--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How many minds--almost all the great…" description: "\"How many minds--almost all the great ones--were formed in secrecy and solitude!\" — Matthew Arnold" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/matthew-arnold-1235_great-ones_how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones_572069.jpg" --- # How many minds--almost all the great ones--were formed in… ![“How many minds--almost all the great ones--were formed in secrecy and solitude!” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/matthew-arnold-1235_great-ones_how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones_572069.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/matthew-arnold-1235_great-ones_how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones_572069.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/matthew-arnold-1235_great-ones_how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones_572069.jpg) > “How many minds--almost all the great ones--were formed in secrecy and solitude!” [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great thinkers often develop ideas in private, away from public view. **In simple terms:** Great minds work alone. Key Takeaway Embrace solitude for deep thinking. Themes creativity solitude genius Mood contemplative inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - research - writing - artistic creation - personal reflection Key Concepts philosophy psychology creative process Questions to Reflect On - How does solitude affect your creativity? - When is collaboration more valuable? A Different Perspective Isolation can limit collaboration and feedback. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Formed Secrecy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formed-secrecy-4720058/) [Great ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-ones/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds/) [Minds Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds-great/) [Secrecy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrecy/) [Secrecy Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrecy-solitude-3060649/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) ## Related quotes > [That theatrical kind of virtue, which requires publicity for its stage, and an applauding world for its audience, could not be depended on, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/that-theatrical-kind-of-virtue-which-requires-publicity-for-its-stage/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Inside the calm minds, great ideas swim serenely like the morning geese of the misty lakes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/inside-the-calm-minds-great-ideas-swim-serenely-like-the-morning/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Great minds with great ideas usually share in the midst of their persecution”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-aldana/great-minds-with-great-ideas-usually-share-in-the-midst-of-their/) [Jeremy Aldana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-aldana/) > [Jazz was not only built in the minds of the great ones, but on the backs of the ordinary ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cab-calloway/jazz-was-not-only-built-in-the-minds-of-the-great-ones-but-on-the/) [Cab Calloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cab-calloway/) > [When you put two great minds, great things can happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-parsons/when-you-put-two-great-minds-great-things-can-happen/) [Micah Parsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-parsons/) > [If Uber wants to catch up to Google and be the leader in autonomy, we have to have the best minds. We have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-kalanick/if-uber-wants-to-catch-up-to-google-and-be-the-leader-in-autonomy-we/) [Travis Kalanick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-kalanick/) > [There is no place for little minds in a great work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manly-hall/there-is-no-place-for-little-minds-in-a-great-work/) [Manly Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manly-hall/) > [Minds that are great and free, should not on fortune pause: 'Tis crown enough to virtue still, her own applause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/minds-that-are-great-and-free-should-not-on-fortune-pause-tis-crown/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [Some great minds become great by turning the rubble of an exploded paradigm into something consistent and meaningful. Others become great by laying the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/some-great-minds-become-great-by-turning-the-rubble-of-an-exploded/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“Bringing countries together above their conflicts require great minds and great hearts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-ray/bringing-countries-together-above-their-conflicts-require-great-minds/) [Amit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-ray/) > [Little minds mistake little objects for great ones, and lavish away upon the former that time and attention which only the latterdeserve. To such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/little-minds-mistake-little-objects-for-great-ones-and-lavish-away/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Ruth and I don't have a perfect marriage, but we have a great one. How can I say two things that seem so contradictory?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/ruth-and-i-don-t-have-a-perfect-marriage-but-we-have-a-great-one-how/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [The great ones are about winning and winning only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skip-bayless/the-great-ones-are-about-winning-and-winning-only/) [Skip Bayless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skip-bayless/) > [There are people that I am in love with, totally in love with them. I would die for them. I love Michelangelo. I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/there-are-people-that-i-am-in-love-with-totally-in-love-with-them-i/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [Alien's a great one. That's a scary movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/alien-s-a-great-one-that-s-a-scary-movie/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) ## More by Matthew Arnold > [Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-looks-beyond-machinery-culture-hates-hatred-culture-has-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-true-doctrine-as-to-what-really/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Culture is the endeavour to know the best and to make this knowledge prevail for the good of all humankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-the-endeavour-to-know-the-best-and-to-make-this-knowledge/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The difference between genuine poetry and the poetry of Dryden, Pope, and all their school, is briefly this: their poetry is conceived and composed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/the-difference-between-genuine-poetry-and-the-poetry-of-dryden-pope/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-the-acquainting-ourselves-with-the-best-that-has-been-known/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Strew on her roses, roses, And never a spray of yew! In quiet she reposes; Ah, would that I did too!