---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No sociologist should think himself too…"
description: "\"No sociologist should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in his head and perhaps for ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/max-weber-8418_age_no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too_1311612.png"
---

#  No sociologist should think himself too good, even in his…

![“No sociologist should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in his head and perhaps for months at a time.” quote by Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/max-weber-8418_age_no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too_1311612.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/max-weber-8418_age_no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too_1311612.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/max-weber-8418_age_no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too_1311612.png)

> “No sociologist should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in his head and perhaps for months at a time.”

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Scholars must stay humble and avoid overconfidence in mental calculations, especially as they age.

**In simple terms:** Stay modest in intellectual abilities.

Key Takeaway

Recognize limits, seek help when needed.

Themes

humility intellectual honesty age self‑awareness

Mood

reflective cautious

Type

advisory philosophical

When to use this quote

- teaching
- research
- policy analysis
- personal decision‑making

Key Concepts

sociology confidence bias cognitive limits

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you check your mental work?
- When should you delegate calculations?

A Different Perspective

Even modest scholars can err in complex calculations.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Computations Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computations-head-1428881/) [Months](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/months/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Quite Trivial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quite-trivial-4341572/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Sociologist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociologist/) [Sociologist Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociologist-think-4299219/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trivial Computations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trivial-computations-1428879/)

## Related quotes

> [“No sociologist, for instance, should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/no-sociologist-for-instance-should-think-himself-too-good-even-in-his/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [I'm bad at thinking about society. I love to make fun of very small aspects. For instance the privacy rules we have in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lore-segal/i-m-bad-at-thinking-about-society-i-love-to-make-fun-of-very-small/)

[Lore Segal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lore-segal/)

> [“Most human beings would have never been pained by the death of a human being if they had never seen a human being or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-human-beings-would-have-never-been-pained-by-the-death-of-a/)

[Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/)

> [I always wanted to be a Sociologist but the worls keeps acting on my Riff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-hazzard/i-always-wanted-to-be-a-sociologist-but-the-worls-keeps-acting-on-my/)

[Bobby Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-hazzard/)

> [“As the sociologist Ann Swidler has observed, “common sense”is really just deeply embedded culture: “the set of assumptions so unselfconscious as to seem a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-ricks-2/as-the-sociologist-ann-swidler-has-observed-common-sense-is-really/)

[Thomas E. Ricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-ricks-2/)

> [A sociologist without an archive is like a person without a memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raisa-gorbacheva/a-sociologist-without-an-archive-is-like-a-person-without-a-memory/)

[Raisa Gorbacheva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raisa-gorbacheva/)

> [Being a sociologist means never having to be bored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-collins/being-a-sociologist-means-never-having-to-be-bored/)

[Randall Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-collins/)

> [I'm not a sociologist, and the novel has often concerned itself with sociology. It's one of the generating forces that's made fiction interesting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-m-not-a-sociologist-and-the-novel-has-often-concerned-itself-with/)

[Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/)

> [He was a sociologist; he had got into an intellectual muddle early on in life and never managed to get out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/he-was-a-sociologist-he-had-got-into-an-intellectual-muddle-early-on/)

[Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/)

> [I'm not a sociologist, I'm not a political scientist, but I'm a fairly intuitive person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-scaramucci/i-m-not-a-sociologist-i-m-not-a-political-scientist-but-i-m-a-fairly/)

[Anthony Scaramucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-scaramucci/)

> [Mills insisted that a sociologist's proper subject was the intersection of biography and history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-gitlin/mills-insisted-that-a-sociologist-s-proper-subject-was-the/)

[Todd Gitlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-gitlin/)

> [There may come a time in the career of every sociologist when it is his solemn duty to raise hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-alsworth-ross/there-may-come-a-time-in-the-career-of-every-sociologist-when-it-is/)

[Edward Alsworth Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-alsworth-ross/)

> [I am a sociologist, God help me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-neill/i-am-a-sociologist-god-help-me/)

[John O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-neill/)

> [I once asked my father what he wanted me to be. To my horror, he said, 'sociologist.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-faithfull/i-once-asked-my-father-what-he-wanted-me-to-be-to-my-horror-he-said/)

