---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man going quietly about his business…"
description: "\"“A man going quietly about his business all day long expends far more muscular energy than an athlete who lifts a huge weight once a day. This has been..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/robert-musil-2009_business_a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-a_2433936.jpg"
---

#  A man going quietly about his business all day long…

![“A man going quietly about his business all day long expends far more muscular energy than an athlete who lifts a huge weight once a day. This has been proved physiologically, and so the social sum total of everybody's little everyday efforts, especially when added together, doubtless releases far…” quote by Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/robert-musil-2009_business_a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-a_2433936.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/robert-musil-2009_business_a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-a_2433936.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/robert-musil-2009_business_a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-a_2433936.jpg)

> ““A man going quietly about his business all day long expends far more muscular energy than an athlete who lifts a huge weight once a day. This has been proved physiologically, and so the social sum total of everybody's little everyday efforts, especially when added together, doubtless releases far more energy into the world than do rare heroic feats. This total even makes the single heroic feat look positively minuscule, like a grain of sand on a mountaintop with a megalomaniacal sense of its own importance.””

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Consistent small efforts collectively generate far more impact than occasional grand actions.

**In simple terms:** Everyday work outweighs rare heroics.

Key Takeaway

Value daily contributions.

Themes

effort collective impact humility

Mood

reflective inspirational

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- workplace productivity
- community projects
- personal habits
- volunteerism

Key Concepts

social dynamics energy economics psychology of achievement

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we recognize and reward everyday effort?
- What structures amplify collective small actions?

A Different Perspective

Rare feats may be overvalued in cultural narratives.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Daily life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-life/) [Doubtless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubtless/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/)

## Related quotes

> [A lack of common sense usually ends in some heroic feat, much like the soldier who dives onto the grenade so that others may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/a-lack-of-common-sense-usually-ends-in-some-heroic-feat-much-like-the/)

[Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/)

> [There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/there-is-a-muscular-energy-in-sunlight-corresponding-to-the-spiritual/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [Doubtless there are other roads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-crane/doubtless-there-are-other-roads/)

[Stephen Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-crane/)

> [Not a great deal is known about the factors in childhood that doubtless underlie a person's choice of career - I'm talking now about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/not-a-great-deal-is-known-about-the-factors-in-childhood-that/)

[Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/)

> [It is doubtless impossible to approach any human problems with a mind free from bias.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/it-is-doubtless-impossible-to-approach-any-human-problems-with-a-mind/)

[Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/)

> [Doubtless God could have made a better berry (than the strawberry), but doubtless God never did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-butler/doubtless-god-could-have-made-a-better-berry-than-the-strawberry-but/)

William Allen Butler

> [Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/each-generation-doubtless-feels-called-upon-to-reform-the-world-mine/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [“It was doubtless true,” she later wrote “that I was ‘Weary of myself and sick of asking What I am and what I ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/it-was-doubtless-true-she-later-wrote-that-i-was-weary-of-myself-and/)

[Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/)

> [I experienced in myself a certain capacity for judging which I have doubtless received from God, like all the other things that I possess;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/i-experienced-in-myself-a-certain-capacity-for-judging-which-i-have/)

[Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/)

> [As I get older, I find myself getting angrier and angrier. Doubtless, change itself, not to mention physical decline and inevitable petty tragedies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/as-i-get-older-i-find-myself-getting-angrier-and-angrier-doubtless/)

[William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/)

> [“The world can doubtless never be well known by theory: practice is absolutely necessary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/the-world-can-doubtless-never-be-well-known-by-theory-practice-is/)

[Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/)

> [I have doubtless erred more or less in politics, but a crime I never committed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/i-have-doubtless-erred-more-or-less-in-politics-but-a-crime-i-never/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked, and which doubtless don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/information-can-tell-us-everything-it-has-all-the-answers-but-they/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [There are books on our shelves we haven't read and doubtless never will, that each of us has probably put to one side in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-books-on-our-shelves-we-haven-t-read-and-doubtless-never/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [“Doubtless we cannot see that other higher Spaceland now, because we have no eye in our stomachs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-a-abbott/doubtless-we-cannot-see-that-other-higher-spaceland-now-because-we/)

[Edwin A. Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-a-abbott/)

