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Quotes about wisdom

352 quotes from 209 people

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Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, truly!
You never find them keep the golden mean;
The limits of good sense, too narrow for them,
Must always be passed by, in each direction;
They often spoil the noblest things, because
They go too far, and push them to extremes.
Molière1622–1673Tartuffe (1664–1669), Act I, Scene VI, spoken by CleanteIn context
I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.
Montesquieu1689–1755Pensées Diverses
- Success
If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
William Morris1834–1896“The Beauty of Life”, a lecture before the Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design (19 February 1880), later published in Hopes and Fears for Art: Five Lectures Delivered in Birmingham, London, and Nottingham, 1878–1881 (1882)
- Advice
- Beauty
Treat the people with ease and don’t be hard on them; give them glad tidings and don’t fill them with aversion; and love each other, and don’t differ.
MMuhammad571–632Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 275
- Advice
- Leadership
Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
Miyamoto Musashi1584–1645Dokkodo
When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.
Miyamoto Musashi1584–1645Go Rin No Sho (1645), “The Book No-Thing-ness”
It is only by prudence, wisdom, and dexterity, that great ends are attained and obstacles overcome. Without these qualities nothing succeeds.
Napoleon1769–1821Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
- Success
There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.
Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Part I, Chapter 4
- Philosophy
Brave, unconcerned, mocking, violent⁠—thus wisdom wants us: she is a woman, and loves only a warrior.
Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Part I, Chapter 7
When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.
Michelle Obamaborn 1964Speech at the Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia (25 July 2016)
- Advice
- Character
Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.
George Orwell1903–1950Review of A Coat of Many Colours: Occasional Essays by Herbert Read, Poetry Quarterly (Winter 1945)
- Age
- Intelligence
Avoid 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)
- Advice
- Comedy
When an old and distinguished person speaks to you, listen to him carefully and with respect — but do not believe him. Never put your trust into anything but your own intellect.
Linus Pauling1901–1994Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker (2001) by Clifford Mead and Thomas Hager.
- Advice
- Age
It took untold generations to get you where you are. A little gratitude might be in order. If you’re going to insist on bending the world to your way, you better have your reasons.
Jordan Petersonborn 196212 Rules for Life (2017), p. 242
- Advice
A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.
Alexander Pope1688–1744Thoughts on Various Subjects (1727)