great minds think alike (fools seldom differ)
- Used to emphasize a coincidence, or two people reaching the same conclusion in any manner at the same time.
- Person A: He looks a bit like David Beckham...
- Person B: I was just thinking that!
- Person A: Great minds think alike, eh?
- Person C: More like fools seldom differ in this case...
The "Fools seldom differ" part is found in British English, while the aphorism is usually phrased "... and fools rarely differ" in American English.
used to emphasize two people reaching the same conclusion
- Catalan: grants ments tenen els mateixos pensaments
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 英雄所見略同／英雄所见略同 (zh) (yīngxióng suǒjiàn lüètóng)
- Dutch: grote geesten denken gelijk
- Finnish: sitä minäkin juuri ajattelin
- French: les grands esprits se rencontrent (fr)
- German: zwei Seelen, ein Gedanke (literally “two souls, one thought”), (now more often) zwei Dumme, ein Gedanke (literally “two fools, one thought”)
- Greek: τα μεγάλα πνεύματα συναντώνται (ta megála pnévmata synantóntai)
- Hebrew: מוחות גדולים חושבים בצורה דומה
- Irish: tuigeann fáidh fáidh eile
- Japanese: 賢人は皆同じように考えるものだ (けんじんはみんなおなじようにかんがえるものだ, kenjin wa minna onaji yō ni kangaeru mono da)
- Korean: 역지즉개연(易地則皆然) (yeokjijeukgaeyeon), 역지사지(易地思之) (ko) (yeokjisaji)
- Norwegian: store hoder tenker likt, to sjeler, en tanke (literally “two souls, one thought”)
- Polish: wielkie umysły myślą tak samo
- Portuguese: grandes mentes pensam igual, grandes mentes pensam da mesma forma
- Russian: у дурако́в мы́сли схо́дятся (u durakóv mýsli sxódjatsja, literally “fools' thoughts converge”)
- Scottish Gaelic: tha inntinnean móra a' co-smaoineachadh
- Spanish: grandes mentes piensan igual
- Swedish: två själar, en tanke, två själar, samma tanke
- Turkish: aklın yolu bir
- Welsh: tebyg meddwl pob doeth, unfarn pob doeth
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- Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 125.
