Wise Man Fool Quotes & Sayings

A fool has more ideas than a wise man can foresee. — Joseph Conrad

The tongue of a fool is the key of his counsel, which, in a wise man, wisdom hath in keeping. — Socrates

The wise man lacked nothing but needed a great number of things, whereas the fool, on the other hand, needs nothing (for he does not know how to use anything) but lacks everything. — Seneca The Younger

A wise man will always allow a fool to rob him of ideas without yelling "Thief."
If he is wise he has not been impoverished.
Nor has the fool been enriched.
The thief flatters us by stealing.
We flatter him by complaining. — Ben Hecht

... the wise Man that holds his Tongue, says more than the Fool who speaks. — Thomas Fuller

A wise man never enjoys himself so much, nor a fool so little, as when alone. — Josh Billings

A wise man alters his misconceptions when he learns the truth; a fool tries to beat the truth into the mold of his misconceptions. — Sarah A. Chrisman

Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool — Seneca.

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

2. "HOW COULD anything originate out of its opposite? For example, truth out of error? or the Will to Truth out of the will to deception? or the generous deed out of selfishness? or the pure sun-bright vision of the wise man out of covetousness? Such genesis is impossible; whoever dreams of it is a fool, nay, worse than a fool; things of the highest value must have a different origin, an origin of THEIR own - in this transitory, seductive, illusory, paltry world, in this turmoil of delusion and cupidity, they cannot have their source. But rather in the lap of Being, in the intransitory, in the concealed God, in the 'Thing-in-itself - THERE must be their source, and nowhere else!" - — Friedrich Nietzsche

All I know is that while I'm asleep, I'm never afraid, and I have no hopes, no struggles, no glories - and bless the man who invented sleep, a cloak over all human thought, food that drives away hunger, water that banishes thirst, fire that heats up cold, chill that moderates passion, and, finally, universal currency with which all things can be bought, weight and balance that brings the shepherd and the king, the fool and the wise, to the same level. There's only one bad thing about sleep, as far as I've ever heard, and that is that it resembles death, since there's very little difference between a sleeping man and a corpse. — Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra

A wise man always has something to say, whereas a fool always needs to say something. — Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

The wise man knows when to keep silent. Only the fool tells all he knows. — Neil Gaiman

Any fool can get into a fight, but a wise man knows how to stay out of them. — Ken Follett

If the majority doesn't laugh at you, beware that you must be saying something wrong. When the majority thinks you are a fool, only then is there some possibility of you being a wise man. — Laozi

A wise man understands, an intelligent man knows, but a fool pretends to know. — Debasish Mridha

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. — William Shakespeare

A wise man will be master of his mind, a fool will be its slave. — Publilius Syrus

A wise man is the master of his own mind" "A fool is a slave to his" - Publilius Syrus — Gareth F. Baines

A wise man rules his passions, fool obeys them. — Publilius Syrus

An insincere wise man has more power than a sincere fool. — Matshona Dhliwayo

A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something. — Plato

A clever fool and a foolish wise man. — George R R Martin

There are two apples, one is green and the other is red. Which apple would the wise man choose? The answer is: I'll take the one you didn't choose. You see, you are the fool here, because I poisoned the first apple! — Jarod Kintz

The fool strikes. The wise man smiles, and watches, and learns. Then strikes. — Joe Abercrombie

Gaze not on beauty too much, lest it blast thee; nor too long, lest it blind thee; nor too near, lest it burn thee. If thou like it, it deceives thee; if thou love it, it disturbs thee; if thou hunt after it, it destroys thee. If virtue accompany it, it is the heart's paradise; if vice associate it, it is the soul's purgatory. It is the wise man's bonfire, and the fool's furnace. — Francis Quarles

I am just another blind man. I do not get the whole picture of what transpires in all places. I am blind and limited. I would be a fool to think myself wise. And so, not knowing what the universe means, I can only try to be responsible with the knowledge, the strength, and the time given to me. — Jim Butcher

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. — Karen Kingsbury

If thou hast never been a fool, be sure thou wilt never be a wise man. — William Makepeace Thackeray

A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat. — Louis L'Amour

For there will be no memory of the wise man or of the fool; in the days to come all will be forgotten, and alas, the wise man dies the same death as the fool! — Anonymous

A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell. — Thomas Fuller

A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident. — Anonymous

To speak and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks. — Ben Jonson

But no matter how much parents and grandparents may have sinned against the child, the man who is really adult will accept these sins as his own condition which has to be reckoned with. Only a fool is interested in other people's guilt, since he cannot alter it. The wise man learns only from his own guilt. He will ask himself: Who am I that all this should happen to me? To find the answer to this fateful question he will look into his own heart. — C. G. Jung

