I recommend pleasant.” These are the words of Elwood Dowd, one of the main characters in Harvey, the 1944 play by Mary Chase. This quote raises a certain question: Is it better to be smart, or is it better to be pleasant? Ideally, someone should possess both qualities. However, if I had to choose only one, I would have to disagree with Elwood here. It is much better to be intelligent than just pleasant or kind. While pleasantness is a good quality to have, intelligence will more beneficial to you in the long run. Our society does not reward kindness as it does with intelligence. Smarter people are often more successful and have more …show more content…
However, wouldn’t people want to be around you more if you were more smart than kind? Think of it this way: If you were a highly intelligent person, people are going to want to be associated with your intelligence.
Another point brought up by those who value pleasantness over intelligence is that qualities such as kindness, compassion, and generosity matter more in most careers more than just intelligence. While these qualities are important, you can’t get far in most careers on just kindness alone. You need intelligence to be successful in nearly every career path. It is much better to be intelligent than to just be pleasant or kind. Intelligence can get you much farther in life than pleasantness alone. Intelligent people have more opportunities in life. Others will want to be around you and be associated with your intelligence. Being intelligent means you are more aware of the world around you and are less likely to be deceived or taken advantage of. If you were to choose pleasantness over intelligence, wouldn’t be much harder to reap the aforementioned benefits of