I believe it to be a fact that even people who have been diagnosed as insane and incompetent

[struggle4progress]

42. Many people seems to regard all those, whose views differ from their own, as idiots; but I think

there is no shortage of quick thinkers who are nevertheless captive to foolish ideas and no shortage of slow thinkers who are still wise in their own way

There is no simple test for who might become a good citizen. Someone who learns quickly can always quickly learn the wrong things and so might get no real benefit if unable to unlearn. A long and expensive education can sometimes just brainwash the beneficiary. A person can be illiterate and innumerate yet still be a keen observer of the natural world or of human behavior

I have sometimes encountered people too damaged to function on their own, though they might dress themselves and happily help set the table or sweep the floor. Sometimes they are very sweet and pleasant, too. In none of those cases did I ever hear of any of them voting: I don't think any of them would have been interested, and I don't think their guardians would have pushed them to do so