Motivational Quotes

Wisdom

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

Best Quotes about Wisdom

No man is wise enough by himself.

Titus Maccius Plautus

The wisest man is he who does not fancy that he is so at all.

Boileau, Nicholas

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

Marilyn vos Savant

A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top .

The price of wisdom is eternal thought.

Birch, Frank

Wisdom makes a slow defense against trouble, though a sure one in the end.

Goldsmith, Oliver

There often seems to be a playfulness to wise people, as if either their equanimity has as its source this playfulness or the playfulness flows from the equanimity; and they can persuade other people who are in a state of agitation to calm down and manage a smile.

Hoagland, Edward

The wise man sees in the misfortune of others what he should avoid.

Aurelius, Marcus

As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

10.

Wisdom is knowledge, rightly applied.

11.

Wisdom overcomes fortune.

Juvenal, (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)

12.

The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.

Shaw, George Bernard

13.

The wise have always said the same things, and fools, who are the majority have always done just the opposite.

Schopenhauer, Arthur

14.

If I don't have wisdom, I can teach you only ignorance.

Buscaglia, Leo

15.

Wisdom comes by disillusionment.

Santayana, George

16.

The Universe is one great kindergarten for man. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson. The mountain teaches stability and grandeur; the ocean immensity and change. Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes, -- every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man. Even the bee and ant have brought their little lessons of industry and economy.

Marden, Orison Swett

17.

The wise man can pick up a grain of sand and envision a whole universe. But the stupid man will just lay down on some seaweed and roll around in it until he's completely draped in it. Then he'll stand up and go hey, I'm Vine Man.

Handey, Jack

18.

Beauty is the wisdom of women. Wisdom is the beauty of men.

Proverb, Chinese

19.

Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.

Saroyan, William

20.

Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know -- and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know -- even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction -- than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.

Asimov, Isaac

21.

It is not wise to be wiser than necessary.

Quinault, Philippe

22.

Though wisdom cannot be gotten for gold, still less can be gotten without it.

Butler, Samuel

23.

Where sense is wanting, everything is wanting.

Franklin, Benjamin

24.

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.

Socrates

25.

By others faults the wise correct their own.

Proverb

26.

Wisdom is not attained by years, but by ability.

Plautus, Titus Maccius

27.

The foolish sayings of a rich man pass for wise ones.

Proverb, Spanish

28.

He swallowed a lot of wisdom, but all of it seems to have gone down the wrong way.

Lichtenberg, Georg C.

29.

Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.

Immanuel Kant

30.

Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.

Horace

31.

The wisdom of a learned man comet by opportunity of leisure: and he that hath little business shall become wise. [Ecclesiasticus 38:25]

Bible

32.

Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times.

Bible

33.

The greatest wisdom is to realize one's lack of it

Stanislavisky, Konstantin

34.

The man who questions opinions is wise. The man who quarrels with facts is a fool.

Garbutt, Frank

35.

When you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you life in the wisdom of the Self.

Bhagavad Gita

36.

A wise man never knows all, only fools know everything

Proverb, African

37.

Kings may be judges of the earth, but wise men are the judges of kings.

Gabirol, Ibn

38.

There is a time when a man distinguishes the idea of felicity from the idea of wealth; it is the beginning of wisdom.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

39.

Inner wisdom is more important than wealth. The more you spend it, the more you gain.

Oprah Winfrey

40.

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.

Basho, Matsuo

41.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war. [9:18b, Ecclesiastes]

Bible

42.

The wise person has long ears and a short tongue.

Proverb, German

43.

If you wish to know the road up the mountain, ask the man who goes back and forth on it.

Zenrin

44.

Look at those they call unfortunate and at a closer view, you'll find many of them are unwise.

Young, Andrew

45.

The extreme limit of wisdom --that's what the public calls madness.

Cocteau, Jean

46.

Those who wish to appear wise among fools, among the wise seem foolish.

Quintilian

47.

Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.

Kraus, Karl

48.

It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite.

Levenson, Samuel

49.

Some men are wise, and some are otherwise.

Smollett, Tobias G.

50.

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