## More by Robert Musil

> [“Everything we feel and do is somehow oriented "lifeward," and the least deviation away from this direction toward something beyond is difficult or alarming.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/everything-we-feel-and-do-is-somehow-oriented-lifeward-and-the-least/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“He was in that familiar state - not that the occasion mattered to seriously to him -- of incoherent ideas spreading outward without a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-was-in-that-familiar-state-not-that-the-occasion-mattered-to/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [It is life that does the thinking all around us, forming with playful ease the connections our reason can only laboriously patch together piecemeal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/it-is-life-that-does-the-thinking-all-around-us-forming-with-playful/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“What is it you do, then? I'll tell you: You leave out whatever doesn't suit you. As the author himself has done before you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/what-is-it-you-do-then-i-ll-tell-you-you-leave-out-whatever-doesn-t/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [and while faith based on theological reasoning is today universally engaged in a bitter struggle with doubt and resistance from the prevailing brand of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/and-while-faith-based-on-theological-reasoning-is-today-universally/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [What is the use of good painting? We want a spell cast upon the optical part of our existence! We seldom really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/what-is-the-use-of-good-painting-we-want-a-spell-cast-upon-the/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [That the will of the people can be established by voting for democrats is, of course, a delusion. Yet when considering a non-threatening system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-established-by-voting-for/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“Ein Mann, der die Wahrheit will, wird Gelehrter; ein Mann, der seine Subjektivität spielen lassen will, wird vielleicht Schriftsteller; was aber soll ein Mann…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/ein-mann-der-die-wahrheit-will-wird-gelehrter-ein-mann-der-seine/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“For a long time now a hint of aversion had lain on everything he did and experienced, a shadow of impotence and loneliness, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/for-a-long-time-now-a-hint-of-aversion-had-lain-on-everything-he-did/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“All the knowledge that has led our species from wearing animal skins to people flying, complete with proofs, would fill a handful of reference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/all-the-knowledge-that-has-led-our-species-from-wearing-animal-skins/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [I also believe that few people remain completely untouched by the thought that instead of the life they lead there might also be another,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/i-also-believe-that-few-people-remain-completely-untouched-by-the/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“His appearance gives no clue to what his profession might be, and yet he doesn't look like a man without a profession either. Consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/his-appearance-gives-no-clue-to-what-his-profession-might-be-and-yet/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [Philosophers are people who do violence, but have no army at their disposal, and so subjugate the world by locking it into a system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-people-who-do-violence-but-have-no-army-at-their/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“The drive of his own nature to keep developing prevents him from believing that anything is final and complete, yet everything he encounters behaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/the-drive-of-his-own-nature-to-keep-developing-prevents-him-from/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“And so the mind or spirit is the great opportunist, itself impossible to pin down, take hold of, anywhere; one is tempted to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/and-so-the-mind-or-spirit-is-the-great-opportunist-itself-impossible/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

[Explore all 139 Robert Musil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

## More Business quotes

> [Companies with cultures that celebrate diverse opinions and encourage the exchange of ideas have an advantage when solving difficult problems. A company that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-mcmillon/companies-with-cultures-that-celebrate-diverse-opinions-and-encourage/)

[Doug McMillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-mcmillon/)

> [You can laugh at me, but I understand show business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-sobchak/you-can-laugh-at-me-but-i-understand-show-business/)

[Ksenia Sobchak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-sobchak/)

> [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/)

[Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/)

> [I'm a business first and foremost so whatever my business is, it's separate from my personal. It's like whatever I do business wise, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snoop-dogg/i-m-a-business-first-and-foremost-so-whatever-my-business-is-it-s/)

[Snoop Dogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snoop-dogg/)

> [Many early-stage entrepreneurs make one simple mistake: Describing this 'big picture' in vague concepts and words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunil-nagaraj/many-early-stage-entrepreneurs-make-one-simple-mistake-describing/)

[Sunil Nagaraj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunil-nagaraj/)

> [Nobody has a crystal ball, and part of evolving a business plan is to say, 'I might have said we're going left, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-kavanaugh/nobody-has-a-crystal-ball-and-part-of-evolving-a-business-plan-is-to/)

[Ryan Kavanaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-kavanaugh/)

> [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/)

> [ “\[S\]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-the-possible-irrelevance-of/)

[Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/)

> [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/)

[Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/)

> [“Some say the Earth is angry Because he wants no company; I say the Earth is angry Because he lives alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/some-say-the-earth-is-angry-because-he-wants-no-company-i-say-the/)

[N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/)

> [ If the State does not acquire supremacy over \[vast private\] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy-over-vast-private-enterprises/)

[Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/)

> [It's not just that families can't buy a home or start a business without some savings tucked away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cooper/it-s-not-just-that-families-can-t-buy-a-home-or-start-a-business/)

[Jim Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cooper/)

> [I'm not into business at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-mercury/i-m-not-into-business-at-all/)

[Freddie Mercury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-mercury/)

> [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/)

[Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/)

[Browse all 39,016 Business quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“A man going quietly about his business all day long expends far more muscular energy than an athlete who lifts a huge weight once a day. This has been proved physiologically, and so the social sum total of everybody's little everyday efforts, especially when added together, doubtless releases far more energy into the world than do rare heroic feats. This total even makes the single heroic feat look positively minuscule, like a grain of sand on a mountaintop with a megalomaniacal sense of its own importance.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Robert Musil"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-all-day-long-expends-far-more/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Business"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-all-day-long-expends-far-more/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/robert-musil-2009_business_a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-a_2433936.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/robert-musil-2009_business_a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-a_2433936.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/robert-musil-2009_business_a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-a_2433936.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A man going quietly about his business all day long expends far more muscular energy than an athlete who…” — Robert Musil",
                "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": "Robert Musil",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“A man going quietly about his...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-all-day-long-expends-far-more/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-going-quietly-about-his-business-all-day-long-expends-far-more/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
