Wisdom Quotes

The growth of wisdom may be gauged exactly by the diminution of ill temper.
– Friedrich Nietzsche
Some coaches pray for wisdom. I pray for 260-pound tackles. They'll give me plenty of wisdom.
– Chuck Noll
The information in the world doubles everyday. What they don't tell us,is that our wisdom is cut in half at the same time.
– Joey Novick
The old - like children - talk to themselves, for they have reached that hopeless wisdom of experience which knows that though one were to cry it in the streets to multitudes, or whisper it in the kiss to one's beloved, the only ears that can ever hear one's secrets are one's own!
– Sean O'Casey
Never suffer your courage to exert itself in fierceness, your resolution in obstinacy, your wisdom in cunning, nor your patience in sullenness and despair.
– Charles Palmer
That which the dream shows is the shadow of such wisdom as exists in man, even if during his waking state he may know nothing about it... We do not know it because we are fooling away our time with outward and perishing things, and are asleep in regard to that which is real within ourself.
– Philipus Aureolus Paracelsus
These days people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future.
– Mary Caroline Richards
Anxiety about the future never profits; we feel no evil until it comes, and when we feel it, no counsel helps; wisdom is either too early or too late.
– Arthur Somers Roche
How earthy old people become - moldy as the grave! Their wisdom smacks of the earth. There is no foretaste of immortality in it. They remind me of earthworms and mole crickets.
– Henry David Thoreau
We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again - and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.
– Mark Twain
Wisdom is perishable. Unlike information or knowledge, it cannot be stored in a computer or recorded in a book. It expires with each passing generation.
– Sid Taylor
The Way of a Warrior is based on humanity, love, and sincerity; the heart of martial valor is true bravery, wisdom, love, and friendship. Emphasis on the physical aspects of warriorship is futile, for the power of the body is always limited.
– Morihei Ueshiba
It is the ultimate wisdom of the mountains that a man is never more a man than when he is striving for what is beyond his grasp.
– James Ramsey Ullman
Science says: We must live, and seeks the means of prolonging, increasing, facilitating and amplifying life, of making it tolerable and acceptable, wisdom says: We must die, and seeks how to make us die well.
– Miguel de Unamuno
One cannot help but be aware of the great scurrying to borrow, spend, invest, divest or just flat out hide things in the next three months before the wisdom of Congress falls upon us.
– George Vecsey
You try to manipulate the process. In Sacramento, I was very good at it, at getting legislation passed. And when I came to Washington I thought that I was going to approach it differently. That the conventional wisdom was such that you had to not be confrontational, not challenge too much, but understand that there was great tradition.
– Maxine Waters
Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof.
– Walt Whitman
If a person tells me he has been to the worst places I have no reason to judge him; but if he tells me it was his superior wisdom that enabled him to go there, then I know he is a fraud.
– Ludwig Wittgenstein
Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.
– William Wordsworth
Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break.
– Jane Wells
Women have always been the guardians of wisdom and humanity which makes them natural, but usually secret, rulers. the time has come for them to rule openly, but together with and not against men.
– Charlotte Wolff
It is most important that we should keep in this country a certain leisured class. I am of the opinion of the ancient Jewish book which says there is no wisdom without leisure.
– William Butler Yeats
If age imparted wisdom, there wouldn't be any old fools.
– Claudia Young
Every best-dressed woman keeps some of her gowns for years. She's learned that fashion-wisdom is compounded of knowledge, taste, confidence and poise.
– Loretta Young
Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric moved:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I shall endure.
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.
– Dante Alighieri
To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong to the rank of devoutly religious men.
– Albert Einstein
A Prayer For My Son: Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory…Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength. Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, I have not lived in vain.
– General Douglas MacArthur
Accuse not nature, she hath done her part;
Do thou but thine, and be not diffident
Of wisdom, she deserts thee not, if thou
Dismiss not her, when most thou needest her nigh,
By attributing overmuch to things
Less excellent, as thou thyself perceivest.
– John Milton
If then the power of speech is as great as any that can be named,—if the origin of language is by many philosophers considered nothing short of divine—if by means of words the secrets of the heart are brought to light, pain of soul is relieved, hidden grief is carried off, sympathy conveyed, experience recorded, and wisdom perpetuated,—if by great authors the many are drawn up into unity, national character is fixed, a people speaks, the past and the future, the East and the West are brought into communication with each other,—if such men are, in a word, the spokesmen and the prophets of the human family—it will not answer to make light of Literature or to neglect its study: rather we may be sure that, in proportion as we master it in whatever language, and imbibe its spirit, we shall ourselves become in our own measure the ministers of like benefits to others—be they many or few, be they in the obscurer or the more distinguished walks of life—who are united to us by social ties, and are within the sphere of our personal influence.
