Friday, April 25, 2008

To the Fool-King Belongs the World

The most famous quotation attributed to Friedrich Schiller, I think, is "Against stupidity even the gods contend in vain." It's put in the mouth of Talbot in his play, The Maid of Orleans (III.6):

TALBOT.
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.


Isaac Asimov did a great deal to popularize the line, in his novel, The Gods Themselves, which is in great measure about scientific stupidity -- and its scientific cure.