Marilyn vos Savant

Marilyn vos Savant is a writer. She wrote the "Ask Marilyn" question-and-answer column for Parade magazine from 1986 through 2023, when it ceased publication.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

We should realize the word “progress” doesn’t mean positive change. Rather, it describes growth of a thing that exists. An unchecked disease “progresses.” So does a technology. When an entity profits from a change, it will happen, whether for ultimate good or harm for most of us.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

Times change. I remember when one woman would turn to another, who was wearing a fabulous necklace over an abundant bosom, and ask, “Are those real?” And she meant the 𝙟𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙨.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

@Syrian_MD No one speaks on my behalf.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

The less money you have, the more you’ll find you like your relatives. And the 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 money you have, the more you’ll find your relatives like 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

Aspire to go as far as your greatest strengths will take you, but realize that you'll get no farther than your greatest weaknesses will allow.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

What Timothée Chalamet may not see is that the root appeal of opera and ballet is glorious music, and for many decades now, no one has been composing anything even remotely near the magnificent work of the distant past. Modern compositions are utterly laughable by comparison.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

After the Super Bowl Ring ad debacle, we’ve been assured that owners of devices with video technology (not just Ring) can simply choose their privacy option. But what if that option is removed by law in the name of public safety? Then what if all houses are required to have them?

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

When a man sends a huge bouquet of flowers to a woman, it usually means either that he’s fallen in love or that he’s done something regrettable. In the case of certain women, however, that’s the same thing.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

Men are smarter than women give them credit for. For example, men were smart enough to invent brass knuckles, but they were too smart to invent brass knees.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

You know you’re rich when your attorneys outnumber your friends.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

AI chatbots remind me of HAL, the computer in A Space Odyssey 2001. HAL seemed sentient, so he looked human. But what if chatbots start 2 seem like gods 2 our increasingly credulous population? And competing gods arise? We’ll have a 21st-century pantheon with horrific potential.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

You’ve heard imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I think that’s wrong. I believe love is the most sincere form of flattery. Your imitator thinks you can be duplicated; your lover knows you can't.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

After my husband died six months ago, I’m gradually becoming a new woman. He was such a treasure. Losing him opened my eyes to the way we so often sleepwalk through our lives, myself included. I see too many of us not fully appreciating what we have when we have it, which I believe was the case with me, or not having the patience to wait for the fulfillment of a special kind of love, which I will be eternally grateful that I did find in him. So at least I got that right. Anyway, as 2026 approaches, I find myself at the beginning of a new era. What will I do with it? I don’t know yet.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

Since Parade magazine ceased publication at the end of 2023, I’ve missed my “Ask Marilyn” readers terribly! They were smart, funny, and a constant source of entertainment and enlightenment. Like my best friends, they were always around, and given Parade’s circulation of 22 million (and readership of 54 million), they were never boring!

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

Yes, we all love Ken Jennings, and he would make a great Jeopardy! host. But before that's official, couldn't we please have just one week of Dolly Parton as a guest host? I mean, who wouldn't watch? Could be some of the best television EVER.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

Lessons Learned: If no offense is intended, never take offense. And if offense IS intended, never, never take offense. This drives would-be offenders nuts, which is always nice.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

So it looks like the most common small-talk line among people who live in NYC is, "What you looking forward to most after the #pandemic is over?" Well, I know my own answer: fries. As in hot and crispy. Not the kind that are DOA.

[Marilyn vos Savant @VirtualMvS]

At my fave BBQ place:
Server: Ooh, I love your eyebrows. Do u thread?
Me: No, I just pencil them on. This is the eyebrow of the day.
Server: I think I overthreaded. See? (Points to a spot.)
Me: Oh, no u didn't! Your eyebrows are nice & full. Perfect for u!
Husband: Can we order?