Folly Quotes - Page 4

• A man's wisdom is his best friend; folly, his worst enemy.

  William Temple

  Friendship, Best Friend, Men

  Sir William Temple, Jonathan Swift, Lady Martha Giffard (1731). “Some account of the life and writings of Sir William Temple, written by a particular friend [his sister Lady Giffard] Observations upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Miscellanea. Memoirs, the third part, from the peace concluded 1679, to the time of the author's retirement from publick business. Memoirs of what past in Christendom from the war begun 1672, to the peace concluded 1679”, p.305

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• To be bowed by grief is folly; Naught is gained by melancholy; Better than the pain of thinking, Is to steep the sense in drinking.

  Alcaeus

  Pain, Drinking, Grief

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• When knowledge is limited - it leads to folly... When knowledge exceeds a certain limit, it leads to exploitation.

  Abu Bakr

  Limits, Certain, Caliphs

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• Experience - the wisdom that enables us to recognise in an undesirable old acquaintance the folly that we have already embraced.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Wisdom, Experience, Recognise You

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• In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.

  Winston Churchill

  War, Patriotic, Alternatives

  Sir Winston Churchill (1954). “Sir Winston Churchill: a self-portrait”

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• The enemy is within the gates; it is with our own luxury, our own folly, our own criminality that we have to contend.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Luxury, Enemy, Criminality

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• In the vain laughter of folly wisdom hears half its applause.

  George Eliot

  Happiness, Wisdom, Laughter

  George Eliot (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)”, p.1223, Delphi Classics

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• But I can tell you what your folly and injustice will compel us to do. It will compel us to be free from your domination, and more self-reliant than we have been.

  John Henninger Reagan

  Self, Injustice, Domination

  John Henninger Reagan (1906). “Memoirs, with special reference to secession and the Civil War”

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• Nothing is too high for the daring of mortals: we storm heaven itself in our folly.

  Horace

  Ambition, Heaven, Storm

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• Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.

  Robert Peel

  Feelings, Weakness, Public Opinion

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• My only books Were woman's looks,- And folly 's all they 've taught me.

  Charles Lamb

  Book, Looks, Taught

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• The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.

  Jim Rohn

  Leadership, Being Strong, Business

  FaceBook post by Jim Rohn from Sep 24, 2016

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• The fathers greatest folly is that he believes he can be a much more simple person than he is; he is not really able to deal with his own complexity as a human being.

  Atom Egoyan

  Father, Believe, Simple

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• He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit.

  William Shakespeare

  Horse, Use, Fool

  'As You Like It' (1599) act 5, sc. 4, l. [112]

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• To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!

  Denis Diderot

  Love, Passion, Order

  Denis Diderot (1966). “Selected Writings”, New York : Macmillan

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• 

  Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

  Alexander Pope

  Wisdom, Fear, Angel

  An Essay on Criticism l. 625 (1711)

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• The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Life, Death

  Mark Twain (2012). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.401, Courier Corporation

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• love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit

  William Shakespeare

  Love, Venice, Blind

  'The Merchant of Venice' (1596-8) act 2, sc. 6, l. 36

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• We that are true lovers run into strange capers.

  William Shakespeare

  Love, Running, Strange

  'As You Like It' (1599) act 2, sc. 4, l. [53]

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  Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Love, Life, Reality

  Leo Tolstoy, Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude, Amy Mandelker (2010). “War and Peace”, p.355, Oxford University Press

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• Genius creates, and taste preserves.

  Alexander Pope

  Sublime, Intelligence, Genius

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• Happiness and beauty are by-products. Folly is the direct pursuit of happiness and beauty.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Happiness, Pursuit, Direct

  George Bernard Shaw (2015). “George Bernard Shaw: Collected Articles, Lectures, Essays and Letters: Thoughts and Studies from the Renowned Dramaturge and Author of Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Pygmalion, Arms and The Man, Saint Joan, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion”, p.311, e-artnow

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• If others had not been foolish, we should be so.

  William Blake

  Foolish, Should, Ifs

  William Blake (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of William Blake (Illustrated)”, p.203, Delphi Classics

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

  Jeremiah

  Wise, Silence, Intellectual

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• The shortest follies are the best.
  [Fr., Les plus courtes folies sont les meilleures.]

  Pierre Charron

  Plus

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