Von der Dummheit
Dietrich Bonhoefferc. 1943
A short reflection on folly by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, printed in 1951 in the collection of his prison letters and papers edited by Eberhard Bethge.
The piece is printed on pages 17 to 20 of Widerstand und Ergebung, the volume of Bonhoeffer’s letters and papers from prison that Eberhard Bethge published in 1951. It argues that folly is a moral and social failing more than an intellectual one, and that it spreads under the impression of great power.
It is cited in the entry on Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a text of his own from the war years. It says nothing about the events of his life.