--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One needs to properly possess only a…" description: "\"“One needs to properly possess only a couple of great thoughts--they shed light on many stretches whose illumination one would never have believed in.”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/georg-simmel-15330_philosophical_one-needs-to-properly-possess-only-a-cou_1003219.jpg" --- # One needs to properly possess only a couple of great… ![“One needs to properly possess only a couple of great thoughts--they shed light on many stretches whose illumination one would never have believed in.” quote by Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/georg-simmel-15330_philosophical_one-needs-to-properly-possess-only-a-cou_1003219.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/georg-simmel-15330_philosophical_one-needs-to-properly-possess-only-a-cou_1003219.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/georg-simmel-15330_philosophical_one-needs-to-properly-possess-only-a-cou_1003219.jpg) > ““One needs to properly possess only a couple of great thoughts--they shed light on many stretches whose illumination one would never have believed in.”” [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great thoughts illuminate many areas previously unseen, revealing hidden connections. **In simple terms:** Powerful ideas reveal many unseen connections. Key Takeaway Seek and share profound ideas. Themes philosophy insight connection Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - creative brainstorming - strategic planning Key Concepts cognitive expansion intellectual curiosity Questions to Reflect On - Which thoughts have reshaped your view? - How can we spread illuminating ideas? A Different Perspective Not all ideas are universally applicable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-thoughts/) [Illumination Believed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illumination-believed-2130392/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Shed Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shed-light-796029/) [Sociology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociology/) [Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts/) [Thoughts Shed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts-shed-2130393/) ## Related quotes > [I would like now to shed light in your heart on the truth of things, for it was not my will, but that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judas-iscariot/i-would-like-now-to-shed-light-in-your-heart-on-the-truth-of-things/) [Judas Iscariot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judas-iscariot/) > [And I can't wait to say whatever, And I can't wait to shed some light, On every little thing you've broken, And get on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-carter/and-i-can-t-wait-to-say-whatever-and-i-can-t-wait-to-shed-some-light/) [Tyler Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-carter/) > [That's what I learned. I learned I couldn't shed light on love other than to feel its comings and goings and be grateful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-keaton/that-s-what-i-learned-i-learned-i-couldn-t-shed-light-on-love-other/) [Diane Keaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-keaton/) > [No one can shed light on vices he does not have or afflictions he has ever experienced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-machado/no-one-can-shed-light-on-vices-he-does-not-have-or-afflictions-he-has/) [Antonio Machado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-machado/) > [I think we present extreme aspects of human behavior and hopefully get at times, messages across or bring issues to the table or as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-meloni/i-think-we-present-extreme-aspects-of-human-behavior-and-hopefully/) [Christopher Meloni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-meloni/) > [A lot of good goes unseen, and if I can maybe shed some light on that, it'll be cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-schwarber/a-lot-of-good-goes-unseen-and-if-i-can-maybe-shed-some-light-on-that/) [Kyle Schwarber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-schwarber/) > [My hope is to shed light, provoke thought, entertain, and move through dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-rhoden/my-hope-is-to-shed-light-provoke-thought-entertain-and-move-through/) [Dwight Rhoden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-rhoden/) > [“The sun rises each morning to shed light on the things we may have overlooked the day before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-j-hebert/the-sun-rises-each-morning-to-shed-light-on-the-things-we-may-have/) [Tyler J. Hebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-j-hebert/) > [I want to use my platform to highlight and shed light on issues that are dear to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-fox/i-want-to-use-my-platform-to-highlight-and-shed-light-on-issues-that/) [Julia Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-fox/) > [I feel that my purpose is to shed light on some of the darker sides of our world, and to lend a hand and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vic-mensa/i-feel-that-my-purpose-is-to-shed-light-on-some-of-the-darker-sides/) [Vic Mensa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vic-mensa/) > [History must speak for itself. A historian is content if he has been able to shed more light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-l-shirer/history-must-speak-for-itself-a-historian-is-content-if-he-has-been/) [William L. Shirer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-l-shirer/) > [If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he must first of all have it within himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romain-rolland/if-a-man-is-to-shed-the-light-of-the-sun-upon-other-men-he-must-first/) [Romain Rolland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romain-rolland/) > [Humanity