A Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Common sense is as rare as genius.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote Topics

Common Common Sense Genius Rare Sense

Quote Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American - Philosopher
May 25, 1803 - April 27, 1882

Queen Victoria was a woman of peerless common sense; her common sense, which is a rare gift at any time, amounted to genius. She had been brought up by her mother with the utmost simplicity, and she retained it to the end, and conducted her public and private life alike by that infallible guide.

E. F. Benson

Common sense is an instinct given to man and enough of it is genius. Smartness is measured by the level of common sense one has, not by how much educated or knowledgeable he is.

Josh Billings

What is called common sense is excellent in its department, and as invaluable as the virtue of conformity in the army and navy,--for there must be subordination,--but uncommon sense, that sense which is common only to the wisest, is as much more excellent as it is more rare.

Henry David Thoreau

If a man can have only one kind of sense, let him have common sense. If he has that and uncommon sense too, he is not far from genius.

Henry Ward Beecher

The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.

Walter Lippmann

Common sense is the genius of humanity.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Common sense is the genius of mankind.

Francois Guizot

Common sense is genius in homespun.

Alfred North Whitehead

Taste is the common sense of genius.

Victor Hugo

Common sense among men of fortune is rare.

Juvenal

Common sense - so rare it's a god damn superpower

PZ Myers

Generally, common sense is rare in the (higher) rank.

Juvenal

Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius.

Josh Billings

I talked on my blog recently about "uncommon sense." Common sense is called "common" because it reflects cultural consensus. It's common sense to get a good job and save for retirement. But I think we all also have an "uncommon sense," an individual voice that tells us what we're meant to do.