"I am intelligent"

"I am intelligent, I am a professional, I am open to ideas, and I am good at communication with people"

I won't be kidding when I say that someone said the exact same line to me in a conversation earlier today. I didn't quite know how to react ... :/

Now, I am confused whether it's just me who thinks that 'intelligent' people dont have the need to claim their intelligence verbally or whether it is a universal truth? I remember my father telling me when I was little that "those who say that they are intelligent are the biggest idiots alive". Since then, I've been fine tuned to avoid such self-proclamations ... but has my father been misguiding me all along? Is it normal to flaunt your intelligence instead of letting your intelligence flaunt you?

Like I said, I was stumped today when I heard the aforementioned dialogue in a conversation. To intensify the impact, the comment was made by the president of a non-profit organization, that I am interested in, over a meeting that was set to 'introduce' me to the non-profit organization. Since this comment was made in the very beginning of the meeting, I had nothing else to say for the rest of the time I was there. Therefore, I nodded along to everything the 'intelligence incarnate' had to share with me.

Was I wise in doing so? Perhaps not. Is my father's advice misguiding me into misjudging someone? Am I too quick to jump to conclusions? Is it okay to say to someone that "I am intelligent"? Why was it never okay for me?

.... suggestions/comments/questions ?!