Ambrose Bierce identified an idiot as "A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but 'pervades and regulates the whole.' He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions of opinion and taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line."
A portrait of R. (which could stand for rogue), the definitive, aforesaid idiot
(Photo copyright 2005 Evelyn M. Gilmer)
The source of the quotation above is The Devil's Dictionary (1911) by Ambrose Bierce.
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