--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We may simply not be wise enough to do…" description: "\"We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds of engineering things that people are talking about doing.\" — Leon Kass" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/leon-kass-12927_being-wise_we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-s_194781.jpg" --- # We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds… ![“We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds of engineering things that people are talking about doing.” quote by Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/leon-kass-12927_being-wise_we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-s_194781.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/leon-kass-12927_being-wise_we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-s_194781.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/leon-kass-12927_being-wise_we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-s_194781.jpg) > “We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds of engineering things that people are talking about doing.” [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human capacity for complex engineering may be limited by wisdom and foresight. **In simple terms:** We might lack wisdom for advanced engineering. Key Takeaway Recognize limits and seek humility. Themes humility engineering wisdom Mood cautious reflective Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - research planning - technology assessment Key Concepts ethical limits human cognition Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance ambition with ethical restraint? - What role does interdisciplinary insight play? A Different Perspective Assumes wisdom can be measured, which is contested. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) [Engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [One should proceed with caution. We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds of engineering things that people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/one-should-proceed-with-caution-we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Ron Dennis redefined engineering in F1 with his high attention to detail. That detail included non-engineering things too, such as various rules, such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-coulthard/ron-dennis-redefined-engineering-in-f1-with-his-high-attention-to/) [David Coulthard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-coulthard/) > [License they mean when they cry Liberty; For who loves that, must first be wise and good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/license-they-mean-when-they-cry-liberty-for-who-loves-that-must-first/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The goal of a passionate artist is to try and make a masterpiece each and every time, yet be wise enough to know you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donato-giancola/the-goal-of-a-passionate-artist-is-to-try-and-make-a-masterpiece-each/) Donato Giancola > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/learned-we-may-be-with-another-man-s-learning-we-can-only-be-wise/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Literature provides us with experiences it would not be wise or possible to introduce into our own world and thus enlarges our understanding of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-rosenblatt/literature-provides-us-with-experiences-it-would-not-be-wise-or/) [Louise Rosenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-rosenblatt/) > [If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/if-we-are-going-to-be-wise-spiritual-people-prepared-to-meet-the/) [J.P. Moreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-moreland/) > [Were anyone wondering how Sen. Harry Reid intended to manage life in the minority, it took one day of the 114th Congress to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberley-strassel/were-anyone-wondering-how-sen-harry-reid-intended-to-manage-life-in/) Kimberley Strassel > [I feel I want to be wise with white hair in a tall library in a deep chair by a fireplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-corso/i-feel-i-want-to-be-wise-with-white-hair-in-a-tall-library-in-a-deep/) [Gregory Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-corso/) > [Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, And pause awhile from letters, to be wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/deign-on-the-passing-world-to-turn-thine-eyes-and-pause-awhile-from/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Acknowledging foolishness is a very powerful and important experience. We could almost say that being willing to be a fool is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/acknowledging-foolishness-is-a-very-powerful-and-important-experience/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [To be smart, spend carefully. To be wise, save regularly. To be genius, give extravagantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-ingram/to-be-smart-spend-carefully-to-be-wise-save-regularly-to-be-genius/) [Chip Ingram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-ingram/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More by Leon Kass > [Limits have to be set on how far one can simply use the... cleverness that we have to make changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/limits-have-to-be-set-on-how-far-one-can-simply-use-the-cleverness/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [The so-called right to reproduce is not an unlimited right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/the-so-called-right-to-reproduce-is-not-an-unlimited-right/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [I don't believe that efforts to prohibit only so-called reproductive cloning can be successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/i-don-t-believe-that-efforts-to-prohibit-only-so-called-reproductive/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Many other countries have already banned human cloning, and there are efforts at the UN to make such a ban universal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/many-other-countries-have-already-banned-human-cloning-and-there-are/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [The technical is not just the machinery. The technical is a disposition to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/the-technical-is-not-just-the-machinery-the-technical-is-a/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [I've been opposed to human cloning from the very beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/i-ve-been-opposed-to-human-cloning-from-the-very-beginning/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Genetics is crude, but neuroscience goes directly to work on the brain, and the mind follows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/genetics-is-crude-but-neuroscience-goes-directly-to-work-on-the-brain/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Cloning