Shrewdness Quotes

We Slytherins are brave, yes, but not stupid. For instance, given the choice, we will always choose to save our own necks.

Cunning is the dwarf of wisdom.

Knowing what is right does not make a sagacious man.

One Man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than every body else.

The government may be made up of clever, sensible people. But if they do not believe in basic human values, the more clever or shrewd they are the greater the tragedy they will create.

It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.

Justice has sufficient authority without wisdom, but wisdom without justice does not have the force to instill faith. For the craftier and shrewder someone is, the more envied and mistrusted he becomes when his reputation for honesty has been lost. For this reason, justice accompanied by understanding will have as much strength as it wishes to instill confidence. Justice without wisdom is capable of much, but wisdom without justice can accomplish nothing

Words had to change their ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them. Reckless audacity came to be considered the courage of a loyal ally; prudent hesitation, specious cowardice; moderation was held to be a cloak for unmanliness; ability to see all sides of a question, inaptness to act on any. Frantic violence became the attribute of manliness; cautious plotting, a justifiable means of self-defense. The advocate of extreme measures was always trustworthy; his opponent a man to be suspected. To succeed in a plot was to have a shrewd head, to divine a plot a still shrewder; but to try to provide against having to do either was to break up your party and to be afraid of your adversaries.

Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable.

A lot of clever people have got everything except judgement

The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it.

The problem with being clever, Serene thought with a sigh, is that everyone assumes you're always planning something.

One man may be more cunning than another, but no one can be more cunning than all the world.

For being book smart, I thought he (A. Barlett Giamatti) had a lot of street smarts, which is tough to find sometimes.

Those who fled will fight another time.

Many live by their wits but few by their wit.

Here's a good rule of thumb; too clever is dumb.

To make a living, craftiness is better than learnedness.

I'm accused of cleverness as if it were a sin. She is merely clever, they say.

The very cunning conceal their cunning; the indifferently shrewd boast of it.

One thing people are gonna have to understand about Trump: He's not stupid; he's not a bull in a china shop. You may end up disagreeing with him profoundly. You may not end up not liking him at all before this is over. I don't know. But he's not dumb, and he's not ignorant, and it's not that he doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing and is doing it for a reason.

A man who is half an idiot, but who keeps a sharp lookout and acts prudently all his life, often enjoys the pleasure of triumphing over men of more imagination than he

The more clever and cunning people are, the stranger the events will be.

And she’s very clever, Peeta. Well, she was. Until you outfoxed her