--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm a great believer in our ability to…" description: "\"I'm a great believer in our ability to come up with the ideas necessary to solve the big questions. I have less confidence that we'll be able to find a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/leonard-susskind-13115_ability_i-m-a-great-believer-in-our-ability-to-c_1963062.jpg" --- # I'm a great believer in our ability to come up with the… ![“I'm a great believer in our ability to come up with the ideas necessary to solve the big questions. I have less confidence that we'll be able to find a consensus about which ones are right without experiment.” quote by Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/leonard-susskind-13115_ability_i-m-a-great-believer-in-our-ability-to-c_1963062.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/leonard-susskind-13115_ability_i-m-a-great-believer-in-our-ability-to-c_1963062.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9b/leonard-susskind-13115_ability_i-m-a-great-believer-in-our-ability-to-c_1963062.jpg) > “I'm a great believer in our ability to come up with the ideas necessary to solve the big questions. I have less confidence that we'll be able to find a consensus about which ones are right without experiment.” [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We trust our creativity to solve big problems, yet lack consensus without experimental validation. **In simple terms:** Ideas are abundant, but agreement needs testing. Key Takeaway Test ideas before accepting them. Themes science creativity consensus Mood analytical optimistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research labs - policy making - technology development Key Concepts philosophy of science epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How can we improve consensus? - What role does experimentation play? A Different Perspective Consensus may form without experiments in some fields. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Believer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believer/) [Believer Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believer-ability-2155491/) [Big](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big/) [Big questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-questions/) [Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come/) [Come Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come-ideas-844767/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Consensus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consensus/) [Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiment/) [Find](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/find/) [Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great/) [Great believer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-believer/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ideas Necessary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-necessary-3251501/) [Less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/less/) [Necessary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary/) [Our](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our/) [Questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questions/) [Questions Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questions-confidence-1708764/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right/) [Solve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solve/) [Truth Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-seeking/) [Up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/up/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Without](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without/) ## Related quotes > [I'm a great believer in my ability, but I've not had the chance to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-rodwell/i-m-a-great-believer-in-my-ability-but-i-ve-not-had-the-chance-to/) [Jack Rodwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-rodwell/) > [When everyone does not agree with your ideas, it is necessary to make you change your speculation otherwise you will be left alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/when-everyone-does-not-agree-with-your-ideas-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [ Love the questions themselves...Live the questions now and have confidence that someday far into the future, \[I will live my\] way into the answer. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/love-the-questions-themselves-live-the-questions-now-and-have/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [I'm a great believer that scientists should spend as much time as possible explaining, and you do explain in the process of teaching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/i-m-a-great-believer-that-scientists-should-spend-as-much-time-as/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [I'd like to produce. I'd like to come up with ideas and collaborate with people and directors and writers that I like, be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-stone/i-d-like-to-produce-i-d-like-to-come-up-with-ideas-and-collaborate/) [Emma Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-stone/) > [People seem to think that they can't come up with ideas, and they're wrong. They can and they do, but they just think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-seem-to-think-that-they-can-t-come-up-with-ideas-and-they-re/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Businesses should encourage all their staff to come up with ideas, not be afraid to make suggestions, and then to act on those suggestions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-branson/businesses-should-encourage-all-their-staff-to-come-up-with-ideas-not/) [Holly Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-branson/) > [Yes, when I come up with ideas on my own, it's almost always a melody, just as often an instrument or bassline as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-polachek/yes-when-i-come-up-with-ideas-on-my-own-it-s-almost-always-a-melody/) [Caroline Polachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-polachek/) > [I go to my office nearly every day, and I'll sit there for six or seven hours and come up with ideas, and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-lock/i-go-to-my-office-nearly-every-day-and-i-ll-sit-there-for-six-or/) [Sean Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-lock/) > [When you're an actor, actually, you shouldn't come up with too many ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-louis-trintignant/when-you-re-an-actor-actually-you-shouldn-t-come-up-with-too-many/) [Jean-Louis Trintignant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-louis-trintignant/) > [I work with people and we come up with ideas for movies, television and things like that. It's fun and I love doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-lee/i-work-with-people-and-we-come-up-with-ideas-for-movies-television/) [Stan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-lee/) > [If I'm walking along the street, ideas come. Ideas about things that I'm interested in. I've jotted them down in the past on bits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/if-i-m-walking-along-the-street-ideas-come-ideas-about-things-that-i/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [I don't come up with ideas in a test tube; I come up with ideas by breaking test tubes. That's how I've always been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil-abloh/i-don-t-come-up-with-ideas-in-a-test-tube-i-come-up-with-ideas-by/) [Virgil Abloh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil-abloh/) > [I would say that I admire people that come up with ideas we never thought of before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sunde/i-would-say-that-i-admire-people-that-come-up-with-ideas-we-never/) [Peter Sunde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sunde/) > [It's not very often that you get to come up with ideas and bring your take on the character and then actually have writers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madchen-amick/it-s-not-very-often-that-you-get-to-come-up-with-ideas-and-bring-your/) [Madchen Amick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madchen-amick/) ## More by Leonard Susskind > [“Dick Feynman was a genius of visualization (he was also no slouch with equations): he made a mental picture of anything he was working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/dick-feynman-was-a-genius-of-visualization-he-was-also-no-slouch-with/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [ \[Richard Feynman\] truly believed that if you couldn't explain something simply, you didn't understand it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/richard-feynman-truly-believed-that-if-you-couldn-t-explain-something/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [The word 'universe' is obviously not intended to have a plural, but science has evolved in such a way that we need a plural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/the-word-universe-is-obviously-not-intended-to-have-a-plural-but/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [Science to me is sufficiently weird and interesting, and stranger than fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/science-to-me-is-sufficiently-weird-and-interesting-and-stranger-than/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [I have always enjoyed explaining physics. In fact it's more than just enjoyment: I need to explain physics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/i-have-always-enjoyed-explaining-physics-in-fact-it-s-more-than-just/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [“The great tragedy of science—the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.” — THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/the-great-tragedy-of-science-the-slaying-of-a-beautiful-hypothesis-by/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [Space can vibrate, space can fluctuate, space can be quantum mechanical, but what the devil is it? And, you know, everybody has their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/space-can-vibrate-space-can-fluctuate-space-can-be-quantum-mechanical/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [I did not come from an academic background. My father was a smart man, but he had a fifth-grade education. He and all his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/i-did-not-come-from-an-academic-background-my-father-was-a-smart-man/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [I went to college because my father thought that I should learn engineering, because he wanted to go into the heating business with me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/i-went-to-college-because-my-father-thought-that-i-should-learn/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [The dark energy is not exactly zero, but the first 122 decimal points are zero. That's crazy. That is really one of the craziest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/the-dark-energy-is-not-exactly-zero-but-the-first-122-decimal-points/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [Eventually, when the universe expands enough, all that will be left is the dark energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/eventually-when-the-universe-expands-enough-all-that-will-be-left-is/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [I was from a poor Jewish family in the South Bronx. My father was a plumber, but when I was 16, he got sick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/i-was-from-a-poor-jewish-family-in-the-south-bronx-my-father-was-a/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [“Perhaps he can avoid being stretched by falling in a horizontal position, legs and head at the same altitude. Yet when the giant tries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/perhaps-he-can-avoid-being-stretched-by-falling-in-a-horizontal/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [“Let’s return to the question of the ocean tides. The cause of the twice-daily rising and falling of the seas is exactly the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/let-s-return-to-the-question-of-the-ocean-tides-the-cause-of-the/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) > [Einstein, in the special theory of relativity, proved that different observers, in different states of motion, see different realities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-susskind/einstein-in-the-special-theory-of-relativity-proved-that-different/) [Leonard Susskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) [Explore all 51 Leonard Susskind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-susskind/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm a great believer in our ability to come up with the ideas necessary to solve the big questions. 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