Quotes about intelligence

"Intelligent life is the only thing that gives meaning to the universe. It is a holy thing, to be fostered and treasured.

Without it nothing begins, nothing ends, there can be nothing through all eternity but the mindless babblings of chaos . . .

Therefore, the nurture of all intelligent forms is a sacred duty. Even the merest spark of reason must be fanned in the hope of a flame. Frustrated intelligence must have its bonds broken. Narrow-channelled intelligence must be given the power to widen out. High intelligence must be learned from."

Intelligence is too subtle an attribute to be inferred from appearance.

“How did you do that?”

The Hymenopt inclined her head. “With respect, Professor Lang, great intellectual power, even at the level you possess it, is not always a substitute for humble practical experience.”

“Lop the top-end tail off the distribution of human intelligence and creativity,” he went on, “and it would make no measurable difference to the population. Only one person in a billion is out beyond the six-sigma level. That’s what we’re talking about here. But eventually those one-in-a-billion make a huge difference. Ninety-five percent of all human progress comes from less than one thousandth of one percent of the population.”

You just can’t tell. Brains won’t correlate with appearance.

Smart is smart. I’m glad there’s some around somewhere.

He thought, looking at the cat, if only you were the intelligent species on this world. And then, smiling wryly, maybe you are.

An animal doesn’t need to develop curiosity and intelligence if it has no problems that need solving.

They used their intelligence to control things around them, instead of letting nature and the strong-muscled have their way.

Go out to the last few grains of sand, the smartest of the smartest of the smartest, times a thousand. It makes sense that people would be a little odd out here. But you really have to wonder why we all end up in jail.

I'm the smartest man in the world. Once I wore a cape in public, and fought battles against men who could fly, who had metal skin, who could kill you with their eyes. I fought CoreFire to a standstill, and the Super Squadron, and the Champions. Now I have to shuffle through a cafeteria line with men who tried to pass bad checks. Now I have to wonder if there will be chocolate milk in the dispenser. And whether the smartest man in the world has done the smartest thing he could with his life.

Tesch seems to be someone who mistakes rudeness for intellectual rigor.