Motivational Quotes

Fools and foolishness

There are four types of men in this world: 1. The man who knows, and knows that he knows; he is wise, so consult him. 2. The man who knows, but doesn't know that he knows; help him not forget what he knows. 3. The man who knows not, and knows that he knows not; teach him. 4. Finally, there is the man who knows not but pretends that he knows; he is a fool, so avoid him.

- Gabirol, Ibn

Fools and foolishness Motivational Quotes

Best Quotes about Fools and foolishness

Fools are without number.

Erasmus, Desiderius

There are more fools than knaves in the world, else the knaves would not have enough to live upon.

Butler, Samuel

When he said we were trying to make a fool of him, I could only murmur that the Creator had beat us to it.

Chase, Ilka

Every fool finds a greater one to admire them.

Bioleau

It is rude to silence a fool, and cruelty to let him go on.

The company of fools may first make us smile, but in the end we always feel melancholy.

Goldsmith, Oliver

Why fools are endowed by nature with voices so much louder than sensible people possess is a mystery. It is a fact emphasized throughout history.

Hertzler

The fool is always beginning to live.

Proverb

A mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes.

Frost, Robert

10.

Gabirol, Ibn

11.

A clever child brought up with a foolish one can itself become foolish. Man is so perfectible and corruptible he can become a fool through good sense.

Lichtenberg, Georg C.

12.

A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart.

Confucius

13.

The great God endows His children variously. To some he gives intellect -- and they move the earth. To some he allots heart -- and the beating pulse of humanity is theirs. But to some He gives only a soul, without intelligence -- and these, who never grow up, but remain always His children, are God's fools, kindly, elemental, simple, as if from His palette the Artist of all had taken one color instead of many.

Rinehart, Mary Roberts

14.

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

15.

The fool within himself is the object of pity, until he is flattered.

Steele, Sir Richard

16.

A fool and his money get a lot of publicity.

Bernstein, Al

17.

Sometimes the fool who rushes in gets the job done.

Bernstein, Al

18.

He is mad past recovery, but yet he has lucid intervals.

Cervantes, Miguel De

19.

That's the penalty we have to pay for our acts of foolishness -- someone else always suffers for them.

Sutro, Alfred

20.

Seek but provision of bread and wine, fools to flatter, and clothing fine; and nothing of God shall ever be thine.

Smith, Wes

21.

In days gone by, we were afraid of dying in dishonor or a state of sin. Nowadays, we are afraid of dying fools. Now the fact is that there is no Extreme Unction to absolve us of foolishness. We endure it here on earth as subjective eternity.

Baudrillard, Jean

22.

Commend a fool for his wit, or a rogue for his honesty and he will receive you into his favor.

Fielding, Henry

23.

It has been said that there is no fool like an old fool, except a young fool. But the young fool has first to grow up to be an old fool to realize what a damn fool he was when he was a young fool.

Macmillan, Harold

24.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

Lincoln, Abraham

25.

It seems to never occur to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

26.

What a fool does in the end, the wise do in the beginning.

Proverb, Spanish

27.

The world is full of fools and faint hearts; and yet everyone has courage enough to bear the misfortunes, and wisdom enough to manage the affairs of his neighbor.

Franklin, Benjamin

28.

Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it.

Shaw, George Bernard

29.

While intelligent people can often simplify the complex, a fool is more likely to complicate the simple.

Grumet, Gerald W.

30.

The wise make proverbs, and fools repeat them.

Disraeli, Isaac

31.

However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him.

Boileau, Nicholas

32.

The fool needs company, the wise solitude.

Ruckett

33.

In the vain laughter of folly wisdom hears half its applause.

Eliot, George

34.

Folly is perennial, yet the human race has survived.

Russell, Bertrand

35.

He is a fool that kisseth the maid when he may kiss the mistress.

Proverb, English

36.

A fool often fails because he thinks what is difficult is easy.

Collins, John Churton

37.

Take all the fools out of this world and there wouldn't be any fun living in it, or profit.

Billings, Josh

38.

The fool thinks himself to be wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. [Measure For Measure]

Shakespeare, William

39.

Fools build houses, and wise men buy them.

Proverb, English

40.

No one but a fool is always right.

Hare, David

41.

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.

Heimel, Cynthia

42.

A fellow who is always declaring that he's no fool, usually has his suspicions.

Mizner, Wilson

43.

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.

44.

In short, no association or alliance can be happy or stable without me. People can't long tolerate a ruler, nor can a master his servant, a maid her mistress, a teacher his pupil, a friend his friend nor a wife her husband, a landlord his tenant, a soldier his comrade nor a party-goer his companion, unless they sometimes have illusions about each other, make use of flattery, and have the sense to turn a blind eye and sweeten life for themselves with the honey of folly.

Erasmus, Desiderius

45.

Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long.

Luther, Martin

46.

Spinoza Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

Franklin, Benjamin

47.

Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.

Proverb, African

48.

The biggest fool in the world is he who merely does his work supremely well, without attending to appearance.