Ken Jennings Quotes

For me, it started as a child with one of those little wooden jigsaw maps of the U.S., where's there's crocodiles on Florida and apples on Washington state. That was my very first map. ~ Ken Jennings

So maybe we never would have realized we were so compatible if we hadn't been trading song lyrics and movie dialogue. That's textbook trivia right there."
Mindy looks unconvinced. "But that's how *everybody* gets together. They find some dumb thing they both know a little about that they can talk about until the waiter brings dinner. According to you, there probably isn't a marriage or a relationship or a friendship anywhere today that wasn't jump-started by trivia."
"I think that's exactly right," I agree. "To trivia. ~ Ken Jennings

Eratosthenes, the mapmaker who was the first man to accurately measure the size of the Earth, was a librarian. ~ Ken Jennings

The key is selecting the right people to join the team, those with the right skills and values, those who embrace our purpose. ~ Ken Jennings

When you see people who are really good at game shows, the one common attribute is a cool head under pressure: an ability to perform as well in the studio, surrounded by lights and noise, as you do on your couch. ~ Ken Jennings

Sure I have a cell-phone, so I don't have to remember everyone's number anymore, but that really wasn't a core part of my brain. ~ Ken Jennings

I have always loved maps. ~ Ken Jennings

By putting others first the Serving Leader is able to catalyze the creation of high- performance teams. ~ Ken Jennings

It's so much fun that the money is just icing on the cake. There seems to be a lot of icing. ~ Ken Jennings

The decline of geography in academia is easy to understand: we live in an age of ever-increasing specialization, and geography is a generalist's discipline. Imagine the poor geographer trying to explain to someone at a campus cocktail party (or even to an unsympathetic adminitrator) exactly what it is he or she studies.
"Geography is Greek for 'writing about the earth.' We study the Earth."
"Right, like geologists."
"Well, yes, but we're interested in the whole world, not just the rocky bits. Geographers also study oceans, lakes, the water cycle..."
"So, it's like oceanography or hydrology."
"And the atmosphere."
"Meteorology, climatology..."
"It's broader than just physical geography. We're also interested in how humans relate to their planet."
"How is that different from ecology or environmental science?"
"Well, it encompasses them. Aspects of them. But we also study the social and economic and cultural and geopolitical sides of--"
"Sociology, economics, cultural studies, poli sci."
"Some geographers specialize in different world regions."
"Ah, right, we have Asian and African and Latin American studies programs here. But I didn't know they were part of the geography department."
"They're not."
(Long pause.)
"So, uh, what is it that do study then? ~ Ken Jennings

For some reason the most devoted mapheads seem to be kids. ~ Ken Jennings

The leader turns the pyramid onto its head in order to serve others. ~ Ken Jennings

I would read the atlas for pleasure. I knew it was weird. It was weird. ~ Ken Jennings

If youre a vegan who ran a marathon & got your dogs from a shelter, how do you decide which thing to wedge into the conversation first? ~ Ken Jennings

I would stare at maps of Delaware for hours. ~ Ken Jennings

I always feel a certain sense of reverence in libraries, even small city ones that smell like homeless internet users. ~ Ken Jennings

If I start outsourcing all my navigation to a little talking box in my car, I'm sort of screwed. I'm going to lose my car in the parking lot every single time. ~ Ken Jennings

pg. 245 ...there probably isn't a marriage or a relationship or a friendship anywhere today that wasn't jump-started by trivia. ~ Ken Jennings

First machine kicked man's ass physically, then machine started taking over the left-brain when Deep Blue bested Kasparov in chess, and then finally the machine fully took over the left-brain when Watson beat the great Ken Jennings on Jeopardy. And now these terminators are coming after right-brained activities too - the creative and emotional side of the brain. Pretty soon we'll all be driving cars with bumper stickers that say, "Robots make better lovers. ~ Jarod Kintz

The thing you like/are good at is a sacred thing ... ~ Ken Jennings

I feel about Flannery O'Connor the same way that terrible people feel about Ayn Rand. ~ Ken Jennings

If you never open a map until you're lost, you're missing out on all the fun. ~ Ken Jennings

There must be something innate about maps, about this one specific way of picturing our world and our relation to it, that charms us, calls to us, won't let us look anywhere else in the room if there's a map on the wall. ~ Ken Jennings

Trivia is mainstream. 'Nerd' is the new 'cool. ~ Ken Jennings

There's just something hypnotic about maps. ~ Ken Jennings

(Trunk-or-treating, for those who don't know, is just like trick-or-treating, except with cars instead of houses, lame decorations instead of awesome ones, and no fun instead of fun.) ~ Ken Jennings

