--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean…" description: "\"To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.\" — Jacob Bronowski" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbc/jacob-bronowski-3073_intellectual_to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean_1161801.png" --- # To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about… ![“To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.” quote by Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbc/jacob-bronowski-3073_intellectual_to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean_1161801.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbc/jacob-bronowski-3073_intellectual_to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean_1161801.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbc/jacob-bronowski-3073_intellectual_to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean_1161801.png) > “To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.” [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intellectual life is about enjoying the pursuit of ideas, not just mastering them. **In simple terms:** Being intellectual means loving ideas, not just knowing them. Key Takeaway Cultivate curiosity and joy in learning. Themes education philosophy curiosity intellectualism joy of learning Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - classroom - research labs - personal study - public lectures Key Concepts critical thinking aesthetic appreciation lifelong learning Questions to Reflect On - How can we foster enjoyment in scholarly work? - What practices nurture intellectual pleasure? A Different Perspective Joy may be overlooked in competitive academia. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Intellectual Doesn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual-doesn-3329256/) [Intellectual Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual-issues-3329257/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Knowing Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-intellectual-395992/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Taking Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking-pleasure-1270937/) ## Related quotes > [Our students wanted to know everything: but only the newest theory seemed to them worth bothering with. Knowing nothing of the intellectual achievements of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/our-students-wanted-to-know-everything-but-only-the-newest-theory/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [People disparage knowing and the intellectual life, and urge doing. I am content with knowing, if only I could know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/people-disparage-knowing-and-the-intellectual-life-and-urge-doing-i/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Moving between the legs of tables and of chairs, rising or falling, grasping at kisses and toys, advancing boldly, sudden to take alarm, retreating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/moving-between-the-legs-of-tables-and-of-chairs-rising-or-falling/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“In any field, there’s usually some kind of mythological reward you’re supposed to receive if everybody considers you a success. But in my experience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/in-any-field-there-s-usually-some-kind-of-mythological-reward-you-re/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [“Part of her wanted simply to sit and stare out of the window, at the lawn, flaky with sodden leaves, and the branches with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/part-of-her-wanted-simply-to-sit-and-stare-out-of-the-window-at-the/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [The highest point of humility consists in not merely acknowledging one's abjection, but in taking pleasure therein, not from any want of breadth or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-francis-de-sales/the-highest-point-of-humility-consists-in-not-merely-acknowledging/) [Saint Francis de Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-francis-de-sales/) > [We talk about taking "pleasure in a thing": but in truth it is pleasure in ourselves, mediated by a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-talk-about-taking-pleasure-in-a-thing-but-in-truth-it-is-pleasure/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Taking pleasure in the dark side may be some sort of occupational hazard for reporters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/taking-pleasure-in-the-dark-side-may-be-some-sort-of-occupational/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) > [“Early moralists who believed that taking too much pleasure at the table led inexorably to bad character-or worse, to sex-were (in the best-case scenario,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-bourdain/early-moralists-who-believed-that-taking-too-much-pleasure-at-the/) [Anthony Bourdain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-bourdain/) > [“Now we come to the crux of my philosophy: if the taking of pleasure is enhanced by the criminal character of the circumstances --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/now-we-come-to-the-crux-of-my-philosophy-if-the-taking-of-pleasure-is/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“You´re going to have to learn how to pat yourself on the back eventually. Start now. It´s not gloating.It´s taking pleasure in life´s goodness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellyn-spragins/you-re-going-to-have-to-learn-how-to-pat-yourself-on-the-back/) [Ellyn Spragins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellyn-spragins/) > [Sixty years is cause enough to sing In celebration of a gentle life! To the mother and the wife, Taking pleasure in what love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-gordon/sixty-years-is-cause-enough-to-sing-in-celebration-of-a-gentle-life/) [Nick Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-gordon/) > [But if we laugh with derision, we will never understand. Human intellectual capacity has not altered for thousands of years so far as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/but-if-we-laugh-with-derision-we-will-never-understand-human/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The discussions of every age are filled with the issues on which its leading schools of thought differ. But the general intellectual atmosphere of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-discussions-of-every-age-are-filled-with-the-issues-on-which-its/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage… Unless we can make the philosophic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/we-must-make-the-building-of-a-free-society-once-more-an-intellectual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## More by Jacob Bronowski > [“A man becomes creative, whether he is an artist or a scientist, when he finds a new unity in the variety of nature. