Silence is an ornament for women.
SophoclesRead
A fool cannot be an actor, though an actor may act a fool's part.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the distinction between true foolishness and the act of pretending to be foolish.
Sophocles suggests that true fools lack the understanding and insight required to be an effective actor, suggesting that genuine foolishness is a state of being that impedes one's ability to engage in the art of acting. Conversely, a skilled actor can play the role of a fool without being foolish themselves, emphasizing the difference between performance and reality, as well as the deeper intelligence that comes with understanding different roles in life.
Themes
FoolActorPerformanceWisdomPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a drama class, to illustrate the nuances of acting, one might quote this saying.
More from Sophocles
All quotes βNone love the messenger who brings bad news.
SophoclesRead
All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.
SophoclesRead
Not even Ares battles against necessity.
SophoclesRead
You clearly hate to yield, but you will regret it when your anger has passed. Such natures are justly the hardest for themselves to bear.
SophoclesRead
There is nothing more hateful than bad advice.
SophoclesRead
Similar quotes
Truth be told, John said, the one thing in this world I want more than anything else is a great big crowbar, to jimmy myself open and take whatever creature that's sitting inside and shake it clean like a rug and then rinse it in a cold, clear lake like up in Oregon, and then I want to put it under the sun to let it heal and dry and grow and sit and come to consciousness again with a clear and quiet mind.
Douglas CouplandRead
There is no subjection so perfect as that which keeps the appearance of freedom.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
If Socialism can only be realized when the intellectual development of all the people permits it, then we shall not see Socialism for at least five hundred years.
Vladimir LeninRead
No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no one will ever look at the earth in the same way. Man had to free himself from earth to perceive both its diminutive place in a solar system and its inestimable value as a life -fostering planet. As earthmen, we may have taken another step into adulthood. We can see our planet earth with detachment, with tenderness, with some shame and pity, but at last also with love.
Anne Morrow LindberghRead
It is always interesting to see people in dead earnest, from whatever cause, and earthquakes make everybody earnest.
John MuirRead
Hell is the bloodcurdling mansion of time, in whose profoundest circle Satan himself waits, winding a gargantuan watch in his hand.
Antonio MachadoRead