--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To initiate something is to play the fool." description: "\"“To initiate something is to play the fool.”\" — Chris Kraus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b90/chris-kraus-11419_play-the-fool_to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-foo_1728236.jpg" --- # To initiate something is to play the fool. ![“To initiate something is to play the fool.” quote by Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b90/chris-kraus-11419_play-the-fool_to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-foo_1728236.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b90/chris-kraus-11419_play-the-fool_to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-foo_1728236.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b90/chris-kraus-11419_play-the-fool_to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-foo_1728236.jpg) > ““To initiate something is to play the fool.”” [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Starting a new endeavor often feels foolish, but that is part of the creative process. **In simple terms:** Beginning something new can seem foolish. Key Takeaway Embrace the beginner’s mindset. Themes creativity risk innovation foolishness growth Mood playful inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - artistic projects - startup launches - learning new skills - research experiments Key Concepts creative courage novelty experimental art Questions to Reflect On - Why is “playing the fool” valuable? - How can you turn foolishness into insight? A Different Perspective Fear of ridicule may stall initiation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Initiate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/initiate/) [Initiate Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/initiate-play-1404929/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Play Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play-fool/) [Play The Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play-the-fool/) ## Related quotes > [“If wisdom's silence then it's time to play the fool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/if-wisdom-s-silence-then-it-s-time-to-play-the-fool/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-sometimes-necessary-to-play-the-fool-to-avoid-being-deceived-by/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [I wasn't sporty or academic, so to avoid getting picked on I'd play the fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-evans/i-wasn-t-sporty-or-academic-so-to-avoid-getting-picked-on-i-d-play/) [Lee Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-evans/) > [It is delightful to play the fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/it-is-delightful-to-play-the-fool/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [At times discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menander/at-times-discretion-should-be-thrown-aside-and-with-the-foolish-we/) [Menander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menander/) > [“According to Q-Jo, the whole tarot deck, or at least the twenty-two trump cards of the Major Arcana, may be read as the Fool's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/according-to-q-jo-the-whole-tarot-deck-or-at-least-the-twenty-two/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Kings play the fool, and the people suffer for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/kings-play-the-fool-and-the-people-suffer-for-it/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [I love the crazy things you do. Plus tonight's the night for me to play the fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-mccoy/i-love-the-crazy-things-you-do-plus-tonight-s-the-night-for-me-to/) [Travis McCoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-mccoy/) > [Is it worth the name of freedom to be at liberty to play the fool?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/is-it-worth-the-name-of-freedom-to-be-at-liberty-to-play-the-fool/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the fool no where but in's own house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-the-doors-be-shut-upon-him-that-he-may-play-the-fool-no-where-but/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Thus we play the fool with the time and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds and mock us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thus-we-play-the-fool-with-the-time-and-the-spirits-of-the-wise-sit/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [When we play the fool, how wideThe theatre expands! beside,How long the audience sits before us!How many prompters! what a chorus!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/when-we-play-the-fool-how-widethe-theatre-expands-beside-how-long-the/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [I may play the fool at times, but I'm more than just a pretty blond boy with an ass that won't quit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-macaulay/i-may-play-the-fool-at-times-but-i-m-more-than-just-a-pretty-blond/) [Charles Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-macaulay/) > [Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow, Ang'ring itself and others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/bad-is-the-trade-that-must-play-fool-to-sorrow-ang-ring-itself-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you play with a fool at home he'll play with you in the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/if-you-play-with-a-fool-at-home-he-ll-play-with-you-in-the-market/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) ## More by Chris Kraus > [Why does everybody think that women are debasing themselves when we expose the conditions of our debasement?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/why-does-everybody-think-that-women-are-debasing-themselves-when-we/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [Because I'm moved in writing to be irrepressible. Writing to you seems like some holy cause, cause there's not enough female irrepressibility written down.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/because-i-m-moved-in-writing-to-be-irrepressible-writing-to-you-seems/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Back to the 1st Person: I'd even made up art theories about my inability to use it. That I'd chosen film and theater, two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/back-to-the-1st-person-i-d-even-made-up-art-theories-about-my/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“We're touched by the nostalgia, seeing Walter at the center of our extended European family but our smarter selves find greater satisfaction knowing history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/we-re-touched-by-the-nostalgia-seeing-walter-at-the-center-of-our/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [Why do people think that we’re degraded when we’re examining positions of degradation, or examining the cycle of our own degradation?