--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The world is like a board with holes in…" description: "\"The world is like a board with holes in it, and the square men have got into the round holes, and the round into the square.\" — George Berkeley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcf/george-berkeley-8287_boards_the-world-is-like-a-board-with-holes-in_1757167.jpg" --- # The world is like a board with holes in it, and the square… ![“The world is like a board with holes in it, and the square men have got into the round holes, and the round into the square.” quote by George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcf/george-berkeley-8287_boards_the-world-is-like-a-board-with-holes-in_1757167.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcf/george-berkeley-8287_boards_the-world-is-like-a-board-with-holes-in_1757167.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcf/george-berkeley-8287_boards_the-world-is-like-a-board-with-holes-in_1757167.jpg) > “The world is like a board with holes in it, and the square men have got into the round holes, and the round into the square.” [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often try to fit into inappropriate roles, causing mismatch and discomfort. **In simple terms:** Fit the right role, not the wrong one. Key Takeaway Seek environments that suit you. Themes identity conformity fit Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - career choices - team assignments - social circles Key Concepts philosophy social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - Are you adapting or forcing fit? - What changes when you change roles? A Different Perspective Roles can be fluid, not fixed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Board Holes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/board-holes-1658608/) [Boards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boards/) [Holes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holes/) [Holes Round](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holes-round-1658607/) [Holes Square](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holes-square-1658605/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Round Holes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/round-holes-1658609/) [Rounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rounds/) [Square Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/square-men-1658606/) [Squares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/squares/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Organization after organization has created a culture of, for, and by only round holes, yet they say they want square and triangle and star…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-taylor/organization-after-organization-has-created-a-culture-of-for-and-by/) [Sara Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-taylor/) > [It is a mistake, to think the same thing affects both sight and touch. 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Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [we cannot break a law of eternal justice, however ignorantly, but throughout the entire universe will there be a jar of discord that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-saunders-cushman/we-cannot-break-a-law-of-eternal-justice-however-ignorantly-but/) [Charlotte Saunders Cushman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-saunders-cushman/) > [Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense."... "We must treat each man on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/let-the-watchwords-of-all-our-people-be-the-old-familiar-watchwords/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Both of these places, Cairo's downtown and Tahrir Square, are in the heart of downtown Cairo. They are places where young people gather to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leila-fadel/both-of-these-places-cairo-s-downtown-and-tahrir-square-are-in-the/) [Leila Fadel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leila-fadel/) > [Sleep is for squares.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/sleep-is-for-squares/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [The public square is more public than ever, but minds are rarely changed in 140 character bursts and by selfies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-public-square-is-more-public-than-ever-but-minds-are-rarely/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Humility is an elusive virtue. The more we pursue it - and the more we seem to acquire it - the more we take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-aquilina/humility-is-an-elusive-virtue-the-more-we-pursue-it-and-the-more-we/) [Mike Aquilina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-aquilina/) > [ I wanted to play in New York when I was in my prime and I was young, fierce, lock-down \[defender\]. 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All the film critics were square.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/there-was-a-cultural-war-going-on-the-60s-was-going-on-all-the-film/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) ## More by George Berkeley > [For my own private satisfaction, I had rather be master of my own time than wear a diadem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/for-my-own-private-satisfaction-i-had-rather-be-master-of-my-own-time/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [To be a good patriot, a man must consider his countrymen as God's creatures, and himself as accountable for his acting towards them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/to-be-a-good-patriot-a-man-must-consider-his-countrymen-as-god-s/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [ \[Christianity\] neither enjoins the nastiness of the Cynic, nor the insensibility of the Stoic. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/christianity-neither-enjoins-the-nastiness-of-the-cynic-nor-the/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [The method of Fluxions is the general key by help whereof the modern mathematicians unlock the secrets of Geometry, and consequently of Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/the-method-of-fluxions-is-the-general-key-by-help-whereof-the-modern/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [Upon the whole, I am inclined to think that the far greater part, if not all, of those difficulties which have hitherto amused philosophers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/upon-the-whole-i-am-inclined-to-think-that-the-far-greater-part-if/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [Certainly he who can digest a second or third fluxion need not, methinks, be squeamish about any point in divinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/certainly-he-who-can-digest-a-second-or-third-fluxion-need-not/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/truth-is-the-cry-of-all-but-the-game-of-few/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [ \[Tar water\] is of a nature so mild and benign and proportioned to the human constitution, as to warm without heating, to cheer but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/tar-water-is-of-a-nature-so-mild-and-benign-and-proportioned-to-the/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/the-same-principles-which-at-first-view-lead-to-skepticism-pursued-to/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [I might as well doubt of my own being, as of the being of those things I actually see and feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/i-might-as-well-doubt-of-my-own-being-as-of-the-being-of-those-things/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [Make a point never go clear, it is great odds that a man whose habits and the bent of whose mind lie a contrary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/make-a-point-never-go-clear-it-is-great-odds-that-a-man-whose-habits/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [Atheism ... that bugbear of women and fools ... is the very top and perfection of free-thinking. 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