quotations about wisdom
A wise man who stands firm is a statesman; a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe.
ADLAI STEVENSON
attributed, 20,000 Quips & Quotes
Seen from the distance of 50 years, a lot of the assumed political wisdom is noteworthy mostly for just how wrong it was.
LILY ROTHMAN
"50 Years Ago This Week: Why the Presidential Campaign Starts Earlier Than Ever", Time, April 10, 2017
Wisdom is the only thing which can relieve us from the sway of the passions and the fear of danger, and which can teach us to bear the injuries of fortune itself with moderation, and which shows us all the ways which lead to tranquility and peace.
CICERO
The Academic Questions: Treatise De Finibus, and Tusculan Disputations of M. T. Cicero
Each of us knows all. We need only open our minds to hear our own wisdom.
DAN BROWN
Angels & Demons
Wisdom is the never-failing granary of thought.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
The wise man is wise in vain who cannot be wise to his own advantage.
ENNIUS
attributed, De Officii
The wise man is but a clever infant spelling letters from a hierographical prophetic book, the lexicon of which lies in eternity.
THOMAS CARLYLE
attributed, Day's Collacon
We have all met people who seek wisdom so they can wear it like a lecturer wears his robes, clear proof that they "know" more than others. But spirituality is not about "having" more knowledge. It is about "being". A person can write eloquent novels about wisdom, but if they don't know how to "be" that, it means zilch.
DEVORAH HENDERSON
"Intro: Wisdom is Not Copyrighted", Walking Kabbalah
The sun of the mind, and the life of the heart is Wisdom.
She is pure and full of light, crowning grey hairs with lustre,
And kindling the eye of youth with a fire not its own.
MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER
Proverbial Philosophy
We disgrace wisdom when we would strive to support it with folly.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
The wealth of mankind is the wisdom they leave.
JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY
"Rules of the Road"
The wise men were all fools, what to do?
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
"Last to Die", Magic
Wise men know each other.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
The next thing to having wisdom ourselves, is to profit by that of others.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
My wisdom has long accumulated like a cloud, it becomes stiller and darker. So does all wisdom which shall one day bear lightnings.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Was not this ... what we spoke of as the great advantage of wisdom -- to know what is known and what is unknown to us?
PLATO
Charmides
It is almost everywhere the case that soon after it is begotten the greater part of human wisdom is laid to rest in repositories.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook K", Aphorisms
A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence.
DAVID HUME
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
He that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is safe.
BIBLE
Proverbs 28:26