Wise quotes
5.1K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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"I wish it (Christianity) were more productive of good works ... I mean real good works ... not holy day keeping, sermon-hearing ... or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments despised by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity."
"The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine."
"It pays to be prepared."
"The one knowing what is profitable, and not the man knowing many things, is wise."
"The wisest of the wise may err."
"I discuss with myself questions of politics, love, taste, or philosophy. I let my mind rove wantonly, give it free rein to followany idea, wise or mad that may present itself. My ideas are my harlots."
"You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, so all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last. You have all the fears of mortals and all the desires of immortals… What foolish forgetfulness of mortality to defer wise resolutions to the fiftieth or sixtieth year, and to intend to begin life at a point to which few have attained."
"You must accept responsibility for your actions, but not the credit for your achievements."
"Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night."
"It is wise statesmanship which suggests that in time of peace we must prepare for war, and it is no less a wise benevolence that makes preparation in the hour of peace for assuaging the ills that are sure to accompany war."
"Heaven sends down its good and evil symbols and wise men act accordingly."
"Without goodness a man cannot endure adversity for long, nor can he enjoy prosperity for long. The good man is naturally at ease with goodness. The wise man cultivates goodness for its advantage."
"Things that are done, it is needless to speak about...things that are past, it is needless to blame."
"The wise men of antiquity, when they wished to make the whole world peaceful and happy, first put their own States into proper order. Before putting their States into proper order, they regulated their own families. Before regulating their families, they regulated themselves. Before regulating themselves, they tried to be sincere in their thoughts. Before being sincere in their thoughts, they tried to see things exactly as they really were."
"Not to converse with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To converse with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words."
"The wise are free from perplexities; the virtuous from anxiety; and the bold from fear."
"Poverty makes you sad as well as wise."
"A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights."
"I would go out into the desert. The desert was my teacher. I didn't know about gurus and wise people-I wasn't a reader."
"Numerous are the academic professors, but rare are wise and noble teachers."
