Considering he was neither priest nor scholar, the young man gave sensible, thoughtful replies -- the more so, perhaps, for being untrained, for he had not learned what he should believe or should not believe. Present a statement to him in flagrant contradiction to all Christian doctrine and he could be persuaded to agree on its good sense, unless he remembered it was the sort of thing of which pyres are made for the incautious.

~ Iain Pears

Iain Pears Catholicism Doctrine Education Freedom Freedom Of Religion Freedom Of Thought Good Sense Independent Thought Inquisition Persecution Philosophy Rationality Reason Schooling

One may enter the literary parlor via just about any door, be it the prison door, the madhouse door, or the brothel door. There is but one door one may not enter it through, which is the child room door. The critics will never forgive you such. The great Rudyard Kipling is one of a number of people to have suffered from this. I keep wondering to myself what this peculiar contempt towards anything related to childhood is all about.

~ Michael Ende

Michael Ende Adults Childhood Children S Children S Books Good Sense Literature Wisdom

I went to interview a man with a high reputation for wisdom, because I felt that here if anywhere I should succeed in disproving the oracle and pointing out to my divine authority 'You said that I was the wisest of men, but here is a man who is wiser than I am.' Well, I gave a thorough examination to this person... and in conversation with him I formed the impression that although in many people's opinion, and especially in his own, he appeared to be wise, in fact he was not. Then when I began to try to show him that he only thought he was wise and was not really so, my efforts were resented both by him and by many of the other people present. However, I reflected as I walked away: 'Well, I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know... [A]s I pursued my investigation at the god's command,... my honest impression was... that the people with the greatest reputations were almost entirely deficient, while others who were supposed to be their inferiors were much better qualified in practical intelligence.

~ Socrates

Socrates Good Sense Intelligence Knowledge Practical Wisdom Wisdom

If we were to plot the distance between where you are RIGHT NOW and the nearest good idea, it would describe a line too big to fit inside the universe.

~ Brian Clevinger

Brian Clevinger Good Sense Intelligence

You can't force folks to have good sense, even if they're family. Maybe especially then.

~ Patricia C. Wrede

Patricia C. Wrede Family Good Sense Humor

All things remarkable are surprisingly simple, albeit difficult to find.

~ Criss Jami

Criss Jami Amazing Awesome Brilliance Common Sense Complexity Comprehension Difficult Discovery Extraordinary Genius Good Sense Ideas Realization Remarkable Revelations Science Sense Shocking Simple Simplicity Splendid Surprise Theory Thoughts Truth Understanding

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who follow the popular majority, and those who possess good sense. In other words, you can either let the crowd steer you right over a cliff, or you can stop to peer beyond the brink and see how a fall will likely end in tragedy.

~ Richelle E. Goodrich

Richelle E. Goodrich Be Smart Common Sense Followers Good Sense Leaders Peer Pressure Popular Majority Richelle Richelle E Goodrich Richelle Goodrich Think Ahead Think It Through

Why didn't you become a sorcerer, Geralt? Weren't you ever attracted by the Art? Be honest.''I will. I was.''Why, then, didn't you follow the voice of that attraction?''I decided it would be wiser to follow the voice of good sense.''Meaning?''Years of practice in the witcher's trade have taught me not to bite off more than I can chew. Do you know, Vilgefortz, I once knew a dwarf, who, as a child, dreamed of being an elf. What do you think; would he have become one had he followed the voice of attraction?

~ Andrzej Sapkowski

Andrzej Sapkowski Be Yourself Good Sense Reason

Some ideas are not born of logic and good sense. They are made of clouds and cobwebs. They sprout from nowhere and feed on excitement, sprinkled with adventure juice and the sweet flavor of the forbidden. The psyche moves from the realms of the ordinary and takes a delicate step towards the unknown. We know we shouldn't and that is exactly why we do.

~ Brigid Lowry

Brigid Lowry Good Sense Ideas Logic Why We Do