--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you can not measure it, you can not…" description: "\"If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.\" — Lord Kelvin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/lord-kelvin-10819_can-not_if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-im_203467.png" --- # If you can not measure it, you can not improve it. ![“If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.” quote by Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/lord-kelvin-10819_can-not_if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-im_203467.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/lord-kelvin-10819_can-not_if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-im_203467.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/lord-kelvin-10819_can-not_if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-im_203467.png) > “If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.” [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It states that without measurement, improvement is impossible because you cannot know what to change. **In simple terms:** Measure to improve. Key Takeaway Start measuring to drive progress. Themes assessment improvement science Mood analytical motivational Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - business - personal health - engineering - education Key Concepts metrics feedback loops continuous improvement Questions to Reflect On - What can you measure today? - How do you choose the right metric? A Different Perspective Measurement tools can be costly or unavailable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Measure for measure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measure-for-measure/) ## Related quotes > [If you can't measure it, you can't change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/if-you-can-t-measure-it-you-can-t-change-it/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [In physical science a first essential step in the direction of learning any subject is to find principles of numerical reckoning and practicable methods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/in-physical-science-a-first-essential-step-in-the-direction-of/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and-express-it-in/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-patil/if-you-can-t-measure-it-you-can-t-fix-it/) [DJ Patil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-patil/) > [I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/i-often-say-that-when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you measure it, it will improve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/if-you-measure-it-it-will-improve/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [What you cannot measure you cannot improve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-you-cannot-measure-you-cannot-improve/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is much easier to make measurements than to know exactly what you are measuring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-w-n-sullivan/it-is-much-easier-to-make-measurements-than-to-know-exactly-what-you/) [J. W. N. Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-w-n-sullivan/) > [Measurement is fabulous. Unless you're busy measuring what's easy to measure as opposed to what's important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/measurement-is-fabulous-unless-you-re-busy-measuring-what-s-easy-to/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [What could you measure? What would that cost? How fast could you get the results? If you can afford it, try it. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/what-could-you-measure-what-would-that-cost-how-fast-could-you-get/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [I was probably 14 or 15 when I was first on stage at school doing 'Measure for Measure.' I immediately felt it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-was-probably-14-or-15-when-i-was-first-on-stage-at-school-doing/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [The chemists work with inaccurate and poor measuring services, but they employ very good materials. The physicists, on the other hand, use excellent methods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-ostwald/the-chemists-work-with-inaccurate-and-poor-measuring-services-but/) [Wolfgang Ostwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-ostwald/) > [People think the free market is a philosophy, they think that it is a creed. It is none of those things. Free market is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/people-think-the-free-market-is-a-philosophy-they-think-that-it-is-a/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [There is no instrument for measuring the pressure of the Ether, which is probably millions of times greater: it is altogether too uniform for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-lodge/there-is-no-instrument-for-measuring-the-pressure-of-the-ether-which/) [Oliver Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-lodge/) > [You will have peace to the extent that you have God, and the further you are away from God the less you will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/you-will-have-peace-to-the-extent-that-you-have-god-and-the-further/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) ## More by Lord Kelvin > [Christianity without the cross is nothing. The cross was the fitting close of a life of rejection, scorn and defeat. But in no true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/christianity-without-the-cross-is-nothing-the-cross-was-the-fitting/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you study science deep enough and long enough, it will force you to believe in God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-study-science-deep-enough-and-long-enough-it-will-force-you-to/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-are-face-to-face-with-a-difficulty-you-are-up-against-a/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/i-often-say-that-when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you cannot measure it, then it is not science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-cannot-measure-it-then-it-is-not-science/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Simplification of modes of proof is not merely an indication of advance in our knowledge of a subject, but is also the surest guarantee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/simplification-of-modes-of-proof-is-not-merely-an-indication-of/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Quaternions came from Hamilton after his really good work had been done, and though beautifully ingenious, have been an unmixed evil to those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/quaternions-came-from-hamilton-after-his-really-good-work-had-been/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/do-not-imagine-that-mathematics-is-hard-and-crabbed-and-repulsive-to/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Let