Schiller on the Elections

Folly, Thou Conquerest

Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who art thou then if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly's uncurbed steed,
Must, vainly shrieking with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.
Accursed, who striveth after noble ends,
And with deliberate wisdom forms his plans!
To the fool-king belongs the world.

Friedrich von Schiller
The Maid of Orleans (1801)
Act iii scene 6
(as translated by Anna Swanwick)


via wood s lot's guide to the post-11/3 mindset