July 3, 2025

Every government is a device by which a few control the actions of many…on both sides at the moment [during the Cold War] complex human societies depend for the final decisions of war and peace on a group of elderly men any sensible plant personnel manager, whether under capitalism or Communism, would hesitate to hire.

I.F. Stone (1907–1989), American journalist, The Cynic’s Lexicon, Jonathon Green, ed. (London: 1986), p.197

In a letter to his son, the Swedish statesman Count Axel Oxenstierna (1583–1654) asked, “Dost thou know with how little wisdom the world is governed?” Do you?

Those who believe that age brings wisdom have never encountered an old fool or are ones themselves. Even dumber are those who, by virtue of having got themselves elected, believe themselves wise enough to govern. Those who regard themselves as being among the best and the brightest—by virtue of their parentage and education, are dumbest of all. And there we have it—dumb, dumber, and dumbest.