To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question.
— Edward Abbey
Practical Intelligent Man quotations

I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.
So unless we come together as a people and stop our foolish beefing among each other, sit down like intelligent men and women and settle the things that divide us from each other, then come together like a solid wall and we could make something happen.

The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.
The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow- witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.
Perhaps I really regard myself as an intelligent man only because throughout my entire life I've never been able to start or finish anything.

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
The man who uses intelligence with respect to his diet, his sleeping habits and who exercises properly, is beyond any question of doubt taking the very best preventive medicines provided so freely and abundantly by nature
If men can develop weapons that are so terrifying as to make the thought of global war include almost a sentence for suicide, you would think that man's intelligence and his comprehension... would include also his ability to find a peaceful solution.

It is not the intelligent woman v. the ignorant woman; nor the white woman v. the black, the brown, and the red, it is not even the cause of woman v. man. Nay, tis woman's strongest vindication for speaking that the world needs to hear her voice.
No intelligent man believes that anybody ever willingly errs or willingly does base and evil deeds; they are well aware that all who do base and evil things do them unwillingly.
At this very moment enormous numbers of intelligent men and women of goodwill are trying to build a better world. But problems are born faster than they can be solved.

We are constantly protecting the male ego, and it's a disservice to men.
If a man has any sensitivity or intelligence, he wants to get the straight scoop from his girlfriend.
The intelligent man is one who has successfully fulfilled many accomplishments, and is yet willing to learn more.
There is not one single established religion that an intelligent, educated man can believe.

Regardless of communication between man and man, speech is a necessary condition for the thinking of the individual in solitary seclusion. In appearance, however, language develops only socially, and man understands himself only once he has tested the intelligibility of his words by trial upon others.
A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again.
But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.
A man of genius can hardly be sociable, for what dialogues could indeed be so intelligent and entertaining as his own monologues?

Had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends...every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.
There's no such thing as intelligent vanity.
It's an instinct. And you'll never find a man who is not first and foremost vain.
You don't have to be a man to fight for freedom.
All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being.

A man's judgment is best when he can forget himself and any reputation he may have acquired and can concentrate wholly on making the right decisions.
[Robinson Crusoe] is the true prototype of the British colonist.
The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly independence, the unconscious cruelty, the persistence, the slow yet efficient intelligence, the sexual apathy, the calculating taciturnity.
Is it really credible that random processes could have constructed a reality.
..which excels in every sense anything produced by the intelligence of man?

I disapprove of matrimony as a matter of principle.
... Why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself! (Amelia Peabody)
A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
'How do you know so much about everything?' was asked of a very wise and intelligent man; and the answer was 'By never being afraid or ashamed to ask questions as to anything of which I was ignorant.'

Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence.
Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.
The relative positions to be assumed by man and woman in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence than ours.
It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority.
By definition, there are already enough people to do that.

Consider the average intelligence of the common man, then realize 50% are even stupider.
I want an intelligent girl whom I can talk about everything.
I want her to be my friend, to be partners. I don't like when a girl is rough, but delicate and subtle. I like good manners and not rudeness nor arrogance.
Nothing is so necessary for a young man as the company of intelligent women.
However stupid a fools words may be, they are sometimes enough to confound an intelligent man.
Intelligent men have no need to listen to much talk, but should attend only to that which is profitable and guided by God's will.