I must be a genius...

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."

That's from Jonathon Swift, the Irish author from...a long time ago. It's also opens and provides the title for one of my favorite books, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I won't bore you with the story, but it's a wonderful book that I've probably read ten times over the last 25 years. It's always funny after a couple year respite.

As a follow on to the previous post, I feel a bit like Ignatius J. Reilly, the rotund, flatulent, medieval protaganist of the story (excluding the rotund, flatulent and medieval parts), who just can't help himself and winds up in the most peculiar situations and wondering why Fortuna has spun her wheel, and him with it, downward.

Anyway, while looking for the exact language of the quote, I came across another piece of wisdom from Mr. Swift that perfectly sums up my feelings for today:

"I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed."