In an era ruled by materialism and unstable geopolitics, art must be restored to the center of public education.
Camille PagliaRead
In the real world, very smart people fail and mediocre people rise. Part of what makes people fail or succeed are skills that have nothing to do with IQ. Also, the idea that intelligence can be gauged by an IQ test is erroneous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success is influenced by various factors beyond intelligence, and IQ tests do not accurately measure a person's potential.
This quote emphasizes that intelligence, as defined by IQ tests, is not the sole determinant of success in life. It points out that many smart individuals can fail while those with average intelligence can succeed, highlighting the importance of various skills and attributes beyond mere cognitive ability.
Themes
SuccessIntelligenceSkillsFailureMediocre
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage students to focus on developing their skills rather than relying solely on their intelligence.
More from Camille Paglia
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Serial or sex murder, like fetishism, is a perversion of male intelligence. It is a criminal abstraction, masculine in its deranged egotism and orderliness. It is the asocial equivalent of philosophy, mathematics, and music. There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper.
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The male orientation of classical Athens was inseparable from its genius. Athens became great not despite but because of its misogyny.
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We should teach general ethics to both men and women, but sexual relationships themselves must not be policed. Sex, like the city streets, would be risk-free only in totalitarian regimes.
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Popular culture is the new Babylon, into which so much art and intellect now flow. It is our imperial sex theater, supreme temple of the western eye. We live in the age of idols. The pagan past, never dead, flames again in our mystic hierarchies of stardom.
Camille PagliaRead
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