A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone.
Books, Mind & ApprehensionTyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, Season 1 Episode 2I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.
Failures & MistakesAlbus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceThe problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.
Foolishness, Self-Confidence, DoubtCharles BukowskiGreat minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
You're asking me to use my superior intellect in a tawdry competition. Would you ask Picasso to play Pictionary? Would you ask Noah Webster to play Boggle? Would you ask Jacques Cousteau to play Go Fish?
Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory, Season 1 Episode 13That's the misery: Stupid people are so confident, the wise ones full of doubt.
Foolishness, DoubtHelmut SchmidtThe greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
KnowledgeStephen HawkingAn intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
AlcoholErnest HemingwayIntellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.
Learning, EducationAlbert EinsteinSmart women love smart men more than smart men love smart women.
Men & Women, Singles & DatingNatalie PortmanThe more you know, the more you realise how much you don't know - the less you know, the more you think you know.
Knowledge, FoolishnessDavid T. FreemanThe cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.
Failures & Mistakes, FoolishnessFyodor DostoevskyPeople think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don''t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.
Calvin and Hobbes, by CalvinI was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to.
Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersGreat men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.
Solitude & Being Alone, EaglesArthur SchopenhauerMany species lack the ability to defy their own animal instincts and allow their intellect to prevail.
Ernest Cline in ArmadaThe art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
William JamesThere is no greater evidence of superior intelligence than to be surprised at nothing.
Josh BillingsFor knowledge, too, itself is power.
(Col. 'Knowledge is power.')
All intellectuals are lunatics in the eyes of fools. I'll take that as a compliment.
Alhaitham in Genshin ImpactCleverness is for men of small ambition. I'd much rather it if you were wise, my son.
Ar-Pharazôn in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season 1 Episode 4Like many intellectuals, he was incapable of saying a simple thing in a simple way.
Marcel ProustAs I fear not a child with a weapon he cannot lift, I will never fear the mind of a man who does not think.
ThinkingBrandon Sanderson in The Stormlight Archive - Words of RadianceI much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.
CriticismJohannes KeplerI hate when people confuse education with intelligence. You can have a bachelor's degree and still be an idiot.
EducationElon MuskThat which the Fascists hate above all else, is intelligence.
Miguel de UnamunoYou see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.
Men & WomenErica Jong