--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human beings know a lot of things, some…" description: "\"Human beings know a lot of things, some of which are true, and apply them. When we like the results, we call it wisdom.\" — Herbert Simon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abb/herbert-simon-15495_human-beings_human-beings-know-a-lot-of-things-some-o_1691873.png" --- # Human beings know a lot of things, some of which are true… ![“Human beings know a lot of things, some of which are true, and apply them. When we like the results, we call it wisdom.” quote by Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abb/herbert-simon-15495_human-beings_human-beings-know-a-lot-of-things-some-o_1691873.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abb/herbert-simon-15495_human-beings_human-beings-know-a-lot-of-things-some-o_1691873.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abb/herbert-simon-15495_human-beings_human-beings-know-a-lot-of-things-some-o_1691873.png) > “Human beings know a lot of things, some of which are true, and apply them. When we like the results, we call it wisdom.” [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wisdom is applying knowledge that yields satisfactory results, not just knowing facts. **In simple terms:** Wisdom is using knowledge that works well. Key Takeaway Focus on practical application of what you know. Themes knowledge wisdom application Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - problem solving - learning new skills - project planning Key Concepts cognitive science decision making Questions to Reflect On - How do you know when a result is satisfactory? - What distinguishes wisdom from mere knowledge? A Different Perspective May ignore deeper understanding in favor of quick results. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [“But with these human beings you never know. They might not want to hurt you. They might even like you, and that would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/but-with-these-human-beings-you-never-know-they-might-not-want-to/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“Human beings, as I know better than most, can get used to anything. Over time, even the unthinkable gradually wears a little niche for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-french/human-beings-as-i-know-better-than-most-can-get-used-to-anything-over/) [Tana French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-french/) > [At a certain point we need to grow up; we need to look inside ourselves for our inner guidance. There are things most human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/at-a-certain-point-we-need-to-grow-up-we-need-to-look-inside/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [Dogs are better than human beings because they know but do not tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/dogs-are-better-than-human-beings-because-they-know-but-do-not-tell/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“It just seems like we --human beings -- know so much, but it's nothing compared to what we don't know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisa-de-los-santos/it-just-seems-like-we-human-beings-know-so-much-but-it-s-nothing/) [Marisa de los Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisa-de-los-santos/) > [At City, we don't just have successful people: we have great human beings who know that family is paramount.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-silva/at-city-we-don-t-just-have-successful-people-we-have-great-human/) [David Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-silva/) > [“♥♀♥ Let Us Nuture And Support Our \*Girls\* Of This World And Beyond!?! Because; As You Know, They Grow Up To Be The Angelic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisare-nomon/let-us-nuture-and-support-our-girls-of-this-world-and-beyond-because/) Aisare NoMon > [“Human beings do not know that they are sons and daughters of gods so they themselves are gods. They live under the illusion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unathi-magubeni/human-beings-do-not-know-that-they-are-sons-and-daughters-of-gods-so/) [Unathi Magubeni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unathi-magubeni/) > [Even though you can have a youthful energy, it doesn't mean that you can't know a lot and bring a lot to the situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-knight/even-though-you-can-have-a-youthful-energy-it-doesn-t-mean-that-you/) [Elliot Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-knight/) > [I know there's a lot of money in aviation because I put it there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-there-s-a-lot-of-money-in-aviation-because-i-put-it-there/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I moved a lot when I was in California, so I know a lot of people everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-stills/i-moved-a-lot-when-i-was-in-california-so-i-know-a-lot-of-people/) [Kenny Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-stills/) > [I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-like-to-think-that-i-know-a-lot-of-words-but-i-definitely-don-t/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I know there are a lot of expectations of me, and I will do the best I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-beltran/i-know-there-are-a-lot-of-expectations-of-me-and-i-will-do-the-best-i/) [Carlos Beltran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-beltran/) > [I know a lot about what government does do, can do, should do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-lujan-grisham/i-know-a-lot-about-what-government-does-do-can-do-should-do/) [Michelle Lujan Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-lujan-grisham/) ## More by Herbert Simon > [Engineering, medicine, business, architecture and painting are concerned not with the necessary but with the contingent - not with how things are but with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/engineering-medicine-business-architecture-and-painting-are-concerned/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [Technology may create a condition, but the questions are what do we do about ourselves. We better understand ourselves pretty clearly and we better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/technology-may-create-a-condition-but-the-questions-are-what-do-we-do/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [The world is vast, beautiful, and fascinating, even awe-inspiring - but impersonal. It demands nothing of me, and allows me to demand nothing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/the-world-is-vast-beautiful-and-fascinating-even-awe-inspiring-but/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [Innovation has a lot to do with your ability to recognise surprising and unusual phenomena.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/innovation-has-a-lot-to-do-with-your-ability-to-recognise-surprising/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [All correct reasoning is a grand system of tautologies, but only God can make direct use of that fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/all-correct-reasoning-is-a-grand-system-of-tautologies-but-only-god/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [“We see that reason is wholly instrumental. It cannot tell us where to go; at best it can tell us how to get there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/we-see-that-reason-is-wholly-instrumental-it-cannot-tell-us-where-to/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [“It is not my aim to surprise or shock you—but the simplest way I can summarize is to say that there are now in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/it-is-not-my-aim-to-surprise-or-shock-you-but-the-simplest-way-i-can/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [No one has characterized market mechanisms better than Friedrich von Hayek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/no-one-has-characterized-market-mechanisms-better-than-friedrich-von/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [One of the first rules of science is if somebody delivers a secret weapon to you, you better use it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/one-of-the-first-rules-of-science-is-if-somebody-delivers-a-secret/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [The engineer, and more generally the designer, is concerned with how things ought to be - how they ought to be in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/the-engineer-and-more-generally-the-designer-is-concerned-with-how/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [ “\[Stated in 1965:\] Machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/stated-in-1965-machines-will-be-capable-within-20-years-of-doing-any/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [“Reason, then, goes to work only after it has been supplied with a suitable set of inputs, or premises. If reason is to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/reason-then-goes-to-work-only-after-it-has-been-supplied-with-a/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [The aim ... is to provide a clear and rigorous basis for determining when a causal ordering can be said to hold between two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/the-aim-is-to-provide-a-clear-and-rigorous-basis-for-determining-when/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/what-information-consumes-is-rather-obvious-it-consumes-the-attention/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [Most of us really aren't horribly unique. There are 6 billion of us. Put 'em all in one room and very few would stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/most-of-us-really-aren-t-horribly-unique-there-are-6-billion-of-us/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) [Explore all 43 Herbert Simon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) ## More Human beings quotes > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) Hanns Eisler > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) Cruce Stark > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Browse all 6,948 Human beings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Human beings know a lot of things, some of which are true, and apply them. 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