George Orwell? Bertrand Russell? Thomas Sowell? Nicholas Kisburg? George Will? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: Intelligent individuals sometimes embrace remarkably foolish ideas. Here are four versions of an acerbic remark:
(1) One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.
(2) This is one of those views which are so absurd that only very learned men could possibly adopt them.
(3) Only an intellectual could have said that; an ordinary person wouldn’t dare say anything so dumb.
(4) There are some things only intellectuals are crazy enough to believe.
This notion has been attributed to influential English novelist George Orwell and prominent British philosopher Bertrand Russell. Would you please help me to find the correct phrasing together with a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1945 George Orwell published an essay titled “Notes on Nationalism”. Orwell asserted that some British intellectuals in 1940 were confident that Germany and Japan would be triumphant in World War II. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
He could believe these things because his hatred of the British ruling class forbade him to admit that British plans could succeed. There is no limit to the follies that can be swallowed if one is under the influence of feelings of this kind.
I have heard it confidently stated, for instance, that the American troops had been brought to Europe not to fight the Germans but to crush an English revolution. One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.
Thus, George Orwell did employ an instance of this saying. Bertrand Russell and other commentators also employed versions of this saying as indicated below.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1959 Bertrand Russell published “My Philosophical Development” which included a chapter titled “Language” containing the following passage:2
Some modern philosophers have gone so far as to say that words should never be confronted with facts but should live in a pure, autonomous world where they are compared only with other words. When you say, ‘the cat is a carnivorous animal’, you do not mean that actual cats eat actual meat, but only that in zoology books the cat is classified among carnivora.
These authors tell us that the attempt to confront language with fact is ‘metaphysics’ and is on this ground to be condemned. This is one of those views which are so absurd that only very learned men could possibly adopt them.
In 1974 syndicated columnist George Will employed a version of the saying:3
American intellectuals are suffering one of their periodic fits of anglophilia. They see Britain’s parliamentary system as a glowing alternative to the “one man rule” of the “imperial Presidency” that has “eclipsed Congress.” This idea is so dizzy that only American intellectuals could believe it.
In 1975 Nicholas Kisburg who was the legislative director for a powerful union credited Orwell with another version of the saying:4
“George Orwell had a good line for that,” said Kisburg. “Orwell once said: ‘Only an intellectual could have said that; an ordinary person wouldn’t dare say anything so dumb.’”
In 1982 political commentator John Podhoretz credited Orwell with another version of the saying:5
George Orwell once said that some ideas are so stupid only intellectuals could believe in them.
In 1990 Robert Byrne published the fourth book in his series of the “Best Things Anybody Ever Said”. Byrne credited Orwell with yet another version of the saying:6
There are some things only intellectuals are crazy enough to believe.
George Orwell (1903-1950)
In 1992 “The Wit and Wisdom of Politics” compiled by Charles Henning printed an anonymous instance:7
That’s so silly only an intellectual would believe it.
Anonymous
In 2009 Thomas Sowell published “Intellectuals and Society” which included another instance attributed to Orwell:8
George Orwell said that some ideas are so foolish that only an intellectual could believe them, for no ordinary man could be such a fool. The record of twentieth century intellectuals was especially appalling in this regard.
In conclusion, George Orwell deserves credit for the comment he wrote in his 1945 essay “Notes on Nationalism”. Bertrand Russell made a similar observation in his 1959 book “My Philosophical Development”. During the following decades variant statements proliferated which were often attributed to Orwell.
Image Notes: Picture of a dog with glasses from Charles Deluvio at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Yoel Greenberg whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also, thanks to the volunteer editors of the Wikiquote webpage for George Orwell which listed helpful citations. In addition, thanks to researcher Barry Popik who has an entry on his website that lists the quotations by Orwell and Russell.
- 2000 (1968 Copyright), George Orwell: The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters, Volume 3: As I Please 1943-1946, Edited by Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus, Essay: Notes on Nationalism, Citation note located at end of essay: “Written [May 1945]; Polemic, [No. 1, October 1945]”, Start Page 361, Quote Page 279, Nonpareil Book: David R. Godine, Jaffrey, New Hampshire. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1959, My Philosophical Development by Bertrand Russell, Chapter 13: Language, Start Page 145, Quote Page 148, Simon and Schuster, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1974 February 24, The Philadelphia Inquirer, British can keep parliamentary form by George F. Will, Quote Page 7F, Column 5, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (ProQuest) ↩︎
- 1975 May 11, Daily News, It’s a Season For Figures That Mislead by Michael Patterson (Labor Editor of The News), Quote Page 63, Column 2, New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎
- 1982 February 9, Wall Street Journal, Heinrich Boll’s Bloodless Novel of Terrorism by John Podhoretz, (Book review of “The Safety Net” by Heinrich Boll), Quote Page 30, Column 3, New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎
- 1990, The Fourth and By Far the Most Recent 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, Compiled by Robert Byrne, Quotation Number 549, Atheneum: Macmillan Publishing Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1992, The Wit and Wisdom of Politics, Compiled by Charles Henning, Expanded Edition, Topic: Intellectuals, Quote Page 105, Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2009, Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell, Chapter 1: Intellect and Intellectuals, Quote Page 2, Basic Books, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