Folly Quotes - Page 2

• History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

  Edward Gibbon

  War, History, Tourism

  'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' (1776-88) ch. 3.

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• Now as of old the gods give men all good things, excepting only those that are baneful and injurious and useless. These, now as of old, are not gifts of the gods: men stumble into them themselves because of their own blindness and folly.

  Democritus

  Men, Giving, Useless

  "Source Book in Ancient Philosophy". Book by Charles Montague Bakewell, 1907.

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• Folly is like the growth of weeds, always luxurious and spontaneous; wisdom, like flowers, requires cultivation.

  Hosea Ballou

  Weed, Wisdom, Flower

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• Provided a man is not mad, he can be cured of every folly but vanity.

  Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  Men, Vanity, Mad

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• He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Life, Wise, Thinking

  "The Moral Maxims and Reflections". Book by François de La Rochefoucauld. Maxim 209, 1678.

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• Some accidents there are in life that a little folly is necessary to help us out of.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Littles, Helping, Accidents

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• I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.

  Anatole France

  Wisdom, Literature, Enthusiasm

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• In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

  George Orwell

  Birthday, Lying, Political Language

  George Orwell, Keith Gessen (2009). “All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays”, p.282, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Every man has his follies - and often they are the most interesting thing he has got.

  Josh Billings

  Funny, Witty, Humorous

  Josh Billings (1972). “Uncle Sam's Uncle Josh: Or, Josh Billings on Practically Everything, Distilled from Josh's Rum and Tansy New England Wit by Donald Day”

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• The follies which a man regrets the most in his life are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity.

  Helen Rowland

  Regret, Women, Opportunity

  A Guide to Men "Improvisations" (1922)

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• Folly loves the martyrdom of fame.

  Lord Byron

  Reputation, Fame, Martyrdom

  Lord Byron (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Lord Byron (Illustrated)”, p.513, Delphi Classics

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• There is no greater folly in the world than for a man to despair.

  Miguel de Cervantes

  Men, Doubt, Despair

  Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1855). “The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha: With Illus. by Schoff”, p.384

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• The hours of folly are measured by the clock; but of wisdom, no clock can measure.

  William Blake

  Wisdom, Time, Artist

  William Blake, W. H. Stevenson (2007). “Blake: The Complete Poems”, p.114, Pearson Education

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• But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.

  Edmund Burke

  Wisdom, Evil, Liberty

  Edmund Burke (2005). “Burke, Select Works”, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

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• Now I believe I can hear the philosophers protesting that it can only be misery to live in folly, illusion, deception and ignorance, but it isn't -it's human.

  Desiderius Erasmus

  Nature, Believe, Ignorance

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• Where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise.

  Thomas Gray

  Inspirational, Wise, Ignorance

  "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" l. 99 (1747)

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• The world is neither wise nor just, but it makes up for all its folly and injustice by being damnably sentimental.

  Thomas Huxley

  Wise, World, Sentimental

  Leonard Huxley, Thomas Henry Huxley (2011). “Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley”, p.128, Cambridge University Press

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• Genius creates, and taste preserves. Taste is the good sense of genius; without taste, genius is only sublime folly.

  Alexander Pope

  Design, Sublime, Genius

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• Human folly does not impede the turning of the stars.

  Tom Robbins

  Stars, Doe, Humans

  Tom Robbins (2003). “Skinny Legs and All”, p.243, Bantam

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• The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.

  Paul Valery

  Truth, Honesty, Spring

  "Introduction to the Method of Leonardo da Vinci". Book by Paul Valery, 1895.

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• What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature.

  Voltaire

  Forgiveness, Failure, Errors

  Voltaire, André Maurois (1939). “The Living Thoughts of Voltaire”

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• Silence is not always a sign of wisdom, but babbling is ever a mark of folly.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Silence, Mark, Poor Richard

  Benjamin Franklin (2004). “Poor Richard's Almanack”, p.295, Barnes & Noble Publishing

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• The best plan is to profit by the folly of others.

  Pliny the Elder

  Profit, Plans

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• Folly enlarges men's desires while it lessens their capacities.

  Robert South

  Men, Desire, Capacity

  Robert South (1842). “Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions”, p.370

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• The shortest follies are the best.

  Pierre Charron

  "Las Sagesse". Book I, Chapter 3, 1601.

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