Common Sense Quotes

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.
Thomas A. Edison

I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I'm an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after.
Cat Stevens

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
Albert Einstein

Common sense is not so common.
Voltaire

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
William James

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.
Gertrude Stein

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

A man of great common sense and good taste - meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage.
George Bernard Shaw

Falling in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling the common sense.
Helen Rowland

Common sense is the genius of humanity.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Am I a criminal? The world knows I'm not a criminal. What are they trying to put me in jail for? You've lost common sense in this society because of religious fanaticism and dogma.
Jack Kevorkian

He's a man of great common sense and good taste - meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage.
George Bernard Shaw

Romantics consider common sense vulgar.
Mason Cooley

Philosophy likes to keen common sense on the run.
Mason Cooley

It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.
Robert Green Ingersoll 

Common sense is in spite of, not as the result of education.
Victor Hugo

Genius ain't anything more than elegant common sense.
Josh Billings

Taste is the common sense of genius.
Victor Hugo

Friendless. Having no favors to bestow. Destitute of fortune. Addicted to utterance of truth and common sense.
Ambrose Bierce

Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.
Voltaire

Academic and aristocratic people live in such an uncommon atmosphere that common sense can rarely reach them.
Samuel Butler

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. Mencken

The voice of the Lord is the voice of common sense, which is shared by all that is.
Samuel Butler

The new rage is to say that the government is the cause of all our problems, and if only we had no government, we'd have no problems. I can tell you, that contradicts evidence, history, and common sense.
William J. Clinton

I hate all sports as rabidly as a person who likes sports hates common sense.
H. L. Mencken

Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.
Rene Descartes

Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.
George Santayana

There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.
Frank Lloyd Wright

Common Sense is that which judges the things given to it by other senses.
Leonardo da Vinci

The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.
Henry Ward Beecher

Have common sense and stick to the point.
W. Somerset Maugham

Everyone gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.
Gertrude Stein

The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.
Vladimir Nabokov

Common sense tells us that the things of the earth exist only a little, and that true reality is only in dreams.
Charles Baudelaire

Common sense is the measure of the possible; it is composed of experience and prevision; it is calculation applied to life.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Science is a first-rate piece of furniture for a man's upper chamber, if he has common sense on the ground floor.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Do not be bullied out of your common sense by the specialist; two to one, he is a pedant.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Philosophy is common sense with big words.
James Madison

Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.
Josh Billings

Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius.
Josh Billings

Let us beware of common folk, of common sense, of sentiment, of inspiration, and of the obvious.
Charles Baudelaire

My greatest strength is common sense. I'm really a standard brand - like Campbell's tomato soup or Baker's chocolate.
Katharine Hepburn

I'm not a professional politician. I'm a professional problem solver, and I believe we should cut the salaries of senators and congressmen 10 percent until they balance the budget. I call that conservative common sense.
Herman Cain

The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.
George Berkeley

Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common sense.
Joseph Addison

All truth, in the long run, is only common sense clarified.
Thomas Huxley

Today different ethnic groups and different nations come together due to common sense.
Dalai Lama

The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.
Walter Lippmann

Science is organized common sense where many a beautiful theory was killed by an ugly fact.
Thomas Huxley

Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.
Thomas Huxley

Science is nothing, but trained and organized common sense.
Thomas Huxley

Common sense is genius in homespun.
Alfred North Whitehead

Common sense is calculation applied to life.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Everybody says, 'I have problems overcooking steak on the grill,' but just take it off earlier! Grilling is really common sense. It's very simple. You should think of a grill as a burner - it just happens to have grates. You shouldn't be intimidated by it.
Bobby Flay

I have a lot of common sense. I know what needs to be done and how to approach it. I have an ability to work with people on large enterprises.
Sally Ride

The left has come to regard common sense - the traditional wisdom and folkways of the community - as an obstacle to progress and enlightenment.
Christopher Lasch

The left has lost touch with popular opinion, thereby making it possible for the right to present itself as the party of common sense.
Christopher Lasch

The left no longer stands for common sense, as it did in the days of Tom Paine.
Christopher Lasch