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/a-man-becomes-creative-whether-he-is-an-artist-or-a-scientist-when-he/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [We are all shot through with enough motives to make a massacre, any day of the week that we want to give them their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/we-are-all-shot-through-with-enough-motives-to-make-a-massacre-any/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [A popular cliche in philosophy says that science is pure analysis or reductionism, like taking the rainbow to pieces; and art is pure synthesis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/a-popular-cliche-in-philosophy-says-that-science-is-pure-analysis-or/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [The great poem and the deep theorem are new to every reader, and yet are his own experiences, because he himself recreates them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/the-great-poem-and-the-deep-theorem-are-new-to-every-reader-and-yet/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [“The Renaissance established the dignity of man. The Industrial Revolution established the unity of nature. That”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/the-renaissance-established-the-dignity-of-man-the-industrial/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [One original thought is worth the sum total of human knowledge, because it advances the sum total of human knowledge by that one original…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/one-original-thought-is-worth-the-sum-total-of-human-knowledge/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [The richness of human life is that we have many lives, we live the events that do not happen (and some that cannot) as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/the-richness-of-human-life-is-that-we-have-many-lives-we-live-the/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [Einstein was a man who could ask immensely simple questions. And what his work showed is that when the answers are simple too, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/einstein-was-a-man-who-could-ask-immensely-simple-questions-and-what/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [Revolutions are not made by fate but by men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/revolutions-are-not-made-by-fate-but-by-men/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [“I am infinitely saddened to find myself suddenly surrounded in the west by a sense of terrible loss of nerve, a retreat from knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/i-am-infinitely-saddened-to-find-myself-suddenly-surrounded-in-the/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [The most remarkable discovery ever made by scientists is science itself. The discovery must be compared in importance with the invention of cave-painting and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/the-most-remarkable-discovery-ever-made-by-scientists-is-science/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [There are three creative ideas which, each in its turn, have been central to science. They are the idea of order, the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/there-are-three-creative-ideas-which-each-in-its-turn-have-been/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [It is important that students bring a certain rafamuffin, barefoot, irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/it-is-important-that-students-bring-a-certain-rafamuffin-barefoot/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/the-hand-is-the-cutting-edge-of-the-mind/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [To me the most interesting thing about man is that he is an animal who practices art and science and in every known society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/to-me-the-most-interesting-thing-about-man-is-that-he-is-an-animal/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) [Explore all 140 Jacob Bronowski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) ## More Intellectual quotes > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/i-am-convinced-that-we-will-never-build-a-democratic-state-based-on/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Today it is the skeptics who are the social conformists, though because of powerful intellectual propaganda they continue to enjoy thinking of themselves as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/today-it-is-the-skeptics-who-are-the-social-conformists-though/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [Love isn't intellectual - it's visceral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-mcgillis/love-isn-t-intellectual-it-s-visceral/) [Kelly McGillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-mcgillis/) > [Faith is the avenue to salvation. Not intellectual understanding. Not money. Not your works. Just simple faith. How much faith? The faith of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/faith-is-the-avenue-to-salvation-not-intellectual-understanding-not/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Laughter is one of the great beacons in life because we don't refract it by gunning it through our intellectual prism. What makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/laughter-is-one-of-the-great-beacons-in-life-because-we-don-t-refract/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ \[Our understanding is\] not intellectual, but instinctive. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/our-understanding-is-not-intellectual-but-instinctive/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [It only takes a day to change someone from an anti-intellectual to an intellectual by persuading him that he might be one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/it-only-takes-a-day-to-change-someone-from-an-anti-intellectual-to-an/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [This film business, perhaps more so in America than in Europe, has always been about young sexuality. It's not true of theatre, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-bisset/this-film-business-perhaps-more-so-in-america-than-in-europe-has/) [Jacqueline Bisset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-bisset/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Browse all 3,782 Intellectual quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jacob Bronowski" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean-knowing-about-intellectual/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Intellectual" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean-knowing-about-intellectual/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbc/jacob-bronowski-3073_intellectual_to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean_1161801.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbc/jacob-bronowski-3073_intellectual_to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean_1161801.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbc/jacob-bronowski-3073_intellectual_to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean_1161801.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To me, being an intellectual doesn't mean knowing about intellectual issues; it means taking pleasure in them.” — Jacob Bronowski", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jacob Bronowski", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To me, being an intellectual doesn't...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean-knowing-about-intellectual/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/to-me-being-an-intellectual-doesn-t-mean-knowing-about-intellectual/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```