Edward Jenner — "The most valuable possessions are those which we acquire by our own exertions."
The most valuable possessions are those which we acquire by our own exertions.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Edward Jenner
"The most important lesson that I have learned in life is, that we should always endeavour to do our duty."
"I have always endeavoured to be guided by reason, and not by prejudice."
"You see by the papers how I'm annoyed by a set of blockheads who write about the imperfection of the cowpox, as a vaccine, without any knowledge scarcely of its phenomena."
"The most curious circumstance attending this disease, is, that the matter taken from the pock of a Cow, and inserted into the skin of a human being, will produce a disease in that human being, which w…"
"The cow-pox is a mild disease, and never fatal; the small-pox is a formidable one, and often fatal. The cow-pox is not infectious; the small-pox is highly so."
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
What we earn through hard work matters more than what we're handed. Things gained by personal effort — skills, knowledge, achievements — carry deeper worth because they required sacrifice and persistence to obtain. Unlike inherited wealth or lucky windfalls, self-earned gains reflect who we are and what we're capable of. The struggle itself is what makes the reward meaningful and lasting.
Relevance to Edward Jenner
Jenner embodied this belief through decades of painstaking self-directed research. His smallpox vaccine was not a gift of circumstance but the product of years of personal observation, careful experimentation, and persistent advocacy against a skeptical medical establishment. He funded much of his own work, faced sustained opposition, and chose scientific inquiry over a more profitable London career — treating hard-won knowledge as his most prized possession.
The era
Jenner worked during the Enlightenment, when reason and personal merit were displacing inherited privilege as society's organizing ideals. Smallpox killed roughly 400,000 Europeans annually; no title or wealth could offer protection. The era celebrated empirical inquiry and self-made achievement over aristocratic birth. As industrialization began reshaping who could prosper, the conviction that diligent individual effort — not lineage — determined one's most valuable attainments carried profound cultural weight.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].