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The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.

Bertrand Russell, 'The Triumph of Stupidity', 1933

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The story behind the card

Bertrand Russell, the British philosopher and mathematician, wrote this in 'The Triumph of Stupidity', a newspaper essay of 1933, months after Hitler came to power in Germany. He was asking why movements driven by certainty and energy were winning while thoughtful people hesitated. The essay was later collected in Mortals and Others. A snappier version, about fools and fanatics being so certain and wiser people so full of doubts, circulates widely, but it is a paraphrase, not his wording.

Türkçe oku
Sorunun temel nedeni şu: Modern dünyada aptallar kendinden fazlasıyla emin, zeki insanlarsa kuşku dolu.
Bertrand Russell, “Aptallığın Zaferi”, 1933

İngiliz filozof ve matematikçi Bertrand Russell bu cümleyi, Hitler'in Almanya'da iktidara gelmesinden birkaç ay sonra, 1933'te bir gazete için yazdığı “Aptallığın Zaferi” (The Triumph of Stupidity) başlıklı denemede kurdu. Russell, kesinlik ve coşkuyla hareket eden akımların neden kazandığını, düşünceli insanların ise neden tereddütte kaldığını soruyordu. Deneme sonradan Mortals and Others adlı derlemeye girdi. “Aptallar ve fanatikler hep emin, bilgeler ise kuşku dolu” diye yaygınlaşan kısa biçim ise onun sözü değil, sonradan yapılmış bir uyarlamadır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Bertrand Russell
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