He knew how intelligent men could be broken by the stupidity of their superiors, how weeks of patient work night and day could be cast aside by such a man

It was silly to suppose that trials only hardened men, automatically making them wise. He knew many who were stupid, arrogant, and mean, in spite of having suffered.

Intelligent men are cruel. Stupid men are monstrously cruel.

He was one of the most supremely stupid men I have ever met. He taught me a great deal.

And in that instant was born the terrible awareness that life eventually broke every man, but in different ways and at different times.

In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity.

But he knew well enough that any man in the right circumstances could be dehumanised by panic.

He was usually easygoing, one of those guys with little respect for authority because of a conviction that people in charge tend to do stupid things.

That is the most stupid thing yet. I tell you that I could despair of human intelligence when I see what can exist in men’s minds.

There was something about such reflex stupidity that never failed to irritate him.

When a man is set in authority over others, everything conspires to rob him of his sense of justice and reason.

Great men may make great mistakes;

Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.

Great men in teaching weak men to reflect have set them on the road to error.