A Confederacy of Dunces

by John Kennedy Toole

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

Already he was polishing a few carefully worded accusations designed to reduce his mother to repentance or, at least, confusion. He often had to keep her in her place.

Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.”

“I refuse to ‘look up.’ Optimism nauseates me. It is perverse. Since man’s fall, his proper position in the universe has been one of misery.”

‘Clean, hardworking, dependable, quiet type.’ Good God! What kind of monster is this that they want. I am afraid that I could never work for a concern with a worldview like that.”