best quotations about
Stupidity |
| 126 quotes | Visits: 59,224 |
Quotations
 | When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent. — Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992, American Sci-Fi writer 217 likes |
 | Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 121 likes |
 | Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. — George Carlin, 1936-2008, American comedian 83 likes |
 | Remember, when you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It is only painful for others. The same applies when you are stupid. — Ricky Gervais, 1961-, British comedian & screenwriter 78 likes |
| Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. — George Carlin, 1936-2008, American comedian 68 likes |
 | Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 64 likes |
| It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 46 likes |
 | Any man can make a mistake; only a fool keeps making the same one. — Cicero, 106-43 BC, Roman orator & statesman 45 likes |
 | In politics, stupidity is not a handicap. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 37 likes |
| Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 36 likes |
 | Two things are infinite: the universe and the human stupidity. — Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German-Jewish physicist 33 likes |
 | The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him — Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, 1906-1966, Polish author of maxims 30 likes |
 | The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. — Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British philosopher 27 likes |
 | Those who wish to appear wise among fools, they seem foolish among the wise. — Quintilian, 35-96 AD, Roman rhetorician 24 likes |
 | Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 23 likes |
 | You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination. — Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970, French President 22 likes |
| The fool has one great advantage over a man of sense: he is always satisfied with himself. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 21 likes |
 | The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so they believe they are clever as he. — Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer 21 likes |
 | You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy. — Erica Jong, 1942-, American writer 21 likes |
 | To succeed in the world, it is much more necessary to possess the penetration to discern who is a fool, than to discover who is a clever man. — Talleyrand, 1754-1838, French statesman & diplomat 17 likes |
 | To be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it. — G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, English writer & critic 17 likes |
 | The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. — William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ As You Like It 17 likes |
| Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 16 likes |
 | The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him. — Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860, German philosopher 15 likes |
 | If what you've done is stupid, but it works… then it really isn't all that stupid. — Dave Letterman, 1947-, American TV talk show host 14 likes |
 | Jerry Ford is so dumb he can't fart and chew gum at the same time. — Lyndon Johnson, 1908-1973, American President [1963-1969] 14 likes |
 | Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way, and the fools know it. — Oliver W. Holmes Sr., 1809-1894, American writer 14 likes |
 | I have defined the hundred per cent American as ninety-nine per cent an idiot. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 14 likes |
 | In my opinion, we don’t devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks. — Bill Watterson, 1958-, American cartoonist 13 likes |
 | Forgetting our intentions is the most frequent of all acts of stupidity. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 13 likes |
 | There is no sin except stupidity. — Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer 13 likes |
 | No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it. — Fernando Pessoa, 1888-1935, Portuguese poet & writer 13 likes |
 | The best plan is to profit by the folly of others. — Pliny the Elder, 23-79 μ.X., Roman natural philosopher 13 likes |
 | A fellow who is always declaring he's no fool usually has his suspicions. — Wilson Mizner, 1876-1913, American playwright 11 likes |
 | If it comes in one ear and it comes out immediately by the other, it's because, between the two, there is nothing to hold it. — Georges Feydeau, 1862-1921, French playwright 11 likes |
| It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 10 likes |
 | Wisdom and foolishness are practically the same. Both are indifferent to the opinions of the world. — Joseph Campbell, 1904-1987, American academic 10 likes |
 | I require three things in a man: he must be handsome, ruthless, and stupid. — Dorothy Parker, 1893-1967, American writer, poet, satirist, critic 9 likes |
 | Why is it that the stupidest people are always the most good-natured? — Stefan Zweig, 1881-1942, Austrian writer 9 likes |
| A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 8 likes |
 | A Fool’s Tongue is long enough to cut his own Throat. — Dr. Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734, English physician and adage collector 7 likes |
 | I didn't mean you were stupid. It's just that you're not logical, which isn't the same thing at all. — Eugene Ionesco, 1912-1994, French-Romanian playwright 6 likes |
 | A fool with a heart and no sense is just as unhappy as a fool with sense and no heart. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer 6 likes |
 | Mysticism is the metaphysics of idiots. — Theodore Adorno, 1903-1969, German philosopher 6 likes |
 | Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. — Robert Heinlein, 1907-1988, American sci-fi writer 6 likes |
 | I ‘ve always believed in the adage that the secret of eternal youth is arrested development. — Alice Roosevelt Longworth, 1884-1980, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt 6 likes |
 | Stupidity is not my strong point. — Paul Valery, 1871-1945, French poet 5 likes |
 | The phenomenon of UFO doesn't say anything about the presence of intelligence in space. It just shows how rare it is here on the earth. — Arthur Clarke, 1917-2008, British Sci-Fi writer 4 likes |
 | I like to feel dumb. That’s how I know there’s more in the world than me. — Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist 4 likes |
 | I'm stupid, I agree, but I'm terrified when I see what all these smart people have turned the world into. — Wolinski, 1934-2015, French cartoonist 4 likes |
 | Balance: women often say nonsense, men often do it. — Yevgeny Kaseyev, contemporary Russian author of maxims 4 likes |
 | I assure you, an educated fool is more foolish than an uneducated one. — Molière, 1622-1673, French playwright 3 likes |
 | It ain't what a man don't know that makes him a fool, but what he does know that ain't so. — Josh Billings, 1818-1885, American humorist 3 likes |
 | If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done. — Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher 3 likes |
 | It’s always the idiots who prevail. Because of numerical advantage. — Frédéric Dard, 1921-2000, French writer 2 likes |
 | When a new wind blows, empty heads are the first to bend. — Zarko Petan, 1929-2014, Slovenian playwright & aphorist 2 likes |
 | Βeing stupid is perfectly bearable as long as you are stupid enough not to know you are stupid. — François Cavanna, 1923-2014, French humorist 2 likes |
 | To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. — Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880, French writer 1 likes |
| A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. — Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British philosopher 1 likes |
 | It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves. — Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Bohemian writer 1 likes |
 | I'm not denyin' the women are foolish. God Almighty made 'em to match the men. — George Eliot, 1819-1880, English writer 1 likes |
 | Some fellows get credit for being conservative when they are only stupid. — Kin Hubbard, 1868-1930, American cartoonist 1 likes |
 | An intelligent woman has millions of born enemies: all the stupid men. — Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830-1916, German author of maxims 1 likes |
 | Sometimes a man wants to be stupid, if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids. — John Steinbeck, 1902-1968, American writer, Nobel 1962 1 likes |
| All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal. — John Steinbeck, 1902-1968, American writer, Nobel 1962 1 likes |
| Stupidity often saves a man from going mad. — Oliver W. Holmes Sr., 1809-1894, American writer 1 likes |
| The whole dream of democracy is to raise the proletarian to the level of bourgeois stupidity. — Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880, French writer 1 likes |
| Nothing is more humiliating than to see idiots succeed in enterprises we have failed in. — Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880, French writer 1 likes |
 | If poverty is the mother of all crimes, lack of intelligence is the father. — Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696, French writer 1 likes |
| There are only two ways of getting on in the world: by one's own industry, or by the stupidity of others. — Jean de La Bruyère, 1645-1696, French writer 1 likes |
 | Stupidity is far more dangerous than evil, for evil takes a break from time to time, stupidity does not. — Anatole France, 1844-1924, French writer, Nobel 1921 1 likes |
 | The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it. — Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer 1 likes |
| Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time. — Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer 1 likes |
 | Human stupidity is having a lot of ideas, but stupid ideas. — Henry de Montherlant, 1895-1972, French writer 1 likes |
 | Football is popular because stupidity is popular. — Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer 1 likes |
 | Talking to fools is like lighting a torch for the blind. — Pierre Claude Boiste, 1765-1824, French lexicographer 1 likes |
 | I prefer the wicked rather than the foolish. The wicked sometimes rest. — Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870, French writer 1 likes |
 | How is it that little children are so intelligent and men so stupid? It must be education that does it. — Alexandre Dumas, fils, 1824-1895, French writer 1 likes |
| The difference between genius and stupidity is this: genius has its limits. — Alexandre Dumas, fils, 1824-1895, French writer 1 likes |
 | There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life. — Frank Zappa, 1940-1993, American musician 1 likes |
 | He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher... or, as his wife would have it, an idiot. — Douglas Adams, 1952-2001, British Sci-Fi writer 1 likes |
| The kind of man who wants the government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always the kind of man whose ideas are idiotic. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 1 likes |
 | Readiness to answer all questions is the infallible sign of stupidity. — Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976 1 likes |
 | Stupidity is a talent for misconception. — Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer 1 likes |
