--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wikipedia flourished partly because it…" description: "\"Wikipedia flourished partly because it was a shrine to altruism.\" — Nicholson Baker" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/nicholson-baker-3405_altruism_wikipedia-flourished-partly-because-it-w_2111174.png" --- # Wikipedia flourished partly because it was a shrine to… ![“Wikipedia flourished partly because it was a shrine to altruism.” quote by Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/nicholson-baker-3405_altruism_wikipedia-flourished-partly-because-it-w_2111174.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/nicholson-baker-3405_altruism_wikipedia-flourished-partly-because-it-w_2111174.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/nicholson-baker-3405_altruism_wikipedia-flourished-partly-because-it-w_2111174.png) > “Wikipedia flourished partly because it was a shrine to altruism.” [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wikipedia thrives because it embodies selfless collaboration, fostering a community of shared knowledge. **In simple terms:** Wikipedia grows from altruism. Key Takeaway Encourage generous contributions. Themes knowledge sharing community altruism Mood inspired optimistic Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - education - research - digital platforms Key Concepts open source collective intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How can we sustain volunteer motivation? - What incentives support open collaboration? A Different Perspective Reliance on altruism may limit sustainability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altruism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altruism/) [Entry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entry/) [Flourished Partly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flourished-partly-4262623/) [Partly Shrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/partly-shrine-4262622/) [Shrine Altruism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrine-altruism-4262621/) [Shrines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrines/) [Wikipedia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wikipedia/) [Wikipedia Flourished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wikipedia-flourished-4262620/) ## Related quotes > [Wikipedia is just an incredible thing. It is fact-encirclingly huge, and it is idiosyncratic, careful, messy, funny, shocking and full of simmering controversies -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/wikipedia-is-just-an-incredible-thing-it-is-fact-encirclingly-huge/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“The Pop-Tarts page is often aflutter. Pop-Tarts, it says as of today (February 8, 2008), were discontinued in Australia in 2005. Maybe that's true.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-pop-tarts-page-is-often-aflutter-pop-tarts-it-says-as-of-today/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I think I am done with Wikipedia for the time being. But I have a secret hope. Someone recently proposed a Wikimorgue - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-think-i-am-done-with-wikipedia-for-the-time-being-but-i-have-a/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Hail, high Excess especially in wine, To thee in worship do I bend the knee Who preach abstemiousness unto me My skull thy pulpit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hail-high-excess-especially-in-wine-to-thee-in-worship-do-i-bend-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [My dresser and I have the hots for the new rugby ace Danny Cipriani. We have a shrine in my dressing room - press…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-clary/my-dresser-and-i-have-the-hots-for-the-new-rugby-ace-danny-cipriani/) [Julian Clary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-clary/) > [ I think at the moment we did not even want to break the seal \[on the inner chamber of the tomb of Tutankhamen\], for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-carter/i-think-at-the-moment-we-did-not-even-want-to-break-the-seal-on-the/) [Howard Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-carter/) > [Death sanctifies. It's solemn enough to make its own shrine, where it happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-armstrong/death-sanctifies-it-s-solemn-enough-to-make-its-own-shrine-where-it/) [Charlotte Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-armstrong/) > [The mother must set the example in holding out the shrine as the heart of the house hold! She must enforce discipline over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/the-mother-must-set-the-example-in-holding-out-the-shrine-as-the/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [ If I do manage to come up with a scheme \[to naming\], however, I stick to it, which is why my cats are named… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-vernon/if-i-do-manage-to-come-up-with-a-scheme-to-naming-however-i-stick-to/) [Ursula Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-vernon/) > [Had it not been for the race problem early thrust upon me and enveloping me, I should have probably been an unquestioning worshipper at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/had-it-not-been-for-the-race-problem-early-thrust-upon-me-and/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Be kind to all beings, this is more meritorious than bathing at the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage and donating money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-nanak/be-kind-to-all-beings-this-is-more-meritorious-than-bathing-at-the/) [Guru Nanak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-nanak/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. 