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
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
The most exquisite Folly is made of Wisdom spun too fine.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Poor Richard's Almanack, 1746
Wisdom is the lost property of the believer.
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad: The Last Prophet
All wisdom ends in paradox.
JEFFREY EUGENIDES
The Virgin Suicides
What men call knowledge, is the reasoned acceptance of false appearances. Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees.
SRI AUROBINDO
Thoughts and Aphorisms
Better to be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.
AESOP
"Juno and the Peacock", Aesop's Fables
Wisdom is at all times the least burdensome traveling pack.
WILLIAM CAMDEN
attributed, Day's Collacon
It is because the old have forgotten life that they preach wisdom.
PHILIP MOELLER
Helena's Husband
A wise man is out of the reach of fortune.
THOMAS BROWNE
Religio Medici
Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
The Prince
Wisdom is wisdom, wherever found.
G. DAVID NORDLEY
"The Fountain", Asimov's Science Fiction, June 1, 2013
The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom no clock can measure.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Proverbs of Hell
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
What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Emile
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
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
Like gold in the hands of a savage are the sayings of wisdom in the mouth of a fool.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
If you desire to be wiser yet, think yourself not yet wise.
WELLINS CALCOTT
Thoughts Moral and Divine
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