--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Throughout history, only a small number…" description: "\"“Throughout history, only a small number of people have done the serious thinking for everybody.”\" — John Brockman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/john-brockman-13638_geniuses_throughout-history-only-a-small-number-o_3074398.jpg" --- # Throughout history, only a small number of people have… ![“Throughout history, only a small number of people have done the serious thinking for everybody.” quote by John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/john-brockman-13638_geniuses_throughout-history-only-a-small-number-o_3074398.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/john-brockman-13638_geniuses_throughout-history-only-a-small-number-o_3074398.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/john-brockman-13638_geniuses_throughout-history-only-a-small-number-o_3074398.jpg) > ““Throughout history, only a small number of people have done the serious thinking for everybody.”” [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Only a few individuals engage in deep, critical thinking that benefits society as a whole. **In simple terms:** Few think deeply for everyone. Key Takeaway Encourage broader participation in serious thought. Themes intellectualism leadership societal impact Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education reform - public policy debates - media analysis - community forums Key Concepts critical thinking public discourse elite vs. mass Questions to Reflect On - How can we motivate more people to engage in serious thinking? - What barriers prevent widespread critical thought? A Different Perspective Not everyone has the time or incentive to think deeply. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Geniuses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geniuses/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Minority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minority/) [Scientists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientists/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I would also argue... that we are, by inclination and in terms of our history, we are small 'l' liberals, we Canadians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-mcguinty/i-would-also-argue-that-we-are-by-inclination-and-in-terms-of-our/) [Dalton McGuinty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-mcguinty/) > [“Little things matter far more than big ones. We remember them longer. We can’t control the big things. If you think about what’s happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-w-hill/little-things-matter-far-more-than-big-ones-we-remember-them-longer/) [Joey W. 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The personal contact was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-craig-martin/in-the-period-of-60s-to-the-90s-british-art-schools-were-small-and/) [Michael Craig-Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-craig-martin/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part-2/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It seems to me that the soul, when alone with itself and speaking to itself, uses only a small number of words, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/it-seems-to-me-that-the-soul-when-alone-with-itself-and-speaking-to/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by John Brockman > [“The black expanse over our heads promise places where our industries can use resource extraction, zero-gravity manufacturing, better communications, perhaps even energy harvested in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/the-black-expanse-over-our-heads-promise-places-where-our-industries/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [“If the concept that technologies have biases were to become common knowledge, we could implement them consciously and purposefully. If we don’t bring this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/if-the-concept-that-technologies-have-biases-were-to-become-common/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [“Narcissistic leaders. The ultimate weapon of mass destruction is a state. When a state is taken over by a leader with the classic triad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/narcissistic-leaders-the-ultimate-weapon-of-mass-destruction-is-a/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [“Adolescence is a period of life when the brain is malleable, and it represents a good opportunity for learning and social development. 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With such treatment, the fever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/worry-descends-upon-the-worrier-like-a-fever-without-appropriate/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [“Kakonomics (from the Greek, the economics of the worst) describes cases wherein people not only have the standard preference for receiving high-quality goods and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/kakonomics-from-the-greek-the-economics-of-the-worst-describes-cases/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [“Change is the law. Stability and consistency are illusions, temporary in any case, a heroic achievement of human will and persistence at best. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/change-is-the-law-stability-and-consistency-are-illusions-temporary/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [“After several decades of empirical study, Jaques concluded that just as humans differ in intelligence, we differ in our ability to handle time-dependent complexity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/after-several-decades-of-empirical-study-jaques-concluded-that-just/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) > [“people readily accept credit when told they have succeeded, attributing it to their ability and effort. Yet they attribute failure to such external factors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/people-readily-accept-credit-when-told-they-have-succeeded/) [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) [Explore all 49 John Brockman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) ## More Geniuses quotes > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [The art music of the West has developed through out its history by means of individual geniuses, and out of the soil supporting them;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toru-takemitsu/the-art-music-of-the-west-has-developed-through-out-its-history-by/) [Toru Takemitsu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toru-takemitsu/) > [Messi and Ronaldo are certainly the best in the world. They are both unbelievable. I am very happy to be a contemporary of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radamel-falcao/messi-and-ronaldo-are-certainly-the-best-in-the-world-they-are-both/) [Radamel Falcao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radamel-falcao/) > [All children are born geniuses, and we spend the first six years of their lives degeniusing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/all-children-are-born-geniuses-and-we-spend-the-first-six-years-of/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [The great spiritual geniuses, whether it was Moses, Buddha, Plato, Socrates, Jesus, or Emerson… have taught man to look within himself to find God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/the-great-spiritual-geniuses-whether-it-was-moses-buddha-plato/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [The difference in the education of men and women must give the former great advantages over the latter, even where geniuses are equal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/the-difference-in-the-education-of-men-and-women-must-give-the-former/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [The lead singer for Deerhunter, Bradford Cox... I don't like saying people are geniuses or whatever, but I just think that dude is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-anderson/the-lead-singer-for-deerhunter-bradford-cox-i-don-t-like-saying/) [Blake Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-anderson/) > [You look around the world at geniuses, and they don't appear randomly, they appear in genius clusters. Athens in 50 BC, Florence 1500, Silicon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/you-look-around-the-world-at-geniuses-and-they-don-t-appear-randomly/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [Geniuses are people who notice things and connections between things which others haven't noticed. Genius must be a surprise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ricks/geniuses-are-people-who-notice-things-and-connections-between-things/) [Christopher Ricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ricks/) > [Why hire these geniuses if they're forced to stick with the script? You want to empower your actors as collaborators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-levy/why-hire-these-geniuses-if-they-re-forced-to-stick-with-the-script/) [Shawn Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-levy/) > [I am the life-force power of the universe. I am the life-force power of the 50 trillion beautiful molecular geniuses that make up my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-bolte-taylor/i-am-the-life-force-power-of-the-universe-i-am-the-life-force-power/) [Jill Bolte Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-bolte-taylor/) > [They say geniuses mostly have great mothers. They mostly have sad fates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/they-say-geniuses-mostly-have-great-mothers-they-mostly-have-sad-fates/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If I can win grammys then that means all you yet to be seen bedroom geniuses will one day TAKEOVER THE WORLD](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skrillex/if-i-can-win-grammys-then-that-means-all-you-yet-to-be-seen-bedroom/) [Skrillex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skrillex/) > [“As near as I can make out, geniuses think they know it all, and so they won't take people's advice, but always go their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-near-as-i-can-make-out-geniuses-think-they-know-it-all-and-so-they/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You know what's a great way of tricking people into thinking you're a genius? Write a show about geniuses!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-manuel-miranda/you-know-what-s-a-great-way-of-tricking-people-into-thinking-you-re-a/) [Lin-Manuel Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-manuel-miranda/) [Browse all 324 Geniuses quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geniuses/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Throughout history, only a small number of people have done the serious thinking for everybody.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Brockman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/throughout-history-only-a-small-number-of-people-have-done-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Geniuses" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/throughout-history-only-a-small-number-of-people-have-done-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/john-brockman-13638_geniuses_throughout-history-only-a-small-number-o_3074398.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/john-brockman-13638_geniuses_throughout-history-only-a-small-number-o_3074398.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/john-brockman-13638_geniuses_throughout-history-only-a-small-number-o_3074398.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Throughout history, only a small number of people have done the serious thinking for everybody.” — John Brockman", "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": "John Brockman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Throughout history, only a small number...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/throughout-history-only-a-small-number-of-people-have-done-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/throughout-history-only-a-small-number-of-people-have-done-the/#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 } } ] } ```