This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

Thus we play the fool with the time and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds and mock us.

This fellow is wise enough to play the fool;
And to do that well craves a kind of wit:
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practise
As full of labour as a wise man's art
For folly that he wisely shows is fit;
But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.

Flattery is never so agreeable as to our blind side; commend a fool for his wit, or a knave for his honesty, and they will receive you into their bosoms