--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The 'fool' is an innocent, a simpleton…" description: "\"“The 'fool' is an innocent, a simpleton, but truths issue from his mouth that are not simply tolerated but adopted, by virtue of the fact that this 'fo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/jacques-lacan-11942_politics_the-fool-is-an-innocent-a-simpleton-but_1498253.jpg" --- # The 'fool' is an innocent, a simpleton, but truths issue… ![“The 'fool' is an innocent, a simpleton, but truths issue from his mouth that are not simply tolerated but adopted, by virtue of the fact that this 'fool' is sometimes clothed in the insignia of the jester. And in my view it is a similar happy shadow, a similar fundamental 'foolery,' that accounts…” quote by Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/jacques-lacan-11942_politics_the-fool-is-an-innocent-a-simpleton-but_1498253.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/jacques-lacan-11942_politics_the-fool-is-an-innocent-a-simpleton-but_1498253.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d18/jacques-lacan-11942_politics_the-fool-is-an-innocent-a-simpleton-but_1498253.jpg) > ““The 'fool' is an innocent, a simpleton, but truths issue from his mouth that are not simply tolerated but adopted, by virtue of the fact that this 'fool' is sometimes clothed in the insignia of the jester. And in my view it is a similar happy shadow, a similar fundamental 'foolery,' that accounts for the importance of the left-wing intellectual. And I contrast this with the designation for that which the same tradition furnishes a strictly contemporary term, a term that is used in conjunction with the former, namely, 'knave.' Everyone knows that a certain way of presenting himself, which constitutes part of the ideology of the right-wing intellectual, is precisely to play the role of what he is in fact, namely, a 'knave.' In other words, he doesn't retreat from the consequences of what is called realism; that is, when required, he admits he's a crook.”” [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The fool, often dismissed, can reveal truths that the intellectuals ignore, while the right-wing intellectual plays the knave, embracing realism and deceit. **In simple terms:** Fool reveals truths;knave embraces deceit. Key Takeaway Question authority and recognize hidden truths. Themes philosophy politics intellectual critique Mood critical skeptical Type theoretical reflective When to use this quote - political discourse - academic debate - media analysis Key Concepts fool archetype knave archetype truth versus deception Questions to Reflect On - What value does the fool bring? - How does the knave rationalize deceit? A Different Perspective The fool may be dismissed as naive, limiting insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fact Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fact-fool-1026699/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Fool Innocent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool-innocent-5486210/) [Foolery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolery/) [Fundamental Foolery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamental-foolery-5486209/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Psychoanalysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychoanalysis/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“The fact that the fool is often stubborn must not mislead us into thinking that he is independent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-fact-that-the-fool-is-often-stubborn-must-not-mislead-us-into/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The fool who knows his folly Becomes wise by that fact. But the fool who thinks he's wise - He's called 'a fool' indeed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-fool-who-knows-his-folly-becomes-wise-by-that-fact-but-the-fool/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The small amount of foolery wise men have makes a great show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-small-amount-of-foolery-wise-men-have-makes-a-great-show/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Let me say no more. Words do no justice to the hidden meaning. Everything immediately becomes slightly different when it is expressed in words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/let-me-say-no-more-words-do-no-justice-to-the-hidden-meaning/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion. . . . Dogs do not ritually urinate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/you-never-see-animals-going-through-the-absurd-and-often-horrible-2/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Utter foolery shouldn't be delegated”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-buroker/utter-foolery-shouldn-t-be-delegated/) [Lindsay Buroker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-buroker/) > [“Manhood is called foolery when it stands / Against a falling fabric.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/manhood-is-called-foolery-when-it-stands-against-a-falling-fabric/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If there be no eternal life, still the enjoyment of spiritual thoughts as ideals is keener and makes a man happier, whilst the foolery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/if-there-be-no-eternal-life-still-the-enjoyment-of-spiritual-thoughts/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [That we should establish ourselves in a sense of GOD’s Presence, by continually conversing with Him. That it was a shameful thing to quit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brother-lawrence/that-we-should-establish-ourselves-in-a-sense-of-god-s-presence-by-2/) [Brother Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brother-lawrence/) > [“High Lord of Prythian indeed. High Lord of Foolery was more like it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/high-lord-of-prythian-indeed-high-lord-of-foolery-was-more-like-it/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [Whoever wants music instead of noise, joy instead of pleasure, soul instead of gold, creative work instead of business, passion instead of