Dhammapada verse 63
Chapter 5, The Fool (Bālavagga) · verses 60–75
“The fool who thinks they’re a fool is wise at least to that extent. But the true fool is said to be one who imagines that they are wise.”
Yo bālo maññati bālyaṁ, paṇḍito vāpi tena so; Bālo ca paṇḍitamānī, sa ve “bālo”ti vuccati.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 63 mean?
Verse 63 belongs to chapter 5, The Fool (Bālavagga), which gathers verses 60–75 on the fool. It is filed under wisdom & folly. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 62 and verse 64 are part of the same passage.
The fool, in sixteen verses. The chapter is not kind about it: the fool who knows they are a fool is at least partly wise, the fool who thinks they are wise is beyond help, and the harm a fool does lands on themselves first. It includes the image of evil tasting sweet until it ripens.
More verses on this