Foolishness

I am an optimist, unrepentant and militant. After all, in order not to be a fool an optimist must know how sad a place the world can be. It is only the pessimist who finds this out anew every day. ~~ Peter Ustinov

Do you think that the things people make fools of themselves about are any less real and true than the things they behave sensibly about? They are more true: they are the only things that are true. ~~ George Bernard Shaw

Don't use the conduct of a fool as a precedent. ~~ Talmud

I am firm. You are obstinate. He is a pig-headed fool. ~~ Katharine Whitehorn

Fools act on imagination without knowledge, pedants act on knowledge without imagination. ~~ Alfred North Whitehead

A fool judges people by the presents they give him. ~~ Chinese proverb

Sometimes a majority simply means that all the fools are on the same side. ~~ Claude McDonald

A loafer is an abomination, but a man who is busy doing foolish things is worse than a loafer. ~~ William C. Hunter

Don’t ask silly questions if you don't want foolish answers. ~~ C. Ryland

Silence is golden, but I must say that some of the most discreet and dignified fools that I have ever met have been those who never ventured an opinion on any subject. ~~ Josh Billings

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. ~~ Unattributed

Do not be fooled into believing that because a man is rich he is necessarily smart. There is ample proof to the contrary. ~~ Julius Rosenwald

It is in the half fools and the half wise that the greatest danger lies. ~~ Goethe

When all philosophies shall fail,

This word alone shall fit;

That a sage feels too small for life,

And a fool too large for it. ~~ G. K. Chesterton

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. ~~ W. C. Fields

There are no accidents so unlucky from which clever people are not able to reap some advantage, and none so lucky that the foolish are not able to turn them to their own disadvantage. ~~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

For every woman who makes a fool out of a man there is another woman who makes a man out of a fool. ~~ Joe Moore

Sometimes the fool who rushes in gets the job done. ~~ Al Bernstein

You can't fool all the people all the time, but the airplane schedules come pretty close. ~~ Unattributed

He who asks is a fool for 5 minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. ~~ Chinese proverb

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

Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering and only the very sound or the very foolish imagine otherwise. ~~ George Orwell

As a rule men are foolish, ungrateful, jealous, covetous of others' goods, abusing their superiority when they are strong and rascals when they are weak. ~~ Voltaire

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 bosom. ~~ Henry Fielding

You must play the fool a little if you would not be thought wholly a fool. ~~ Michel de Montaigne

Penny wise, pound foolish. ~~ Robert Burton

If you are foolish enough to be contented, don't show it, but grumble with the rest. ~~ Jerome K. Jerome

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. ~~ Euripides

An intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction. ~~ E. F. Schumacher

In business opportunities, dating, anything -- you've got to meet someone more than once. I like to meet people four or five times, because anybody can fool you the first time. ~~ Chazz Palminteri

Luck enters into every contingency. You are a fool if you forget it -- and a greater fool if you count upon it. ~~ Phyllis Bottome

There is one thing worse than a fool, and that is a man who is conceited. ~~ The Bible

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 Russell

There are two kinds of fools: those who suspect nothing and those who suspect everything. ~~ Le Prince de Ligne

You can fool all of the people all of the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough. ~~ Joseph Levine

He is a fool that is not melancholy once a day. ~~ Unattributed

There are two kinds of fools: one says, "This is old, therefore it is good"; the other says, "This is new, therefore it is better." ~~ Dean William R. Inge

This fellow's wise enough to play the fool,

And to do that well craves a kind of wit. ~~ William Shakespeare

Behold, the fool saith, "Put not all thine eggs in the one basket," -- which is but a manner of saying, "Scatter your money and your attention," but the wise man saith, "Put all your eggs in the one basket and -- watch that basket." ~~ Mark Twain

The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one's self a fool; the truest heroism is, to resist the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom, to know when it ought to be resisted, and when to be obeyed. ~~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain -- and most fools do. ~~ Benjamin Franklin

Only the foolish and the dead never change their opinions. ~~ Unattributed

He that has no fools, knaves, nor beggars in his family was begot by a flash of lightning. ~~ Thomas Fuller

You can't fool all of the people all of the time, but you can fool enough of them all of the time to hold your head up in society. ~~ Kin Hubbard

A fool's paradise is nevertheless a paradise. ~~ Unattributed

Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever. ~~ Charles Lamb

Go around asking a lot of damfool questions and taking chances. Only through curiosity can we discover opportunities, and only by gambling can we take advantage of them. ~~ Clarence Birdseye

Nobody ever did anything very foolish except from some strong principle. ~~ Viscount William Lamb Melbourne

There are four varieties in society; the lovers, the ambitious, observers, and fools. The fools are the happiest. ~~ Hippolyte Taine

The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool. ~~ George Santayana

Nature never makes any blunders; when she makes a fool she means it. ~~ Josh Billings

The only good in pretending is the fun we get out of fooling ourselves that we fool somebody. ~~ Booth Tarkington

Greatest fools are oft most satisfied. ~~ Nicolas Boileau

It is said that a wise man who stands firm is a statesman, and a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe. ~~ Adlai Stevenson

You don't have to fool all of the people all the time -- just the right people part of the time. ~~ Unattributed

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

It is dreadfully easy to be a fool -- a man can be one and not know it. ~~ Josh Billings

Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? and ain't that a big enough majority in any town? ~~ Mark Twain

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

When a man makes up his mind to become a rascal, he should examine himself closely and see if he isn't better constructed for a fool. ~~ Josh Billings

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something. ~~ Plato

Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with, that it's compounding a felony. ~~ Robert Benchley

A fool will always find a bigger fool to praise him. ~~ Nicolas Boileau

I probably have been made to look a fool but I'm not a man with phobias and complexes. I'm not a man who needs sleeping pills. I don't care what you think about me … I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. ~~ Robert Maxwell

