Top 100 Really Smart Sayings
#1. When happiness points in one direction while wisdom, truth, integrity, and common sense point in another, that's when really smart people start doing really stupid things.
Andy Stanley
#2. I love reading religious authors. Especially in the sort of circle I move in, people tend to be more secular, and I love reading books by just really smart people of religious faith. It's always a really cool perspective.
Mallory Ortberg
#3. I am sure Cinderella was really smart. Even if the fairy had not appeared, she would have found some way out of their clutches. She would have had to; it's called survival.
Gita V. Reddy
#4. I definitely feel like I'm a really good playmaker, a really smart point guard that can lead his team and win.
Trey Burke
#6. Wow! So you're really smart, huh? This brilliant deduction was offered by a girl with a Marilyn Monroe voice who used glittery pens and wrote each letter of her name in a different color, surrounded by hearts and stars. I had dubbed her Sparkles.
Amy Harmon
#7. Once he had identified the new new thing, all he needed was some really smart, passionate engineers to chase after it and make it happen.
Michael Lewis
#8. I did an episode of a show called 'Mind Games,' which is no longer on the air, and it was an intellectual comedy-drama. It was just really smart TV.
Emma Dumont
#9. The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart. And being thoughtful. And being generous. Everything else is crap! I promise you! It's just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less. So don't buy it. Be smart, be thoughtful, and be generous.
Ashton Kutcher
#10. I always value people's opinions. I think a lot of people are really smart people, and when people say something, they do it for a reason.
Harald Zwart
#11. I thought Rounders was a comic movie in its way. First time I directed a movie, I wanted to do a comedy. I don't like things that are superficially one thing or another, mainly. My favorite comedies are really smart, too, and have a lot of levels to them as well.
Edward Norton
#12. I really liked Tom & Jerry. That was huge for me. I watched it every morning, before I walked to school. Even as a kid, I thought there was something really smart about it. I thought it was very clever.
Jason Lee
#13. When you quit school at an early age, I think you have a lifelong need to show the world - and maybe yourself - that you're really smart after all.
George Carlin
#14. Robots will someday, or maybe, wake up. They may be really smart. They may be as creative, smart and capable as human beings, and fully conscious, and self discerning with free will.
David Hanson
#15. I'm an optimist in the sense that I believe humans are noble and honorable, and some of them are really smart. I have a very optimistic view of individuals.
Steve Jobs
#16. When you live in America, it's kind of insular - the news coverage that you get - unless you're really smart about it and find more international news coverage. I've learned that from my husband. In the French culture, they talk politics.
Kim Raver
#17. For Keeping the Faith, I looked at [George ] Cukor's old films like The Philadelphia Story, stuff that's hilariously funny and really smart with a cutting critique in the humor, too. With this, when I read it, I was laughing a lot.
Edward Norton
#18. To me, the punk rock kids I grew up with were really, really smart, and to me, respecting those kids was a really big deal.
Matthew Lillard
#19. If you want to compete in bioinformatics, first you need to compete for really smart people. You need really smart people who understand how to manipulate nanomolecules.
Juan Enriquez
#20. No one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person
Stephen King
#21. People can be really smart or have skills that are directly applicable, but if they don't really believe in it, then they are not going to really work hard.
Mark Zuckerberg
#22. If a woman is bed-heady and it doesn't look put on, it's pretty sexy. But when a woman is wearing a really smart dress with great heels and her hair is pulled back, that's terribly sexy too - like an Audrey Hepburn kind of thing.
Eric Mabius
#23. The cool thing about Kyle Killen, he writes really defined characters. I was a big fan of 'Awake' and also 'Lone Star.' I just think that he's a really, really special writer, and complex and deep, and a really smart dude.
Jaime Ray Newman
#24. Obviously if you're playing some of the smartest men in the world, you want to sound really smart.
Matthew William Goode
#25. Some [people] are really smart. You know who you are. Some [people] are really thick. Unfortunately, you don't know who you are.
Ricky Gervais
#26. Do a lot of questions mean you are really smart or really dumb?
