--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is better to be able neither to read…" description: "\"It is better to be able neither to read nor write than to be able to do nothing else.\" — William Hazlitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/william-hazlitt-326_able_it-is-better-to-be-able-neither-to-read_2930232.png" --- # It is better to be able neither to read nor write than to… ![“It is better to be able neither to read nor write than to be able to do nothing else.” quote by William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/william-hazlitt-326_able_it-is-better-to-be-able-neither-to-read_2930232.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/william-hazlitt-326_able_it-is-better-to-be-able-neither-to-read_2930232.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caa/william-hazlitt-326_able_it-is-better-to-be-able-neither-to-read_2930232.png) > “It is better to be able neither to read nor write than to be able to do nothing else.” [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being literate without purpose is less valuable than being purposeful without literacy. **In simple terms:** Purpose beats idle skill. Key Takeaway Find meaning beyond mere ability. Themes purpose skill meaning literacy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career - volunteering - personal development - education - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism human value Questions to Reflect On - What purpose can you attach to your abilities? - How does usefulness shape self-worth? A Different Perspective Skill without purpose can lead to emptiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Before you can write, you have to be able to read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-m-russ/before-you-can-write-you-have-to-be-able-to-read/) D.M. Russ > [I write not only what I want to read...I write all the things I should have been able to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-write-not-only-what-i-want-to-read-i-write-all-the-things-i-should/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Being able to read, write, do your sums really transforms a human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/being-able-to-read-write-do-your-sums-really-transforms-a-human-being/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I feel that, you know, the enormous luck I've had in being able to make a living, and to never have had to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/i-feel-that-you-know-the-enormous-luck-i-ve-had-in-being-able-to-make/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [I can write so much more about you, I will never be able to stop. You are the best thing that I have found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemis-khan/i-can-write-so-much-more-about-you-i-will-never-be-able-to-stop-you/) [Kemis Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemis-khan/) > [The more knowledge you've got, the more understanding you have, the better you are able to implement and pass it on to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-orlando/the-more-knowledge-you-ve-got-the-more-understanding-you-have-the/) [Tony Orlando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-orlando/) > [When I have the Bible memorised, then I'll be able to go and read a couple other books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-baldwin/when-i-have-the-bible-memorised-then-i-ll-be-able-to-go-and-read-a/) [Stephen Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-baldwin/) > [There is no secret to success except hard work and getting something indefinable which we call 'the breaks.' 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Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/repose-is-as-necessary-in-conversation-as-in-a-picture/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [No act terminating in itself constitutes greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/no-act-terminating-in-itself-constitutes-greatness/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Vice is man's nature: virtue is a habit--or a mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/vice-is-man-s-nature-virtue-is-a-habit-or-a-mask/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-never-do-anything-well-till-we-cease-to-think-about-the-manner/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/man-is-the-only-animal-that-laughs-and-weeps-for-he-is-the-only/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/those-who-have-had-none-of-the-cares-of-this-life-to-harass-and/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Poverty, when it is voluntary, is never despicable, but takes an heroical aspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/poverty-when-it-is-voluntary-is-never-despicable-but-takes-an/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are not satisfied to be right, unless we can prove others to be quite wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-not-satisfied-to-be-right-unless-we-can-prove-others-to-be/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test: for it is on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-world-judge-of-men-by-their-ability-in-their-profession-and-we/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The best part of our lives we pass in counting on what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-best-part-of-our-lives-we-pass-in-counting-on-what-is-to-come/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) [Explore all 671 William Hazlitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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