--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Very often the effort men put into…" description: "\"Very often the effort men put into activities that seem completely useless turns out to be extremely important in ways no one could foresee. Play has a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a0/italo-calvino-402_activity_very-often-the-effort-men-put-into-activ_163440.jpg" --- # Very often the effort men put into activities that seem… ![“Very often the effort men put into activities that seem completely useless turns out to be extremely important in ways no one could foresee. Play has always been the mainspring of culture.” quote by Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a0/italo-calvino-402_activity_very-often-the-effort-men-put-into-activ_163440.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a0/italo-calvino-402_activity_very-often-the-effort-men-put-into-activ_163440.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a0/italo-calvino-402_activity_very-often-the-effort-men-put-into-activ_163440.jpg) > “Very often the effort men put into activities that seem completely useless turns out to be extremely important in ways no one could foresee. Play has always been the mainspring of culture.” [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Playful, seemingly pointless activities often become crucial foundations for culture and future breakthroughs. **In simple terms:** Playful acts can shape culture unexpectedly. Key Takeaway Value play as a source of innovation. Themes play culture innovation Mood joyful inquisitive Type cultural inspirational When to use this quote - childhood games - team building - artistic experimentation Key Concepts creativity anthropology education Questions to Reflect On - How can you incorporate play into daily work? - What cultural shifts have arisen from playful ideas? A Different Perspective Play may be dismissed as frivolous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Effort Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort-men-1787431/) [Extremely Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremely-important/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Activities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-activities-1787432/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Playing games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing-games/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Men's activities are occupied into ways -- in grappling with external circumstances and in striving to set things at one in their own topsy-turvy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/men-s-activities-are-occupied-into-ways-in-grappling-with-external/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Man's most serious activity is play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/man-s-most-serious-activity-is-play/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The transition from rebellion to acceptance has an extremely important consequence. . . in which we start seeing life as a training school, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piero-ferrucci/the-transition-from-rebellion-to-acceptance-has-an-extremely/) [Piero Ferrucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piero-ferrucci/) > [Taking care of your employees is extremely important and very, very visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-ellison/taking-care-of-your-employees-is-extremely-important-and-very-very/) [Larry Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-ellison/) > [Being a teacher is back-breakingly difficult work. 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It speaks a universal language and for me, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananya-birla/music-has-influenced-my-life-and-is-one-of-the-most-treasured-things/) [Ananya Birla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananya-birla/) > [It's extremely important that, as writers, we give a voice to those who don't have voices, including the other animals that we share the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-hawthorne-deming/it-s-extremely-important-that-as-writers-we-give-a-voice-to-those-who/) [Alison Hawthorne Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-hawthorne-deming/) > [I think brutal honesty is extremely important. Don't be afraid of being up-front about your feelings and your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minka-kelly/i-think-brutal-honesty-is-extremely-important-don-t-be-afraid-of/) [Minka Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minka-kelly/) ## More by Italo Calvino > [“(one would say yes, if not every day, at least fairly regularly), whether only for yourself or also for others (often only for yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/one-would-say-yes-if-not-every-day-at-least-fairly-regularly-whether/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The Great Khan tried to concentrate on the game: but now it was the game’s reason that eluded him. The end of every game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-great-khan-tried-to-concentrate-on-the-game-but-now-it-was-the/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Or else you can say, like the camel driver who took me there: "I arrived here in my first youth, one morning, many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/or-else-you-can-say-like-the-camel-driver-who-took-me-there-i-arrived/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The naked man had lost hope now; he would never be able to return to the earth's surface;he would never leave the bottom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-naked-man-had-lost-hope-now-he-would-never-be-able-to-return-to/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The art of writing tales consists in an ability to draw the rest of life from the little one has understood of it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-art-of-writing-tales-consists-in-an-ability-to-draw-the-rest-of/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“I ask you to come down to earth," said the Baron in a calm, rather faint voice, "and to take up the duties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/i-ask-you-to-come-down-to-earth-said-the-baron-in-a-calm-rather-faint/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [The unconscious is the ocean of the unsayable, of what has been expelled from the land of language, removed as a result of ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-unconscious-is-the-ocean-of-the-unsayable-of-what-has-been/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“... KUBLAI: We have proved that if we were here, we would not be. POLO: And here, in fact, we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/kublai-we-have-proved-that-if-we-were-here-we-would-not-be-polo-and/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“And yet, in Raissa, at every moment there is a child in a window who laughs seeing a dog that has jumped on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/and-yet-in-raissa-at-every-moment-there-is-a-child-in-a-window-who/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Ludmilla, now you are being read. Your body is being subjected to a systematic reading, through channels of tactile information, visual, olfactory, and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/ludmilla-now-you-are-being-read-your-body-is-being-subjected-to-a/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Once the process of falsification is set in motion, it won't stop. 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But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Very often the effort men put into activities that seem completely useless turns out to be extremely important in ways no one could foresee. 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