# it takes all kinds to make a world

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/it-takes-all-kinds-to-make-a-world
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Diversity is essential: the world would be incomplete if everyone were alike; an expression of surprise at a person or people's eccentricity.

## Examples

- Some people are very strange, but it takes all kinds to make a world.
- My neighbor collects old clocks and wears bright costumes, but I suppose it takes all kinds to make a world.
- He spends his entire salary on rare postage stamps, but my mother always says it takes all kinds to make a world.
- While the eccentric behavior of the local artist often baffled the townspeople, they eventually accepted that it takes all kinds to make a world.

## Origin

The expression enters English as a calque of the Spanish *de todos ha de haber en el mundo*. The sentiment appears in Miguel de Cervantes’s *El ingenioso caballero Don Quijote de la Mancha*, specifically in the 1615 publication of *Don Quixote*, Volume 2, Chapter VI. In 1620, the translator Shelton rendered the phrase as "In the world there must surely be of all sorts." The sentiment appeared in various forms thereafter, eventually settling into the modern idiom.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.