Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Wisdom
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“Fools talk, cowards are silent, wise men listen.”
Carlos Ruiz Zafón (1964–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only fools think they’re wise; the rest of us just muddle through as we can.”
Charles de Lint (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fools pretend to foretell what will be the issue of things, and are laughed at for their awkward conjectures. Wise men being aware of the uncertainty of human aflairs, and having observed how small a matter often produces a great change, are modest in their conjectures.”
James Burgh (1714–1775) said by 1775 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Are we meant to take more than we give or are we meant to be kind? And if only fools are kind, Alfie, then I guess it's wise to be cruel.”
Hal David (1921–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools.”
Douglas Bader (1910–1982) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Brickhill 1954, p. 44. Note: (also quoted as "...for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.") In Reach for the Sky, this quote is attributed to Harry Day, the Royal Flying Corps First World War fighter ace.
“Simpletons talk of the past, wise men of the present, and fools of the future.”
Napoleon (1769–1821) said by 1821 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So weak thou art, that fools thy power despise; And yet so strong, thou triumph'st o'er the wise.”
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) said by 1745 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who are a little wise, the best fools be.”
John Donne (1572–1631) said by 1631 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Dr. John Donne
“Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery element are made for wise men to contemplate, and for fools to pass by without consideration.”
Izaak Walton (1593–1683) said by 1683 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Shallow men speak of the past, wise men of the present, and fools of the future.”
Madame du Deffand (1696–1780) said by 1780 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are all fools when one wise man appears.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's this old line the wise folks in Washington have that "it's not the crime, but the cover-up."But only fools believe that. It's always about the crime. The whole point of the cover-up is that a full revelation of the underlying crime is not survivable.”
Josh Marshall (born 1969) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Talking Points Memo (2007-03-26)
“Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men.”
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are all fools sometimes, child, yet a wise woman learns to limit how often.”
Robert Jordan (1948–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah, how little knowledge does a man acquire in his life. He gathereth it like water, but like water it runneth through his fingers, and yet, if his hands be but wet as though with dew, behold a generation of fools call out, "See, he is a wise man!”
H. Rider Haggard (1856–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now such an one for daughter Creon had As maketh wise men fools and young men mad.”
William Morris (1834–1896) first seen 1867 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Life and Death of Jason, Book xvii (1867)
“The wise men were all fools, what to do?”
Bruce Springsteen (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A little group of wise hearts is better than a wilderness full of fools.”
John Ruskin (1819–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The friendship of one wise man is better than the friendship of a host of fools.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have since often observed, how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind is, especially of youth, to that reason which ought to guide them in such cases - viz. they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent. Not ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are ashamed of the returning, which can only make them be esteemed wise men.”
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731) said by 1731 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A wise man told me don't argue with fools Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who”
“There is a kind of animal frenzy can be whipped up sometimes among fools and children, often using religion as an excuse for it. When it happens, it is wise to be elsewhere.”
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“1577. Fools make Feasts, and wise Men eat them.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) first seen 1745 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1745) : Fools make feasts and wise men eat them.
“1579. Fools may invent Fashions, that wise Men will wear.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“5779. Wise Men learn by other Men's Harms ; Fools, by their own.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A hundred wise men have said in various ways that love transcends the power of death, and millions of fools have supposed that they meant nothing by it. At this late hour in my life I have learned what they meant. They meant that love transcends death. They are correct.”
Gene Wolfe (1931–2019) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bed and Breakfast", Dante's Disciples (1995), ed. Edward E. Kramer; reprinted in Gene Wolfe, Strange Travelers (2000); reprinted in Gene Wolfe, The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009)
“What all the wise men promised has not happened, and what all the damned fools said would happen has come to pass.”
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848) said by 1848 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: W. M. Torrens Memoirs of William Lamb, Second Viscount Melbourne (1890), p. 234
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they would like to say something. As empty vessels make the loudest sounds, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”
Plato (disputed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fortune, seeing that she could not make fools wise, has made them lucky.”
Michel de Montaigne (attributed) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Essays of Michel de Montaigne, translated by Charles Cotton (1877), Book the Third, Chapter VIII — Of The Art Of Conference. Note : this is the version found at Project Gutenberg.
“Thus we play the fools with the time, and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds and mock us.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) said by 1616 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“For words are wise men's counters,--they do but reckon by them; but they are the money of fools.”
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) said by 1679 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Fools learn wisdom through misfortune.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These fools by dint of ignorance most crass, Think they in wisdom all mankind surpass; And glibly do they damn as infidel Each one who is not, like themselves, an ass.”
Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) said by 1131 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In idle wishes fools supinely stay; Be there a will, and wisdom finds a way.”
George Crabbe (1754–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Birth of Flattery, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
“I know the dark delight of being strange, The penalty of difference in the crowd, The loneliness of wisdom among fools”
Claude McKay (1889–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Complete Poems, University of Illinois Press, 2004, p. 348
“The wisdom of peasants shows itself in their ability to pretend that they are fools.”
Shūsaku Endō (1923–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Woman is quick to recognize genius, to listen when wisdom speaks. She chatters, to be sure, in the presence of fools; but when earnest men come to know the value of her enthusiasm, they will never be willing to lose it.”
Caroline Healey Dall (1822–1912) said by 1912 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One fool will deny more truth in half an hour than a wise man can prove in seven years.”
Coventry Patmore (1823–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fool will seek revenge, the wise man will allow God's karma.”
Keshia Chante (born 1988) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hello Magazine (2009)
“The fool wonders, the wise man asks.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1839 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Count Alarcos: A Tragedy Act IV, sc. i (1839)
“A wise man rules his passions, a fool obeys them.”
Publilius Syrus (101–101 BC) said by 101 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Titles are marks of honest men, and wise; The fool or knave that wears a title lies.”
Edward Young (1683–1765) said by 1765 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. He whose face gives no light shall never become a star.”
William Blake (1757–1827) said by 1827 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.”
William Blake (1757–1827) said by 1827 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now, blessings light on him that first invented this same sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, even.”
Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) said by 1616 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Over all civilizations there hovers the shadow of Ecclesiastes, with his admonition, "How dieth the wise man? — as the fool" (ii 16)”
Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“523. A fool may throw a stone into a well, which a hundred wise men cannot pull out.”
George Herbert (1593–1633) said by 1633 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Tis only man can words create, And cut the air to sounds articulate By nature's special charter. Nay, speech can Make a shrewd discrepance 'twist man and man: It doth the gentleman from clown discover; And from a fool the grave philosopher; As Solon said to one in judgment weak, I thought thee wise until I heard thee speak.”
James Howell (1594–1666) said by 1666 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Poetical Quotations (1829) p. 280
“In courtesy I’d have her chiefly learned; Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned By those that are not entirely beautiful; Yet many, that have played the fool For beauty’s very self, has charm made wise. And many a poor man that has roved, Loved and thought himself beloved, From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.”
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) said by 1939 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fool generalizes the particular; the nerd particularizes the general; ... the wise does neither.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source