Cicero has been on my mind lately. His felicitous saying, omnium malorum stultitia est mater, is ricocheting through my mind over and over again. I love it, and yet there is something about it that bothers me at the same time. In particular, the stupidity of fishes and insects is hardly an evil. The same holds for birds and animals. In fact, their stupidity is a godsend. The human species is implied in the saying, but it needs to be spelled out loudly and clearly: omnium malorum stultitia humani generis est mater. Phew! Now I feel better. Much better. Pace Cicero, but vagueness will get us nowhere.