We had excellent exchanges here over the weekend, and I am left with the realization that the best writers use the fewest words. But I’ve always known that. Blogging is easy. Mark Twain, I think, apologized for writing someone a long letter, but said he did not have the time to write a short one.
I wanted to address the idea of stupidity in a few words, and realized that others had done it already. Keep in mind that stupidity has in it, by definition, the lack of awareness of one’s own stupidity, so that even as I arrogantly recite the lines below, I could be up to my eyebrows in it too. But who would ever convince me of that?
- Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped. (Elbert Hubbard)
- Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. (Euripides)
- To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. (Gustave Flaubert)
- There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity. (Goethe)
- Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. (Martin Luther King)
- Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and higher education positively fortifies it. (Stephen Vizinczey)
- The bookful blockhead ignorantly read
With loads of lumber in his head. (Alexander Pope)
Now, I’m going to put down my own pithy thoughts on this subject …
Piece of Mindful 