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Wisdom

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“A wise man first thinks and then speaks and a fool speaks first and then thinks.”
Ali (599–661) said by 661 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fool's mind is at the mercy of his tongue and a wise man's tongue is under the control of his mind.”
Ali (599–661) said by 661 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Immortal gods! how much does one man excel another! What a difference there is between a wise person and a fool!”
Terence (185–159 BC) said by 159 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks...”
Ben Jonson (1572–1637) said by 1637 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Heinrich Heine (misattributed)
“By Silence, the discretion of a man is known: and a fool, keeping Silence, seemeth to be wise.”
Pythagoras (583–491 BC) said by 491 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fool is known by his Speech; and a wise man by Silence.”
Pythagoras (583–491 BC) said by 491 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Authority intoxicates, And makes mere sots of magistrates; The fumes of it invade the brain, And make men giddy, proud and vain; By this the fool commands the wise, The noble with the base complies, The sot assumes the rule of wit, and cowards make the base submit.”
Samuel Butler (poet) first seen 1893 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Miscellaneous Thoughts, lines 283-290 ; as contained in The Poetical Works of Samuel Butler: A Revised Edition with Memoir and Notes, Volume 2, Samuel Butler, G. Bell & Sons (1893), pp. 275-276
“Any damn fool can beg up some kind of job; it takes a wise man to make it without working.”
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim. If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed have to wait forever.”
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“1953. Learn the art of Silence; the wise Man that holds his Tongue, says more than the Fool who speaks.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“4540. The Fool wanders, the wise Man travels.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“4833. The wise Man draws more Advantage from his Enemies, than a Fool from his Friends.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) first seen 1749 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1749) : The wise Man draws more Advantage from his Enemies, than the Fool from his Friends.
“5272. Travel makes a wise Man better, but a Fool worse.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fool boasts about what little he knows. A wise man keeps quiet about what he knows and is safe.”
Sarvajna wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who was it who said that a wise man speaks when he has something to say, but a fool speaks because he must?”
Alastair Reynolds (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Daughters of turbulent mind awaking their mothers’ ire, And sons who of froward mood wish ill to their sire, I see; Sherbets of sugar and rose the world to the fool supplies, But naught save his own heart’s blood the food of the wise I see; Galled by the pack-saddle’s weight the Arab’s proud steed grows old, Yet always the ass’s neck encircled with gold I see.”
Hafez (1325–1389) said by 1389 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I belong to the generation of 1968, which, throughout the world, hoped to recast society on the model of the imagination. I have tried to learn from disappointment and defeat, but I have not despaired. "If the fool would persist in his folly," wrote William Blake, "he would become wise.”
Roberto Mangabeira Unger (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The wise man's rule is worth much more to him than the fool's revenue.”
Mateo Alemán (1547–1614) said by 1614 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hold him to be a fool who throughout his life is dying with fear that he must die; and to be a bad man he who lives so careless of it as if death did not exist [...]. The only wise man is he who lives through each day as if at any hour he may die.”
Francisco de Quevedo (1584–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She had a place in his life, He never made her think twice. As he rises to her apology, Anybody else would surely know. He's watching her go.But what a fool believes He sees No wise man has the power To reason away. What seems to be Is always better than nothing, And nothing at all.”
Kenny Loggins (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even though you are like travelers at dusk at the foot of a mountain, you should not be discouraged, because you will certainly advance step by step toward the top of that mountain called consciousness. Isn’t it so? Anyone who looks attentively at human history will understand that all people, the wise and the fool, and also the poor, are heading toward the shore of freedom, each in their own way.”
Uchiyama Gudō (1874–1911) said by 1911 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The successful pioneer is the man who never spared others; the forgotten pioneer is the man who never spared himself, but, being a fool, built houses for wise men to live in, and omitted to gather moss. The former is the early bird; the latter is the early worm.”
Joseph Furphy (1843–1912) first seen 1903 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Such Is Life (1903), Ch. 3
“A thousand doltish geese we might have spared, A thousand witless heads death might have found, A taken them for whom no man had cared, And laid them low in deep oblivious ground: But fortune favors fool, as old men say, And lets them live, and takes the wise away.”
Barnabe Googe (1540–1594) said by 1594 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When a traveller gets a thorn in his foot," Mbejane went on softly, "and he is wise, he plucks it out — and he is a fool, he leaves it and says, 'I will keep this thorn to prick me so that I will always remember the road upon which I have travelled.' Nkosi, it is better to remember with pleasure than with pain.”
