--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm grateful to intelligent people. That…" description: "\"I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean educated. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/maya-angelou-104_black_i-m-grateful-to-intelligent-people-that_694240.png" --- # I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean… ![“I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean educated. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call 'mother wit' means intelligence that you had in your mother's womb. That's what you rely on. You know what's right to do.” quote by Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/maya-angelou-104_black_i-m-grateful-to-intelligent-people-that_694240.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/maya-angelou-104_black_i-m-grateful-to-intelligent-people-that_694240.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/maya-angelou-104_black_i-m-grateful-to-intelligent-people-that_694240.png) > “I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean educated. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call 'mother wit' means intelligence that you had in your mother's womb. That's what you rely on. You know what's right to do.” [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True intelligence is innate, rooted in instinct and moral intuition, not formal education. **In simple terms:** Innate wisdom guides right actions. Key Takeaway Value instinctual knowledge alongside learning. Themes intelligence instinct morality Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - parenting - community leadership - personal growth Key Concepts cognitive science ethics Questions to Reflect On - How to balance instinct with reason? - When should formal education be trusted? A Different Perspective Instinct can be biased without critical reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Educated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated/) [Grateful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grateful/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Intelligent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent/) [Intelligent people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent-people/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mean Educated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean-educated-2794153/) [Means Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/means-intelligence-2073841/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mother wit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-wit/) [Old people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-people/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Rely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rely/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Wit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wit/) [Wit Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wit-means-5509977/) [Womb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/womb/) ## Related quotes > [Listen carefully to what country people call mother wit. In those homely sayings are couched the collective wisdom of generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/listen-carefully-to-what-country-people-call-mother-wit-in-those/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“As I ate she began the first of what we later called “my lessons in living.” She said that I must always be intolerant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/as-i-ate-she-began-the-first-of-what-we-later-called-my-lessons-in/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If intelligence is the triumph of life, the spoken word is the marvellous means by which this intelligence is manifested.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/if-intelligence-is-the-triumph-of-life-the-spoken-word-is-the/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Sometimes I wonder what being a human means, is it to do what other creatures can't do? it's actually means to do what your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarek-soloman/sometimes-i-wonder-what-being-a-human-means-is-it-to-do-what-other/) [Tarek Soloman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarek-soloman/) > [Money doesn't mean that you are educated, have manners, class or even have good hygiene. All it means is . . . you have money!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/money-doesn-t-mean-that-you-are-educated-have-manners-class-or-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To make music means to express human intelligence by sonic means. This is intelligence in its broadest sense, which includes not only the peregrinations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iannis-xenakis/to-make-music-means-to-express-human-intelligence-by-sonic-means-this/) [Iannis Xenakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iannis-xenakis/) > [If you see someone wearing a bag it doesn't mean they are all educated some are just wandering around … like DORA..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karsh/if-you-see-someone-wearing-a-bag-it-doesn-t-mean-they-are-all/) [Karsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karsh/) > [What I mean by an educated taste is someone who has the same tastes that I have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/what-i-mean-by-an-educated-taste-is-someone-who-has-the-same-tastes/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [“This faculty is mother wit, the creative power through which man is capable of recognising likenesses and making them himself. We see it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/this-faculty-is-mother-wit-the-creative-power-through-which-man-is/) [John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/) > [In crowds it is stupidity and not mother wit that is accumulated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/in-crowds-it-is-stupidity-and-not-mother-wit-that-is-accumulated/) [Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/) > [What do you do with mother love and mother wit when the babies are grown and gone away?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-greenberg/what-do-you-do-with-mother-love-and-mother-wit-when-the-babies-are/) [Joanne Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-greenberg/) > [No delusion is greater than the notion that method and industry can make up for lack of mother-wit, either in science or in practical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/no-delusion-is-greater-than-the-notion-that-method-and-industry-can/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [ Freedom, where are you? Who holds you back? \[...\] The mother of wit and pleasure, Oh freedom! ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-maria-barbosa-du-bocage/freedom-where-are-you-who-holds-you-back-the-mother-of-wit-and/) [Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-maria-barbosa-du-bocage/) > [There are other letters for the child to learn than those which Cadmus invented. The Spaniards have a good term to express this wild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/there-are-other-letters-for-the-child-to-learn-than-those-which/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [you can give it a long name if you like, but I'm an old-fashioned woman and I call it mother-wit, and it's so rare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/you-can-give-it-a-long-name-if-you-like-but-i-m-an-old-fashioned/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) ## More by Maya Angelou > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-agreed-a-long-time-ago-i-would-not-live-at-any-cost-if-i-am-moved/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You want me to do something... tell me I can't do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-want-me-to-do-something-tell-me-i-can-t-do-it/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-going-to-give-you-just-what-you-put-in-it-put-your-whole/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-may-write-me-down-in-history-with-your-bitter-twisted-lies-you/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-more-you-know-of-your-history-the-more-liberated-you-are/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-offers-us-tickets-to-places-which-we-have-not-knowingly-asked-for/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-m-working-at-trying-to-be-a-christian-and-that-s-serious-business/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that easy reading is damn hard writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/nathaniel-hawthorne-once-said-that-easy-reading-is-damn-hard-writing/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Sunday, if I'm lucky, I'll go to church or listen to some good spiritual advice on the television or on the radio. I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/sunday-if-i-m-lucky-i-ll-go-to-church-or-listen-to-some-good/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) [Explore all 1,313 Maya Angelou quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Black music has always known, and not been afraid to acknowledge just how high the stakes of Black thought are. To summarize the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-b-wilderson-iii/black-music-has-always-known-and-not-been-afraid-to-acknowledge-just/) [Frank B. 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I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) [Browse all 11,655 Black quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean educated. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call 'mother wit' means intelligence that you had in your mother's womb. That's what you rely on. 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