--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Departments of knowledge seem designed to…" description: "\"“Departments of knowledge seem designed to reassure you that “it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it well.” That is completely false. It d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/peter-thiel-1311_knowledge_departments-of-knowledge-seem-designed-t_1563724.jpg" --- # Departments of knowledge seem designed to reassure you… ![“Departments of knowledge seem designed to reassure you that “it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it well.” That is completely false. It does matter what you do. You should focus relentlessly on something you’re good at doing, but before that you must think hard about whether it will…” quote by Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/peter-thiel-1311_knowledge_departments-of-knowledge-seem-designed-t_1563724.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/peter-thiel-1311_knowledge_departments-of-knowledge-seem-designed-t_1563724.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22d/peter-thiel-1311_knowledge_departments-of-knowledge-seem-designed-t_1563724.jpg) > ““Departments of knowledge seem designed to reassure you that “it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it well.” That is completely false. It does matter what you do. You should focus relentlessly on something you’re good at doing, but before that you must think hard about whether it will be valuable in the future.”” [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Focus on valuable, future‑relevant work rather than merely doing any task well; choose impactful specialization. **In simple terms:** What you do matters; aim for future value. Key Takeaway Prioritize valuable, future‑oriented work. Themes career future planning focus Mood analytical strategic Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - startup founding - career decisions - skill development - market analysis Key Concepts economics strategic thinking Questions to Reflect On - What will be valuable in 10 years? - How can you test future relevance? A Different Perspective Risk of misjudging future value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Departments Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/departments-knowledge-5871346/) [Does Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/does-matter-368928/) [Doesn Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doesn-matter-233607/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge Designed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-designed-5871347/) ## Related quotes > [ Every university…seem\[s\] to reassure you that ‘it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it well.’ That is completely false. It… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/every-university-seem-s-to-reassure-you-that-it-doesn-t-matter-what/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Every university believes in “excellence,” and hundred-page course catalogs arranged alphabetically according to arbitrary departments of knowledge seem designed to reassure you that “it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/every-university-believes-in-excellence-and-hundred-page-course/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [What others think of you doesn't matter, but what you think of yourself does matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/what-others-think-of-you-doesn-t-matter-but-what-you-think-of/) [SONYA PARKER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [“It does not matter if you are asking for health, for happiness, for financial wealth, or for all three. It doesn’t matter if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/it-does-not-matter-if-you-are-asking-for-health-for-happiness-for/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [What we say does not matter - only what God says to souls through us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-say-does-not-matter-only-what-god-says-to-souls-through-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [At the end of the day, if we don't win that game, we're going home, anyway, so what does it matter. I just wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-kershaw/at-the-end-of-the-day-if-we-don-t-win-that-game-we-re-going-home/) [Clayton Kershaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-kershaw/) > [What does it matter where my body happens to be?' he said. 'My mind goes on working all the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/what-does-it-matter-where-my-body-happens-to-be-he-said-my-mind-goes/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [“It does not matter what you write in English nobody has understood it anyway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santosh-kalwar/it-does-not-matter-what-you-write-in-english-nobody-has-understood-it/) [Santosh Kalwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santosh-kalwar/) > [“If you step in a nest of snakes, does it matter who bites you first?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/if-you-step-in-a-nest-of-snakes-does-it-matter-who-bites-you-first/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [It does not matter if how much I love him, the issue here is... if he feel same way too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-vine/it-does-not-matter-if-how-much-i-love-him-the-issue-here-is-if-he/) [Grace\_vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-vine/) > [What does it matter that we take different roads so long as we reach the same goal?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/what-does-it-matter-that-we-take-different-roads-so-long-as-we-reach/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Good work does not matter, because a man is judged by his worst output and another man takes all the credit of his best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/good-work-does-not-matter-because-a-man-is-judged-by-his-worst-output/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Sir, what does it matter whom I serve, so long as I am right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-corneille/sir-what-does-it-matter-whom-i-serve-so-long-as-i-am-right/) [Pierre Corneille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-corneille/) > [If you are an idealist, it does not matter what you do or what goes on around you because it isn't real anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/if-you-are-an-idealist-it-does-not-matter-what-you-do-or-what-goes-on/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it does not matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/beauty-is-vanishing-from-our-world-because-we-live-as-though-it-does/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) ## More by Peter Thiel > [People don't want to believe that technology is broken. Pharmaceuticals, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology - all these areas where the progress has been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/people-don-t-want-to-believe-that-technology-is-broken/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [If you think about basic science or coming up with new theories of mathematics, these are not the kinds of things which are necessarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-think-about-basic-science-or-coming-up-with-new-theories-of/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [I think we have a bubble in the US in government bonds, because of the quantitative easing and the negative real interest rates, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/i-think-we-have-a-bubble-in-the-us-in-government-bonds-because-of-the/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Time and decision-making themselves follow a power law, and some moments matter far more than others”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/time-and-decision-making-themselves-follow-a-power-law-and-some/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Today, we exaggerate the differences between left-liberal egalitarianism and libertarian individualism because almost everyone shares their common indefinite attitude. In philosophy, politics, and business,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/today-we-exaggerate-the-differences-between-left-liberal/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [When you already have $150 billion a year in revenues from the iPhone, it's very hard to come up with any new vertical that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/when-you-already-have-150-billion-a-year-in-revenues-from-the-iphone/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“CREATIVE MONOPOLY means new products that benefit everybody and sustainable profits for the creator. Competition means no profits for anybody, no meaningful differentiation, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/creative-monopoly-means-new-products-that-benefit-everybody-and/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“we have given up our sense of wonder at secrets left to be discovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/we-have-given-up-our-sense-of-wonder-at-secrets-left-to-be-discovered/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Today our society is permeated by the twin ideas that death is both inevitable and random.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/today-our-society-is-permeated-by-the-twin-ideas-that-death-is-both/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“if your company can be summed up by its opposition to already existing firms, it can’t be completely new and it’s probably not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-your-company-can-be-summed-up-by-its-opposition-to-already/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“Is a lukewarm attitude to one’s work a sign of mental health? Is a merely professional attitude the only sane approach?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/is-a-lukewarm-attitude-to-one-s-work-a-sign-of-mental-health-is-a/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [“If you’ve invented something new but you haven’t invented an effective way to sell it, you have a bad business—no matter how good the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-ve-invented-something-new-but-you-haven-t-invented-an/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [The business model piece is we're always talking about competing more effectively. If you're starting a company or career you don't want to compete.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/the-business-model-piece-is-we-re-always-talking-about-competing-more/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [If you invest in Microsoft or Oracle, or a number of other companies for that matter, you're fundamentally making a bet that there's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/if-you-invest-in-microsoft-or-oracle-or-a-number-of-other-companies/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [Our economy is broken. I'm not a politician, but neither is Donald Trump. He is a builder, and it's time to rebuild America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/our-economy-is-broken-i-m-not-a-politician-but-neither-is-donald/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) [Explore all 257 Peter Thiel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) ## More Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Departments of knowledge seem designed to reassure you that “it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it well.” That is completely false. 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