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/why-do-people-think-that-we-re-degraded-when-we-re-examining/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Jerome doesn't have a clue. He in fact avoids the poets, with their petty feuds and righteous poverty. Endlessly competitive and introspective, they live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/jerome-doesn-t-have-a-clue-he-in-fact-avoids-the-poets-with-their/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“It occurred to me that I was suffering from the dizziness of contradictions: the only pleasure that remains once you've decided you know better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/it-occurred-to-me-that-i-was-suffering-from-the-dizziness-of/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“We suicide ourselves for our own survival. Is there any hope of dipping back into the past and circling round it like you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/we-suicide-ourselves-for-our-own-survival-is-there-any-hope-of/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“No woman is an island-ess. We fall in love in hope of anchoring ourselves to someone else, to keep from falling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/no-woman-is-an-island-ess-we-fall-in-love-in-hope-of-anchoring/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Why does everybody think that women are debasing themselves when we expose the conditions of our own debasement? Why do women always have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/why-does-everybody-think-that-women-are-debasing-themselves-when-we-2/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“What's the matter?" you asked, seizing an idea. "Did I burst your balloon - destroy the fantasy?" I struggled for a way to answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/what-s-the-matter-you-asked-seizing-an-idea-did-i-burst-your-balloon/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [No one...can live in this heightened state of reflective receptivity forever. Because this empathy's involuntary, there's terror here. Loss of control, a seepage. Becoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/no-one-can-live-in-this-heightened-state-of-reflective-receptivity/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Isn't the greatest freedom in the world the freedom to be wrong? What hooks me on our story is our different readings of it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/isn-t-the-greatest-freedom-in-the-world-the-freedom-to-be-wrong-what/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“But since Catt was more realist than fabulist, she understood her actual death at the hands of her killer would be something much slower.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/but-since-catt-was-more-realist-than-fabulist-she-understood-her/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) > [“Female monsters take things as personally as they really are. They study facts. Even if rejection makes them feel like the girl who's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/female-monsters-take-things-as-personally-as-they-really-are-they/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) [Explore all 60 Chris Kraus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) ## More Fool quotes > [Do I look like a fool to you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamika-leeigh/do-i-look-like-a-fool-to-you/) [Tamika-leeigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamika-leeigh/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Not wise, perhaps, to be rude to the Pope's favorite son, but my viper tongue still required a fool now and then on which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-quinn/not-wise-perhaps-to-be-rude-to-the-pope-s-favorite-son-but-my-viper/) [Kate Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-quinn/) > [He's a fool that marries; but he's a greater fool that does not marry a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wycherley/he-s-a-fool-that-marries-but-he-s-a-greater-fool-that-does-not-marry/) [William Wycherley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wycherley/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [A fool and his money get a lot of publicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-bernstein/a-fool-and-his-money-get-a-lot-of-publicity/) [Al Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-bernstein/) > [There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-booth/there-are-different-kinds-of-fire-there-is-false-fire-no-one-knows/) [William Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-booth/) > [Every man must wear out at least one pair of fools shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-derr-biggers/every-man-must-wear-out-at-least-one-pair-of-fools-shoes/) [Earl Derr Biggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-derr-biggers/) > [If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wc-fields/if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-try-try-again-then-quit-no-use-being-a/) [WC Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wc-fields/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [I'd be a fool to be in this for the money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-hinn/i-d-be-a-fool-to-be-in-this-for-the-money/) [Benny Hinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-hinn/) > [It is a fool of a shepherd who culls his dogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-smith/it-is-a-fool-of-a-shepherd-who-culls-his-dogs/) [Jefferson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-smith/) > [Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prefer-to-be-defeated-in-the-presence-of-the-wise-than-to-excel-among/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A mistake doesnt make you a fool, but denying it surely makes you one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-mistake-doesnt-make-you-a-fool-but-denying-it-surely-makes-you-one/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) [Browse all 5,535 Fool quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To initiate something is to play the fool.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chris Kraus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-fool/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fool" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-fool/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b90/chris-kraus-11419_play-the-fool_to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-foo_1728236.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b90/chris-kraus-11419_play-the-fool_to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-foo_1728236.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b90/chris-kraus-11419_play-the-fool_to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-foo_1728236.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To initiate something is to play the fool.” — Chris Kraus", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Chris Kraus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“To initiate something is to play...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-fool/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/to-initiate-something-is-to-play-the-fool/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```