--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ordinary people are smart, smart people…" description: "\"“ordinary people are smart, smart people are ordinary, decisions are best made by the people affected by them, and human beings have an almost infinite..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/860/gloria-steinem-277_bad-news_ordinary-people-are-smart-smart-people-a_2845256.jpg" --- # ordinary people are smart, smart people are ordinary… ![“ordinary people are smart, smart people are ordinary, decisions are best made by the people affected by them, and human beings have an almost infinite capacity for adapting to the expectations around us—which is both the good and the bad news.” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/860/gloria-steinem-277_bad-news_ordinary-people-are-smart-smart-people-a_2845256.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/860/gloria-steinem-277_bad-news_ordinary-people-are-smart-smart-people-a_2845256.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/860/gloria-steinem-277_bad-news_ordinary-people-are-smart-smart-people-a_2845256.jpg) > ““ordinary people are smart, smart people are ordinary, decisions are best made by the people affected by them, and human beings have an almost infinite capacity for adapting to the expectations around us—which is both the good and the bad news.”” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ordinary people possess intelligence; decisions are best made by those affected, and humans adapt widely, which can be both beneficial and problematic. **In simple terms:** Smart people are ordinary; decisions should involve those affected; humans adapt a lot. Key Takeaway Involve stakeholders and recognize adaptability. Themes decision‑making human nature adaptability Mood analytical balanced Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - business strategy - public policy - community projects - personal choices Key Concepts psychology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - Who is affected by your decision? - How does adaptability become a double‑edged sword? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on adaptability may ignore systemic constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad news](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-news/) [Ordinary Decisions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-decisions-3753635/) [Ordinary people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-people/) [People Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-ordinary-258800/) [People Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-smart-638335/) [Smart people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smart-people/) ## Related quotes > [Great businesses are not built by extraordinary people but by ordinary people doing extraordinary things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gerber/great-businesses-are-not-built-by-extraordinary-people-but-by/) [Michael Gerber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gerber/) > [Art should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/art-should-live-in-the-heart-of-the-people-ordinary-people-should/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I usually write about ordinary people and ordinary things, but Paul Farmer is the least ordinary person I've ever met... He's the leader of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-kidder/i-usually-write-about-ordinary-people-and-ordinary-things-but-paul/) [Tracy Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-kidder/) > [All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/all-of-god-s-people-are-ordinary-people-who-have-been-made/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [Smart people sometimes get stupid, but stupid people never get smart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-winslow/smart-people-sometimes-get-stupid-but-stupid-people-never-get-smart-2/) [Don Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-winslow/) > [He (God) is not looking for smart people, because He is the smart one. All he wants are people simple enough to trust him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cymbala/he-god-is-not-looking-for-smart-people-because-he-is-the-smart-one/) [Jim Cymbala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cymbala/) > [Stupid people surround themselves with smart people. Smart people surround themselves with smart people who disagree with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-sorkin/stupid-people-surround-themselves-with-smart-people-smart-people/) [Aaron Sorkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-sorkin/) > [I love people, 'cause people are so smart. People have done a lot of great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/i-love-people-cause-people-are-so-smart-people-have-done-a-lot-of/) [Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/) > [There are two types of people in the world: dumb smart people and smart dumb people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-cooper/there-are-two-types-of-people-in-the-world-dumb-smart-people-and/) [Alex Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-cooper/) > [Only dumb people try to impress smart people. Smart people just do what they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/only-dumb-people-try-to-impress-smart-people-smart-people-just-do/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [The Chinese are not stupid people. They're very smart people. 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'You can come down the evolutionary ladder,' Chon has observed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-winslow/smart-people-sometimes-get-stupid-but-stupid-people-never-get-smart/) [Don Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-winslow/) > [“When I was a kid, my father told me there are two kinds of people in the world: smart people and wise people. Smart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-was-a-kid-my-father-told-me-there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I just want to say that I've been to - I love Puerto Ricans, they're very smart people, they're smart, they're street smart, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hinchcliffe/i-just-want-to-say-that-i-ve-been-to-i-love-puerto-ricans-they-re/) [Tony Hinchcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hinchcliffe/) ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Bad news quotes > [In the wake of such bad news, it was heartening to know that what 'Sense8' stood for meant so much to so many people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-j-smith/in-the-wake-of-such-bad-news-it-was-heartening-to-know-that-what/) [Brian J. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-torres/if-there-s-one-thing-you-should-know-about-me-it-s-that-i-m-utterly/) [Julio Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-torres/) > [I seem to thrive by destroying the last thing I did, in a kind of cartoon Nietzsche way. Emerson says in "Experience" something like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chiasson/i-seem-to-thrive-by-destroying-the-last-thing-i-did-in-a-kind-of/) [Dan Chiasson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chiasson/) > [“The bad news is that, measured in terms of geologic time, if the Earth’s history is an accurate guide, glaciers will soon return to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bernstein/the-bad-news-is-that-measured-in-terms-of-geologic-time-if-the-earth/) [Andrew Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bernstein/) > [I love an underdog. No, I don't necessarily mean the cartoon. I mean like David, as in Goliath, or the Bears, as in The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-lublin/i-love-an-underdog-no-i-don-t-necessarily-mean-the-cartoon-i-mean/) [Nancy Lublin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-lublin/) > [The good news is that economists are intelligent, engaging and often charming folks. The bad news is their work is often of little use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/the-good-news-is-that-economists-are-intelligent-engaging-and-often/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [The flatter the corporate hierarchy, the more likely it is that employees will communicate bad news and act upon it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-flatter-the-corporate-hierarchy-the-more-likely-it-is-that/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [The good news may be that Nature is phasing out the white man, but the bad news is that's who She thinks we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/the-good-news-may-be-that-nature-is-phasing-out-the-white-man-but-the/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [For a long period of time, the media covered rap music and hip hop the same way they cover a lot of black people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-d/for-a-long-period-of-time-the-media-covered-rap-music-and-hip-hop-the/) [Chuck D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-d/) > [“Shifting from a superior/inferior paradigm to a strength-in-difference paradigm was kind of a good news/bad news situation. 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