foolery, finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/whoever-wants-music-instead-of-noise-joy-instead-of-pleasure-soul/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/foolery-sir-does-walk-about-the-orb-like-the-sun-it-shines-everywhere/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [My soul, never laugh at sin's fooleries, lest thou come to smile at sin itself. It is thine enemy, and thy Lord's enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-soul-never-laugh-at-sin-s-fooleries-lest-thou-come-to-smile-at-sin/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If a man ordered a beer milkshake he'd better do it in a town where he wasn't known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/if-a-man-ordered-a-beer-milkshake-he-d-better-do-it-in-a-town-where/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [... Oceanic malaise. I never saw anyone reading anything more demanding than a comic book. I never heard any youth express an interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/oceanic-malaise-i-never-saw-anyone-reading-anything-more-demanding/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) ## More by Jacques Lacan > [The narration, in fact, doubles the drama with a commentary without which no mise en scene would be possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-narration-in-fact-doubles-the-drama-with-a-commentary-without/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Symptoms, those you believe you recognize, seem to you irrational because you take them in an isolated manner, and you want to interpret them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/symptoms-those-you-believe-you-recognize-seem-to-you-irrational/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Writings scatter to the winds blank checks in an insane charge. And were they not such flying leaves, there would be no purloined letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/writings-scatter-to-the-winds-blank-checks-in-an-insane-charge-and/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Love means giving something you don't have to someone who doesn't want it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/love-means-giving-something-you-don-t-have-to-someone-who-doesn-t/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [For the signifier is a unit in its very uniqueness, being by nature symbol only of an absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/for-the-signifier-is-a-unit-in-its-very-uniqueness-being-by-nature/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [My thesis is that the moral law is articulated with relation to the real as such, to the real insofar as it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/my-thesis-is-that-the-moral-law-is-articulated-with-relation-to-the/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The best image to sum up the unconscious is Baltimore in the early morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-best-image-to-sum-up-the-unconscious-is-baltimore-in-the-early/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Meaning is produced not only by the relationship between the signifier and the signified but also, crucially, by the position of the signifiers in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/meaning-is-produced-not-only-by-the-relationship-between-the/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [“Il n'y a pas de rapport sexuel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/il-n-y-a-pas-de-rapport-sexuel/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [I always speak the truth. Not the whole truth, because there's no way, to say it all. Saying it all is literally impossible: words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/i-always-speak-the-truth-not-the-whole-truth-because-there-s-no-way/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [But this emphasis would be lavished in vain, if it served, in your opinion, only to abstract a general type from phenomena whose particularity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/but-this-emphasis-would-be-lavished-in-vain-if-it-served-in-your/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [I identify myself in language, but only by losing myself in it like an object. What is realised in my history is not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/i-identify-myself-in-language-but-only-by-losing-myself-in-it-like-an/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The evil eye is the fascinum, it is that which has the effect of arresting movement and, literally, of killing life. At the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-evil-eye-is-the-fascinum-it-is-that-which-has-the-effect-of/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Which is why we cannot say of the purloined letter that, like other objects, it must be or not be in a particular place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/which-is-why-we-cannot-say-of-the-purloined-letter-that-like-other/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The reason we go to poetry is not for wisdom, but for the dismantling of wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-reason-we-go-to-poetry-is-not-for-wisdom-but-for-the-dismantling/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) [Explore all 49 Jacques Lacan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) ## 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": "“The 'fool' is an innocent, a simpleton, but truths issue from his mouth that are not simply tolerated but adopted, by virtue of the fact that this 'fool' is sometimes clothed in the insignia of the jester. And in my view it is a similar happy shadow, a similar fundamental 'foolery,' that accounts for the importance of the left-wing intellectual. And I contrast this with the designation for that which the same tradition furnishes a strictly contemporary term, a term that is used in conjunction with the former, namely, 'knave.' Everyone knows that a certain way of presenting himself, which constitutes part of the ideology of the right-wing intellectual, is precisely to play the role of what he is in fact, namely, a 'knave.' 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