--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Intelligence is a valuable thing, but it…" description: "\"Intelligence is a valuable thing, but it is not usually the key to survival. Sheer fecundity ... usually counts. The intelligent gorilla doesn't do as ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/isaac-asimov-309_bacteria_intelligence-is-a-valuable-thing-but-it_1900990.jpg" --- # Intelligence is a valuable thing, but it is not usually… ![“Intelligence is a valuable thing, but it is not usually the key to survival. Sheer fecundity ... usually counts. The intelligent gorilla doesn't do as well as the less intelligent but more-fecund rat, which doesn't do as well as the still-less-intelligent but still-more-fecund cockroach, which…” quote by Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/isaac-asimov-309_bacteria_intelligence-is-a-valuable-thing-but-it_1900990.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/isaac-asimov-309_bacteria_intelligence-is-a-valuable-thing-but-it_1900990.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/isaac-asimov-309_bacteria_intelligence-is-a-valuable-thing-but-it_1900990.jpg) > “Intelligence is a valuable thing, but it is not usually the key to survival. Sheer fecundity ... usually counts. The intelligent gorilla doesn't do as well as the less intelligent but more-fecund rat, which doesn't do as well as the still-less-intelligent but still-more-fecund cockroach, which doesn't do as well as the minimally-intelligent but maximally-fecund bacterium.” [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intelligence alone rarely ensures survival; reproductive success often matters more for species persistence. **In simple terms:** Being smart isn’t always enough to survive. Key Takeaway Focus on adaptability and reproduction. Themes evival reproduction evolution biology intelligence Mood thoughtful analytical Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - species competition - ecosystem dynamics - human advancement - conservation biology Key Concepts Natural selection fitness population dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does reproductive rate affect a species’ long‑term success? - Can intelligence compensate for low fecundity? A Different Perspective Intelligence can be outweighed by sheer numbers in many contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bacteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bacteria/) [Cockroaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cockroaches/) [Fecundity Usually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fecundity-usually-2805760/) [Gorillas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gorillas/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Intelligence Valuable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence-valuable-2805757/) [Intelligent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent/) [Intelligent Fecund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent-fecund-2805759/) [Intelligent Gorilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent-gorilla-2805758/) [Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keys/) [Rats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rats/) [Sheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheer/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) [Valuable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/valuable/) [Valuable things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/valuable-things/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm going to say something really banal, but intelligence, in itself, is neither valuable nor interesting. 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I was interested in the aesthetic impulse in lower primates. But what really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-glimcher/i-actually-taught-perceptual-psychology-at-n-y-u-when-i-was-younger-i/) [Arne Glimcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-glimcher/) > [That's right. Uh-huh. Uh-huh," Nick said arrogantly. "You might know karate, boy, but I know gorilla, and I'm a level 40 champion in it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/that-s-right-uh-huh-uh-huh-nick-said-arrogantly-you-might-know-karate/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [The fact that all our ape cousins - chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans - can acquire signs - is powerful evidence that our hominid ancestors'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-fouts/the-fact-that-all-our-ape-cousins-chimpanzees-gorillas-and-orangutans/) [Roger Fouts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-fouts/) > [If mountain gorillas are to survive and propagate, far more active conservation measures urgently need to be undertaken. The question remains, is it already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/if-mountain-gorillas-are-to-survive-and-propagate-far-more-active/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [We're animals. We're violent. We're criminal. We're not so far away from the gorillas and the apes, those beautiful creatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/we-re-animals-we-re-violent-we-re-criminal-we-re-not-so-far-away-from/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) > [Rather than something like King Kong where I really went after studying gorillas in the wild and captivity. I based Caesar \[ from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/rather-than-something-like-king-kong-where-i-really-went-after/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [“People and gorillas, horses and duikers and pigs, monkeys and chimps and bats and viruses: We’re all in this together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/people-and-gorillas-horses-and-duikers-and-pigs-monkeys-and-chimps/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [When you start to do research into gorillas or any kind of apes, if you're going to play them, that's one of the biggest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/when-you-start-to-do-research-into-gorillas-or-any-kind-of-apes-if/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [Actually, scientists don't know exactly how lice jumped from gorillas to our human ancestors. They speculate that we may have eaten them or perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziya-tong/actually-scientists-don-t-know-exactly-how-lice-jumped-from-gorillas/) [Ziya Tong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziya-tong/) > [It's hard to put into words. Gorillas are not complainers. We're dreamers, poets, philosophers, nap takers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-applegate/it-s-hard-to-put-into-words-gorillas-are-not-complainers-we-re/) [Katherine Applegate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-applegate/) > [It's gorillas here, takes a village to raise a villain here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/it-s-gorillas-here-takes-a-village-to-raise-a-villain-here/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutan shave been living for hundreds of thousands of years in their forest,living fantastic lives, never overpopulating, never destroying the forest. