His greatest albums, The Idiot and Lust for Life, were the result.
Ask yourself: what kind of idiot would ever buy a GM car, knowing that he or she was subsidising the company's benefit plans for its workers?
Yet it could be that Ghost Train spotters are living through a golden age: as not only have Told By An Idiot embarked on a radical revision at the Royal Exchange theatre, Manchester, there is an old-school staging by Talking Scarlet steaming round the country with a cast led by Hi-de-Hi! star Jeffrey Holland.
He concludes that firms that begin in bad times are more likely to turn out to become economically important: think of Microsoft, Apple and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.During good times, any idiot can get his ideas funded, says William Barnett, a professor at Stanford University's business school.
"Anyone want to do first aid on this idiot?" asked the man identified by the courts martial as "Marine A". "I'll put one in his head if you want," chimed in "Marine C". "No, not in his head," Marine A replied, "because that'll be fucking obvious".So he shot the wounded Afghan in the chest.
Do you take me for an idiot?
I was a glib idiot for saying I was not proud of my hometown".
The Fox News commentator who said the British city of Birmingham was a no-go zone for non-Muslims is a "complete idiot", the prime minister, David Cameron, has said.
"When I'm out on a bike and I see someone doing something stupid I will absolutely have a word with them at the next set of lights," he said, adding: "There was a guy who was riding like an idiot, jumping lights, cutting up the pavement, and I just said: 'You're not helping matters here.
They all looked at me like I was an idiot.
Call me an idiot, but you never know.
