# Help me remember a Carl Sagan quote from a recent thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-carl-sagan-quote-from-a-recent-thread/683939 "2014-03-17T19:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spazurek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@spazurek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazurek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-carl-sagan-quote-from-a-recent-thread/683939/1 "2014-03-17T19:23:53Z")
Ok, random request. In the flurry of recent threads on the new _Cosmos_, someone mentioned a quote from Carl Sagan to the following effect: He remembered the challenges he had to overcome in learning difficult things, which explained why he was good at popularizing science. More naturally gifted people learn with less effort and thus have a harder time conveying their understanding to a wider audience. Hopefully someone has a clue what I’m talking about!! If you can find the quote I’ll be eternally grateful. This is gold for me (I’m a teacher and feel the same way). Gratsi! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-carl-sagan-quote-from-a-recent-thread/683939/2 "2014-03-17T23:28:47Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-carl-sagan-quote-from-a-recent-thread/683939/3 "2014-03-18T23:53:47Z")
It’s from the “Is Neil DeGrasse Tyson a Genius?” thread, [Post 37](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17192006&postcount=37) > [@](#): > > The adult Sagan always sounded like the smartest person in the room, but in the papers we encounter this interesting note in a 1981 file, right after “Cosmos” hit it big: “I think I’m able to explain things because understanding wasn’t entirely easy for me. Some things that the most brilliant students were able to see instantly I had to work to understand. I can remember what I had to do to figure it out. The very brilliant ones figure it out so fast they never see the mechanics of understanding. The post also links to the source of the quote in [Smithsonian Magazine](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-carl-sagan-truly-irreplaceable-180949818/?no-ist). ---
**Author:** ![spazurek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@spazurek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazurek)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-carl-sagan-quote-from-a-recent-thread/683939/4 "2014-03-19T13:30:34Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > It’s from the “Is Neil DeGrasse Tyson a Genius?” thread, [Post 37](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17192006&postcount=37)The post also links to the source of the quote in [Smithsonian Magazine](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-carl-sagan-truly-irreplaceable-180949818/?no-ist). You are brilliant!! You may have just helped me earn $1500 (I’m up for a teaching award and need to write about why I’m so amazing, which I hate…this quote is perfect!) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-carl-sagan-quote-from-a-recent-thread/683939/5 "2014-03-19T23:48:54Z")
There’s some truth in that, too. At my old university, in the introductory physics classes, every year we would invite a few of the brighter students to come back the next semester as peer instructors. Since they’d just gone through the same thing the other students were going through, they could relate better, and explain things to the students on their terms. I’m not sure if the incentive to do this was pay, credits, or a combination of both.