more from La Rochefoucauld

Single Idea 7914

[catalogued under 1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 2. Wise People]

Full Idea

To try to be wise all on one's own is sheer folly.

Gist of Idea

To try to be wise all on one's own is folly

Source

La Rochefoucauld (Maxims [1663], 231)

Book Reference

Rochefoucauld,La: 'Maxims' [Penguin 1959], p.64


A Reaction

I agree strongly with this. There are counter-examples, of whom Spinoza may be the greatest, and Nietzsche thought that philosophy was essentially a solitary business, but most of us are not Spinoza or Nietzsche.