Jean de La Fontaine Quotes

An ignorant friend is worse than a learned foe.

Nothing is as dangerous as an ignorant friend; a wise enemy is to be preferred.

To the ignorant, even the words of wise seem foolishness.

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

I am not afraid of my enemies, but by God, you must look out when you get among your friends.

A little learning is a dangerous thing, but a lot of ignorance is just as bad.

An intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend.

Be on guard against your friends.

A close friend can become a close enemy.

The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.

Ah! how little knowledge does a man acquire in his life. He gathers it up like water, but like water it runs between his fingers, and yet, if his hands be but wet as though with dew, behold a generation of fools call out, 'See, he is a wise man!' Is it not so?

When the ignorant have become numerous or powerful enough, they have been referred to by a special name. This names is 'the Wise'.

No enemy is so annoying as one who was a friend, or still is a friend,and there are many more of these than one would suspect.

The truth is perilous never to the true, Nor knowledge to the wise; and to the fool, And to the false, error and truth alike, Error is worse than ignorance.

I am enormously wise and abysmally ignorant.

It is the mind that makes one wise or ignorant, bound or emancipated.

Because I had goodwill for all, I thought all were my friends. And then I learned of treachery, that some preferred my end. It wasn't the goodwill I felt that made someone a friend. What handy day, the one I learned the meaning of the word. How good to know my enemies (though their reasons are absurd!)

Learning makes the wise wiser and the fool more foolish.

Education makes the wise slightly wiser, but it makes the fool vastly more dangerous.

Don't be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of the friends who flatter you.

When a wise man does not understand, he says: "I do not understand." The fool and the uncultured are ashamed of their ignorance. They remain silent when a question could bring them wisdom.

One fool will deny more truth in half an hour than a wise man can prove in seven years.

The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts - the less you know the hotter you get.

He will have to learn, I know, that all people are not just- that all men and women are not true. Teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero that for every enemy there is a friend. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest people to lick.