Marilyn vos Savant Quotes

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.

Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.

There's plenty of intelligence in the world, but the courage to do things differently is in short supply.

When you're in a good mood, bring up the past. When you're in a bad mood, stick to the present. And when you're not feeling emotional at all, it's time to talk about the future.

Be able to defend your arguments in a rational way. Otherwise, all you have is an opinion.

An error becomes a mistake when we refuse to admit it.

A fool is someone whose pencil wears out before its eraser does.

Be sure to expose yourself to criticism: A fine polish requires an abrasive.

You can't be wise without being intelligent, but you certainly can be intelligent without being wise.

The lower our self-esteem, the more we're attracted to our opposite, and the higher our self-esteem, the more we are attracted to another like ourselves.

The length of your education is less important than its breadth, and the length of your life is less important than its depth.

One of the few articles of clothing that a man won't try to remove from a woman is an apron.

Stop asking for directions so much. Assuming that you're in a safe environment, pay attention and figure things out for yourself. Have the nerve to take a wrong turn now and then. You'll develop better working instincts and have more self-esteem too.

If your head tells you one thing, and your heart tells you another, before you do anything, you should first decide whether you have a better head or a better heart.

Almost all of the finer things in life are free or nearly free. You don't have to pay for the sky at night or snow in the morning or a kiss on the nose when you're sick. Forgetting that may put you at the mercy of those who seek to profit by convincing you to want whatever it is they have to sell.

The squeaky wheel may get the most oil, but it's also the first to be replaced.

Success may be the ability to be happy with whatever we're stuck with.

Feeling is what you get for thinking the way you do.

If achieving your potential requires favorable judgment by others, you are much less likely to succeed.

I've never found an interesting person with a foul mouth.

I think one of the problems [with raising intelligent children] is compulsory schooling...and that children are sitting there and they are taught and told what to believe. They are passive from the very beginning, and one must be very, very aggressive intellectually to have a high IQ [...] the child is taught. Right from the beginning, it's a passive process. He or she sits there, and they simply try to believe everything they're told.

Loving behavior contributes to the group at the expense of the individual. Competition contributes to the survival of the individual at the expense of the group. In the garden of life, some people are more like flowers, and other people are more like weeds.

Be able to cite three good qualities of every relative or acquaintance that you dislike.

How can we live in freedom and maintain that we are entitled to *anything* that we can't get without the labor of others? Remember, if we are entitled to the labor of others, that makes slaves of those others.