"Life in all its forms is strife; the better matched the opponents, the harder the struggle. The most powerful of all weapons is intelligence; any intelligent form dominates by, and therefore survives by, its intelligence."

John Wyndham Literature See all quotes by John Wyndham →

React to this quote

More by John Wyndham

“I don't understand women. Nobody does. Least of all themselves.”

“'The wise lamb does not enrage the lion,' he said. 'It placates him, plays for time, and hopes for the best.'”

“'We've got it all there in the books if we take the trouble to find out about it.'”

“'In spite of what they say, two can't live as cheap as one. And wives hanker after certain standards, and ought to have them - within reason, of course.'”

“It takes civilised people quite a while to appreciate 'the big lie' technique.”

“Darling, you're talking as if all normal-length lives were planned. They aren't, you know. People have to learn how to live them—and by the time they find out, they're nearly gone. No time to remedy mistakes.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Mathematics is that form of intelligence in which we bring the objects of the phenomenal world under the control of the conception of quantity."

— George Holmes Howison

Philosophy1834–1916

#power

"rom the earliest periods of time alone has divided the empire of the world between him and Nature. ...e rather enjoys than possesses, and it is by constant and perpetual activity and vigilance that he…"

— Georges-Louis Leclerc

Science1707–1788

#power

"Does the Secretary of State agree that it is time for a serious review of Britain's defence expenditure, which now totals more than £23 billion a year? Should not we cancel the nuclear missile program…"

— Jeremy Corbyn

Politics1949

#time

"Discretion, like the hole in a doughnut, does not exist except as an area left open by a surrounding belt of restriction. It is therefore a relative concept. It always makes sense to ask, "Discretion …"

— Ronald Dworkin

Philosophy1931–2013

#writing