--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because other people are fools, must you…" description: "\"Because other people are fools, must you be so too?\" — Marcus Aurelius" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/082/marcus-aurelius-139_fool_because-other-people-are-fools-must-you_1160056.jpg" --- # Because other people are fools, must you be so too? ![“Because other people are fools, must you be so too?” quote by Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/082/marcus-aurelius-139_fool_because-other-people-are-fools-must-you_1160056.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/082/marcus-aurelius-139_fool_because-other-people-are-fools-must-you_1160056.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/082/marcus-aurelius-139_fool_because-other-people-are-fools-must-you_1160056.jpg) > “Because other people are fools, must you be so too?” [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning others' foolishness should not justify adopting foolishness yourself; maintain personal integrity. **In simple terms:** Don’t copy fools. Key Takeaway Stay wise despite others’ folly. Themes ethics self-control wisdom Mood thoughtful determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - leadership - social interactions - decision making Key Concepts Stoicism virtue critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you avoid peer pressure? - What standards guide your behavior? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fools/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-fools-398910/) ## Related quotes > [Most people are such fools that it is really no great compliment to say that someone is above the average.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/most-people-are-such-fools-that-it-is-really-no-great-compliment-to/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“What name do you use then, for two people who help each other?” “Why are they helping each other?” “Simply to be kind, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-g-manning/what-name-do-you-use-then-for-two-people-who-help-each-other-why-are/) [Michael G. Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-g-manning/) > [God helps three sorts of people: fools, children and drunkards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/god-helps-three-sorts-of-people-fools-children-and-drunkards/) [Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverb/) > [“I have been in several provinces of that kingdom. In some, one half of the people are fools and madmen; in some, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-have-been-in-several-provinces-of-that-kingdom-in-some-one-half-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [The young people think the old people are fools -- but the old people know the young people are fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/the-young-people-think-the-old-people-are-fools-but-the-old-people/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [“What would have been the fate of sages if there were no fools?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogwo-david-emenike/what-would-have-been-the-fate-of-sages-if-there-were-no-fools/) [Ogwo David Emenike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogwo-david-emenike/) > [Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with that it's compounding a felony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/drinking-makes-such-fools-of-people-and-people-are-such-fools-to/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Young people tell what they are doing, old people what they have done and fools what they wish to do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/french-proverb/young-people-tell-what-they-are-doing-old-people-what-they-have-done/) [French Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/french-proverb/) > [President Biden has gotten away his entire career with bending the truth and taking people for fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-devine/president-biden-has-gotten-away-his-entire-career-with-bending-the/) [Miranda Devine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-devine/) > [Most people are fools, most authority is malignant, God does not exist, and everything is wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nelson/most-people-are-fools-most-authority-is-malignant-god-does-not-exist/) [Ted Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nelson/) > [It was not power that corrupted people, but fools who corrupted power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-was-not-power-that-corrupted-people-but-fools-who-corrupted-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People are fools, not monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/people-are-fools-not-monsters/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [I buy all my perfumes duty free - I think people are fools not to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leandra-medine/i-buy-all-my-perfumes-duty-free-i-think-people-are-fools-not-to/) [Leandra Medine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leandra-medine/) > [“Some people are fools of doubts or simply doubtfools.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-yap/some-people-are-fools-of-doubts-or-simply-doubtfools/) [Stanley Yap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-yap/) > [“An American president once said : you can be a fool some of the time but not all of the time, or is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-t-knight/an-american-president-once-said-you-can-be-a-fool-some-of-the-time/) [Aaron T Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-t-knight/) ## More by Marcus Aurelius > [A man should be upright, not kept upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/a-man-should-be-upright-not-kept-upright/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Everything is mere opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/everything-is-mere-opinion/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-any-man-has-done-wrong-the-harm-is-his-own-but-perhaps-he-has-not/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“We should remark the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes.. When a loaf of bread,. for instance,.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-should-remark-the-grace-and-fascination-that-there-is-even-in-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [My true Self is free. I cannot be contained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/my-true-self-is-free-i-cannot-be-contained/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-best-revenge-is-to-be-unlike-him-who-performed-the-injury/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Nothing befalls any man which he is not fitted to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/nothing-befalls-any-man-which-he-is-not-fitted-to-endure/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God. The poet says that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/adorn-thyself-with-simplicity-and-with-indifference-towards-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/let-it-be-your-constant-method-to-look-into-the-design-of-people-s/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Our life is a warfare, and a mere pilgrimage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/our-life-is-a-warfare-and-a-mere-pilgrimage/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“If therefore it be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-therefore-it-be-a-thing-external-that-causes-thy-grief-know-that/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Frightened of change? But what can exist without it? What's closer to nature's heart? Can you take a hot bath and leave the firewood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/frightened-of-change-but-what-can-exist-without-it-what-s-closer-to/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, "I have to go to work - as a human being. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/at-dawn-when-you-have-trouble-getting-out-of-bed-tell-yourself-i-have/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) [Explore all 1,138 Marcus Aurelius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## 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": "Because other people are fools, must you be so too?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcus Aurelius" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/because-other-people-are-fools-must-you-be-so-too/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fool" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/because-other-people-are-fools-must-you-be-so-too/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/082/marcus-aurelius-139_fool_because-other-people-are-fools-must-you_1160056.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/082/marcus-aurelius-139_fool_because-other-people-are-fools-must-you_1160056.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/082/marcus-aurelius-139_fool_because-other-people-are-fools-must-you_1160056.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because other people are fools, must you be so too?” — Marcus Aurelius", "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": "Marcus Aurelius", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Because other people are fools, must...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/because-other-people-are-fools-must-you-be-so-too/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/because-other-people-are-fools-must-you-be-so-too/#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 } } ] } ```