- English translation
Hand a fool a hundred better minds, and he'll still be pleased with nothing but his own.
- Literal wording
If they were to give the madman a hundred minds on top of his own mind, he would like none of them except his own mind.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying uses 'madman' as a figure for stubborn self-regard, not mental illness, portraying a person so attached to his own way of thinking that even a huge supply of better judgment would leave him unmoved. He would turn away from every superior alternative and cling to the one mind he already has, however flawed.
The underlying logic is that the inability to recognize and choose sound reasoning is itself the defect. Someone able to prefer wiser thinking would not be the fool in question, so his self-satisfaction both reveals and sustains his folly, making persuasion pointless.
- When it is used
Used critically, often in exasperation, about someone who rejects advice and trusts only their own judgment. Fits complaints after counsel has been ignored. Aimed at a real person, it is pointed and can sound insulting, so tone matters; it suits frank talk among familiar people more than polite exchanges.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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