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/chimpanzees-gorillas-orangutan-shave-been-living-for-hundreds-of/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) ## More by Isaac Asimov > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know-and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/suppose-that-we-are-wise-enough-to-learn-and-know-and-yet-not-wise/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Uncertainty that comes from knowledge (knowing what you don't know) is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/uncertainty-that-comes-from-knowledge-knowing-what-you-don-t-know-is/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Don't you see? It's Galaxy-wide. It's a worship of the past. It's a deterioration - a stagnation!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/don-t-you-see-it-s-galaxy-wide-it-s-a-worship-of-the-past-it-s-a/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/so-the-universe-is-not-quite-as-you-thought-it-was-you-d-better/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [It is in meeting the great tests that mankind can most successfully rise to great heights. Out of danger and restless insecurity comes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-is-in-meeting-the-great-tests-that-mankind-can-most-successfully/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“It might seem to you, Peter, that a truck driver, one step above an ape in your view, can't remember. But truck drivers can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-might-seem-to-you-peter-that-a-truck-driver-one-step-above-an-ape/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [When life is so harsh that a man loses all hope in himself, then he raises his eyes to a shining rock, worshipping it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/when-life-is-so-harsh-that-a-man-loses-all-hope-in-himself-then-he/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“You are a military man and should know better. If there is one science into which man has probed continuously and successfully, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/you-are-a-military-man-and-should-know-better-if-there-is-one-science/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“temperatura constante de mais ou menos 21 graus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/temperatura-constante-de-mais-ou-menos-21-graus/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Human beings can tolerate an immortal robot, for it doesn't matter how long a machine lasts, but they cannot tolerate an immortal human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/human-beings-can-tolerate-an-immortal-robot-for-it-doesn-t-matter-how/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“if people believe this, they would act on that belief. Many a prophecy, by the mere force of its being believed, is transmuted”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/if-people-believe-this-they-would-act-on-that-belief-many-a-prophecy/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [There are many aspects of the universe that still cannot be explained satisfactorily by science; but ignorance implies only ignorance that may someday be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/there-are-many-aspects-of-the-universe-that-still-cannot-be-explained/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. \[The Second Law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/a-robot-must-obey-the-orders-given-it-by-human-beings-except-where/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) [Explore all 671 Isaac Asimov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## More Bacteria quotes > [“Bacteria and viruses were the most effective allies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-hughes-galeano/bacteria-and-viruses-were-the-most-effective-allies/) [Eduardo Hughes Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-hughes-galeano/) > [...The large majority of those infectious microbes that cause us so much illness and pain are ANAEROBIC...a big word that means they live and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-mccabe/the-large-majority-of-those-infectious-microbes-that-cause-us-so-much/) [Ed McCabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-mccabe/) > [You can't just boss bacteria around like that," said the younger Mrs. Hempstock. 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Could that help to explain why alcoholics often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-yong/drinking-lots-of-alcohol-makes-the-gut-leakier-allowing-microbes-to/) [Ed Yong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-yong/) > [“According to pioneering microbiologist Lynn Margulis, "fully 10 percent of our own dry body weight consists of bacteria, some of which, although they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-bjornerud/according-to-pioneering-microbiologist-lynn-margulis-fully-10-percent/) [Marcia Bjornerud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-bjornerud/) > [Plants with leaves no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough omnivorous bacteria…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-eric-drexler/plants-with-leaves-no-more-efficient-than-today-s-solar-cells-could/) [K. Eric Drexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-eric-drexler/) > [Nineteen hundred and three will bring great advances in surgery, in the study of bacteria, in the knowledge of the cause and prevention of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/nineteen-hundred-and-three-will-bring-great-advances-in-surgery-in/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Most people are surprised when they hear my somber figures: we know of 2 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms, and we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/most-people-are-surprised-when-they-hear-my-somber-figures-we-know-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Harmful bacteria, viruses, calcium-forming micro-organisms, and candida are part of our world. 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Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-leakey/) > [As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only stand for leprosy, gonorrhea, bacteria, and tuberculosis, all of which are detrimental to human existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yahya-jammeh/as-far-as-i-am-concerned-lgbt-can-only-stand-for-leprosy-gonorrhea/) [Yahya Jammeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yahya-jammeh/) > [There are about 250,000 different species of fossil plants and animals known . . In spite of this large quantity of information, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-m-raup/there-are-about-250-000-different-species-of-fossil-plants-and/) [David M. Raup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-m-raup/) > [Human health should now be thought of as a collective property of the human-associate d microbiota, as one group of researchers recently concluded in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/human-health-should-now-be-thought-of-as-a-collective-property-of-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) [Browse all 285 Bacteria quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bacteria/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Intelligence is a valuable thing, but it is not usually the key to survival. Sheer fecundity ... usually counts. 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