– John Henry Cardinal Newman
Wisdom is supreme; therefore make a full effort to get wisdom. Esteem her and she will exalt your; embrace her and she will honor you.
– Proverbs 4:7-8
It is the first step in sociological wisdom, to recognize that the major advances in civilisation are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur: like unto an arrow in the hand of a child. The art of free society consists first in the maintenance of the symbolic code; and secondly in fearlessness of revision, to secure that the code serves those purposes which satisfy an enlightened reason. Those societies which cannot combine reverence to their symbols with freedom of revision, must ultimately decay either from anarchy, or from the slow atrophy of a life stifled by useless shadows.
– Alfred North Whitehead
You shall go with me, newly-married bride,
And gaze upon a merrier multitude.
White-armed Nuala, Aengus of the Birds,
Feachra of the hurtling form, and him
Who is the ruler of the Western Host,
Finvara, and their Land of Heart's Desire.
Where beauty has no ebb, decay no flood,
But joy is wisdom, time an endless song.
– William Butler Yeats
Make wisdom your provision for the journey from youth to old age, for it is a more certain support than all other possessions.
– Bias
Innocence dwells with Wisdom, but never with Ignorance.
– William Blake
There is an alchemy in sorrow. It can be transmuted into wisdom, which, if it does not bring joy, can yet bring happiness.
– Pearl S. Buck
Tis sometimes the height of wisdom to feign stupidity.
– Cato the Elder
Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom.
– Hugo De Groot
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
– Charles Dickens
Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,--'Wait and hope'.
– Alexandre Dumas
Science is one thing, wisdom is another. Science is an edged tool, with which men play like children, and cut their own fingers.
– Sir Arthur Eddington
Where duty is plain, delay is both foolish and hazardous; where it is not, delay may provide both wisdom and safety.
– Tryon Edwards
Like an ability or a muscle, hearing your inner wisdom is strengthened by doing it.
– Robbie Gass
Wisdom is what's left after we've run out of personal opinions.
– Cullen Hightower
To flee vice is the beginning of virtue, and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom.
– Horace
Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.
– Horace
It is not the rich man you should properly call happy, but him who knows how to use with wisdom the blessings of the gods, to endure hard poverty, and who fears dishonor worse than death, and is not afraid to die for cherished friends or fatherland.
– Horace
One's first step in wisdom is to question everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything.
– Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Age is…wisdom, if one has lived one's life properly.
– Miriam Makeba
Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom.
– Chinese Proverb
There is no wisdom without love.
– N. Sri Ram
Passive acceptance of the teacher's wisdom is easy to most boys and girls. It involves no effort of independent thought, and seems rational because the teacher knows more than his pupils; it is moreover the way to win the favour of the teacher unless he is a very exceptional man. Yet the habit of passive acceptance is a disastrous one in later life. It causes man to seek and to accept a leader, and to accept as a leader whoever is established in that position.
– Bertrand Russell
Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure.
– William Saroyan
The arts are the servant; wisdom its master.
– Lucius Annaeus Seneca
There is no happiness where there is no wisdom;
No wisdom but in submission to the gods.
Big words are always punished,
And proud men in old age learn to be wise.
– Sophocles
Wisdom oft lurks beneath a tattered coat.
– Caecilius Statius
That is true wisdom, to know how to alter one's mind when occasion demands it.
– Terence
Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place.
– Abigail Van Buren
Wisdom and spirit of the Universe!
Thou soul is the eternity of thought!
That giv'st to forms and images a breath
And everlasting motion! Not in vain
By day or star-light thus from by first dawn
Of childhood didst thou intertwine for me
The passions that build up our human soul,
Not with the mean and vulgar works of man,
But with high objects, with enduring things,
With life and nature, purifying thus
The elements of feeling and of thought,
And sanctifying, by such discipline
Both pain and fear, until we recognize
A grandeur in the beatings of the heart.
– William Wordsworth
Your aim will be knowledge and wisdom, not the reflected glamour of fame.
– Abbott L. Lowell
Women's strength, women's industry, women's wisdom are humankind's greatest untapped resource. The challenge then for U.N. Women is to show our diverse constituencies how this resource can be effectively tapped in ways that benefit us all.
– Michelle Bachelet
Women always excel men in that sort of wisdom which comes from experience. To be a woman is in itself a terrible experience.
