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About this quote

What does it mean?
Awkwardness and fatuity are the finest manners when compared with a finer intelligence.
In plain terms
Simple, naive behavior can be more gracious than pretentious intelligence.
What can you take from it?
Embrace humility over false sophistication.

Where it applies

  • social gatherings
  • public speaking
  • online interaction

Putting it to work

  • avoid overthinking
  • be genuine

Questions to consider

  • When do I overcomplicate simple interactions?
  • How can I stay authentic?

Another view

Sometimes intelligence is necessary for complex tasks.

More from Henry David Thoreau

  1. With respect to a true culture and manhood, we are essentially provincial still, not metropolitan, - mere Jonathans. We are provincial, because we do not find …

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  2. Where there is a lull of truth, an institution springs up. But the truth blows right on over it, nevertheless, and at length blows it down.

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  3. Do we call this the land of the free? What is it to be free from King George and continue the slaves of King Prejudice? What is it to be born free and not to l…

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