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/strew-on-her-roses-roses-and-never-a-spray-of-yew-in-quiet-she/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/nature-with-equal-mind-sees-all-her-sons-at-play-sees-man-control-the/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Six years-six little years-six drops of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/six-years-six-little-years-six-drops-of-time/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Let the long contention cease! / Geese are swans, and swans are geese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/let-the-long-contention-cease-geese-are-swans-and-swans-are-geese/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/it-is-almost-impossible-to-exaggerate-the-proneness-of-the-human-mind/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Religion is ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/religion-is-ethics-heightened-enkindled-lit-up-by-feeling/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Genius is mainly an affair of energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/genius-is-mainly-an-affair-of-energy/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture is both an intellectual phenomenon and a moral one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-both-an-intellectual-phenomenon-and-a-moral-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [English civilization the humanizing, the bringing into one harmonious and truly humane life, of the whole body of English society that is what interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/english-civilization-the-humanizing-the-bringing-into-one-harmonious/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Wandering between two worlds, one dead The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head Like these, on earth I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/wandering-between-two-worlds-one-dead-the-other-powerless-to-be-born/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) [Explore all 267 Matthew Arnold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## More Great ones quotes > [Alien's a great one. That's a scary movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/alien-s-a-great-one-that-s-a-scary-movie/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [There are people that I am in love with, totally in love with them. I would die for them. I love Michelangelo. I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/there-are-people-that-i-am-in-love-with-totally-in-love-with-them-i/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [The great ones are about winning and winning only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skip-bayless/the-great-ones-are-about-winning-and-winning-only/) [Skip Bayless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skip-bayless/) > [Ruth and I don't have a perfect marriage, but we have a great one. How can I say two things that seem so contradictory?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/ruth-and-i-don-t-have-a-perfect-marriage-but-we-have-a-great-one-how/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [This party spirit has so ill an effect on our morals, it has likewise a very great one upon our judgments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/this-party-spirit-has-so-ill-an-effect-on-our-morals-it-has-likewise/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“Great is a great one whose great ones are great”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stein/great-is-a-great-one-whose-great-ones-are-great/) [John Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stein/) > [Certainly we're always rooting for our particular contingent moment to be a great one. Pain-free. But the more expansive vision has to include the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/certainly-we-re-always-rooting-for-our-particular-contingent-moment/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The chief secret of comfort lies in not suffering trifles to vex us, and in prudently cultivating our undergrowth of small pleasures, since very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-sharp/the-chief-secret-of-comfort-lies-in-not-suffering-trifles-to-vex-us/) [Richard Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-sharp/) > [Jesus was a brilliant Jewish stand-up comedian, a phenomenal improviser. His parables are great one-liners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/jesus-was-a-brilliant-jewish-stand-up-comedian-a-phenomenal/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Directing requires great discipline, that ability to be in and out at the same time. The great ones I've worked with are like generals.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/directing-requires-great-discipline-that-ability-to-be-in-and-out-at/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [The truth is that Ron is my hero. He's always there for his friends - sometimes belligerently, but there nevertheless. He's also the comic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-grint/the-truth-is-that-ron-is-my-hero-he-s-always-there-for-his-friends/) [Rupert Grint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-grint/) > [As the few adepts in such things well know, universal morality is to be found in little everyday penny-events just as much as in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/as-the-few-adepts-in-such-things-well-know-universal-morality-is-to/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [An acknowledged love sanctifies every little freedom; and little freedoms beget great ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/an-acknowledged-love-sanctifies-every-little-freedom-and-little/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/fishes-live-in-the-sea-as-men-do-a-land-the-great-ones-eat-up-the/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are very few real teachers. Teaching is not a job; it is a vocation. To be a great one many qualities must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-von-hildebrand/there-are-very-few-real-teachers-teaching-is-not-a-job-it-is-a/) [Alice von Hildebrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-von-hildebrand/) [Browse all 182 Great ones quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-ones/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How many minds--almost all the great ones--were formed in secrecy and solitude!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthew Arnold" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones-were-formed-in-secrecy-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Great ones" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones-were-formed-in-secrecy-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/matthew-arnold-1235_great-ones_how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones_572069.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/matthew-arnold-1235_great-ones_how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones_572069.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/299/matthew-arnold-1235_great-ones_how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones_572069.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How many minds--almost all the great ones--were formed in secrecy and solitude!” — Matthew Arnold", "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": "Matthew Arnold", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How many minds--almost all the great...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones-were-formed-in-secrecy-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/how-many-minds-almost-all-the-great-ones-were-formed-in-secrecy-and/#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 } } ] } ```