“To profit by the folly of others”

“To profit by the folly of others” is the English rendering of the Latin maxim Optimumque est, ut volgo dixere, aliena insania frui, attributed here to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. As the epigraph to Part Four, it introduces a section whose first scene places Cormoran Strike in the conspicuously image-conscious world of designer Guy Somé.

Wording and Source

The Latin sentence is paired directly with its English translation: the “best plan,” according to a popular saying, is to profit from other people’s folly. The attribution to Pliny the Elder gives the maxim the form of inherited practical wisdom; its sardonic emphasis falls not on correcting foolishness, but on finding advantage in it.

Placement and Narrative Context

The maxim appears immediately before the opening of Part Four. The next scene follows Cormoran Strike as he prepares to visit Guy Somé’s studio: he showers early and dresses with unusual care, having read Somé’s website and its advocacy of items such as degraded-leather chaps, metal-mesh ties, and black-brimmed headbands made from old bowlers. Strike chooses instead the conventional, comfortable dark blue suit he wore to Cipriani, with a faint feeling of defiance.

The juxtaposition gives the epigraph a pointed local resonance. Somé’s highly theatrical fashion prescriptions suggest a world in which taste and appearance can be turned into social currency; Strike’s restrained suit marks his refusal to adopt that world’s costume. The maxim does not establish that Strike profits from anyone’s folly, but it primes the reader to watch how advantage, performance, and judgment may operate in the encounter ahead.