Quotes about wisdom
352 quotes from 209 people
The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.
Seneca the Younger5 BC–AD 65Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXX: On the proper time to slip the cable, Line 4.It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.
Anatole France1844–1924Le livre de mon ami (1885): Le livre de Pierre, part I, ch. II: La dame en blancLike your body your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.
AAli599–661Nahj al-BalaghaNever give way to melancholy; resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach.
Sydney Smith1771–1845Lady Holland’s Memoir (1855), Vol. I, ch. 10, p. 372Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.
Robert F. Kennedy1925–1968“Conflict in Vietnam and at Home” speech at Kansas State University on March 18, 1968 as part of the Alfred M. Landon Lectures on Public Issues.He is a fool who leaves things close at hand
To follow what is out of reach.
Hesiod776–700 BCFrg. 61 M.-W. (tr. F. C. Babbitt, 1939); assignment to the Catalogue conjecturalNever fight fair with a stranger, boy. You’ll never get out of the jungle that way.
Arthur Miller1915–2005Death of a Salesman (1949), BenNever say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’, otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.
Ian Fleming1908–1964Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (1964), Ch. 2It is wise to listen, not to me but to the Word, and to confess that all things are one.
Heraclitus535–470 BCFragment 50More helpful than all wisdom is one draught of simple human pity that will not forsake us.
When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.
Ursula K. Le Guin1929–2018The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Chapter 3 “The Mad King” (p. 42)To understand the actual world as it is, not as we should wish it to be, is the beginning of wisdom.
Bertrand Russell1872–1970Mortals and Others (1931-35)
Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Part I, Chapter 7- AAli599–661Nahj al-Balagha
Woodrow Wilson1856–1924Speech on Military Preparedness, Pittsburgh (29 January 1916)