nobody be afraid of true freedom of thought. Let us be free in thought and criticism; but, with freedom, we are bound to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/let-nobody-be-afraid-of-true-freedom-of-thought-let-us-be-free-in/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Symmetrical equations are good in their place, but ' vector ' is a useless survival, or offshoot from quaternions, and has never been of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/symmetrical-equations-are-good-in-their-place-but-vector-is-a-useless/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Mathematics is the only good metaphysics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/mathematics-is-the-only-good-metaphysics/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [You know only insofar as you can measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/you-know-only-insofar-as-you-can-measure/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Fourier is a mathematical poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/fourier-is-a-mathematical-poem/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and-express-it-in/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [The atheistic idea is so nonsensical that I do not see how I can put it in words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/the-atheistic-idea-is-so-nonsensical-that-i-do-not-see-how-i-can-put/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) [Explore all 63 Lord Kelvin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) ## More Can not quotes > [Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what's possible and what's impossible, what we can and can not do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/our-beliefs-are-like-the-unquestioned-commands-telling-us-how-things/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [… Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twists & turns of fate. Time falls away, but these small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-thomas/our-lives-are-made-in-these-small-hours-these-little-wonders-these/) [Rob Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-thomas/) > [ He \[Moliere\] pleases all the world, but cannot please himself. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/he-moliere-pleases-all-the-world-but-cannot-please-himself/) [Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/) > [Our great thoughts, our great affections, the truths of our life, never leave us. Surely they can not separate from our consciousness, shall follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/our-great-thoughts-our-great-affections-the-truths-of-our-life-never/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [You can not kill that which is already dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-undertaker/you-can-not-kill-that-which-is-already-dead/) [The Undertaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-undertaker/) > [Yes I try to do everything I can not to fail hideously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-balaban/yes-i-try-to-do-everything-i-can-not-to-fail-hideously/) [Bob Balaban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-balaban/) > [You can not have significance in this life if it is all about you. You get your significance, you find your joy in life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tudor-jones/you-can-not-have-significance-in-this-life-if-it-is-all-about-you-you/) [Paul Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tudor-jones/) > [If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/if-we-are-true-to-ourselves-we-can-not-be-false-to-anyone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If I can not dance, I shall die!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-pavlova/if-i-can-not-dance-i-shall-die/) [Anna Pavlova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-pavlova/) > [I have looked at so many photographs, I can not see them anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-heizer/i-have-looked-at-so-many-photographs-i-can-not-see-them-anymore/) [Michael Heizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-heizer/) > [I think that freely available software can not only keep up with the evolution of commercial software, but often exceed what you can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-think-that-freely-available-software-can-not-only-keep-up-with-the/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [Hinduism is not just a faith. It is the union of reason and intuition that can not be defined but is only to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarvepalli-radhakrishnan/hinduism-is-not-just-a-faith-it-is-the-union-of-reason-and-intuition/) [Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarvepalli-radhakrishnan/) > [Whether or not storms come, we can not choose. But where we stare during a storm, that we can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/whether-or-not-storms-come-we-can-not-choose-but-where-we-stare/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [All earth's full rivers can not fillThe sea that drinking thirsteth still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-rossetti/all-earth-s-full-rivers-can-not-fillthe-sea-that-drinking-thirsteth/) [Christina Rossetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-rossetti/) > [Nations are beginning to look to some vague organization, some nebulous course of humanity, to pay their bills and tell them what to do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/nations-are-beginning-to-look-to-some-vague-organization-some/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) Browse all 567 Can not quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lord Kelvin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-improve-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Can not" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-improve-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/lord-kelvin-10819_can-not_if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-im_203467.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/lord-kelvin-10819_can-not_if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-im_203467.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/lord-kelvin-10819_can-not_if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-im_203467.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.” — Lord Kelvin", "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": "Lord Kelvin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you can not measure it,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-improve-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-improve-it/#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 } } ] } ```