I'm afraid you've thought me a bigger fool than I am.

In fact, I was shit-scared that we were going to make fools of ourselves.

I tend to scare myself.

I would make a fool of myself...They are so much better than I was.

You see I kept asking myself then: why am I so stupid that if others are stupid — and I know they are — yet I won't be wiser?

I fear my ignorance.

This is the case with many learned persons; they have read themselves stupid.

When I get busy, I get stupid.

I am far more provoked at being thought foolish by foolish people, than pleased at being thought sensible by sensible people; and the average proportion of the numbers of each is not to my advantage.

It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.

I am supposed to be an utter fool and the more I read the more of a fool they think me.

[T]o really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time, and to need help.

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

Having always lived in fear of being surprised by the worst, I have tried in every circumstance to get a head start, flinging myself into misfortune long before it occurred.