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  • Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
    Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
    Foolish people are often reckless, attempting feats that the wise avoid. This saying is from “An Essay on Criticism,” by Alexander Pope.
  • fools rush in where angels fear to tread
    fools rush in where angels fear to tread
    Ignorant or inexperienced individuals get involved in situations that wiser persons would avoid, as in I've never heard this symphony and here I am conducting it—oh well, fools rush in where angels fear to tread, or He tried to mediate their unending argument—fools rush in. This expression, so well known it is sometimes shortened as in the second example, is a quotation from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism (1709): “No place so sacred from such fops is barr'd ... Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

Cultural  
  1. Foolish people are often reckless, attempting feats that the wise avoid. This saying is from “An Essay on Criticism,” by Alexander Pope.


fools rush in where angels fear to tread Idioms  
  1. Ignorant or inexperienced individuals get involved in situations that wiser persons would avoid, as in I've never heard this symphony and here I am conducting it—oh well, fools rush in where angels fear to tread, or He tried to mediate their unending argument—fools rush in. This expression, so well known it is sometimes shortened as in the second example, is a quotation from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism (1709): “No place so sacred from such fops is barr'd ... Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead; For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Ronald Monsen Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Fools rush in, where angels fear to tread."

From The Ladies' Guide to True Politeness and Perfect Manners or, Miss Leslie's Behaviour Book by Leslie, Eliza

Well, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," so I said Yes.

From The Art of Lawn Tennis by Tilden, William (Bill) Tatem

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, my dear!

From The Foolish Virgin by Dixon, Thomas

Thus once again was illustrated the truth of the old saying that "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

From Hunter's Marjory A Story for Girls by Clarke, Margaret Bruce

It is a path where "fools rush in where angels fear to tread".

From America, through the spectacles of an Oriental diplomat by Wu, Tingfang

Verily, indeed, "fools rush in where angels fear to tread," as the poet hath said.

From A Series of Lessons in Gnani Yoga by Atkinson, William Walker

The whole boundless congregation of mankind, with its everlasting varieties, is thus at once subjected to the sentence of every pretender: And fools rush in, where angels fear to tread.

From Thoughts on Man, His Nature, Productions and Discoveries Interspersed with Some Particulars Respecting the Author by Godwin, William

Certainly, that does not sound nice, but such things happen, as a rule, when fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

From Luther Examined and Reexamined A Review of Catholic Criticism and a Plea for Revaluation by Dau, W. H. T. (William Herman Theodore)

Now, if fools rush in where angels fear to tread, surely they often rush to their undoing.

From At the Crossroads by Comstock, Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa)

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