--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's nothing more distasteful than an…" description: "\"There's nothing more distasteful than an academic having to, like, trot out his credentials. You really come off as a jerk when you do that.\" — Reza Aslan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/reza-aslan-2665_academic_there-s-nothing-more-distasteful-than-an_2870630.png" --- # There's nothing more distasteful than an academic having… ![“There's nothing more distasteful than an academic having to, like, trot out his credentials. You really come off as a jerk when you do that.” quote by Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/reza-aslan-2665_academic_there-s-nothing-more-distasteful-than-an_2870630.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/reza-aslan-2665_academic_there-s-nothing-more-distasteful-than-an_2870630.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/reza-aslan-2665_academic_there-s-nothing-more-distasteful-than-an_2870630.png) > “There's nothing more distasteful than an academic having to, like, trot out his credentials. You really come off as a jerk when you do that.” [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Boasting credentials in academic settings can appear arrogant and alienate listeners. **In simple terms:** Showing off degrees can seem rude. Key Takeaway Avoid flaunting credentials. Themes humility communication perception Mood reflective critical Type advice social When to use this quote - classroom discussions - conference panels - online lectures Key Concepts ego social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does credential talk affect trust? - When is it appropriate to mention expertise? A Different Perspective Credibility may be undermined if perceived as bragging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [Academic Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic-having-3924761/) [Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come/) [Credentials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/credentials/) [Credentials Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/credentials-really-3924762/) [Distasteful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distasteful/) [Distasteful Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distasteful-academic-3924760/) [Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having/) [His](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/his/) [Jerk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jerk/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [Off](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/off/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [Credentials are like potential energy, the compliments of a name on paper, in documents, word of mouth, but faith is like kinetic energy, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/credentials-are-like-potential-energy-the-compliments-of-a-name-on/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [I feel that very strongly: having been an academic, having been tempted by the invitation to stay on to become a Ph.D., a professor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-feel-that-very-strongly-having-been-an-academic-having-been-tempted/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I believe that bad taste is vulgar. 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We shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/when-the-accumulation-of-wealth-is-no-longer-of-high-social/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [But if I must be alone, I refuse to be alone as if it were something weak and distasteful, like convalescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-if-i-must-be-alone-i-refuse-to-be-alone-as-if-it-were-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More by Reza Aslan > [“Despite two millennia of Christian apologetics, the fact is that belief in a dying and rising messiah simply did not exist in Judaism. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/despite-two-millennia-of-christian-apologetics-the-fact-is-that/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Should I act violently in defense of my religion, absolutely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/should-i-act-violently-in-defense-of-my-religion-absolutely/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Religion doesn't make people bigots. People are bigots and they use religion to justify their ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/religion-doesn-t-make-people-bigots-people-are-bigots-and-they-use/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“Scattered across the Roman Empire, it was only natural for the gospel writers to distance themselves from the Jewish independence movement by erasing, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/scattered-across-the-roman-empire-it-was-only-natural-for-the-gospel/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“There is a term for this phenomenon—politicomorphism, or “the divinization of earthly politics”—and it is, to this day, one of the central features of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/there-is-a-term-for-this-phenomenon-politicomorphism-or-the/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Obama has been the single worst president in modern American history in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/obama-has-been-the-single-worst-president-in-modern-american-history/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [There's no question that homophobia is rampant among the world's 1.5 billion Muslims - but that doesn't negate the fact that there are huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/there-s-no-question-that-homophobia-is-rampant-among-the-world-s-1-5/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Well, to be clear, I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament and fluency in Biblical Greek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/well-to-be-clear-i-am-a-scholar-of-religions-with-four-degrees/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“There would be no more record of who was rich and who was poor. Everyone in this new and divinely inspired world order would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/there-would-be-no-more-record-of-who-was-rich-and-who-was-poor/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [My biography of Jesus is probably the first popular biography that does not use the New Testament as its primary source material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/my-biography-of-jesus-is-probably-the-first-popular-biography-that/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [The Islamic Reformation is already here. We are all living in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/the-islamic-reformation-is-already-here-we-are-all-living-in-it/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“Pilate, as the histories reveal, was not one for trials. In his ten years as governor of Jerusalem, he had sent thousands upon thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/pilate-as-the-histories-reveal-was-not-one-for-trials-in-his-ten/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [Is it possible that Jesus, unlike 98 percent of his fellow Jews, was literate and educated? Yes, it's possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/is-it-possible-that-jesus-unlike-98-percent-of-his-fellow-jews-was/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“The choice between James’s vision of a Jewish religion anchored in the Law of Moses and derived from a Jewish nationalist who fought against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/the-choice-between-james-s-vision-of-a-jewish-religion-anchored-in/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) > [“Paul's portrayal of Jesus as Christ may sound familiar to contemporary Christians—it has since become the standard doctrine of the church—but it would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reza-aslan/paul-s-portrayal-of-jesus-as-christ-may-sound-familiar-to/) [Reza Aslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) [Explore all 154 Reza Aslan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reza-aslan/) ## More Academic quotes > [When I went to college, as much as my parents emphasized academic achievement, they emphasized marriage even more. 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I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Browse all 958 Academic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's nothing more distasteful than an academic having to, like, trot out his credentials. 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