Post by Tamrin on Jun 12, 2013 7:15:55 GMT 10
Empathize with stupidity and you’re halfway to thinking like an idiot
People can be teachers and idiots; they can be philosophers and idiots;
they can be politicians and idiots ... in fact I think they have to be ... a genius can be
an idiot. The world is largely run for and by idiots; it is no great handicap in life and in
certain areas is actually a distinct advantage and even a prerequisite for advancement
People were always sorry. Sorry they had done what they had done,
sorry they were doing what they were doing, sorry they were going to do
what they were going to do; but they still did whatever it is. The sorrow never
stopped them; it just made them feel better. And so the sorrow never stopped
Oh, they never lie. They dissemble, evade, prevaricate, confound, confuse, distract,
obscure, subtly misrepresent and willfully misunderstand with what often appears
to be a positively gleeful relish and are generally perfectly capable of contriving to
give one an utterly unambiguous impression of their future course of action while
in fact intending to do exactly the opposite, but they never lie. Perish the thought
The point is, there is no feasible excuse for what are, for what we have made of ourselves.
We have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality, dividends before decency,
fanaticism before fairness, and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others
There has seldom if ever a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die
to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of their elders, and what you call
heroism is just an expression of this simple fact; there is never a scarcity of idiots
It's a library, only the stupid or the evil are afraid of those
Iain Banks
Scottish writer (Consider Phlebas)
(Died 09/06/2013)
Political correctness is what right-wing bigots call what everybody else calls being polite
People can be teachers and idiots; they can be philosophers and idiots;
they can be politicians and idiots ... in fact I think they have to be ... a genius can be
an idiot. The world is largely run for and by idiots; it is no great handicap in life and in
certain areas is actually a distinct advantage and even a prerequisite for advancement
People were always sorry. Sorry they had done what they had done,
sorry they were doing what they were doing, sorry they were going to do
what they were going to do; but they still did whatever it is. The sorrow never
stopped them; it just made them feel better. And so the sorrow never stopped
Oh, they never lie. They dissemble, evade, prevaricate, confound, confuse, distract,
obscure, subtly misrepresent and willfully misunderstand with what often appears
to be a positively gleeful relish and are generally perfectly capable of contriving to
give one an utterly unambiguous impression of their future course of action while
in fact intending to do exactly the opposite, but they never lie. Perish the thought
The point is, there is no feasible excuse for what are, for what we have made of ourselves.
We have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality, dividends before decency,
fanaticism before fairness, and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others
There has seldom if ever a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die
to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of their elders, and what you call
heroism is just an expression of this simple fact; there is never a scarcity of idiots
It's a library, only the stupid or the evil are afraid of those
Iain Banks
Scottish writer (Consider Phlebas)
(Died 09/06/2013)
Political correctness is what right-wing bigots call what everybody else calls being polite
