By Maxime Lagacé
Maxime is the founder and chief editor of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm, powerful, and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.
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Here are 77 of the best intelligence quotes I could find. The goal? To inspire you and give you some perspective on what intelligence truly is. After all, it’s more than memory and fast cognitive function. Right? Enjoy!
The highest sign of intelligence is doubt. Francois Mauriac
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. Albert Einstein
Anti-social behavior is a trait of intelligence in a world full of conformists. Nikola Tesla
Don’t confuse education with intelligence. Most schools serve to educate us just enough to believe what we’ve been taught and not enough to think for ourselves. Shane Parrish
It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The ability to observe without judgement is the highest form of intelligence. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Intelligence is the ability to adapt. The measure of it is to get what you want out of life. Naval Ravikant
Intelligence is the door to freedom and alert attention is the mother of intelligence. Jon Kabat-Zinn
Intelligence is the ability to decide what’s important and doing it. Maxime Lagacé
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. Lao Tzu
Intelligence is the art of getting what we want without creating unnecessary enemies. Paulo Coelho
Knowledge is having the right answers. Intelligence is asking the right questions. Wisdom is knowing when to ask the right questions. Unknown
Simplicity is a sign of intelligence and mastery. Anthony Pompliano
Intelligence comes from meditation, intelligence comes from rebellion, intelligence does not come from memory. Rajneesh
Intelligence is really a kind of taste: taste in ideas. Susan Sontag
Related
- 100 Curiosity Quotes To Increase Your Desire To Learn
- 75 Understanding Quotes To Bring Clarity Into Your Life
- 145 Thinking Quotes To Make You More Thoughtful
More Quotes About Intelligence
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King Jr
Never confuse education with intelligence. You can have a Ph.D. but still be an idiot. Unknown
When emotions go up intellect goes down. Dan Go
An intelligent man is one who knows his limitations. Kamilla (Source)
The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life. Unknown
Intelligence is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Timothy Leary
They think that intelligence is about noticing things are relevant (detecting patterns); in a complex world, intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant (avoiding false patterns). Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Intellect is not wisdom. Thomas Sowell
Intellect is the power tool of our separateness. The intuitive, compassionate heart is the doorway to our unity. Ram Dass
It is not the amount of knowledge that makes a brain. It is not even the distribution of knowledge. It is the interconnectedness. Howard Bloom
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Society seems to have voted for intelligence. We no longer admire the sage — not the way people did two thousand years ago. Now we admire the genius. Paul Graham (Related: http://paulgraham.com/wisdom.html)
On intelligence: A lot of it is memory. But a lot of it is the ability to zoom out. Steve Jobs
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. Albert Einstein
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
Intelligence and education that hasn’t been tempered by human affection isn’t worth a damn. Daniel Keyes
Intelligence uses what is known to solve problems. Creativity uses what is unknown to discover possibilities. Simon Sinek
Consider the average intelligence of the common man, then realize 50% are even stupider. Mark Twain
Degrees have nothing to do with intelligence. Dan Go (Source)
The intellect is always fooled by the heart. François de La Rochefoucauld
The smartest people I know are mostly self-educated. David Perell
Being calm is the highest level of intelligence. Orange Book
Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. Salvador Dali (Source disputed, https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/10/14/wings/)
A sign of intellect is the ability to change your mind in the face of new facts. A mark of wisdom is refusing to let the fear of admitting you were wrong stop you from getting it right. The joy of learning something new eventually exceeds the pain of unlearning something old. Adam Grant
We should use our unique human intelligence to solve challenges we face, and never give up or tell ourselves there’s no hope. If we have a positive goal and we’re well-motivated to seek the well-being of others, no matter how difficult it is to achieve, we can remain determined. 14th Dalai Lama (Source)