[Marianne Faithfull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-faithfull/)

> [I don't consider myself a sociologist, I consider myself a filmmaker, among other things. Maybe an asshole but a filmmaker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-van-peebles/i-don-t-consider-myself-a-sociologist-i-consider-myself-a-filmmaker/)

[Melvin Van Peebles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-van-peebles/)

## More by Max Weber

> [“It is horrible to think that the world could one day be filled with nothing but those little cogs, little men clinging to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/it-is-horrible-to-think-that-the-world-could-one-day-be-filled-with/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [A government is an institution that holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/a-government-is-an-institution-that-holds-a-monopoly-on-the/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [The fate of an epoch that has eaten of the tree of knowledge is that it must...recognize that general views of life and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/the-fate-of-an-epoch-that-has-eaten-of-the-tree-of-knowledge-is-that/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [The nation is burdened with the heavy curse on those who come afterwards. The generation before us was inspired by an activism and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/the-nation-is-burdened-with-the-heavy-curse-on-those-who-come/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [Whenever known and sufficient causes are available, it is anti-scientific to discard them in favour of a hypothesis that can never be verified.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/whenever-known-and-sufficient-causes-are-available-it-is-anti/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [ \[In\] the realm of science, ... what we have achieved will be obsolete in ten, twenty or fifty years. That is the fate, indeed,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/in-the-realm-of-science-what-we-have-achieved-will-be-obsolete-in-ten/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [The experience of the irrationality of the world has been the driving force of all religious revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/the-experience-of-the-irrationality-of-the-world-has-been-the-driving/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [Ideas come when we do not expect them, and not when we are brooding and searching at our desks. Yet ideas would certainly not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/ideas-come-when-we-do-not-expect-them-and-not-when-we-are-brooding/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [ The summum bonum of this \[Puritan\] ethic is the earning of more and more money combined with the strict avoidance of all enjoyment. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/the-summum-bonum-of-this-puritan-ethic-is-the-earning-of-more-and/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the 'disenchantment of the world.' Precisely the ultimate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/the-fate-of-our-times-is-characterized-by-rationalization-and/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [Daily and hourly, the politician inwardly has to overcome a quite trivial and all-too-human enemy: a quite vulgar vanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/daily-and-hourly-the-politician-inwardly-has-to-overcome-a-quite/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [“The ultimately possible attitudes toward life are irreconcilable, and hence their struggle can never be brought to a final conclusion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/the-ultimately-possible-attitudes-toward-life-are-irreconcilable-and/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [Power is the chance to impose your will within a social context, even when opposed and regardless of the integrity of that chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/power-is-the-chance-to-impose-your-will-within-a-social-context-even/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [“Judgments of the importance of a historical phenomena may be judgments of value or faith, namely, when they refer to what is alone interesting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/judgments-of-the-importance-of-a-historical-phenomena-may-be/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

> [Causal analysis provides absolutely no value judgment, and a value judgment is absolutely not a causal explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/causal-analysis-provides-absolutely-no-value-judgment-and-a-value/)

[Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

[Explore all 77 Max Weber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/)

## More Age quotes

> [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/)

[Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/)

> [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/)

[Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/)

> [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/)

[Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/)

> [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/)

[Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/)

> [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/)

[Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/)

> [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/)

[Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/)

> [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/)

[Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/)

> [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/)

[Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/)

> [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/)

[Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/)

> [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/)

[Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/)

> [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/)

[Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/)

> [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/)

[Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/)

[Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "No sociologist should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in his head and perhaps for months at a time.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Max Weber"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too-good-even-in-his-old-age-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Age"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too-good-even-in-his-old-age-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/max-weber-8418_age_no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too_1311612.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/max-weber-8418_age_no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too_1311612.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/max-weber-8418_age_no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too_1311612.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“No sociologist should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite…” — Max Weber",
                "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": "Max Weber",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "No sociologist should think himself too...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too-good-even-in-his-old-age-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/no-sociologist-should-think-himself-too-good-even-in-his-old-age-to/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
