--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Tell the people what they want and decide…" description: "\"Tell the people what they want and decide what they need.\" — Ray Davies" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/ray-davies-3711_art_tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decid_938944.jpg" --- # Tell the people what they want and decide what they need. ![“Tell the people what they want and decide what they need.” quote by Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/ray-davies-3711_art_tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decid_938944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/ray-davies-3711_art_tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decid_938944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/ray-davies-3711_art_tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decid_938944.jpg) > “Tell the people what they want and decide what they need.” [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Offer popular desires but guide them toward essential, perhaps less obvious, needs. **In simple terms:** Tell what people want, decide what they need. Key Takeaway Lead by shaping needs beyond wishes. Themes leadership influence needs vs wants Mood inspirational cautious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - advertising campaigns - public policy - product development Key Concepts marketing psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify genuine needs? - What responsibilities come with influencing desires? A Different Perspective Manipulating needs can be ethically dubious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [“Just don't expect to get what you want unless we decide its what you need - this isn't a hotel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/just-don-t-expect-to-get-what-you-want-unless-we-decide-its-what-you/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I don't want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself. I want to avoid becoming too styled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/i-don-t-want-other-people-to-decide-who-i-am-i-want-to-decide-that/) [Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/) > [You too can determine what you want. You can decide on your major objectives, targets, aim and destination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-clement-stone/you-too-can-determine-what-you-want-you-can-decide-on-your-major/) [W. Clement Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-clement-stone/) > [I want it all, but I can't decide. If I should leave you here, or stay with you awhile. I love you, I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-want-it-all-but-i-can-t-decide-if-i-should-leave-you-here-or-stay/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In order to get what you want, you must first decide what you want. Most people really foul up at this crucial first step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/in-order-to-get-what-you-want-you-must-first-decide-what-you-want/) [Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/) > [You can have anything in life you really want - but you can't have everything in life you really want. Decide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/you-can-have-anything-in-life-you-really-want-but-you-can-t-have/) [Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/) > [Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/before-borrowing-money-from-a-friend-decide-which-you-need-most/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Before borrowing money from a friend it's best to decide which you need most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-moore/before-borrowing-money-from-a-friend-it-s-best-to-decide-which-you/) [Joe Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-moore/) > [“Can-Do Attitude: Essential to develop because all along the way people will hit you with questions like: Is it worth it? Why is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-hayes/can-do-attitude-essential-to-develop-because-all-along-the-way-people/) Teddy Hayes > [Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/addison-h-hallock/before-borrowing-money-from-a-friend-decide-which-you-need-more/) Addison H Hallock > [Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/decide-what-you-want-to-do-then-decide-to-do-it-then-do-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [you might want to decide fast. We live in a dangerous world. If you see a chance to be happy, you have to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/you-might-want-to-decide-fast-we-live-in-a-dangerous-world-if-you-see/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [I want to do everything. I can never decide on one occupation!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italia-ricci/i-want-to-do-everything-i-can-never-decide-on-one-occupation/) [Italia Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italia-ricci/) > [“Who gets everything they want, Danny, exactly how they want it? You have to decide the most important thing and go from there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-mckinley/who-gets-everything-they-want-danny-exactly-how-they-want-it-you-have/) [Brooke McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-mckinley/) > [“Be specific about what you want. Decide, define, describe, discuss and develop your plans and then act on them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mensah-oteh/be-specific-about-what-you-want-decide-define-describe-discuss-and/) [Mensah Oteh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mensah-oteh/) ## More by Ray Davies > [You hate me and I hate you, so at least we understand each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/you-hate-me-and-i-hate-you-so-at-least-we-understand-each-other/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [Everything is reduced to what's physical in the end, because it's the filth inside people's minds that creates all the evil. What is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/everything-is-reduced-to-what-s-physical-in-the-end-because-it-s-the/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [True love is really animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/true-love-is-really-animal/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [In the end you become part of everything you hate, basically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/in-the-end-you-become-part-of-everything-you-hate-basically/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies, I am an apeman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/compared-to-the-bugs-and-the-spiders-and-flies-i-am-an-apeman/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [People take pictures of the Summer, just in case someone thought they had missed it, and to proved that it really existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/people-take-pictures-of-the-summer-just-in-case-someone-thought-they/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [I met her in a club down in North Soho, where you drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca-Cola.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/i-met-her-in-a-club-down-in-north-soho-where-you-drink-champagne-and/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [Silly boy, you got so much to live for, so much to aim for, so much to try for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/silly-boy-you-got-so-much-to-live-for-so-much-to-aim-for-so-much-to/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [I looked in the mirror at my pigeon chest, I had to put my clothes on cause it made me depressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/i-looked-in-the-mirror-at-my-pigeon-chest-i-had-to-put-my-clothes-on/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [When he feels the world is closing in, he turns his stereo way up high. He just spends his life, living in a rock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/when-he-feels-the-world-is-closing-in-he-turns-his-stereo-way-up-high/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [I think when you write songs, you write about people... People are the source of my material. And London is a wonderful place to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/i-think-when-you-write-songs-you-write-about-people-people-are-the/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [I don't wanna die in a nuclear war, I want to sail away to a distant shore, and make like an apeman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/i-don-t-wanna-die-in-a-nuclear-war-i-want-to-sail-away-to-a-distant/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [Why stay with him, he uses you just like a human punching bag?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/why-stay-with-him-he-uses-you-just-like-a-human-punching-bag/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [At one time they've been the most important thing to me. So I can't hear our records on the radio, I can't stand it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/at-one-time-they-ve-been-the-most-important-thing-to-me-so-i-can-t/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [We are the Draft Beer Preservation Society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/we-are-the-draft-beer-preservation-society/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) [Explore all 123 Ray Davies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Tell the people what they want and decide what they need.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ray Davies" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decide-what-they-need/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decide-what-they-need/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/ray-davies-3711_art_tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decid_938944.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/ray-davies-3711_art_tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decid_938944.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/738/ray-davies-3711_art_tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decid_938944.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Tell the people what they want and decide what they need.” — Ray Davies", "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": "Ray Davies", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Tell the people what they want...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decide-what-they-need/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/tell-the-people-what-they-want-and-decide-what-they-need/#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 } } ] } ```