LXXXIV
Folly
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Dost thou want to know what folly is? It is the throwing away of that which is profitable and the holding fast to that which is hurtful.
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The chiefest among all kinds of folly is the folly of inclining the heart towards conduct that is unbecoming to oneself.
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The fool is neglectful of duties and rude of speech, and callous to all sense of shame: and he will cherish nothing that is good.
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There is a man that is learned and subtle and a teacher of others, and yet continueth to be the slave of his passions himself: there is no greater fool than he.
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The fool hath the gift of sowing in one birth the seeds of misery for all his future incarnations.
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Behold the fool that taketh in his hand an enterprise of moment: he will not merely spoil it, he will qualify also for fetters.
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If the fool should come by a great fortune it is strangers that will feast and his kindred will only starve.
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If the fool obtaineth anything of value he will behave like a madman who is also grown tipsy.
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Greatly delectable is the friendship of fools: one feeleth no pangs when one parteth from them.
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Even as is the placing of an unwashed foot on the couch, even so is the entrance of the fool in an assembly of men of worth.