---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every person who has mastered a…"
description: "\"Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it.\" — George Bernard Shaw"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/george-bernard-shaw-68_career_every-person-who-has-mastered-a-professi_3221031.png"
---

#  Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic…

![“Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/george-bernard-shaw-68_career_every-person-who-has-mastered-a-professi_3221031.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/george-bernard-shaw-68_career_every-person-who-has-mastered-a-professi_3221031.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/george-bernard-shaw-68_career_every-person-who-has-mastered-a-professi_3221031.png)

> “Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it.”

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Mastery reveals the limits and complexities of a field, fostering a healthy doubt that drives continual improvement.

**In simple terms:** Experts stay skeptical of their own craft.

Key Takeaway

Question assumptions, keep learning.

Themes

skepticism expertise continuous learning

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- teaching
- research
- leadership
- innovation

Key Concepts

critical thinking humility professional growth

Questions to Reflect On

- How does doubt enhance expertise?
- When does skepticism become counterproductive?

A Different Perspective

Over‑skepticism can lead to paralysis and inaction.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) [Mastered Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mastered-profession-6055588/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Profession Skeptic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession-skeptic-1221901/) [Skeptic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skeptic/) [Skeptic Concerning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skeptic-concerning-6055587/)

## Related quotes

> [Every man is a revolutionist concerning the thing he understands. For example, every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-man-is-a-revolutionist-concerning-the-thing-he-understands-for/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-fact-that-a-believer-is-happier-than-a-skeptic-is-no-more-to-the-2/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-fact-that-a-believer-is-happier-than-a-skeptic-is-no-more-to-the/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The medical profession (is) a conspiracy to hide its own shortcomings. No doubt the same may be said of all professions. They are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-medical-profession-is-a-conspiracy-to-hide-its-own-shortcomings/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [I wanted at one point to act, which is a weird thing for men to want to do. It's a very vain profession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-black/i-wanted-at-one-point-to-act-which-is-a-weird-thing-for-men-to-want/)

[Shane Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-black/)

> [I just can't tell you what fun I've had being a member of the world's second oldest profession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-plummer/i-just-can-t-tell-you-what-fun-i-ve-had-being-a-member-of-the-world-s/)

[Christopher Plummer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-plummer/)

> [Great writers zealously learn the craft of their profession so they can release the power and the depth of their imagination and experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bishop/great-writers-zealously-learn-the-craft-of-their-profession-so-they/)

[Leonard Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bishop/)

> [You – help - people. You are an expert in your field, who genuinely helps other human beings. Take pride in that, stop hawking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-murray/you-help-people-you-are-an-expert-in-your-field-who-genuinely-helps/)

[Chris Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-murray/)

> [There's only two givens with choosing acting as a profession: one is you will always be unemployed, always, and it doesn't matter how much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mcdormand/there-s-only-two-givens-with-choosing-acting-as-a-profession-one-is/)

[Frances McDormand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mcdormand/)

> [Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-loren/getting-ahead-in-a-difficult-profession-requires-avid-faith-in/)

[Sophia Loren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-loren/)

> [If we do not like our work, and do not try to get happiness out of it, we are a menace to our profession…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/if-we-do-not-like-our-work-and-do-not-try-to-get-happiness-out-of-it/)

[Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/)

> [One needs to constantly read up, practice and work, irrespective of your profession. If I feel as an actor that I know everything, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonam-kapoor/one-needs-to-constantly-read-up-practice-and-work-irrespective-of/)

[Sonam Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonam-kapoor/)

> [It is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/it-is-a-great-profession-there-is-the-fascination-of-watching-a/)

[Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/)

> [I got into acting because my teachers kept nudging me into it. The power a teacher has to influence someone is so great. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hamm/i-got-into-acting-because-my-teachers-kept-nudging-me-into-it-the/)

[Jon Hamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hamm/)

> [Architecture is not a profession for the faint-hearted, the weak-willed, or the short-lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/architecture-is-not-a-profession-for-the-faint-hearted-the-weak/)

[Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/)

## More by George Bernard Shaw

> [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

[Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

## More Career quotes

> [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/)

[Alison James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-james/)

> [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/)

[Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/)

> [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/)

[Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/)

> [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/)

[Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/)

> [There are so many things you can do with your life, you can go to school and study toward your career, you can become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/there-are-so-many-things-you-can-do-with-your-life-you-can-go-to/)

[Simphiwe Scientist Dumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/)

> [I always knew I wanted to have a good career, so I made it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chord-overstreet/i-always-knew-i-wanted-to-have-a-good-career-so-i-made-it-happen/)

[Chord Overstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chord-overstreet/)

> [I am a very big fan of Brian Eno, of his work as an artist and making his music, and as a producer. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rostam-batmanglij/i-am-a-very-big-fan-of-brian-eno-of-his-work-as-an-artist-and-making/)

[Rostam Batmanglij](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rostam-batmanglij/)

> [If I can beat a proven champion like Canelo, that will take my career to a different level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennady-golovkin/if-i-can-beat-a-proven-champion-like-canelo-that-will-take-my-career/)

[Gennady Golovkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennady-golovkin/)

> [My non-career. My excuse for a career? Honestly, I never think about the word 'career.' I've had managers, the minute they say it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/my-non-career-my-excuse-for-a-career-honestly-i-never-think-about-the/)

[Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/)

> [“The vocation of a man lies in his vision.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-vocation-of-a-man-lies-in-his-vision/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [I started off as a model maker, so the first part of my career was a model maker and then a motion control camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-knoll/i-started-off-as-a-model-maker-so-the-first-part-of-my-career-was-a/)

[John Knoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-knoll/)

> [Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/portia-doubleday/growing-up-i-did-commercials-and-things-like-that-but-nothing-serious/)

[Portia Doubleday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/portia-doubleday/)

> [You can have a career and kids who love you. But you have to nurture yourself and find a way to be fulfilled so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-reitman/you-can-have-a-career-and-kids-who-love-you-but-you-have-to-nurture/)

[Catherine Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-reitman/)

> [As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Even though I'm already successful and have a career, it is always good to have your eggs in more than one basket.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farrah-abraham/even-though-i-m-already-successful-and-have-a-career-it-is-always/)

[Farrah Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farrah-abraham/)

[Browse all 11,387 Career quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Bernard Shaw"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-person-who-has-mastered-a-profession-is-a-skeptic-concerning-it/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Career"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-person-who-has-mastered-a-profession-is-a-skeptic-concerning-it/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/george-bernard-shaw-68_career_every-person-who-has-mastered-a-professi_3221031.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/george-bernard-shaw-68_career_every-person-who-has-mastered-a-professi_3221031.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/george-bernard-shaw-68_career_every-person-who-has-mastered-a-professi_3221031.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning it.” — George Bernard Shaw",
                "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": "George Bernard Shaw",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Every person who has mastered a...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-person-who-has-mastered-a-profession-is-a-skeptic-concerning-it/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-person-who-has-mastered-a-profession-is-a-skeptic-concerning-it/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
