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.
Meaning of the quote
When your mind and your feelings are giving you different advice, you need to figure out which one of them is usually more reliable for you. Do you generally make better decisions by listening to your logical thinking, or by following your emotions and intuitions? Once you know whether your head or your heart is usually the wiser guide, you can make a better choice about what to do.
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 quotes from Marilyn vos Savant
Know how weather, especially humidity, can affect the movement of doors and windows.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know how to effectively voice a complaint or make a claim at a retail store.
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Be able to back up a car for a considerable distance in a straight line and back out of a driveway.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Spending waiting moments doing crossword puzzles or reading a book you brought yourself.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Understand why casinos and racetracks stay in business – the gambler always loses over the long term.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to notice all the confusion between fact and opinion that appears in the news.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know how and how much to tip people who expect gratuities, even in the case of poor service.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to recognize when you’re reading or hearing material biased to your own side.
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.”
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Avoid using cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs as alternatives to being an interesting person.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know about the appeals process, especially in the case of the most serious crimes.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to identify the most common breeds of dogs and cats on sight.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to analyze statistics, which can be used to support or undercut almost any argument.
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.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to blow out a dinner candle without sending wax flying across the table.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know how to behave at a fine restaurant, which is a telltale measure of social maturity.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to sneeze without sounding ridiculous. That means neither stifling yourself or spraying your immediate vicinity.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Learn at least two classic ballroom dances, at least one of them Latin.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to defend your arguments in a rational way. Otherwise, all you have is an opinion.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Attention-deficit disorders seem to abound in modern society, and we don’t know the cause.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Experts say you can’t concentrate on more than one task at a time.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to correctly pronounce the words you would like to speak and have excellent spoken grammar.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know how your representatives stand on major national or state issues.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know which officials are voted into office and which are appointed, and by whom.
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.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Scientists and creationists are always at odds, of course.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to read blueprints, diagrams, floorplans, and other diagrams used in the construction process.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Society needs people who can manage projects in addition to handling individual tasks.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know the official post office abbreviations for all 50 states without having to consult a list.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to recognize many of the major constellations and know the stories behind them.
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?
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know the function of a fuse box and the appearance of a tripped circuit breaker.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
When our spelling is perfect, it’s invisible. But when it’s flawed, it prompts strong negative associations.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Have you ever noticed that when you must struggle to hear something, you close your eyes?
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to cite three good qualities of every relative or acquaintance that you dislike.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know how to treat frostbite until you can get indoors.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Evolution has long been the target of illogical arguments that use presumption.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know how to behave at a buffet. Take a clean plate for a second helping.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know what happens when an individual declares bankruptcy and how it affects his or her life.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to draw an illustration as least well enough to get your point across to another person.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to go shopping for a bathing suit and not become depressed afterward.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know why certain foods, such as truffles, are expensive. It’s not because they taste best.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to confide your innermost secrets to your mother and your innermost fears to your father.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Capital punishment is the source of many an argument, both good and bad.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Have enough sense to know, ahead of time, when your skills will not extend to wallpapering.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
While you’re writing, you can’t concentrate nearly as well on what the speaker is saying.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to tell whether garments that look good on the hanger actually look good on you.
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.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Be able to describe anything visual, such as a street scene, in words that convey your meaning.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Make a habit of canceling every subscription to anything you don’t have time to read.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
Know the names of past and current artists who are most famous for playing their instruments.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer
The freedom to be an individual is the essence of America.
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.
American magazine columnist, author and lecturer