--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wisdom and understanding can only become…" description: "\"Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and indus..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/samuel-smiles-2037_attention_wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become_371351.png" --- # Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of… ![“Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.” quote by Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/samuel-smiles-2037_attention_wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become_371351.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/samuel-smiles-2037_attention_wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become_371351.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/samuel-smiles-2037_attention_wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become_371351.png) > “Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.” [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge and insight are gained through careful observation, focused attention, persistent effort, and hard work. **In simple terms:** Learning comes from watching, paying attention, persisting, and working hard. Key Takeaway Cultivate observation, attention, perseverance, and industry. Themes learning personal growth hard work Mood reflective determined Type advice instructional When to use this quote - Studying a subject - Developing a skill - Improving work performance - Overcoming challenges Key Concepts Observation Attention Perseverance Industry Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice sustained attention daily? - What habits help you persevere when progress slows? A Different Perspective Requires time and may be hindered by distraction or lack of resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Attention Perseverance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention-perseverance-2058224/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Individual Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual-men-474970/) [Industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industry/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Perseverance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perseverance/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Road Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road-observation-3386719/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wisdom Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom-understanding-949347/) ## Related quotes > [ In all their wars against the French they \[the Americans\] never showed such conduct, attention and perseverance as they do now. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gage/in-all-their-wars-against-the-french-they-the-americans-never-showed/) [Thomas Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gage/) > [At a given moment a child becomes interested in a piece of work, showing it by the expression of his face, by his intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/at-a-given-moment-a-child-becomes-interested-in-a-piece-of-work/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“I will, however, establish that success in love, as in all other aspects of life, belongs, as a rule, to the persistent and fiber…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/i-will-however-establish-that-success-in-love-as-in-all-other-aspects/) [Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/) > [There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/there-is-no-such-thing-as-society-there-are-individual-men-and-women/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [A culture is not the anonymous product of undifferentiate d masses, but the sum of the intellectual achievements of individual men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-culture-is-not-the-anonymous-product-of-undifferentiate-d-masses/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [The People, though we think of a great entity when we use the word, means nothing more than so many millions of individual men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryce/the-people-though-we-think-of-a-great-entity-when-we-use-the-word/) [James Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryce/) > [I observe that there are two entirely different theories according to which individual men seek to get on in the world. One theory leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elihu-root/i-observe-that-there-are-two-entirely-different-theories-according-to/) [Elihu Root](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elihu-root/) > [Religion . . . shall mean for us the feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/religion-shall-mean-for-us-the-feelings-acts-and-experiences-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [No one knows 'men' as such, any more than anyone knows 'women,' and if they do generalise they're probably trying to hide their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-burchill/no-one-knows-men-as-such-any-more-than-anyone-knows-women-and-if-they/) [Julie Burchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-burchill/) > [There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same and to all of the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-one-mind-common-to-all-individual-men-every-man-is-an-inlet/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It all comes down, as it must, to the desires of individual men. Oh, and women too of course, bless their empty little heads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/it-all-comes-down-as-it-must-to-the-desires-of-individual-men-oh-and/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [There is one mind common to all individual men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-one-mind-common-to-all-individual-men/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We early arrive at the great discovery that there is one mind common to all individual men: that what is individual is less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-early-arrive-at-the-great-discovery-that-there-is-one-mind-common/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Knowledge is understanding based on what has been studied and learned. Wisdom is understanding based on what has been felt and experienced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/knowledge-is-understanding-based-on-what-has-been-studied-and-learned/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) > [The two things that bring the greatest dividend to pass on is Wisdom + Understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marv-stark/the-two-things-that-bring-the-greatest-dividend-to-pass-on-is-wisdom/) [Marv Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marv-stark/) ## More by Samuel Smiles > [Biographies of great, but especially of good men are most instructive and useful as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/biographies-of-great-but-especially-of-good-men-are-most-instructive/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/diligence-above-all-is-the-mother-of-good-luck/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The women of the poorer classes make sacrifices, and run risks, and bear privations, and exercise patience and kindness to a degree that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-women-of-the-poorer-classes-make-sacrifices-and-run-risks-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/self-respect-is-the-noblest-garment-with-which-a-man-can-clothe/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but of the nature of learning; whereas, the experience gained from actual life is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-experience-gathered-from-books-though-often-valuable-is-but-of/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-apprenticeship-of-difficulty-is-one-which-the-greatest-of-men/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-spirit-of-self-help-is-the-root-of-all-genuine-growth-in-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-wise-man-if-he-would-live-at-peace-with-others-he-will-bear-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Those who are the most persistent, and work in the true spirit, will invariably be the most successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/those-who-are-the-most-persistent-and-work-in-the-true-spirit-will/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The iron rail proved a magicians' road. It virtually reduced England to a sixth of its size. It brought the country nearer to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-iron-rail-proved-a-magicians-road-it-virtually-reduced-england-to/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [This extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised society. Of iron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/this-extraordinary-metal-the-soul-of-every-manufacture-and-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/man-cannot-aspire-if-he-looked-down-if-he-rise-he-must-look-up/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The life of a good man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe reproof of vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-life-of-a-good-man-is-at-the-same-time-the-most-eloquent-lesson/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [It is a grand old name, that of gentleman, and has been recognized as a rank and power in all stages of society. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/it-is-a-grand-old-name-that-of-gentleman-and-has-been-recognized-as-a/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [“Many are the lives of men unwritten, which have nevertheless as powerfully influenced civilization and progress as the more fortunate Great whose names are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/many-are-the-lives-of-men-unwritten-which-have-nevertheless-as/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) [Explore all 189 Samuel Smiles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Smiles" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become-the-possession-of-individual/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attention" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become-the-possession-of-individual/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/samuel-smiles-2037_attention_wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become_371351.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/samuel-smiles-2037_attention_wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become_371351.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/samuel-smiles-2037_attention_wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become_371351.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of…” — Samuel Smiles", "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": "Samuel Smiles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Wisdom and understanding can only become...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become-the-possession-of-individual/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/wisdom-and-understanding-can-only-become-the-possession-of-individual/#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 } } ] } ```