Proverbs 10:23 · World English Bible
Proverbs 10:23 Meaning It Is a Fool’s Pleasure to Do
It is a fool’s pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding’s pleasure.
What does Proverbs 10:23 mean?
A mind that has chosen fear finds a strange amusement in attack, because attack seems to prove that separation is real and that guilt can be pinned on someone else. It plays at harm the way a dreamer plays at danger, entertained by shadows it does not know it is casting.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 10:23 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
A mind that has chosen fear finds a strange amusement in attack, because attack seems to prove that separation is real and that guilt can be pinned on someone else. It plays at harm the way a dreamer plays at danger, entertained by shadows it does not know it is casting. A mind that has changed teachers no longer needs this game, having learned that nothing outside can threaten it and so wishing to threaten nothing in return.
The gap between the foolish and the understanding is only two choices in a single mind: to make sport of guilt, or to lay it down. Wisdom is simply the willingness to stop pretending that harming another could ever bring you peace.
Fool: the part of the mind still ruled by fear, delighted by the illusion that attack is safe and separation is gain. Man of understanding: the part of the mind that has accepted love as its teacher, at rest because it seeks nothing through harm.
Christian Psychology lensGo deeper in the app
Christian Psychology lens
Live Proverbs 10:23 today
- When a post or a headline today makes you want to say something cutting about a stranger, close the app instead and let the moment pass unspent.
- In the next conversation where you could land a jab that would get a laugh at someone's expense, skip it, even though the laugh was available and nobody would have blamed you.
- When someone cuts you off in traffic or sends a dismissive email, you can feel the whole case against them assembling. Let the case fall apart and get on with your day.
What small harm do I let myself enjoy because it feels like being right?
The same truth in other traditions
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada says that hatred never ends by hatred, only by its opposite, and that the one who harms another is laying hands on themselves first. Attack feels like power and works like poison.
Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius
He told himself that the best revenge is simply not to be like the person who wronged him, since nothing is gained by taking on their condition. The wish to hurt back is the real injury.
Taoism · Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi says that if a man empties his own boat as he crosses the river, no one will stand against him. The collisions come from what we are carrying, not from the water.
Free · No account needed
Read all of Proverbs 10 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store