“ Deficiency of understanding we call stupidity : deficiency in the application of reason to practice we shall recognise later as foolishness : deficiency of judgment as silliness , and lastly, partial or entire deficiency of memory as madness. ”
Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation (1819). copy citation
| Author | Arthur Schopenhauer |
|---|---|
| Source | The World as Will and Representation |
| Topic | foolishness stupidity |
| Date | 1819 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by R. B. Haldane and J. Kemp |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38427/38427-h/38427-h.html |
Context
“We cannot, however, discuss this here; it will find its proper place in the second book, when we consider the harmony or so-called teleology of nature: and the 27th chapter of the supplementary volume is expressly devoted to it.
Deficiency of understanding we call stupidity : deficiency in the application of reason to practice we shall recognise later as foolishness : deficiency of judgment as silliness , and lastly, partial or entire deficiency of memory as madness. But each of these will be considered in its own place. That which is correctly known by reason is truth , that is, an abstract judgment on sufficient grounds (Essay on the Principle of Sufficient Reason, § 29 and following paragraphs) ; that which is correctly known by understanding is reality , that is correct inference from effect on the immediate object to its cause.” source
Deficiency of understanding we call stupidity : deficiency in the application of reason to practice we shall recognise later as foolishness : deficiency of judgment as silliness , and lastly, partial or entire deficiency of memory as madness. But each of these will be considered in its own place. That which is correctly known by reason is truth , that is, an abstract judgment on sufficient grounds (Essay on the Principle of Sufficient Reason, § 29 and following paragraphs) ; that which is correctly known by understanding is reality , that is correct inference from effect on the immediate object to its cause.” source
