Quote of the Day (William Hazlitt, on Why Women Often Have More Good Sense Than Men)

“Women have often more of what is called good sense than men. They have fewer pretensions; are less implicated in theories; and judge of objects more from their immediate and involuntary impression on the mind, and, therefore, more truly and naturally. They cannot reason wrong; for they do not reason at all. They do not think or speak by rule; and they have in general more eloquence and wit, as well as sense, on that account. By their wit, sense and eloquence together, they generally contrive to govern their husbands. Their style, when they write to their friends (not for the booksellers), is better than that of most authors.”—English essayist William Hazlitt (1778-1830), “On the Ignorance of the Learned,” in Table-Talk: or, Original Essays, Vol. 2 (1822)

Naturally, women reading the above would argue with the point that women “do not reason at all.” But, in the context of the true subject of Hazlitt’s piece—theory, classical education and these realms' distance from actual practice (“the most learned man…knows the most of what is farthest removed from common life and actual observation, that is of the least practical utility”)—they are far more likely to nod in agreement with everything else in that paragraph. 

(Well, with one other exception: they might substitute "usually" for "often" in that first sentence.)

What better illustration of what Mr. Hazlitt is talking about concerning men without sense and women with it than the picture next to this post?

Well, maybe there is one—this bit of dialogue from The Honeymooners:

Ralph: “What's the matter? Aren't you up on current events? Don't you read the papers? Don't you read comic books? That's the trouble with you; you don't know the latest developments.”

Alice: “I don't know the latest developments? Who is it that lets your pants out every other day?”

This demonstrates why, on more than one occasion, Ralph shows that he has a "BIG mouth"—big enough to put his foot in it.

Quote of the Day (Mark Twain, on Prosperity, Dogs and Men)

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”―American novelist and humorist Mark Twain (1835-1910), Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)

Quote of the Day (George Bernard Shaw, on How to Get a Man to Open Up)

“A man never tells you anything until you contradict him." ―Anglo-Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Aug. 28, 1896 letter to actress Ellen Terry, included in Bernard Shaw: Collected Letters 1874-1897, Vol. I (1985)

Quote of the Day (Coco Chanel, on Women That Men Remember)

“Men always remember a woman who caused them concern and uneasiness.” —French clothier Coco Chanel (1883-1971), quoted in Axel Madsen, Chanel: A Woman of Her Own (1991)

Quote of the Day (Hugh Jackman, on Why He Can’t Multitask)

“Do you have any men in your life who can multitask? I can't do that! I'm not good at multitasking. You can give me ten different things to do in a day, but not at once. I literally compartmentalize. Like, give me, ‘I'll do that for an hour’ and I'm focused on that for an hour. I'm a typical man in that way. I'll go hunting now, and then I'll go drinking. But no hunt-and-drink.” — Actor Hugh Jackman, quoted in Jennifer Vineyard, “Hugh Jackman on X-Men: Days of Future Past, Retcon, and Why Wolverine Doesn’t Multitask,” www.vulture.com, May 22, 2014

Quote of the Day (Dorothy Parker, on What To Say When a Man Asks for a Dance)

“What can you say, when a man asks you to dance with him? I most certainly will not dance with you, I’ll see you in hell first. Why, thank you, I’d love to awfully, but I’m having labor pains. Oh, yes, do let’s dance together – it’s so nice to meet a man who isn’t a scaredy-cat about catching my beri-beri … I’d love to waltz with you. I’d love to waltz with you. I’d love to have my tonsils out. I’d love to be in a midnight fire at sea.” —Dorothy Parker, “The Waltz,” from The Portable Dorothy Parker (1944)