A mind is a terrible thing to waste
E180493
"A mind is a terrible thing to waste" is a famous and long-running educational fundraising slogan emphasizing the importance of supporting African American higher education.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| A mind is a terrible thing to waste canonical | 2 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1586939 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: A mind is a terrible thing to waste Context triple: [United Negro College Fund, slogan, A mind is a terrible thing to waste]
-
A.
If I Only Had a Brain
"If I Only Had a Brain" is a classic, whimsical song from the 1939 film *The Wizard of Oz*, sung by the Scarecrow as he longs for intelligence and a better mind.
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B.
All in Your Mind
"All in Your Mind" is a song by Mariah Carey from her self-titled debut album, showcasing her powerful vocal range and early R&B/pop style.
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C.
Dare to Think
Dare to Think is the English-language motto of Ghent University, encapsulating its emphasis on critical inquiry and independent thought.
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D.
The Meaning of Life
The Meaning of Life is a 1983 British comedy film by Monty Python that satirically explores the stages and absurdities of human existence through a series of surreal sketches.
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E.
Music of My Mind
Music of My Mind is a 1972 Stevie Wonder album that marked the beginning of his acclaimed "classic period," showcasing greater artistic control, innovative use of synthesizers, and a more mature, experimental soul sound.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: A mind is a terrible thing to waste Target entity description: "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" is a famous and long-running educational fundraising slogan emphasizing the importance of supporting African American higher education.
-
A.
If I Only Had a Brain
"If I Only Had a Brain" is a classic, whimsical song from the 1939 film *The Wizard of Oz*, sung by the Scarecrow as he longs for intelligence and a better mind.
-
B.
All in Your Mind
"All in Your Mind" is a song by Mariah Carey from her self-titled debut album, showcasing her powerful vocal range and early R&B/pop style.
-
C.
Dare to Think
Dare to Think is the English-language motto of Ghent University, encapsulating its emphasis on critical inquiry and independent thought.
-
D.
The Meaning of Life
The Meaning of Life is a 1983 British comedy film by Monty Python that satirically explores the stages and absurdities of human existence through a series of surreal sketches.
-
E.
Music of My Mind
Music of My Mind is a 1972 Stevie Wonder album that marked the beginning of his acclaimed "classic period," showcasing greater artistic control, innovative use of synthesizers, and a more mature, experimental soul sound.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
advertising slogan
ⓘ
educational slogan ⓘ fundraising slogan ⓘ public service advertising campaign ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
United Negro College Fund
ⓘ
surface form:
UNCF
civil rights era educational initiatives ⓘ historically black colleges and universities ⓘ scholarships for African American students ⓘ |
| category |
American advertising slogans
ⓘ
charitable organization slogans ⓘ education-related slogans ⓘ |
| connotation | moral responsibility to support education ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| emphasizes |
the tragedy of wasted human potential
ⓘ
the value of education ⓘ |
| focusesOn |
African American students
ⓘ
higher education access ⓘ |
| genre |
charitable fundraising campaign
ⓘ
nonprofit advertising ⓘ |
| hasTheme |
education equality
ⓘ
philanthropy ⓘ social mobility through education ⓘ |
| impact |
increased public awareness of African American higher education needs
ⓘ
inspired charitable giving for scholarships ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| longevity | long-running campaign ⓘ |
| medium |
outdoor advertising
ⓘ
print advertising ⓘ radio advertising ⓘ television advertising ⓘ |
| message | supporting education prevents waste of human potential ⓘ |
| notableAs | one of the most recognizable nonprofit slogans in the United States ⓘ |
| promotes |
donations to UNCF
ⓘ
investment in education ⓘ |
| purpose |
to encourage donations to historically black colleges and universities
ⓘ
to promote support for African American higher education ⓘ to raise funds for scholarships ⓘ |
| rhetoricalDevice |
aphorism
ⓘ
appeal to emotion ⓘ memorable catchphrase ⓘ |
| sloganFor | United Negro College Fund ⓘ |
| targetAudience |
general public
ⓘ
potential donors ⓘ |
| usedBy | United Negro College Fund ⓘ |
| usedSince | 1970s ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: A mind is a terrible thing to waste Description of subject: "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" is a famous and long-running educational fundraising slogan emphasizing the importance of supporting African American higher education.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.