quotations about wisdom
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
Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
King Lear
He that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Wisdom is at all times the least burdensome traveling pack.
WILLIAM CAMDEN
attributed, Day's Collacon
The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom no clock can measure.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Proverbs of Hell
Better to be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.
AESOP
"Juno and the Peacock", Aesop's Fables
Wisdom is wisdom, wherever found.
G. DAVID NORDLEY
"The Fountain", Asimov's Science Fiction, June 1, 2013
All wisdom ends in paradox.
JEFFREY EUGENIDES
The Virgin Suicides
It is because the old have forgotten life that they preach wisdom.
PHILIP MOELLER
Helena's Husband
Wisdom is the lost property of the believer.
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad: The Last Prophet
Nothing doth more hurt in a state, than that cunning men pass for wise.
FRANCIS BACON
"Of Cunning", The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral
Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
The Prince
What men call knowledge, is the reasoned acceptance of false appearances. Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees.
SRI AUROBINDO
Thoughts and Aphorisms
A wise man is out of the reach of fortune.
THOMAS BROWNE
Religio Medici
Beware of a leader who doesn't have scars or walk with a limp. One of the characteristics of a great leader is wisdom, and the best way to get wisdom is through experience. Normally that experience includes a few failures -- that's where battle scars and limps come from.
INGAR GREV
"Here's why companies don't want to hire people over the age of 40", The Business Journals, January 26, 2016
Wisdom is inconceivable apart from something about which it can be called into operation.
SABINE BARING-GOULD
The Origin and Development of Religious Belief: Christianity
Never, no, never did Nature say one thing and Wisdom say another.
EDMUND BURKE
Letters on a Regicide Peace
A wise man who cultivates wisdom may sometimes drown in it.
EIJI YOSHIKAWA
Taiko
True wisdom is not found in yes-or-no answers, but in the open mind of not-knowing.
MELVIN MCLEOD
"Benefit, Not Benefits", Lion's Roar, April 3, 2017
A man remains ignorant because he loves ignorance, and chooses ignorant thoughts; a man becomes wise because he loves wisdom and chooses wise thoughts.
JAMES ALLEN
Above Life's Turmoil