Current polls suggest that about 49% of voters would vote -
‘What does it mean?’
‘Roughly: Against stupidity the gods themselves battle in vain.’ ‘Good morning.’
W. Somerset Maugham – The Door of Opportunity (1951)
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
Good morning
Current polls suggest that about 49% of voters would vote -
‘What does it mean?’
‘Roughly: Against stupidity the gods themselves battle in vain.’ ‘Good morning.’
W. Somerset Maugham – The Door of Opportunity (1951)
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2 comments:
It’s another of those quotes - like Santayana on repeating the mistakes of the past or CS Lewis on tyranny (or, for that matter, almost anything you like from ‘1984’) - which constantly spring to mind these days.
In view of the current state of affairs, perhaps it’s because it is something of a comfort to know there’s nothing we mere humans can do about it all.
(I first read the phrase in the original German play so that’s how I think of it, but in English translation I find the iambic ‘contend’ - trips more satisfyingly off the tongue.)
Macheath - I don't know German, but yes it does trip more satisfyingly off the tongue. It also raises some entertaining possibilities where the gods look down on human stupidity and react in various ways such as taking to drink, migrating to Mars or they decide to reverse evolution and start again.
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