Walter Lippmann on wisdom

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.

You cannot endow even the best machine with initiative; the jolliest steam-roller will not plant flowers.

In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

Socrates470–399 BC

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Confucius551–479 BC

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