quotations about wisdom
A wise man is out of the reach of fortune.
THOMAS BROWNE
Religio Medici
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
A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence.
DAVID HUME
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
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
The next thing to having wisdom ourselves, is to profit by that of others.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
He that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
The most exquisite Folly is made of Wisdom spun too fine.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Poor Richard's Almanack, 1746
We disgrace wisdom when we would strive to support it with folly.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
Wisdom is the lost property of the believer.
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad: The Last Prophet
Better to be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.
AESOP
"Juno and the Peacock", Aesop's Fables
Many things imperfect by nature are made perfect by wisdom.
NICCOLO UZZANO
attributed, Day's Collacon
A wise man heedeth all things, and in his own eyes is a fool.
MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER
Proverbial Philosophy
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
The wise form right judgment of the present from what is past.
SOPHOCLES
attributed, Day's Collacon
A wise man who cultivates wisdom may sometimes drown in it.
EIJI YOSHIKAWA
Taiko
What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Emile
The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom no clock can measure.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Proverbs of Hell
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 consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
The Prince