--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let a fool be made serviceable according…" description: "\"Let a fool be made serviceable according to his folly.\" — Joseph Conrad" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69d/joseph-conrad-336_folly_let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according_1508009.jpg" --- # Let a fool be made serviceable according to his folly. ![“Let a fool be made serviceable according to his folly.” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69d/joseph-conrad-336_folly_let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according_1508009.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69d/joseph-conrad-336_folly_let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according_1508009.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69d/joseph-conrad-336_folly_let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according_1508009.jpg) > “Let a fool be made serviceable according to his folly.” [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It suggests turning a fool's mistakes into useful outcomes by adapting to their errors. **In simple terms:** Make use of a fool's errors. Key Takeaway Adapt and benefit. Themes adaptation resourcefulness humor Mood witty practical Type advice humorous When to use this quote - teamwork - leadership - conflict resolution - creative problem solving Key Concepts pragmatism learning from failure Questions to Reflect On - When is it wise to leverage someone's mistake? - How do you avoid being misled by folly? A Different Perspective Relying on folly can be risky if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [According Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/according-folly-1238720/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Fool Serviceable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool-serviceable-5544683/) [Let Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-fool-446245/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Serviceable According](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serviceable-according-5544684/) ## Related quotes > [Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon/answer-a-fool-according-to-his-folly-lest-he-be-wise-in-his-own-eyes/) [Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon/) > [Let the fool hug you but never let the hug fool you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boky/let-the-fool-hug-you-but-never-let-the-hug-fool-you/) [Boky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boky/) > [“Let's fool around." "And then?" he asked, voice low. "When it's time, take blood, and then let's fuck." He gave a surprised burst of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/let-s-fool-around-and-then-he-asked-voice-low-when-it-s-time-take/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [You sometimes have to answer a woman according to her womanliness, just as you have to answer a fool according to his folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-sometimes-have-to-answer-a-woman-according-to-her-womanliness/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Where in the Bible are we told in one verse not to do a thing and in the next to do it? ‘Answer not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-grant-oliphant/where-in-the-bible-are-we-told-in-one-verse-not-to-do-a-thing-and-in/) [Samuel Grant Oliphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-grant-oliphant/) > [Answer not a fool according to his folly,lest thou also be like unto him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon/answer-not-a-fool-according-to-his-folly-lest-thou-also-be-like-unto-2/) [Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon/) > [“Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own conceit. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/answer-a-fool-according-to-his-folly-lest-he-be-wise-in-his-own/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [In life it is okey to let a fool kiss you, it's okey to kiss a fool, but don't let a kiss fool you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-life-it-is-okey-to-let-a-fool-kiss-you-it-s-okey-to-kiss-a-fool/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [... you must hasten to oppose pernicious pride of mind, before it penetrates into the marrow of your bones. Resist it, curb the quickness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-scupoli/you-must-hasten-to-oppose-pernicious-pride-of-mind-before-it/) [Lorenzo Scupoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-scupoli/) > [Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/let-a-fool-hold-his-tongue-and-he-will-pass-for-a-sage/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [Dont let them fool you, people make time for whats important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-let-them-fool-you-people-make-time-for-whats-important/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't let them fool ya, or even try to school ya! Oh, no! We've got a mind of our own, so go to hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/don-t-let-them-fool-ya-or-even-try-to-school-ya-oh-no-we-ve-got-a/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [Never let a fool kiss you, or a kiss fool you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-let-a-fool-kiss-you-or-a-kiss-fool-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In life it's okay to let a fool kiss you, it's okay to kiss a fool, but never let a kiss fool you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/in-life-it-s-okay-to-let-a-fool-kiss-you-it-s-okay-to-kiss-a-fool-but/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“He is a fool to let you go. No, I'm the fool for not hearing him when he told me in no uncertain terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genna-rulon/he-is-a-fool-to-let-you-go-no-i-m-the-fool-for-not-hearing-him-when/) [Genna Rulon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genna-rulon/) ## More by Joseph Conrad > [“Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/hunters-for-gold-or-pursuers-of-fame-they-all-had-gone-out-on-that/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-good-author-is-he-who-contemplates-without-marked-joy-or/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Let the earth and the sea each have its own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/let-the-earth-and-the-sea-each-have-its-own/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [He