Clever Quotes - Page 23

• The fact is, the Time Traveller was one of those men who are too clever to be believed: you never felt that you saw all round him; you always suspected some subtle reserve, some ingenuity in ambush, behind his lucid frankness.

  H. G. Wells

  Men, Saws, Facts

  H G Wells (2004). “The Time Machine (Sparklesoup Classics)”, p.12, Sparklesoup LLC

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• If you are anything like me --- Clever, fond of goat cheese, and devilishly handsome --- then you have undoubtedly read many books.

  Brandon Sanderson

  Book, Goats, Handsome

  Brandon Sanderson (2016). “Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians”, p.224, Macmillan

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• There was once a man, Harry, called the steppenwolf. He went on two legs, wore clothes and was a human being, but nevertheless he was in reality a wolf of the steppes. He had learned a good deal of all that people of a good intelligence can, and was a fairly clever fellow. What he had not learned, however, was this: to find contentment in himself and his own life.

  Hermann Hesse

  Learning, Reality, Men

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• American girls are as clever at concealing their parents as English women are at concealing their past.

  Oscar Wilde

  Girl, Past, Parent

  Oscar Wilde, Russell Jackson, Joseph Bristow, Ian Small (2000). “The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: The picture of Dorian Gray : the 1890 and 1891 texts”, p.197, Oxford University Press on Demand

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• But a hare, now, that is a different thing altogether. A hare is not a pet but a person. Hares are clever and brave and loving, and they have fairy blood in them. It’s a grand thing to have a hare for a friend.

  Elizabeth Goudge

  Blood, Brave, Pet

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• I love you, Minerva. I love that you believe in me no matter what. I love how you take whatever you see and distill it into your books. I love your clever mind and your generous heart and every inch of your beautiful body. I love you even when you give me heart failure, by risking your life before my very eyes." He smiled tenderly. "I only hope in time I can prove worthy of your love.

  Sabrina Jeffries

  Beautiful, Believe, Book

  Sabrina Jeffries (2011). “How to Woo a Reluctant Lady”, p.333, Simon and Schuster

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• These weren't cheap modern books; these were books bound in leather, and not just leather, but leather from clever cows who had given their lives for literature after a happy existence in the very best pastures.

  Terry Pratchett

  Book, Literature, Cows

  "I Shall Wear Midnight". Book by Terry Pratchett, 2010.

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• A stupid person can make only certain, limited types of errors; the mistakes open to a clever fellow are far broader. But to the one who knows how smart he is compared to everyone else, the possibilities for true idiocy are boundless.

  Steven Brust

  Mistake, Smart, Stupid

  Steven Brust (2010). “Iorich”, p.172, Macmillan

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• Marya Morevna! Don't you know anything? Girls must be very, very careful to care only for ribbons and magazines and wedding rings. They must sweep their hearts clean of anything but kisses and theater and dancing. They must never read Pushkin; they must never say clever things; they must never have sly eyes or wear their hair loose and wander around barefoot, or they will draw his attention!

  Catherynne M. Valente

  Girl, Heart, Eye

  Catherynne M. Valente (2011). “Deathless”, p.41, Macmillan

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• Yet, isn't it strange, isn't it weird, how we can KNOW that someone is not behaving in the way we imagine, and at the same time we can be totally convinced that he is! How clever the human mind is, that it can accept two contradictory things as 'facts.' Yes, I know that in this case one 'fact' was untrue. But the human mind can KNOW something is untrue and still accept it as a 'fact,' and act on it as if it were true.

  Aidan Chambers

  Two, Mind, Way

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• You count snouts,” Straha said. “Whichever side can persuade most snouts to join it prevails. It does not have to be clever. It does not have to be wise. It only needs to be popular.

  Harry Turtledove

  Wise, Doe, Needs

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• All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some added opportunity; the less clever man, by neglecting one thing, sometimes misses everything.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Opportunity, Men, Giving

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• I take back everything I ever said about that boy being clever." He turned around to face the bar while leveling an accusatory finger at the closed door. "That," he said firmly to the room in general, "is what comes of working with iron every day.