Allan Dare Pearce
#28. I had a number of great teachers and the ones that really were the strongest influences on me were women. They were really, really smart and interesting women.
Meryl Streep
#29. I go for really smart guys, ones who are well-read and can banter and argue. Men need to be able to take me out and have a few drinks, but by the end of the night we'll be talking about Nietzsche.
Katie McGrath
#30. I think it's because it's so different and it takes risks. Plus, it's really smart humor. It gives the audience credit in terms of not needing to tell them when to laugh. I love that about the show. There's no laugh track.
Sarah Chalke
#31. Maybe the only significant difference between a really smart simulation and a human being was the noise they made when you punched them.
Terry Pratchett
#32. The future is going to require really smart people. What we think are crises today probably will be no big deal, and we have no idea what will really be crises in the future.
Dean Kamen
#33. TV is a different animal these days. You can bring together really smart writing and directing, in-depth character development and really meaty political and emotional stories.
Connie Nielsen
#34. My talent isn't so much in traditional research as in finding really smart people and badgering them with questions.
Maria Semple
#35. 'The Simpsons' basically - and 'Futurama' - are really smart shows. They're kind of disguised as these goofy animated sitcoms, but the references within the shows, if you're paying attention, are pretty smart and pretty sophisticated.
Matt Groening
#36. One of the most stubborn barriers to patient empowerment is the cultural assumption that since the way professionals learned was hard, you must need to be really smart, and you need to be taught in a carefully thought out, methodical sequence.
Dave DeBronkart
#37. They don't understand that I'm just choosing to be dumb. I'm not dumb. I'm just choosing not to be smart at the moment, but if I put in effort, then I could be really smart, but I choose not to.
Jonah
#38. In ten minutes, I'm thinking, 'OK, you know what? I love these guys. They're really smart, they're really good, they've got a good sense of comedy, under their guidance, I think maybe this could come out OK.' But I didn't like the part.
Eugene Levy
#39. People that are really smart and that can learn new things can almost always find a role in the company as time goes on.
Sam Altman
#40. I'm not saying people shouldn't apply themselves and work hard. You do have to try to make your own luck. But I know people firsthand who worked incredibly hard, who were really smart, who never got into trouble, and still didn't get a break.
David Lindsay-Abaire
#41. Adults trying to protect children from reality, right? And adults always trying to fill children with fantasy - the tooth fairy, Santa, make-believe games, etc. But kids are really smart, I think they know from an early age about death, this void and hole they are immediately traveling toward.
Shane Warren Jones
#42. I may not be a role model, but at least I'm raising really smart children.
Colleen Hoover
#43. I'm a really smart player. If you tell me something, I get it quickly. If there is something wrong with my hitting, tell me what's wrong and I'll pick it up right away. That's the best thing I have going for me, my ability to listen to a coach and fix what I'm doing wrong.
Albert Pujols
#44. Somebody said something really smart: It's like you end up being the defense attorney for your role. Your job is to defend their point of view. You're fighting for what they want. You learn that in acting school - it's Acting 1A: 'What do you want? What's in the way?'
Annette Bening
#45. Fiona McCrae is a really amazing editor. Really smart and very astute about what a story needs.
Ru Freeman
#46. When I first came to Washington, what I admired most was that people were just really, really smart with a tremendous amount of intellectual horsepower and the ability to look at an issue and say something fresh.
Ezra Klein
#47. My mom's always saying really smart things ... like, you probably heard this one, 'Why buy the cow when the milk has HPV?' Wish I'd listened to that one.
Amy Schumer
#48. I heard John Wells say something really smart, many years ago. He said, "Assume your audience is really intelligent. Assume that they are really smart, and tell your story that way." So, for me, it's about never assuming that they will go away because they're not entertained.
Veena Sud
#49. I've been fortunate to work with some really smart people. Larry Page is an extremely smart guy, most probably one of the smartest people I've worked with.
Ram Shriram
#50. Really smart people don't want to say stupid things, and they really don't want to be a part of a PR-engineered interview. People really do want to be smart, and they want smart questions. So, if you ask smart questions, there's no way you can't do well.
