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Stupidity quotes

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“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” William Shakespeare, “As You Like It” - 1623

“Stupidity is much the same all the world over.” John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” - 1869

“It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves.” Franz Kafka, “The Trial” - 1925

“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

“Stupidity and wisdom meet in the same centre of sentiment and resolution, in the suffering of human accidents.” Michel de Montaigne, “The Essays of Michel de Montaigne” - 1580

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” Jane Austen, “Northanger Abbey” - 1817

“I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.” Jane Austen, “Emma” - 1815

“Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain.” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.” Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” - 1890

“In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.” Mark Twain, “Following the Equator” - 1897

“Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.” Terry Pratchett, “Hogfather” - 1996

“A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something that he can understand.” Bertrand Russell, “A History of Western Philosophy” - 1945

“Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.” John Steinbeck, “East of Eden” - 1952

“I used to think she was quite intelligent, in my stupidity.” J. D. Salinger, “The Catcher in the Rye” - 1951

“There is no sin except stupidity.” Oscar Wilde, “Intentions” - 1891

“Intelligent men are cruel. Stupid men are monstrously cruel.” Jack London, “The Star Rover” - 1915

“why am I so stupid that if others are stupid—and I know they are—yet I won't be wiser?” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “Crime and Punishment” - 1867

“stupidity is one of two things we see most clearly in retrospect. The other is missed chances.” Stephen King, “11/22/63” - 2011

“Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves.” Carl Sagan, “The Demon-Haunted World” - 1995

“My dull brain was wrought with things forgotten.” William Shakespeare, “Macbeth” - 1623

“She never yet was foolish that was fair; For even her folly help'd her to an heir.” William Shakespeare, “Othello” - 1623

“May not an ass know when the cart draws the horse?” William Shakespeare, “King Lear” - 1623

“This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.” William Shakespeare, “A Midsummer Night's Dream” - 1601

“Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.” William Shakespeare, “Twelfth Night” - 1623

“Since the little wit that fools have was silenced, the little foolery that wise men have makes a great show.” William Shakespeare, “As You Like It” - 1623

“The dullness of the fool is the whetstone of the wits.” William Shakespeare, “As You Like It” - 1623

“Will future ages believe that such stupid bigotry ever existed!” Walter Scott, “Ivanhoe” - 1820

“A weak mind does not accumulate force enough to hurt itself; stupidity often saves a man from going mad.” Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table” - 1858

“If a man is stupid, we excuse him by saying that he cannot help it; but if we were to excuse a bad man on the same grounds we would be laughed at.” Arthur Schopenhauer, “The World as Will and Representation” - 1819

“Unhappiness does make people look stupid,—I am perfectly sure it does.” Anatole France, “The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard” - 1881

“And on and on it went— that duet between the dumb, praying lady and the big, hollow man so full of loving echoes.” Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five” - 1969

“Deficiency in judgement is properly that which is called stupidity; and for such a failing we know no remedy.” Immanuel Kant, “Critique of Pure Reason” - 1791

“I got a son, stupid as a man who bought his stupid at a two-for-one sale, and you remind me of him.” Neil Gaiman, “American Gods” - 2001

“The temptation was great to muster what force we could and put up a fight. It’s the easiest way out, and the most satisfactory to self-respect—but, nearly invariably, the stupidest.” Isaac Asimov, “Foundation” - 1951

“Boxing is a glorious sport to watch and boxers are incredible, heroic athletes, but it’s also, to be honest, a stupid game to play. Even the winners can end up with crippling brain damage. In a lot of ways, hustling is the same.” Jay-Z, “Decoded” - 2010

“I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.” Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book” - 1989

“It would be easier to pay off the national debt overnight than to neutralize the long-range effects of OUR NATIONAL STUPIDITY.” Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book” - 1989

“The more hideous the mental contortions, the greater the delight and bravos of the mass.” Emma Goldman, “Anarchism and Other Essays” - 1910

“Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice.” William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice” - 1600

“most really good-looking people are stupid, so I exceed expectations.” John Green, “The Fault in Our Stars” - 2012

“I don’t want to see anyone. I lie in the bedroom with the curtains drawn and nothingness washing over me like a sluggish wave. Whatever is happening to me is my own fault. I have done something wrong, something so huge I can’t even see it,...” Margaret Atwood, “Cat's Eye” - 1988

“Our real discoveries come from chaos . . . from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.” Chuck Palahniuk, “Invisible Monsters” - 1999

“There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind” F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” - 1925

“She was a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies.” Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five” - 1969

“Early to bed and early to rise . . . makes a man stupid and blind in the eyes.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

“Longbottom, if brains were gold you’d be poorer than Weasley, and that’s saying something.” J. K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” - 1997

“The individual can accomplish little here, nor can one wish to see the best among us devoted to destruction through the machinery behind which stand the three great powers of stupidity, fear, and greed. ” Albert Einstein, “The world as I see it” - 1949

“If they invent a car that runs on stupid jokes, you could go far.” Haruki Murakami, “Sputnik Sweetheart” - 1999

“sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led.” Terry Pratchett, “Small Gods” - 1992

“The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world. They can sit at their ease and gape at the play. If they know nothing of victory, they are at least spared the knowledge of defeat.” Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” - 1890

Related topics

wisdom intelligence cleverness pleasure world excuse love madness attraction fear foolishness modesty ignorance imperfection leadership understanding fight suffering beauty morning

Related authors

William Shakespeare (9)
Oscar Wilde (4)
Jane Austen (2)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (2)
Kurt Vonnegut (2)
Terry Pratchett (2)
Stephen King (2)
J. D. Salinger (2)
Margaret Atwood (2)
Frank Zappa (2)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1)
Mark Twain (1)
J. K. Rowling (1)
George Orwell (1)
John Green (1)
Albert Einstein (1)
Jack London (1)
Victor Hugo (1)
Bertrand Russell (1)
John Stuart Mill (1)

Related sources

As You Like It (3)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (2)
Slaughterhouse-Five (2)
The Catcher in the Rye (2)
The Real Frank Zappa Book (2)
Cat's Eye (2)
Twelfth Night (1)
Macbeth (1)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1)
The Merchant of Venice (1)
King Lear (1)
Othello (1)
Northanger Abbey (1)
Lady Windermere's Fan (1)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1)
1984 (1)
The Fault in Our Stars (1)
The world as I see it (1)
Les Misérables (1)
The Brothers Karamazov (1)