Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1886-04-23
Stupidity of Sensible People.

Sir Isaac Newton constructed house
for his cats. For the convenience of the
cat he cut large hole for entrance, for
the equal convenience of the kittens he
cut smaller one, and it was not until
his attention was called to it that he
realized the fact, which one would sup
pose might be self-evident to the feeblest
understanding, that the large hole
would have served for both. The author
of the "Principia, one of the grandest
works of the human intellect, failed to
perceive that kitten could 60 through
a hole made for a cat.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan hired a
suburban villa, and two day later re-
ceived visit from friend, who was
told to climb the fence in order TO enter
the house. "But why not open the
gate?" the friend inquired. because
can't unite the string" 'Wby don't
you cut it then 90 Sheridan looked at
him in amazement, drew his knife, cut
the rope, walked through the gate, aud
turning around kicked it off the hinges.
"If you love me, please kick me in the
same fashion," he remarked to his
friend The most brilliant wit of his
time, the dramatist who could unraves
the most intricate complications in stage
situations, had climbed the fence for
two days for lack of the stroke of pen
knife.
A few years ago one OF our famous
men was found dead under circumstan-
ces which gave rise to suspicion of sui
eide. One of his acquaintances re-
marked, she was certainly crazy. One
evening called upon him and found
him trying to write a letter. | could
hardly see my way across the room. He
complained that his eyesight must be
failing, as it was hard for him TO follow
the lines upon :he paper. In surprise |
turned up the gas. His look of aston
ishment, as he glanced at the light, at
me, the letter, and at the light again,
was something impossible to describe.
| OF course he was crazy. If he hadn't
been he would have turned up the gas
himself" So easily do we reach our
conclusions; so easily do we take things
| for granted. Yet Sir Isaac Newton was
never supposed to be "Out of his mind, i"
and Sheridan was never suspected OF
being lunatic. The gas jet simply
served to throw more light on the stu
pidity of sensible man, instead OF
proving by its feeble glimmer the cor
responding feebeness of his intellect.
Nothing is more constantly and COM
pletely surprising than these apparent
lapses of intelligence in persons whose
intellect is acknowledged to be superior
to the average. From fool we expect
foolishness, and seldom have we reason
to complain Of disappointment. From
the wise we expect wisdom, though we
sometimes fail to find it. 1t is said that
| it is only the fool who learns no wisdom
from experience, but the foolishness of
sensible people is generally of kind
which experience can in no way modify.
1t is occasional, variable, unexpected, of
a peculiar quality, admits no argument
from precedent, gives no basis for calcu-
lations. Probably by contrast and in
congruity its effect is heightened and it
seems more sensible than ordinary dull.
ness, because it is inevitably compared
with the usual mental brilliancy. We
| learn from the entertaining Letters of
! Gustave Flaubert" that he had prepared
n dictionary of the "stupid sayings of
great men," and the volume is a unique
and amusing one. 1t was the illustrious
Napoleon III who made the profound
observation, "the wealth of country
depends upon its general prosperity"
! The famous Havin wrote, as If giving
utterance to a most valuable philosoph
ica statement, "As soon as French
man passes the frontier, he finds bimseli
on foreign SOIL" Emerson says, "Men
who have commanded great armies and
taken great cities, who have made laws
for an empire, or proclaimed the great
est discoveries in science, have some
times shown the utmost idiocy in con-
nection with the commonest affairs Of
life"