--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've never actually been a collector. I…" description: "\"I've never actually been a collector. I like the learning-curve, but I buy things, sell them to finance other things.\" — William Gibson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/william-gibson-642_collector_i-ve-never-actually-been-a-collector-i-l_1600594.png" --- # I've never actually been a collector. I like the… ![“I've never actually been a collector. I like the learning-curve, but I buy things, sell them to finance other things.” quote by William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/william-gibson-642_collector_i-ve-never-actually-been-a-collector-i-l_1600594.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/william-gibson-642_collector_i-ve-never-actually-been-a-collector-i-l_1600594.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31c/william-gibson-642_collector_i-ve-never-actually-been-a-collector-i-l_1600594.png) > “I've never actually been a collector. I like the learning-curve, but I buy things, sell them to finance other things.” [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He enjoys the dynamics of buying and selling, using profit to fund other pursuits, rather than collecting for its own sake. **In simple terms:** He trades to fund other projects. Key Takeaway Trade to fund your goals. Themes entrepreneurship finance learning curve Mood pragmatic analytical Type business motivational When to use this quote - startup funding - personal finance - collectibles market Key Concepts investment strategy risk management resource allocation Questions to Reflect On - What drives your buying decisions? - How do you balance profit and personal interest? A Different Perspective May prioritize profit over passion for collecting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actually Collector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actually-collector-6086034/) [Buy Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buy-things/) [Collector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collector/) [Collector Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collector-like-1440520/) [Collectors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collectors/) [Curve Buy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curve-buy-6086035/) [Curves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curves/) [Finance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finance/) [Learning curve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning-curve/) [Sells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sells/) [Things Sell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-sell-1403019/) ## Related quotes > [It's a lot easier to buy things than it is to sell them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/it-s-a-lot-easier-to-buy-things-than-it-is-to-sell-them/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [I'm not a hoarder, I'm a collector: if you have something you like, every time you see it, you have a little happy hit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-m-not-a-hoarder-i-m-a-collector-if-you-have-something-you-like/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Becoming a book collector is like joining a religion: it’s for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturo-p-rez-reverte/becoming-a-book-collector-is-like-joining-a-religion-it-s-for-life/) [Arturo Pérez-Reverte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturo-p-rez-reverte/) > [I started with Apple, in a pre-Windows era when PCs seemed to involve more of a learning curve. But the fact that I'm yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/i-started-with-apple-in-a-pre-windows-era-when-pcs-seemed-to-involve/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Excuses are the easiest things to manufacture, and the hardest things to sell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/excuses-are-the-easiest-things-to-manufacture-and-the-hardest-things/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only people in the world who can change things are those who can sell ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-wyse/the-only-people-in-the-world-who-can-change-things-are-those-who-can/) [Lois Wyse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-wyse/) > [I like having to figure out how to pull things off, how to sell it, how to make it look real, but not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-walker/i-like-having-to-figure-out-how-to-pull-things-off-how-to-sell-it-how/) [Paul Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-walker/) > [Creative things have to sell to get acknowledged as such.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-wozniak/creative-things-have-to-sell-to-get-acknowledged-as-such/) [Steve Wozniak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-wozniak/) > [I think that different things sell in different countries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-think-that-different-things-sell-in-different-countries/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [There's Beatles books and T-shirts and rings, and one thing and another. To buy my daughter all these things, I had to sell her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sherman/there-s-beatles-books-and-t-shirts-and-rings-and-one-thing-and/) [Allan Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sherman/) > [Most of the manufacturers they tend to design things to sell they are more interested in the money side than anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/massimo-vignelli/most-of-the-manufacturers-they-tend-to-design-things-to-sell-they-are/) [Massimo Vignelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/massimo-vignelli/) > [“in F2P, the things you must sell are the things that provide esteem or self-actualization—digital experiences that make a player feel good—because people don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-luton/in-f2p-the-things-you-must-sell-are-the-things-that-provide-esteem-or/) [Will Luton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-luton/) > [Things have to sell, of course, but if I don't want to put bags on the runway, we don't put bags on the runway.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-philo/things-have-to-sell-of-course-but-if-i-don-t-want-to-put-bags-on-the/) [Phoebe Philo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-philo/) > [The record business has always mystified me. Sometimes there are reasons why things sell or don't sell that can't be understood by mere mortals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shaffer/the-record-business-has-always-mystified-me-sometimes-there-are/) [Paul Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shaffer/) > [We have a great group of people and sponsors around us, and you don't want to send them out as outcasts because you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-harvick/we-have-a-great-group-of-people-and-sponsors-around-us-and-you-don-t/) [Kevin Harvick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-harvick/) ## More by William Gibson > [“We have no idea, now, of who or what the inhabitants of our future might be. In that sense, we have no future. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/we-have-no-idea-now-of-who-or-what-the-inhabitants-of-our-future/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“No," said Blackwell, "she won't, because that would be a violation of the very personal terms I will have established in our conversation. