quotations about wisdom
The most exquisite Folly is made of Wisdom spun too fine.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Poor Richard's Almanack, 1746
Wisdom is oftimes nearer when we stoop
Than when we soar.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
The Excursion
He that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Wisdom is at all times the least burdensome traveling pack.
WILLIAM CAMDEN
attributed, Day's Collacon
The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom no clock can measure.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Proverbs of Hell
Better to be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.
AESOP
"Juno and the Peacock", Aesop's Fables
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
Wisdom is wisdom, wherever found.
G. DAVID NORDLEY
"The Fountain", Asimov's Science Fiction, June 1, 2013
All wisdom ends in paradox.
JEFFREY EUGENIDES
The Virgin Suicides
Wisdom is the lost property of the believer.
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad: The Last Prophet
It is because the old have forgotten life that they preach wisdom.
PHILIP MOELLER
Helena's Husband
Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
The Prince
Wisdom is inconceivable apart from something about which it can be called into operation.
SABINE BARING-GOULD
The Origin and Development of Religious Belief: Christianity
What men call knowledge, is the reasoned acceptance of false appearances. Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees.
SRI AUROBINDO
Thoughts and Aphorisms
A wise man heedeth all things, and in his own eyes is a fool.
MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER
Proverbial Philosophy
The wise form right judgment of the present from what is past.
SOPHOCLES
attributed, Day's Collacon
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
A wise man who cultivates wisdom may sometimes drown in it.
EIJI YOSHIKAWA
Taiko
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
Contend not in wisdom with a fool, for thy sense maketh much of his conceit;
And some errors never would have thriven, had it not been for learned refutation.
MARTIN FARQUHAR TUPPER
Proverbial Philosophy