“None of us is as smart as all of us”
“None of us is as smart as all of us” (given less frequently as “None of us are as smart as all of us”) is a phrase often used in government, business and team sports. It’s been said to be the motto of the Wikipedia. The reverse—“None of us is as dumb as all of us”—is also used.
“None of us is as smart as all of us” appears to date to 1940, where it was the slogan put on suggestion boxes.
Google Books
Office Management Series
Item notes: nos. 91-110 - 1940
Pg. 39:
Fourth, the motto of the Suggestion System is that “none of us is as smart as all of us; and nobody is perfect.”
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Illinois Central Magazine
By Illinois Central Railroad Company
v. 39 - 1950
Pg. ?:
The year just closed saw a continuation of the growth of the suggestion principle, which is, “none of us is as smart as all of us together.”
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Plant Operating Management
v. 55 - 1954
Pg. 118:
The Idea Parade
Suggestion boxes of the Industrial Acceptance Corp. (Montreal, Canada) carry the following slogan: “None of Us Is As Smart As All Of Us.”
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Outdoor America
v. 19-20 - 1954
Pg. 55:
All of Us — None of us are as smart as all of us.
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Pathways to Power
By Edward Louis Kramer
St. Louis, MO: Kimball Foundation Press
1955
Pg. 235:
None of us is as smart as all of us.
8 February 1960, Hagerstown (MD) Daily Mail, pg. 9, col. 6:
The speaker (Miss Dorothy Emerson—ed.) also told them, they reported, to be original, but to learn to share ideas because “none of us are as smart as all of us.”
1 April 1962, Bridgeport (CT) Post, pg. C16, col. 5:
These are highlights of a talk by Miss Dorothy Emerson, consultant, with the National 4-H foundation, Washington, D. C., wich she gave at the 4-H Leaders conference at UConn recently.
“None of us is as smart as all of us…”
Google News Archive
15 November 1973, Village Voice, “That gorgeous great novelist” by Edward Hoagland, pg. 29:
There is an old, pernicious sentiment in circulation, which I see posted up in government bureaus no less than commune kitchens, as if its time had come around once again. “None of us is as smart as all of us,” the placards proclaim—a depressing thought, referring not to political democracy, of course, but to the committee mind.
6 November 1974, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Fresh Start for Hollywood Girls Club” by Mary Lou Loper, part IV, pg. 1:
“None of us is as smart as all of us together, so let s plan together.”
Google News Archive
17 September 1975, San Migeul Forum (Nuela, CO), “Teachers Attend Outdoor Classroom,” pg. 9, col. 4:
“None of us is as smart as all of us” was the motto of the environmental workshop attended by three area teachers in Telluride, Sept. 5 through 8.
OCLC WorldCat record
None of us is smarter than all of us.
Author: Po.
Publisher: Seattle, Wash. : Brenca Carter c/o Left Bank Books, [1976?].
Edition/Format: Book : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Ethics committees: “None of us is as smart as all of us.”.
Author: RE Cranford; JC Roberts
Edition/Format: Article : English
Publication: Michigan hospitals, 1986 Dec; 22(12): 14-6, 31-4
Database: From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
OCLC WorldCat record
None of Us is as Smart as All of Us
Author: Robert M McClure; Joseph Walters; Lisa Bietau; Donald Daws; Laura Grosvenor
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Edition/Format: Article : English
Publication: Educational Assessment, 1, no. 1 (1993): 71-89
Database: ArticleFirst
OCLC WorldCat record
Management None of Us Is As Smart As All of Us
Author: W Bennis; P W Biederman
Edition/Format: Article : English
Publication: COMPUTER -LOS ALAMITOS- 31, no. 3, (1998): 116-117
Database: British Library Serials
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High Five!:
The magic of working together
By Kenneth H. Blanchard, et al.
New York, NY: Morrow
2001
Pg. 103:
“I can give you one short sentence of ten words that sums it all up: None of us is as smart as all of us.”
City of Sound
July 12, 2002
“None of us is as smart as all of us”
... being a Japanese proverb, which succinctly sums up the power of the network.
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The SAIC Solution:
How we built an $8 billion employee-owned technology company
By J. Robert Beyster with Peter Economy
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons
2007
Pg. xi:
All of this explains why Dr. Beyster, for all the years he ran SAIC, displayed behind his desk a poster given to him by his wife Betty. “None of us is as smart as all of us,” the poster declared—a perfect mantra for the organization he built.
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15 July 2007, CIO, pg. 56:
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige once said that “None of us is as smart as all of us.”