April 5, 2026

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped. Let me repeat in a slightly different way: genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not similarly handicapped.

Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915), American writer, quoted in Toronto Star, November 3, 2025, p. B4

MEDITATION: Has anyone ever called you a “genius”? Was the compliment deserved, or were they just sucking up? What about the label “stupid”? Well-earned? Or completely undeserved?

COMMENTARY: I confess I have been called stupid much more often than genius over my lifetime, and I suspect that’s true of most people, politicians included. But surely one of the goals of every life is to keep learning, never being satisfied with what one already knows. And certainly, nothing is less charming than a mind locked up so tight that absolutely no new perspective can gain admission.

Being open to new ways of seeing the world may not mark one a genius. But it certainly diminishes the odds on being viewed as stupid.