Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-04
ON FOOLS.
A Discourse on the Usefulness of Some
Types.

From the London Spectator.
Into the Clever fool" class come two very
rare and superior kinds. One may live a
lifetime and not encounter more than one
of each But they do exist. We mean the
learned fool and the fool of culture. The
learned fool Is a fact glutton, If We may
be allowed the expression. He has more
appetite for knowledge than power to
assimiate it. Kept in his place, he is useful
as kind of index to other men. but once
let him get what Scotch people call above
himself and he will begin to use his facts
as missiles and become great intellectual
danger. The cultivated fool has lived in
the dollhouse atmosphere of highly Gull
tivated clique till he literally smells of
culture; but the source of the aroma is
not in his own mind, and if put out to air
among Phlistines for sufficient period he
will lose all traces of his much-prized
ti1ciality. 1t is a great bore to be obliged
to observe for any length of time the an
tics of this type OF fool; but they are anus
ing sometimes to tell about.
Very few silly fools afford any pleasure
to the spectator. Yet out of two types of
them some dangerous entertainment may
he derived. The first of these two is a
pretty woman-an inhabitant, perhaps, of
the fool frequented fair of vanity But
she may thrive anywhere in any station.
AS a rule she is not such a fool she
looks and her mind is capable of some
expansion. al least in direction. the
direction of self-interest. The man made
to match her is generally aware that folly
is his most remarkable quality, and as he
likes to be remarkable for anything he
eXagSerates all he Did he omit to
act in ineffably silly manner no one
would notice his actions at all. Those who
enjoy the sight of his folly are to great
extent responsible for him, and as he Is
an entirely useless member of society the
responsibility Is pretty heavy.
As to the fool of fiction, the only fear
about enjoying him is that we should come
to imagine that he really exists. The
greater number of fictitious fools are in
French books The fool of the French
author is puppet made of a mixture OF
saintliness, Stiffness and sin. Generally he
does not know right from wrong and he
seldom has any sense of duty. All his
good works works of supereroga ton.
He is capable OF self-sacrifice and his
errors proceed from defect rather than
design. Not that he is deficient in the or
binary sense of the word indeed, he is
usually represented as having some kind
of genius.
As TO the fool who never knows his own
interest. he may be the most charming or
the most irritating of people. but it is i'm
possible in either case to dislike him. In
the least estimable form he is no ones
enemy but his own" In his highest he is
one OF the finest types which human nature
produces. The early Franciscans called
themselves the fools of the world" and
ar epitaph on a priest of the fourteenth
century quoted by Doran in his Court
FoolsD invokes heaven for this thy fool"
We find the expression "a fool in the court
OF God used in 1909 in a laudatory sense
Probably St Paufs daring and eloquent
expression, I'VE are fools for Christs
sake. threw this fanciful and beautiful
side meaning into the word The man
who realizes that the highest wisdom Is
not to be measured by the foot rule of
prudence Is perhaps the only fool whose
folly may be enjoyed without economy, and
who all through the ages has illustrated
the old saying that "a fool may learn
wise man wit"