AN 3:5 · Inappropriately (Ayoniso Sutta)

“Monks, a person endowed with three qualities is to be recognized as a fool. Which three? He formulates a question inappropriately. He answers a question inappropriately. When another answers a question appropriately—having chosen circumscribed, coherent words & phrases—he doesn’t approve of it. A person endowed with these three qualities is to be recognized as a fool.

“Monks, a person endowed with three qualities is to be recognized as a wise person. Which three? He formulates a question appropriately. He answers a question appropriately. When another answers a question appropriately—having chosen circumscribed, coherent words & phrases—he approves of it. A person endowed with these three qualities is to be recognized as a wise person.”

See also: MN 2; AN 3:68; AN 4:42; AN 4:192

Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).