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The first Degree of Folly, is to conceit one’s self wise; the second to profess it; the third to despise Counsel.

— Benjamin Franklin Poor Richard's Almanack (1744)

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More quotes by Benjamin Franklin

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes!

Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins.

Let all Men know thee, but no man know thee thoroughly: Men freely ford that see the shallows.

Poor Richard's Almanack (1733)

Creditors have better memories than debtors; and creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times.

Poor Richard's Almanack (1758)

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If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.

William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)

'The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'

William Shakespeare As You Like It (1599)

It takes extraordinary wisdom and self-control to accept that many things have a logic we do not understand that is smarter than our own.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools.

George Chapman All Fools (1605)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Benjamin Franklin (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.