Wilbur Smith (1933–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Great mutations must be undertaken with great counsel and proceed slowly in order to proceed safely: otherwise, instead of one good from a wise man, two evils from a fool are encountered, which are to decide without judgement and to repent without remedy.”
Daniello Bartoli (1608–1685) said by 1685 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Authority intoxicates, And makes mere sots of magistrates; The fumes of it invade the brain, And make men giddy, proud and vain; By this the fool commands the wise; The noble with the base complies; The sot assumes the role of wit, And cowards make the base submit.”
Samuel Butler (poet) (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.”
The Bible (active around 812) bartlett, Public domain source
“Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.”
The Bible (active around 812) bartlett, Public domain source
“No one ever found wisdom without also being a fool.”
Erica Jong (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“wholly to be a fool while Spring is in the world my blood approves, and kisses are a better fate than wisdom”
E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I am fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of his self-approved wisdom.”
Lord Byron (1788–1824) first seen 1813 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal for Saturday, 27th November 1813; Quoted in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron by Thomas Moore (1830), Vol III, Chap. XVII, p. 208
“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes a day. Wisdom consists of not exceeding the limit.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one's self a fool; the truest heroism is to resist the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom to know when it ought to be resisted, and when to be obeyed.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They new the old folk wisdom: what has been built might be really crap and therefore it doesn’t make any sense to dig it, for the smell could make the life really impossible. They regarded Gorbachev exactly that kind of a fool, who had broken the rule.”
Alexander Zinoviev (1922–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thought the fool is to be pitied, still he is spared watching spurious wisdom turn to ashes in his head.”
Henry S. Haskins (1875–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He dares to be a fool, and that is the first step in the direction of wisdom.”
James Huneker (1857–1921) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Pathos of Distance (1915), p. 257
“I find that to be a fool as to worldly wisdom, and to commit my cause to God, not fearing to offend men, who take offence at the simplicity of truth, is the only way to remain unmoved at the sentiments of others.”
John Woolman (1720–1772) said by 1772 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 36; as cited in: Ruth Marie Griffith (2008) American Religions: A Documentary History. p. 137
“In the old words of wisdom, you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, and that’s usually enough to get by.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reason! A fool can give more reasons for his folly than a saint can urge for his wisdom. We have five senses, but only one conscience. That explains everything. The game is unequal.”
John Oliver Hobbes (1867–1906) said by 1906 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fool is willing to pay for anything but wisdom. No man buys that of which he supposes himself to have an abundance already.”
William Gilmore Simms (1806–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He used to reason as follows: 'Everything belongs to the gods; the wise are friends of the gods; friends hold all things in common; ergo, everything belongs to the wise.'”
Diogenes of Sinope (400–323 BC) said by 323 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diogenes Laërtius, vi. 37, as reported in Diogenes the Cynic: Sayings and Anecdotes as translated by Robin Hard (Oxford: 2012), p. 13
“Mr. Britton, don't be a wise guy, because I'm gonna mop up the floor with you if you're a wise guy to me. This is my playpen, not yours.”
Judith Sheindlin (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don't be a wise guy in here, sir. There's only one wise person in here - and that's Byrd.”
Judith Sheindlin (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men all say, "We are wise"; but being driven forward and taken in a net, a trap, or a pitfall, they know not how to escape. Men all say, "We are wise"; but happening to choose the course of the Mean, they are not able to keep it for a round month.”
Confucius (551–479 BC) said by 479 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The title wise is, for the most part, falsely applied. How can one be a wise man, if he does not know any better how to live than other men? — if he is only more cunning and intellectually subtle?”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) said by 1862 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men may be born free; they cannot be born wise; and it is the duty of the university to make the free wise.”
Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What I Think (1956), p. 55
“There's a hell of a distance between wise-cracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words.”
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview, The Paris Review (Summer 1956)
“And you remember, Rabbi Wise has declared, in a heated moment, that our plays seem to be written for the hosiery buyers. If Dr. Wise had only witnessed our new summer reviews, he doubtless would have amended his statement to “read by the hosiery buyers.” p.89”
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nor is prescription of government formed upon blind unmeaning prejudices—for man is a most unwise, and a most wise, being. The individual is foolish. The multitude, for the moment, is foolish, when they act without deliberation; but the species is wise, and when time is given to it, as a species it almost always acts right.”
Edmund Burke (1729–1797) first seen 1782 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons against William Pitt's motion for parliamentary reform (7 May 1782), quoted in The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke ...: Miscellaneous speeches, letters, and fragments, Vol. VI (1…
“Wise command, wise obedience: the capability of these two is the net measure of culture, and human virtue, in every man; all good lies in the possession of these two capabilities; all evil, wretchedness and ill-success in the want of these.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source