--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If Edgar sounded overeager, even rushed…" description: "\"“If Edgar sounded overeager, even rushed, the race was with his own temperament. He placed a premium on savvy. Yet since you could only obtain new info..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab9/lionel-shriver-744_naivete_if-edgar-sounded-overeager-even-rushed-t_209890.jpg" --- # If Edgar sounded overeager, even rushed, the race was with… ![“If Edgar sounded overeager, even rushed, the race was with his own temperament. He placed a premium on savvy. Yet since you could only obtain new information by admitting you didn’t know it already, savvy required an apprenticeship as a naive twit. You had to ask crude, obvious questions…you had…” quote by Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab9/lionel-shriver-744_naivete_if-edgar-sounded-overeager-even-rushed-t_209890.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab9/lionel-shriver-744_naivete_if-edgar-sounded-overeager-even-rushed-t_209890.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab9/lionel-shriver-744_naivete_if-edgar-sounded-overeager-even-rushed-t_209890.jpg) > ““If Edgar sounded overeager, even rushed, the race was with his own temperament. He placed a premium on savvy. Yet since you could only obtain new information by admitting you didn’t know it already, savvy required an apprenticeship as a naive twit. You had to ask crude, obvious questions…you had to sit still while worldly-wise warhorses…fired withering glances as if you were born yesterday. Well, Edgar was born yesterday for the moment, although his tolerance for being treated liked a simpleton was in short supply. He’d needed to rattle off a multitude of stupid questions before he embraced his next incarnation as an insider. The trouble was that savvy coated your brain in plastic like a driver’s license: nothing more could get in. Hence the point at which you decided you knew everything was exactly the point at which you became an ignorant dipshit.”” [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Overconfidence blinds learning; true expertise requires humility and asking basic questions. **In simple terms:** Being sure you know everything stops growth. Key Takeaway Stay curious, ask simple questions. Themes humility learning expertise Mood reflective critical serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career development - academic research - skill mastery - team collaboration Key Concepts ego knowledge acquisition plasticity Questions to Reflect On - What basic questions could you ask to deepen understanding? - How do you recognize when you’ve stopped learning? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can lead to missed opportunities and poor decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Naivete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naivete/) [Stupid question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupid-question/) [Stupid questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupid-questions/) ## Related quotes > [I don't know if it's naivete or just narcissism, but I start out with this notion that I can do anything. It's not until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-pfeiffer/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-naivete-or-just-narcissism-but-i-start-out-with/) [Michelle Pfeiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-pfeiffer/) > [“Commercial comedy's often set up to feature an ironist making devastating sport of someone who's naive or sentimental or pretentious or pompous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/commercial-comedy-s-often-set-up-to-feature-an-ironist-making/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [It is hard to think of any work of art of which one can say 'this saved the life of one Jew, one Vietnamese,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hughes/it-is-hard-to-think-of-any-work-of-art-of-which-one-can-say-this/) [Robert Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hughes/) > [I gravitated to acting out of a mixture of instinct, naivete and opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-combs/i-gravitated-to-acting-out-of-a-mixture-of-instinct-naivete-and/) [Jeffrey Combs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-combs/) > [People like to use the word 'naivete' as a negative, but not for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tyree-henry/people-like-to-use-the-word-naivete-as-a-negative-but-not-for-me/) [Brian Tyree Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tyree-henry/) > [I think that the worst form of naivete can be extreme cynicism. If you think that nobody comes to Washington to do any good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mallon/i-think-that-the-worst-form-of-naivete-can-be-extreme-cynicism-if-you/) [Thomas Mallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mallon/) > [“We try to bring up our children so that they are protected from the world's evils, only to find we've raised a pack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/we-try-to-bring-up-our-children-so-that-they-are-protected-from-the/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [I'm guilty of extraordinary naivete, I suppose. But it's a naivete that I really don't want to abandon, not even now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jock-sturges/i-m-guilty-of-extraordinary-naivete-i-suppose-but-it-s-a-naivete-that/) [Jock Sturges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jock-sturges/) > [Rosemary bubbled with delight at the trunks. Her naivete responded whole-heartedly to the expensive simplicity of the Divers, unaware of its complexity and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/rosemary-bubbled-with-delight-at-the-trunks-her-naivete-responded/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [ “\[H\]e was still young enough to think that there was something fundamentally inhuman about thinking more than one step ahead at a time.