--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The strongest, the most certain thing I…" description: "\"“The strongest, the most certain thing I think I know about the process is there is really, really good news if you end up feeling lucky rather than cl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/tom-stoppard-437_cleverness_the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-t_3030189.png" --- # The strongest, the most certain thing I think I know about… ![“The strongest, the most certain thing I think I know about the process is there is really, really good news if you end up feeling lucky rather than clever.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/tom-stoppard-437_cleverness_the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-t_3030189.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/tom-stoppard-437_cleverness_the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-t_3030189.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/tom-stoppard-437_cleverness_the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-t_3030189.png) > ““The strongest, the most certain thing I think I know about the process is there is really, really good news if you end up feeling lucky rather than clever.”” [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote says that feeling lucky is more valuable than being clever, as luck brings good news and positive outcomes. **In simple terms:** Luck beats cleverness for good news. Key Takeaway Cultivate optimism over over‑reliance on cleverness. Themes optimism luck humility mindset Mood hopeful pragmatic Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career setbacks - creative projects - personal growth - health challenges Key Concepts probability psychology success Questions to Reflect On - How can you create conditions for luck? - What role does skill play alongside luck? A Different Perspective Luck is unpredictable and can be fleeting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feeling Lucky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-lucky/) [Good news](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-news/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Lucky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lucky/) [Writing process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-process/) ## Related quotes > [“Livia’s eyes filled with grateful tears. Blake brushed them away. “Now you cry? 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I'm so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/no-matter-how-many-frustrations-come-along-or-how-many-problems-arise/) [Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/) > [Hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky… hope is an ax you break down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/hope-is-not-like-a-lottery-ticket-you-can-sit-on-the-sofa-and-clutch/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [I'm feeling very lucky to be on 'GH.' It's kind of cool to be part of the fight to keep the show on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-easton/i-m-feeling-very-lucky-to-be-on-gh-it-s-kind-of-cool-to-be-part-of/) [Michael Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-easton/) > [When someone is successful, there's always a feeling that they were lucky. 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Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [The universe is deterministic all right, just like Newton said, I mean it's trying to be, but the only thing going wrong is people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-universe-is-deterministic-all-right-just-like-newton-said-i-mean/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-me-human-rights-simply-endorse-a-view-of-life-and-a-set-of-moral/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-people-there-s-nine-hundred/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... 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After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/you-should-not-translate-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time-after-that/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/no-matter-how-imperfect-things-are-if-you-ve-got-a-free-press/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-must-be-born-with-an-intuition-of-mortality-before-we-know-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/eternity-s-a-terrible-thought-i-mean-where-s-it-all-going-to-end/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) [Explore all 559 Tom Stoppard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More Cleverness quotes > [“Rumi observed, “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-w-dyer/rumi-observed-sell-your-cleverness-and-purchase-bewilderment/) [Wayne W. Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-w-dyer/) > [“Passion often makes a madman of the cleverest man, and renders the greatest fools clever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/passion-often-makes-a-madman-of-the-cleverest-man-and-renders-the/) [François de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [If we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric, compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/if-we-fail-to-appreciate-the-soul-that-easternism-gives-us-then-what/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [A fool is a person who guesses and gets it wrong, a clever man is one who guesses, regardless of time period, and gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/a-fool-is-a-person-who-guesses-and-gets-it-wrong-a-clever-man-is-one/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Ultimately, of course, you must decide for yourself whether the subjective psychological effects created by your evolved cognitive biases reflect an objective reality, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bering/ultimately-of-course-you-must-decide-for-yourself-whether-the/) [Jesse Bering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-bering/) > [Limits have to be set on how far one can simply use the... cleverness that we have to make changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/limits-have-to-be-set-on-how-far-one-can-simply-use-the-cleverness/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Sometimes people try way too hard to sound clever on Facebook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-people-try-way-too-hard-to-sound-clever-on-facebook/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many of the greatest men have owed their success to industry rather than to cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/many-of-the-greatest-men-have-owed-their-success-to-industry-rather/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [What a curious picture it is to find man, homo sapiens, of divine origin, we are told, seriously considering going underground to escape the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/what-a-curious-picture-it-is-to-find-man-homo-sapiens-of-divine/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [“Neither the Russians nor the Americans were the cleverest people, or the most experienced, in the world that followed 1945. The French were rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-fehrenbach-2/neither-the-russians-nor-the-americans-were-the-cleverest-people-or/) [T.R. Fehrenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-fehrenbach-2/) > [Where there is simplicity, there are a hundred Angels, but where there is cleverness - there are none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-of-optina/where-there-is-simplicity-there-are-a-hundred-angels-but-where-there/) Ambrose of Optina > [Human integrity is determined by the heart, not by cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/human-integrity-is-determined-by-the-heart-not-by-cleverness/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [In late modernity we grow more and more accustomed to politicians and public figures who are indebted to their appetites for their "values," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/in-late-modernity-we-grow-more-and-more-accustomed-to-politicians-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [The art of investment has one characteristic that is not generally appreciated. 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The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) Browse all 406 Cleverness quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The strongest, the most certain thing I think I know about the process is there is really, really good news if you end up feeling lucky rather than clever.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Stoppard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-think-i-know-about-the-process/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cleverness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-think-i-know-about-the-process/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/tom-stoppard-437_cleverness_the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-t_3030189.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/tom-stoppard-437_cleverness_the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-t_3030189.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/tom-stoppard-437_cleverness_the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-t_3030189.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The strongest, the most certain thing I think I know about the process is there is really, really good news…” — Tom Stoppard", "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": "Tom Stoppard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The strongest, the most certain thing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-think-i-know-about-the-process/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-strongest-the-most-certain-thing-i-think-i-know-about-the-process/#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 } } ] } ```