What's the difference between foolishness and prudence?

Foolishness


Definition:

  • (n.) The quality of being foolish.
  • (n.) A foolish practice; an absurdity.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) So, logic would dictate that if Greeks are genuinely in favour of reform – and opinion polls have consistently shown wide support for many of the structural changes needed – they would be foolish to give these two parties another chance.
  • (2) It would be foolish to bet that Saudi Arabia will exist in its current form a generation from now.” Memories of how the Saudis and Opec deliberately triggered an economic crisis in the west in retaliation for US aid to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur war still rankle.
  • (3) That's foolish, because Real Madrid rarely look more uncomfortable than at set pieces.
  • (4) "We regret that Congress was forced to waste its time voting on a foolish bill that was premised entirely on false claims and ignorance," David Jenkins, an REP official, said in a statement.
  • (5) Shorten said while Hicks was “foolish to get caught up in the Afghanistan conflict” the court decision showed an injustice.
  • (6) Many commentators considered the suggestion merely foolish, but computer hackers issued death threats against her and her children, which she promptly posted on Twitter, along with the defiant message: "Get stuffed, losers.
  • (7) And it means that if Labour were to win, Mr Brown would be very foolish, indeed downright wrong, to move Mr Darling.
  • (8) "It was a certain kind of titillation the shop offered," the critic Matthew Collings has written, "sexual but also hopeless, destructive, foolish, funny, sad."
  • (9) Describing the moment McKellen knocked on his dressing room door he said: “I ushered him in nervously, expecting notes for my poor performance or indiscipline – I was a foolish, naughty young actor.
  • (10) But what people did when they were young and foolish, or even when they were not yet public figures, is not always the same.
  • (11) While we have this, it would be foolish to pursue a policy of still constraining resources in the acute sector.
  • (12) All three echoed remarks made recently by the Bank’s governor, Mark Carney, who said it would be “foolish” to cut rates in response to a temporary fall in inflation.
  • (13) Since the initially peaceful demonstrations against his regime began more than three years ago, he has proved himself, by turns, foolish, craven and vicious.
  • (14) In a high-risk, 65-minute speech in Manchester delivered without notes, and 20 minutes longer than he intended, Miliband tried to take the mantle of the 19th-century Tory prime minister Benjamin Disraeli's one nation, pointedly grabbing the territory and language of the centre ground which he believes David Cameron has foolishly vacated.
  • (15) But one backbencher, West Australian Liberal Dennis Jensen , has said it is foolish to set up a $20bn medical research fund at the same time as the government is cutting money from scientific agencies, including the CSIRO and the Australian Research Council.
  • (16) Donald Trump is too weak, too foolish and too chaotic to see beyond the immediate crises he has created.
  • (17) Here, too, Capote displayed uncanny journalistic skills, capturing even the most languid and enigmatic of subjects – Brando in his pomp – and eliciting the kinds of confidences that left the actor reflecting ruefully on his "unutterable foolishness".
  • (18) They privately acknowledge they were foolish in taking the bait, but argue they have broken no rules since they were offered no jobs, and therefore have no commercial interests to declare in the MPs' register.
  • (19) "Hopefully, the lesson is to stop this foolish childishness," McCain said Thursday on CNN.
  • (20) The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes.” As for the social conditions that obtain: “It is exactly the existing conditions that one objects to, and any scheme that could accept these conditions is wrong and foolish.” Looking back on my political activism of the 1970s and 80s, there was a lot of refusing to accept existing conditions on the basis that they were “wrong and foolish”.

Prudence


Definition:

  • (n.) The quality or state of being prudent; wisdom in the way of caution and provision; discretion; carefulness; hence, also, economy; frugality.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The arches can be restored with atraumatic fixed prostheses but prudence is required.
  • (2) With every year and every budget its continued use was an annual testament to dependability, continuity and fiscal prudence.
  • (3) The unexpected presence of this previously unknown ADH variant in livers of M. nemestrina demonstrates the need for prudence in assignment of ADH isozymes.
  • (4) Although studies to date have failed to show conclusively that nurses and pharmacists are at risk to the carcinogenic, genotoxic and reproductive effects of these agents, prudence would dictate that every effort be taken to minimize their exposure during the handling and disposal of antineoplastic drugs.
  • (5) Until these data are available, we must maintain prudence in the selection (design) of premedicant regimens and carefully monitor all children receiving these "cocktails."
  • (6) Rather than get rid of the baby with the bathwater, could we not link morality with prudence and target abusive claims?
  • (7) He has six children: Prudence, from his first marriage, to Patricia; three by his second wife, Anna, who he divorced in 1999; and two young children with his current wife, Wendi.
  • (8) With care and prudence, many of these lesions can be successfully excised, or at least managed, so that the effect of these sometimes devastating lesions can be ameliorated.
  • (9) The Glazers must've expected that they were getting a wee, ginger, fledgling Ferguson; David Moyes surely imagined that the great day had come after years of stability and prudence at Goodison Park, frugally guarding the Toffees, he was finally to be given the reigns of the all-conquering devils.
  • (10) When using topical methods, prudence should prevail to avoid ingestion of fluoride.
  • (11) An appeal is made for prudence and not hysteria in relation to the use of mineral fibres of all types.
  • (12) And with the return of big-spending policies to combat the downturn, we have the tearing-up of the early Brown emphasis on prudence.
  • (13) We suggest that, though some prudence and caution is advised, this appears to be a safe and feasible adjunct in the treatment of cholelithiasis.
  • (14) The problem is very common, and it is hoped that with continued clinical prudence we can advance and improve our treatment modalities, particularly in those areas in which we fall so short!
  • (15) These findings draw attention to the cardiovascular side effects of interferon-alpha and advise prudence in high-risk patients.
  • (16) Odey, a veteran City agitator who has picked fights ranging from opposition to Railtrack's nationalisation to "shorting" the shares of struggling banks, was once married to Murdoch's oldest daughter, Prudence.
  • (17) "That is going to take some time, some care, and some prudence."
  • (18) Up the date any response is noted but the authors think that some prudence is necessary in the evaluation of the results especially because of the incomplete removal of disc in young patients.
  • (19) For this reason the authors recommend prudence and avoidance of very strong treatment.
  • (20) Appalling way to run an economy no wonder many top EU countries laugh at our so called economic "prudence".