--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes…" description: "\"Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.\" — Jose Ortega y Gasset" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc5/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_persist_stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-st_3197969.jpg" --- # Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity. ![“Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.” quote by Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc5/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_persist_stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-st_3197969.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc5/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_persist_stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-st_3197969.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc5/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_persist_stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-st_3197969.jpg) > “Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.” [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When bewilderment continues without reflection, it turns into foolishness. **In simple terms:** Persistent confusion becomes stupidity. Key Takeaway Question assumptions before accepting confusion. Themes knowledge critical thinking wisdom mental health Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - decision making - personal growth Key Concepts cognitive bias self‑deception learning Questions to Reflect On - What habits keep you stuck in confusion? - How do you distinguish doubt from stupidity? A Different Perspective Overthinking can paralyze action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Persists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persists/) [Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity/) ## Related quotes > [“Stupefaction is not resignation; and it is stupefaction to remain in ignorance,–to shut up all the avenues by which the life of your fellow-men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/stupefaction-is-not-resignation-and-it-is-stupefaction-to-remain-in/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [After a person dies, there is always something like a feeling of stupefaction, so difficult is it to comprehend this unexpected advent of nothingness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/after-a-person-dies-there-is-always-something-like-a-feeling-of/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [What resists, persists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-resists-persists/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whatever-you-fight-you-strengthen-and-what-you-resist-persists/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Remember one very fundamental thing about life: Any experience that has not been lived will hang around you, will persist: "Finish me! Live me!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/remember-one-very-fundamental-thing-about-life-any-experience-that/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Whatever you resist, persists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/whatever-you-resist-persists/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [The social body persists although the component cells may change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-social-body-persists-although-the-component-cells-may-change/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [magic persists without us no matter what we may do to try to spoil it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/magic-persists-without-us-no-matter-what-we-may-do-to-try-to-spoil-it/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [The urgency to mate persists in all people as in all other mammals because of the evolutionary drive to continue the species, the inborn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-margulis/the-urgency-to-mate-persists-in-all-people-as-in-all-other-mammals/) [Lynn Margulis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-margulis/) > [The cooperation of NASCAR - or any other system, it turns out - persists only when everyone believes he has the opportunity to win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/the-cooperation-of-nascar-or-any-other-system-it-turns-out-persists/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [Art persists, it timelessly continues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/art-persists-it-timelessly-continues/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [... in the midst of death life persists ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-the-midst-of-death-life-persists/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/while-poverty-persists-there-is-no-true-freedom/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [In the midst of darkness, light persists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-the-midst-of-darkness-light-persists/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [There are people who want to become rich; they become rich. If you persist you can fulfill any kind of stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/there-are-people-who-want-to-become-rich-they-become-rich-if-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More by Jose Ortega y Gasset > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-order-to-master-the-unruly-torrent-of-life-the-learned-man/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-sat-isfied man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-form-most-contradictory-to-human-life-that-can-appear-among-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“For there is no doubt that the most radical division that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits into two classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/for-there-is-no-doubt-that-the-most-radical-division-that-is-possible/) [José Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/what-makes-a-nation-great-is-not-primarily-its-great-men-but-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/to-be-surprised-to-wonder-is-to-begin-to-understand-this-is-the-sport/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/romantic-poses-aside-let-us-recognize-that-falling-in-love-is-an/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Law is born from despair of human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/law-is-born-from-despair-of-human-nature/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The masses think that is is easy to flee from reality, when it is the most difficult thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-masses-think-that-is-is-easy-to-flee-from-reality-when-it-is-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-librarian-s-mission-should-be-not-like-up-to-now-a-mere-handling/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Whether he be an original or a plagiarist, man is the novelist of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/whether-he-be-an-original-or-a-plagiarist-man-is-the-novelist-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Here, then, is the point at which I see the new mission of the librarian rise up incomparably higher than all those preceding. Up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/here-then-is-the-point-at-which-i-see-the-new-mission-of-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Explore all 204 Jose Ortega y Gasset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More Persist quotes > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“If you start and persist you will succeed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/if-you-start-and-persist-you-will-succeed/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [Sometimes you make up your mind about something without knowing why, and your decision persists by the power of inertia. Every year it gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/sometimes-you-make-up-your-mind-about-something-without-knowing-why/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [There are people who want to become rich; they become rich. If you persist you can fulfill any kind of stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/there-are-people-who-want-to-become-rich-they-become-rich-if-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [In the midst of darkness, light persists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-the-midst-of-darkness-light-persists/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The Church must persist in the teaching transmitted to her by Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-church-must-persist-in-the-teaching-transmitted-to-her-by-christ/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [I will persist. I will always take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/i-will-persist-i-will-always-take-another-step-if-that-is-of-no-avail/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) > [What you resist will persist; what you befriend, you will transcend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/what-you-resist-will-persist-what-you-befriend-you-will-transcend/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [“Persist. Practice. Experiment. Imagine. Do your best work, and all else will follow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-metz/persist-practice-experiment-imagine-do-your-best-work-and-all-else/) [Sandi Metz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-metz/) > [If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-devos/if-i-had-to-select-one-quality-one-personal-characteristic-that-i/) [Richard DeVos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-devos/) > [All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-collier/all-of-us-have-bad-luck-and-good-luck-the-man-who-persists-through/) [Robert Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-collier/) > [Every Jew, somewhere in his being, should set apart a zone of hate -healthy virile hate- for what the German personifies and for what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/every-jew-somewhere-in-his-being-should-set-apart-a-zone-of-hate/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“Never give up. It might not seem easy at first but in the end, it will all be worth it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/never-give-up-it-might-not-seem-easy-at-first-but-in-the-end-it-will/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/you-must-keep-sending-work-out-you-must-never-let-a-manuscript-do/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [World War II revealed two of the enduring features of the Keynesian Revolution. One was the moral difference between spending for welfare and spending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/world-war-ii-revealed-two-of-the-enduring-features-of-the-keynesian/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) Browse all 570 Persist quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jose Ortega y Gasset" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-stupidity/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Persist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-stupidity/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc5/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_persist_stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-st_3197969.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc5/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_persist_stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-st_3197969.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc5/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_persist_stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-st_3197969.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.” — Jose Ortega y Gasset", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jose Ortega y Gasset", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Stupefaction, when it persists, becomes stupidity.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-stupidity/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/stupefaction-when-it-persists-becomes-stupidity/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```