Top 100 Intelligence Quotes All Smart Kids Should Read
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The term 'intelligence' has several interpretations.
We hear the word on a regular basis and most of us have a general idea of what it means. But there's much more to it.
Intelligence refers to higher-level mental abilities like decision making, problem-solving, abstract reasoning, ability to change, creativity, emotional knowledge, the capacity to learn, willingness to change our mind, and the ability to meet the demands of society and the environment.
Here we have the best 100 intelligence quotes that'll tell you quite a lot of things about this supreme psychological quality.
An intelligence quote is a quote that can activate the grey cells in your brain.
If you like what you read, then do check out our [inspiring quotes for teens] and insulting quotes.
Finest Intelligence Quotes
The best intelligence quote might b F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." Here are the best intelligence quotes from famous personalities, we hope they never change!
1. "I'm going to, not I'm gonna. Talk intelligent."
- Muhammad Ali.
2. "Will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity."
- Arthur Schopenhauer.
3. "Action is the real measure of intelligence."
- Napoleon Hill.
4. "We need only travel enough to give our intellects an airing."
- Henry David Thoreau.
5. "Intelligence is really a kind of taste: taste in ideas."
- Susan Sontag.
6. "Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike."
- Anne Louise Germaine de Staël.
7. "Intelligence is quickness in seeing things as they are."
- George Santayana.
8. “The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.”
- Bill Watterson.
9. "Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you."
- Roger Ebert.
10. "The intellect is not a serious thing, and never has been. It is an instrument on which one plays, that is all."
- Oscar Wilde.
11. "Intelligence must follow faith, never precede it, and never destroy it."
- Thomas à Kempis.
12. “There is no such thing as Intelligence; one has intelligence of this or that. One must have intelligence only for what one is doing.”
- Edgar Degas.
13. “A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one’s own ignorance.”
- Niccolò Machiavelli.
14. "Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good."
- Bertolt Brecht.
15. "Intelligence is the faculty of making artificial objects, especially tools to make tools."
- Henri Bergson.
16. "Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done"
- Linus Torvalds.
17. "Intelligence is the ability of a system to adjust appropriately to a changing world."
- Christopher Evans.
18. "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Intellectual Quotes
These deep intellectual quotes will get you thinking.
19. "The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures."
- Mark Twain.
20. "An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself."
- Albert Camus.
21. "It is the mark of a truly intelligent person to be moved by statistics."
- George Bernard Shaw.
22. "He who knows best knows how little he knows."
- Thomas Jefferson.
23. "For all things difficult to acquire, the intelligent man works with perseverance."
- Lao Tzu.
24. "An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools."
- Ernest Hemingway.
25. "I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."
- Oscar Wilde.
26. "Genius is initiative on fire."
- Holbrook Jackson.
27. "Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary."
- Blaise Pascal.
28. "An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things."
- Bryant H. McGill.
29. "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.
30. "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
- Nelson Mandela.
31. "I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing."
- Socrates.
32. "I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week sometimes to make it up."
- Mark Twain.
33. “A small mind is obstinate. A great mind can lead and be led.”
- Alexander Cannon.
34. “The intelligent man is one who has successfully fulfilled many accomplishments, and is yet willing to learn more.”
- Ed Parker.
35. “Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”
- Arthur Schopenhauer.
Social Intelligence Quotes
Here are some powerful quotes on social intelligence for a change.
36. “It was not curiosity that killed the goose who laid the golden egg, but an insatiable greed that devoured common sense.”
- E.A. Bucchianeri.
37. “Common sense will nearly always stand you in better stead than a slavish adherence to the conventions.”
- M. M. Kaye.
38. "Empathy and social skills are social intelligence, the interpersonal part of emotional intelligence. That’s why they look alike."
- Daniel Goleman.
39. “Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education.”
- Victor Hugo.
40. “Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.”
- René Descartes.
41. "In a high-IQ job pool, soft skills like discipline, drive, and empathy mark those who emerge as outstanding."
- Daniel Goleman.
42. “Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.”
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
43. "If you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far."
- Daniel Goleman.
44. “Because you can't argue with all the fools in the world. It's easier to let them have their way, then trick them when they're not paying attention.”
- Christopher Paolini.
45. "When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands."
- Daniel Goleman.
Education Vs Intelligence Quotes
Know the distinction between education and intelligence with these insightful quotes.
46. “Intelligence and proper education will give you independence of spirit.”
- Charlotte Brontë.
47. “The difference between intelligence and an education is this-that intelligence will make you a good living.”
- Charles F. Kettering.
48. "The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education."
- Maya Angelou.
49. "Human intelligence is richer and more dynamic than we have been led to believe by formal academic education."
- Ken Robinson.
50. "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
- Albert Einstein.
51. "We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Wisdom Vs Intelligence Quotes
These quotes on wisdom and intelligence are right on point!
52. "Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."
- Jimi Hendrix.
53. "A proverb is one man’s wit and all men’s wisdom."
- John Russell.
54. "Being still, looking, and listening activates the non-conceptual intelligence within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions."
- Eckhart Tolle.
55. "Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart."
- Alan Alda.
56. "In seeking wisdom thou art wise; in imagining that thou hast attained it – thou art a fool."