The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of it, only in it, only confronting it - aliens.
Alan Watts

A person of any mental quality has ideas of his own. This is common sense.
Franz Liszt

Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy.
Sarah Palin

I went to school, I went to college. I know how to read. Even though I lack common sense sometimes, I am book smart.
Nicole Polizzi

Common sense is compelled to make its way without the enthusiasm of anyone.
E. W. Howe

What a grand thing it is to be clever and have common sense.
Terence

Let us heed the voice of the people and recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the common ties that bind all Americans.
Barbara Jordan

It's unfortunate when kids get hurt, but I wish parents would monitor what their kids are doing and watching. It's common sense, really.
Johnny Knoxville

Everybody certainly has the right to defend themselves. That's not to say that they should defy common sense by avoiding or diffusing confrontation. And that's very, very important.
Steven Seagal

Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants.
William Osler

Common sense, in so far as it exists, is all for the bourgeoisie. Nonsense is the privilege of the aristocracy. The worries of the world are for the common people.
George Jean Nathan

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Rene Descartes

The wisdom of the wise is an uncommon degree of common sense.
Dean Inge

If we seek the pleasures of love, passion should be occasional, and common sense continual.
Robertson Davies

People just want to hear some common sense... and I bring to bear the experience in local government and state government and national government - I was the first woman in history on the Senate Finance Committee - not to mention the diplomatic international experience.
Carol Moseley Braun

My Lords temporal, today is the day to rise up against the regiment of Lords spiritual and proclaim the values of enlightenment, compassion and common sense.
Polly Toynbee

Common sense is very uncommon.
Horace Greeley

I'm a real common sense guy who caught a lot of good breaks and who has been very, very fortunate.
Vince McMahon

The fact is that my wife if she had common sense would have more power over me than any other whatsoever, for my heart always alights upon the nearest perch.
George Byron

The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent, experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it, if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
Anthony Burgess

If we put our trust in the common sense of common men and 'with malice toward none and charity for all' go forward on the great adventure of making political, economic and social democracy a practical reality, we shall not fail.
Henry A. Wallace

The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.
Matthew Arnold

My view on issues is based on common sense, and my experience as a mother of four children, as a sole parent, and as a businesswoman running a fish and chip shop.
Pauline Hanson

The problem is that agencies sometimes lose sight of common sense as they create regulations.
Fred Thompson

And I know that the younger generation is doing things that are so ingenious. And for them it's not a matter of a political belief or an environmental stance. It's really just common sense.
Daryl Hannah

The American people expect more from Congress. They expect fiscal responsibility and common sense. They expect us to return to the pay-as-you-go budget rules that we had enacted in the past that helped us establish a surplus, however briefly.
Melissa Bean

Common sense and history tell you that rewarding illegal behavior will only encourage more of it.
Ric Keller

This is a bipartisan effort. This is just good common sense. This is where the public wants us to go. They want us to not be so dependent on foreign oil.
Sam Brownback

If you have an ounce of common sense and one good friend you don't need an analyst.
Joan Crawford

If people use common sense and their own guiding moral compass, I think they'll generally stay out of trouble.
Steve Chabot

I believe that Canadians have the common sense to see that a better future cannot be built on fragmentation.
Kim Campbell

I personally believe that those who are leaders with political power over the world will be forced some day, sooner or later, to give way to common sense and the will of the people.
Alva Myrdal

Common sense tells us that this explosion of media sources should eliminate any concern over a lack of diversity of views in the marketplace and competition.
Fred Upton

We may always depend on it that algebra, which cannot be translated into good English and sound common sense, is bad algebra.
William Kingdon Clifford

Today the people from my State of Tennessee would listen to this debate, or even talk about a reference to God on our money or in the Halls of Congress or in our Pledge and say, please, let common sense and logic win the day and prevail versus legal mumbo jumbo.
Zach Wamp

Don't leave hold of your common sense. Think about what you're doing and how the technology can enhance it. Don't think about technology first.
Esther Dyson

