The 95 best cunning phrases
Cunning is a mental capacity that we can use to resolve conflicts or escape unnecessary problems. It is also used to achieve things or achieve goals in a creative way.
However, it has a dark side, and that is that many people can use cunning for their own ambition, going above others.
Below you will find a selection of the best phrases about cunning, commented.
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The most memorable cunning phrases
This is a compilation of quotes and reflections on cunning that will help you use it and understand how it is reflected in relationships, in communication, in decision-making, etc.
1. In any negotiation, the honest man is destined to bear the worst of it, while mischief and bad faith finally score high. (Mika Waltari)
The cunning of others stands between the honesty of some and their goals.
2. Cunning is the dark sanctuary of inability. (Felipe Stanhope of Chesterfield)
Whoever exercises cunning for better and for worse, actually hides his lack of abilities to achieve his goals while respecting others.
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3. The cunning of a fox is better than the nose of a good hunter.
There are times when being crafty is the best solution.
4. Have the courage of cunning that stops anger and waits for the right moment to unleash it. (Genghis Khan)
Practice cunning at the right time.
5. Cunning may have dresses, but the truth likes to go naked. (Thomas Fuller)
Cunning always comes in the most frivolous way.
6. And do not be astonished at my cunning but at your ignorance that makes it stand out. (Reynaldo Arenas)
Cunning is wiser than ignorance.
7. Man's unhappiness, as I interpret it, comes from his greatness; it is because there is an Infinite in him, which with all his cunning he cannot completely bury in the Finite. (Thomas Carlyle)
The man always seeks to be over-smart when it comes to infidelity.
8. They also tend to be the kind to you. But that was always the cunning of the cowards. Yes, the cowards are clever! (Friedrich Nietzsche)
Cunning comes disguised as kindness.
9. Skill is to cunning what skill is to con.
Skill goes hand in hand with cunning.
10. Even sacrificing or giving up is a problem of cunning. (Cesare Pavese)
To solve a situation you have to outsmart the problem.
11. Cunning is not one of the best or worst qualities. Float between virtue and vice. (La Bruyère)
Being cunning can be classified as a virtue or as a defect.
12. A wise man is not the human who eludes the grim reaper with cunning, ingenuity and innovation, but neither is it He searches desperately, waits for her patiently while he has more ideas in mind in his mind and production. (Hermes Antonio Varillas Labrador)
An intelligent person waits for his moment and then acts.
13. The people learned that they were alone and that they had to fight for themselves and that from their own heart they would draw the means, the silence, the cunning and the strength. (Rodolfo Walsh)
When fighting for ideals, you always have to be shrewd.
14. Such is the cunning of women that, in the long run, not even Machiavelli could escape her nets. (William Thackeray)
The woman is cunning by nature.
15. There is a limit moment in which patience ceases to be a virtue. (Edmund Burke)
Patience is a virtue that very few possess.
16. Cunning is the art of hiding our own flaws and discovering the weaknesses of others. (William Hazlitt)
When you learn to recognize the weaknesses of others and your own, then you can consider yourself a crafty person.
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17. Never stay in the barren heights of cunning, but rather go down to the green valleys of foolishness. (Ludwig Wittgenstein)
Being cunning means not showing it to others.
18. The lie has a large part of cunning. (Anonymous)
Who tells a lie, looks for a way to make it credible.
19. God took power from the devil, but not knowledge.
Being powerful is not the same as being smart.
20. Science that deviates from justice rather than science must be called cunning. (Marco Tulio Cicero)
Who is outside the law, should not be called cunning.
21. Nature hides its secret because it is sublime, not out of cunning. (Albert Einstein)
Not giving out our secrets is an act of intelligence.
22. No woman marries out of interest: they all have the cunning, before marrying a millionaire, to fall in love with him. (Cesare Pavese)
Love is not a matter of cunning, but of feelings.
23. The cunning always win in the first moment and are usually defeated before the end. (Phaedrus)
A cunning person wins first time, but that doesn't last forever.
24. Cunning is seeing a hundred meters ahead, wisdom fifty miles ahead. (Charles William Day)
Cunning with intelligence is a wise decision.
25. Cunning grows in deception by being discovered and tries to deceive with the truth itself.
Someone who is discovered is quickly out of sight.
26. There are two peaceful powers: law and cunning. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Doing things legally and astutely is the correct way to achieve the proposed objectives.
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27. Cunning, which is part of ingenuity, is often used to supply its scarcity. (Giacomo Leopardi)
When insight is lacking, cunning makes its appearance.
28. The great cunning of some is often nothing more than the stupidity of others. (Hugues-Bernard Maret)
The crafty exist because there are some stupid.
29. The lion would be cunning if he took advice from the fox. (William Blake)
Learn from what he knows.
