The Wise laid their finger with much accuracy on the salient features of the foolish character. Thus in the dullard they point to his credulity, _The simpleton believeth every word, but the prudent looketh well to his going_ (Pr. 14^{15}). The fool is apt to be greedy of reward, _The fool will say “I have no friend and I have no thanks for my good deeds_ (E. 20^{16}); and grudging in his charity, _To-day he will lend but to-morrow he will ask it again_ (E. 20^{15}), although himself a spendthrift, _Precious treasure abides in the Wise man’s house, but a foolish man swallows it up_ (Pr. 21^{20}, cp. Pr. 14^{1}). He is a blusterer, _A Wise man is cautious and avoids misfortune, but the fool rageth and is confident_ (Pr. 14^{16}); shallow and frivolous, _As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool_ (_Ecclesiastes_ 7^{6}); garrulous, saying what he thinks before he thinks what he says, _The heart of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of wise men is in their heart_. (E. 21^{26}); changeable and unreliable, _The foolish man changeth as the moon_ (E. 27^{11}); _Take not counsel with a fool, for he will not be able to conceal the matter_ (E. 8^{17}). He is a bully often, but his courage is unstable, _Pales set on a high place will not stand against the wind; so the cowardice in a foolish heart will not bear up against any fear_ (E. 22^{18}). He aspires to be witty, but seldom has wit enough, _The legs of the lame hang loose: so does a parable in the mouth of fools_ (Pr. 26^{7}). Nevertheless the fool’s pride and self-confidence is complete, _The way of the foolish is right in his own eyes_ (Pr. 12^{15}; cp. 14^{3}, 28^{26}); so that he loses sense of the awfulness of evil and even enjoys it, _It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness_ (Pr. 10^{23}, cp. 13^{19}); sneering at those who fain would give him guidance, _A fool despiseth his father’s correction ... a fool scorns his mother_ (Pr. 15^{5, 20}); and hating information, _A fool hath no delight in understanding_ (Pr. 18^{2}). Thus it is almost useless to attempt to instruct a fool--here is a counsel of despair, _Speak not in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words_ (Pr. 23^{9})--and here is the sigh of the weary teacher, _Wherefore is there a price in the hands of the fool to buy wisdom, seeing that he hath no wits?_ (Pr. 17^{16}). _The inward parts of a fool are like a broken vessel, and he will hold no knowledge_ (E. 21^{14}). _He that teacheth a fool is as one that glueth a potsherd together_ (E. 22^{7}). The fool, in fact, is in uttermost peril of being incorrigible, _He that discourseth to a fool is as one discoursing to a man that slumbereth; at the end thereof he will say “What is it?”_ (E. 22^{8}). Altogether it is hard to suffer fools gladly: _A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But a fool’s vexation is heavier than both_ (Pr. 27^{3}).