Be able to identify the most common breeds of dogs and cats on sight.

Meaning of the quote

This quote is telling you that it's a good idea to learn how to recognize the most popular types of dogs and cats just by looking at them. Knowing what different breeds look like can be useful, for example if you see a dog or cat and want to know what kind it is. Being able to identify common breeds can help you better understand and appreciate the animals around you.

About Marilyn vos Savant

Marilyn vos Savant is an American magazine columnist with the highest recorded intelligence quotient (IQ) in the Guinness Book of Records. Since 1986, she has written the ‘Ask Marilyn’ column in Parade magazine, where she solves puzzles and answers questions on various subjects, including the famous Monty Hall problem.

More about the author

More quotes from Marilyn vos Savant

Know how weather, especially humidity, can affect the movement of doors and windows.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how to effectively voice a complaint or make a claim at a retail store.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to back up a car for a considerable distance in a straight line and back out of a driveway.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Spending waiting moments doing crossword puzzles or reading a book you brought yourself.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Understand why casinos and racetracks stay in business – the gambler always loses over the long term.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know what to do if you feel faint or dizzy, especially if you might fall and hit your head.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to notice all the confusion between fact and opinion that appears in the news.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how and how much to tip people who expect gratuities, even in the case of poor service.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to recognize when you’re reading or hearing material biased to your own side.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom “to” and freedom “from.”

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

I believe that one can indeed work on two or more tasks at once, but in ways yet to be understood.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Avoid using cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs as alternatives to being an interesting person.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know about the appeals process, especially in the case of the most serious crimes.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to recognize the dangerous snakes, spiders, insects, and plants that live in your area of the country.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to suffer wearing a necktie or slightly high heels for an entire evening without complaint or early removal.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to identify the most common breeds of dogs and cats on sight.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to analyze statistics, which can be used to support or undercut almost any argument.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

I suspect that some apparently homosexual people are really heterosexuals who deeply phobic about the opposite sex or have other emotional problems.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

The length of your education is less important than its breadth, and the length of your life is less important than its depth.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

People who work crossword puzzles know that if they stop making progress, they should put the puzzle down for a while.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to blow out a dinner candle without sending wax flying across the table.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

The chess player who develops the ability to play two dozen boards at a time will benefit from learning to compress his or her analysis into less time.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

The difference between talking on your cell phone while driving and speaking with a passenger is huge. The person on the other end of the cell phone is chattering away, oblivious.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how to behave at a fine restaurant, which is a telltale measure of social maturity.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to sneeze without sounding ridiculous. That means neither stifling yourself or spraying your immediate vicinity.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know where to find the sunrise and sunset times and note how the sky looks at those times, at least once.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how to travel from your town to a nearby town without a car, either by bus or by rail.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Learn at least two classic ballroom dances, at least one of them Latin.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to defend your arguments in a rational way. Otherwise, all you have is an opinion.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to hiccup silently, or at least without alerting neighbors to your situation. The first hiccup is an exception.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Attention-deficit disorders seem to abound in modern society, and we don’t know the cause.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Experts say you can’t concentrate on more than one task at a time.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to correctly pronounce the words you would like to speak and have excellent spoken grammar.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how your representatives stand on major national or state issues.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know which officials are voted into office and which are appointed, and by whom.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Although spoken English doesn’t obey the rules of written language, a person who doesn’t know the rules thoroughly is at a great disadvantage.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to meet any deadline, even if your work is done less well than it would be if you had all the time you would have preferred.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

No one would choose to be jerked randomly off task again and again until you have half a dozen things you’re trying to get done, all at the same time.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Scientists and creationists are always at odds, of course.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Teens think listening to music helps them concentrate. It doesn’t. It relieves them of the boredom that concentration on homework induces.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Many people feel they must multi-task because everybody else is multitasking, but this is partly because they are all interrupting each other so much.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to read blueprints, diagrams, floorplans, and other diagrams used in the construction process.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

A person who learns to juggle six balls will be more skilled than the person who never tries to juggle more than three.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Society needs people who can manage projects in addition to handling individual tasks.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know the official post office abbreviations for all 50 states without having to consult a list.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to recognize many of the major constellations and know the stories behind them.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be in the habit of getting up bright and early on the weekends. Why waste such precious time in bed?

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be in the habit of experimenting with your clothing so that you don’t get stuck for life with a self-image developed over the course of high school.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know the function of a fuse box and the appearance of a tripped circuit breaker.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

I would not encourage children or teens to multitask because we don’t know where those efforts may lead.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

When our spelling is perfect, it’s invisible. But when it’s flawed, it prompts strong negative associations.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Have you ever noticed that when you must struggle to hear something, you close your eyes?

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know the difference between principles based on right or wrong vs. principles based on personal gain, and consider the basis of your own principles.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to keep a secret or promise when you know in your heart that it is the right thing to do.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to cite three good qualities of every relative or acquaintance that you dislike.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

A good idea will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how to treat frostbite until you can get indoors.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Evolution has long been the target of illogical arguments that use presumption.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how to behave at a buffet. Take a clean plate for a second helping.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

At first, I only laughed at myself. Then I noticed that life itself is amusing. I’ve been in a generally good mood ever since.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Skill is successfully walking a tightrope between the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center. Intelligence is not trying.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know what happens when an individual declares bankruptcy and how it affects his or her life.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to live alone, even if you don’t want to and think you will never find it necessary.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to draw an illustration as least well enough to get your point across to another person.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to go shopping for a bathing suit and not become depressed afterward.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know why certain foods, such as truffles, are expensive. It’s not because they taste best.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to confide your innermost secrets to your mother and your innermost fears to your father.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Capital punishment is the source of many an argument, both good and bad.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Working in an office with an array of electronic devices is like trying to get something done at home with half a dozen small children around. The calls for attention are constant.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Have enough sense to know, ahead of time, when your skills will not extend to wallpapering.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

While you’re writing, you can’t concentrate nearly as well on what the speaker is saying.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Email, instant messaging, and cell phones give us fabulous communication ability, but because we live and work in our own little worlds, that communication is totally disorganized.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to tell whether garments that look good on the hanger actually look good on you.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how to garnish food so that it is more appealing to the eye and even more flavorful than before.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Play more than one game at a time. This is a painless way to learn how to do many things at once.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to decline a date so gracefully that the person isn’t embarrassed that he or she asked.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Be able to describe anything visual, such as a street scene, in words that convey your meaning.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know how to drive safely when it’s raining or when it’s snowing. The two conditions are different.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Make a habit of canceling every subscription to anything you don’t have time to read.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

Know the names of past and current artists who are most famous for playing their instruments.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

I think change is possible, but only for individuals who were never truly gay in the first place and who have a strong personal motivation to recover their heterosexuality.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

The freedom to be an individual is the essence of America.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer

If your head tells you one thing, and your heart tells you another, before you do anything, you should first decide whether you have a better head or a better heart.

Marilyn vos Savant

American magazine columnist, author and lecturer