A wise man has dignity without pride; a fool has pride without dignity. — Confucius

Science is the art of creating suitable illusions which the fool believes or argues against, but the wise man enjoys for their beauty or their ingenuity, without being blind to the fact that they are human veils and curtains concealing the abysmal darkness of the unknowable — Carl Jung

Money is the root of all evil.' Then we hear, 'A fool and his money are soon parted.' What are they talking about? If money is so evil, shouldn't it be, 'A wise man and his money are soon parted'? And another thing, how does a fool get money in the first place? I know some fools who have a lot of money, but they won't tell me how they got it, and I won't tell them. — George Burns

Any fool can wash himself, but every wise man knows that it is an unnecessary labour, for nature will quickly reduce him to a natural and healthy dirtiness again. — James Stephens

Few things are needed to make a wise man happy; nothing can make a fool content; that is why most men are miserable. — Francois De La Rochefoucauld

He Who Knows And Knows That He Knows Is A Wise Man - Follow Him;
He Who Knows Not And Knows Not That He Knows Not Is A Fool - Shun Him — Confucius

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. — Doris Lessing

You must hasten to oppose pernicious pride of mind, before it penetrates into the marrow of your bones. Resist it, curb the quickness of your mind and humbly subject your opinion to the opinions of others. Be a fool for the love of God, if you wish to be wiser than Solomon: 'If any man among you seem to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise' (I Cor. 3:18). — Lorenzo Scupoli

The wise man sees the fool & laughs & the fool never knows why — Jovie Sumner

Only the man who thinks himself a fool is as wise as he thinks. — Criss Jami

A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks. — Heinrich Heine

The fool who recognizes his foolishness, is a wise man. But the fool who believes himself a wise man, he really is a fool. — Gautama Buddha

One great difference between a wise man and a fool is, the former only wishes for what he may possibly obtain; the latter desires impossibilities. — Democritus

There is no greater fool than the man who thinks himself wise; no one is wiser than he who suspects he is a fool. — Margaret Of Valois

18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? — Anonymous

If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage. — Brigham Young

It is a difficult question, my friends, for any young man
that question I had to grapple with, and which thousands are weighing at the present moment in these uprising times
whether to follow uncritically the track he finds himself in, without considering his aptness for it, or to consider what his aptness or bent may be, and re-shape his course accordingly. I tried to do the latter, and I failed. But I don't admit that my failure proved my view to be a wrong one, or that my success would have made it a right one; though that's how we appraise such attempts nowadays
I mean, not by their essential soundness, but by their accidental outcomes. If I had ended by becoming like one of these gentlemen in red and black that we saw dropping in here by now, everybody would have said: 'See how wise that young man was, to follow the bent of his nature!' But having ended no better than I began they say: 'See what a fool that fellow was in following a freak of his fancy! — Thomas Hardy

A fool learns nothing from a wise man; but a wise man learns from a fool. — Gautama Buddha

But for the wise, it says in the Bible: when a wise man hears wisdom, he reacts. When a fool hears it, his acts are folly. If you wanna be a fool, help yourself, it's not my problem. — RZA

A fool will study for twenty or thirty years and learn how to do something, but a wise man will study for twenty or thirty minutes and become an expert. In this world, it isn't ability that counts, but authority. — Barry Hughart

Behold, the fool saith, "Put not all thine eggs in the one basket" - which is but a matter of saying, "Scatter your money and your attention"; but the wise man saith, "Pull all your eggs in the one basket and - WATCH THAT BASKET." - Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar — Mark Twain

Run for the hills. The Bible commands us to "flee immorality" (1 Corinthians 6:18). Only a fool says, "I can handle temptation without sinning." The wise man says, "I'm not going anywhere near it. — Stephen Kendrick

The fool tells me his reason; the wise man persuades me with my own. — Aristotle.

Travel makes a wise man better, and a fool worse. — Thomas Fuller

A wise man's questions surpass the answers of the fool, but the silence of the enlightened is divine. Meditation is the key. — J. Gabriel Gates

No photograph ever was good, yet, of anybody - hunger and thirst and utter wretchedness overtake the outlaw who invented it! It transforms into desperadoes the weakest of men; depicts sinless innocence upon the pictured faces of ruffians; gives the wise man the stupid leer of a fool, and the fool an expression of more than earthly wisdom. — Mark Twain

Plato taught us that, "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something." The sages throughout the ages have echoed this very sentiment about the inferior man. The book of Proverbs states, "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." And Chuang Tzu taught, "Fools regard themselves as already awake." They think they are smarter than other people. — Bohdi Sanders

