--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's not that I'm so clever, it is that…" description: "\"It's not that I'm so clever, it is that others are so stupid.\" — George Bernard Shaw" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/george-bernard-shaw-68_clever_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-clever-it-is-that-o_1527617.png" --- # It's not that I'm so clever, it is that others are so… ![“It's not that I'm so clever, it is that others are so stupid.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/george-bernard-shaw-68_clever_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-clever-it-is-that-o_1527617.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/george-bernard-shaw-68_clever_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-clever-it-is-that-o_1527617.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/george-bernard-shaw-68_clever_it-s-not-that-i-m-so-clever-it-is-that-o_1527617.png) > “It's not that I'm so clever, it is that others are so stupid.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intelligence is not about personal cleverness but about others' lack of sense. **In simple terms:** Being smart is about others' stupidity. Key Takeaway Cultivate humility and empathy. Themes intelligence humility social perception Mood thoughtful philosophical Type literary motivational When to use this quote - teamwork - leadership - education - conflict resolution Key Concepts cognitive bias ego communication Questions to Reflect On - How can we value others' perspectives? - What role does humility play in intelligence? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on others' flaws can hinder collaboration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity/) ## Related quotes > [It is not that I am so clever; it is that everyone else is so stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/it-is-not-that-i-am-so-clever-it-is-that-everyone-else-is-so-stupid/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [No who is the most intelligent and the most stupid in the world. because any clever it may be a stupid fool and every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gisel-rifmily/no-who-is-the-most-intelligent-and-the-most-stupid-in-the-world/) [Gisel Rifmily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gisel-rifmily/) > [There's been so many different types of musicals, and it's a funny genre because there's a fine line between clever and stupid. It really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-etheridge/there-s-been-so-many-different-types-of-musicals-and-it-s-a-funny/) [Melissa Etheridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-etheridge/) > [The doctrine of human equality reposes on this: that there is no man really clever who has not found that he is stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-doctrine-of-human-equality-reposes-on-this-that-there-is-no-man/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [From the self-confidence with which he spoke no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/from-the-self-confidence-with-which-he-spoke-no-one-could-tell/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Because of the self-confidence with which he had spoken, no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/because-of-the-self-confidence-with-which-he-had-spoken-no-one-could/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I become more convinced that beings from other planets are using the Earth as a lunatic asylum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-become-more-convinced-that-beings-from-other-planets-are-using-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Some fellows get credit for being conservative when they are only stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kin-hubbard/some-fellows-get-credit-for-being-conservative-when-they-are-only/) [Kin Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kin-hubbard/) > [Capable people do not understand incapacity; clever people do not understand stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/capable-people-do-not-understand-incapacity-clever-people-do-not/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I am so stupid that I cannot understand philosophy; the antithesis of this is that philosophy is so clever that it cannot comprehend my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-am-so-stupid-that-i-cannot-understand-philosophy-the-antithesis-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Stupid men are often capable of things the clever would not dare to contemplate...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/stupid-men-are-often-capable-of-things-the-clever-would-not-dare-to/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The problem with movies and books is they make evil look glamorous, exciting, when it's no such thing. It's boring and it's depressing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/the-problem-with-movies-and-books-is-they-make-evil-look-glamorous/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [If she is stupid enough to let you go, you're clever enough not to look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-is-stupid-enough-to-let-you-go-you-re-clever-enough-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-only-victories-which-leave-no-regret-are-those-which-are-gained/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Clever quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“There was once an old but clever donkey, who never liked the sting of any bee, Nor for all the Slung mud, did he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/there-was-once-an-old-but-clever-donkey-who-never-liked-the-sting-of/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/good-people-are-found-not-changed-recently-i-read-a-headline-that/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [If she is stupid enough to let you go, you're clever enough not to look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-is-stupid-enough-to-let-you-go-you-re-clever-enough-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Need to go to the pharmacy, because I'm so sick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-matthews/need-to-go-to-the-pharmacy-because-i-m-so-sick/) Tasha Matthews > [My valour is certainly going! - it is sneaking off! - I feel it oozing out as it were at the palms of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/my-valour-is-certainly-going-it-is-sneaking-off-i-feel-it-oozing-out/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [People may say that what I do is very clever, but it's not really at all. It's not Swift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-bremner/people-may-say-that-what-i-do-is-very-clever-but-it-s-not-really-at/) [Rory Bremner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-bremner/) > [I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-do-remember-what-i-said-the-promise-to-protect-her-if-i-d-done-that/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [“Regrets are like mistresses," he informed her. "I ..." Her hand dropped from the handle. "What?" "Good men don't have them." 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