“Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”

— Isaac Asimov

As quoted in The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners (2004) edited by Geoff Tibballs, p. 299
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Isaac Asimov 303

American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston Uni… 1920–1992

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: Get A Clue

“People who think they know everything really annoy those of us who know we don't.”

Bjarne Stroustrup (1950) Danish computer scientist, creator of C++

Bjarne Stroustrup's FAQ: Did you really say that?, 2007-11-15 http://www.stroustrup.com/bs_faq.html#really-say-that,

“Everybody knows that we like those who resemble us, those who think and feel as we do. But the opposite is no less true. It very often happens that we feel kindly towards those who do not resemble us, precisely because of this lack of resemblance.”

Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) French sociologist (1858-1917)

Source: The Division of Labor in Society (1893), p. 54

“For everything that you do, there are people who appreciate your work and then there are those who don't. I think very few people have the guts to be sure of what they are doing, believe in it, and then go ahead and do it, irrespective of what people think.”

Nastassja Kinski (1961) German actress

Interview with actress Nastassja Kinski, Indiantelevision.com, 23 August, 2003

“there are three kinds of people in the world: those who don't know and don't know they don't know; those who don't know and do know they don't know; and those who know and know how much they still don't know.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Bloodfever

“There are two classes, those who want to know and do not care whether others think they know or not, and those who do not much care about knowing but care very greatly about being reputed as knowing.”

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist

Scientists
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part XIV - Higgledy-Piggledy

“Sometimes I think the only real division into two is between people who divide everything into two and those who don't.”

Gloria Steinem (1934) American feminist and journalist

Source: My Life on the Road

“That's great art — Everything is self-evident. I am made to cry with those who cry, and laugh with those who laugh.”

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German poet, playwright, theatre director

"Entertainment or Education? (1936)
Context: The theater-goer in conventional dramatic theater says: Yes, I've felt that way, too. That's the way I am. That's life. That's the way it will always be. The suffering of this or that person grips me because there is no escape for him. That's great art — Everything is self-evident. I am made to cry with those who cry, and laugh with those who laugh. But the theater-goer in the epic theater says: I would never have thought that. You can't do that. That's very strange, practically unbelievable. That has to stop. The suffering of this or that person grips me because there is an escape for him. That's great art — nothing is self-evident. I am made to laugh about those who cry, and cry about those who laugh.

“Those who know nothing must believe everything.”

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830–1916) Austrian writer

Wer nichts weiß, muss alles glauben.
Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 21, Aphorismen, in: Schriften, vol. 1, Paetel, Berlin 1893.

“The people who know God well—mystics, hermits, prayerful people, those who risk everything to find God—always meet a lover, not a dictator.”

Richard Rohr (1943) American spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, Catholic Franciscan priest

Source: Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer

“Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”

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Isaac Asimov 303

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