Fools Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old fools quotes, fools sayings, and fools proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. Winston S. Churchill
The world is full of fools, and he who would not see it should live alone and smash his mirror. Claude Le Petit
I don't argue with fools; I educate. Shannon L. Alder
Fools may have the greatest repository of knowledge but will never attain wisdom. Caleb Ricketts
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. Plato
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Alexander Pope
There are more fools than wise men, and even in the wise man himself there is more folly than wisdom. CHAMFORT
The greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. Charles Caleb Colton
Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die. Edward Young
With fools forbear to argue--better strive to wake the dead. Bhartrhari
Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet. African Proverb
Fools build houses, and wise men buy them. English Proverb
The fool is always beginning to live. Proverb
There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't. Josh Billings
Take all the fools out of this world and there wouldn't be any fun living in it, or profit. Josh Billings
Greatest fools are the most often satisfied. Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux
Arguing with a fool proves there are two. Doris M. Smith
It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own. Cicero
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Romans
There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man. Aristotle
The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever than the men who laugh at them. George R.R. Martin
Too many men are afraid of being fools. Henry Ford
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
Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. William Shakespeare
A foolish man is always doing,Yet much remains to be done. Lao Tzu
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try. Oscar Hammerstein
Humanity is a parade of fools, and I am at the front of it, twirling a baton. Dean Koontz
Wise men learn by other men's mistakes, fools by their own. H. G. Bohn
Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise. Cato the Elder
Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it. Benjamin Franklin
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. Herbert Spencer
Hurry is the weakness of fools. Baltasar GraciĂ n
Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men. Thomas H. Huxley
No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master. Ben Jonson
Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage. Ovid
Young people tell what they are doing, old people what they have done and fools what they wish to do. French Proverb
He who laughs at everything is as big a fool as he who weeps at everything. Baltasar Gracian
The fool has set in his heart that he can get more money through the tiring of his muscle and the starvation of his brain—but he can’t. William D. Hoard
He dares to be a fool, and that is the first step in the direction of wisdom. James Gibbons Huneker
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.' William Ralph Inge
Sometimes a fool has talent, but never judgment. Francois de la Rochefoucauld
An erudite fool is a greater fool than an ignorant fool. Moliere
An erudite fool is a greater fool than an ignorant fool. Moliere
Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise men shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the successes of the wise. Marcus Porcius Cato
When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools. William Shakespeare
Let us be thankful for the fools; but for them the rest of us could not succeed. Mark Twain
A fool is his own informer. Yiddish Proverb
By their own follies they perished, the fools. Homer
Those who wish to appear wise among fools, among the wise seem foolish. Gaius Petronius
He is a fool who leaves things close at hand to follow what is out of reach. Plutarch
Thus we play the fools with the time, and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds and mock us. William Shakespeare
Always the dullness of the fool is the whetstone of the wits. William Shakespeare
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. William Shakespeare
God give them wisdom that have it; and those that are tools, let them use their talents. William Shakespeare
I do not attack fools, but foolishness. Jacques du Laurens
Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools, / And some made coxcombs nature meant but fools. Alexander Pope
Greatest fools are oft most satisfied. Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux
A fool there was and he made his prayer / (Even as you and I!) / To a rag and a bone and hank of hair / (We called her the woman who did not care) / But the fool he called her his lady fair— / (Even as you and I!) Rudyard Kipling
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally. Baltasar Gracian
Fools, through false shame, conceal their open wounds. Horace
A wise man may look ridiculous in the company of fools. Thomas Fuller
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. William Blake
And here, poor fool, with all my lore I stand no wiser than before. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Fools act on imagination without knowledge, pedants act on knowledge without imagination. Alfred North Whitehead
The learned is happy, nature to explore, the fool Is happy, that he knows no more. Alexander Pope
A fool and his money are soon parted. George Buchanan
Great men undertake great things because they are great; fools, because they think them easy. Luc de Clapiers Marquis de Vauvenargues
I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise. Charles Montesquieu
A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. Baltasar Gracian
Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit. Elbert Hubbard
A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat. Louis L'Amour
For God's sake give me the young man who has brains enough to make a fool of himself. Robert Louis Stevenson
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. Chinese Proverb
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. Douglas Adams
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. Bible (Proverbs 12:15)
If a fool could keep silent he would not be a fool. Swedish Proverb
If every fool wore a crown, we should all be kings. Welsh Proverb
Learned fools are the greatest fools. German Proverb
No one is a fool always, everyone sometimes. Roman Proverb
One fool always finds a greater fool to admire him. French Proverb
Only a fool leans upon his own misunderstanding. Jamaican Proverb
The learned fool writes his nonsense in better language than the unlearned; but still 'tis nonsense. Benjamin Franklin
A fool at forty is a fool indeed. Edward Young
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. / Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. Bible (Proverbs 26:4)
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Bible (Proverbs 26:11)
The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, / All centuries but this, and every country but his own. W.S. Gilbert
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, / And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray. Oliver Goldsmith
The method by which the fool arrives at his folly was as dear to him as the ultimate wisdom of the wise. Oscar Wilde
Remember that the fool in the eyes of the gods and the fool in the eyes of man are very different. Oscar Wilde
The real fool, such as the gods mock or mar, is he who does not know himself. Oscar Wilde
Ah! I prefer a gentlemanly fool any day. There is more to be said for stupidity than people imagine. Personally I have a great admiration for stupidity. It is a sort of fellow-feeling, I suppose. Oscar Wilde
Many talk like philosophers, and live like fools. H. G. Bohn
A fool is like other men as long as he is silent. Jacob Cats
A fool . . . says little, but that little said owes all its weight, like loaded dice, to lead. William Cowper
[He] may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you: He really is an idiot. Groucho Marx
Yet fools and children sometimes tell in play / Some, wise in show, more fools indeed than they. Michael Drayton
O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders! / O beggar, to come beg at thy own door! Rabindranath Tagore
Oh! a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon, / If you listen to popular rumour; / From morning to night he's so joyous and bright, / And he bubbles with wit and good humour! William Schwenck Gilbert
Come along, Fool / A direct hit of the senses you are disconnected / It's not that it's bad, it's not that it's death / It's just on the tip of your tongue, and you're so silent Chan Marshall
He is no fool / If he would choose / To give the thing he cannot keep / To buy what he can never lose Twila Paris
Who is more a fool: the fool, or he who follows the fool? Lexor
Everybody is somebody's fool. Michael O'Hara
Fool me once. Fool me twice. Fool me chicken soup with rice. Todd Chavez
Fool me once, shame on you, but teach a man to fool me, and I'll be fooled for the rest of my life. Virgil van Cleef
Maybe we're all fools and none of it matters. Jack Crabb
Oh sir, we're all fools for most of our lives. It's unavoidable. Jean Valjean
I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we still had a few fools left. Jack Worthing