You think you are clever until you find out how smart you are.
—Unknown
God has placed no limits to the exercise of the intellect he has given us, on this side of the grave.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Intelligence is that faculty of mind, by which order is perceived in a situation previously considered disordered.
—Haneef Fatmi (1933–1995) Pakistani Engineer
Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
A sort of war of revenge on the intellect is what, for some reason, thrives in the contemporary social atmosphere.
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957) English Novelist, Painter, Critic
Clever people are always the best conversations lexicon.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Intelligence, in diapers, is invisible. And when it matures, out the window it flies. We have to pounce on it earlier.
—Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909–1966) Polish Aphorist, Poet
Reason is man’s instrument for arriving at the truth, intelligence is man’s instrument for manipulating the world more successfully; the former is essentially human, the latter belongs to the animal part of man.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
It’s good to be clever, but not to show it.
—French Proverb
Never be lucid, never state, if you would be regarded great.
—Dylan Thomas (1914–53) Welsh Poet, Author
Man is an intelligence, not served by, but in servitude to his organs.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Satirist, Short Story Writer
It is not the insurrections of ignorance that are dangerous, but the revolts of the intelligence.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
If a man’s eye is on the Eternal, his intellect will grow.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more sense than we have.
—Don Herold (1889–1966) American Humorist, Writer, Illustrator, Cartoonist
I’ve never been an intellectual but I have this look.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
He is far too intelligent to become really cerebral.
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b.1929) American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven.
—Edward de Bono (1933–2021) Maltese-British Psychologist, Writer
Whenever the cause of the people is entrusted to professors, it is lost.
—Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian Revolutionary Leader
Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves any bill of goods, which is why they were so often patsies for the ruling classes in nineteenth-century France and England, or twentieth-century Russia and America.
—Lillian Hellman (1905–84) American Dramatist, Memoirist
Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended.
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value.
—Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Academic
Intelligence appears to be the thing that enables a man to get along without education. Education enables a man to get along without the use of his intelligence.
—Albert Edward Wiggam (1871–1957) American Psychologist, Writer
I think, therefore I am is the statement of an intellectual who underrates toothaches.
—Milan Kundera (1929–2023) Czech-French Writer, Literary Philosopher
Nothing mattered except states of mind, chiefly our own.
—John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) English Economist
Ask a wise man to dinner and he’ll upset everyone by his gloomy silence or tiresome questions. Invite him to a dance and you’ll have a camel prancing about. Haul him off to a public entertainment and his face will be enough to spoil the people’s entertainment.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.
—Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British Scientist, Science-fiction Writer
Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I hate intellectuals. They are from the top down. I am from the bottom up.
—Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American Architect
The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play).
—Michel Foucault (1926–84) French Philosopher, Critic, Historian
The level of the development of a country is determined, in considerable part, by the level of development of its people’s intelligence.
—Luis Alberto Machado (1932–2016) Venezuelan Politician, Lawyer
Leave a Reply