“ The stupider one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence wriggles and hides itself. Intelligence is a knave, but stupidity is honest and straightforward. ”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (1880). copy citation
| Author | Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
|---|---|
| Source | The Brothers Karamazov |
| Topic | stupidity honesty intelligence clarity |
| Date | 1880 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Constance Garnett |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28054/28054-h/28054-h.html |
Context
“
«To begin with, for the sake of being Russian. Russian conversations on such subjects are always carried on inconceivably stupidly. And secondly, the stupider one is, the closer one is to reality. The stupider one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, [pg 259] while intelligence wriggles and hides itself. Intelligence is a knave, but stupidity is honest and straightforward. I've led the conversation to my despair, and the more stupidly I have presented it, the better for me.»
«You will explain why you don't accept the world?» said Alyosha.
«To be sure I will, it's not a secret, that's what I've been leading up to.” source
«To begin with, for the sake of being Russian. Russian conversations on such subjects are always carried on inconceivably stupidly. And secondly, the stupider one is, the closer one is to reality. The stupider one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, [pg 259] while intelligence wriggles and hides itself. Intelligence is a knave, but stupidity is honest and straightforward. I've led the conversation to my despair, and the more stupidly I have presented it, the better for me.»
«You will explain why you don't accept the world?» said Alyosha.
«To be sure I will, it's not a secret, that's what I've been leading up to.” source
Meaning and analysis
