Terry Teachout structured his entire speech around just two pieces of advice: what the world wants from you, and what you should want from the world. This quote captured the first piece — his argument that professionalism trumps cleverness every time. Teachout acknowledged that the world is full of brilliant, clever people who can make others feel small and inadequate with their off-the-cuff brilliance. But he insisted this was a trap. The 'secret of life,' as he put it, was that consistent, reliable professionalism would beat erratic genius almost every time. Show up on time, be a good colleague, get the job done well enough that nobody has to clean up after you — and you'll never have to look for work for very long.