Marilyn vos Savant Quotes

Make a habit of canceling every subscription to anything you don't have time to read

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

Evolution has long been the target of illogical arguments that use presumption.

...there are days when I feel I can do anything and days when I feel I can do nothing. But fortunately for those around me, neither sort occurs very often.

Be able to identify the most common breeds of dogs and cats on sight.

Be able to blow out a dinner candle without sending wax flying across the table.

[Adulthood:] It's when you stop doing the stuff you have to make excuses for and when you stop making excuses for the stuff you have to do.

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

Be able to live alone, even if you don't want to and think you will never find it necessary.

Play more than one game at a time. This is a painless way to learn how to do many things at once.

Know how weather, especially humidity, can affect the movement of doors and windows.

Be able to set a table so that you feel like you're dining, not just sitting and eating.

Everybody loves an accent. It you've been unlucky in love, consider pulling up stakes and moving to another country. Then you'll be the one with a neat foreign accent.

Learn at least two classic ballroom dances, at least one of them Latin.

Be able to draw an illustration as least well enough to get your point across to another person.

Know how to effectively voice a complaint or make a claim at a retail store.

While you're writing, you can't concentrate nearly as well on what the speaker is saying.

Relatively few of us will find the time-or take it-to live an ever enlarging life.

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 recognize the dangerous snakes, spiders, insects, and plants that live in your area of the country.

Know where to find the sunrise and sunset times and note how the sky looks at those times, at least once.

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.

Know what happens when an individual declares bankruptcy and how it affects his or her life.

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

Ultimately, our future is like a mirror. Whenever we face it, it always reflects what we left behind.

An ounce of sequins can be worth a pound of home cooking.

Common sense comes from experience, and kids need to fail as well as succeed in order to learn it. It's difficult to develop common sense when you spend a lot of time in your room where nothing much happens.

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

I believe that love--not imitation--is the sincerest form of flattery. Your imitator thinks that you can be duplicated; your lover knows you can't.

Email, instant messaging, and cell phones give us fabulous communication ability, but because we live and work in our own little worlds, that communication is totally disorganized.

A friend is someone who stays by your side all through the troubles he's caused you.

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.

What is the essence of America? The essence of America is finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom "to" and freedom "from."

Be able to meet any deadline, even if your work is done less well than it would be if you had all the time you would have preferred.

Society needs people who can manage projects in addition to handling individual tasks.

Revenge feels right only to those directly involved. Justice feels right even to outsiders.

The difference between talking on your cell phone while driving and speaking with a passenger is huge. The person on the other end of the cell phone is chattering away, oblivious.

Know the official post office abbreviations for all 50 states without having to consult a list.

If you never heard opportunity knock, maybe you're never at home.

Know why certain foods, such as truffles, are expensive. It's not because they taste best.

You're who you think you are, even if you never admit it to yourself or to anyone else. You may be in the worst position to judge, but you're in the best position to know.

Yes. The original argument is defective. Substitute the word 'male' for 'gay,' and you'll see the flaw: 'Male people cannot be normal. If everyone were male starting tomorrow, the human race would die out, so being male cannot be nature's intended way.' Or you could substitute the word 'female.' In either case, the argument makes no sense: Being male or female is perfectly normal.

I believe a 'talented' person is one who has learned how to effectively cultivate and polish any of the many desirable capabilities with which most of us are born but few of us nurture.

The difference between America and England is that the English think 100 miles is a long distance and the Americans think 100 years is a long time. The difference between an autobiography and an unauthorized biography is like the difference between an account of your life written by your mother and one written by your mother-in-law.

Be in the habit of getting up bright and early on the weekends. Why waste such precious time in bed?

My thoughts are like waffles - the first few don't look so good.

When our spelling is perfect, it's invisible. But when it's flawed, it prompts strong negative associations.

Know how to drive safely when it's raining or when it's snowing. The two conditions are different.