represents a very clear, powerful, and immediate example in which we are in danger of turning procreation into manufacture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/cloning-represents-a-very-clear-powerful-and-immediate-example-in/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Human life without death would be something other than human; consciousness of mortality gives rise to out deepest longings and greatest accomplishments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/human-life-without-death-would-be-something-other-than-human/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [If you have easy self-contentment, you might have a very, very cheap source of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/if-you-have-easy-self-contentment-you-might-have-a-very-very-cheap/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [It's a short step from the belief that every child should be wanted to the belief that a child exists to satisfy our wants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/it-s-a-short-step-from-the-belief-that-every-child-should-be-wanted/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [My job is to provide the president with the richest possible consideration, so that he knows what is at stake in whatever decision he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/my-job-is-to-provide-the-president-with-the-richest-possible/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [In cloning, in contrast, reproduction is asexual - the cloned child is the product not of two but of one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/in-cloning-in-contrast-reproduction-is-asexual-the-cloned-child-is/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [There were certain questions about the foundations of morals that advances in science all threaten to make more complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/there-were-certain-questions-about-the-foundations-of-morals-that/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [The benefits of biomedical progress are obvious, clear, and powerful. The hazards are much less well appreciated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/the-benefits-of-biomedical-progress-are-obvious-clear-and-powerful/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) [Explore all 52 Leon Kass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) ## More Being wise quotes > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [To be smart, spend carefully. To be wise, save regularly. To be genius, give extravagantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-ingram/to-be-smart-spend-carefully-to-be-wise-save-regularly-to-be-genius/) [Chip Ingram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-ingram/) > [Acknowledging foolishness is a very powerful and important experience. We could almost say that being willing to be a fool is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/acknowledging-foolishness-is-a-very-powerful-and-important-experience/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, And pause awhile from letters, to be wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/deign-on-the-passing-world-to-turn-thine-eyes-and-pause-awhile-from/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I feel I want to be wise with white hair in a tall library in a deep chair by a fireplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-corso/i-feel-i-want-to-be-wise-with-white-hair-in-a-tall-library-in-a-deep/) [Gregory Corso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-corso/) > [Were anyone wondering how Sen. Harry Reid intended to manage life in the minority, it took one day of the 114th Congress to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberley-strassel/were-anyone-wondering-how-sen-harry-reid-intended-to-manage-life-in/) Kimberley Strassel > [If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/if-we-are-going-to-be-wise-spiritual-people-prepared-to-meet-the/) [J.P. Moreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-moreland/) > [Literature provides us with experiences it would not be wise or possible to introduce into our own world and thus enlarges our understanding of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-rosenblatt/literature-provides-us-with-experiences-it-would-not-be-wise-or/) [Louise Rosenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-rosenblatt/) > [Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/learned-we-may-be-with-another-man-s-learning-we-can-only-be-wise/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The goal of a passionate artist is to try and make a masterpiece each and every time, yet be wise enough to know you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donato-giancola/the-goal-of-a-passionate-artist-is-to-try-and-make-a-masterpiece-each/) Donato Giancola > [License they mean when they cry Liberty; For who loves that, must first be wise and good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/license-they-mean-when-they-cry-liberty-for-who-loves-that-must-first/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [It almost seems as though this roiling world is conspiring to test our patience at every turn. In fact, it is. With this in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-almost-seems-as-though-this-roiling-world-is-conspiring-to-test/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's always better to be wise than to be smart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/it-s-always-better-to-be-wise-than-to-be-smart/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) [Browse all 310 Being wise quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-wise/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds of engineering things that people are talking about doing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leon Kass" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-some-of-the-kinds-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Being wise" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-some-of-the-kinds-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/leon-kass-12927_being-wise_we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-s_194781.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/leon-kass-12927_being-wise_we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-s_194781.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/leon-kass-12927_being-wise_we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-s_194781.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds of engineering things that people are talking about…” — Leon Kass", "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": "Leon Kass", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We may simply not be wise...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-some-of-the-kinds-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/we-may-simply-not-be-wise-enough-to-do-some-of-the-kinds-of/#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 } } ] } ```