When Governor Romney was out here, I told him, I said, 'we are following the formula of streamlining regulations, being job creating friendly, balancing budgets, cutting taxes, and, you know, using common sense. And if you get to be president, we are going to do more of that.'
John Kasich

There's a big difference between the role of an academic and the role of someone in government. That's a cliche, but in academic life if you say things that are common sense and people nod their heads, it's not very useful. You're not adding anything.
Cass Sunstein

I have seen that the American Dream is a reality - and I would love to feel the British Dream is also a reality. To enable that, we have to bring back some common sense and encourage family values, a proper sense of justice and make people believe they have a decent chance to build a business or career for themselves. I see this moment as a fantastic opportunity to restore this, because I believe Britain Has Talent.
Simon Cowell

Common sense as well as common values all lead us. Our future depends upon it and our present is going to be vastly better when we get back to these basics.
Joan Blades

At a time when we are dealing with unpredictable suppliers of energy abroad and higher gas costs at home, the decision to increase domestic energy exploration is integral to a balanced, common sense energy policy.
Randy Neugebauer

No brilliance is needed in the law. Nothing but common sense, and relatively clean finger nails.
John Mortimer

Vanity can easily overtake wisdom. It usually overtakes common sense.
Julian Casablancas

Common sense solutions to lowering your gasoline bills can go far. Carpooling, taking fewer or shorter road trips, and ensuring that your tires are fully inflated can all help stop the pinch at the pump.
Bob Ney

Common sense often makes good law.
William O. Douglas

Common sense should tell us that there is no reason for civilians to have access to easily concealable handguns with the capability to shoot through body armor.
Carl Levin

We should restore a proper balance in environmental regulation and energy production that is based on common sense, not political agendas.
Mac Thornberry

My success was not based so much on any great intelligence but on great common sense.
Helen Gurley Brown

I have confidence in people's basic common sense.
Dixie Lee Ray

Spaniards have always shown great maturity and great common sense when it comes to voting.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

Such as have reason, understanding, or common sense, will, and ought to make use of it in those things that concern themselves and their posterity, and suspect the words of such as are interested in deceiving or persuading them not to see with their own eyes.
Algernon Sydney

In its famous paradox, the equation of money and excrement, psychoanalysis becomes the first science to state what common sense and the poets have long known - that the essence of money is in its absolute worthlessness.
Norman O. Brown

Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.
An Wang

We must do everything in our power to keep families together, and to use common sense in our immigration laws. Children deserve better than to lose a parent because of an inflexible law.
Jose Serrano

A great deal has been said about my commitment not to raise taxes. It's a core value - it's common sense - it's important to keeping and growing jobs - and it's mainstream!
Tim Pawlenty

But if it not be true, the myth itself requires to be explained, and every principle of philosophy and common sense demand that the explanation be sought, not in arbitrary allegorical categories, but in the actual facts of ritual or religious custom to which the myth attaches.
William Robertson Smith

Historical methodology, as I see it, is a product of common sense applied to circumstances.
Samuel E. Morison

Tonight was a great opportunity to take on the political status quo that has given us trillion dollar deficits and put millions out of work. Our objective was to inject some common sense into the conversation among Republicans at a time when business-as-usual simply won't work.
Gary Johnson

I'm opposed to censorship of any kind, especially by government. But it's plain common sense that producers should target their product with some kind of sensitivity.
Lee Child

Requiring valid, photographic identification is a common sense step to ensure voter integrity and sound elections.
Sonny Perdue

Republicans should simply focus on first principles and give the American people what they want - an honest party dedicated to common sense, fiscal responsibility and limited government. If we govern to save the country, we'll do well as a party.
Tom Coburn

If a man has common sense, he has all the sense there is.
Sam Rayburn

Writing, I'm convinced, should be a subversive activity - frowned on by the authorities - and not one cooed over and praised beyond common sense by some teacher.
Dan Simmons

As liberty and intelligence have increased the people have more and more revolted against the theological dogmas that contradict common sense and wound the tenderest sensibilities of the soul.
Catharine Beecher

What man or woman of common sense now doubts the intellectual capacity of colored people? Who does not know, that with all our efforts as a nation to crush and annihilate the mind of this portion of our race, we have never yet been able to do it.
Angelina Grimke