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

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart. — Benjamin Franklin

Better be an old maid, a woman with herself as a husband, than the wife of a fool; and Solomon more than hints that all men are fools; and every wise man knows himself to be one. — Herman Melville

I learned over the years never to correct a fool or he will hate you; correct a wise man, and he will appreciate you. — Ziad K. Abdelnour

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

Like most trends, at the beginning it's driven by fundamentals, at some point speculation takes over. What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end. — Warren Buffett

Though through all his life a fool associates with a wise man, he yet understands not the Dharma, as the spoon, the flavor of soup. — Gautama Buddha

Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others. — Otto Von Bismarck

A wise man can be a fool in love. — Chetan Bhagat

The man who has never made a fool of himself in love will never be wise in love. — Theodor Reik

The difference between a wise man and a fool is a wise man learns his lessons from other people's mistakes and a fool only learns from his own. — Duane "Dog" Chapman

A fool's mind is at the mercy of his tongue and a wise man's tongue is under the control of
his mind. — Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib

Because when you are ready to fight at every moment, you are a coward. Fight is a cover up. You want to prove you're a brave man. The very wanting, the desire to prove, means that you are not. A man who is really wise will never in anyway be searching for opportunities to prove that he is wise. A fool is always in in search to prove he is wise. — Osho

The wise man hath his thoughts in his head; the fool, on his tongue. — Ivan Panin

One fool will deny more truth in half an hour than a wise man can prove in seven years. — Coventry Patmore

A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. — Baltasar Gracian

Every fool knows you can't touch the stars, but it doesn't stop a wise man from trying. — Harry Anderson

Few things are needful to make the wise man happy, but nothing satisfies the fool; - and this is the reason why so many of mankind are miserable. — Francois De La Rochefoucauld

It's a wise man who isn't afraid to make a fool of himself every now and then. — Benita J. Prins

How strange it is, that a fool or a knave, with riches, should be treated with more respect by the world, than a good man, or a wise man in poverty! — Ann Radcliffe

A fool is known by his
speech; and a wise man by
silence. — Pythagoras

If you don't know, ask. You will be a fool for the moment, but a wise man for the rest of your life. — Seneca The Younger

No man is so foolish but may give another good counsel sometimes; and no man is so wise, but may easily err, if he will take no others counsel but his own. But very few men are wise by their own counsel; or learned by their own teaching. For he that was only taught by himself had a fool to his master. — Ben Jonson

That's what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure one fool tells him he's wise. — George Eliot

Kent. Who's there?
Fool. Marry, here's grace and a cod-piece; that's a wise man and a fool. — William Shakespeare

It is the fool who is haunted by fears, dread of dangers, oppression of mind, not the wise man. — Gautama Buddha

The mistakes of the fool are known to the world, but not to himself. The mistakes of the wise man are known to himself, but not to the world. — Charles Caleb Colton

Fools call wise men fools. A wise man never calls any man a fool. — Thomas A. Edison

A fool who recognises his own ignorance is thereby in fact a wise man, but a fool who considers himself wise - that is what one really calls a fool. — Gautama Buddha

Get money - but stop once in a while to figure what it is costing you to get it. No man gets it without giving something in return. The wise man gives his labor and ability. The fool gives his life. — Bruce Barton

The errors of a wise man are literally more instructive than the truths of a fool. The wise man travels in lofty, far-seeing regions; the fool in low-lying, high-fenced lanes; retracing the footsteps of the former, to discover where he diviated, whole provinces of the universe are laid open to us; in the path of the latter, granting even that he has not deviated at all, little is laid open to us but two wheel-ruts and two hedges. — Thomas Carlyle

A wise man sees failure as progress.
A fool divorces his knowledge and misses the logic,
And loses his soul in the process. — Canibus

The fool doth think he is wise, yet it is the wise man that knows himself to be the fool As You Like It, Act 5, Scene 1 — Stephen Fry

Insults from a sage are better than praises from a fool. — Matshona Dhliwayo

The wise man molds himself - the fool lives only to die. — Frank Herbert

You're wrong," Lord Dudley said. "You've always been a fool."
"The fool thinks he is wise," G retorted. "But the wise man knows himself to be a fool."
That was a great line, he thought. He tried to remember where he'd stashed the quill and paper. — Cynthia Hand

Proverbs 12:15 says, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice." The — Matt Chandler

God hath given to mankind a common library, His creatures; to every man a proper book, himself being an abridgment of all others. If thou read with understanding, it will make thee a great master of philosophy, and a true servant of the divine Author: if thou but barely read, it will make thee thine own wise man and the Author's fool. — Francis Quarles