Michael Haneke (1942) Austrian film director and screenwriter
as interviewed by Richard Porton, "Collective Guilt and Individual Responsibility: An Interview with Michael Haneke," Cineaste, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter 2005), pp. 50-51
E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction
Essays
Michael Haneke (1942) Austrian film director and screenwriter
as interviewed by Richard Porton, "Collective Guilt and Individual Responsibility: An Interview with Michael Haneke," Cineaste, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter 2005), pp. 50-51
“People are dumb. I’ll never get over how dumb people are.”
Gillian Flynn (1971) American author and critic
Source: The Grownup
“I use the grotesque the way I do because people are deaf and dumb and need help to see and hear.”
Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) American novelist, short story writer
Estelle Getty (1923–2008) actress
Estelle Getty, ‘Golden Girls’ Matriarch, Dies at 84, New York Times, July 23, 2008
Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.
Interview in WIRED magazine (February 1996)
1990s
Context: When you're young, you look at television and think, There's a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It's the truth.
Karl Kraus (1874–1936) Czech playwright and publicist
Variant translation: The secret of the demagogue is to make himself as stupid as his audience so that they believe they are as clever as he.
Half-Truths and One-And-A-Half Truths (1976)
Louise Burfitt-Dons (1953) Activist, writer, blogger
Speech, Tackling Bullying Conference, London (2008-02-27)
Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
"Quotes", Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1957), Mythical Phase: Symbol as Archetype
“Men are cheaters.
Women are not to be trusted.
And most people are dumb.”
Jackie Collins (1937–2015) British-American novelist and writer
Source: Married Lovers