There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more sense than we have.

Herold’s quip skewers a common vanity: we often prize “intelligence” (quickness, verbal facility, abstract reasoning) as a marker of superiority, yet feel threatened when someone we deem less bright shows better judgment, practicality, or self-control—what he calls “sense.” The irritation comes from cognitive dissonance: their competent choices expose the limits of our own supposed cleverness. The line also hints at social hierarchy and ego-defense; it is easier to tolerate being outshone by an acknowledged equal than by someone we have mentally ranked below ourselves. As humor, it invites self-recognition while puncturing intellectual snobbery.