Common sense steps in here and says: Separate the parts you want to be mobile from the parts you want to be inert. You have seen the result, and I know many have the skill to apply it.
Lawrence Hargrave

In any war, the first casualty is common sense, and the second is free and open discussion.
James Reston

I am outraged that a House member has tried through this provision to breach the traditional confidentiality of individual Americans' tax returns. There is no reason for this measure, and this last-minute act violates all principles of judgment and common sense.
John Warner

There can be no compromise with war; it cannot be reformed or controlled; cannot be disciplined into decency or codified into common sense.
Jeanette Rankin

Poetry is a mixture of common sense, which not all have, with an uncommon sense, which very few have.
John Masefield

I always thought that common sense would prevail. But on a game show, there is no common sense.
Wayne Brady

Our best theories are not only truer than common sense, they make more sense than common sense.
David Deutsch

The two World Wars came in part, like much modern literature and art, because men, whose nature is to tire of everything in turn... tired of common sense and civilization.
F. L. Lucas

The House passage of our bill is a victory for this country! Common sense wins out. I'm just so thrilled and excited. The sale of guns must stop. Halfway measures are not enough.
Sarah Brady

Work hard, use your common sense and don't be afraid to trust your instincts.
Fred L. Turner

Common sense says that chairs and tables exist independently of whether anyone happens to perceive them or not.
Charles D. Broad

Experience join'd with common sense, To mortals is a providence.
Matthew Green

We have drained common sense out of our politics. The more we focus on tactics and games, the more good people check out and give up.

Deval Patrick

The GOP leaders are upset with me, but the Republicans around the district are thanking me for stepping up to the plate and giving them a choice in this election of a real common sense conservative Reagan Republican.

Doug Hoffman

But when, in the first setting out, he takes it for granted without proof, that distinctions found in the structure of all languages, have no foundation in nature; this surely is too fastidious a way of treating the common sense of mankind.

Thomas Reid

I think anybody would have to be with out common sense to think there weren't aliens. There are billions of planets, and I am convinced Earth is not the only one that's inhabited. It would be quite an ego trip to think that. I think about it all the time.

Sabrina Lloyd

Most of man's problems upon this planet, in the long history of the race, have been met and solved either partially or as a whole by experiment based on common sense and carried out with courage.

Frances Perkins

Freedom is poetry, taking liberties with words, breaking the rules of normal speech, violating common sense. Freedom is violence.

Norman O. Brown

We have too many intellectuals who are afraid to use the pistol of common sense.

Samuel Fuller

Common sense tells us that we should focus our resources to benefit children, teachers and taxpayers by keeping dollars in the classroom.
Bob Beauprez

I see the great continuities in New Zealand history as being decency and common sense and up until now when we've confronted these things we've been able to talk them through, and I'm sure we will with this issue as well.
Michael King

We must return optimism to our parenting. To focus on the joys, not the hassles; the love, not the disappointments; the common sense, not the complexities.
Fred G. Gosman

Common sense is judgment without reflection, shared by an entire class, an entire nation, or the entire human race.
Giambattista Vico

Common sense is in medicine the master workman.
Peter Latham

Conscience that isn't hitched up to common sense is a mighty dangerous thing.
Margaret Deland

A balanced program for tax reform based upon the common sense idea of lowering taxes out of surplus revenues.
Andrew Mellon

To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere. But once these barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams.
Giorgio de Chirico

Self-sacrifice which denies common sense is not a virtue. It's a spiritual dissipation.
Margaret Deland

Raising taxes doesn't create jobs, and this is a common sense thing. Washington doesn't get it. They believe if they take more money and send it to Washington, D.C. somehow they create wealth. It doesn't work.
Kevin Yoder

It defies common sense that stores are fined for selling toy guns to children, but someone who isn't even allowed to board an airplane in this country can purchase as many real guns he wants with no questions asked.
Carolyn McCarthy

Common sense varies among the young, as among the old.
John Edward Christopher Hill

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.
George Seaton