Almost all really new ideas have a certain aspect of foolishness when they are first produced. ~~ Alfred North Whitehead

A busy fool is fitter to be shut up than a downright madman. ~~ George, Lord Halifax

Only a fool thinks price and value are the same. ~~ Antonio Machado

It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere. ~~ Voltaire

A fool must now and then by right by chance. ~~ William Cowper

When I hear any man talk of unalterable law, the only effect it produces on me is to convince me that he is an unalterable fool. ~~ Sydney Smith

The average man's opinions are much less foolish than they would be if he thought for himself. ~~ Bertrand Russell

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists of not exceeding the limit. ~~ Elbert Hubbard

It takes a wise man to handle a lie. A fool had better remain honest. ~~ Norman Douglas

The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right. ~~ Mark Twain

Education does not make us smarter, it merely propels us further and faster in the direction of our native abilities; and if one's ability is to make a fool of himself, education can help him do a magnificent job of that. ~~ Sydney J. Harris

The history of medicine is a story of amazing foolishness and amazing intelligence. ~~ Jerome Tarshis

Almost no one is foolish enough to imagine that he automatically deserves great success in any field of activity; yet almost everyone believes that he automatically deserves success in marriage. ~~ Sydney J. Harris

You don't have to fool all the people all the time; you just have to fool enough to get elected. ~~ Joe Moore

Perhaps the angels who fear to tread where fools rush in used to be fools who rushed in. ~~ Franklin P. Jones

The man has yet to be born who enjoys being made to look a fool without knowing why. ~~ E. C. Bentley

Once harm has been done, even a fool understands it. ~~ Homer

I sometimes wonder if the manufacturers of foolproof items keep a fool or two on their payroll to test things. ~~ Alan Coren

I'm not denyin' the women are foolish; God Almighty made 'em to match the men. ~~ George Eliot

If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. ~~ Anatole France

First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity. ~~ George Bernard Shaw

Never hitch your wagon to another man's star. You never know where the fool will take you. ~~ Unattributed

You can fool all of the people some of the time, but the rest of the time they will have to make fools of themselves. ~~ Unattributed

Th' feller that agrees with ever'thing you say is either a fool er he is getting' ready to skin you. ~~ Kin Hubbard

Our impulses are our birthright… The impulses that make a fool or worse of us in certain circumstances may be necessary for our happiness. ~~ Gertrude Atherton

You can fool too many of the people too much of the time. ~~ James Thurber

In university they don't tell you that the greater part of the law is learning to tolerate fools. ~~ Doris Lessing

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself. ~~ John Ciardi

Sometimes in politics one must duel with skunks, but no one should be fool enough to allow the skunks to choose the weapons. ~~ Joe Cannon

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. ~~ William Shakespeare

"But he's so silly," pompous people would tell you, not understanding that was why one loved him, that to be silly is not to be foolish. ~~ Alan Bennett

I have always been among those who believed that the greatest freedom of speech was the greatest safety, because if a man is a fool, the best thing to do is to encourage him to advertise the fact by speaking. ~~ Woodrow Wilson

One good reason for not worrying is that you won't feel like a fool when things turn out right. ~~ Unattributed

The surprising thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools. ~~ Doug Larson

A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a witty person, but a pebble in the hands of a fool. ~~ Joseph Roux

There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man. ~~ Aristotle

Power, when invested in the hands of knaves or fools, generally is the source of tyranny. ~~ Charlotte Clarke

The fools in this world make about as much trouble as the wicked do. ~~ Josh Billings

Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, it is seldom necessary to assume it. ~~ Oscar Wilde

Words are wise men's counters, they do but reckon with them, but they are the money of fools. ~~ Thomas Hobbes

There are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it -- the men who form the lunatic fringe in all reform movements. ~~ Theodore Roosevelt

You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time; but you can't fool all the people all the time. ~~ Abraham Lincoln

Sometimes a fool makes a good suggestion. ~~ Nicolas Boileau

Whenever you commend, add your reasons for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and admiration of fools. ~~ Sir Richard Steele

The cat seldom interferes with other people's rights. His intelligence keeps him from doing many of the fool things that complicate life. ~~ Carl Van Vechten

One is easily fooled by that which one loves. ~~ Moliere [Tartuffe]

Don't give cherries to a pig; don't give advice to a fool. ~~ Irish proverb

I wasn't born a fool. It took work to get this way. ~~ Danny Kaye

Fools have a great advantage over the wise: they are always self-satisfied. ~~ Napolean I

I would die happy if I knew that on my tombstone could be written these words, "This man was an absolute fool. None of the disastrous things that he reluctantly predicted ever came to pass!" ~~ Lewis Mumford

Nothing to be done really about animals. Anything you do looks foolish. The answer isn't in us. It's almost as if we're put here on earth to show how silly they aren't. ~~ Russell Hoban

It is human nature to think wisely and act foolishly. ~~ Anatole France

In every generation there has to be some fool who will speak the truth as he sees it. ~~ Boris Pasternak (see Said Who?)

You can always tell a real friend; when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job. ~~ Laurence J. Peter

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. ~~ Abraham Lincoln

A fool is one whom bigger fools believe to be a man of merit. ~~ Jean de La Bruyere

Any fool can make a rule, and every fool will mind it. ~~ Henry David Thoreau

Only a fool argues with a skunk, a mule, or the cook. ~~ Harry Oliver

Charles de Gaulle had a mordant wit, rarely displayed in public. The Paris telephone system in the 1960s was anything but efficient, as even presidential aides could attest. Walking into the room as a member of his staff slammed down the receiver and exclaimed, "Death to all fools!" de Gaulle observed, "Ah, what a vast program, my friend." ~~ Bob Dole [Great Political Wit]