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-clement/h-e-was-still-young-enough-to-think-that-there-was-something/) [Hal Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-clement/) > [Dieter Dengler was an amazing man. Who knows what he would've been had he not ever been tested in this way? It's a question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bale/dieter-dengler-was-an-amazing-man-who-knows-what-he-would-ve-been-had/) [Christian Bale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bale/) > [I really believe in completely being naive and having high hopes when meeting someone new. I can kind of re-do my stupidity or my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/i-really-believe-in-completely-being-naive-and-having-high-hopes-when/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [If it so happened that I had once written a best-seller, this was a pure accident, due to inattention and naivete, and I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-it-so-happened-that-i-had-once-written-a-best-seller-this-was-a/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If you're going to exude naivete, you can't really... walk out there like it's a Sting show. You can't be that well put together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-black/if-you-re-going-to-exude-naivete-you-can-t-really-walk-out-there-like/) [Frank Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-black/) > [“Most often, what I don’t know will have a vastly greater bearing on my life that what I do know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/most-often-what-i-don-t-know-will-have-a-vastly-greater-bearing-on-my/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) ## More by Lionel Shriver > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I’m a journalist, and journalists need news. Deprive them of it, and they go a bit barking. Deprive them of news long enough, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-m-a-journalist-and-journalists-need-news-deprive-them-of-it-and/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“One of the things I learned with Charles," said Gray carefully, "was that finding someone like you does not necessarily mean that either of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/one-of-the-things-i-learned-with-charles-said-gray-carefully-was-that/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [In the particular dwells the tawdry. In the conceptual dwells the grand, the transcendent, the everlasting. Earthly countries and single malignant boys can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/in-the-particular-dwells-the-tawdry-in-the-conceptual-dwells-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“The idea is that you don't only have one destiny. Younger and younger, kids are pressed to decide what they want to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-idea-is-that-you-don-t-only-have-one-destiny-younger-and-younger/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Oddly, for a book to do well merely because people like it is surprisingly rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/oddly-for-a-book-to-do-well-merely-because-people-like-it-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“And there's a freedom in apathy, a wild, dizzying liberation on which you can almost get drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/and-there-s-a-freedom-in-apathy-a-wild-dizzying-liberation-on-which/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [The sign that I don't like the book I'm reading is finding myself watching reruns of 'Come Dine With Me.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-sign-that-i-don-t-like-the-book-i-m-reading-is-finding-myself/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [We speak often of 'destroying the planet' when what we mean is destroying its habitability for humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/we-speak-often-of-destroying-the-planet-when-what-we-mean-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [My agent had warned that, while a fine film would do my profile a world of good, a bad one wouldn't help me at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/my-agent-had-warned-that-while-a-fine-film-would-do-my-profile-a/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I think that's the biggest favor you can grant anyone, don't you? Permission to be dull. I know Henry will sometimes say something so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-think-that-s-the-biggest-favor-you-can-grant-anyone-don-t-you/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“They were determined to find something mechanically wrong with him - because broken machines are easier to fix. p303”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/they-were-determined-to-find-something-mechanically-wrong-with-him/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“Bur Armenians have a talent for sorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/bur-armenians-have-a-talent-for-sorrow/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“What is cool changes; that there is such a thing as cool is immutable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/what-is-cool-changes-that-there-is-such-a-thing-as-cool-is-immutable/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I have theorized that you can locate most people on a spectrum of the crudest sort and that it may be their position