Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Samuel GoldwynRead
The reason so many people turned up at his funeral is that they wanted to make sure he was dead.
Interpretation
This quote humorously reflects on the insincerity often present in social relationships.
Samuel Goldwyn's quote captures a darkly comedic truth about human nature and relationships, suggesting that sometimes people show up for events not out of genuine respect or love, but from a morbid curiosity or disbelief. It underlines the complexity of social dynamics where appearances can often be superficial and where genuine feelings may not always align with public expressions.
In practice
Use this quote in a speech about the complexity of human relationships.
Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Here I am paying big money to you writers and what for? All you do is change the words.
That's the kind of ad I like, facts, facts, facts.
Gentlemen, listen to me slowly.
I want everyone to tell me the truth, even if it costs him his job.
I'll take fifty percent efficiency to get one hundred percent loyalty.
Well, Art is Art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.
I don't know much about being a millionaire, but I'll bet I'd be darling at it.
If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth.
The humor is that finally when you have the power to move the mountain, you are the person who placed it there-so there the mountain stays.
Have you ever noticed that the lawyer always smiles more than the client?
I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.
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