The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”, 1920
The fundamental cause of 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
The problem is that bad writers tend to have the self-confidence, while the good ones tend to have self-doubt.
Charles Bukowski, interview in Arete, 1989
(h/t to Quote Investigator)
@restlesslens Where is that from? Interested to know if he’s deliberately echoing Yeats’s ‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.’
@snptrs I am so glad you asked this question, because I came across it randomly online, but you made me suspicious, so I did some digging. According to this, which carries the weight of actual citations, not only is this quote frequently misattributed, but it has an interesting history, and yes, Yeats is involved. I've updated the post accordingly. Thanks!
@restlesslens That’s really interesting. Thanks for researching it! Quote Investigator is such a useful resource. I feel like I could go down rabbit holes on there for hours reading about different quotes.
