„Our greatest stupidities may be very wise.“

„Nobody likes to see a stupid guy wise up.“

—  Stephen King, könyv Végítélet

Forrás: The Stand

„Translation: The greatest danger of bombs is in the explosion of stupidity that they provoke.“

—  Octave Mirbeau French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright 1848 - 1917

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

„It's simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite.“

—  Sam Levenson American journalist 1911 - 1980

„A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones who need advice.“

—  Bill Cosby American actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist 1937

„Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge.“

—  Mark Twain American author and humorist 1835 - 1910

„The most hopelessly stupid man is he who is not aware that he is wise.“

—  Isaac Asimov, könyv Second Foundation

Forrás: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Second Foundation (1953), Chapter 8 “Seldon’s Plan”

„I was thinking that if what distinguishes us as humans is our stupidity, what may redeem us is our grace.“

—  Earl Lovelace Trinidad and Tobago writer 1935

„… the greatest weapon against big stupid men was a sharp mind.“

—  Melina Marchetta Australian teen writer 1965

Forrás: Froi of the Exiles

„The will to be stupid is a very powerful force.“

—  Lois McMaster Bujold, könyv Brothers in Arms

Forrás: Vorkosigan Saga, Brothers in Arms (1989)

„There is nothing in Lacan which is not stupid, no exceptions to stupidity, so that what makes him not totally stupid is only the very inconsistency of his stupidity.“

—  Slavoj Žižek Slovene philosopher 1949

Less Than Nothing (2012)

„The best test of whether someone is extremely stupid (or extremely wise) is whether financial and political news makes sense to him.“

—  Nassim Nicholas Taleb, könyv The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Forrás: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 87

„Many wise words are spoken in jest, but they don't compare with the number of stupid words spoken in earnest.“

—  Sam Levenson American journalist 1911 - 1980

„The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.“

—  Thomas Szasz Hungarian psychiatrist 1920 - 2012

"Personal Conduct" http://books.google.com/books?id=IYOcAQAAQBAJ&q=%22The+stupid+neither+forgive+nor+forget+the+na%C3%AFve+forgive+and+forget+the+wise+forgive+but+do+not+forget%22&pg=PA177#v=onepage, p. 51. http://openlibrary.org/works/OL15151528W/The_Second_Sin
The Second Sin (1973)

„What wise or stupid thing can man conceive
That was not thought of in ages long ago?“

—  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

Act II, The Gothic Chamber
Faust, Part 2 (1832)

„With stupidity and sound digestion man may front much.“

—  Thomas Carlyle Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher 1795 - 1881

Bk. II, ch. 4.
1830s, Sartor Resartus (1833–1834)

„Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain.“

—  Friedrich Schiller, The Maid of Orleans

Die Jungfrau von Orleans (The Maid of Orleans) (1801), Act III, sc. vi (as translated by Anna Swanwick)
Variants of the most commonly quoted portion:
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
Against stupidity the gods themselves labor in vain.
Against stupidity the gods themselves fight unvictorious
Against stupidity even the gods contend in vain.
Against stupidity gods themselves contend in vain.
With stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
With stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
Kontextus: Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who art thou then if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly's uncurbed steed,
Must, vainly shrieking with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.
Accursed, who striveth after noble ends,
And with deliberate wisdom forms his plans!
To the fool-king belongs the world.

„Fashion as king is sometimes a very stupid ruler.“

—  Eric Temple Bell mathematician and science fiction author born in Scotland who lived in the United States for most of his life 1883 - 1960

Forrás: Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science (1938), p. 146
Kontextus: Fashion as king is sometimes a very stupid ruler. As was observed a little way back, the kernel of Plücker's theory of geometric dimensionality is that the dimensionality of a given space is not an absolute constant, but depends upon the elements, accepted as irreducible, in terms of which the space is described.

„Great! I've written something stupid, but I haven't signed a contract with anyone to produce solely wise and perfect works. I gave vent to my stupidity… and here I am, reborn.“

—  Witold Gombrowicz, könyv Ferdydurke

Forrás: Ferdydurke

„Boredom and stupidity and patriotism, especially when combined, are three of the greatest evils of the world we live in.“

—  Robertson Davies, könyv World of Wonders

Forrás: World of Wonders