“Oh, what idiots we all have been. This is just as it must be.”

—  Niels Bohr

In response to Frisch & Meitner's explanation of nuclear fission, as quoted in The Physicists - A generation that changed the world (1981) by C.P.Snow, p. 96

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Niels Bohr 37
Danish physicist 1885–1962

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“We are not the cowboys anymore — we are just the idiots this year”

Johnny Damon (1973) American professional baseball outfielder

Statement about the Boston Red Sox being just "idiots" out to rewrite history. This was before the playoff games in which they overcame a 0-3 game deficit against the New York Yankees, to win a record 8 straight post-season games, ending with a shut-out of the St. Louis Cardinals, and winning their first World Series since 1918; as quoted in "Damon Says Red Sox are 'Idiots' at MSNBC (6 October 2004) http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/6193582/
Context: We are not the cowboys anymore — we are just the idiots this year … So we are going to go out and try to swing the bats, find the holes, and, hopefully, good things happen. … We were just a bunch of cowboys out there last year, just enjoying every minute … Now, we know we have something to prove. We don’t want to be remembered as a team that, OK, we keep making it to the playoffs, but we keep having tough losses. … I mean, we want to be known as a team that rewrites the history books. … This is definitely the best ballclub I’ve been on. I mean, that Oakland ballclub in 2001 was pretty awesome. We were a bunch of frat boys there. This team is a little older, but we have that same attitude. We feel like we can win every game, we feel like we like to have fun, and I think that’s why this team is liked by so many people out there. … You know, the kids watching us out there — we’ve got the long hair, we’ve got the cornrows, we got just guys acting like idiots. And I think the fans out there like it.

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“Of all the idiots I have met in my life, and the Lord knows that they have not been few or little, I think that I have been the biggest.”

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“Fame doesn't change anyone, it just finds idiots; if you are a anonymous idiot, only your family know it; but if you are famous, all people will know that you are idiot.”

Patricia Conde (1979) Spanish actress

La fama no cambia a nadie, lo único que hace es descubrir a los idiotas; si eres un idiota anónimo, sólo lo saben en tu casa y poco más, pero cuando eres famoso, lo sabrán en todo el mundo que lo eres.
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“Have you ever noticed that idiots have a lot of friends? It's just an observation.”

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“Even the brain, that most delicate and complex of all known organs, is not merely a lot of neurons added together. While a genius must have more of the gray matter than a sparrow, the idiot may have just as much as the genius. The difference between them must be explained in terms of how those substances are organized.”

Ervin László (1932) Hungarian musician and philosopher

Source: Introduction to Systems Philosophy (1972), p. 32: Partly cited in: David Rock, Linda J. Page (2009) Coaching with the Brain in Mind: Foundations for Practice.

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