A writer -- and, I believe, generally all persons -- must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.
-Jorge Luis Borges, writer (24 Aug 1899-1986)
It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.
-Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1 Jul 1742-1799)
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Roi fainéant (French pronunciation: [ʁwa fɛneɑ̃] "do-nothing king", "lazy king") is a French term primarily used to refer to the later kings of the Merovingian dynasty after they seemed to have lost their initial powers of dominion. It is usually applied to those Frankish rulers approximately from the death of Dagobert I in AD 639 (or, alternatively, from the accession of Theuderic III in 673) until the deposition of Childeric III in favour of Pepin the Short in 751.
The appellation goes back to Einhard, who is most notably the author of Vita Karoli Magni, the biographer of Charlemagne; he described the later Merovingian kings as kings "in nothing but in name":
— Einhard (translated by S. E. Turner, 1880)
During the century of the rois fainéants, the Merovingian kings were increasingly dominated by their mayors of the palace, in the 6th century the office of the manager of the royal household, but in the 7th increasingly the power behind the throne who limited the role of the king to an essentially ceremonial office.
The last Carolingian ruler, Louis V, was also in his turn nicknamed le Fainéant ("the Do-Nothing"), because his effective rule was limited to the region around Laon.
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.
-Walter Scott, novelist and poet (15 Aug 1771-1832)
Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things.
-Russell Baker, columnist and author (14 Aug 1925-2019)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity posits that stupidity is a more dangerous enemy to truth and reason than malice. He argued that while evil can be exposed and opposed, stupidity is impervious to reason, protests, and even force. Bonhoeffer, a theologian and pastor who actively resisted the Nazi regime, observed that many Germans, including intelligent and educated individuals, became complicit in the regime's atrocities, not out of malice, but out of what he termed "stupidity".
Here's a more detailed breakdown of his theory:
Stupidity is not mere intellectual deficiency:
Bonhoeffer didn't equate stupidity with a lack of intelligence or education. He argued that some very intelligent people can be susceptible to stupidity, while some less intellectually gifted individuals are not.
A moral defect:
Bonhoeffer viewed stupidity as a moral failing, a state of being where individuals abandon critical thinking and independent judgment, becoming susceptible to slogans, catchwords, and the influence of power structures.
Social phenomenon:
Bonhoeffer believed stupidity is often a social phenomenon, exacerbated by group dynamics and the pressure to conform. Individuals in groups can lose their critical faculties and become susceptible to manipulation and harmful actions.
Dangerous when combined with power:
When stupidity is coupled with power, it becomes particularly dangerous, as individuals in positions of authority can wield it to suppress dissent, enforce harmful policies, and create chaos.
Not easily remedied by reason or force:
Bonhoeffer argued that attempts to reason with or forcibly oppose stupid individuals are often ineffective because they are resistant to logic and evidence.
Requires liberation:
He believed that overcoming stupidity requires a process of liberation, an internal awakening that allows individuals to reclaim their independent thought and moral responsibility.
In essence, Bonhoeffer's theory suggests that societies must be vigilant against the insidious spread of stupidity, which can erode critical thinking, undermine moral judgment, and pave the way for destructive actions.
suf·fix
noun
/ˈsəfiks/
1. a morpheme added at the end of a word to form a derivative, e.g., -ation, -fy, -ing, -itis.
"for the last few decades, we've appended the suffix ‘gate’ to basically any scandal"
verb
/ˈsəfiks/
1. append (something), especially as a suffix.
"it is mandatory that ‘Limited Liability Partnership/LLP’ is suffixed to the name"
In English, suffixes can be broadly categorized into inflectional and derivational. Inflectional suffixes primarily change a word's grammatical function (like tense or number) without changing its core meaning, while derivational suffixes can change a word's part of speech or create a completely new word with a different meaning. Additionally, suffixes can be grouped by the word class they modify, such as noun suffixes, verb suffixes, adjective suffixes, and adverb suffixes.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
1. Inflectional Suffixes:
2. Derivational Suffixes:
