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82 Intelligence Quotes to Sharpen Your Wits (WISDOM)

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Top 10 Most Famous Intelligence Quotes

“A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.”

Roy H. Williams
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. – F. Scott Fitzgerald
I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. - Socrates
I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. – Socrates
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. - Arthur Schopenhauer
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. – Arthur Schopenhauer
I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better. - Maya Angelou
I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better. – Maya Angelou
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. - Henry Ford
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. – Henry Ford
The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. - Friedrich Nietzsche
The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. – Friedrich Nietzsche
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. - Albert Einstein
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. – Albert Einstein
The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. - Plutarch
The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. – Plutarch
There is no great genius without some touch of madness. - Aristotle
There is no great genius without some touch of madness. – Aristotle

16 Wise Intelligence Quotes That Will Elevate Your Wisdom

“An intellectual? Yes. And never deny it. An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself. I like this, because I am happy to be both halves, the watcher and the watched. “Can they be brought together?” This is a practical question. We must get down to it. “I despise intelligence” really means: “I cannot bear my doubts.”

Albert Camus
It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently. – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. - Oscar Wilde
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. – Oscar Wilde

“Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”

Susan Sontag
It is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer. - Albert Einstein
It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer. – Albert Einstein
A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions - as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all. - Friedrich Nietzsche
A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions – as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all. – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.”

Edgar Allan Poe
The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong. - Carl Gustav Jung
The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong. – Carl Gustav Jung
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. - Stephen Hawking
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. – Stephen Hawking
To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect. - Oscar Wilde
To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect. – Oscar Wilde
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. - Søren Kierkegaard
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. – Søren Kierkegaard
When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him. – Jonathan Swift
An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools. - Ernest Hemingway
An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools. – Ernest Hemingway
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. - George S. Patton
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking. – George S. Patton
Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain. - Carl Jung
Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain. – Carl Jung
Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary. - Blaise Pascal
Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary. – Blaise Pascal

3 Intelligence Quotes on Emotions

Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you. - Roger Ebert
Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you. – Roger Ebert
The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of reason. - Marya Mannes
The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of reason. – Marya Mannes
Genius is the ability to renew one's emotions in daily experience. - Paul Cezanne
Genius is the ability to renew one’s emotions in daily experience. – Paul Cezanne

15 Intelligence Quotes That Will Enhance The Way You Think

“My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation.”

Arthur Conan Doyle
Intelligence is the wife, imagination is the mistress, memory is the servant. - Victor Hugo
Intelligence is the wife, imagination is the mistress, memory is the servant. – Victor Hugo
To think is to practice brain chemistry. - Deepak Chopra
To think is to practice brain chemistry. – Deepak Chopra
An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas. - Marie Curie
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas. – Marie Curie
A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. - Bertrand Russell
A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. – Bertrand Russell
I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. - Oscar Wilde
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying. – Oscar Wilde
Education is no substitute for intelligence. - Frank Herbert
Education is no substitute for intelligence. – Frank Herbert
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in. - Isaac Asimov
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in. – Isaac Asimov
All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask Do they get smart just in time to ask questions - Scott Adams
If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions? – Scott Adams
A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery. - James Joyce
A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery. – James Joyce
Belief is the death of intelligence. - Robert Anton Wilson
Belief is the death of intelligence. – Robert Anton Wilson
Be smarter than other people, just don't tell them so. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Be smarter than other people, just don’t tell them so. – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way. - Charles Bukowski
Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way. – Charles Bukowski

16 Encouraging Intelligence Quotes That Inspires Smart Thinking

I'm an optimist in the sense that I believe humans are noble and honorable, and some of them are really smart. I have a very optimistic view of individuals. - Steve Jobs
I’m an optimist in the sense that I believe humans are noble and honorable, and some of them are really smart. I have a very optimistic view of individuals. – Steve Jobs
A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. - Nelson Mandela
A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. – Nelson Mandela
Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved. - Thucydides
Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved. – Thucydides
Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace. - Frank McCourt
You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace. – Frank McCourt
An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things. - Bryant H. McGill
An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things. – Bryant H. McGill
The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. - Sigmund Freud
The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. – Sigmund Freud
There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. - Ronald Reagan
There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. – Ronald Reagan
Genius is talent set on fire by courage. - Henry Van Dyke
Genius is talent set on fire by courage. – Henry Van Dyke
It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others. - Michel de Montaigne
It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others. – Michel de Montaigne
Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. - Salvador Dali
Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. – Salvador Dali
There is no method but to be very intelligent. - T. S. Eliot
There is no method but to be very intelligent. – T. S. Eliot
The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence. - J. Krishnamurti
The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence. – J. Krishnamurti
The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous. - Carl Sagan
The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous. – Carl Sagan
If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise. - George R.R. Martin
It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise. – George R.R. Martin

4 Intelligence Quotes on Ignorance

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. - James Madison
Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. – James Madison
Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation. - Walter Cronkite
Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation. – Walter Cronkite
You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant. - Harlan Ellison
You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant. – Harlan Ellison
I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day. - Douglas Adams
I’d take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day. – Douglas Adams

3 Intelligence Quotes That Empowers Women

As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking. - Virginia Woolf
As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking. – Virginia Woolf
I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb… and I also know that I'm not blonde. - Dolly Parton
I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde. – Dolly Parton
A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition. - Gilbert K. Chesterton
A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition. – Gilbert K. Chesterton

15 Thought-Provoking Intelligence Quotes

I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues. - Franklin D. Roosevelt
I’m not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
I don’t know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn’t make you happy. - J.D. Salinger
I don’t know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn’t make you happy. – J.D. Salinger
He had just about enough intelligence to open his mouth when he wanted to eat, but certainly no more. - P.G. Wodehouse
He had just about enough intelligence to open his mouth when he wanted to eat, but certainly no more. – P.G. Wodehouse
I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up. - Mark Twain
I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up. – Mark Twain
Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs. - Zig Ziglar
Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs. – Zig Ziglar
We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. - George Orwell
We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. – George Orwell
Action is the real measure of intelligence. - Napoleon Hill
Action is the real measure of intelligence. – Napoleon Hill
Intellectual passion drives out sensuality. - Leonardo da Vinci
Intellectual passion drives out sensuality. – Leonardo da Vinci
Common sense is not so common. - Voltaire
Common sense is not so common. – Voltaire
Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day. - Samuel Goldwyn
Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day. – Samuel Goldwyn
Man is the most intelligent of the animals - and the most silly. - Diogenes
Man is the most intelligent of the animals – and the most silly. – Diogenes
We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect. - John Kenneth Galbraith
We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect. – John Kenneth Galbraith
The greatest scholars are not usually the wisest people. - Geoffrey Chaucer
The greatest scholars are not usually the wisest people. – Geoffrey Chaucer
Reason is intelligence taking exercise. Imagination is intelligence with an erection. - Victor Hugo
Reason is intelligence taking exercise. Imagination is intelligence with an erection. – Victor Hugo
The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it. - Terry Pratchett
The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it. – Terry Pratchett

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