... the hydrostatic paradox of controversy. Don't you know what that means? Well, I will tell you. You know that, if you had a bent tube, one arm of which was of the size of a pipe-stem, and the other big enough to hold the ocean, water would stand at the same height in one as in the other. Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way. And the fools know it.

Summary

This quote refers to the hydrostatic paradox, which is used as a metaphor for the nature of controversy. Just as water would stand at the same height in a tube with different-sized arms, controversy is said to equalize fools and wise men. This implies that in the realm of disagreement and debate, individuals of varying intellect or reasoning may end up on a similar footing. The quote suggests that even foolish individuals are aware of this paradox, exploiting it to participate in controversial discussions as their perceptions hold equal weight.

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