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The stupidity of an old man imagines itself to be wisdom; that of an adult, experience; that of a youth, genius.

— Nicolás Gómez Dávila Escolios a un Texto Implicito (1977)

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Intelligence

More quotes by Nicolás Gómez Dávila

In general, "historical necessity" turns out to be merely a name for human stupidity.

Sucesivos Escolios a un Texto Implícito (1992)

Nothing makes clearer the limits of science than the scientist’s opinions about any topic that is not strictly related to his profession.

To be unaware of the putrefaction of the modern world is a symptom of contagion by it.

Escolios a un Texto Implicito (1977)

God prefers an uncircumcised heart to a castrated mind.

Escolios a un Texto Implicito (1977)

To have a dialog with those who do not share our basic premises is nothing more than a stupid way to kill time.

Escolios a un Texto Implicito (1977)

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Each of these private teachers who work for pay ... inculcates nothing else than these opinions of the multitude which they opine when they are assembled and calls this knowledge wisdom.

Socrates

Most intellectual people do not believe in God, but they fear him just the same.

Wilhelm Reich Philosophy : An Introduction to the Art of Wondering (2005)

Innocence in genius, and candor in power, are both noble qualities.

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël De l’Allemagne [Germany (1813)

Like every 'intellectual', a philosophy teacher is a petty bourgeois. When he opens his mouth, it is petty-bourgeois ideology that speaks: its resources and ruses are infinite.

Louis Althusser Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (1968)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Nicolás Gómez Dávila (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.