quotations about wisdom
The wise man is wise in vain who cannot be wise to his own advantage.
ENNIUS
attributed, De Officii
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
Even when we lose our way, wisdom never leaves us. And when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our relationship with and faith in wisdom is all we need to live a life rich with meaning, purpose, and joy, it gets simpler.
MICHAEL NEILL
"The Hedgehog of Wisdom", Huffington Post, January 14, 2016
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
The wealth of mankind is the wisdom they leave.
JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY
"Rules of the Road"
The next thing to having wisdom ourselves, is to profit by that of others.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
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
Wisdom is the never-failing granary of thought.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
Each of us knows all. We need only open our minds to hear our own wisdom.
DAN BROWN
Angels & Demons
We disgrace wisdom when we would strive to support it with folly.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is safe.
BIBLE
Proverbs 28:26
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
A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence.
DAVID HUME
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Wise men know each other.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
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
The wise men were all fools, what to do?
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
"Last to Die", Magic
When wisdom leaves the house folly enters it.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
King Lear
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
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