“In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity.”

—  Konrad Adenauer

As quoted in A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (1965) by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., p. 291 books.google https://books.google.de/books?id=uFhNxX5lrNEC&pg=PA291&dq=stupidity

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity." by Konrad Adenauer?
Konrad Adenauer photo
Konrad Adenauer 12
German statesman, Federal Chancellor of Germany, politician… 1876–1967

Related quotes

André Maurois photo

“A man's power and intelligence are limited. He who wants to do everything will never do anything.”

André Maurois (1885–1967) French writer

Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Working
Context: A man's power and intelligence are limited. He who wants to do everything will never do anything. Only too well do we know those people of uncertain ability who say: "I could be a great musician."..."Business would be easy for me."..."I could surely make success in politics." We may be certain that they will always be amateur musicians, failures in business, and beaten politicians. Napoleon held that the art of war consisted of making oneself strongest at a certain point; in life we must choose a point of attack and concentrate our forces there. The choice of a career must not be left to chance.

Stanisław Lem photo

“It is not good for a man to be too cognizant of his physical and spiritual mechanisms. Complete knowledge reveals limits to human possibilities, and the less a man is by nature limited in his purposes, the less he can tolerate limits.”

Stanisław Lem book Fiasco

Fiasco (1986), Ch. 3, tr. Michael Kandel (1987)

Alphonse de Lamartine photo

“Limited in his nature, infinite in his desires, man is a fallen god who remembers the heavens.”

Alphonse de Lamartine book Méditations poétiques

Méditations Poétiques (1820), Sermon 2

Robert Jordan photo

“Women often seemed to leave things unsaid, and in his limited experience it was what they did not say that proved the most trouble.”

Robert Jordan The Great Hunt

Source: The Great Hunt

Kent Hovind photo

“To ask what God did before the Creation assumes that God is locked in time like we are. If God is limited by time, He is not God! Time is God.”

Kent Hovind (1953) American young Earth creationist

Source: What On Earth Is About To Happen… For Heaven’s Sake? (2013), p. 26

Arthur Schopenhauer photo

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.”

Arthur Schopenhauer book Parerga and Paralipomena

"Psychological Observations"
Parerga and Paralipomena (1851), Studies in Pessimism
Variant: Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.
Source: Studies in Pessimism: The Essays

Ronald Reagan photo

“There are no such things as limits to growth, because there
are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence,
imagination, and wonder.”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

“A man must know his limitations.”

David Gemmell book Legend

Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 10

Marcus Aurelius photo

“There is one soul, though it is distributed among several natures and individual limitations. There is one intelligent soul, though it seems to be divided.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

XII, 30
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book XII
Context: Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late, which is in due time for thee. There is one light of the sun, though it is interrupted by walls, mountains and infinite other things. There is one common substance, though it is distributed among countless bodies which have their several qualities. There is one soul, though it is distributed among several natures and individual limitations. There is one intelligent soul, though it seems to be divided.

Albert Einstein photo

“He may also believe in the existence of the ideal limit of knowledge and that it is approached by the human mind. He may call this ideal limit the objective truth.”

Albert Einstein book The Evolution of Physics

The Evolution of Physics (1938) (co-written with Leopold Infeld) <!-- later published by Simon & Schuster (1967) -->
1930s
Context: Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenious he may form some picture of a mechanism which could be responsible for all the things he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations. He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility or the meaning of such a comparison. But he certainly believes that, as his knowledge increases, his picture of reality will become simpler and simpler and will explain a wider and wider range of his sensuous impressions. He may also believe in the existence of the ideal limit of knowledge and that it is approached by the human mind. He may call this ideal limit the objective truth.

Related topics