[Grammar] It is a strange enough thing that...

[Crowned 91]

Hi!

Is this sentence grammatical and natural?
It is a strange enough thing that smart people think of themselves as fools whereas fools think of themselves as smart.

 

[emsr2d2]

It is strange enough that smart people think [of] themselves [as] fools without fools thinking [of] themselves [as] smart!

 

[MikeNewYork]

Your substitution of "without" for "whereas" changes the meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

True, but "whereas" didn't fit with "It's a strange enough thing" in the original so something needed to be changed.

 

[MikeNewYork]

If that is the case, I would have changed the beginning: "It is strange that...".