Quotes about wisdom

"Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life -- in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color."

Seneca on wisdom   

"To be wise and love exceeds man's might."

Shakespeare, William on wisdom   

"So wise so young, they say, do never live long."

Shakespeare, William on wisdom   

"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 on wisdom   

"Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry."

Smiles, Samuel on wisdom   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning; whereas the experience gained from actual life is one of the nature of wisdom."

Smiles, Samuel on wisdom   

"Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only."

Smiles, Samuel on wisdom   

"Some men are wise, and some are otherwise."

Smollett, Tobias G. on wisdom   

"The beginning of wisdom is a definition of terms."

Socrates on wisdom
4 fans of this quote   

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

Socrates on wisdom
6 fans of this quote   

"Well I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know."

Socrates on wisdom
3 fans of this quote   

"Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness."

Sophocles on wisdom   

"Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon on wisdom   

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

Stanislavisky, Konstantin on wisdom   

"The wise man avoids evil by anticipating it."

Syrus, Publilius on wisdom   

"Who is a wise man? He who learns of all men."

Talmud, The on wisdom   

"Who is wise? One who learns from all."

Talmud, The on wisdom
3 fans of this quote   

"The end result of wisdom is... good deeds."

Talmud, The on wisdom   

"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."

Taylor, Sid on wisdom
3 fans of this quote   

"It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things."

Thoreau, Henry David on wisdom   

"A word to the wise is not sufficient if it doesn't make sense."

Thurber, James on wisdom   

"The only thing that we know is that we know nothing and that is the highest flight of human wisdom."

Tolstoy, Count Leo on wisdom
6 fans of this quote   

"A man never reaches that dizzy height of wisdom that he can no longer be lead by the nose."

Twain, Mark on wisdom   

"Wisdom is knowledge, rightly applied."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"If wisdom were on sale in the open market, the stupid would not even ask the price."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"Many people might have attained wisdom had they not assumed they already had it."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"The best mind might be the wisest mind if it were a mind alone that produces wisdom."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"The wise man says it cannot be done, but the fool goes and does it."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"What a wonderful world this would be if there were as many wise people as there are clever people."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"Wise are they who have learned these truths: Trouble is temporary. Time is a tonic. Tribulation is a test tube."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"Wise men are not always silent, but they know when to be."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"Without wisdom, knowledge is more stupid than ignorance."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"You can buy education, but wisdom is a gift from God."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"Understanding the limitations of human beings as well as understanding your own is the beginning of true wisdom."

Unknown, Source on wisdom   

"He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise."

Voltaire on wisdom
6 fans of this quote   

"Committing a great truth to memory is admirable; committing it to life is wisdom."

Ward, William A. on wisdom
4 fans of this quote   

"Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use."

Watson, Thomas J. on wisdom
5 fans of this quote   

"Wisdom begins at the end."

Webster, Daniel on wisdom   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself."

Ziggy on wisdom
3 fans of this quote   

"It seems to me that, in every culture, I come across a chapter headed Wisdom. And then I know exactly what is going to follow: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

Wittgenstein, Ludwig on wisdom