Germaine de Staël Quotes

Wit consists in knowing the resemblance of things that differ, and the difference of things that are alike.

Can you tell the difference between them?

You can observe a lot by watching.

It takes little talent to see what lies under one's nose, a good deal to know in what direction to point that organ.

You have to have some kind of power of observation, almost like a trained observer.

There is one radical distinction between different minds … that some minds are stronger and apter to mark the difference of things, others to mark their resemblances.

Men's wisdom increases with reference to what lies before them.

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

Well, you could almost say, I suppose, that the scientist seeks what is similar between any two days, or bluebirds, or glaciers. And the poet seeks what is different. The artist seeks to celebrate the unique.

You mustn't underestimate an audience's intelligence.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.

Common sense is the measure of the possible; it is composed of experience and prevision; it is calculation applied to life.

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.

I love that perhaps we don't see the things that are there because we have no yardstick to see things by, to compare them.

To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.

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

Fools admire, but men of sense approve.

I think I have a very detailed sense of observation. I am interested in the details of people's lives and what information these details give.

My definition of an educated man is the fellow who knows the right thing to do at the time it has to be done. You can be sincere and still be stupid.

One can state, without exaggeration, that the observation of and the search for similarities and differences are the basis of all human knowledge.

Not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow, does the enlightened man dislike to wade into its waters.

Judgment is more than skill. It sets forth on intellectual seas beyond the shores of hard indisputable factual information.

The first point of wisdom is to discern that which is false; the second, to know that which is true.

I've been blessed with a good head on my shoulders and quite a good ability of discernment. I can see through people.