quotations about stupidity
Overcoming collective stupidity on an ongoing basis is a role for leadership in any organization.
DAVID KRAKAUER
"Leading People Too Smart to Be Led", Harvard Business Review, February 2, 2017
That took more than ordinary dullness, the kind of stupidity that can only result from long practice and hard study.
PHILIP K. DICK & RAY NELSON
The Ganymede Takeover
Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward.
J. K. ROWLING
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Smart people don't have the luxury of playing stupid.
DAN BROWN
Deception Point
It is difficult to decide which is most entitled to pity, he who is inoculated with stupidity, or he who has come by it in the natural way.
GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE
attributed, Day's Collacon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever.
JUDY SHEINDLIN
Beauty Fades, Dumb is Forever
The fool of nature stood with stupid eyes
And gaping mouth, that testified surprise.
JOHN DRYDEN
Cymon and Iphigenia
I wouldn't say you're stupid. You are, but I wouldn't say.
ANONYMOUS
Stupidity is not a shield for accountability.
KEITH SCHROEDER
"Coble found guilty of arson at Plaza Towers", Hutchinson News, June 15, 2017
Stupidity is much the same all the world over. A stupid person's notions and feelings may confidently be inferred from those which prevail in the circle by which the person is surrounded. Not so with those whose opinions and feelings are an emanation from their own nature and faculties.
JOHN STUART MILL
The Subjugation of Women
A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones who need advice.
BILL COSBY
attributed, The Gods Are Angry
I put all the love and beauty
In the spirit of the night
And I'm holding my ticket tight.
Stupidity and suffering
Are on that ticket, too
And I'm going down the dip with you.
AZTEC CAMERA
"Down the Dip"
Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
A History of Western Philosophy
Stupidity is a factor to be reckoned with in human affairs. The true leader always expects to encounter it, and prepares to endure it patiently so long as it is normal stupidity. He knows that his ideas will be distorted, his orders carelessly executed; and that there will be jealousy among his assistants. He takes these inevitable phenomena into account, and instead of attempting to find men without faults, who are non-existent, he tries to make use of the best men at his disposal -- as they are, and not as they ought to be.
ANDRÉ MAUROIS
An Art of Living
If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?
SCOTT ADAMS
attributed, Laugh Off: The Comedy Showdown Between Real Life and the Pros
It is so pleasant to come across people more stupid than ourselves. We love them at once for being so.
JEROME K. JEROME
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
I'm not saying you're stupid. I'm just saying you've got bad luck when it comes to thinking.
ANONYMOUS
To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness -- though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.
JULIAN BARNES
Flaubert's Parrot
Without stupid people we would have no one to laugh at.
ANONYMOUS
Stupid was a prison they never let you out of, no time off for good behavior, you were in for life.
STEPHEN KING
(as Richard Bachman), Blaze