Many cases of twentieth-century American map geekdom, it seems, began the same way that many twentieth-century Americans began: conceived in the backseats of Buicks ~ Ken Jennings

When a leader keeps personal ego in check it builds the confidence and self-esteem of others. ~ Ken Jennings

The theory of servant leadership is vital, but it's the active Serving Leader that makes the critical difference. ~ Ken Jennings

As Jeopardy devotees know, if you're trying to win on the show, the buzzer is all. On any given night, nearly all the contestants know nearly all the answers, so it's just a matter of who masters buzzer rhythm the best. ~ Ken Jennings

Getting your ego out of the way has an even deeper organizational impact. ~ Ken Jennings

Arthur Jay Klinghoffer, a professor of political science at Rutgers University, has argued that geography seems less relevant than ever in a world where nonstate actors
malleable entities like ethnicities, for example
are as powerful and important as the ones with governments and borders. Where on a map can you point to al-Qaeda? Or Google, or Wal-Mart? Everywhere and nowhere. ~ Ken Jennings

Twitter makes you a comedian in the same way that digital cameras make you a photographer ~ Ken Jennings

To serve the many, you first serve the few. ~ Ken Jennings

It's boring to have the same guy win. I'm actively rooting against myself. ~ Ken Jennings

We regret the insinuation that Mr. Alex Trebek is a robot, and has been since 2004. Mr. Trebek's robotic frame does still contain some organic parts, many harvested from patriotic Canadian schoolchildren, so this technically makes him a 'cyborg,' not a 'robot.' ~ Ken Jennings

pg. 58. As a kid, I always assumed the know-it-alls on Jeopardy! were obviously the smartest people in America. If you were smart, that's how you showed it: by knowing all your state flowers and kings of Saxony. But what if Rob's right and that's a different, much shallower kind of intelligence? Is my mountain of flash cards all for naught? ~ Ken Jennings

Knowing lots of answers but being a millisecond slow on the buzzer is indeed very frustrating. ~ Ken Jennings

I remember one of my last shows, the Final Jeopardy! clue was something like 'These two boys' names are top 10 boys' names in the U.S., they both end with the same letter, and they're both names of Jesus' apostles.' Now, obviously that's not a knowable fact. ~ Ken Jennings

The real cocktail party conversation would probably go something like this:
"Actually, I have a degree in geography."
"Geography? Wow, I'm terrible with maps. I bet YOU know all your state capitals, though!"
(Geographer's smile freezes, left eye starts to twitch uncontrollably.) ~ Ken Jennings

Serving Leaders direct credit to others. ~ Ken Jennings

The great thing about knowing stuff is that anyone can do it. ~ Ken Jennings

I pick up Dylan. He certainly takes after his father: about three-quarters of his body weight seems to be head, and three-quarters of that is ears. ~ Ken Jennings

What are those bulb things you're slicing?"
"You've never seen fennel? It looks like celery and tastes like licorice. ~ Ken Jennings

We don't realize how hard it was to drive anywhere outside the major cities less than a century ago. ~ Ken Jennings

Being a nerd really pays off sometimes. ~ Ken Jennings

You watch an old 'Jeopardy!' and the categories alone are very plain. 'Poetry,' or 'Movies,' or 'Physics.' If you watch it now, though, there'll be a theme board where the categories are all Hitchcock movies. Lots more jokes, lots more high-concept categories and questions. ~ Ken Jennings

Everyone and everything around you is your teacher. ~ Ken Keyes Jr.

By the holy, Jack Taylor. I was beginning to think you were a rumor running around as a fact. ~ Ken Bruen

Sometimes just getting out of the house and doing something you haven't done in a long time (or never done!) can open up the doors to musical inspiration. ~ Ken Hill

If I could only fly, you see, a lot of my problems would be gone. When you think of just how much I'd save on shoes alone. ~ Waylon Jennings

A book without conversation, is like a life without friends, you know it's going to end, but you want it to be soon. ~ Ken Balneaves

Hitler doesn't stir up hatred without a purpose. ~ Ken Follett

The risk of sudden death is miniscule, overstating this risk is not going to stop them from taking the drug. ~ Peter Jennings

I did not know from a scientific perspective why I did not believe in evolution - but I knew from a Biblical perspective it had to be wrong or my faith was in trouble. ~ Ken Ham

You cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do is like a farmer create the conditions under which it will begin to flourish. ~ Ken Robinson

Your equipment DOES NOT affect the quality of your image. The less time and effort you spend worrying about your equipment the more time and effort you can spend creating great images. The right equipment just makes it easier, faster or more convenient for you to get the results you need. ~ Ken Rockwell

The understanding of "evolutionary consciousness" is perhaps the most important thing lacking in spiritual practices today. Evolution means growth and development. This means that there are aspects of reality that have not yet arisen in our consciousness. But they will arise if we grow. ~ Ken Wilber

