Funny and witty sourced quotes from writers – about fools, folly, and foolishness
Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever. – Charles Lamb, cited in Wordsworth Book of Humorous Quotations
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. – Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless
My nose itch’d, and I knew I should drink wine, or kiss a fool. – Jonathan Swift, ‘Polite Conversation’
In university they don’t tell you that the greater part of the law is learning to tolerate fools. – Doris Lessing, Martha Quest
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. – Anatole France, cited in Listening and Speaking: A Guide to Effective Oral Communication
Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable. – Jane Austen, Emma
He who lives without folly is not as wise as he thinks. – François de la Rochefoucauld, Maximes
Education: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding. – Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
I have great faith in fools — self-confidence my friends will call it. – Edgar Allan Poe, Marginalia
In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly. – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, cited in Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Image: An original card from the tarot deck of Jean Dodal of Lyon, early eighteenth century; Wikimedia Commons; public domain.
