Caption: Al rijst den esele ter scholen om leeren, ist eenen esele hij en zal gheen peert weder keeren ("Even if the Ass travels to school to learn, as a horse he will not return")
Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or wit, an inability to learn. It may be innate, assumed or reactive. The word stupid comes from the Latin word stupere. Stupid characters are often used for comedy in fictional stories. Walter B. Pitkin called stupidity "evil", but in a more Romantic spirit William Blake and Carl Jung believed stupidity can be the mother of wisdom.