In the 15th century philosopher Erasmus wrote a classic, “In Praise of Folly.” His words reach down the centuries to us: “Whoever among you thinks himself wise must become a fool to be truly wise”

“In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king,” Erasmus wrote.

There appear to be some who prefer to go through life oblivious to what’s in front of them. It’s difficult to stay alert when distractions are everywhere, but not giving in to the distractors is a chief pathway to inner truths.

Now there are some who want to be a king, but I’m not one of them. I have enough trouble reigning over my life without thinking about bigger responsibilities. I worry most about those who want to rule others without control over themselves. One day, one room, one task at a time done well seems best.

I was born a few hours after April 1 and therefore accept that I am an April Fool, especially if the state of our world has been brought about by serious people engaging in serious business making money or wars, sometimes both at the same time.

My saint of foolishness is Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes’  fictional hero in his classic 17th century story about a knight-errant with his sidekick Sancho Panza trying to restore chivalry to Spanish culture. It’s a powerful cause, his code of ethics seemingly foolish, but one I wish more had these days fulfilling their oaths of office or service.

Cervantes’ story, which shows Don Quixote tilting at windmills, highlights the comparisons between reality and delusions, sanity versus madness, idealism and pragmatism— contrasts evident today in how we govern ourselves, more prone to delusions than reality.

Don Quixote says: “the fault lies not with the mob, who demand nonsense, but with those who do not know how to produce anything else.”

Thanks to Cervantes, I propose a new holiday to be celebrated every April 1, International Nonsense Day, acknowledging that a little foolishness is good for the soul and humbling for the proud. On such a day we could all wear clown suits and proclaim ourselves the silliest people who ever lived, perhaps dancing around a center city pole proclaiming we are fools.

In a 1960s sermon titled “The Man Who Was a Fool,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. drew on Jesus’ parable of the rich fool whose greed and love of money was condemned. Preaching in Detroit, King said: “There is always the danger that we will judge the success of our professions by the size of the wheelbase on our automobiles and the index of our salaries rather than the quality of our service to humanity.”

In contrast to this preoccupation with individual accumulation, King notes the importance of human interdependence, urging the United States to place its excess grain “in the wrinkled stomachs of the hundreds and millions of people who go to bed hungry at night. And we can store it there free of charge.” He attributes the rich fool’s spiritual death to his failure “to realize his dependence on God” and concludes, “We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools.”

Rather than making pledges no one intends to keep, such as reducing taxes without touching benefits, I would propose starting a new political organization, the No-Nonsense Party. After all, in our nation’s history there once was the American Party, commonly referred to as the Know-Nothing Party. It emerged in the 1850s, primarily opposed to immigration but making America strong again.

This new party would have a simple platform and a vow each candidate would make before seeking office: “I pledge to stop the nonsense I or anyone in my party offers and will, upon being shown my wrongdoing, immediately resign from office.”

Don’t hold your breath for anyone to emerge making such a campaign promise and then taking the pledge. Though it’s what we really need these days, that would appear foolish in the eyes of most politicians.

Don Quixote offered this hopeful thought, however: “The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.”

John C. Morgan is an author and teacher.   He knows nothing and won’t promise to stop writing nonsense. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.