One thing that humbles me deeply is to see that human genius has its limits while human stupidity does not.
[Une chose qui m’humilie profondément est de voir que le génie humain a des limites, quand la bêtise humaine n’en a pas.]
Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824-1895) French writer and dramatist
(Attributed)
(Source)
Earliest attribution is in the Great Universal Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century [Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe Siècle], Vol. 2, "Stupidity [Bêtise]" (c. 1865)
Attributed to a wide variety of individuals, including (spuriously) to Albert Einstein.
Variants:
- "What distresses me is to see that human genius has limitations, and human stupidity has none."
- "How despairing it is to see that human genius has limitations, while human stupidity has none."
- "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
- "Human genius has its limits, but stupidity does not."
- "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." (Elbert Hubbard, ed., The Philistine, title epigraph (Sep 1906)
See here for more discussion.
Quotations about:
stupidity
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
WALLY: Stupidity is like nuclear power; it can be used for good or evil.
DILBERT: And you don’t want to get any on you.Scott Adams (b. 1957) American cartoonist
Dilbert (11 Dec. 1995)
Too much positive is either scared or stupid or both. Reality is uncertain.
Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) American writer
Early Autumn (1981)
It is only the very wisest and the very stupidest who never change.
[唯上知與下愚不移]
Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 17, verse 3 (17.3) (6th C. BC – 3rd C. AD) [tr. Soothill (1910)]
(Source)
Some scholars recommend reading 17.2-3 together (I don't get it), and some actually merge them into a single verse; that is noted below. (Source (Chinese)). Alternate translations:
There are only the wise of the highest class, and the stupid of the lowest class, who cannot be changed.
[tr. Legge (1861)]
Only the supremely wise and the most deeply ignorant do not alter.
[tr. Jennings (1895)]
It is only men of the highest understanding and men of the grossest dullness, who do not change.
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]
There are two classes that never change: the supremely wise and the profoundly stupid.
[Source (1906)]
Only the wisest and the dullest never change.
[tr. Soothill (1910), Alternate 1]
Only the uppermost wise and the lowermost stupid do not change.
[tr. Soothill (1910), Alternate 2]
Only those of highest intelligence, and lowest simplicity do not shift.
[tr. Pound (1933)]
It is only the very wisest and the very stupidest who cannot change.
[tr. Waley (1938)]
Only the highest and the lowest characters don’t change.
[tr. Lin Yutang (1938)]
The only ones who do not change are sages and idiots.
[tr. Ware (1950), 17.2]
It is only the most intelligent and the most stupid who are not susceptible to change.
[tr. Lau (1979)]
Only the most intelligent and the most stupid do not change.
[tr. Dawson (1993), 17.2]
Only the wisest and the stupidest never change.
[tr. Leys (1997)]
Only the highest of the wise and the lowest of the stupid do not change.
[tr. Huang (1997), 17.2]
Only the super wisdom and the infer stupidness cannot be changed.
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998), #443]
Only the most wise (zhi) and the most stupid do not move.
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998)]
It is the highest wisdom and the lowest stupidity that do not change.
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998), 17.2b]
Those of the loftiest wisdom and those of the basest ignorance: they alone never change.
[tr. Hinton (1998)]
Only the highest among the wise and the lowest among the stupid never change.
[tr. Watson (2007)]
Only the most intelligent and the most stupid are not inclined to change.
[tr. Annping Chin (2014)]
Only superior wisdom and extreme stupidity cannot be changed.
[tr. Li (2020)]
Only the supremely wise and the most deeply ignorant do not alter.
[Source]
Only the supremely wise and the abysmally ignorant do not change.
Rascality has limits; stupidity has not.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) French emperor, military leader
(Attributed)
Brute force plays a much larger part in the government of the world than it did before 1914, and what is especially alarming, force tends increasingly to fall into the hands of those who are enemies of civilization. The danger is profound and terrible; it cannot be waved aside with easy optimism. The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“The Triumph of Stupidity,” New York American (1933-05-10)
(Source)
Often paraphrased, "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt." See also Yeats and Bukowski.
More examination of this quotation: The Best Lack All Conviction While the Worst Are Full of Passionate Intensity – Quote Investigator.
