Being an intellectual creates a lot of questions and no answers. Janis Joplin
We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect. The judgement of the intellect is only part of the truth. Carl Jung
We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect. John Kenneth Galbraith
There is no greater evidence of superior intelligence than to be surprised at nothing. Josh Billings
There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more sense than we have. Donn Herold
The acquisition of knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good. For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known. Leonardo da Vinci
The very cornerstone of an education intended to form great minds, must be the recognition of the principle, that the object is to call forth the greatest possible quantity of intellectual power, and to inspire the intensest love of truth: and this without a particle of regard to the results to which the exercise of that power may lead, even though it should conduct the pupil to opinions diametrically opposite to those of his teachers. We say this, not because we think opinions unimportant, but because of the immense importance which we attach to them; for in proportion to the degree of intellectual power and love of truth which we succeed in creating, is the certainty that (whatever may happen in any one particular instance) in the aggregate of instances true opinions will be the result; and intellectual power and practical love of truth are alike impossible where the reasoner is shown his conclusions, and informed beforehand that he is expected to arrive at them. John Stuart Mill, Civilization
Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King
Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophische Untersuchungen
He thought of himself as a prophet then. And also a thinker ... Letters: hundreds of them. Mostly to his brother Theo: you’ll see that intelligence bubbling away. Simon Schama’s Power of Art: Van Gogh, BBC 2006
Sculpture is the art of the intelligence. Pablo Picasso
A woman of your intellect is content to ask so little from life and herself. The Sopranos s2e4: Commendatori starring James Gandolfini & Lorriane Bracco & Edie Falco & Michael Imperioli & Dominic Chianese & Steven van Zandt & Tony Sirico & Robert Iler et al, Janice to Carmela, HBO 2000
When I’m dead I’m going to be really smart. The Godfather III 1990 starring Al Pacino & Andy Garcia & Diane Keaton & Talia Shire & Sofia Coppola & George Hamilton & Bridget Fonda et al, director Francis Ford Coppola, Michael to Kay
The few are those men of such intellectual and cultural superiority that they are above the traditional moral concepts. Rope 1948 starring James Stewart & John Dall & Farley Granger & John Chandler & Cedric Hardwicke & Constance Collier & Douglas Dick & Edith Evanson et al, director Alfred Hitchcock, Brandon
Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence. Rear Window 1954 starring James Stewart & Grace Kelly & Wendell Corey & Thelma Ritter & Raymond Burr & Judith Evelyn & Ross Bagdasarian & Georgine Darcy & Sara Berner & Frank Cady et al, director Alfred Hitchcock, Stella
If the presence of electricity can be made visible in any part of the circuit, I see no reason why intelligence may not be transmitted instantaneously by electricity. Samuel Morse
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge’. Isaac Asimov
The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him. Arthur Schopenhauer
Disinterested intellectual curiosity is the life-blood of real civilization. G M Trevelyan
It was an age of intense intellectual activity. Kenneth Clark 2/13: Civilisation: The Great Thaw, BBC 1969
I’m intelligent. Some people would say I’m very very very intelligent. Donald Trump
In 1960s and ’70s Britain hundreds of black children were caught up in an extraordinary scandal. They were labelled as educationally subnormal by the state and wrongly sent to schools for children with low intelligence. A decision that would have a devastating impact on their lives. Subnormal: A British Scandal, BBC 2021
This is a story that exposed assumptions at the heart of the British’ schools system that has an enduring legacy today. ibid.
But how did these ideas about race and intelligence find their way into the British schools system? ibid.
The leaked report from the ILEA contained a multitude of damning admissions: it revealed that the education authority was well aware that Caribbean children were being wrongly placed in ESN schools at much higher rates than their white peers. ibid.
It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up against a fish and loses had it coming. John Steinbeck
What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents – and her supporters celebrate – the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance. Ask yourself: how has ‘elitism’ become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth – in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn’t seem too intelligent or well educated. Sam Harris
I am Holly, the ship’s computer, with an IQ of 6,000. The same IQ as 6,000 PE teachers. Red Dwarf: Future Echoes s1e2