Bertrand Russell On The Paradox of Fools And Wise Men

by Quote of the Day on December 28, 2011 | Trackback URI | Email This Post | 240607 Views

http://www.www.com.com nitsua
This almost exact quote is from a Yeats poem. Russell must have taken it from that…
Milo Balls
Not quite “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” That’s Yeats, The Second Coming. You might be thinking of the Joni Mitchell song based on the poem, Slouching Towards Bethlehem. “The best lack conviction given some time to think and the worst are full of passion
without mercy.” Which is closer, but neither are an exact match
Nosen
You sure?
jeff
this is because the only certainty is UNcertainty
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The only two things that are omnipresent in the universe are hydrogen and fools.

Morgan Parksinon
It’s a cognitive bias called the Dunning Kruger effect. Well worth a read..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
julie
exactly, i thought of the quote from the yeats poem (“the second coming”). it’s one of my favorites.
“the best lack all conviction, while the worst
are full of passionate intensity.”
ted
Ok the actual Russel quote that I believe this is paraphrasing is:
“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt”
This one is actually sourced on wikiquote
This isn’t too bad of a misquote, but still, don’t believe any unsourced quotes you read on the internet. The worst offenders tend to be misattributed to Einstein. Honestly he had better things to do then write snarky one liners.
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I think the quote is very accurate as to describing the nature of doubt.
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Wise man say: I saved a bunch of money on my ties from Tiecoon.
Anonymous
I respectfully disagree , only the weak willed are full of doubts. The wise and strong never doubt themselves.
Abdul
I respectfully disagree , only the weak willed are full of doubts. The wise and strong never doubt themselves.

ashwani lamba
the statement was made philosophically not scientifically.
Fyrehed
Really? Every three- to four-year-old I’ve ever met was completely certain of themselves all the time, not a shred of doubt in their squishy, weak-willed little heads that complement their fragile bodies so well. Most this country’s so-called leaders behave as toddlers, always claiming to never have a shred of doubt and consistently being proved wrong by statistics, history, and basic math and critical reasoning. ‘Doubt’ is really just evidence of caution. A bold idiot will jump off the face of a 30 foot cliff into unfamiliar waters without a flinch while a wise outdoorsman would likely cautiously check things out first and assess the situation before committing to an action, especially a dangerous one. Mavericks do not equal wise prophets. They’re not even good storytellers (too much grunting and spitting).

Max
I appreciate the humor, but I hope you get the point he was making. Look at the US Congress, so sure of themselves to make the decisions that they do, while plenty of wise citizens aren’t even sure who to vote for. Just an example, please don’t take it the wrong way.

http://www.marriagefamilyalive.blogspot.com Laiyemo David
i love this site, keep it up .
thisandthat
im sorry but i don’t fully agree with that…..it is always good to consider all options but I’m damm certain i can achieve anything i put my mind too and so far im the youngest regional manager in my industry in the UK ever and the only way i got there was hard work and absolute faith in my abilities and techniques!
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Great idea for a post.Thank you!
lolita
charles bukowski had a similar quote to this: “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”

http://squathole.wordpress.com/ Squathole
I have read everything available that Bukowski wrote, and I don’t recall this line. That’s not to declare it’s a misquote, but a request, if you can provide it, for the source. Thanks.

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Few things are so true.
Bertrand Russel was almost always right.