higher intelligence but very low conscientiousness is almost unemployable.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Geoffrey Miller" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-high-conscientiousness-can-make/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conscientiousness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-high-conscientiousness-can-make/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/geoffrey-miller-33444_employee_a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-hig_1428140.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/geoffrey-miller-33444_employee_a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-hig_1428140.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/geoffrey-miller-33444_employee_a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-hig_1428140.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A person of limited intelligence but high conscientiousness can make a valuable employee; a person of higher…” — Geoffrey Miller", "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": "Geoffrey Miller", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-miller/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A person of limited intelligence but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-high-conscientiousness-can-make/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-miller/a-person-of-limited-intelligence-but-high-conscientiousness-can-make/#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 } } ] } ```