# The Ergodic Reader **_All those who appear fools are, along with half of those who don’t._** Stupidity has seized hold of the world, and if there is any wisdom, it’s foolishness compared with the wisdom of heaven. But the greatest fool is the person who doesn’t believe they are and who declares everyone else is. To be truly wise, it’s not enough just to appear to be so, far less to appear so to yourself. The person who knows is the one who thinks they don’t, and the person who doesn’t see that others see, doesn’t see. Although the world is full of fools, nobody thinks, or even suspects, that they are one. _— Baltasar Gracián_