Oxford: politicians, writers, scientists, brilliant minds have all been coming here for a thousand years. So what makes them so clever? We will try to find out. Horizon: Battle of the Brains, BBC 2007
The IQ test consists of many sections that seem unconnected. So section two is vocabulary and general knowledge. Section three is a memory test. And section four is a test of our spatial ability. ibid.
If you’re poor in one section of the IQ test you’re likely on average to be poor on most parts. ibid.
Is the good old IQ test nearing the end of its days? ibid.
So Rex Jung’s research suggests that high IQ brains are different from ordinary brains. ibid.
The power of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences comes from its growing influence in schools. ibid.
It seems that labelling people clever or stupid needs an awful lot of care and intelligence. ibid.
What is intelligence? And why do some people apparently have so much more of it than others? Where does intelligence come from? What Makes Us Clever? A Horizon Guide to Intelligence, BBC 2011
We’ve been judged on the merits of this test for years now ... It was introduced in 1912. ibid.
Francis Galton was the first scientist to propose that intelligence was a biologically based mental faculty. He was Darwin’s cousin ... He coined the phrase Nature versus Nurture. ibid.
No specific genes for intelligence have yet been identified. ibid.
We are also beginning to broaden our definition of intelligence itself. ibid.
Almost everyone had a better score at eighty than they did at eleven. But some had gone from being just averagely intelligence to a much higher level. ibid.
It seems high IQ in childhood is good for survival. ibid.
Have you ever wondered how intelligent you are compared to your friends, your colleagues, and the rest of the nation? Are you worried that your smartphone is making you stupid? And can the latest science make you cleverer? We’re measuring the brainpower of the British public in the largest intelligence test of its kind ever undertaken. Horizon: The Great British Intelligence Test, BBC 2020
Your lifestyle and social media use can affect your brainpower. And what we can all do to be a little bit smarter. ibid.
Intelligence is a relatively late arrival in the universe. Dr Jonathan Miller: A Brief History of Unbelief III: The Final Hour, BBC 2004
The treachery of the intellectuals. Julian Benda, 1869-1956, French philosopher & novelist
Oh, cleave ye to Reason’s path that rightly ye may be led
Let none set his hopes except upon the Preserver!
And quench not the Almighty’s beams, for lo, He hath given to all
A lamp of intelligence for use and enjoying. Abu’l Ala Al Ma’arri
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying. Oscar Wilde
It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer. Albert Einstein
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. Albert Einstein, attributions & variations inc Hawking
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. Albert Einstein, attributed
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, Complete
I’d take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day. Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously. Douglas Adams
If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Belief is the death of intelligence. Robert Anton Wilson
He had just about enough intelligence to open his mouth when he wanted to eat, but certainly no more. P G Wodehouse
It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The more stupid one is, the closer one is to reality. The more stupid one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence squirms and hides itself. Intelligence is unprincipled, but stupidity is honest and straightforward. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence. Jiddu Krishnamurti
The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it. Terry Pratchett, Jingo
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, Franny and Zooey
Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms. Groucho Marx
Man is so intelligent that he feels impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on his theories, he behaves very often like a lunatic. Aldous Huxley
Man is an intelligence in servitude to his organs. Aldous Huxley
Beauty is a sign of intelligence. Andy Warhol
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. Saul Bellow, To Jerusalem and Back
The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions. George Carlin
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, The Crack-Up
You put too much stock in human intelligence, it doesn’t annihilate human nature. Philip Roth, American Pastoral
We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life’s continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to it, but here we are. Stephen Jay Gould, The Flamingo’s Smile
There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless. Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
I couldn't claim that I was smarter than sixty-five other guys – but the average of sixty-five other guys, certainly! Richard P Feynman, ‘Surely, You’re Joking, Mr Feynman’
I happen to feel that the degree of a person’s intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic. Lisa Alther
I would prefer an intelligent hell to a stupid paradise. Blaise Pascal
Intuition is the highest form of intelligence, transcending all individual abilities and skills. Sylvia Clare, Trusting Your Intuition
In pursuit of happiness, smart people often end up dumbing down themselves. Erol Ozan
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. Stephen Hawking, variations inc Einstein
People who boast about their IQs are losers. Stephen Hawking
It is the mark of a truly intelligent person to be moved by statistics. George Bernard Shaw
We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. George Orwell
An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things. Bryant H McGill