看上去愚蠢的人都是笨蛋,看上去聪明的人也有一半是笨蛋。世界上充满了愚蠢的人,即使有一点智慧,与神比起来,也是愚蠢的。那些认为自己聪明、别人都笨的人是最愚蠢的。如果想做聪明人,看上去聪明是不够的,而自作聪明则更糟。认为自己无知便为有知,看不见他人所见便为无见。尽管世界上充满了蠢人,但没有一人认为自己愚蠢,他们甚至会怀疑世人多半愚蠢这一事实。
They are all fools who seem so besides half the rest. Folly arose with the world, and if there be any wisdom it is folly compared with the divine. But the greatest fool is he who thinks he is not one and all others are. To be wise it is not enough to seem wise, least of all to oneself. He knows who does not think that he knows, and he does not see who does not see that others see. Though all the world is full of fools, there is none that thinks himself one, or even suspects the fact.