it takes all sorts


it takes all sorts

The world is made up of many different kinds of people, and our differences should be accepted or tolerated. It wouldn't be my idea of fun to go jump out of an airplane, but it takes all sorts, I suppose.See also: all, sort, take

it takes all sorts

Many different kinds of people make up the world. For example, I would never go swimming in April, but it takes all sorts, or Gordon insists on wearing sunglasses indoors and out-I guess it takes all sorts. This expression, originating in the 1600s as It takes all sorts to make a world, is often used in remarking one's own difference from others or tolerating someone else's peculiarity. Also see no accounting for tastes. See also: all, sort, take

it takes all sorts

People say it takes all sorts when someone seems strange to them, to say that it is normal for there to be many different types of people with different ideas and behaviour in the world. I'll never understand why people enjoy cricket, but I guess it takes all sorts. Note: People sometimes use the longer expression It takes all sorts to make a world.. Not everyone will behave in the way you expect them to. After all, it takes all sorts to make a world.See also: all, sort, take

it takes all sorts

people vary greatly in character, tastes, and abilities. proverb The complete form of this expression is it takes all sorts to make a world , often used as a comment on what the speaker feels to be unconventional behaviour. 1999 David Mitchell Ghostwritten We're a chat show. It takes all sorts. You complain when they're too dull. You complain when they're too colourful. See also: all, sort, take

it takes all ˈsorts (to make a ˈworld)

(saying) different people like different things; different people have different characters and abilities: ‘I don’t understand Bill. He spends nearly all weekend cleaning and polishing his car.’ ‘Well, it takes all sorts.’See also: all, sort, take

it takes all sorts

Humankind is made up of many kinds of individuals, markedly different from one another. The Book of Common Prayer (1548) includes a Prayer for All Conditions of Men, which prays to God “for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them.” This may have been the source of the next version, It takes all sorts to make a world, which became current in the seventeenth century. Indeed, Samuel Johnson’s biographer, James Boswell, quotes philosopher John Locke as using this phrase. George Bernard Shaw was particularly fond of it. In the late nineteenth century it was shortened to it takes all sorts and by now is a cliché.See also: all, sort, take