--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got…" description: "\"“Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got enough, like, information... and if it's God, you've got the wrong house.”\" — Zadie Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/zadie-smith-584_encyclopedias_cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enou_3170901.png" --- # Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got enough, like… ![“Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got enough, like, information... and if it's God, you've got the wrong house.” quote by Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/zadie-smith-584_encyclopedias_cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enou_3170901.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/zadie-smith-584_encyclopedias_cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enou_3170901.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/zadie-smith-584_encyclopedias_cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enou_3170901.png) > ““Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got enough, like, information... and if it's God, you've got the wrong house.”” [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## 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 critiques the overreliance on information and the misplacement of spiritual authority. **In simple terms:** Too much info, wrong place for God. Key Takeaway Seek balance between knowledge and belief. Themes information spirituality authority Mood critical contemplative Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - academic research - personal reflection - public discourse Key Concepts knowledge overload misplaced faith Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate valuable knowledge from noise? - Where should spiritual guidance reside? A Different Perspective It may undervalue the role of tradition and community. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Encyclopedias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encyclopedias/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) ## Related quotes > [In an age of information overload ... the last thing any of us needs is more information about God. We need the practice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/in-an-age-of-information-overload-the-last-thing-any-of-us-needs-is/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lessin/if-our-greatest-need-had-been-information-god-would-have-sent-an/) [Roy Lessin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lessin/) > [“As Barbara Brown Taylor puts it, “in an age of information overload . . . the last thing any of us needs is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/as-barbara-brown-taylor-puts-it-in-an-age-of-information-overload-the/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [Are you satisfied being filled with good information about God, or do you long to burst into His manifest presence?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/are-you-satisfied-being-filled-with-good-information-about-god-or-do/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I like information. I love when smart people make me think of something in a new way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-francona/i-like-information-i-love-when-smart-people-make-me-think-of/) [Terry Francona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-francona/) > [I do try to keep my show very improvisational. I don't work off a set list; I like to keep it more in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/i-do-try-to-keep-my-show-very-improvisational-i-don-t-work-off-a-set/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [I like to take information in and let it percolate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-abrams/i-like-to-take-information-in-and-let-it-percolate/) [Stacey Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-abrams/) > [The Internet is, among other things, a massive, chaotic marketplace. Too much information, it turns out, is a lot like no information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-davidson/the-internet-is-among-other-things-a-massive-chaotic-marketplace-too/) [Adam Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-davidson/) > [I take in loads of information at one time - listening, reading people's faces, watching their mouths and then storing it in your brain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-blades/i-take-in-loads-of-information-at-one-time-listening-reading-people-s/) [Jay Blades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-blades/) > [For me the information has to remain incredibly neutral. It's what I would call 'ice-like' information. I receive very rapid impressions. I don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/for-me-the-information-has-to-remain-incredibly-neutral-it-s-what-i/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [The problem with the designated driver program, it's not a desirable job, but if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/the-problem-with-the-designated-driver-program-it-s-not-a-desirable/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [where the bedroom is wrong the whole house is wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-kennedy/where-the-bedroom-is-wrong-the-whole-house-is-wrong/) [Margaret Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-kennedy/) > [You picked the wrong house, bub.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolverine/you-picked-the-wrong-house-bub/) [Wolverine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolverine/) > [“Phoebe realized how very wrong she’d been about this house, this family. It was far darker, more dangerous than the places she’d grown up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-mcmahon/phoebe-realized-how-very-wrong-she-d-been-about-this-house-this/) [Jennifer McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-mcmahon/) > [The designated driver program, it's not a desirable job. But if you ever get sucked into doing it, drop them off at the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/the-designated-driver-program-it-s-not-a-desirable-job-but-if-you/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) ## More by Zadie Smith > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Pretty girls lie at the centre of straight culture, dyke culture, fag culture. They sell everything, they buy everything, they ruin great men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/pretty-girls-lie-at-the-centre-of-straight-culture-dyke-culture-fag/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“I have known many true connoisseurs, with excellent tastes that range across the humanities and the culinary arts--and they never fail to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-have-known-many-true-connoisseurs-with-excellent-tastes-that-range/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I cannot believe homosexuality is that much fun. Heterosexuality certainly is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-cannot-believe-homosexuality-is-that-much-fun-heterosexuality/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Either