30. The weak in courage are strong in cunning. (William Blake)
Cunning makes the man fragile, regain his value.
31. Every man wishes to be wise, and those who cannot be wise are almost always cunning. (Samuel Johnson)
A wise person is very difficult to find, while a cunning person is everywhere.
32. Cunning is a short blanket, if you put it over your face, you expose your feet. (Austin O'Malley)
Sagacity is not eternal.
33. Man's life is like a game of dice: if you can't get the one that suits you best, you must cunningly try to take advantage of the one that perhaps touched you. (Terence)
Life must be lived cleverly.
34. Tears are not only indicative of a sensitive and compassionate nature; they are also a sign of weakness and cunning. (François Fénelon)
Many people use crying as a cunning tool.
35. In contact with things, the heart of man becomes entangled and struggles: prudence, cunning, calm. (Zhuangzi)
In the fight you have to have sanity, mischief and tranquility.
36. Honesty may be the best policy, but leaving on time was smarter of me. (Robert Crais)
There are situations when a timely withdrawal is better than sitting idle.
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37. A rogue favored by fortune ceases to be a rogue. He is already a banker, a politician, an administrator, a merchant, in short, a man who has succeeded. (Etienne Rey)
A malicious person manages to reach very high.
38. There is nothing more cunning than tangled deception. If you want to seek the truth, first discover the lies surrounding the illusion. (Virginia Alison)
The lie is always discovered.
39. Learn well to think well and then be your own shepherd; otherwise, you will be the unfortunate sheep of all kinds of crafty shepherds! (Mehmet Murat ildan)
Find your own way.
40. The intelligence of an individual is measured by the amount of uncertainties that he is capable of supporting. (Immanuel Kant)
A wise person, he knows how to handle every situation in the best way.
41. There is someone so intelligent that he learns from the experience of others. (Voltaire)
It is good to learn from other people's experiences.
42. God dies for the materialized man, who thinks that he cannot be man or superman, more than if God is not God. (Jacques Maritain)
Man wants to be superior at all times.
43. It has the ferocity of the lion, the cowardice of the hare, the cunning of the fox... (Lu Xun)
You have to be fierce, but having a little fear and being shrewd.
44. Besides caution and reserve, caution means cunning. (Arturo Pérez-Reverte)
Stealth is one way to be cunning.
45. That gift of observation called knowledge of the world, you will see that it serves more often to make men cunning than to make them good. (Samuel Johnson)
Today's world is so convulsed that all people only seek cunning practice.
46. Self-love is more cunning than the most cunning man in the world. (François de la Rochefoucauld)
Never lose your self-love.
47. Only intelligence examines itself. (Jaime Balmes)
An intelligent person is superior to himself.
48. The Prince must make use of man and beast: cunning as a fox to evade traps and strong as a lion to scare away wolves. (Nicholas Machiavelli)
You have to be smart and brave to face problems.
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49. Virtue is a horizontal line; the force is the vertical line; and cunning is an oblique line. (Jean Louis Auguste Commerson)
Cunning has its ups and downs.
50. Cunning always surrounds people, and how many homes does it engulf in its blazing fire! (Alhacen)
In every family, cunning is always present.
51. The cunning steals a horse, the wise leave him alone. (Benjamin Franklin)
A cunning person does wrong, while a clever person knows how to act.
52. We are just an advanced race of monkeys on a planet smaller than a medium star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us very special.
Despite the imperfections, man is a very intelligent being.
53. The primary obligation of intelligence is to distrust it. (Stanislaw Jerzy Lec)
Do not think yourself superior for having great knowledge.
54. No matter how small, the woman always beats the devil in cunning. (Italian proverb)
The woman is very intelligent and shrewd.
55. Use courage or cunning when facing an enemy. (Publilius Syrus)
In front of your adversary stay strong, insightful and fearless.
56. Illness makes a man a rogue. (Samuel Johnson)
In difficult moments, the man becomes more skilled.
57. In order to be able to live cunning you must have. (Bertolt Brecht)
In life you have to be very clever.
58. He had the fidelity and devotion born under fire and roof, but he had retained his ferocity and cunning. (Jack London)
Within a relationship, you have to be faithful and cunning.
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59. Love seeks in beings, beyond the flesh, a secret of ardor, science and cunning that only those who have lived a long time have. (François Mauriac)
Love not only focuses on physical contact, but on lived moments and shared secrets.
60. Strategy is about making decisions, tradeoffs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different. (Michael Porter)
Many of the decisions we make need strategies to prosper.
61. One man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than everyone else. (Benjamin Franklin)
Cunning reaches a very short space.
62. You can be smarter than others, but it is dangerous to appear so. (Etienne Cueilhe)
Don't show how clever you are.
63. Cunning is often annoying like a lamp in a bedroom. (Ludwig Börne)
It is annoying to always be in the presence of someone clever.
