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
Fools are without number.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
In the vain laughter of folly, wisdom hears half its applause.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Fortune, to show us her power, and abate our presumption, seeing she could not make fools wise, has made them fortunate.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
There are two kinds of fools: those who can’t change their opinions and those who won’t.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Lord, what fools these mortals be.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The fool within himself is the object of pity, until he is flattered.
—Richard Steele (1672–1729) Irish Writer, Politician
Most fools think they are only ignorant.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
None is a fool always, everyone sometimes.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
The folly of all follies is to be love sick for a shadow.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
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
Nature makes only dumb animals. We owe the fools to society.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
I’m not denyin’ the women are foolish; God Almighty made ’em to match the men.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Flattery is never so agreeable as to our blind side; commend a fool for his wit, or a knave for his honesty, and they will receive you into their bosoms.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
There are no foolish questions, and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions.
—Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865–1923) German-born American Mathematician, Engineer
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.
—Cynthia Heimel (1947–2018) American Humor Columnist, Feminist
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
A fool and his money are soon parted. The rest of us wait for tax time.
—Common Proverb
People do not wish to appear foolish; to avoid the appearance of foolishness, they are willing to remain actually fools.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
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
A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom.
—Welsh Proverb
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
The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
In life, each of us must sometimes play the fool.
—Yiddish Proverb
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
It never occurs to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist