Cleverness Quotes

Make the doors upon a woman’s wit, and it will out at the casement; shut that, and ’twill out at the keyhole; stop that, ’twill fly with the smoke out at the chimney.

Wit consists in knowing the resemblance of things which differ, and the difference of things which are alike.[L’esprit consiste à connaître la ressemblance des choses diverses et la différence des choses semblables.]

Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is a most sharp sauce.

The desire to seem clever often prevents our being so.[Le désir de paraître habile empêche souvent de le devenir.]

Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.[Steige immer von den kahlen Höhen der Gescheitheit in die grünenden Täler der Dummheit.]

It is exceedingly clever to know how to hide your cleverness.[C’est une grande habileté que de savoir cacher son habileté.]

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.

Clever men should arrange their desires in the proper order and seek each in turn. In our eagerness we often attempt too many things at once, and by striving too much after the small ones we lose the big.[Un habile homme doit régler le rang de ses intérêts et les conduire chacun dans son ordre. Notre avidité le trouble souvent en nous faisant courir à tant de choses à la fois que, pour désirer trop les moins importantes, on manque les plus considérables.]