Kara Swisher
#51. I lack formal education. So I'm left with the feeling that I'm smarter than everyone around me but that if I ever got around really smart people - people who went to universities and drank wine and spoke Latin - that they'd be bored as hell by me. It's a lonely way to go through life.
Gillian Flynn
#52. I come from a really lovely, really smart family where the only stress was money and employment.
Paul Schneider
#53. Smile at people, pop your head into your boss's office regularly and say hello, and come to your first meeting with something really smart to say.
Kate White
#54. I think Chris Brown gets kind of dismissed as a gay writer, and I think Chris's books are really, really smart. I wish his books sold a little more widely.
Chuck Palahniuk
#55. Hire sales people who are really smart problem solvers, but lack courage, hunger and competitiveness, and your company will go out of business.
Ben Horowitz
#56. I think I just pick really smart and motivated people to work with - people who are probably going to do great things anyway - and I just teach them what I know, maybe teach them how to think a little clearer than they did before, and then off they go.
Tucker Max
#57. Then the door flew open and Mr. Faulks told us to head over to the gym. I thought that was really smart. Get all of us in one place so the aliens didn't have to waste a lot of ammunition.
Rick Yancey
#58. It's funny how really smart people have the most unusual holes in their worldview and perception.
Nalini Singh
#59. I saw at once the way to appeal to him.. 'Well, of course you know.' I said, 'in really smart circles one has to offer heroin and cocaine to people. It's only a passing fashion, of course, but while it's on, one's really out of it if one doesn't do the right thing.
Aleister Crowley
#60. I'm used to being surrounded by really smart 22-year-old students who have no problem saying that something I suggested is not a very good idea.
Harold E. Varmus
#61. To me the key thing is getting it right. And if a person's really smart and they're doing fantastic work, I don't care if they're a high school kid or a Harvard professor; it's the work that matters.
Jimmy Wales
#62. I've been fortunate to meet and work with a lot of really smart people. The thing that strikes me most about them is how they continue to explore and learn every day. I have tried to apply that approach in my modest career as well.
Bill Russell
#63. We read novels. We read hundreds of pages of words, when the story is good because we're willing to stay there. I hope the story is good. I'm going into this venture thinking that the audience is really smart and really wants to hear all the nuances of what we're saying.
Veena Sud
#64. I don't think Julia Roberts is as innocent as her image suggests. You have to be a really smart cookie to create an image as clean and pure and on-the-money as hers.
Sharon Stone
#65. People who are smart get into Mensa. People who are really smart look around and leave.
James Randi
#66. With news, especially investigative pieces, you've got to be really smart and really lucky to be timely and to not get beaten by the big guys. You can't go head-to-head with the networks.
Bill Kurtis
#67. If I go to an awards ceremony, I wear a suit, of course I do. I am proud to be there. If there are young kids looking at pictures of me, I want them to feel that they should long for the opportunity to go somewhere really smart and wear a beautiful suit, rather than to reject that.
Tinie Tempah
#68. Sephora's business is really smart and clever - I'm all for anything that gets people up and out and into the social experience of shopping.
Marc Jacobs
#69. My family is not only attractive - I can say that because I'm paterfamilias - but they're really smart, and they're very, very compassionate.
Tom Brokaw
#70. Being smart can make happiness elusive. Being REALLY smart can help you find it in more places than most.
Brandon Mull
#71. Science fiction has done a really good job of scaring us into thinking that computers shouldn't get too smart, because as soon as they get really smart, they're going to take over the world and kill us, or something like that. But why would they do that?
Luis Von Ahn
#72. I'm a big fan of 'Glee.' I think it's really smart. And I think it's well-timed. But you can't not be surprised at the reception this show's received. It's really something else.
Cory Monteith
#73. You just can't tell or calibrate motive or intelligence or sense. So I don't read anything unless someone tells me that it's really smart or illuminating. I don't read any reviews anymore and it's been really liberating.
