"Intelligence today is so rare and confined to so few despised people that it is not dangerous. But let us not wallow in disappointment: it is contrary to the spirit of our race. If some accidental misfortune - which, however, is not to be feared - were to permeate the entire human mass, the effect would be like that of ammonia solution poured into an anthill. Life would suddenly stop. The only thing that keeps people going is that they misunderstand what little they do understand. Ignorance and error are as necessary to life as bread and water. In society, intelligence should only be extremely rare and weak in order to remain harmless. And that's exactly what happens in life.
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Author
Anatole FranceAll Translations
All Translations
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Intelligence today is so rare and confined to so few despised people that it is not dangerous. But let us not wallow in disappointment: it is contrary to the spirit of our race. If some accidental misfortune - which, however, is not to be feared - were to permeate the entire human mass, the effect would be like that of ammonia solution poured into an anthill. Life would suddenly stop. The only thing that keeps people going is that they misunderstand what little they do understand. Ignorance and error are as necessary to life as bread and water. In society, intelligence should only be extremely rare and weak in order to remain harmless. And that's exactly what happens in life.
""Az intelligencia ma olyan ritka és csak oly kevés számu megvetett emberbe van szorulva, hogy nem veszedelmes. De ne ringatózzunk csalódásban: ellentétben van fajunk szellemével. Ha valami véletlen szerencsétlenségből - amitől azonban nem kell tartani - áthatná az egész emberi tömeget, a hatása olyan volna, mint az ammoniakoldaté, amelyet hangyabolyba öntenek. Az élet hirtelen megállna. Az embereket csak az tartja fönn, hogy rosszul értik azt a keveset, amit megértenek. A tudatlanság és tévedés oly szükséges az élethez, mint a kenyér és a viz. A társadalomban az intelligenciának csak rendkivül ritkának és gyöngének szabad lennie, hogy ártalmatlan maradjon. És csakugyan igy is történik az életben."