Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Wisdom
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“Not to know certain things is a great part of wisdom.”
Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To live like an anchorite, without the superstitious ignorance which leads him to such a course of life, this is wisdom indeed, and power is the reward.”
Eliphas Levi (1810–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The majority believes that everything hard to comprehend must be very profound. This is incorrect. What is hard to understand is what is immature, unclear and often false. The highest wisdom is simple and passes through the brain directly to the heart.”
Viktor Schauberger (1885–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never had any qualm of conscience as to my motives and intentions before the war. I used to torture myself by questioning whether by more foresight or wisdom I could have prevented the war, but I have come to think that no human individual could have prevented it. Nothing could have prevented it except a change of the Prussian nature.”
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Louise Creighton (April 1918), quoted in G. M. Trevelyan, Grey of Fallodon; Being the Life of Sir Edward Grey afterwards Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1937), p. 250
“[I]n our civilized society I must lead the life of a savage. I must free myself even from governments. My sympathies lies with the people; I must go to them directly. I must draw my wisdom from them, and they must give me life. For that reason I have just embarked on the grand, independent and vagabond life of the bohemian.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter, (1850) to his friend Francis Wey; as quoted in Georges Riat Gustave Courbet', Parkstone International (2015).
“Mocking the wisdom that comes with age is a fit sport only for those who expect never to attain much of it themselves.”
Iain Banks (1954–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One tool that is used most and has the greatest misuse of power is looks, and another tool that is used least and has the least desire for power is wisdom.”
Eugene J. Martin (1938–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Serenity is the first thing people with addiction issues are instructed to request: God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.”
Russell Brand (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend. Eternity mourns that. ’Tis an ill cure For life’s worst ills, to have no time to feel them. Where sorrow ’s held intrusive and turned out, There wisdom will not enter, nor true power, Nor aught that dignifies humanity.”
Henry Taylor (1800–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wisdom is corrupted by ambition, even when the quality of the ambition is intellectual. For ambition, even of this quality, is but a form of self-love…”
Henry Taylor (1800–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let the world admire the supposed wisdom and valor of our great men. Perhaps they may adopt the qualities that have been ascribed to them, and thus good may be done. I shall not undeceive future generations.”
Charles Thomson (1729–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you can keep Peace, reduce expense, extend Commerce, and strengthen our hold on India by Confidence in our justice and kindness and wisdom, you will be received on your Return with acclamations a thousand times louder and a welcome infinitely more cordial than if you have a dozen victories to boast of, and annexe the Punjaub to the overgrown Empire of India.”
Robert Peel (1788–1850) first seen 1844 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Henry Hardinge, the Governor-General of India (6 November 1844), quoted in Donald Read, Peel and the Victorians (1987), p. 154
“We too. No wisdom to utter. You've beauty, flux, and terror To tell. So've I. And they're Very hard to mutter Through so much chatter and stutter.”
Philip José Farmer (1918–2009) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Black Squirrel on Cottonwood Limb's Tip" in Skyhook #23 (Winter 1954-55); re-published in Pearls From Peoria (2006)
“There's an element of desperation in the insistence of the graduate student's respect for knowledge — as opposed to wisdom. (p. 95)”
Theodore Roethke (1908–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments [are] and past tracing out his ways [are]! For “who has come to know Jehovah’s mind, or who has become his counselor?”
Paul of Tarsus (5–66) said by 66 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remember the day The scarred and the broken The words left unspoken The songs left unsung Remember to pray For comfort and healing For wisdom in leading 'Til the journey is done And remember the way And we looked past what divides us To find the light inside us And let that light shine.”
Steven Curtis Chapman (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We invoke the Great Goddess in our hour of need for her wisdom and her mercy," Teleus said in the demotic. "Ere translates as love, a rather ruthless love, not mercy, Teleus. The Great Goddess of Eddis not known for her mercy.”
Megan Whalen Turner (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The wisdom of the Lord is infinite as are also His glory and His power. Ye heavens, sing His praises: sun, moon, and planets, glorify Him in your ineffable language! Praise Him, celestial harmonies, and all ye who can comprehend them! And thou, my soul, praise thy Creator! It is by Him and in Him that all exist.”
Johannes Kepler (1572–1630) said by 1630 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Forty Thousand Sublime and Beautiful Thoughts (1904) ed. Charles Noel Douglas, p. 845. See also Methodist Review (1873), vol. 55, pp. 187–88.
“The way towards 'wisdom' or towards 'freedom' is the way towards your inner being. This is the simplest definition of metaphysics.”
Mircea Eliade (1907–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in The Little Book of Romanian Wisdom (2011) edited by Diana Doroftei and Matthew Cross
“The power of the Father guide me, the wisdom of the Son enlighten me, the working of the Spirit quicken me. Guard Thou my soul, stablish my body, elevate my senses, direct my converse, form my habits, bless my actions, fulfil my prayers, inspire holy thoughts, pardon the past, correct the present, prevent the future.”
Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626) said by 1626 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Equal interchange of goods and service between buyer and seller is the keynote of tomorrow’s business world when the vision of the modern business man awakens him to the wisdom of writing that policy into his code of ethics.”
Walter Russell (1871–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wisdom is not assimilated with the eyes, but with the atoms. When your conviction of a truth is not merely in your brain but in your being, you may diffidently vouch for its meaning.”
Yukteswar Giri (1855–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And how we become like our parents! How their scorned advice – based, we felt in our superiority, on prejudices and muddled folk wisdom – how their opinions are subsequently borne out by our own discoveries and sense of the world, one after one. And as this happens, we realise with increasing horror that proposition which we would never have entertained before: our mothers were right!”
Alexander McCall Smith (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But we make such mistakes all the time, all through our lives. Wisdom, I suppose, is seeing this and acting upon it before it is too late. But it is often too late, isn’t it? – and those things that we should have said are unsaid, and remain unsaid for ever.”
Alexander McCall Smith (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You need diplomacy and not slogans. This is the place for wisdom, the place for seeking windows that will take you to the objective.”
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1934–2017) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (October 8, 2005)
“The war in Ukraine challenged conventional wisdom about the rules-based international order, great power competition and Euro-Atlantic security. The most recent developments also breathed new life into NATO, arguably the greatest military alliance in history.”
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There will be commotions and turbulent times, Seek no peace — it will not accrue to thee. The Ruler of Heaven knows thy prayer. From his ardent wrath thy praise has propitiated him The Sovereign King of Glory addresses me with wisdom Hast thou seen the dominus fortis? Knowest thou the profound prediction domini?”
Taliesin (518–599) said by 599 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your talk," I said, "is surely the handiwork of wisdom because not one word of it do I understand.”
Brian O'Nolan (1911–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are in fact four very significant stumbling blocks in the way of grasping the truth, which hinder every man however learned, and scarcely allow anyone to win a clear title to wisdom, namely, the example of weak and unworthy authority, longstanding custom, the feeling of the ignorant crowd, and the hiding of our own ignorance while making a display of our apparent knowledge.”
Roger Bacon (1220–1292) said by 1292 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in: John H. Woodburn, Ellsworth Scott Obourn (1965) Teaching the pursuit of science. p. 70
“The little boy I watched throwing pebbles into the empty fountain [...] You could tell that he had too much wisdom for his age. Probably he believed that he wasn't made for this world. I wanted to say to him: If not you, who?”
Nicole Krauss (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wisdom … never closes her school of thought but always opens her doors to those who thirst for the sweet water of discourse, and pouring on them an unstinted stream of undiluted doctrine, persuades them to be drunken with the drunkenness which is soberness itself.”
Philo (15 BC–50) said by 50 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As parents in private life teach wisdom to their children, so do [poets] in public life to their cities.”
Philo (15 BC–50) said by 50 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By realizing that we are ignorant of the most important things, we realize at the same time that the most important thing for us, or the one thing needful, is quest for knowledge of the most important things or quest for wisdom.”
Leo Strauss (1899–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And so with us, she thought. We come, we go, and, as individuals, we are forgotten. But the stream of human life goes on, ever changing, but ever the same, and as the stream is fed by well-springs hoarded by Nature so the stream of humanity is fed by the store of accumulated wisdom and effort and hard-won experience of past generations.”
Flora Thompson (1876–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For Poetry is the wisdom of the blood, That scarlet tree within, which has the power To make dull words bud forth and burst in flower.”
Osbert Sitwell (1892–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Late Shri. Cakyar, was not just a skilled exponent and a capable teacher of Kutiyattam, his wisdom and depth of knowledge made him worthy of the title "Acharya" ” - Dr. Prem Lata Sharma (noted Hindi writer and scholar of Indian arts and literature), 1994”
Mani Madhava Chakyar (1899–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The science of human nature belongs to people who are not afraid to live independent lives. They alone have the flexible access to experience which can bring human wisdom and strength into being, and once these assets exist, they will send forth their influence with an authority that cannot be resisted, unmindful of artificial man made boundaries, reaching anywhere in the world.”
Paul Rosenfels (1909–1985) said by 1985 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In accordance with the prarabdha of each, the One whose function it is to ordain makes each to act. What will not happen will never happen, whatever effort one may put forth. And what will happen will not fail to happen, however much one may seek to prevent it. This is certain. The part of wisdom therefore is to stay quiet.”
Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fence to wisdom is silence.”
Akiba ben Joseph (50–135) said by 135 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God is Infinite Wisdom, and Power, and Goodness — and Love; but if this idea is too vast for your human faculties — if your mind loses itself in its overwhelming infinitude, fix it on Him who condescended to take our nature upon Him, who was raised to heaven even in His glorified human body, in whom the fullness of the Godhead shines.”
Anne Brontë (1820–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some paradox of our natures leads us, when once we have made our fellow men the objects of our enlightened interest, to go on to make them the objects of our pity, then of our wisdom, ultimately of our coercion.”
Lionel Trilling (1905–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, there is no reason either in football or in poetry why the two should not meet in a man's life if he has the weight and cares about the words.”
Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Moonlighting on Yale Field, Riders on Earth (1978)
“People always blame the girl; she should have said no. A monosyllable, but conventional wisdom has always been that boys can't manage it.”
Anna Quindlen (born 1952) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The New York Times, sect. 4, p. 13 (April 11, 1993).
“Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others. The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficient purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations.”
Haile Selassie (1892–1975) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech on Leadership in Speeches Delivered on Various Occasions, May 1957-December 1959 (1960), p. 138
“William Blake once said the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. And that’s where I dwell. John Morrison is enlightened.”
John Hennigan (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know what, Punk? You been knockin' at my door at the palace of wisdom ever since I became the ECW champion. But sittin' right there with your lame tattoos and that little chair is as close as you're ever gonna get to earthly paradise.”
John Hennigan (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We don't like fatties at the Palace of Wisdom.”
John Hennigan (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We don't like snakes in the Palace of Wisdom.”
John Hennigan (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We date real women in the Palace of Wisdom.”
John Hennigan (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We don't let nerds hang out at the Palace of Wisdom.”
John Hennigan (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source