– H. L. Mencken
Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
– Baltasar Gracian
Wisdom, prudence, forethought, these are essential. But not second to these that noble courage which adventures the right, and leaves the consequences to God.
– Robert Dale Owen
Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness.
– Sophocles
Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.
– Confucius
Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.
– John Cheever
Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Wisdom is learning what to overlook.
– William James
Wisdom is nothing but a preparation of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life.
– Herman Hesse
Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.
– Phil Jackson
Wisdom I know is social. She seeks her fellows. But Beauty is jealous, and illy bears the presence of a rival.
– Thomas Jefferson
Wisdom and deep intelligence require an honest appreciation of mystery.
– Thomas Moore
Wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call out great virtues.
– Abigail Adams
Wisdom alone is the science of other sciences.
– Plato
Wisdom alone is true ambition's aim, wisdom is the source of virtue and of fame obtained with labour, for mankind employed, and then, when most you share it, best enjoyed.
– Alfred North Whitehead
Wisdom allows nothing to be good that will not be so forever no man to be happy but he that needs no other happiness than what he has within himself no man to be great or powerful that is not master of himself.
– Lucius Annaeus Seneca
While many of us never knew Ronald Reagan personally, we felt close to him because we shared his lighthearted sense of humor, admired his uncommon virtue, and were moved by his remarkable wisdom.
– Randy Forbes
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.
– St. Francis of Assisi
When I was at drama school, I wanted to change the world, and thought I had some great wisdom to impart to people about humanity. Now that I'm older, I know enough to realise that I know nothing at all.
– Michael Sheen
What makes Superman a hero is not that he has power, but that he has the wisdom and the maturity to use the power wisely. From an acting point of view, that's how I approached the part.
– Christopher Reeve
What if Barack Obama established a Presidential Advisory Committee that would meet once every couple of months, bringing together the former presidents for a conference in order to seek their collective wisdom? There is a wealth of experience in former presidents that generally goes untapped.
– Tony Campolo
We simply can no longer afford to deny the full potential of one half of the population. The world needs to tap into the talent and wisdom of women. Whether the issue is food security, economic recovery, health, or peace and security, the participation of women is needed now more than ever.
– Michelle Bachelet
We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.
– Samuel Smiles
War involves in its progress such a train of unforeseen circumstances that no human wisdom can calculate the end it has but one thing certain, and that is to increase taxes.
– Thomas Paine
True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.
– Socrates
To make no mistakes is not in the power of man but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.
– Plutarch
To comprehend the Wisdom of this Injunction the better, and explain the Duty before us, it should be considered, that Government is the only Means by which human Happiness can be attained.
– Charles Inglis
Through mutual understanding, sincerity and goodwill, and with great wisdom and broad views, the leaders on both sides should jointly initiate new opportunities for peace, stability, cooperation and mutual benefit.
– Chen Shui-bian
This, and this alone, is Christianity, a universal holiness in every part of life, a heavenly wisdom in all our actions, not conforming to the spirit and temper of the world but turning all worldly enjoyments into means of piety and devotion to God.
– William Law
They whom truth and wisdom lead, can gather honey from a weed.
– William Cowper
They see me as being this Super Mom on TV who also can more than handle a difficult husband, and they assume I'm going to be just full of wisdom as a mother and wife myself.
– Patricia Richardson
There was endless action - not just football, but sailboats, tennis and other things: movement. There was endless talk - the ambassador at the head of the table laying out the prevailing wisdom, but everyone else weighing in with their opinions and taking part.
– Charles Spalding
There is as much wisdom in listening as there is in speaking - and that goes for all relationships, not just romantic ones.
– Daniel Dae Kim
There is a universal, intelligent, life force that exists within everyone and everything. It resides within each one of use as a deep wisdom, an inner knowing. We can access this wonderful source of knowledge and wisdom through our intuition, an inner sense that tells us what feels right and true for us at any given moment.
– Shakti Gawain
There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.
– Confucius
The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect equality.
– Andrew Jackson
The wisdom of age: don't stop walking.
– Mason Cooley
The wisdom of crowds works when the crowd is choosing the price of an ox, when there's a single numeric average. But if it's a design or something that matters, the decision is made by committee, and that's crap. You want people and groups who are able to think thoughts before they share.
– Jaron Lanier
The wisdom and experience of older people is a resource of inestimable worth. Recognizing and treasuring the contributions of older people is essential to the long-term flourishing of any society.
– Daisaku Ikeda
The seven wise men of Greece, so famous for their wisdom all the world over, acquired all that fame, each of them, by a single sentence consisting of two or three words.
– Robert South