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Many people get better concentration by writing than by chanting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/it-is-a-good-practice-to-write-at-least-on-page-of-mantra-daily-many/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) ## More by Nicholson Baker > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Just as the people who lived through the Second World War thought different things on different days, I think everybody who goes through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/just-as-the-people-who-lived-through-the-second-world-war-thought/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I’ve always thought of myself as shy,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-ve-always-thought-of-myself-as-shy/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [There's something paralyzing about being a writer that you have to escape. 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Isn´t it pleasing when you ask a question of a person, a teacher,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/why-are-things-beautiful-i-don-t-know-that-s-a-good-question-isn-t-it/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I'm suspicious of full-replacement programs - that is, pronouncements that one way of doing something will entirely supplant another, and that in fact we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-m-suspicious-of-full-replacement-programs-that-is-pronouncements/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Printed books usually outlive bookstores and the publishers who brought them out. They sit around, demanding nothing, for decades. That's one of their nicest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/printed-books-usually-outlive-bookstores-and-the-publishers-who/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“The neurons that do expire are the ones that made imitation possible. When you are capable of skillful imitation, the sweep of choices before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-neurons-that-do-expire-are-the-ones-that-made-imitation-possible/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [What's somewhat puzzling is that Churchill himself knew what the reaction would be to any sort of aerial attack on cities, because in 1938…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/what-s-somewhat-puzzling-is-that-churchill-himself-knew-what-the/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [Shoes are the first adult machines we are given to master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/shoes-are-the-first-adult-machines-we-are-given-to-master/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [As soon as you start doing that - changing things - it seems self-evident to me that you've entered the world of make-believe. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/as-soon-as-you-start-doing-that-changing-things-it-seems-self-evident/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I don't do all that well in the writerly world. I'm happier being outside the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-don-t-do-all-that-well-in-the-writerly-world-i-m-happier-being/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [E.B. White's essays are the best things I've read about Maine - especially the one in which he's not sure if he can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/e-b-white-s-essays-are-the-best-things-i-ve-read-about-maine/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“The fact that we had independently decided to sweep our apartments on that Sunday afternoon after spending the weekend together, I took as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-fact-that-we-had-independently-decided-to-sweep-our-apartments-on/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) [Explore all 131 Nicholson Baker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) ## More Altruism quotes > [“It takes a female to have a baby, It takes a woman to raise a child, It takes a mother to raise them correctly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/it-takes-a-female-to-have-a-baby-it-takes-a-woman-to-raise-a-child-it/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“Some of our friends are our friends only because we used to be friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-of-our-friends-are-our-friends-only-because-we-used-to-be-friends/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“...True classical dropouts in society are those who avoid difficult challenges and cling to the first opportunity that comes their way. They never test…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janvier-chouteu-chando/true-classical-dropouts-in-society-are-those-who-avoid-difficult/) [Janvier Chouteu-Chando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janvier-chouteu-chando/) > [“Take a stand that reflects the widest horizons of your soul if you don’t want to be a slave to external powers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janvier-chouteu-chando/take-a-stand-that-reflects-the-widest-horizons-of-your-soul-if-you/) [Janvier Chouteu-Chando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janvier-chouteu-chando/) > [One of the great issues in biology is the origin of altruism - of why you would do something for someone else that could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/one-of-the-great-issues-in-biology-is-the-origin-of-altruism-of-why/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/how-selfish-soever-man-may-be-supposed-there-are-evidently-some/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Restoration ecology is experimental science, a science of love and altruism. In its attempts to reverse the processes of ecosystem degradation it runs exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mills/restoration-ecology-is-experimental-science-a-science-of-love-and/) [Stephanie Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mills/) > [“...of all the nonsense that twists the world, the concept of 'altruism' is the worst. People do what they want to do, every time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/of-all-the-nonsense-that-twists-the-world-the-concept-of-altruism-is/) [Robert A. 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