Topic
Einstein's claim that only two things are infinite — the universe and human stupidity, and he isn't sure about the former — is the pivot around which this collection turns. It compresses genuine cosmological humility into genuine social despair. Twain's fool and his closed mouth; Shaw on the man who declares his shameful act a duty; Franklin on fools criticizing, condemning, and complaining — these are not gentle observations but precise diagnoses of behavior patterns that have not changed. Gracián offers the antidote: a wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. Homer was there first with the sobering temporal note: once harm has been done, even a fool understands it. The collection is not cruel about stupidity — it is interested in it. Napoleon's observation that stupidity is not a handicap in politics is perhaps the most unsentimental line here, because it is not a joke.
If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise