Famous quotes
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Wisdom
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“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”
Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in: Michael J. Gelb (1996) Thinking for a change: discovering the power to create, communicate and lead. p. 96
“Providence, not niggardly, but wise, Here lavishly bestows, and there denies, That by each other's virtues we may rise.”
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) said by 1735 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder.”
Tad Williams (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The wise man is not waiting for the realness of the world to prove itself to him. How can one be an authority before the experiencing of this realness? My master taught me—and to me it seems chash, meaning correct—that you must not defend against the entering of knowledge.”
Tad Williams (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why can nothing be simple?” Geloë shifted on her stool. The wise woman’s voice was surprisingly sympathetic. “Because nothing is simple, Prince Josua.”
Tad Williams (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Success in science and scientific work come not through the provision of unlimited or big resources, but in the wise and careful selection of problems and objectives. Above all, what is required is hard sustained work and dedication.”
Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hold no dream of fortune vast, Nor seek undying fame. I do not ask when life is past That many know my name.I may not own the skill to rise To glory's topmost height, Nor win a place among the wise, But I can keep the right.And I can live my life on earth Contented to the end, If but a few shall know my worth And proudly call me friend.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, youth, go forth and do! You, too, to fame may rise; You can be strong and wise. Stand up to life and play the man — You can if you'll but think you can; The great were once as you. You envy them their proud success? 'Twas won with gifts that you possess.”
Edgar Guest (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Christian quotes what the Old Virginians said against slavery. True; but why didn't he quote what the modern Virginians said in favor of it? Mason, Hunter, Wise, etc. Why didn't he state that a Virginia senator, Mason, was the author of the Fugitive Slave Law, and why didn't he quote The Virginia Code that made it a crime to speak against slavery?”
John S. Mosby (1833–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not easy to be wise for all times, not event for the present much less for the future; and those who judge the past must recollect that, when it was the present the present was future”
Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) first seen 1811 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gouverneur Morris to Robert Walsh (February 5, 1811)
“Spirituality is neither the privilege of the poor nor the luxury of the rich. It is the choice of the wise man.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Awake! Arise! Go and learn from the wise! Become brave karma-yogis of the Lord!”
Haidakhan Babaji (2000–1984) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 20 April 1983.
“Awake! Arise! Go to the wise and gain knowledge! Realize the Self! Be of firm determination – fully concentrated – achieve your goal! (…)”
Haidakhan Babaji (2000–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A wise partner does not come between her man and his best friend.”
Lindsey Davis (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By a law that was divine, most admirable, and bestowed by grace upon all, it was made known to men that community was greatly in their interest, and that they are therefore preserved by an order in which laws are established by the common consent of all, or at least of the wise and heroic, with the others’ support”
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) said by 1464 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Therefore in the Qur'an the splendour of the Gospel shines forth to the wise, to those who are led by the Spirit of Christ”
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) said by 1464 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All Governments rest mainly on public opinion, and to that of his own subjects every wise Sovereign will look. The opinion of his subjects will force a Sovereign to do his duty, and by that opinion will he be exalted or depressed in the politics of the world.”
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon (1732–1802) first seen 1799 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Trial of John Vint and others (1799), 27 How. St. Tr. 640.
“In our time mathematics has penetrated into economics so solidly, widely and variously, and the chosen theme is connected with such a variety of facts and problems that it brings us to cite the words of which are very popular in our country: "One can not embrace the unembraceable". The appropriateness of this wise sentence is not diminished by the fact that the great thinker is only a pen-name.”
Leonid Kantorovich (1912–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When waiting, travelling and not fully occupied otherwise – relax, breath, with draw and remember at attainment of pleasure that really satisfies through the wise use of leisure is an integral part of right living.”
Gulzarilal Nanda (1898–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A child is innately wise and realistic. If left to himself without adult suggestion of any kind, he will develop as far as he is capable of developing.”
A. S. Neill (1883–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Because that's where I live, and have lived for a few years now. I wouldn't say in food tastes, for instance, that I'm Indian. I would say I'm Chinese, food-wise. That's the food that I like to eat on a daily basis." It's common for people to be a mix of cultures, rather than having one specific identity.”
Jeet Thayil (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man was wise if heavy and tardy, like all phlegmatic temperaments; learned if he wrote books with one eye on the public and the other on his colleague.”
Oscar Levy (1867–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The man who is ingenious and wise, who is accompanied by a friend, and who knows the intentions of others, as also the proper time and place for doing everything, can gain over, very easily, even a woman who is very hard to be obtained.”
Vātsyāyana (500–500) said by 500 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You have to look at what you have right in front of you, at what it could be, and stop measuring it against what you've lost. I know this to be wise and true, just as I know that pretty much no one can do it.”
Jonathan Tropper (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many people know how to get money, but few know how to keep it. Wise investments are always based on information, Johannes, so the more you know, the better.”
Louis L'Amour (1908–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be static was never wise. Cobwebs clung to walls which stood. Men must journey, for in motion lay the seed, or at least the symbol of progress.”
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If men were only as wise as they are clever...”
Sean Russell (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is first of all factually correct that Muslims of India have DNA wise the same DNA as us. And therefore there is nothing wrong with them acknowledging that their ancestors are Hindus. If they say Hindus are not their ancestors, then who could be their ancestors? Now after all we created Pakistan for those Muslims who didn't consider themselves as ready to live with their Hindu brothers.”
Subramanian Swamy (born 1939) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Indian Muslims have Hindu ancestry: Subramanian Swamy", IBNLive (14 April 2011)
“Howard Wise is one of the people who is responsible for the idea of an alternative television.”
Frank Gillette (born 1941) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frank Gillette, interview with Marita Sturken, Nov. 11, 1983, cited in: Marita Sturken. "TV as a Creative Medium: Howard Wise and Video Art," in: Afterimage, May 1984
“Science is not the latest religion and scientists are not exalted priests. We have to think of science as a wonderful tool that is also dangerous. Using it requires responsibility. Science gives us vaccines one moment, nuclear warheads the next. It’s up to us to be wise tool users.”
Guy P. Harrison (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I suppose that he's an alter ego. But he's a little snarkier than I am - slightly wise. Kermit says things I hold myself back from saying.”
Jim Henson (1936–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A wise person is one who sees the effect of an action before he acts.”
Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Children are really desperate to see the world as pleasing; and their desperateness is part of a wise hope.”
Eli Siegel (1902–1978) said by 1978 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maybe I’ve finally learned the bitter truth that I can’t beat them, even if I’ll never join them. But I’m not going to lose the one thing I can still call my own: my life. And you should wise up and do the same, especially with a new child on the way.”
Nick Drake (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As was demonstrated as long ago as the 1930s by the German experimental geneticist Hans Grüneberg, neither structural reduction or loss, nor structural addition, is a completely gradual process. Instead, the loss or gain of a structure is developmentally constrained to be more step-wise, or saltational.”
Jeffrey H. Schwartz (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All I've done since I've been in Washington has been to sit around and try to look wise, and that's what any man has to do who isn't willing to barter his convictions for political expediency. ... No man who wants to be intellectually honest has any business in Congress.”
John J. Whitacre (1860–1938) first seen 1913 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: December 30, 1913 in and other newspapers.
“It is clear... that the concept of space can in no wise be generated by thought. ...Whoever maintains the contrary must undertake to derive the dimensions of space from the pure laws of thought—a problem which is at once seen to be impossible of solution.”
Hermann Grassmann (1809–1877) first seen 1844 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Die lineare Ausdehnungslehre (1844) Einleitung, p. 20 seq. As quoted by , The Concepts and Theories of Modern Physics (1881) Ch XIV. Metageometrical Space in the Light of Modern Analysis Riemann's Essay, p. 260.
“Moria and stultitia are both rendered nowadays as 'folly', but both have far stronger senses than folly has now. They imply derangement of mind, madness, mania. Such are the defects attributed to Christians by the worldly-wise. And vice-versa.”
Michael Andrew Screech (1926–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Although the mutual laughter may seem six of one and half-a-dozen of the other, it is not. The Christian is profoundly mad merely by the standards of the world. To the world the wicked seem wise, but are mad in the sight of God. The Christian is touched by the Infinite and will not only have the last laugh at the end of time: even now he laughs more insanely than the worldlings.”
Michael Andrew Screech (1926–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You must understand that changes have to happen, but not with our uncompromising attitude. It can happen only when we are being wise, being intelligent and by attracting support from every quarter.”
Anwar Ibrahim (born 1947) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anwar Ibrahim (2021) cited in: "YOURSAY | Harapan, do principles no longer matter?" in MalaysiaKini, 7 November 2021.
“To the wise man every land is eligible as a place of residence; for the whole world is the country of the worthy soul.”
Stobaeus (430–470) said by 470 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear, guilt, despair, and moon-struck frenzy rush On voluntary death: the wise and brave, When the fierce storms of fortune round 'em roar, Combat the billows with redoubled force: Then, if they perish ere the port is gained, They sink with decent pride; and from the deep Honour retrieves them, bright as rising stars.”
Elijah Fenton (1683–1730) said by 1730 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Listen to anyone in the street and he’ll tell you what to do. Our people are wise.”
Vasyl Slipak (1974–2016) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ukrainian opera singer Vasyl Slipak killed by sniper // The Washington Post. — 2016. — July 2.
“[The books of Euclid pass on to us] something admirable and very necessary to see and to read, namely the order in the method of writing on mathematics in that aforementioned time of the wise age.”
Simon Stevin (1548–1620) said by 1620 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Géographie, in Les Oeuvres Mathématiques de Simon Stevin de Bruges (1634) ed. Girard, p. 109, as quoted by Jacob Klein]], Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra (1968)
“Go back and correct your mistakes. We all make mistakes. The wise person admits them, corrects them, and doesn’t leave them for others to clean up.”
Don Soderquist (1934–2016) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Don Soderquist “Live Learn Lead to Make a Difference, Thomas Nelson, April 2006 p. 58.
“They make their fortune who are stout and wise, Wit rules the heavens, discretion guides the skies.”
Edward Fairfax (1580–1635) said by 1635 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The totalitarian State does not tolerate any ‘second government,’ any challenge to the power of the all-wise dictator. [As the Nazi party has stated] ‘Within the constitution of the Third Reich any position independent of the will of the Fuehrer no longer exists. The principle of separation of power is a thing of the past. Only the Party has a privileged position.’”
Günter Reimann (1904–2005) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 13 (Zeitschrift der Akademie fuer Deutches Recht, July 1, 1938, p. 513)
“Everywhere there are people who think they are so busy and so wise... And yet the truth IS that all of these are working in the unreal and the outer, they have not, most of them, even realised that there is an inner and spiritual world which is of enormously more importance, of far greater value in every way, than this which is external. (First Talk)”
Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We suppose the existence of a wise and beneficent Being who presided over the formation of the World, and who is pleased to display his infinite perfections on this illustrious theatre.”
Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728–1777) said by 1777 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But we, the great, the valiant, and the wise, When once the seal of death has closed our eyes, Lost in the hollow tomb obscure and deep, Slumber, to wake no more, one long unbroken sleep!”
Moschus (201–201 BC) said by 201 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source