To fool the world is one thing,
but to fool yourself is no big deal.
You’re a fool for wanting to fool yourself
—and anyone can fool a fool.
—from the sayings of Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch
To fool the world is one thing,
but to fool yourself is no big deal.
You’re a fool for wanting to fool yourself
—and anyone can fool a fool.
—from the sayings of Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch
Yes I too used to be a fool one day. But then when I looked more closely at the tablets (the way they are replicated in a synagogue nearby) - I believe I have understood the message that G-d has been trying to tell me all along. I found that the Hebrew “aleph” on the top-right is very diagonal to the “tet” on the bottom-left. The total “gematria” (numerical equivalent) of that is 10. The “bet” is slightly less diagonal to the “chet”, also equaling ten, and so on and so forth, until you’re left with the Hei and the Yud which have nothing to match. Meaning, the L-rd (His name: yud and hei), in all His infinite greatness, cannot be compared to anything else, which all have their finitude in common.
This has led me to become more religiously observant because I know that way I connect more deeply with the Ultimate.
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Sometimes I fool myself that I am Jewish just on the basis that I strongly believe in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Torah that He communicated at Mt. Sinai. I just have to get it in my head that I wasn’t born Jewish and my beliefs don’t change that! It’s hard to face the facts sometimes, but this message really helped! I shall invest my energy into fulfilling and disseminating the 7 Noahide laws for all mankind! And of course there’s always charity to give so I know I’ve got a long road of purpose ahead of me. Thank you G-d for giving me my unique and equally crucial place in Your beautiful world! Reply
I prefer, "To fool the world is no big deal. To fool yourself is misery and closes the door to joy." Reply
Going to read this to my class tomorrow!
They aren’t fools often.
Less than their teacher who loves them.
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In this world we fool ourselves by perceiving everything and everybody through our egoistic lens!
Our egoistic lens fools us into thinking we are separate from others to such an extent that we reject others, display hatred towards any differences in others, relate to others only to use them for our self benefit. We struggle to cooperate and integrate.
Change your egoistic lens so that the new lens filters through an image of one interconnected network of humanity in which all cooperate for the good functioning of an interconnected, interdependent humanity. One person who is out of sync can destroy the entire system!
So a pandemic arises to reflect our foolish attitude towards each other and the consequences when we behave as fools in an interconnected system.
We fooled ourselves to think that we didn't have to care about others!
Let's hope we can change our perception to realize our egoistic foolishness towards each other and foolish obsessions for transient materialistic pleasures.
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The other day I asked The Rebbe for an advice on "if I should be hanging out with certain person, ( a goy), the asnwer I got was this passage about fools. I understood the message right away but I still dont understand about " to fool yourself is no big deal"??? Reply
Fools We are all fools, one man of wisdom could rectify the world. Who is wise? Tell me and I will go study at his feet. There are no wise men, we are all lacking! Reply
To the anonymous who did not understand
Have you ever fooled yourself? I do it all the time. I imagine myself to be far beyond where I really stand. For example, I sometimes fool myself that I am patient, calm and controlled. And then something happens that triggers a rapid, thoughtless and often damaging response.
What a fool I am for fooling myself. If I would admit where I really stand, it would be much easier to stay out of trouble.
But I'm a fool, and it doesn't take much to fool a fool.
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Wisdom
The wisdom of the sages would always say "Fools will always be fools".. I always say "Keep it cute and simple and always in the present moment"..
Thank You
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fools And Shakespeare said " A fool and his money are easily parted. " With so many charities it's difficult to give to all. Take Shakespeare's words and don't feel bad about how much you give. I am quoting Shakespeare, not saying that it is true, but to lessen any guilt trips. Reply
I wish I could understand what is the meaning behind it or at least give some explanation so I can comprehend what it's trying to say. Reply
And any one can fool a fool, And vice-versa. So many times the wisest, is really fool, bat the fool is really wissest. Reply
Fools What is it that makes one gullible? And why do those who are gullible draw in those who take pleasure in playing on their gullibility? From egos too thick or from gossamer egos? Reply
Fools Speaking in terms of stopping the patterns we make in life-Anger keeps the ball rolling and keeps fools fools-anyway, the tumbleweed is snowballing down for me and whenever I fool myself too much I check myself into a hospital-just to make sure I'm fit as a fiddle!!! Reply
Being foolish is easy because it is the fast solution to not think further of the implications of this or that behavior. Foolish is behavior that ONLY tries to protect the self from embarrassment and other issues related to the Ego. It is hard to be honest with oneself because we want to have the best image we can of ourselves -even if it doesn't match the reality of whom we are.. I would argue that while a belief in H' helps to do less foolishness' we can't avoid aspects of our human nature . We are all foolish at one time or another. Rabbi Freeman said it perfectly !