Foolish talk

This is April Fools' Day, but of course we're much too mature at Sound Mind Investing to play silly pranks on each other (ahem). Instead, we have engaged ourselves in a high-minded philosophical discussion of foolishness, recalling famous quotes about fools.

Here are three you'll probably recognize:

• "A fool and his money are soon parted" (English poet Thomas Tusser).
• "Wealth is the slave of a wise man, the master of a fool." (Seneca the Younger).
• "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" (missionary Jim Elliot, paraphrasing missionary Amy Carmichael).

Of course, the best source for wise talk about fools and foolishness comes from the Bible - and guess what? A lot of what Scripture has to say has clear implications in the financial/investing area.

• "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm" (Proverbs 13:20).
• "Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?" (Proverbs 17:16).
• "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure" (Ecclesiastes 7:4, reminding us that our earthly lives won't last forever).
• "[E]veryone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand" (Jesus in Matthew 7:26).

In Luke 12, Jesus told a parable about self-focused foolishness - and again, there is a clear financial aspect:

The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops."

Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'"

But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"

This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16-21)

Tomorrow is Good Friday, so we'll wrap up with this very appropriate "foolish" Scripture:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

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Joseph Slife is a contributing author and editor for SMI. Learn more about Christian investing and finances at the Sound Mind Investing website.