Smarts Quotes

“And pity--people who inspire it in you are actually very powerful people. To get someone else to take care of you, to feel sorry for you--that takes a lot of strength, smarts, manipulation. Very powerful people.”
― Deb Caletti, The Secret Life of Prince Charming

“Only ignorance excuses stupidity”
― Nalini Singh, Angels' Blood

“We know that the war against intelligence is always waged in the name of common sense.”
― Roland Barthes, Mythologies

“It's always good to be underestimated.”
― Melissa de la Cruz, Lost in Time

“No,” Gideon says. “No guns. The most dangerous weapon you have is your brain. Give someone a gun and they tend to quit using it.”
― Paula Stokes, Vicarious

“It's always taken a lot out of me, being smart.”
― Eudora Welty, The Ponder Heart

“Yet human intelligence has another force, too: the sense of urgency that gives human smarts their drive. Perhaps our intelligence is not just ended by our mortality; to a great degree, it is our mortality.”
― Adam Gopnik

“I've always loved science fiction. I think the smartest writers are science fiction writers dealing with major things.” – Associated Press interview, 12-7-11”
― Walter Mosley

“Research shows that willpower is more important than IQ. That’s why the point isn’t to become smarter, but to become more self-disciplined.”
― Adam Kirk Smith

“But I am a just man, even to my enemy—and I will acknowledge, beforehand, that they are cleverer brains than I thought them.”
― Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White

“But the compulsive overachievement of today's elite college students - the sense that they need to keep running as fast as they can - is not the only thing that keeps them from forming the deeper relationships that might relieve their anguish. Something more insidious is operating, too: a resistance to vulnerability, a fear of looking like the only one who isn't capable of handling the pressure. These are young people who have always succeeded at everything, in part by projecting the confidence that they always will. Now, as they get to college, the stakes are higher and the competition fiercer. Everybody thinks that they are the only one who's suffering, so nobody says anything, so everybody suffers. Everyone feels like a fraud; everybody thinks that everybody else is smarter than they are.”
― William Deresiewicz, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life

“Be intelligent, but know it is better to be kind than smart.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

“Aunt Loretta has something that maybe you could call class. It's not the made-up kind that Grandma has, fake pearls and Sunday hats, but something that comes to you as if you were born to the king and queen. Aunt Loretta understands better than Grandma that reading a big book is more classy than wearing fake pearls watching TV.”
― Heidi W. Durrow, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky

“Do not be a stupid, unless someone is paying you to be.”
― M.F. Moonzajer, LOVE, HATRED AND MADNESS

“Everybody wants to be smart except smart people who want to be stable.”
― Brian Spellman, We have our difference in common 2.

“Smarts mean a lot in the world, but good looks even more.”
― Janelle Brown, Pretty Things

“Sam enjoyed knowledge. The accumulation and distribution of facts gave him a feeling of control, of utility, of the opposite of the powerlessness that comes with having a smallish, underdeveloped body that doesn't dependably respond to the mental commands of a largish, overstimulated brain.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Here I Am

“Most people is thin-brained.”
― Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men

“Intelligence is not just a niche ability; instead it influences almost every aspect of people’s lives.”
― Russell T. Warne, In the Know: Debunking 35 Myths about Human Intelligence

“Moundshroud led the Team down on their brooms over the farms where witches dropped frogs in cauldrons and stomped toads and snuffed mummy dust and cavorted in cackles.

"But, stop and think. What does the word 'witch' truly mean?"

"Why--" said Tom, and was stymied.

"Wits," said Moundshroud. "Intelligence. That's all it means. Knowledge. So any man, or woman, with half a brain and with inclinations toward learning had his wits about him, eh? And so, anyone too smart, who didn't watch out, was called--"

"A witch!" said everyone.”
― Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

“We all know people who are smart. But that doesn’t mean they are wise. Understanding and wisdom come from surviving the pitfalls of life, thriving in life, having wide and deep contact with other people. Out of your own moments of suffering, struggle, friendship, intimacy, and joy comes a compassionate awareness of how other people feel—their frailty, their confusion, and their courage. The wise are those who have lived full, varied lives, and reflected deeply on what they’ve been through.”
― David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen

“If this is a smart world then I want to be stupid.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

“Intelligence is often worshiped, even when that intelligence allows unfathomable injustice and suffering to occur under its smart watch.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

“Being smart is simply having knowledge. Being wise is knowing how to use it.”
― Anonymous

“You can’t just go in swingin’ these days. You’ve got to have smarts. Me and Iyarra? We’ve got brains we ain’t even used yet.”
― K.L. Mitchell, The Road to Kalazad

“My dad is a modern-day vizier. Machiavelli reincarnated. He will say what needs to be said to support his point.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“I have a great weakness for these dry, reserved characters who once or twice an evening come out with a vivid, penetrating remark that shows there is a volcanic core smouldering away at high pressure underneath.”
― John Collier, Fancies and Goodnights

“You know, I've never worked for a candidate who says such smart things as you do. And I've also never worked for one who has such catastrophic popularity ratings."

"Perhaps the two are causatively linked," says John with a smile.

"I'm afraid that might be the case.”
― Marc-Uwe Kling, QualityLand

“Being smart is one of the few things I have that I can be proud of."

"You're not proud of the fact that you're kind and curious and pretty?”
― Gary Shteyngart, Vera, or Faith

“Actually, Phil felt, he wasn’t feeling all that well. He was feeling totally devanced in terms of how good he could think. Where was that stupid brain? Where dud he left it? That thing had been offen a long time. No wonder no salvation thoughts were come winging out of him.”
― George Saunders, The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil