“ One can be a fool with much wit, and one need not be a fool even with very little wit. ”
François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665). copy citation
| Author | François de La Rochefoucauld |
|---|---|
| Source | Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims |
| Topic | wit need |
| Date | 1665 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by J. W. Willis Bund |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9105/9105-h/9105-h.htm |
Context
“there are tones and manners which make all the difference between phrases which seem all alike on paper, and yet express a different order of mind.
So we say that a man has only one kind of wit, that he has several, that he has every variety of wit.
One can be a fool with much wit, and one need not be a fool even with very little wit.
To have much mind is a doubtful expression. It may mean every class of mind that can be mentioned, it may mean none in particular. It may mean that he talks sensibly while he acts foolishly. We may have a mind, but a narrow one.”
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