--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A knowing of what needs to be done or…" description: "\"A knowing of what needs to be done or what needs to be said or what needs to happen at any given time. That is wisdom and wisdom does not come from the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/roger-housden-11285_accumulation_a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-wh_2559810.jpg" --- # A knowing of what needs to be done or what needs to be… ![“A knowing of what needs to be done or what needs to be said or what needs to happen at any given time. That is wisdom and wisdom does not come from the accumulation of knowledge.” quote by Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/roger-housden-11285_accumulation_a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-wh_2559810.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/roger-housden-11285_accumulation_a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-wh_2559810.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/roger-housden-11285_accumulation_a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-wh_2559810.jpg) > “A knowing of what needs to be done or what needs to be said or what needs to happen at any given time. That is wisdom and wisdom does not come from the accumulation of knowledge.” [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wisdom is the ability to act appropriately in the moment, not merely a store of facts. **In simple terms:** Wisdom is timely action, not knowledge accumulation. Key Takeaway Focus on practical judgment. Themes wisdom decision‑making experience Mood thoughtful reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - leadership - teaching - personal growth - crisis management Key Concepts practical intelligence situational awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you know when to act versus when to gather more info? - What habits help you stay present? A Different Perspective Wisdom can be hindered by over‑analysis or ego. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accumulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [To oscillate between drill exercises that strive to attain efficiency in outward doing without the use of intelligence, and an accumulation of knowledge that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/to-oscillate-between-drill-exercises-that-strive-to-attain-efficiency/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Much is said about the progress of science in these centuries. I should say that the useful results of science had accumulated, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/much-is-said-about-the-progress-of-science-in-these-centuries-i/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. Surely these should never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-truslow-adams/there-are-obviously-two-educations-one-should-teach-us-how-to-make-a-3/) [James Truslow Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-truslow-adams/) > [While we can learn or study techniques for almost anything we might want to accomplish, real understanding is not the mere accumulation of knowledge.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/while-we-can-learn-or-study-techniques-for-almost-anything-we-might/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We forget that the accumulation of knowledge and the holding of convictions must finally result in the application of that knowledge and those convictions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/we-forget-that-the-accumulation-of-knowledge-and-the-holding-of/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [Learning is not the accumulation of knowledge, but rather, one thing only: understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-jo-napoli/learning-is-not-the-accumulation-of-knowledge-but-rather-one-thing/) [Donna Jo Napoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-jo-napoli/) > [To me, if there is any sort of value added to the accumulation of knowledge over time, then the work of artists should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/to-me-if-there-is-any-sort-of-value-added-to-the-accumulation-of/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [Education is not the accumulation of knowledge, but the ability to find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/education-is-not-the-accumulation-of-knowledge-but-the-ability-to/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [The accumulation of knowledge is a powerful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-cousins/the-accumulation-of-knowledge-is-a-powerful-thing/) [Kirk Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-cousins/) > [Remember that accumulated knowledge, like accumulated capital, increases at compound interest: but it differs from the accumulation of capital in this; that the increase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-babbage/remember-that-accumulated-knowledge-like-accumulated-capital/) [Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-babbage/) > [I should say that the useful results of science had accumulated, but that there had been no accumulation of knowledge, strictly speaking, for posterity;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-should-say-that-the-useful-results-of-science-had-accumulated-but/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I had always insisted that a good education was a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, that each enriched the other.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-had-always-insisted-that-a-good-education-was-a-synthesis-of-book/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Insight doesn't just come naturally; it comes from an accumulation of knowledge and experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/insight-doesn-t-just-come-naturally-it-comes-from-an-accumulation-of/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) > [“Humankind has accumulated generation upon generation of knowledge, the culmination of which is the vast and useful technological array we see everywhere in modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-e-davey/humankind-has-accumulated-generation-upon-generation-of-knowledge-the/) [H.E. Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-e-davey/) > [“a good education is a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, because each enrich the other. The accumulation of knowledge, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-good-education-is-a-synthesis-of-book-learning-and-involvement-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## More by Roger Housden > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [Everything constantly changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/everything-constantly-changes/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [When we turn our gaze to the inside, it becomes difficult to locate this familiar sense of self. To overcome that fear we need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-turn-our-gaze-to-the-inside-it-becomes-difficult-to-locate/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [People around us change and circumstances change. We can often find ourselves struggling against those things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/people-around-us-change-and-circumstances-change-we-can-often-find/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [I bring my attention to my hands on the steering wheel and notice how the chatter in my mind begins to fall away as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/i-bring-my-attention-to-my-hands-on-the-steering-wheel-and-notice-how/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [We live in an age of knowledge, with the great god Google, that we can refer to at any time on any subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/we-live-in-an-age-of-knowledge-with-the-great-god-google-that-we-can/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [When we're fully engaged in the present moment, no matter what we're doing, the question of meaning never seems to arise. It's because we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-re-fully-engaged-in-the-present-moment-no-matter-what-we-re/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [The natural wish and impetus to feel oneself to be an individual, to be special, includes standing out more than anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/the-natural-wish-and-impetus-to-feel-oneself-to-be-an-individual-to/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [Struggle has a natural place in our life, but the fight or flight syndrome is often false struggle. There are times for that but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/struggle-has-a-natural-place-in-our-life-but-the-fight-or-flight/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [I live in California, where there's a lot of driving entailed. I'm usually going somewhere to be on time to meet someone so I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/i-live-in-california-where-there-s-a-lot-of-driving-entailed-i-m/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [I don't think one can run out and try and chase love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/i-don-t-think-one-can-run-out-and-try-and-chase-love/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [When the heart opens, we forget ourselves and the world pours in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-the-heart-opens-we-forget-ourselves-and-the-world-pours-in/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [We have to be on time every day for one thing or another, so how can we be on time and yet not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/we-have-to-be-on-time-every-day-for-one-thing-or-another-so-how-can/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [Most of us make an effort to do and be the best we can be, which leads to a distinction we need to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/most-of-us-make-an-effort-to-do-and-be-the-best-we-can-be-which-leads/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [The more we enter our own gifts, the more we feel that sense of proportion. In that sense, I think our life lies in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/the-more-we-enter-our-own-gifts-the-more-we-feel-that-sense-of/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) [Explore all 60 Roger Housden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) ## More Accumulation quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very-cloistered-existence-as-most/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-accumulation-of-all-powers-legislative-executive-and-judiciary-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-think-that-only-daring-speculation-can-lead-us-further-and-not/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [There has been, for some reason (or more likely an unfortunate accumulation of reasons) a trend over the past several decades for parents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/there-has-been-for-some-reason-or-more-likely-an-unfortunate/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [Ageing is, simply and clearly, the accumulation of damage in the body. That's all that ageing is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/ageing-is-simply-and-clearly-the-accumulation-of-damage-in-the-body/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [For me, personally, there is one really interesting thing. You're all a bit too young for that, but when you get to a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/for-me-personally-there-is-one-really-interesting-thing-you-re-all-a/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [The mounting burden of taxation not only undermines individual incentives to increased work and earnings, but in a score of ways discourages capital accumulation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/the-mounting-burden-of-taxation-not-only-undermines-individual/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high social importance, there will be great changes in the code of morals. 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/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving. This is the grand paradox. You get most by giving most. Conversely, by receiving much you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-johnson/the-soul-lives-forever-by-giving-not-receiving-this-is-the-grand/) [Julian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-johnson/) > [Forgiveness of the present is even more important than forgiveness of the past. If you forgive every moment - allow it to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/forgiveness-of-the-present-is-even-more-important-than-forgiveness-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/too-much-and-too-long-we-seem-to-have-surrendered-community/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) [Browse all 412 Accumulation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accumulation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A knowing of what needs to be done or what needs to be said or what needs to happen at any given time. That is wisdom and wisdom does not come from the accumulation of knowledge.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roger Housden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-what-needs-to-be-said-or-what/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accumulation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-what-needs-to-be-said-or-what/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/roger-housden-11285_accumulation_a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-wh_2559810.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/roger-housden-11285_accumulation_a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-wh_2559810.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/roger-housden-11285_accumulation_a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-wh_2559810.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A knowing of what needs to be done or what needs to be said or what needs to happen at any given time. That…” — Roger Housden", "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": "Roger Housden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A knowing of what needs to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-what-needs-to-be-said-or-what/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/a-knowing-of-what-needs-to-be-done-or-what-needs-to-be-said-or-what/#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 } } ] } ```