Quotes about wisdom
352 quotes from 209 people
The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.
Frank Sinatra1915–1998The Way You Wear Your Hat (1997)Medicine heals diseases of the body, wisdom frees the soul from passions.
Democritus460–360 BCFragment B31 (preserved by Clement of Alexandria), tr. Kathleen Freeman, Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (1948), p. 149Mixing one’s wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably.
Bertolt Brecht1898–1956The Singer, in The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1944), PrologueThere’s nothing wrong with the world. What’s wrong is our way of looking at it.
Henry Miller1891–1980Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (1957), p. 351Recreate the world in your own image and make it better for your having been here.
Ray Bradbury1920–2012Speech at Brown University (1995)We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it.
J. M. Barrie1860–1937Margaret Ogilvy (1897), Ch. 8Avoid running at all times.
And don’t look back— something might be gaining on you.
Satchel Paige1906–1982“How to Stay Young,” Collier’s Magazine (13 June 1953)Avoid this crowd like the plague. And if they quote you, make damn sure they heard you.
Barbara Bush1925–2018Advice about news reporters, to incoming first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a tour of the White House, as quoted in Newsweek magazine (30 November 1992)The most important thing to do in your life is to not interfere with somebody else’s life.
Frank Zappa1940–1993In response to Joe Walsh on The Howard Stern Show (1987).When lost in a forest go always down hill. When lost in a philosophy or doctrine go upward.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914Epigrams, p. 354Don’t be too hard on the envious. Be glad you have, or had in the past, something enviable.
Susan Sontag1933–2004Death Kit (1967), p.73 [Page numbers per the Penguin Modern Classics 2009 Edition]The only rule is don’t be boring and dress cute wherever you go. Life is too short to blend in.
Paris Hiltonborn 1981Confessions of an Heiress (2004), p. 53 (included in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations )Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg1933–2020Statement of advice on being presented the Radcliffe Medal, as quoted in “Honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg” by Colleen Walsh, in The Harvard Gazette (29 May 2015)I am not bothered by the fact that I am not understood. I am bothered when I do not know others.
Confucius551–479 BCAnalects, Chapter I
Robert Louis Stevenson1850–1894Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers (1881)