“In modern language we think of "idiot" as someone who is stupid or a fool. That is not the classical meaning... An idiot is someone who cares only about himself and has no regard for anyone else, and that's terribly important when you think about tyrants. ...We think of tyrants as people who are horrible... oppressors. ...In its classic historic meaning, tyrant was simply someone who ceased power.”

— David Cay Johnston

The Tyrant Next Time (November 7, 2019)

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 modern language we think of "idiot" as someone who is stupid or a fool. That is not the classical meaning... An idio…" by David Cay Johnston?

David Cay Johnston 23

Investigative journalist and author 1948

Related quotes

“Anyone who has declared someone else to be an idiot, a bad apple, is annoyed when it turns out in the end that he isn't.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

“Someone who thinks well of himself is said to have a healthy self-concept and is envied. Someone who thinks well of his country is called a patriot and is applauded. But someone who thinks well of his species is regarded as hopelessly naïve and is dismissed.”

Alfie Kohn (1957) American author and lecturer

The Brighter Side of Human Nature: Altruism and Empathy in Everyday Life, 1990.

“Sometimes we waste too much time to think about someone who doesn’t even think about us for a second.”

Wiz Khalifa (1987) American rapper and actor

citation needed

“(About the workplace) Tyrants who get into power make life miserable for everyone.”

Temple Grandin (1947) USA-american doctor of animal science, author, and autism activist

page 31 of Developing Talents by Temple Grandin and Kate Duffy

“If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Acceptance of the New York Liberal Party nomination (14 September 1960) · Address of John F. Kennedy upon Accepting the Liberal Party Nomination for President https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Liberal-Party-Nomination-NYC_19600914.aspx
1960