# "Fighting Ignorance...Taking Longer Than We Thought" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 14, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725 "2010-07-14T22:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rlofsted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a4c791/32.png) [@rlofsted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rlofsted)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/1 "2010-07-14T22:54:53Z")
Alternative might be: “Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.” (As for attribution, all I can remember is that Arthur C. Clark had it (as a quote?) in one of his books. Sorry. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/2 "2010-07-14T23:05:50Z")
> [@rlofsted](#): > > Alternative might be: “Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.” (As for attribution, all I can remember is that Arthur C. Clark had it (as a quote?) in one of his books. Sorry. 😉 Asimov used it, in his book “The Gods Themselves”. It is attributed to Johann Friedrich von Schiller, German philosopher. And most of us here have not yet decided that the effort is in vain, just not quite as easy as initially thought. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/3 "2010-07-14T23:49:01Z")
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” – _Robert Browning_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/4 "2010-07-14T23:57:03Z")
Schiller’s actual words, translated to English, were > [@](#): > > With stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain. . I think Cecil could get behind that. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/5 "2010-07-15T00:26:42Z")
> [@rlofsted](#): > > Alternative might be: “Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.” (As for attribution, all I can remember is that Arthur C. Clark had it (as a quote?) in one of his books. Sorry. 😉 Cool story, bro. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/6 "2010-07-15T03:20:24Z")
I’ve always found the statement ironic, as to think ignorance would be eradicated in such a short time (if ever) is itself ignorant. As far as I’m concerned, it’s taking exactly as long as I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/7 "2010-07-15T05:18:09Z")
Stupidity and ignorance aren’t the same thing anyway. If you are _stupid_ you have difficulty learning something. If you are _ignorant_, you don’t know about something. All of us are ignorant about many things. That doesn’t mean that we are all stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-taking-longer-than-we-thought/546725/8 "2010-07-15T11:23:40Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Asimov used it, in his book “The Gods Themselves”. > > It is attributed to Johann Friedrich von Schiller, German philosopher. > > And most of us here have not yet decided that the effort is in vain, just not quite as easy as initially thought. It’s from [The Maid of Orleans (1801), Act III, Scene VI](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6792/6792-h/6792-h.htm#2H_4_0034).