What's the difference between foolishness and wisdom?

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”.

Wisdom


Definition:

  • (a.) The quality of being wise; knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it; knowledge of the best ends and the best means; discernment and judgment; discretion; sagacity; skill; dexterity.
  • (a.) The results of wise judgments; scientific or practical truth; acquired knowledge; erudition.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) He captivated me, but not just because of his intellect; it was for his wisdom, his psychological insights and his sense of humour that I will always remember our dinners together.
  • (2) He confronted the conventional wisdom that time is on our side and the status quo is working in our favour.
  • (3) If we accept that al-Qaida continues to pose a deadly threat to the UK, and if we know that it is capable of changing the locations of its bases and modifying its attack plans, we must accept that we have a duty to question the wisdom of prioritising, in terms of government spending on counter-terrorism, the deployment of our forces to Afghanistan.
  • (4) I salute you.” So clear-fall logging and burning of the tallest flowering forests on the planet, with provision for the dynamiting of trees over 80 metres tall, is an ultimate good in Abbott’s book of ecological wisdom.
  • (5) Still, the conventional wisdom among Republican political operatives in Washington right now is that the tightrope Paul is walking probably won’t lead to the White House.
  • (6) Indeed, mainstream economics is a pitifully thin distillation of historical wisdom on the topics that it addresses.
  • (7) Earlier this year the Observer named Cummings and De Zoete as being involved with the controversial Twitter feed @Toryeducation which insults opponents of Gove's reforms or anyone who chooses to question their wisdom.
  • (8) Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite " ("I told you I was ill") now reminds mourners of Spike's anarchic wit and wisdom.
  • (9) The results indicate that neither penicillin nor tinidazole have more effect on postoperative complications following operative extraction of wisdom teeth, than placebo tablets.
  • (10) This dilemma is at the heart of many people's anguished indecision over the wisdom of our action in Iraq.
  • (11) The Panglossian wisdom is that the web allows access to new sources of information and blogs, tweeters and online journals will replace the old newsrooms.
  • (12) Six hundred (600) out-patients, following surgical removal of an impacted lower wisdom tooth, were divided into three groups and randomly given either Fenbufen (500 mg capsules), ASA (750 mg capsules), or placebo.
  • (13) Far from enhancing security, the wisdom in Washington today is that these practises endangered it .
  • (14) Britain's most senior prosecutor has questioned whether heavy sentences given to last summer's rioters worked as an effective deterrence, challenging the received wisdom from senior judges and politicians.
  • (15) Those who viewed supervision as their right and would seek their managers out to ensure they were given time appeared to fare best – but it was acknowledged that this approach requires confidence, often gained through experience and practice wisdom.
  • (16) People are living longer, healthier lives, so it is right that our courts are able to benefit from the wisdom and experience that older people can offer.” Jane Ashcroft, chief executive of older people’s charity Anchor, said: “Older people already contribute a great deal to society and represent an integral part of any local community.
  • (17) Discussions are still active inside the cabinet on the wisdom of changing strike laws to introduce a turn-out threshold for ballots before a dispute can be deemed lawful.
  • (18) Yet the stream of refugees flooding across the border from Syria into Turkey shows the wisdom of introducing visa free travel between the two countries last year, said Knaus.
  • (19) Diplomatic tensions also intensified with Bahrain recalling its ambassador to Tehran, following the Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar's warning on Monday that Bahrain's rulers and the Gulf states who have sent troops to the kingdom needed to act with "wisdom and caution".
  • (20) He brooks no dissent or opposition and muzzles media outlets that dare question the wisdom of his rule.