People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

The earliest located instance in the provided material is from a 1959 commencement address reported in a Virginia newspaper, where Margaret Tyson (a nursing school dean) used the saying to emphasize that professional competence matters less in relationships than demonstrating genuine concern. Later appearances show it circulating as a business/training maxim (e.g., Beltone hearing-aid materials and ads) and then widely repeated by motivational and leadership authors.

The idea is that expertise or credentials don’t persuade people on their own; trust and receptiveness come first. Once someone feels respected and cared for, they become more willing to value and accept what you know.

People won’t care how much you know unless they really know how much you care.

People don’t care how much you know—until they know how much you care.

Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.

People want to know how much you care before they care how much you know.

I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care.