everything is sacred or nothing is. And if he starts burning other people’s things, then he loses something sacred also. Everyone gets what’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/either-everything-is-sacred-or-nothing-is-and-if-he-starts-burning/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [My feeling is, having lived in different classes, that people want equality of opportunity... that's the thing that makes me despair: the idea that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/my-feeling-is-having-lived-in-different-classes-that-people-want/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I don't keep any copies of my books in the house - they go to my mum's flat. I don't like them around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-don-t-keep-any-copies-of-my-books-in-the-house-they-go-to-my-mum-s/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [But it makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/but-it-makes-an-immigrant-laugh-to-hear-the-fears-of-the-nationalist/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [Oh, I know that. You know me, baby, I cannot be broken. Takes a giant to snap me in half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/oh-i-know-that-you-know-me-baby-i-cannot-be-broken-takes-a-giant-to/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“In short, it was precisely the kind of friendship and Englishman makes on holiday, that he can make only on holiday. 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We have to state sameness to understand equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-can-t-state-difference-and-also-state-equality-we-have-to-state/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“(Unlike many others around this time, Joyce felt no shame about using the term 'middle class'. In the Chalfen lexicon the middle classes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/unlike-many-others-around-this-time-joyce-felt-no-shame-about-using/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [A lot of women, when they're young, feel they have very good friends, and find later on that friendship is complicated. It's easy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/a-lot-of-women-when-they-re-young-feel-they-have-very-good-friends/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) [Explore all 457 Zadie Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## More Encyclopedias quotes > [Encyclopedias are finished. All encyclopedias combined, including the redoubtable Britannica, have already been surpassed by the exercise in groupthink known as Wikipedia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/encyclopedias-are-finished-all-encyclopedias-combined-including-the/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vannevar-bush/wholly-new-forms-of-encyclopedias-will-appear-ready-made-with-a-mesh/) [Vannevar Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vannevar-bush/) > [“I somehow graduated 90s pre-Internet high school and got into college with just a set of flea market 50s encyclopedias at home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-thomas/i-somehow-graduated-90s-pre-internet-high-school-and-got-into-college/) [Damon Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-thomas/) > [Facts in books, statistics in encyclopedias, the ability to use them in men's heads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/facts-in-books-statistics-in-encyclopedias-the-ability-to-use-them-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Open-source encyclopedias such as Wikipedia and search engines such as Google and Bing, which people can tap into anytime and anywhere via computers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/open-source-encyclopedias-such-as-wikipedia-and-search-engines-such/) [Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/) > [I keep my self updated by reading different books and encyclopedias.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arfa-karim/i-keep-my-self-updated-by-reading-different-books-and-encyclopedias/) [Arfa Karim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arfa-karim/) > [He found a set of encyclopedias—like Wikipedia, but paper and very bulky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-grant/he-found-a-set-of-encyclopedias-like-wikipedia-but-paper-and-very/) [Michael Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-grant/) > [Elvis is my religion. But for him, I'd be selling encyclopedias right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/elvis-is-my-religion-but-for-him-i-d-be-selling-encyclopedias-right/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I'm a book guy first, and my education came from two encyclopedias. One was an encyclopedia of health, so I became morbidly obsessed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/i-m-a-book-guy-first-and-my-education-came-from-two-encyclopedias-one/) [Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/) > [The Internet gives us everything and forces us to filter it not by the workings of culture, but with our own brains. This risks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-internet-gives-us-everything-and-forces-us-to-filter-it-not-by/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [When you know too much information and you acquire it too easily, you tend to either use it in disagreeable ways, out of vanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/when-you-know-too-much-information-and-you-acquire-it-too-easily-you/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) [Browse all 12 Encyclopedias quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encyclopedias/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got enough, like, information... and if it's God, you've got the wrong house.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zadie Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enough-like-information-and-if-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Encyclopedias" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enough-like-information-and-if-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/zadie-smith-584_encyclopedias_cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enou_3170901.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/zadie-smith-584_encyclopedias_cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enou_3170901.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69b/zadie-smith-584_encyclopedias_cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enou_3170901.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got enough, like, information... and if it's God, you've got the wrong house.” — Zadie Smith", "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": "Zadie Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Cos if it's encyclopedias we've got...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enough-like-information-and-if-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/cos-if-it-s-encyclopedias-we-ve-got-enough-like-information-and-if-it/#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 } } ] } ```