--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fish don't know much about water, and…" description: "\"Fish don't know much about water, and people didn't know much about air.\" — Kary Mullis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/kary-mullis-13943_air_fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-peo_627699.png" --- # Fish don't know much about water, and people didn't know… ![“Fish don't know much about water, and people didn't know much about air.” quote by Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/kary-mullis-13943_air_fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-peo_627699.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/kary-mullis-13943_air_fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-peo_627699.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/kary-mullis-13943_air_fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-peo_627699.png) > “Fish don't know much about water, and people didn't know much about air.” [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often overlook the environments that shape us because they are invisible to us, limiting our understanding and innovation. **In simple terms:** We miss hidden surroundings that affect us. Key Takeaway Notice and study the unseen contexts around you. Themes awareness environment perception innovation humility Mood curious reflective thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - business strategy - personal development - scientific research - environmental policy Key Concepts Systems thinking cognitive bias contextual awareness Questions to Reflect On - What invisible factors influence your decisions? - How can you become more aware of your environment? A Different Perspective Our perception is limited to what we can see, so we may miss crucial factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fish/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [“Of what is significant in one's own existence one is hardly aware, and it certainly should not bother the other fellow. What does a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/of-what-is-significant-in-one-s-own-existence-one-is-hardly-aware-and/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Till taught by pain, men know not water's worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/till-taught-by-pain-men-know-not-water-s-worth/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [A deep well you only know it when the water is dried!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/afana-yamze/a-deep-well-you-only-know-it-when-the-water-is-dried/) [Afana Yamze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/afana-yamze/) > [“If God had wanted men to swim, he would have taught fish to fish. But fish don’t fish, and neither do I, but it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/if-god-had-wanted-men-to-swim-he-would-have-taught-fish-to-fish-but/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“The fish you don't catch is always the biggest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/the-fish-you-don-t-catch-is-always-the-biggest/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [Dead fish don't swim around in jealous tides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-weiland/dead-fish-don-t-swim-around-in-jealous-tides/) [Scott Weiland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-weiland/) > [I hunt and fish, and I don't fly on Lear jets, and I don't smoke Cuban cigars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-schultz/i-hunt-and-fish-and-i-don-t-fly-on-lear-jets-and-i-don-t-smoke-cuban/) [Ed Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-schultz/) > [As you know from the Italian expression, the fish stinks from the head down. What I can tell you two fish that don't stink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-scaramucci/as-you-know-from-the-italian-expression-the-fish-stinks-from-the-head/) [Anthony Scaramucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-scaramucci/) > [Where there's water on Earth, you find life as we know it. So if you find water somewhere else, it becomes a remarkable draw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/where-there-s-water-on-earth-you-find-life-as-we-know-it-so-if-you/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [It's okay to eat fish because they don't have any feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/it-s-okay-to-eat-fish-because-they-don-t-have-any-feelings/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [You have to jump into the pool before you know whether there's water in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-loog-oldham/you-have-to-jump-into-the-pool-before-you-know-whether-there-s-water/) [Andrew Loog Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-loog-oldham/) > [Marlin: Now it's my turn. I'm thinking of something dark and mysterious. It's a fish we don't know. If we ask it directions, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheyanne-my-friend/marlin-now-it-s-my-turn-i-m-thinking-of-something-dark-and-mysterious/) Cheyanne My Friend > [My friend Ed Begley goes fishing. It's a little smelly to me, I don't like it so much. I like to eat fish, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goldblum/my-friend-ed-begley-goes-fishing-it-s-a-little-smelly-to-me-i-don-t/) [Jeff Goldblum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goldblum/) > [I'm not a golfer. I don't fish. I don't even watch TV.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-kapler/i-m-not-a-golfer-i-don-t-fish-i-don-t-even-watch-tv/) [Gabe Kapler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-kapler/) > [“Fish don't attend swimming school.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/fish-don-t-attend-swimming-school/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) ## More by Kary Mullis > [People don't realize that molecules themselves are somewhat hypothetical, and that their interactions are more so, and that the biological reactions are even more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/people-don-t-realize-that-molecules-themselves-are-somewhat/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [My father, Cecil Banks Mullis, and mother, formerly Bernice Alberta Barker, grew up in rural North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-father-cecil-banks-mullis-and-mother-formerly-bernice-alberta/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [My mother often mailed me articles from 'Reader's Digest' about advances in DNA chemistry. No matter how I tried to explain it to her,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-mother-often-mailed-me-articles-from-reader-s-digest-about/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Religion is inwardly focused and driven only to sustain itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/religion-is-inwardly-focused-and-driven-only-to-sustain-itself/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Natural DNA is a tractless coil, like an unwound and tangled audiotape on the floor of the car in the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/natural-dna-is-a-tractless-coil-like-an-unwound-and-tangled-audiotape/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Do we care about these people that are HIV-positive whose lives have been ruined? Those are the people I'm the most concerned about. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/do-we-care-about-these-people-that-are-hiv-positive-whose-lives-have/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [I love a microphone and a big crowd; I'm an entertainer, I guess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-love-a-microphone-and-a-big-crowd-i-m-an-entertainer-i-guess/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Science consistently produces a new crop of miraculous truths and dazzling devices every year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/science-consistently-produces-a-new-crop-of-miraculous-truths-and/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Here's a bunch of people practising a new set of behavioural norms. Apparently it didn't work because a lot of them got sick. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/here-s-a-bunch-of-people-practising-a-new-set-of-behavioural-norms/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [People realize this man knows what the hell's going on and nobody else does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/people-realize-this-man-knows-what-the-hell-s-going-on-and-nobody/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Science, like nothing else among the institutions of mankind, grows like a weed every year. Art is subject to arbitrary fashion, religion is inwardly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/science-like-nothing-else-among-the-institutions-of-mankind-grows/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [I'm not politically correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/i-m-not-politically-correct/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [My mother would give my brothers and me a pile of catalogues and let us pick what we wanted for Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-mother-would-give-my-brothers-and-me-a-pile-of-catalogues-and-let/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [They can't pooh-pooh me now, because of who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/they-can-t-pooh-pooh-me-now-because-of-who-i-am/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [Sometimes a good idea comes to you when you are not looking for it. Through an improbable combination of coincidence, naivete and lucky mistakes ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/sometimes-a-good-idea-comes-to-you-when-you-are-not-looking-for-it/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) [Explore all 48 Kary Mullis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [There was a little nook on Air Force Two that contained the vice presidential seal, and I would sort of wedge myself in there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-biden/there-was-a-little-nook-on-air-force-two-that-contained-the-vice/) [Jill Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-biden/) > [Words are substance strange. Speak one and the air ripples into another's ears. Write one and the eye laps it up. But the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-beachy-quick/words-are-substance-strange-speak-one-and-the-air-ripples-into/) [Dan Beachy-Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-beachy-quick/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“It is unnatural to fear something natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unnatural-to-fear-something-natural/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) Browse all 6,278 Air quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fish don't know much about water, and people didn't know much about air.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kary Mullis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-people-didn-t-know-much-about-air/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Air" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-people-didn-t-know-much-about-air/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/kary-mullis-13943_air_fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-peo_627699.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/kary-mullis-13943_air_fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-peo_627699.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/kary-mullis-13943_air_fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-peo_627699.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fish don't know much about water, and people didn't know much about air.” — Kary Mullis", "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": "Kary Mullis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fish don't know much about water,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-people-didn-t-know-much-about-air/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/fish-don-t-know-much-about-water-and-people-didn-t-know-much-about-air/#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 } } ] } ```