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Common Sense Quotes

Short lines in praise of plain, practical reasoning.

Common sense is easy to expect and surprisingly rare in practice, whether the setting is a televised game show or an everyday disagreement. This page collects quotes that notice the gap between expecting sound judgment and actually seeing it. See also Best quotes for related themes.

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...

Quotes by William Robertson Smith

Common sense often makes good law.

Quotes by William O. Douglas

Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants.

Quotes by William Osler

We are living in a epoch where there is combat between commercialism, or the system of reckless waste, and communism, or the system of neighbourly common sense.

Quotes by William Morris

Always Quotes

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

Quotes by William Kingdon Clifford

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

Quotes by William Inge

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

Quotes by Wayne Brady

Only in the Orwellian world of double-speak employed by President Barack Obama and billionaire elitist Michael Bloomberg would nonsense be hailed as 'common sense.'

Quotes by Wayne LaPierre

Have common sense and stick to the point.

Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham

Best Quotes

Common sense is not so common.

Voltaire

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.

Quotes by Vladimir Nabokov

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

Quotes by Vince McMahon

One thing I have seen over and over again in life is that there is virtually no correlation between intelligence and common sense. IQ doesn't seem to translate that way.

Quotes by Vincent Bugliosi

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...

Quotes by Thomas Reid

Genius Quotes

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

Quotes by Thomas Huxley

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

Quotes by Thomas Huxley

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

Quotes by Thomas Huxley

Science is nothing, but trained and organized common sense.

Quotes by Thomas Huxley

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

Quotes by Terence

Good Quotes

I believe in the Constitution - and I believe in common sense.

Quotes by Taylor Sheridan

Frequently Asked Questions

What angle does this collection take on common sense?
Most of these quotes treat common sense as something rarer than the name suggests — one simply states "common sense is not so common," while another notes it doesn't survive contact with a game show.
Does this collection get political?
One quote is a pointed political criticism — it accuses President Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg of using "double-speak" to dress up nonsense as common sense. It's included here as an example of how the phrase gets invoked in political debate, not as an endorsement of either side.
What's the practical-advice quote in this set?
"Have common sense and stick to the point" reads as straightforward guidance — use it when you want a quote that's advice rather than commentary.
Why do people search common sense quotes?
People typically want either a wry observation about how uncommon the trait actually is, or a rhetorical line for criticizing a decision they see as illogical — both moods show up in this collection.
Where can I find related pages?
For more on the opposite end of the spectrum, browse Genius quotes, or for broader everyday wisdom, Life quotes.

A recurring thread here is staying focused on the point rather than getting distracted by cleverness for its own sake. For nearby ideas, browse Genius quotes or Good quotes.