Sometimes I think that what I do must be either idiotic and naïve or courageous. I don’t know which. If there was no threat of violence, that is what you would do. This threat of violence shouldn’t dictate what you are going to write or hinder you in any manner.

My theory is that we are all idiots. The people who don’t think they’re idiots — they’re the ones that are dangerous.

What a hero!"
"What an idiot!"
"What's the difference?

There are two ways to be stupid: plain lack of brainpower, and ideology. The two are far from mutually exclusive though. If you're not intelligent enough, you're more likely to allow in an ideology that drags you even further down.

There is a technical term for someone who confuses the opinions of a character in a book with those of the author. That term is idiot.

"Idiot - A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line."

But unfortunately, decent people are usually slow to act and ignore dangers until a crisis erupts. They are sluggish and willing to abide with peace without honor, but their own inaction causes them to lose both.

“Anyway, he thinks we’re lying. But we’re not. Also, your people are idiots.”
“Yes. I know. But they’re my idiots.

What kind of idiot do you think I am?
"I have no idea what kind of idiot you are," Miss Jesczenka said. "That's why I'm asking."

Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.

Есть два типа людей, которые никогда не добиваются в жизни особых высот. Первый тип — это те, кто не делает того, что им говорят. А второй — те, кто делает не больше того, что им сказали.

There’re two types of the people in the world. Those who do what they say they’re gonna do, and everybody else.

There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. The term is 'idiot'.

[I]n modern language we think of "idiot" as someone who is stupid or a fool. That is not the classical meaning... An idiot is someone who cares only about himself and has no regard for anyone else, and that's terribly important when you think about tyrants. ...[W]e think of tyrants as people who are horrible... oppressors. ...[I]n its classic historic meaning, tyrant was simply someone who ceased power.