--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is a world in which each of us…" description: "\"This is a world in which each of us, knowing his limitations, knowing the evils of superficiality and the terrors of fatigue, will have to cling to wha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/j-robert-oppenheimer-6978_can-do_this-is-a-world-in-which-each-of-us-know_1799088.jpg" --- # This is a world in which each of us, knowing his… ![“This is a world in which each of us, knowing his limitations, knowing the evils of superficiality and the terrors of fatigue, will have to cling to what is close to him, to what he knows, to what he can do. . .” quote by J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/j-robert-oppenheimer-6978_can-do_this-is-a-world-in-which-each-of-us-know_1799088.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/j-robert-oppenheimer-6978_can-do_this-is-a-world-in-which-each-of-us-know_1799088.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/j-robert-oppenheimer-6978_can-do_this-is-a-world-in-which-each-of-us-know_1799088.jpg) > “This is a world in which each of us, knowing his limitations, knowing the evils of superficiality and the terrors of fatigue, will have to cling to what is close to him, to what he knows, to what he can do. . .” [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People must accept their limits and focus on what they know and can do, avoiding superficiality and fatigue. **In simple terms:** Accept limits and work within them. Key Takeaway Stay grounded in realistic abilities. Themes human limitation focus authenticity Mood reflective motivational Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - career planning - personal development - leadership training Key Concepts self‑knowledge mental fatigue Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance humility with aspiration? - What strategies help avoid superficial fatigue? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on limits can stifle ambition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Can do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evils Superficiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evils-superficiality-2016216/) [Fatigue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatigue/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Knowing Limitations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-limitations-876362/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Limitations Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitations-knowing-2016214/) [Superficiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superficiality/) [Superficiality Terrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superficiality-terrors-2016215/) [Terror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terror/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-knowing-732289/) ## Related quotes > [“I heard came from a potbellied Bhutanese hotel owner named Sanjay Penjor. GNH, Penjor told me, “means knowing your limitations; knowing how much is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/i-heard-came-from-a-potbellied-bhutanese-hotel-owner-named-sanjay/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [Progress in art does not consist in reducing limitations, but in knowing them better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-braque/progress-in-art-does-not-consist-in-reducing-limitations-but-in/) [Georges Braque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-braque/) > [Maturity, the way I understand it, is knowing what your limitations are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/maturity-the-way-i-understand-it-is-knowing-what-your-limitations-are/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Maturity, the way I understand it," he told me, is knowing what your limitations are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/maturity-the-way-i-understand-it-he-told-me-is-knowing-what-your/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Nothing limits you like not knowing your limitations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayes/nothing-limits-you-like-not-knowing-your-limitations/) [Tom Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayes/) > [A Warrior does not go into battle without knowing the limitations of his ally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/a-warrior-does-not-go-into-battle-without-knowing-the-limitations-of/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Sometimes, success in life is knowing one's limitations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-schwarzman/sometimes-success-in-life-is-knowing-one-s-limitations/) [Stephen A. Schwarzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-schwarzman/) > [If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/if-you-enter-this-world-knowing-you-are-loved-and-you-leave-this/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [“so we are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer-2/so-we-are-cruel-to-ourselves-if-we-try-to-live-in-this-world-without/) [J.I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer-2/) > [“It seems to me that being the right size for your world-- and knowing that both you and your world are not by any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-seems-to-me-that-being-the-right-size-for-your-world-and-knowing/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [One passes through the world knowing few, if any, of the important things about even the people with whom one has been from time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/one-passes-through-the-world-knowing-few-if-any-of-the-important/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [One of the best feelings in the world is knowing that your there](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akeena/one-of-the-best-feelings-in-the-world-is-knowing-that-your-there/) [Akeena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akeena/) > [“The scariest thing about the world is knowing it goes on when you're not there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kahn-gale/the-scariest-thing-about-the-world-is-knowing-it-goes-on-when-you-re/) [Eric Kahn Gale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kahn-gale/) > [Walking shares with making and working that crucial element of engagement of the body and the mind with the world, of knowing the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/walking-shares-with-making-and-working-that-crucial-element-of/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“but those as knows the least have a habit of thinkin' they know all there is to know, while them as knows the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-baum/but-those-as-knows-the-least-have-a-habit-of-thinkin-they-know-all/) [Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-baum/) ## More by J. Robert Oppenheimer > [In some sort of crude sense, which no vulgarity, no humor, no overstatement can quite extinguish, the physicists have known sin; and this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/in-some-sort-of-crude-sense-which-no-vulgarity-no-humor-no/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/discovery-follows-discovery-each-both-raising-and-answering-questions/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [There are no secrets about the world of nature. There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/there-are-no-secrets-about-the-world-of-nature-there-are-secrets/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [It is proper to the role of the scientist that he not merely find new truth and communicate it to his fellows, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/it-is-proper-to-the-role-of-the-scientist-that-he-not-merely-find-new/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [To try to be happy is to try to build a machine with no other specification than that it shall run noiselessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/to-try-to-be-happy-is-to-try-to-build-a-machine-with-no-other/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/we-knew-the-world-would-not-be-the-same-a-few-people-laughed-a-few/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [We hunger for nobility: the rare words and acts that harmonize simplicity and truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/we-hunger-for-nobility-the-rare-words-and-acts-that-harmonize/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [I saw what the Depression was doing to my students. Often they could get no jobs, or jobs which were wholly inadequate. And through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/i-saw-what-the-depression-was-doing-to-my-students-often-they-could/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [This world of ours is a new world, in which the unit of knowledge, the nature of human communities, the order of society, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/this-world-of-ours-is-a-new-world-in-which-the-unit-of-knowledge-the/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [My childhood did not prepare me for the fact that the world is full of cruel and bitter things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/my-childhood-did-not-prepare-me-for-the-fact-that-the-world-is-full/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [You can certainly destroy enough of humanity so that only the greatest act of faith can persuade you that what's left will be human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/you-can-certainly-destroy-enough-of-humanity-so-that-only-the/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [In the spring of 1936, I was introduced by friends to Jean Tatlock. In the autumn, I began to court her. We were at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/in-the-spring-of-1936-i-was-introduced-by-friends-to-jean-tatlock-in/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [When we deny the EVIL within ourselves, we dehumanize ourselves, and we deprive ourselves not only of our own destiny but of any possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/when-we-deny-the-evil-within-ourselves-we-dehumanize-ourselves-and-we/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [Pragmatism is an intellectually safe but ultimately sterile philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/pragmatism-is-an-intellectually-safe-but-ultimately-sterile-philosophy/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [“Knowledge cannot be pursued without morality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/knowledge-cannot-be-pursued-without-morality/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) [Explore all 96 J. Robert Oppenheimer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) ## More Can do quotes > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [If I had a million dollars, I just wouldn't just completely set back. I'd have to get out there and show my face to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muddy-waters/if-i-had-a-million-dollars-i-just-wouldn-t-just-completely-set-back-i/) [Muddy Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muddy-waters/) > [Anybody can be Prince Charming one day a year, with the dinner and the flowers and all that. But you know what impresses me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-howard/anybody-can-be-prince-charming-one-day-a-year-with-the-dinner-and-the/) [Ryan Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-howard/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [If people don't have their own vision, all they can do is 'sign-up' for someone else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/if-people-don-t-have-their-own-vision-all-they-can-do-is-sign-up-for/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [The one thing that flies in the face of all human history and experience, is that the government can do a superior job than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/the-one-thing-that-flies-in-the-face-of-all-human-history-and/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [...what I can do is offer myself, wholehearted and present, to walk with the people I love through the fear and the mess. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/what-i-can-do-is-offer-myself-wholehearted-and-present-to-walk-with/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' Using your voice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/whether-that-s-speaking-up-in-your-job-or-asking-for-a-promotion-or/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn't feel like it. An amateur is a man who can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agate/a-professional-is-a-man-who-can-do-his-job-when-he-doesn-t-feel-like/) [James Agate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agate/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [I'm not an educated man. I only know what I'm told, and I'm not told that much; I have no frame of reference for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-m-not-an-educated-man-i-only-know-what-i-m-told-and-i-m-not-told/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) [Browse all 5,673 Can do quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is a world in which each of us, knowing his limitations, knowing the evils of superficiality and the terrors of fatigue, will have to cling to what is close to him, to what he knows, to what he can do. . .", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. 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