Octave Mirbeau: Quotes about stupidity

Octave Mirbeau was French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright. Explore interesting quotes on stupidity.

Octave Mirbeau: 46 quotes0 likes

“The greatest danger of bombs is in the explosion of stupidity that they provoke.”

Le plus grand danger de la bombe est dans l'explosion de bêtise qu'elle provoque.
Pour Jean Grave, Le Journal (19 Feb 1894)

“The worship of money is the lowest of all human emotions, but it is shared not only by the bourgeoisie, but also by the great majority of us… Little people, humble people, even those who are practically penniless. And I, with all my indignation, all my passion for destruction, I, too, am not free of it. I who am oppressed by wealth, who realise it to be the source of all misery, all my vices and hatred, all the bitterest humiliations that I have to suffer, all my impossible dreams and all the endless torment of my existence, still, all the time, as soon as I find myself in the presence of a rich person, I cannot help looking up to him, as some exceptional and splendid being, a kind of marvelous divinity, and in spite of myself, stronger than either my will of my reason, I feel rising from the very depths of my being, a sort of incense of admiration for this wealthy creature, who is all too often as stupid as he is pitiless. Isn’t it crazy? And why… why?”

Diary ot a Chambermaid

“To take something from a person and keep it for oneself: that is robbery. To take something from one person and then turn it over to another in exchange for as much money as you can get: that is business. Robbery is so much more stupid, since it is satisfied with a single, frequently dangerous profit; whereas in business it can be doubled without danger.”

Garden of Tortures