--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People are the common denominator of…" description: "\"People are the common denominator of progress. So... no improvement is possible with unimproved people, and advance is certain when people are liberate..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_certain_people-are-the-common-denominator-of-pro_173356.png" --- # People are the common denominator of progress. So... no… ![“People are the common denominator of progress. So... no improvement is possible with unimproved people, and advance is certain when people are liberated and educated. It would be wrong to dismiss the importance of roads, railroads, power plants, mills,and the other familiar furniture of economic…” quote by John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_certain_people-are-the-common-denominator-of-pro_173356.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_certain_people-are-the-common-denominator-of-pro_173356.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_certain_people-are-the-common-denominator-of-pro_173356.png) > “People are the common denominator of progress. So... no improvement is possible with unimproved people, and advance is certain when people are liberated and educated. It would be wrong to dismiss the importance of roads, railroads, power plants, mills,and the other familiar furniture of economic development… But we are coming to realize... that there is a certain sterility in economic monuments that stand alone in a sea of illiteracy. Conquest of illiteracy comes first.” [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Progress depends on educated, liberated people; infrastructure alone cannot drive development without human capital. **In simple terms:** People's education is key to true advancement. Key Takeaway Invest in education before infrastructure. Themes education development human capital Mood hopeful serious Type inspirational analytical When to use this quote - policy making - community programs - economic planning Key Concepts literacy economic growth social reform Questions to Reflect On - What strategies can improve literacy in your community? - How can education be paired with infrastructure projects? A Different Perspective Infrastructure without educated citizens yields limited benefits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Common denominator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-denominator/) [Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conquest/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic/) [Economic development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-development/) [Educated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational/) [Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Furniture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furniture/) [Illiteracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illiteracy/) [Illiteracy Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illiteracy-comes-1872287/) [Illiteracy Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illiteracy-conquest-1872288/) [Importance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Liberated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberated/) [Literacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literacy/) [Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mills/) [Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Advance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-advance-1872289/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Power plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-plant/) [Power plants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-plants/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Railroads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railroads/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Stand alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stand-alone/) [Unimproved People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unimproved-people-1331134/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [People are the common denominator of progress; no improvement is possible with unimproved people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/people-are-the-common-denominator-of-progress-no-improvement-is/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Those who wish to promote the welfare of the people should advance in solidarity with them and select the path most suitable for them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-yat-sen/those-who-wish-to-promote-the-welfare-of-the-people-should-advance-in/) [Sun Yat-sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-yat-sen/) > [The central government wants to increase the number of nuclear power plants but we believe nuclear plants have their inherent problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-won-soon/the-central-government-wants-to-increase-the-number-of-nuclear-power/) [Park Won-soon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-won-soon/) > [Way back in 2000, the EPA was poised, and, in fact, had drafted a rule, to specially regulate pollution - water pollution and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/way-back-in-2000-the-epa-was-poised-and-in-fact-had-drafted-a-rule-to/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [I think we have to get bolder. Why after Fukushima didn't we all go out and shut down all the nuclear power plants and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-think-we-have-to-get-bolder-why-after-fukushima-didn-t-we-all-go/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [We could never light another match, and if China continues to build one coal-fired power plant a week, we are doomed. China is going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-inslee/we-could-never-light-another-match-and-if-china-continues-to-build/) [Jay Inslee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-inslee/) > [Sometimes I feel like a beetle crawling through a fusion power plant. I can feel a certain amount, see a certain amount, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-bear/sometimes-i-feel-like-a-beetle-crawling-through-a-fusion-power-plant/) [Greg Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-bear/) > [We should have a debt that grows our productivity, we cant borrow to pay salaries. I can borrow to build power plants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babatunde-fashola/we-should-have-a-debt-that-grows-our-productivity-we-cant-borrow-to/) [Babatunde Fashola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babatunde-fashola/) > [When people conceptualize a cyber-attack, they do tend to think about parts of the critical infrastructure like power plants, water supplies, and similar sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/when-people-conceptualize-a-cyber-attack-they-do-tend-to-think-about/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [Any first-generation technology will. But we are looking at carbon the same way we look at every pollutant under the Clean Air Act; we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-mccarthy/any-first-generation-technology-will-but-we-are-looking-at-carbon-the/) [Gina McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-mccarthy/) > [ Two \[Massachusetts coal burning power plants\] remain: Brayton Point in the South Coast region and Mt. Tom, just down the road. Within the next… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/two-massachusetts-coal-burning-power-plants-remain-brayton-point-in/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [When you look at the number of nuclear power plants in China and India, we can't afford not to pursue similar alternative energy sources.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-latta/when-you-look-at-the-number-of-nuclear-power-plants-in-china-and/) [Bob Latta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-latta/) > [Imposing excessive new regulations, or closing coal-fired power plants, would produce few health or environmental benefits. But it would exact huge costs on society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-driessen/imposing-excessive-new-regulations-or-closing-coal-fired-power-plants/) [Paul Driessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-driessen/) > [If an adversary didn't target our power plants but they did target the core routers, the backbones that tie our internet connections together, entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-an-adversary-didn-t-target-our-power-plants-but-they-did-target/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [Nuclear power as a solution to global warming is theoretically possible, but the proliferation problems and accident risks it would create would, I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-makhijani/nuclear-power-as-a-solution-to-global-warming-is-theoretically/) [Arjun Makhijani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-makhijani/) ## More by John Kenneth Galbraith > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“Men can labor to make sense out of single steps toward the goal without ever pausing to reflect that the goal itself is ludicrous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/men-can-labor-to-make-sense-out-of-single-steps-toward-the-goal/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/consumer-wants-can-have-bizarre-frivolous-or-even-immoral-origins-and/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [That one never need to look beyond the love of money for explanation of human behavior is one of the most jealously guarded simplification…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/that-one-never-need-to-look-beyond-the-love-of-money-for-explanation/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Agriculture is one economic activity that does not obey the laws of demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/agriculture-is-one-economic-activity-that-does-not-obey-the-laws-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [If we were not in Vietnam, all that part of the world would be enjoying the obscurity it so richly deserves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/if-we-were-not-in-vietnam-all-that-part-of-the-world-would-be/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Washington is a place where men praise courage and act on elaborate personal cost-benefit calculations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/washington-is-a-place-where-men-praise-courage-and-act-on-elaborate/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [World War II revealed two of the enduring features of the Keynesian Revolution. 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In the absence of new developments, old ones may seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies-that-are-not-born-are-rarely/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) [Explore all 434 John Kenneth Galbraith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) ## More Certain quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. 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