--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Common sense is the most fairly…" description: "\"Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to sa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/ren-descartes-1376_common_common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distribu_2743096.png" --- # Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the… ![“Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.” quote by Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/ren-descartes-1376_common_common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distribu_2743096.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/ren-descartes-1376_common_common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distribu_2743096.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/ren-descartes-1376_common_common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distribu_2743096.png) > “Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.” [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Common sense is abundant, yet people rarely desire more of it. **In simple terms:** People think they have enough common sense. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of assumed wisdom. Themes common sense distribution desire Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - education - public policy - personal growth Key Concepts cognitive bias self‑assessment Questions to Reflect On - Do you overestimate your sense? - How to cultivate humility? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can blind to learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) [Fairly Distributed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairly-distributed-1611475/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Hardest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/) [Sense Fairly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-fairly-1641205/) [Thinks Endowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinks-endowed-2345347/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Thinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-thinks/) ## Related quotes > [Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/of-all-things-good-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distributed-everyone/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Common sense is the best distributed thing in the world, for everyone thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/common-sense-is-the-best-distributed-thing-in-the-world-for-everyone/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/nothing-is-more-fairly-distributed-than-common-sense-no-one-thinks-he/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [No one but a fool would measure their satisfaction by what the world thinks of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/no-one-but-a-fool-would-measure-their-satisfaction-by-what-the-world/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [It's not just people in Hollywood: I'm sure everyone in the world thinks, 'What would be it like if I won an Oscar?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-coppola/it-s-not-just-people-in-hollywood-i-m-sure-everyone-in-the-world/) [Roman Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-coppola/) > [When it seems like the whole world thinks you're bad, it's hard to hang on to your goodness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-ray-hinton/when-it-seems-like-the-whole-world-thinks-you-re-bad-it-s-hard-to/) [Anthony Ray Hinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-ray-hinton/) > [“To me, a world which thinks of itself in terms of puny, squalid, bickering little nations and not as one glorious field for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arlen/to-me-a-world-which-thinks-of-itself-in-terms-of-puny-squalid/) [Michael Arlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arlen/) > [You could be everything the world thinks you cannot be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-could-be-everything-the-world-thinks-you-cannot-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The modern world thinks of art as very important: something close to the meaning of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-modern-world-thinks-of-art-as-very-important-something-close-to/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [We change our opinions of ourselves so often. 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Sometimes we choose to become what the world expects to see of us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kieran-shields/we-all-take-on-identities-that-are-not-true-to-ourselves-sometimes-we/) [Kieran Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kieran-shields/) > [You can have your dream come true and be gay at the same time. This is not supposed to be a big deal. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-nunes/you-can-have-your-dream-come-true-and-be-gay-at-the-same-time-this-is/) [Amanda Nunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-nunes/) > [I think, as long as you're secure with yourself and happy with yourself, it really doesn't matter what the world around you thinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-rocha/i-think-as-long-as-you-re-secure-with-yourself-and-happy-with/) [Coco Rocha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-rocha/) ## More by Rene Descartes > [“My third maxim was to endeavour always to conquer myself rather than fortune, and change my desires rather than the order of the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/my-third-maxim-was-to-endeavour-always-to-conquer-myself-rather-than/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the self-same well from which your laughter rises was often-times filled with your tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/your-joy-is-your-sorrow-unmasked-and-the-self-same-well-from-which/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [So blind is the curiosity by which mortals are possessed, that they often conduct their minds along unexplored routes, having no reason to hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/so-blind-is-the-curiosity-by-which-mortals-are-possessed-that-they/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [“For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it. The greatest minds, as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/for-to-be-possessed-of-a-vigorous-mind-is-not-enough-the-prime/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [“It is useful to know something of the manners of different nations, that we may be enabled to form a more correct judgment regarding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/it-is-useful-to-know-something-of-the-manners-of-different-nations/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [A state is better governed which has few laws, and those laws strictly observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/a-state-is-better-governed-which-has-few-laws-and-those-laws-strictly/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [ \[About Pierre de Fermat\] It cannot be denied that he has had many exceptional ideas, and that he is a highly intelligent man. For… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/about-pierre-de-fermat-it-cannot-be-denied-that-he-has-had-many/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Science is practical philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/science-is-practical-philosophy/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [ “And what more am I? I look for aid to the imagination. \[But how mistakenly!\] I am not that assemblage of limbs we call… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/and-what-more-am-i-i-look-for-aid-to-the-imagination-but-how/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [“And, in fine, of false sciences I thought I knew the worth sufficiently to escape being deceived by the professions of an alchemist, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/and-in-fine-of-false-sciences-i-thought-i-knew-the-worth-sufficiently/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/nothing-is-more-fairly-distributed-than-common-sense-no-one-thinks-he/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [If I go for the alternative which is false, then obviously I shall be in error; if I take the other side, then it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/if-i-go-for-the-alternative-which-is-false-then-obviously-i-shall-be/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Everything is self-evident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/everything-is-self-evident/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Neither the true nor the false roots are always real; sometimes they are imaginary; that is, while we can always imagine as many roots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/neither-the-true-nor-the-false-roots-are-always-real-sometimes-they/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [It is only intelligence that is divided equally between people because everybody thinks he/she is enough wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/it-is-only-intelligence-that-is-divided-equally-between-people/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) [Explore all 232 Rene Descartes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) ## More Common quotes > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-is-a-tragedy-that-we-live-in-a-world-where-physical-courage-is-so/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) [Browse all 7,866 Common quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rene Descartes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distributed-thing-in-the-world-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distributed-thing-in-the-world-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/ren-descartes-1376_common_common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distribu_2743096.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/ren-descartes-1376_common_common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distribu_2743096.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/136/ren-descartes-1376_common_common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distribu_2743096.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed…” — Rene Descartes", "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": "Rene Descartes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Common sense is the most fairly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distributed-thing-in-the-world-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/common-sense-is-the-most-fairly-distributed-thing-in-the-world-for/#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 } } ] } ```