 | Intelligent people make many mistakes because they cannot believe the world is really as foolish as it is. — Nicolas Chamfort, 1740-1794, French writer 1 likes |
| There are more fools than wise men, and even in a wise man there is more folly than wisdom. — Nicolas Chamfort, 1740-1794, French writer 1 likes |
 | The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything. — Milan Kundera, 1929-2023, Czech writer 1 likes |
 | I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. — Francis Scott Fitzgerald, 1896-1940, American writer 1 likes |
| The best way to convince a fool that he is wrong is to let him have his own way. — Josh Billings, 1818-1885, American humorist 1 likes |
 | The English have more common sense than any other nation and they are stupid. — Prince Metternich, 1773-1859, Austrian statesman 1 likes |
| If everyone around you is a fool, then you are the center. — Yevgeny Kaseyev, contemporary Russian author of maxims 1 likes |
 | To look stupid in the eyes of a fool is a highly aesthetic pleasure. — George Courteline, 1858-1929, French writer 1 likes |
 | It is impossible to convince the fool that there are pleasures superior to those we share with the rest of the animals. — Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994, Colombian writer 1 likes |
 | It was an accident that has endowed man with intelligence. He has made use of it: he invented stupidity. — Remy de Gourmont, 1858-1915, French poet 1 likes |
Latin Quotes
 | What fools these mortals be! Tanta stultitia mortalium est. — Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher 35 likes |
Funny Quotes
 | User: the word computer professionals use when they mean “idiot.” — Dave Barry, 1947-, American journalist 9 likes |
 | I come from a stupid family. During the Civil War my great uncle fought for the West. — Rodney Dangerfield, 1924-2004, American comedian 9 likes |
 | There's a fine line between courage and foolishness. Too bad its not a fence. — Anonymous 4 likes |
| They think you’re stupid because you act stupid. That’s wrong. You really are stupid. — François Cavanna, 1923-2014, French humorist 3 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | Fools live without enjoying life. Ανοήμονες βιούσι ου τερπόμενοι βιούν. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 30 likes |
 | Although we bless your ignorance of evil, we do not envy your stupidity. Μακαρίσαντες υμών το απειρόκακον ου ζηλούμεν το άφρον. — Thucydides, 460-394 BC, Ancient Greek historian 15 likes |
 | A fool will think you are an idiot if you talk sense to him. Δόξει τις αμαθεί σοφά λέγων ουκ ευ φρονεί. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Bacchae 14 likes |
| For the foolish, not reason but misfortune is the teacher. Νηπίοισιν ου λόγος, αλλά ξυμφορή γίνεται διδάσκαλος. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 13 likes |
 | Your mind, you being here, is elsewhere. Ο νους δε σου παρών αποδημεί. — Aristophanes, 445-386 BC, Ancient Greek comic playwright ‐ Knights 12 likes |
| One has to endure the idiocy of those who rule. Τας των κρατούντων αμαθίας φέρειν χρεών. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Phoenissae 12 likes |
| It is better for fools to be ruled than to rule. Κρέσσον άρχεσθαι τοις ανοήτοισιν ή άρχειν. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 12 likes |
 | Once a thing has been done, even the fool sees it. Ρεχθέν δε τε νήπιος έγνω. — Homer, c. 800-750 BC, Ancient Greek Poet ‐ Iliad XVII 11 likes |
 | To make the same mistake twice is not not the act of a wise man. Το δις εξαμαρτείν τ’ αυτόν ουκ ανδρός σοφού. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 11 likes |
 | You may break your heart, but men will still go on as before. Ότι ουδέν ήττον τα αυτά ποιήσουσι, καν συ διαρραγής. — Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor ‐ Meditations VIII, 4 10 likes |
| Many, though widely read, have no sense. Πολλοί πολυμαθέες νόον ουκ έχουσιν. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 8 likes |
 | God makes a fool of whoever he wants to destroy/ Μωραίνει Κύριος όν βούλεται απολέσαι. 8 likes |
| Foolish strength is very often damaging. Ρώμη αμαθής πολλάκις τίκτει βλάβην. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Temenidae 6 likes |
| Yes, that, too is sad: To have to join company with fools! Και τούτο λυπρόν: συνασοφείν τοις μη σοφοίς. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian 5 likes |
| Crowds with foolishness is a great evil. Συν όχλω αμαθία πλείστον κακόν. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian 5 likes |
 | Fools, they do not even know how much more is the half than the whole. Νήπιοι, ουδέ ίσασιν όσω πλέον ήμισυ παντός. — Hesiod, 7th cent. BC, Ancient Greek poet ‐ Works and Days -40 5 likes |
| Foolishly speak the foolish. Μώρα γαρ μώρος λέγει. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Bacchae 4 likes |
 | The generation of the idiots is infinite. Των γαρ ηλιθίων απείρων γένεθλα. — Simonides of Ceos, 556-468 BC, Ancient poet & author of epigrams 4 likes |
 | The fool has the tendency to flinch at the slightest thing. Βλαξ άνθρωπος επί παντί λόγω επτοήσθαι φιλεί. — Heraclitus, 544-484 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 4 likes |
 | If doctors did not exist, there would be none more stupid than teachers. Ει μη ιατροί ήσαν, ουδέν αν ην των γραμματικών μωρότερων. — Athenaeus, 2nd-3rd cent. AD, Ancient Greek writer from Egypt 1 likes |
Proverbs
 | When a wise man talks to a fool, two fools are talking. 10 likes |
| Two are embarrassed: the fool in the company of wise men and the wise man in the company of fools. 8 likes |
 | A fool and his money are soon parted. 7 likes |
| There's no fool like an old fool. 5 likes |
Movie Quotes
 | Chicolini here may talk like an idiot and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot. — from the film Duck Soup (1933) 9 likes |
