The Consequence of a Half-Wit is a Half-Will, there is not Strength enough in the Thought to carry it to the End.
A Fool is naturally recommended to our Kindness by setting us off by the Comparison. Men are grateful to Fools for giving them the Pleasure of contemning them.
But Folly hath a long Tail that is not seen at first: for every single Folly hath a Root, out of which more are ready to sprout; and a Fool hath so unlimited a Power of mistaking, that a Man of Sense can never comprehend to what degree it may extend.
There are some Fools so low, that they are preferred when they are laught at. Their being named putteth them in the List of Men, which is more than belongeth to them.
One should no more laugh at a contemptible Fool, than at a dead Fly.
The Dissimulation of a Fool should come within the Statute of Stabbing. It giveth no Warning.
A Fool will be rude from the Moment he is allowed to be familiar; he can make no other use of Freedom than to be unmannerly.
Weak Men are apt to be cruel, because they stick at nothing that may repair the ill Effect of their Mistakes.
Folly is often more cruel in the Consequence, than Malice can be in the Intent.
Many a Man is murthered by the well-meant Mistakes of his unthinking Friends.