on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-have-theorized-that-you-can-locate-most-people-on-a-spectrum-of-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) [Explore all 375 Lionel Shriver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## More Naivete quotes > [I don't know if it's naivete or just narcissism, but I start out with this notion that I can do anything. It's not until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-pfeiffer/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-naivete-or-just-narcissism-but-i-start-out-with/) [Michelle Pfeiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-pfeiffer/) > [If you're going to exude naivete, you can't really... walk out there like it's a Sting show. You can't be that well put together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-black/if-you-re-going-to-exude-naivete-you-can-t-really-walk-out-there-like/) [Frank Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-black/) > [If it so happened that I had once written a best-seller, this was a pure accident, due to inattention and naivete, and I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-it-so-happened-that-i-had-once-written-a-best-seller-this-was-a/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [I really believe in completely being naive and having high hopes when meeting someone new. I can kind of re-do my stupidity or my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/i-really-believe-in-completely-being-naive-and-having-high-hopes-when/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [Dieter Dengler was an amazing man. Who knows what he would've been had he not ever been tested in this way? It's a question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bale/dieter-dengler-was-an-amazing-man-who-knows-what-he-would-ve-been-had/) [Christian Bale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bale/) > [ “\[H\]e was still young enough to think that there was something fundamentally inhuman about thinking more than one step ahead at a time.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-clement/h-e-was-still-young-enough-to-think-that-there-was-something/) [Hal Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-clement/) > [Rosemary bubbled with delight at the trunks. Her naivete responded whole-heartedly to the expensive simplicity of the Divers, unaware of its complexity and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/rosemary-bubbled-with-delight-at-the-trunks-her-naivete-responded/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I'm guilty of extraordinary naivete, I suppose. But it's a naivete that I really don't want to abandon, not even now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jock-sturges/i-m-guilty-of-extraordinary-naivete-i-suppose-but-it-s-a-naivete-that/) [Jock Sturges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jock-sturges/) > [“We try to bring up our children so that they are protected from the world's evils, only to find we've raised a pack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/we-try-to-bring-up-our-children-so-that-they-are-protected-from-the/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [I think that the worst form of naivete can be extreme cynicism. If you think that nobody comes to Washington to do any good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mallon/i-think-that-the-worst-form-of-naivete-can-be-extreme-cynicism-if-you/) [Thomas Mallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mallon/) > [People like to use the word 'naivete' as a negative, but not for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tyree-henry/people-like-to-use-the-word-naivete-as-a-negative-but-not-for-me/) [Brian Tyree Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tyree-henry/) > [I gravitated to acting out of a mixture of instinct, naivete and opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-combs/i-gravitated-to-acting-out-of-a-mixture-of-instinct-naivete-and/) [Jeffrey Combs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-combs/) > [It is hard to think of any work of art of which one can say 'this saved the life of one Jew, one Vietnamese,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hughes/it-is-hard-to-think-of-any-work-of-art-of-which-one-can-say-this/) [Robert Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hughes/) > [“Commercial comedy's often set up to feature an ironist making devastating sport of someone who's naive or sentimental or pretentious or pompous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/commercial-comedy-s-often-set-up-to-feature-an-ironist-making/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Most often, what I don’t know will have a vastly greater bearing on my life that what I do know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/most-often-what-i-don-t-know-will-have-a-vastly-greater-bearing-on-my/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) [Browse all 70 Naivete quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naivete/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If Edgar sounded overeager, even rushed, the race was with his own temperament. He placed a premium on savvy. Yet since you could only obtain new information by admitting you didn’t know it already, savvy required an apprenticeship as a naive twit. You had to ask crude, obvious questions…you had to sit still while worldly-wise warhorses…fired withering glances as if you were born yesterday. Well, Edgar was born yesterday for the moment, although his tolerance for being treated liked a simpleton was in short supply. He’d needed to rattle off a multitude of stupid questions before he embraced his next incarnation as an insider. The trouble was that savvy coated your brain in plastic like a driver’s license: nothing more could get in. 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