fool (n.)

fool (v.)

Answer a fool according to his folly.

Old Testament: Proverbs xxvi. 5.

Be wise with speed;

A fool at forty is a fool indeed.

Edward Young (1684-1765): Love of Fame. Satire ii. Line 282.

When Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue."

Plutarch (46(?)-120(?) a d): Laconic Apophthegms. Of Demaratus.

Immortal gods! how much does one man excel another! What a difference there is between a wise person and a fool!

Terence (185-159 b c): Eunuchus. Act ii. Sc. 2, 1. (232.)

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

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act v. Sc. 1.

For every inch that is not fool is rogue.

John Dryden (1631-1701): Absalom and Achitophel. Part ii. Line 463.

Every fool will be meddling.

Old Testament: Proverbs xx. 3.

The eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.

Old Testament: Proverbs xvii. 24.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

Old Testament: Psalm xiv. 1; liii. 1.

Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.

Publius Syrus (42 b c): Maxim 914.

Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

Old Testament: Proverbs xxvii. 22.

I met a fool i' the forest,

A motley fool.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act ii. Sc. 7.

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.

Old Testament: Proverbs xvii. 28.

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

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act v. Sc. 1.

As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool.

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes vii. 6.

At thirty, man suspects himself a fool;

Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan.

Edward Young (1684-1765): Night thoughts. Night i. Line 417.

Fool me no fools.

They fool me to the top of my bent.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act iii. Sc. 2.

Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.

Old Testament: Proverbs xxvi. 12.

Now will I show myself to have more of the serpent than the dove; that is, more knave than fool.

Christopher Marlowe (1565-1593): The Jew of Malta. Act ii.

More knave than fool.

Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616): Don Quixote. Part i. Book iv. Chap. iv.

I met a fool i' the forest,

A motley fool.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act ii. Sc. 7.

A fool must now and then be right by chance.

William Cowper (1731-1800): Conversation. Line 96.

No creature smarts so little as a fool.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. Prologue to the Satires. Line 84.

The fool of fate,—thy manufacture, man.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Odyssey of Homer. Book xx. Line 254.

The fool of nature stood with stupid eyes

And gaping mouth, that testified surprise.

John Dryden (1631-1701): Cymon and Iphigenia. Line 107.

One draught above heat makes him a fool; the second mads him; and a third drowns him.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Twelfth Night. Act i. Sc. 5.

"They are too green," he said, "and only good for fools."

J De La Fontaine (1621-1695): The Fox and the Grapes. Fable 11.

The aspiring youth that fired the Ephesian dome

Outlives in fame the pious fool that rais'd it.

Colley Cibber (1671-1757): Richard III. (altered). Act iii. Sc. 1.

What things have we seen

Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been

So nimble and so full of subtile flame

As if that every one from whence they came

Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest,

And resolved to live a fool the rest

Of his dull life.

William Drummond (1585-1649): Letter to Ben Jonson.

Fool! said my muse to me, look in thy heart, and write.

Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586): Astrophel and Stella, i.

Ay, now am I in Arden: the more fool I. When I was at home I was in a better place; but travellers must be content.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act ii. Sc. 4.

Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.

Old Testament: Proverbs xxvi. 12.

As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame,

I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. Prologue to the Satires. Line 127.

I had rather have a fool to make me merry than experience to make me sad.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like it. Act iv. Sc. 1.

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.

Old Testament: Proverbs xvii. 28.

He is a fool who thinks by force or skill

To turn the current of a woman's will.

Samuel Tuke (—— -1673): Adventures of Five Hours. Act v. Sc. 3.

The solemn fop; significant and budge;

A fool with judges, amongst fools a judge.

William Cowper (1731-1800): Conversation. Line 299.

Careful Words

fool (n.)

fool (v.)