Meditation was invented as a way for the soul to venture inward, there ultimately to find supreme identity with Godhead. Whatever else it does, and it does many beneficial things, meditation is first and foremost a search for the God within. ~ Ken Wilber

Remember, men of real character have always been made out of hard choices and harder lives. ~ Ken Lange

If abnormal weather happens every year, it's not very abnormal, is it? ~ Ken Akamatsu

When displaying the riches of God's love and pleasing him is more important than holding onto worldly things and pleasing yourself, it becomes increasingly natural to respond to conflict graciously, wisely, and with self-control. ~ Ken Sande

The writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely X-ray society's weaknesses, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved shaping its present and its future. ~ Ken Saro-Wiwa

In the 1930s, Americans hopped trains. In the 1950s, beat poets wrote about road trips. In the 1960s, we hitched rides. Today, however, it seems like the whole "coming of age" adventure has been abridged from a young person's life experience, leaving no gap, no bridge, no moment of real freedom in between school and career. I ~ Ken Ilgunas

I once lived for the perfect plot twist. I just never expected to actually live it. ~ S.L. Jennings

I blink rapidly, breaking our reverie and force myself to focus on something,anything, other than his beauty. Or his body. A body I want pressed against mine, limbs and tongues twisted and tangled, our flesh contortioned into X-rated abstract art ... ~ S.L. Jennings

Ember, you're the only piece of me I have left. Everything else-my family, my home, my soul- they're all gone. I don't know who the hell I am anymore. If it weren't for you ... I don't know. ~ Kristen Simmons

A lot of performers, if they go to bed with a woman on the road, they think of her as a slut. As a person and a man, what does that make them then? Lowlife or high living, you give as good as you get, and I don't think women's sex lives have a thing to do with the kinds of human beings they are. ~ Waylon Jennings

That my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character - I have a dream today. ~ Ken Follett

Maybe because it's entirely an artist's eye, patience and skill that makes an image and not his tools. ~ Ken Rockwell

Fitz did not censor her mail but, as the head of the family, he had the right to read any letter addressed to a female relative living in his house. No respectable woman would object. ~ Ken Follett

Personalization means teachers taking account of these differences in how they teach different students. It also means allowing for flexibility within the curriculum so that in addition to what all students need to learn in common, there are opportunities for them to pursue their individual interests and strengths as well. ~ Ken Robinson

The way my father saw it, whether the Manchus on the mainland or the Japanese were in charge didn't much matter, since they all left us alone except when it came time for taxes. ~ Ken Liu

On the one hand, the press, television, and movies make heroes of vandals by calling them whiz kids. ~ Ken Thompson

He had quoted Lenin: 'He who controls Berlin, controls Germany; and who controls Germany, controls Europe. ~ Ken Follett

Emotions are the primary tool of the Storyteller. ~ Ken Farmer

I started writing stories in my spare time. ~ Ken Follett

Each tomorrow will depend on the love you give today. ~ Waylon Jennings

"Transcending the ego" thus actually means to transcend but include the ego in a deeper and higher embrace, first in the soul or deeper psychic, then with the Witness or primordial Self, then with each previous stage taken up, enfolded, included, and embraced in the radiance of One Taste. And that means we do not "get rid" of the small ego, but rahter, we inhabit it fully, live it with verve, use it as the necessary vehicle through which higher truths are communicated. Soul and Spirit include body, emotions, and mind; they do not erase them. ~ Ken Wilber

Helping people to connect with their personal creative capacities is the surest way to release the best they have to offer. ~ Ken Robinson

People are much more complicated in real life, but my characters are as subtle and nuanced as I can make them. But if you say my characters are too black and white, you've missed the point. Villains are meant to be black-hearted in popular novels. If you say I have a grey-hearted villain, then I've failed. ~ Ken Follett

The ecologist has a much more comprehensive and holistic view of the world. We're looking at the natural environment as well as the human built environment and the connectivity between the two - how do the natural environment and the human-built environment interact and interface with each other. ~ Ken Yeang

There's no Killer Ken in the toy stores, and certainly no Fuck Her in the Ass Ken, so I've got a leg up on Barbie's little squirrel monkey. ~ Aven Jayce

I'm gonna drive until my buddies can't lift me in the car, and I'll get some younger buddies if I need to. ~ Ken Schrader

I've got no bone to pick with science, but first off I'm a man of faith. If you're using science to put limits on what God can accomplish with a person, that's where we part ways. ~ Regina Jennings

I've seen the dark side of life. I lived the dark side of life. I live in a dark place. But it's only as dark as I make it. My body is locked up but my mind is free. ~ Steven Jennings