Clever Quote by 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.

— Leo Tolstoy

“Before, when I was ordered to consider him intelligent, I kept on trying to and I considered myself stupid for not seeing how intelligent…

— Leo Tolstoy Joel Carmichael translator

There was never a genius who was not thought a fool until he disclosed himself; whereas he is a fool then only.

— Ambrose Bierce

Like many intellectuals, he was incapable of saying a simple thing in a simple way.

— Marcel Proust

He who knows others is clever; He who knows himself has discernment.

— Laozi

“His confidence was something that I admired—he wasn't cocky or arrogant, but pragmatic. He simply knew what he was capable of.”

— Bella Forrest

“He assumed a manner that could be called circular irony. Everything he said, he said in quotes, with an artificial, exaggerated emphasis, and with…

— Stanisław Lem

“Self-confidence is the expression of stupidity.”

— Kari Hotakainen

“Formerly, when I was told to consider him wise, I kept trying to, and thought I was stupid myself because I was unable to…

— Leo Tolstoy

Stupid people like to delude themselves that while they may not be clever, they were at least able to compensate with feelings and insights…

— Stephen Fry

“I was never good at telling intelligent people from mere self-confident fools, the know-it-alls, because I didn’t and couldn’t know, growing up, that, of…

— Mikhail Iossel

“However stupid a fool's words may be, they are sometimes enough to confound an intelligent man.”

— Nikolai Gogol