Fools' hands smear table and walls
Fools hands daub table and walls is a saying of the People's mouth , who as saying used to Abqualifizierung.
In modern times it is mainly used in connection with negative assessments of graffiti .
origin
The original origin and creation is unknown. The fact that the figure of the fool is used derogatory here could point to its origins in the Middle Ages . References that keep recurring and naming Wilhelm Busch , but also Erich Kästner or Joachim Ringelnatz as authors , cannot be substantiated.
This saying can already be found in 1828 in the second and improved edition of the school laws of the teacher Anton Heilingbrunner from Wasserburg am Inn . The Anton Heilingbrunner School was named after him.
A quote from this vernacular can be found in a poem by Friedrich Nietzsche from The Happy Science of 1882:
“ Fool in Despair
Oh! What I wrote on table and wall
with a fool's heart and fool's hand,
should that adorn my table and wall? ...
But you say: "Smear foolish hands -
and you should purge the table and wall
until the last trace has disappeared!"
Allowed! I lend a hand -
I learned to use a sponge and a broom,
as a critic, as an Aquarius.
But, when the work is done,
I would like to see you, you referrals,
cover your table and wall with wisdom ... "
Individual evidence
- ↑ [Heilingbrunner, Anton: Die Schulgesetze, Munich 1828, p.90 http://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10759913-4 ]