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/no-said-blackwell-she-won-t-because-that-would-be-a-violation-of-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Music was strange that way though; there were people into any damned thing, it seemed like, and if you got enough of them together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/music-was-strange-that-way-though-there-were-people-into-any-damned/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [When I start writing a new imaginary future, I have no idea what it is. The characters arrive first. They help me figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-i-start-writing-a-new-imaginary-future-i-have-no-idea-what-it-is/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Hollis thought he looked like William Burroughs, minus the bohemian substrate (or perhaps the methadone). Like someone who'd be invited quail shooting with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/hollis-thought-he-looked-like-william-burroughs-minus-the-bohemian/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Fiction is an illusion wrought with many small, conventionally symbolic marks, triggering visions in the minds of others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/fiction-is-an-illusion-wrought-with-many-small-conventionally/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [The experience of celebrity is gradually being democratized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/the-experience-of-celebrity-is-gradually-being-democratized/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I don't generate a storyline and then fill it out in the course of writing. The story actually generates in the course of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/i-don-t-generate-a-storyline-and-then-fill-it-out-in-the-course-of/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“What happened to your arm?" she asked me one night in the Gentleman Loser, the three of us drinking at a small table in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/what-happened-to-your-arm-she-asked-me-one-night-in-the-gentleman/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“In Heathrow a vast chunk of memory detached itself from a blank bowl of airport sky and fell on him. He vomited into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/in-heathrow-a-vast-chunk-of-memory-detached-itself-from-a-blank-bowl/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/and-for-an-instant-she-stared-directly-into-those-soft-blue-eyes-and/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [ \[When\] Johnny Mnemonic was coming out and I realized that all the kids that worked in 7-11 knew more - or thought they knew… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-johnny-mnemonic-was-coming-out-and-i-realized-that-all-the-kids/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Andrea maintained that men like Alain lied so constantly, so passionately, that some basic distinction had been lost. They were artists in their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/andrea-maintained-that-men-like-alain-lied-so-constantly-so/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Because he had a good agent, he had a good contract. Because he had a good contract, he was in Singapore an hour after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/because-he-had-a-good-agent-he-had-a-good-contract-because-he-had-a/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) [Explore all 430 William Gibson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## More Collector quotes > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [I bought tiny infant onesies while still in college and compiled a killer toy collection throughout my 20s and 30s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-swisher/i-bought-tiny-infant-onesies-while-still-in-college-and-compiled-a/) [Kara Swisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-swisher/) > [I am a collector of jewels, old jewels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alessandro-michele/i-am-a-collector-of-jewels-old-jewels/) [Alessandro Michele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alessandro-michele/) > [“His life was now the life of a collector, and that gave it meaning. Evening after evening he would count and arrange his cuttings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/his-life-was-now-the-life-of-a-collector-and-that-gave-it-meaning/) [Karel Čapek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [Before I had kids, my bag was clean. In case I need to occupy them, I like to have Hot Wheels cars, See's lollipops,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-brandt/before-i-had-kids-my-bag-was-clean-in-case-i-need-to-occupy-them-i/) [Betsy Brandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-brandt/) > [I love rare books. Not that I own a lot of them, mind you. You couldn't quite call me a rare-book collector. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-love-rare-books-not-that-i-own-a-lot-of-them-mind-you-you-couldn-t/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [Colder than a tax-collector's heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/colder-than-a-tax-collector-s-heart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“he was a collector rather than a hunter, buying his knowledge rather than seeking it with his own eyes and hands. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/he-was-a-collector-rather-than-a-hunter-buying-his-knowledge-rather/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) > [I woke up one day and I was like, "I don't have anything to save for myself for the future." That's when I started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-wu/i-woke-up-one-day-and-i-was-like-i-don-t-have-anything-to-save-for/) [Jason Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-wu/) > [I'm a geeky toy collector, and to have toys of your own characters is unbelievably cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-mccracken/i-m-a-geeky-toy-collector-and-to-have-toys-of-your-own-characters-is/) [Craig McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-mccracken/) > [I started getting back into buying old analog gear while we were recording. Lots of old drum machines and synths. It wasn't a conscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-gore/i-started-getting-back-into-buying-old-analog-gear-while-we-were/) [Martin Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-gore/) > [I'm not a hoarder, I'm a collector: if you have something you like, every time you see it, you have a little happy hit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-m-not-a-hoarder-i-m-a-collector-if-you-have-something-you-like/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [My specialty as a collector is books that almost have value. When I love a book, I don't buy the first edition, because those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/my-specialty-as-a-collector-is-books-that-almost-have-value-when-i/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I think when you get interested in antiques, the most frustrating thing is that books don't have enough photos. When you go to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-miller/i-think-when-you-get-interested-in-antiques-the-most-frustrating/) [Judith Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-miller/) > [I like sneakers. I guess I could call myself a collector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-shinoda/i-like-sneakers-i-guess-i-could-call-myself-a-collector/) [Mike Shinoda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-shinoda/) [Browse all 268 Collector quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collector/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've never actually been a collector. 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