This man barely agreed to change his mind. But some people today? You can't convince them at all. Now I understand that old saying: you can't persuade or break a fool. I hope I never have a "wise fool" for a friend. Nothing is harder to deal with. "I've made up my mind," he says. So do madmen. The more convinced they are about things that don't exist, the more medicine they need. Why won't you act like a sick person and call a doctor? "I'm sick, teacher, help me. Tell me what to do. I should listen to you." That's how it should be here too: "I don't know what I should do, but I came to learn." But no — "Talk to me about other things. On this topic, I've decided." What other things?
Now this man was with difficulty persuaded to change his mind. But it is impossible to convince some persons at present; so that I seem now to know what I did not know before, the meaning of the common saying, that you can neither persuade nor break a fool. May it never be my lot to have a wise fool for my friend; nothing is more untractable. "I am determined," the man says. Madmen are also, but the more firmly they form a judgment on things which do not exist, the more hellebore they require. Will you not act like a sick man and call in the physician?—I am sick, master, help me; consider what I must do: it is my duty to obey you. So it is here also: I know not what I ought to do, but I am come to learn.—Not so; but speak to me about other things: upon this I have determined.—What other things?