Selected Cronicas

THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING FOOLISH

— The fool who pursues no ambitions has time to see, hear and touch the world.

— The fool can remain seated for hours on end without stirring. And when anyone asks him if he cannot find something to do, he replies: ‘But I am doing something. I am thinking.’

— To be a fool sometimes offers an escape route because the astute only think of escaping through their astuteness, while the fool is original and ideas come to him spontaneously

— The fool has the chance to see things the astute fail to see.

— The astute are always so busy paying attention to the wiles of others that they relax in the presence of fools and the latter simply regard them as human beings.

— The fool gains the freedom and wisdom to live.

— The fool never seems to get the chance to shine. Yet the fool is often a Dostoevsky.

— Obviously there can be disadvantages. A foolish woman, for example, trusted the advice of a stranger when buying a secondhand air-conditioning system. He assured her the equipment was almost new and had scarcely been used because he had moved to Gávea where there was plenty of fresh air. So the foolish woman bought the machine without even inspecting it. As a result, it did not work. She then called in a technician who warned her the machine was so badly damaged that it would cost a fortune to repair it: much safer to buy new equipment.

— In compensation, however, the fool always acts in good faith, never mistrusts anyone and lives a tranquil life. While the curious man cannot sleep at night for fear of being deceived.

The astute man pays for winning with a stomach ulcer. The fool does not even notice when he has won.

— Warning: do not confuse fools with donkeys.

— Disadvantage: the fool might receive a knife in the back when he least expects it. This is one of the hazards the fool cannot foresee. Caesar ended up by uttering those famous words: ‘You, too, Brutus?’

— The fool voices no protest. But how he shouts!

— Incorrigible buffoons, all fools must go to heaven.

— If Christ had been astute, he would not have been crucified.

— The fool is so endearing that some astute men even try to pass for fools.

— The fool has to be creative but, like any creative act, playing the fool is not easy. That explains why the astute do not succeed in passing for fools.

— The astute gain at the expense of others. In compensation, fools are simply rewarded with life.

— Blessed are the fools because they know without anyone suspecting. Nor do they care if people know that they know.

— Certain places are more congenial for the fool (not to be confused with donkey or simpleton or good-for-nothing). Minas Gerais, for example, is most receptive to fools. Oh, it is amazing how many people lose out because they were not born in Minas!

— Chagall is a fool when he puts a cow into space, flying over roof-tops.

— It is almost impossible to avoid the excess of love a fool arouses. For only a fool is capable of excessive love. And only love makes the fool.