“Those who wish to appear wise among fools, among the wise seem foolish.”

“Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.”

Dogen (1200–1253) Japanese Zen buddhist teacher

“If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.”

Paul of Tarsus book First Epistle to the Corinthians

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”

Bruce Lee (1940–1973) Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker

“People do not wish to appear foolish; to avoid the appearance of foolishness, they are willing to remain actually fools.”

Alice Walker (1944) American author and activist

“We are all fools when one wise man appears.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

“There is a kind of animal frenzy can be whipped up sometimes among fools and children, often using religion as an excuse for it. When it happens, it is wise to be elsewhere.”

Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) American fiction writer

“If it is ones lot to be cast among fools, one must learn foolishness.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo

“How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

“Cato used to assert that wise men profited more by fools than fools by wise men; for that wise men avoided the faults of fools, but that fools would not imitate the good examples of wise men.”

Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher