Foolishness Quotes - Page 2

• The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Wise, Heart, Men

  Benjamin Franklin (1987). “Writings”, Library of America

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• Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else.

  Hermann Hesse

  Inspirational, Wise, Teacher

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• Almost all new ideas have a certain aspect of foolishness when they are first produced.

  Alfred North Whitehead

  Science, Ideas, Innovation

  Alfred North Whitehead (1997). “Science and the Modern World”, p.47, Simon and Schuster

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• The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow.

  William Osler

  Birthday, Truth, Philosophy

  Sir William Osler, Mark E. Silverman, T. J. Murray, Charles S. Bryan, American College of Physicians--American Society of Internal Medicine (2003). “The Quotable Osler”, p.18, ACP Press

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• The foolishness of old age does not characterize all who are old, but only the foolish.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Time, Age, Doe

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• The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

  Paul the Apostle

  Spiritual, Men, Natural

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• None is a fool always, everyone sometimes.

  George Herbert

  Fool, Sometimes

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• One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.

  James D. Watson

  Success, Mother, Truth

  James D. Watson (2011). “The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA”, p.25, Simon and Schuster

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• If to live is to progress, if you are lucky, from foolishness to wisdom, then to write novels is to broadcast the various stages of your foolishness.

  Jane Smiley

  Writing, Progress, Lucky

  Jane Smiley (2014). “Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel”, p.14, Faber & Faber

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• All life's battles teach us something, even those we lose. When you grow up, you'll discover that you have defended lies, deceived yourself, or suffered foolishness. If you're a good warrior you will not blame yourself for this, but neither will you allow your mistakes to repeat themselves.

  Paulo Coelho

  Growing Up, Mistake, Lying

  FaceBook post by Paulo Coelho from Jun 30, 2014

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• The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.

  Epicurus

  Life, Gratitude, Lying

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• It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak.

  Neil Gaiman

  Truth, Science, Fool

  Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg (2006). “The absolute sandman”

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• The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.

  Chinua Achebe

  Brother, Clever, Fall

  Chinua Achebe (2009). “Things Fall Apart: Authoritative Text, Contexts and Criticism”, W W Norton & Company Incorporated

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• I have great faith in fools,— self-confidence my friends will call it.

  Edgar Allan Poe

  Life, Friendship, Confidence

  "The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe".

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• I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.

  Edith Sitwell

  Patience, Stupid, Ignorance

  "The Last Years of a Rebel: A Memoir of Edith Sitwell". Book by Elizabeth Salter, 1967.

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• We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, Motivational, Respect

  Speech at St. Louis, 22 Mar. 1964, in St Louis Post-Dispatch 23 Mar. 1964

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• And if my present deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge arraigns my folly.

  Sophocles

  Sight, Judging, Deeds

  Sophocles (2013). “The Tragedies (Annotated Edition)”, p.156, Jazzybee Verlag

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• Neither man nor woman can be worth anything until they have discovered that they are fools. The sooner the discovery is made the better, as there is more time and power for taking advantage of it.

  William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

  Men, Discovery, Fool

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

  Alfred Sutro

  Suffering, Pay, Penalties

  Alfred Sutro (1906). “The Price of Money: A Play in Four Acts”

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• Wisdom and foolishness are practically the same. Both are indifferent to the opinions of the world

  Joseph Campbell

  Life, World, Opinion

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• For one word a man is often deemed to be wise, and for one word he is often deemed to be foolish. We should be careful indeed what we say.

  Confucius

  Wise, Wisdom, Men

  Confucius (2012). “The Analects of Confucius In Plain and Simple English: BookCaps Study Guide”, p.132, BookCaps Study Guides

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• Women's liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one is likely to do anything about that.

  Golda Meir

  Family, Mothers Day, Children

  1972 In Newsweek, 23 Oct.

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• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

  Charles Dickens

  Spring, Communication, Winter

  A Tale of Two Cities bk. 1, ch. 1 (1859)

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• A foolishness is inflicted with a hatred of itself.

  Seneca the Younger

  Hatred, Fool, Fools And Foolishness

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• Solitude can be used well by very few people. They who do must have a knowledge of the world to see the foolishness of it, and enough virtue to despise all the vanity.

  Abraham Cowley

  Vanity, People, Solitude

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