Vos Savant Quotes & Sayings

Almost all of the finer things in life are free or nearly free. You don't have to pay for the sky at night or snow in the morning or a kiss on the nose when you're sick. Forgetting that may put you at the mercy of those who seek to profit by convincing you to want whatever it is they have to sell. — Marilyn Vos Savant

No one would choose to be jerked randomly off task again and again until you have half a dozen things you're trying to get done, all at the same time. — Marilyn Vos Savant

There are days when I feel I can do anything and days when I feel I can do nothing. But fortunately for those around me, neither sort occurs very often. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Play more than one game at a time. This is a painless way to learn how to do many things at once. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know what to do if you feel faint or dizzy, especially if you might fall and hit your head. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Working in an office with an array of electronic devices is like trying to get something done at home with half a dozen small children around. The calls for attention are constant. — Marilyn Vos Savant

A good leader needs to stand behind his or her followers as often as he or she needs to stand in front of them. — Marilyn Vos Savant

The length of your education is less important than its breadth, and the length of your life is less important than its depth. — Marilyn Vos Savant

I would not encourage children or teens to multitask because we don't know where those efforts may lead. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Have you ever noticed that when you must struggle to hear something, you close your eyes? — Marilyn Vos Savant

I believe that one can indeed work on two or more tasks at once, but in ways yet to be understood. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Spending waiting moments doing crossword puzzles or reading a book you brought yourself. — Marilyn Vos Savant

One of the few articles of clothing that a man won't try to remove from a woman is an apron. — Marilyn Vos Savant

There's plenty of intelligence in the world, but the courage to do things differently is in short supply. — Marilyn Vos Savant

While you're writing, you can't concentrate nearly as well on what the speaker is saying. — Marilyn Vos Savant

When you're in a good mood, bring up the past. When you're in a bad mood, stick to the present. And when you're not feeling emotional at all, it's time to talk about the future. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to hiccup silently, or at least without alerting neighbors to your situation. The first hiccup is an exception. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know the difference between principles based on right or wrong vs. principles based on personal gain, and consider the basis of your own principles. — Marilyn Vos Savant

I?d rather be rejected than used because they both amount to the same thing in the end, but being used takes a lot longer. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know how to behave at a buffet. Take a clean plate for a second helping. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Ultimately, our future is like a mirror. Whenever we face it, it always reflects what we left behind. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Understand why casinos and racetracks stay in business - the gambler always loses over the long term. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Success may be the ability to be happy with whatever we're stuck with. — Marilyn Vos Savant

At first, I only laughed at myself. Then I noticed that life itself is amusing. I've been in a generally good mood ever since. — Marilyn Vos Savant

A friend is someone who stays by your side all through the troubles he's caused you. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to suffer wearing a necktie or slightly high heels for an entire evening without complaint or early removal. — Marilyn Vos Savant

[Adulthood:] It's when you stop doing the stuff you have to make excuses for and when you stop making excuses for the stuff you have to do. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know which officials are voted into office and which are appointed, and by whom. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to draw an illustration as least well enough to get your point across to another person. — Marilyn Vos Savant

A good idea will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know how to effectively voice a complaint or make a claim at a retail store. — Marilyn Vos Savant

I suspect that some apparently homosexual people are really heterosexuals who deeply phobic about the opposite sex or have other emotional problems. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Have enough sense to know, ahead of time, when your skills will not extend to wallpapering. — Marilyn Vos Savant

The original answer defines certain conditions, [ ... ] Anything else is a different question. — Marilyn Vos Savant

If you never heard opportunity knock, maybe you're never at home. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to recognize the dangerous snakes, spiders, insects, and plants that live in your area of the country. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know how to travel from your town to a nearby town without a car, either by bus or by rail. — Marilyn Vos Savant

[When asked if the voice is an instrument:] Yes, of course. Some are violins, some are fountain pens and some are stethoscopes. And others are just washboards. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Relatively few of us will find the time-or take it-to live an ever enlarging life. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know how to treat frostbite until you can get indoors. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Make a habit of canceling every subscription to anything you don't have time to read. — Marilyn Vos Savant

To acquire knowledge, one must study;
but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. — Marilyn Vos Savant

An error becomes a mistake when we refuse to admit it. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Skill is successfully walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls. Intelligence is not trying. — Marilyn Vos Savant

The only real meaning in life can be found in a good man. And maybe Paris. Preferably the two together. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Many people feel they must multi-task because everybody else is multitasking, but this is partly because they are all interrupting each other so much. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Just because you're unemployed doesn't mean you're not doing anything useful. You are, for example, at least keeping your mother-in-law's wit sharp. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to read blueprints, diagrams, floorplans, and other diagrams used in the construction process. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Although spoken English doesn't obey the rules of written language, a person who doesn't know the rules thoroughly is at a great disadvantage. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Lots of people wrote to the magazine to say that Marilyn vos Savant was wrong, even when she explained very carefully why she was right. Of the letters she got about the problem, 92% said that she was wrong and lots of these were from mathematicians and scientists. Here are some of the things they said: 'I'm very concerned with the general public's lack of mathematical skills. Please help by confessing your error.' -Robert Sachs, Ph.D., George Mason University ... 'I am sure you will receive many letters from high school and college students. Perhaps you should keep a few addresses for future columns.' -W. Robert Smith, Ph.D., Georgia State University ... 'If all those Ph.D.'s were wrong, the country would be in very serious trouble.' -Everett Harman, Ph.D., U.S. Army Research Institute — Mark Haddon

Loving behavior contributes to the group at the expense of the individual. Competition contributes to the survival of the individual at the expense of the group. In the garden of life, some people are more like flowers, and other people are more like weeds. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Profit is what we have left after we make a donation to a worthwhile cause. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Common sense comes from experience, and kids need to fail as well as succeed in order to learn it. It's difficult to develop common sense when you spend a lot of time in your room where nothing much happens. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Everybody loves an accent. It you've been unlucky in love, consider pulling up stakes and moving to another country. Then you'll be the one with a neat foreign accent. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Geometry is beautifully logical, and it teaches you how to think and prove that things are so, step by step by step. Proofs are excellent lessons in reasoning. Without logic and reasoning, you are dependent on jumping to conclusions or - worse - having empty opinions. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to go shopping for a bathing suit and not become depressed afterward. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to decline a date so gracefully that the person isn't embarrassed that he or she asked. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to recognize many of the major constellations and know the stories behind them. — Marilyn Vos Savant

When our spelling is perfect, it's invisible. But when it's flawed, it prompts strong negative associations. — Marilyn Vos Savant

You're who you think you are, even if you never admit it to yourself or to anyone else. You may be in the worst position to judge, but you're in the best position to know. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know how to drive safely when it's raining or when it's snowing. The two conditions are different. — Marilyn Vos Savant

The lower our self-esteem, the more we're attracted to our opposite, and the higher our self-esteem, the more we are attracted to another like ourselves. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to sneeze without sounding ridiculous. That means neither stifling yourself or spraying your immediate vicinity. — Marilyn Vos Savant

People who work crossword puzzles know that if they stop making progress, they should put the puzzle down for a while. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to tell whether garments that look good on the hanger actually look good on you. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Evolution has long been the target of illogical arguments that use presumption. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to recognize when you're reading or hearing material biased to your own side. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be sure to expose yourself to criticism: A fine polish requires an abrasive. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Scientists and creationists are always at odds, of course. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to analyze statistics, which can be used to support or undercut almost any argument. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Yes. The original argument is defective. Substitute the word 'male' for 'gay,' and you'll see the flaw: 'Male people cannot be normal. If everyone were male starting tomorrow, the human race would die out, so being male cannot be nature's intended way.' Or you could substitute the word 'female.' In either case, the argument makes no sense: Being male or female is perfectly normal. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to blow out a dinner candle without sending wax flying across the table. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to cite three good qualities of every relative or acquaintance that you dislike. — Marilyn Vos Savant

A fool is someone whose pencil wears out before its eraser does. — Marilyn Vos Savant

What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom 'to' and freedom 'from.' — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be in the habit of getting up bright and early on the weekends. Why waste such precious time in bed? — Marilyn Vos Savant

Feeling is what you get for thinking the way you do. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Society needs people who can manage projects in addition to handling individual tasks. — Marilyn Vos Savant

A 45-year old looks a lot like a 25-year old who's been out all night. And feels just as good about having survived the experience. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know how weather, especially humidity, can affect the movement of doors and windows. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to back up a car for a considerable distance in a straight line and back out of a driveway. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to live alone, even if you don't want to and think you will never find it necessary. — Marilyn Vos Savant

An act of justice closes the book on a misdeed; an act of vengeance writes one of its own — Marilyn Vos Savant

You can't be wise without being intelligent, but you certainly can be intelligent without being wise. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Experts say you can't concentrate on more than one task at a time. — Marilyn Vos Savant

I believe that love
not imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery. Your imitator thinks that you can be duplicated; your lover knows you can't. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to defend your arguments in a rational way. Otherwise, all you have is an opinion. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Try square dancing-at least long enough to no longer feel silly and begin to have fun. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Capital punishment is the source of many an argument, both good and bad. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Know how your representatives stand on major national or state issues. — Marilyn Vos Savant

If you're wondering if you're dreaming, you're dreaming. — Marilyn Vos Savant

The freedom to be an individual is the essence of America. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be in the habit of experimenting with your clothing so that you don't get stuck for life with a self-image developed over the course of high school. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to keep a secret or promise when you know in your heart that it is the right thing to do. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Be able to set a table so that you feel like you're dining, not just sitting and eating. — Marilyn Vos Savant

The chess player who develops the ability to play two dozen boards at a time will benefit from learning to compress his or her analysis into less time. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Teens think listening to music helps them concentrate. It doesn't. It relieves them of the boredom that concentration on homework induces. — Marilyn Vos Savant

Revenge feels right only to those directly involved. Justice feels right even to outsiders. — Marilyn Vos Savant