As quoted on my “Why?” page:   “Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.”   -Andre Gide

Also on my “Why?” page I said I am doing this “Because the world DESERVES to know.”

As well, I said, “I have taken the burden upon myself to grace humanity with a written account of what they SHOULD already know and practice.”

That said I also want to make clear I do not have a monopoly on this knowledge.  In fact, much of what I have to say has at least been hinted at by others.  That is part of the point, people haven’t listened.  Sometimes that is due to the “others” being relegated to ancient history (about which we should, heaven forbid, read), sometimes to limited access (to a venue or an audience).  Sometimes (but rarely) I am just repeating.  Sometimes I am elaborating.  Therefore, on occasion, of which this is one, I will be setting out a series of quotes on a particular subject that spells out, by those far more intelligent than I (at least on that given subject), much that we SHOULD know.   NO, this is not a copout – not a way to just make it easy on me.  It is an acknowledgement that some people are smarter than I.  Although the first quote suggests against appealing to authority for proof of right.  I’ll let you figure it out.  Please enjoy and contemplate.

Let us start with the topic of Intelligence.

Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.   –Leonardo da Vinci

[Editor’s note:  I will have future comments with reference to education.  This is the sighting shot]

It takes a lot of things to prove you are smart, but only one thing to prove you are ignorant.   -Don Herold

You have to be smart. The easy days are over.   -Robert Kiyosaki

[Editor’s note: a lessen I hope my cadets get]

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.   -Niccolo Machiavelli

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.   -Confucius

Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.   -Albert Einstein

{Editor’s note:  another thought for my cadets (Think Ahead, Do Ahead!)]

Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.   -Blaise Pascal

There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more sense than we have.   -Don Herold

We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect.   -John Kenneth Galbraith

There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them.   -George Orwell

[Editor’s note: If you have to think about this too long…]

Success in almost any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains why we have so many stupid leaders.   -Sloan Wilson

I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.   -William F. Buckley, Jr.

[Editor’s note:  always did like this guy]

If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?   -Scott Adams

[might be my favorite – well, except for the 1st]

>>> The day is at a close, the night is drawing in and my cigar awaits – ’til next time…