How to Answer a Fool

When confronted with a foolish person, I am tempted to give him a piece of my mind but will my well-intended advice and wisdom be well-received? There are two equally right and opposite answers when it comes to crafting a wise response to a foolish person.

The first response is not to answer the fool.
The second response is to answer the fool.

Here's when you should not answer the fool - when he is so set in his ways and point of view that he can skillfully defend his position with wise arguments. In fact, from his perspective, his position is very wise indeed (no fool will ever admit he is one!). The trouble is this : the fool is wise in his own eyes. There is an absence of willingness to subject himself to a higher standard of truth, morality and accountability. So, there is little hope of you winning him over based on clever argumentation - in fact, the more you attempt to answer, you end up being like him because you have stooped to his game.

In this week's Wise-Video, you will also discover the second situation when you do need to give a proper answer to a fool. Check it out so that you have a balanced perspective as to your responsibility when faced with foolish people who think that they are wise.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." ~ Abraham Lincoln.

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