I would amend that to say, "Intelligent people often act on what looks like impulse." If you do a lot of varied reading, and a lot of listening, and a lot of thinking, AND (key factor) are able to zoom out and see the big picture, they can hear/read one last piece of information that they can quickly identify as the missing piece of a puzzle and then act immediately. Others who have no idea of the background or the big picture see a decision that looks impulsive - but it is not.

Unintelligent people act on impulse without all the pre-work. Sometimes they get lucky. Sometimes they end up like Wiley Coyote.