--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can scarcely manage to scribble a…" description: "\"I can scarcely manage to scribble a tolerable English letter. I know that I am not a scholar, but meantime I am aware that no man living knows better t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/john-james-audubon-9371_bird_i-can-scarcely-manage-to-scribble-a-tole_2009583.jpg" --- # I can scarcely manage to scribble a tolerable English… ![“I can scarcely manage to scribble a tolerable English letter. I know that I am not a scholar, but meantime I am aware that no man living knows better than I do the habits of our birds.” quote by John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/john-james-audubon-9371_bird_i-can-scarcely-manage-to-scribble-a-tole_2009583.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/john-james-audubon-9371_bird_i-can-scarcely-manage-to-scribble-a-tole_2009583.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/john-james-audubon-9371_bird_i-can-scarcely-manage-to-scribble-a-tole_2009583.jpg) > “I can scarcely manage to scribble a tolerable English letter. I know that I am not a scholar, but meantime I am aware that no man living knows better than I do the habits of our birds.” [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer admits limited skill in English but claims superior knowledge of birds. **In simple terms:** Limited language, strong bird expertise. Key Takeaway Value expertise over eloquence. Themes humility expertise communication Mood thoughtful modest Type reflective educational When to use this quote - scientific research - birdwatching - education - public speaking Key Concepts natural history self‑assessment Questions to Reflect On - How can one balance humility with confidence? - What role does clear communication play in sharing expertise? A Different Perspective May overstate bird knowledge without evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [English Letter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-letter-3580836/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Letters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letters/) [Manage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manage/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Scarcely Manage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scarcely-manage-3580838/) [Scholar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scholar/) [Scribble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scribble/) [Scribble Tolerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scribble-tolerable-3580835/) [Scribbles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scribbles/) [Tolerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerable/) [Tolerable English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerable-english-3580837/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of times I'll doodle on something while I'm doing interviews, because sometimes I'm on the phone for three or four hours and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-coyne/a-lot-of-times-i-ll-doodle-on-something-while-i-m-doing-interviews/) [Wayne Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-coyne/) > [Suggestions? Put it aside for a few days, or longer, do other things, try not to think about it. Then sit down and read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/suggestions-put-it-aside-for-a-few-days-or-longer-do-other-things-try/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [When I was very little, four or five, I did comic strip drawings, so my first novel had no words. I couldn't write and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/when-i-was-very-little-four-or-five-i-did-comic-strip-drawings-so-my/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [We have to make a mark, even if it's only a scribble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/we-have-to-make-a-mark-even-if-it-s-only-a-scribble/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I was really young, but I can't say that I wrote much of anything. I liked to scribble; I thought of it as that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-chapin-carpenter/i-was-really-young-but-i-can-t-say-that-i-wrote-much-of-anything-i/) [Mary Chapin Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-chapin-carpenter/) > [The true writer, the born writer, will scribble words on scraps of litter, the back of a bus tickets, on the wall of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/the-true-writer-the-born-writer-will-scribble-words-on-scraps-of/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [Hope bases vast premises upon foolish accidents and reads a word where, in fact, only a scribble exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/hope-bases-vast-premises-upon-foolish-accidents-and-reads-a-word/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Everybody knows by now that there's a gazillion books on me either out or coming out in the near future. So I'm encouraging anybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/everybody-knows-by-now-that-there-s-a-gazillion-books-on-me-either/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Writing is the easiest thing in the world… Just try it sometime. I sit up with a pipe in my mouth and a board…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/writing-is-the-easiest-thing-in-the-world-just-try-it-sometime-i-sit/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Philosophers are often like little children, who first scribble random lines on a piece of paper with their pencils, and now ask an adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/philosophers-are-often-like-little-children-who-first-scribble-random/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [As a child. I grew up on a small farm, so I did a lot of drawings of animals, chickens and people. At the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/as-a-child-i-grew-up-on-a-small-farm-so-i-did-a-lot-of-drawings-of/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Write. Don't talk about writing. Don't tell me about your wonderful story ideas. Don't give me a bunch of "somedays." Plant your ass and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/write-don-t-talk-about-writing-don-t-tell-me-about-your-wonderful/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [We all scribble poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/we-all-scribble-poetry/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Twiddle-twiddle away at my softly clicky keyboard for a while, making twiddly adjustments all along- and then print what I have twiddled. Glare at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/twiddle-twiddle-away-at-my-softly-clicky-keyboard-for-a-while-making/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) > [When in doubt, scribble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-wilson/when-in-doubt-scribble/) [Jean Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-wilson/) ## More by John James Audubon > [All trembling, I reached the Falls of Niagara, and oh, what a scene! My blood shudders still, although I am not a coward, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/all-trembling-i-reached-the-falls-of-niagara-and-oh-what-a-scene-my/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [From the top of a high rock, I obtained a good few of the most extensive and dreary wilderness I ever beheld. It chilled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/from-the-top-of-a-high-rock-i-obtained-a-good-few-of-the-most/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [To repay evils with kindness is the religion I was taught to practise, and this will forever be my rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/to-repay-evils-with-kindness-is-the-religion-i-was-taught-to-practise/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [Surrounded by all the members of my dear family, enjoying the affection of numerous friends, who have never abandoned me, and possessing a sufficient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/surrounded-by-all-the-members-of-my-dear-family-enjoying-the/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [I cannot help but think a curious event is this life of mine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/i-cannot-help-but-think-a-curious-event-is-this-life-of-mine/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [In America, business is the first object in view at all times, and rightly it should be so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/in-america-business-is-the-first-object-in-view-at-all-times-and/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [I looked long and carefully at the picture of a stag painted by Landseer - the style was good, and the brush was handled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/i-looked-long-and-carefully-at-the-picture-of-a-stag-painted-by/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [Almost every day, instead of going to school, I made for the fields, where I spent my day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/almost-every-day-instead-of-going-to-school-i-made-for-the-fields/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [How could I make a little book, when I have seen enough to make a dozen large books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/how-could-i-make-a-little-book-when-i-have-seen-enough-to-make-a/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [The fact is I am growing old too fast, alas! I feel it, and yet work I will, and may God grant me life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/the-fact-is-i-am-growing-old-too-fast-alas-i-feel-it-and-yet-work-i/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [My drawings at first were made altogether in watercolors, but they wanted softness and a great deal of finish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/my-drawings-at-first-were-made-altogether-in-watercolors-but-they/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [July 2. A beautiful day for Labrador. Went ashore and killed nothing, but was pleased with what I saw. The country is so grandly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/july-2-a-beautiful-day-for-labrador-went-ashore-and-killed-nothing/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [The Fur Company may be called the exterminating medium of these wild and almost uninhabitable regions, which cupidity or the love of money alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/the-fur-company-may-be-called-the-exterminating-medium-of-these-wild/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [To have been torn from the study would have been as death; my time was entirely occupied with art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/to-have-been-torn-from-the-study-would-have-been-as-death-my-time-was/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [Because my father was often absent on naval duty, my mother suffered me to do much as I pleased](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/because-my-father-was-often-absent-on-naval-duty-my-mother-suffered/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) [Explore all 73 John James Audubon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) [Nina Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-schuyler/) > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I can scarcely manage to scribble a tolerable English letter. 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