Intelligence isn’t a privilege, it’s a gift. And you use it for the good of mankind. Otto Octavius
The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence. Charles Bukowski
The highest measure of intelligence to me is the ability to get what you want. Gal Shapira
The smarter you are the less likely you are to work well with consensus seeking groups. Shane Parrish
The intelligent man is one who has successfully fulfilled many accomplishments and is yet willing to learn more. Ed Parker
Intelligence is overrated. Great thinkers are built, not born. Ana Lorena Fabrega (Source)
Intelligence strives to know the answer, wisdom strives to know why the answer matters. Simon Sinek
Intelligence is caring for the right things. Maxime Lagacé
The intelligence of the universe is social. Marcus Aurelius
Be dumb enough to try but smart enough to learn. Jack Butcher
It takes intelligence to not jump to conclusions. Orange Book
Intelligence is the minimum number of exposure-feedback cycles you need to learn something you haven’t seen before. Angela Jiang
If you’re going to pick 3 cards in the hand you’re dealt, take intelligence, drive, and most importantly, emotional self-discipline. Naval Ravikant
The smartest people I know don’t think they’re smart, which must be why they keep getting smarter. Jack Butcher
Spiritual intelligence is the ability to behave with wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace regardless of the situation. Cindy Wigglesworth
Related: 7 Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People (verywellmind.com)
Intelligence follows curiosity. James Clear
It’s usually more important to be in the right room than to be the smartest person in the room. A person with great judgement and average intelligence will usually beat someone with great intelligence and average judgment. Judgment is knowing what room to be in. James Clear
The smartest people often hide their intelligence so as not to confuse (and sometimes offend) the majority. J. D. Landis
Changing your mind when presented with new information is a sign of intelligence. Anthony Pompliano (Source)
Wealth building is a test of discipline, not a test of intelligence. Anthony Pompliano
Together with intelligence, self-control turns out to be the best predictor of a successful and satisfying life. Steven Pinker
The real test of intelligence is the degree to which you you are willing to “non-conform” in order to do the right thing. Shane Parrish
Be smart enough to ask stupid questions. Jack Butcher
Emotional intelligence should be taught in schools. Cori Arnold
Faking intelligence is intelligence. You can only fake it if you have it. Judea Pearl
Work hard to learn. Work smart to earn. Jack Butcher
Generosity is a sign of intelligence: smart people are less likely to take and more likely to give. Adam Grant (Source)
When emotions increase, intelligence decreases. Dan Go
Simpler minds want to think binary. Complex minds want to surf in the nuance. Dan Go
The highest that we can attain to is not knowledge, but sympathy with intelligence. Henry David Thoreau
Intelligence is measured by a person’s ability to see validity within both sides of contradicting arguments. F. Scott Fitzgerald
With themselves as their own enemies, fools lacking in intelligence, move about doing evil deeds, which bear bitter fruits. The Dhammapada
If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Humility is the root of intelligence. Maxime Lagacé
The more genuinely intelligent you’re the more egoless you tend to become with the passage of time. Ego is a symptom of stupidity. Real intelligence however is rarer than you think. It has more to do with self awareness than with solving mathematical puzzles or writing poetry. @TheAncientSage
Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. I think a lot of what people call intelligence boils down to curiosity. Aaron Swartz
The first sign of intelligence is curiosity. The second is staying calm. The third is helping others. Maxime Lagacé
Further Readings
- Topic: Education
- 100 Education Quotes That Will Inspire You To Keep Growing
- 100 Learning Quotes To Inspire You To Learn (Forever)
- 100 Knowledge Quotes That Will Change Your Perspective
- 65 Growth Mindset Quotes (To Improve Your Life)
- 10 Evidence-Backed Ways to Become Smarter (healthline.com)
- 11 Signs of Intelligence Proving There’s More Than One Way to Be a Genius (healthline.com)
- How To Learn Faster (Based on Science)
Hope you enjoyed these beautiful and inspiring intelligence quotes.
And remember:
intelligence is a way to see life and events that happen to you.
It’s a perspective.
A way to ignore what’s unimportant and focus on what’s essential.
It’s a way to zoom out and see how the dots connect.
The more intelligent someone is, the more he gets what he wants out of life.
What’s your favorite intelligence quote? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.