“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity”
Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor
July 28, 1763, p. 128
On Thomas Sheridan
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol I
“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity”
Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor
Henry Beston (1888–1968) American writer
Source: The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod
Julian (emperor) (331–363) Roman Emperor, philosopher and writer
The Caesars (c. 361)
Context: "It is the season of the Kronia, during which the god allows us to make merry. But, my dear friend, as I have no talent for amusing or entertaining I must methinks take pains not to talk mere nonsense."
"But, Caesar, can there be anyone so dull and stupid as to take pains over jesting? I always thought that such pleasantries were a relaxation of the mind and a relief from pains and cares."
"Yes, and no doubt your view is correct, but that is not how the matter strikes me. For by nature I have no turn for raillery, or parody, or raising a laugh."
Virginia Woolf book A Room of One's Own
Ch. 3 http://books.google.com/books?id=HSRFAAAAYAAJ&q=%22It+is+the+nature+of+the+artist+to+mind+excessively+what+is+said+about+him+Literature+is+strewn+with+the+wreckage+of+men+who+have+minded+beyond+reason+the+opinions+of+others%22&pg=PA98#v=onepage <br class="br">A Room of One's Own (1929)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Variant: To the illuminated mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light.
“So living Nature, not dull Art,
Shall plan my ways and rule my heart.”
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) English cleric and cardinal
Nature and Art http://www.newmanreader.org/works/verses/verse5.html, st. 12 (1868).
Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) Japanese author, Nobel Prize winner
On the poetry of Myōe and ideas of Saigyō Hōshi
Japan, the Beautiful and Myself (1969)
“I find we are growing serious, and then we are in great danger of being dull.”
William Congreve The Old Bachelor
Act II, scene vii
The Old Bachelor (1693)
“Are you slow-witted? I'm so sorry for you. It's terrible to be dull and stupid.”
Lloyd Alexander book The Book of Three
Source: The Book of Three