---
title: "I never read the life of any important person without discovering tha… — Joseph Priestley Quote #5 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "I never read the life of any important person without discovering that he knew more and could do more than I could ever hope to know or do in half a … — a quote by Joseph Priestley."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # I never read the life of any important person without discovering that he knew more and could do more than I could ever hope to know or do in half a dozen lifetimes.

[Joseph Priestley](https://quotesby.net/Joseph-Priestley)\#5

Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

[Ambition](https://quotesby.net/topics/ambition/)[Biography](https://quotesby.net/topics/biography/)[Greatness](https://quotesby.net/topics/greatness/)[Success](https://quotesby.net/topics/success/)

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## About this quote

What does it mean?Reading biographies reveals that great people achieved far more than any one person could in a lifetime.In plain termsImportant people did more in one life than you could in many.What can you take from it?Great achievements often seem impossible to match.

### Where it applies

- career inspiration
- reading motivation
- goal setting

### Putting it to work

- reading biographies
- setting realistic goals

### Questions to consider

- What great person inspires you?
- How do you measure your own achievements?

### Another view

It assumes all achievements are equal or comparable.

## More from Joseph Priestley

1. > I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning...

[Permalink to quote \#4](https://quotesby.net/Joseph-Priestley/4/ "Permalink to quote 4")
2. > It is no use speaking in soft, gentle tones if everyone else is shouting.

[Permalink to quote \#6](https://quotesby.net/Joseph-Priestley/6/ "Permalink to quote 6")
3. > Could we have entered into the mind of Sir Isaac Newton, and have traced all the steps by which he produced his great works, we might see nothing very extraord…

[Permalink to quote \#3](https://quotesby.net/Joseph-Priestley/3/ "Permalink to quote 3")

## Related quotes

1. > If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.

[George Washington](https://quotesby.net/George-Washington)[George Washington quote \#145](https://quotesby.net/George-Washington/145/ "Permalink to quote 145")
2. > The ripest peach is highest on the tree.

[James Whitcomb Riley](https://quotesby.net/James-Whitcomb-Riley)[James Whitcomb Riley quote \#1](https://quotesby.net/James-Whitcomb-Riley/1/ "Permalink to quote 1")
3. > Send me 300 francs; that sum will enable me to go to Paris. There, at least, one can cut a figure and surmount obstacles. Everything tells me I shall succeed. …

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://quotesby.net/Napoleon-Bonaparte)[Napoleon Bonaparte quote \#1](https://quotesby.net/Napoleon-Bonaparte/1/ "Permalink to quote 1")

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