quotes, research, stories
Spring has arrived and we’re entering the ten day countdown to the annual fool-fest of 1st April, when folly rules the world … if it isn’t ruled by folly the rest of the time too. Either way, folly reigning or raining folly, the kind people at...
16th century, Europe, France, French, primary source, quotes
Here we have Rabelais citing a proverb attesting to the capacity of fools to unravel knotty problems. See similar examples, including Sima Qian 司馬遷 (c. 145-86 BC), an historian something like the Chinese equivalent of Herodotus, and a 17th century German...
17th century, Europe, German, Germany, primary source, quotes
Johann Balthasar Schupp (1610-61) was a German satirical writer and Lutheran pastor. The tension between his use of wit and satire and his role as a pastor is perhaps highlighted in the question raised by fellow pastors in 1657:’Was it right that a doctor of...
20th century, English, fictive fool, primary source, quotes
This is a fictitious jester, drawing on the Thousand and One Nights, and commenting on the archetypal role of the jester as truth-teller, in this case to the exclusion of any one else. It is this perception of (and tendency among) jesters to speak the truth...
2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, primary source, quotes
Sima Qian (c. 145-86 BC), the Herodotus of China, testifies as to the potential for a joke or a clever turn of phrase to unravel knotty problems. This is from his biographies of jesters, the first and perhaps foremost source of classical Chinese references to jesters...
21st century, English, primary source, quotes, research
What better way to launch foolsareeverywhere.com than scientific evidence of their central role on earth and beyond. NASA has cleverly realised that the skills of the fool are essential to prevent mayhem when cooping up a dozen astronauts for months on end in a...
21st century, English, journal paper, research
In the age of concentrated and even absolute power, jesters were a vital counterpoint, a dose of humorous corrective, a laughing shaker-up of rigidity.In an age of spin, propaganda and fake news, they still have a role to play. They typically come with an extra...
