brainy quotes

From Ancient Greek Philosophers to English poets, Russian novelists and American presidents, here are some of the most popular clever sayings from famous intellectuals.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

— Soren Kierkegaard

“It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.”

“We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him. ”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

“I'm afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning.”

— Andy Warhol

“Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.”

— William Shakespeare

“When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.”

— William Shakespeare

“Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time. ”

— William Shakespeare

“I didn't know I was a slave until I found out I couldn't do the things I wanted.”

— Frederick Douglass

“The silliest woman can manage a clever man; but it needs a very clever woman to manage a fool.”

— Rudyard Kipling

“To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war. ”

— Winston Churchill

“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me. ”

— William Shakespeare

“Never pick a fight with an ugly person, they've got nothing to lose.”

— Robin Williams

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.”

— Albert Einstein

“Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.”

— William Shakespeare

“Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.”

— Dale Carnegie

“Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.”

— Khalil Gibran

“God is a concept by which we measure our pain.”

— John Lennon

“Speak low, if you speak love. ”

— William Shakespeare

“What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.”

— Margaret Mead

“Criticize the act, not the person.”

— Mary Kay Ash

“Life is a series of commas, not periods.”

— Matthew McConaughey

“You can't know too much, but you can say too much.”

— Calvin Coolidge

“The brain is wider than the sky.”

— Emily Dickinson

“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.”

— Desiderius Erasmus

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

— Edward Morgan Forster

“If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”

— Anatole France

“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.”

— Indira Gandhi

“Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.”

— Baltasar Gracian

“Life is made up of marble and mud.”

— Nathaniel Hawthorne

“If you have no critics you'll likely have no success.”

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