Etymology

it takes all kinds to make a world

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

Spanish de todos ha de haber en el mundo
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The story

  1. Spanish · calque ofde todos ha de haber en el mundo“There must be of all [types] in the world”
  2. English todayit takes all kinds to make a world

Calque of Spanish de todos ha de haber en el mundo (“There must be of all [types] in the world”), Miguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso caballero Don Quijote de la Mancha, Capítulo VI, 1615 (Don Quixote, Volume 2, Chapter VI); translated 1620, Shelton, as "In the world there must surely be of all sorts." and appeared in various forms thereafter.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.