looks to works of art to shed light upon its path and its destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/humanity-looks-to-works-of-art-to-shed-light-upon-its-path-and-its/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [“Everything was made bright by her. She was the smile that shed light all around her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/everything-was-made-bright-by-her-she-was-the-smile-that-shed-light/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice, his job is to shed light, and not to master](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hunter/the-storyteller-makes-no-choice-soon-you-will-not-hear-his-voice-his/) [Robert Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hunter/) ## More by Georg Simmel > [Wandering, (is) considered as a state of detachment form every given point in space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/wandering-is-considered-as-a-state-of-detachment-form-every-given/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Every superior personality, and every superior performance, has, for the average of mankind, something mysterious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/every-superior-personality-and-every-superior-performance-has-for-the/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Cities are, first of all, seats of the highest economic division of labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/cities-are-first-of-all-seats-of-the-highest-economic-division-of/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Secrecy sets barriers between men, but at the same time offers the seductive temptation to break through the barriers by gossip or confession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/secrecy-sets-barriers-between-men-but-at-the-same-time-offers-the/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Every relationship between two individuals or two groups will be characterized by the ratio of secrecy that is involved in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/every-relationship-between-two-individuals-or-two-groups-will-be/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Gratitude, as it were, is the moral memory of mankind. 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In a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/a-stranger-is-far-enough-away-that-he-is-unknown-but-close-enough/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [On the one hand, life is made infinitely easy for the personality in that stimulations, interests, uses of time and consciousness are offered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/on-the-one-hand-life-is-made-infinitely-easy-for-the-personality-in/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [The metropolis reveals itself as one of those great historical formations in which opposing streams which enclose life unfold, as well as join one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/the-metropolis-reveals-itself-as-one-of-those-great-historical/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Secrecy involves a tension which, at the moment of revelation, finds its release.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/secrecy-involves-a-tension-which-at-the-moment-of-revelation-finds/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Judging from the ugly and repugnant things that are sometimes in vogue, it would seem as though fashion were desirous of exhibiting its power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/judging-from-the-ugly-and-repugnant-things-that-are-sometimes-in/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [By my existence I am nothing more than an empty place, an outline,that is reserved within being in general. Given with it, though, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/by-my-existence-i-am-nothing-more-than-an-empty-place-an-outline-that/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [The calculative exactness of practical life which the money economy has brought about corresponds to the ideal of natural science: to transform the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/the-calculative-exactness-of-practical-life-which-the-money-economy/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Secrecy is thus, so to speak, a transition stadium between being and not-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/secrecy-is-thus-so-to-speak-a-transition-stadium-between-being-and/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [Man's nature, originally good and common to all, should develop unhampered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/man-s-nature-originally-good-and-common-to-all-should-develop/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) [Explore all 42 Georg Simmel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) ## More Philosophical quotes > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [“Designing posters, for me, is not only a commercial pursuit but also a philosophical endeavor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fang-chen/designing-posters-for-me-is-not-only-a-commercial-pursuit-but-also-a/) [Fang Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fang-chen/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I think it's in our nature to try to get beyond that next horizon. I think that when we as a species are scratching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-howard/i-think-it-s-in-our-nature-to-try-to-get-beyond-that-next-horizon-i/) [Ron Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-howard/) > [As our domestic fowls are said to have their original in the wild pheasant of India, so our domestic thoughts have their prototypes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-our-domestic-fowls-are-said-to-have-their-original-in-the-wild/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Fiecare dintre noi a inteles, probabil, atunci ca nu exista "mai tarziu". Ca tot ce nu traim ramane netrait. 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