Injuries done to us by others tend to be acute; the self-inflicted ones tend to be chronic. - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Never call someone an imbecile (or fucking idiot) unless he causes harm to others/system; there must be a moral dimension to insults.

Think of the following event: A collection of hieratic persons (from Harvard or some such place) lecture birds on how to fly. Imagine bald males in their sixties, dressed in black robes, officiating in a form of English that is full of jargon, with equations here and there for good measure. The bird flies. Wonderful confirmation! They rush to the department of ornithology to write books, articles, and reports stating that the bird has obeyed them, an impeccable causal inference. The Harvard Department of Ornithology is now indispensable for bird flying. It will get government research funds for its contribution.

You will never know if someone is an asshole until he becomes rich.