《智慧书·第五辑·二〇一至二五〇》第8则
Do not die of the Fools' Disease. The wise generally die after they have lost their reason: fools before they have found it. To die of the fools' disease is to die of too much thought. Some die because they think and feel too much: others live because they do not think and feel: these are fools because they do not die of sorrow, the others because they do. A fool is he that dies of too much knowledge: thus some die because they are too knowing, others because they are not knowing enough. Yet though many die like fools, few die fools.
注释摘要
这则格言提出了一个相当古怪的病症名称：「愚人之疾」。标题与正文构成一个环形的判断：智者死在丧失理性之后，愚人死在寻得理性之前，而死于愚人之疾，就是死于想得太多。葛拉西安在短短几句里抛出一连串看似自相矛盾的命题：有人因思虑过重而死，有人因不思不感而活；前者因未死于愁苦而成为愚人，后者反倒因死于愁苦而称愚人；最终结论是「许多人死得像愚人，却很少有人死时即是愚人…