  Patrick Rothfuss

  Boys, Doors, Iron

  Patrick Rothfuss (2011). “The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two”, p.30, Penguin

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• [Kay] was not at all an unpleasant person really, but clever, quick, proud, passionate and ambitious. He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it.

  T. H. White

  Heart, People, Leader

  T. H. White (2011). “The Once and Future King”, p.35, Penguin

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• But clever people all make one mistake. They all think everyone else is stupid. And everyone isn't stupid. They just take a bit more time, that's all.

  Robert Harris

  Mistake, Stupid, Thinking

  Robert Harris (2010). “Archangel”, p.23, Random House

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• I have an apple that thinks its a pear. And a bun that thinks it’s a cat. And a lettuce that thinks its a lettuce." "It’s a clever lettuce, then." "Hardly," she said with a delicate snort. "Why would anything clever think it’s a lettuce?" "Even if it is a lettuce?" I asked. "Especially then," she said. "Bad enough to be a lettuce. How awful to think you are a lettuce too.

  Patrick Rothfuss

  Cat, Thinking, Apples

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• Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years earlier, were dangerous.

  Stacy Schiff

  Years, Dangerous, Intersections

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• This man was so absent-mindedly clever that he could paint pictures that didn’t just follow you around the room but went home with you and did the washing-up.

  Terry Pratchett

  Home, Men, Rooms

  Terry Pratchett (2016). “The Last Hero”, p.37, Hachette UK

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• She came into a room; she stood, as he had often seen her, in a doorway with lots of people round her. But it was Clarissa one remembered. Not that she was striking; not beautiful at all; there was nothing picturesque about her; she never said anything specially clever; there she was however; there she was.

  Virginia Woolf

  Beautiful, People, Doorways

  Virginia Woolf (2007). “Selected Works of Virginia Woolf”, p.177, Wordsworth Editions

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• Once in a while, Jimmy would make up a word but he never once got caught out. ... He should have been pleased by his success with these verbal fabrications, but instead he was depressed by it. The memos telling him he'd done a good job meant nothing to him; all they proved was that no one was capable of appreciating how clever he had been. He came to understand why serial killers sent helpful clues to the police.

  Margaret Atwood

  Jobs, Should Have, Appreciate

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• You are very clever," said the old man shyly. "I would like to eat your brains, one day.

  Terry Pratchett

  Men, Brain, One Day

  Terry Pratchett (2008). “Nation”, p.342, Random House

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• But Catherine did not know her own advantages - did not know that a good-looking girl, with an affectionate heart and a very ignorant mind, cannot fail of attracting a clever young man, unless circumstances are particularly untoward.

  Jane Austen

  Girl, Heart, Men

  Jane Austen (2009). “Northanger Abbey”, p.69, Wild Jot Press

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• Opinions mean nothing; they may be beautiful or ugly, clever or foolish, anyone can embrace or reject them.

  Hermann Hesse

  Beautiful, Mean, Ugly

  Hermann Hesse (2015). “Siddhartha: An Indian Tale”, p.29, Om Books International

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• Many are whispering that Voldemort must be behind it. However, that is the point: They whisper. They daren’t confide in each other, not knowing whom to trust; they are scared to speak out, in case their suspicions are true and their families are targeted. Yes, Voldemort is playing a very clever game. Declaring himself might have provoked open rebellion: Remaining masked has created confusion, uncertainty, and fear.

  J. K. Rowling

  Knowing, Speaks Out, Games

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• I’ve got a new friend, all right. But what a gamble friendship is! Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty—everything I don’t like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is pretty and, of course, clever?

  E. B. White

  Like Her, New Friends, Fierce

  E. B. White (2015). “Charlotte’s Web and other classic animal stories: Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little”, p.27, HarperCollins UK

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