Colleges don’t make fools, they only develop them.
—George Horace Lorimer (1867–1937) American Editor, Publisher, Philanthropist
A learned fool is more foolish than an ignorant one.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
The fool needs company, the wise solitude.
—Friedrich Ruckert (1788–1866) German Poet, Translator
Only a fool expects to be happy all the time.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
None is a fool always, everyone sometimes.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
—Chinese Proverb
Most fools think they are only ignorant.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.
—African Proverb
There are two fools in this world. One is the millionaire who thinks that by hoarding money he can somehow accumulate real power, and the other is the penniless reformer who thinks that if only he can take the money from one class and give it to another, all the world’s ills will be cured.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
Lord, what fools these mortals be.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom.
—Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–65) English Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Only the wisest and the stupidest of men never change.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Nature makes only dumb animals. We owe the fools to society.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Its quite true there’s a fool born every minute. It’s also quite true they don’t die that fast.
—Unknown
You ask whether I have ever been in love: fool as I am, I am not such a fool as that. But if one is only to talk from first-hand experience, conversation would be a very poor business. But though I have no personal experience of the things they call love, I have what is better—the experience of Sappho, of Euripides, of Catallus, of Shakespeare, of Spenser, of Austen, of Bronte, of anyone else I have read.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
He who lives without folly isn’t so wise as he thinks.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
For one word a man is deemed wise and for one word he is deemed foolish. We should be careful indeed what we say.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
The biggest fool in the world is he who merely does his work supremely well, without attending to appearance.
—Michael Korda (b.1933) English-born Writer, Novelist
Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Fools are more to be feared than the wicked.
—Christina, Queen of Sweden (1626–89) Swedish Monarch
Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
In life, each of us must sometimes play the fool.
—Yiddish Proverb
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.
—Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) British Head of State
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
—Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English Novelist, Scriptwriter
No one but a fool is always right.
—David Hare (b.1947) English Dramatist, Director, Film-Maker
It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The fool is not the man who merely does foolish things. The fool is the man who does not know enough to cash in on his foolishness.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
A fool may be known by six things: anger, without cause; speech, without profit; change, without progress; inquiry without object; putting trust in a stranger, and mistaking foes for friends.
—Arabic Proverb
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
The fool has to do at last what the wise did at first.
—Italian Proverb
He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Folly is perennial and yet the human race has survived.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
Take all the fools out of this world and there wouldn’t be any fun living in it, or profit.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Fools build houses, and wise men buy them.
—English Proverb
What the fool does in the end, the wise man does in the beginning.
—Spanish Proverb
However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him.
—Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux (1636–1711) French Poet, Satirist, Literary Critic
It never occurs to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
I was young and foolish then; now I am old and foolisher.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Men who know themselves are no longer fools; they stand on the threshold of the Door of Wisdom.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Sexologist, Physician, Social Reformer
There are more fools than knaves in the world, else the knaves would not have enough to live upon.
—Samuel Butler
A foolishness is inflicted with a hatred of itself.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Don’t approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side.
—Yiddish Proverb
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.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat