Believe for long enough that you are not as smart as others and this will actually lead to intellectual ineptitude.

Buddhism Day by Day

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Sunday, August 25, 2013:

 

One of the fascinating things about human beings is this: Believe for long enough that you are not as smart as others and this will actually lead to intellectual ineptitude. But, confronted with the same doubts, if you choose to believe that your mind is merely dormant for now, lacking in exercise, once you begin to train it, there are no bounds to what you can achieve.