Anna Quindlen
#74. We all have brains and we're all really smart people, but the underlying reality is that we're really just animals and sometimes animal instinct takes over your capability to really think things through.
Cristian Machado
#75. I think there are those individuals who are intimidated by really smart, talented people. But for me, surrounding yourself with great talent is the key to success.
Monika Chiang
#76. I always said you have to be really smart or really dumb to play this game well. I just don't know where I fit in.
Beth Daniel
#77. Probably if you look like Tyra Banks, it probably is hard, even if you are really smart, for people to take - it surprises some.
Lisa Randall
#78. When you're single again, at the beginning you're very optimistic and you say, 'I want to meet someone who's really smart, really sweet, really sensitive.' And six months later you're like, 'Lord, any mammal with a day job.
Carol Leifer
#79. I try to create some stupid entertainment for really smart people that they don't feel too stupid watching. In 'Xanadu,' the biggest laugh was a reference to Achilles.
Douglas Carter Beane
#80. The way to do good basic design isn't actually to be really smart about it, but to try to have a few basic concepts.
Linus Torvalds
#81. If you want your children to be smart, tell them stories. If you want them to be really smart, tell them more stories. If you want your children to be brilliant, tell them even more stories.
Albert Einstein
#82. I'm a really, really, smart, multi-talented almost-genius, who's very annoying.
Tyler, The Creator
#83. One of the Great Rules of Economics According to John Green
If you are rich, you have to be an idiot not to stay rich. And if you are poor, you have to be really smart to get rich.
John Green
#84. I like to work with people that I like hanging out with, that I admire, that are really smart and talented, and we can problem solve together.
Tom Cruise
#85. Entrepreneurship boils down to the simple fact that a team of really smart people who can get things done are going to get smart, useful things done.
Joel Spolsky
#86. Guys don't really don't wanna hear if it's really smart, and women feel uncomfortable if you reveal stuff they're going to have to remember they did themselves.
Liz Phair
#87. It's times like this that he reminds me of a really smart, really good-looking five-year-old.
Eva Morgan
#88. You can be labelled but if it doesn't speak to people then it won't work. The social media and online has been really important. Fans are really smart too: they don't want to hear something manufactured or something that has too much marketing behind it.
Mac Miller
#90. Personally, I know the lifestyle I lead is really busy. If I want to watch an entire series of something, it usually has to be in one weekend. I'll dedicate two days to it because it's not the kind of thing I can come back to, every night. I think this is a really smart format.
Penelope Mitchell
#91. The problem with being a really smart prick is, end of the day, you're still a prick.
Dana Haynes
#92. I think my parents were really smart parents. I think they were, actually, pretty progressive for the time. The one thing that they really wanted me to know is what makes me tick, what I am about, how I approach life. And I think what my parents really wanted for me was for me to be who I am.
Rich Mullins
#93. I love meeting fans. The people who are fans of my books are really smart and dedicated, because some independent comics are hard to get. I will drive all the way to Pittsburgh or Detroit to put it in their hands.
Brian Michael Bendis
#94. When I'm going to events, I like Armani because I think they do a cross between my relaxed rocky feel and a really smart elegant look really well.
Ruta Gedmintas
#95. I think there ought to be some serious discussion by smart people, really smart people, about whether or not proliferation of things like The Smoking Gun and TMZ and YouTube and the whole celebrity culture is healthy.
Stephen King
#96. I started acting when I was, like, three. My brother was really smart, and he wasn't being challenged enough, so my mom put him in the theater class. And I obviously followed him.
Nolan Gould
#97. Netflix is amazing 'cause they trust the creator to do their job, and they trust us to do our job. They're really smart and just let us do our thing and deliver a great job.
Laura Prepon
#98. The Republican Party would be really smart to absorb as much of the Tea Party movement as possible.
Sarah Palin
#99. You know something,Jacob, I'd hate to be as smart as Jonh. I mean he was really, really smart, and to be that smart means you know all the answers, and when you know all the answers there's no room for dreaming.
Melina Marchetta
#100. None of us are really dumb and none of us are really smart. We're in the middle.
Daniel Johns
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