“To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
Variant: Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.
“To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German writer
Siddhartha (1922)
Context: Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
William Shakespeare As You Like It
Touchstone, Act V, scene i
Source: As You Like It (1599–1600)
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
Anatole France (1844–1924) French writer
Touchstone, Act V, scene i
Misattributed
Shirley Manson (1966) Scottish singer and artist
Shirley Manson, No Tofu Magazine, Kelly O'Rourke, 2014, 30 January 2015 http://www.notofu.com/site/?portfolio=shirley-manson,
“I always say that a man with one language is like a man with one eye.”
Bernard MacLaverty (1942) Irish writer
Source: Novels, Lamb (1980), Ch.1 - p.8
W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British playwright, novelist, short story writer
"1901", p. 76. Sometimes misquoted as "If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing". Sometimes misattributed to Bertrand Russell or Anatole France
A Writer's Notebook (1946)