Claude Adrien Helvetius Quotes

Intellect is invisible to the man who has none.

Intellect is the swiftest of things, for it runs through everything.

Suppose, gentleman, that man is not stupid.

The understanding of some men is clear, that of others brilliant. The former illumines its surroundings; the latter obscures them.

While one man can discover a certain thing by himself, another is never able to understand it, even if taught by means of all possible expressions and metaphors, and during a long period; his mind can in no way grasp it, his capacity is insufficient for it.

If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.

I can well conceive a man without hands, feet, head. But I cannot conceive man without thought; he would be a stone or a brute.

When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man.

There is only a finger's difference between a wise man and a fool.

In Greece wise men speak and fools decide.

I don't know how to depict intelligence.

No good-looking appearance would conceal low intelligence.

Some are smart but they are not wise

The wise are instructed by reason; ordinary minds by experience; the stupid, by necessity; and brutes by instinct.

Ability to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false, is the characteristic of intelligence.

No one, however smart, however well educated … is the suppository of all wisdom.

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend

Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know

There must be equal opportunities for women. There is no difference between man and woman in their creation, in their humanity, in their pursuit of knowledge, in their understanding, in their intelligence, in their religious piety, in serving God and in serving people.

That which exercises reason is more excellent than that which does not exercise reason

Think about how stupid the average person is and then realize that half of them are stupider than that.

If you will give the matter a moment's thought, you'll see that memory is the highest faculty of the human mind.

What's more valuable - intelligence or consciousness?

Learning does not make one learned: there are those who have knowledge and those who have understanding. The first requires memory and the second philosophy

Intellect is not wisdom.