hated all this, and somehow he couldn't get away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/he-hated-all-this-and-somehow-he-couldn-t-get-away/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“A fool, what with sheer fright and fine sentiments, is always safe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-fool-what-with-sheer-fright-and-fine-sentiments-is-always-safe/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“The mind of man is capable of anything-because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-mind-of-man-is-capable-of-anything-because-everything-is-in-it/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/few-men-realize-that-their-life-the-very-essence-of-their-character/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Perhaps on some quiet night the tremor of far-off drums, sinking, swelling, a tremor vast, faint; a sound weird, appealing, suggestive and wild -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/perhaps-on-some-quiet-night-the-tremor-of-far-off-drums-sinking/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“All that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-that-mysterious-life-of-the-wilderness-that-stirs-in-the-forest/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“The fascination of the abomination—you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-fascination-of-the-abomination-you-know/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/it-s-only-those-who-do-nothing-that-make-no-mistakes-i-suppose/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/thieving-was-not-a-sheer-absurdity-it-was-a-form-of-human-industry/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-found-myself-back-in-the-sepulchral-city-resenting-the-sight-of/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Society was calling to its accomplished child to come, to be taken care of, to be instructed, to be judged, to be condemned; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/society-was-calling-to-its-accomplished-child-to-come-to-be-taken/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I was constantly watching myself, my secret self, as dependent on my actions as my own personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-was-constantly-watching-myself-my-secret-self-as-dependent-on-my/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Explore all 645 Joseph Conrad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) ## More Folly quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [“Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverbs-16-22-bible-kjv/understanding-is-a-wellspring-of-life-unto-him-that-hath-it-but-the/) [Proverbs 16:22 Bible KJV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverbs-16-22-bible-kjv/) > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [Tis easy to break an idol, very easy: to regard the self as easy to subdue is folly, folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/tis-easy-to-break-an-idol-very-easy-to-regard-the-self-as-easy-to/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What curious little corners of folly are to be found in even the sanest brain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-of-romania/what-curious-little-corners-of-folly-are-to-be-found-in-even-the/) [Marie of Romania](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-of-romania/) > [Unnecessary hustle is one of the American follies. We hustle at both work and play, and consequently enjoy neither to the utmost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-feather/unnecessary-hustle-is-one-of-the-american-follies-we-hustle-at-both/) [William Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-feather/) > [HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hermit-n-a-person-whose-vices-and-follies-are-not-sociable/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Democracy is the worst form of government. It is the most inefficient, the most clumsy, the most unpractical… It reduces wisdom to impotence and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-briffault/democracy-is-the-worst-form-of-government-it-is-the-most-inefficient/) [Robert Briffault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-briffault/) > [It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-is-such-a-supreme-folly-to-believe-that-nuclear-weapons-are-deadly/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [One's conscience reproaches one much more stingingly for one's follies than one's crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-jewsbury/one-s-conscience-reproaches-one-much-more-stingingly-for-one-s/) [Geraldine Jewsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-jewsbury/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [We are more heavily taxed by our idleness, pride and folly than we are taxed by government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/we-are-more-heavily-taxed-by-our-idleness-pride-and-folly-than-we-are/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) [Browse all 1,246 Folly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let a fool be made serviceable according to his folly.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Conrad" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according-to-his-folly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Folly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according-to-his-folly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69d/joseph-conrad-336_folly_let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according_1508009.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69d/joseph-conrad-336_folly_let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according_1508009.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/69d/joseph-conrad-336_folly_let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according_1508009.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let a fool be made serviceable according to his folly.” — Joseph Conrad", "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": "Joseph Conrad", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Let a fool be made serviceable...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according-to-his-folly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/let-a-fool-be-made-serviceable-according-to-his-folly/#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 } } ] } ```