64. I will watch with the cunning of the serpent, and with its venom I will bite you. Mortal, you will regret the damage you have done to me. (Mary Shelley)
Beware of a woman's cunning.
65. Never has a person of humble status gained great power only by force, but only by cunning. (Nicholas Machiavelli)
He always wins more with cunning than with power.
66. What difference would it make to a God who did not know anger, revenge, mockery, cunning, violence? (Friedrich Nietzsche)
God can be cunning too.
67. One must be cunning and evil in this world. (Leo Tolstoy)
Many people see cunning and evil as the best way to behave.
68. Cunning leads to mischief. It's just one step from one to the other, and that's very slippery. Just lying makes a difference; Add that to the cunning, and it's mischief. (Ovid)
Mischief is also a lifestyle.
69. Because perhaps we also need cunning for love. (Sándor Márai)
Love also works with a touch of cunning.
70. The man, whom the hunger of the prey presses, of innate malice and natural cunning, formed the intelligence and monopolized the earth. And still the truth proclaims! Supreme war ruse! (Antonio Machado)
It refers to how this great author sees man.
71. Cunning is a kind of myopia, which discovers the tiniest objects that are close, but is not able to discern things at a distance. (Joseph Addison)
A cunning person is only able to see at close range.
72. The truths that intelligence reveals remain sterile. Only the heart is capable of fecundating dreams. (Anatole France)
He loves with all his heart every dream you want to make come true.
73. The more cunning a man is, the less you suspect that he will get caught up in something simple. (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
A cunning man is also dangerous.
74. Foolishness is the strangest of diseases. The sick person never suffers, those who really suffer from it are others. (Paul-Henrl Spaak)
Stupidity does not affect those who suffer from it, but those around them.
75. For my part, I believe that that uneducated spirit was one of those who let themselves be trapped by their own lies, and that fanaticism ran in him hand in hand with cunning. (Marguerite Yourcenar)
The ignorant are trapped in his own world.
76. He can be more cunning than anyone else, but not more cunning than everyone else. (François de La Rochefoucauld)
We can be better than someone else, but there will always be someone who is better than us.
77. What would a writer be without that obstacle that forces him to go through subtle twists and turns to say what cannot be said? Literary technique wins out. (Azorín)
The ignorant are trapped in his own world.
78. In stating the obvious, never choose cunning. Yelling works best. (Cynthia Ozick)
It is better to say something outright than to find the ruse to do it.
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79. Art is the ultimate cunning of the human soul that would do anything rather than face the gods. (Iris Murdoch)
Cunning is an art.
80. Patience and time do more than force and violence. (Jean de la Fontaine)
Give time to time and add a dose of patience.
81. Nothing is more like an honest man than a rogue who knows his trade. (Xavier Güell)
The skilled man knows very well what he does.
82. The purpose of war is murder; his instruments, espionage, betrayal, the ruin of the inhabitants, looting and theft to supply the army, deception and lies, called military cunning. (Leo Tolstoy)
Cunning is one of the great weapons that is used during a war.
83. I am devious, cruel, cunning and addictive. (Anthony Hopkins)
Phrase that refers to the way this actor sees himself.
84. Nothing does more harm in a state than cunning men pass for wise. (Francis Bacon)
The cunning of many, they impoverish a country.
85. This is the great fault of wine; He stumbles on his feet first: he is a cunning fighter. (Plautus)
Despite the difficulties, you have to be very clever.
86. Look like the innocent flower, but be the snake under it. (William Shakespeare)
Don't show all your cards at the same time.
87. Time is the only capital of people who have nothing but their intelligence fortunately. (Honoré de Balzac)
The only thing that many people have is their intelligence.
88. Don't be stupid or cunning, but wise. (Benjamin Franklin)
Bet on knowledge.
89. Most people are like pins: their heads are not the most important thing. (Jonathan Swift)
There are people who only focus on cultivating their ego.
90. Envy, like the worm, never runs but towards the most beautiful fruit; Like a cunning hound, choose the fattest deer in the herd. (Francis Beaumont)
Envy always goes to the best prize.
91. There is an old saying, the devil knows more by old than by devil. And my father is both.
Older people have extensive knowledge.
92. The art of using deception and cunning becomes continually weaker and less effective for the user. (John Tillotson)
A person who always cheats, over time loses strength.
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93. Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
Patience is a very difficult art to master.
94. Love is a cunning weaver of fantasies and fables. (Sappho)
Love brings hope and dreams.
95. Where there is nothing but a cunning cunning, there is necessarily pettiness. To say cunning is to say mediocre. (Victor Hugo)
Cunning brings selfishness.
Cunning is neither a good nor a bad quality, but rather an attitude that a person has when facing a situation and how it affects those around them.
