The Fool

The night drags on for someone who can't sleep; a mile feels endless to the weary traveler; and life stretches long and heavy for the foolish, who never come to understand how things really work.

Long is the night to the sleepless; long is the league to the weary. Long is worldly existence to fools who know not the Sublime Truth.

If you can't find a companion who is wiser than you or at least your equal, travel on alone with resolve; solitude is far better than the company of a fool.

Should a seeker not find a companion who is better or equal, let him resolutely pursue a solitary course; there is no fellowship with the fool.

The fool frets, "These are my children, this is my wealth." Yet he does not even truly own himself, so how can the children or the wealth be his?

The fool worries, thinking, “I have sons, I have wealth.” Indeed, when he himself is not his own, whence are sons, whence is wealth?

A fool who realizes he is foolish is, in that much, actually wise. But a fool who is convinced he's clever — he is the real fool.

A fool who knows his foolishness is wise at least to that extent, but a fool who thinks himself wise is a fool indeed.

Even if a fool spends his whole life beside a wise person, he grasps the truth no more than a spoon tastes the soup it stirs.

Though all his life a fool associates with a wise man, he no more comprehends the Truth than a spoon tastes the flavor of the soup.

But a discerning person, even after a moment beside someone wise, quickly grasps the truth, as the tongue knows at once the flavor of the soup.

Though only for a moment a discerning person associates with a wise man, quickly he comprehends the Truth, just as the tongue tastes the flavor of the soup.

Fools of little understanding are their own worst enemies, going through life doing harmful deeds whose fruit turns out bitter.

Fools of little wit are enemies unto themselves as they move about doing evil deeds, the fruits of which are bitter.

A deed is poorly done if, once it is finished, you come to regret it, and reap its results weeping, your face wet with tears.

Ill done is that action of doing which one repents later, and the fruit of which one, weeping, reaps with tears.

A deed is well done if, once it is finished, you feel no regret, and reap its results gladly, happy at heart.

Well done is that action of doing which one repents not later, and the fruit of which one reaps with delight and happiness.

As long as a harmful deed has not yet ripened, the fool finds it as sweet as honey. But once it ripens, he comes to grief.

So long as an evil deed has not ripened, the fool thinks it as sweet as honey. But when the evil deed ripens, the fool comes to grief.

Month after month a fool may eat only a tip-of-grass measure of food in strict austerity, yet he is not worth a sixteenth part of those who have understood the truth.

Month after month a fool may eat his food with the tip of a blade of grass, but he still is not worth a sixteenth part of the those who have comprehended the Truth.

A harmful deed does not curdle at once, the way milk does not turn sour the instant it is drawn. Instead it smolders, following the fool like fire hidden beneath ashes.

Truly, an evil deed committed does not immediately bear fruit, like milk that does not turn sour all at once. But smoldering, it follows the fool like fire covered by ashes.

Whatever the fool comes to know works only toward his own ruin: it cleaves his head and destroys the goodness that was in him.

To his own ruin the fool gains knowledge, for it cleaves his head and destroys his innate goodness.

The fool craves a reputation he has not earned: to be placed first among his peers, to hold authority over others, and to be honored by all.

The fool seeks undeserved reputation, precedence among monks, authority over monasteries, and honor among householders.

"Let everyone think I alone did this; in matters great and small, let them all defer to me." Such is the fool's ambition, and so his desire and pride keep swelling.

“Let both laymen and monks think that it was done by me. In every work, great and small, let them follow me” — such is the ambition of the fool; thus his desire and pride increase.

The path to worldly gain runs one way, and the path to liberation runs another. Seeing this clearly, the disciple of the Buddha should not be carried away by acclaim, but cultivate quiet detachment instead.

One is the quest for worldly gain, and quite another is the path to Nibbana. Clearly understanding this, let not the monk, the disciple of the Buddha, be carried away by worldly acclaim, but develop detachment instead.