- Lord Chesterfield.
57. "Knowledge is flour, but wisdom is bread."
- Austin O'Malley.
58. "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."
Emotional Intelligence Quotes
Here are some quotes to help you deal with emotions in life.
59. “When a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master.”
- Baruch Spinoza.
60. “How you react emotionally is a choice in any situation.”
- Judith Orloff.
61. "If we can learn to identify, express, and harness our feelings, even the most challenging ones, we can use those emotions to help us create positive, satisfying lives."
- Marc Brackett.
62. "No matter how frustrating or boring or constraining or painful or oppressive our experience, we can always choose how we respond."
- Edith Eger.
63. "The emotional brain responds to an event more quickly than the thinking brain."
- Daniel Goleman.
64. “There is no separation of mind and emotions; emotions, thinking, and learning are all linked.”
- Eric Jensen.
65. "Our feelings are not there to be cast out or conquered. They're there to be engaged and expressed with imagination and intelligence."
- T. K. Coleman.
66. "Every time we allow someone to move us with anger, we teach them to be angry."
- Barry Neil Kaufman.
67. "Any person capable of angering you becomes your master."
- Epictetus.
68. "When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion."
- Dale Carnegie.
Artificial Intelligence Quotes
If AI interests you, you'll love these AI quotes as well!
69. "It’s more like a tapestry of modern intelligent technologies knit together in a strategic fashion that can then uplift and create a knowledge base that is automated..."
- John Frémont.
70. "We’ve never seen a technology move as fast as AI has to impact society and technology."
- Paul Daugherty.
71. "Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks."
- Stephen Hawking.
72. “By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.”
- Eliezer Yudkowsky.
73. “As more and more artificial intelligence is entering into the world, more and more emotional intelligence must enter into leadership.”
- Amit Ray.
74. "Artificial intelligence would be the ultimate version of Google. The ultimate search engine that would understand everything on the web."
- Larry Page.
75. “I imagine a world in which AI is going to make us work more productively, live longer, and have cleaner energy.”
- Fei-Fei Li.
76. “I visualise a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I’m rooting for the machines.”
- Claude Shannon.
77. "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race….It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate."
- Stephen Hawking.
Business Intelligence Quotes
These quotes here will inspire your business outlook.
78. “If statistics are boring, you've got the wrong numbers”
- Edward Tufte.
79. “The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight.”
- Carly Fiorina.
80. "Don’t let shallow analysis of data that happens to be cheap/easy/fast to collect nudge you off-course in your entrepreneurial pursuits."
- Andrew Chen.
81. "Data reveals impact, and with data, you can bring more science to your decisions."
- Matt Trifiro.
82. “Above all else show the data.”
- Edward Tufte.
83. "BI is about providing the right data at the right time to the right people so that they can take the right decisions."
- Nic Smith.
84. "Data is what you need to do analytics. Information is what you need to do business."
- John Owen.
Quotes About Insulting Intelligence
If you like insult my intelligence quotes, here are some sharp insulting my intelligence quotes you'll enjoy.
85. "I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would be an affront to your intelligence."
- George Bernard Shaw.
86. "Only don't tell me you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry."
- Michael Corleone, 'The Godfather,' 1972.
87. "If they had said my writing wasn't good enough, fair enough, that's an opinion. But to say it's too complex is to insult the intelligence of the so-called young."
- Tanith Lee.
88. "Your hypocrisy insults my intelligence."
- Toba Beta.
89. "I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said."
- William F. Buckley Jr.
90. "Never argue with stupid people, they will only drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."
- Unknown.*
Albert Einstein Intelligence Quotes
Here are some great quotes on intelligence and thinking by Albert Einstein.
91. “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
- Albert Einstein.
92. “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
- Albert Einstein.
93. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
- Albert Einstein.
94. "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
- Albert Einstein.
95. "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."
- Albert Einstein.
Quotes From The Movie 'Central Intelligence'
Here are some classic 'Central Intelligence' quotes from the 2016 movie.
96. "You should know one thing about me. Spoiler alert: I'm in the CIA."
- Bob Stone, 'Central Intelligence'.
97. "I got a plan. It might get us both killed but if it works, it will be a totally boss story."
- Bob Stone, 'Central Intelligence'.
98. "Being the hero of your own story isn't about stopping bad guys or climbing mountains. It's about overcoming bullies in your life, whatever or whomever they may be."
- Bob Stone, 'Central Intelligence'.
99. "What does that mean? What, you think Mr. T, and Sting, and The Rock... You think those guys are real?"
- Calvin Joyner, 'Central Intelligence'.
100. "Are you not a super tool? You're not even Robbie Wheirdicht. You're Bob Stone!"
- Calvin Joyner, 'Central Intelligence'.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for intelligence quotes then why not take a look at [intellectual quotes], or intention quotes.
*Do you know where this quote originated? Please email us to let us know at hello@kidadl.com.
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management
Moumita DuttaBachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management
A content writer and editor with a passion for sports, Moumita has honed her skills in producing compelling match reports and stories about sporting heroes. She holds a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta University, alongside a postgraduate diploma in Sports Management.
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