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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“I am always deeply suspicious of received wisdom. [...] As far as I am concerned man-made global warming is nothing more than a hypothesis that hasn't got any basis in fact. Every day more scientists are modifying their initial views. Recently 60 German scientists wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel saying there was no proof for carbon causing global warming.”
Godfrey Bloom (born 1949) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a debate at York University, as cited in "Climate change: man-made or myth?", BBC News (11 October 2009)
“Even the street-sweeper is frequently more profoundly versed in subtle metaphysics and divine wisdom than the missionary sent to convert him.”
Virchand Gandhi (1864–1901) said by 1901 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At a crisis in my youth he taught me the wisdom of choice: To try and fail is at least to learn; to fail to try is to suffer the inestimable loss of what might have been.”
Chester Barnard (1886–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Doubtless, it shews the wisdom of God, to have so fram'd things at first, that there can seldom or never need any extraordinary interposition of his power; or the employing from, time to time, an intelligent overseer, to regulate, assist, and control the motions of matter.”
Robert Boyle (1627–1691) said by 1691 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No one knows everything. The learned are few. There is no guarantee that the smart bring wisdom. Knowledge is not available for all.”
“I set out by challenging conventional wisdom. They said the turntable didn't matter; I said it was critical. They said the speaker was the most important thing; I said it was the last thing to worry about. So I started off in conflict in an industry where few people understood the mechanical things and the recording aspects of the business.”
Ivor Tiefenbrun (born 1946) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with David Lander. Stereophile, 30 November 2003.
“Swaraj, will always remain a dream unless the people are healthy and strong in mind and body. They can not be so unless mothers have the health and wisdom to look after the children properly”
Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wisdom is intelligence drenched in culture.”
David Fleming (1940–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lean Logic, (2016), p. 302, entry on Local Wisdom
“Even the managers. It was all a feudal style of management. If we had accepted that style, we would not have grown. It was simply not a scalable model. Of course, the easiest thing would have been to follow it. But we had a disruptive style of management. So we said, 'we don't want people carrying their wisdom in notebooks as if it is some kind of secretive operation.'”
Mukesh Ambani (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God infinite, omniscient and omnipotent, woke me up and I was amazed! I have read some clues through His created things, in all of which, is His will; even in the smallest things, and the most minute! How much wisdom! What an inscrutable perfection!”
Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) said by 1778 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Detachment does not automatically mean wisdom, but it is nonetheless, an advantage because it allows the warrior to pause momentarily to reassess situations, to reconsider positions. In order to use that extra moment consistently and correctly, however, a warrior has to struggle unyieldingly for a lifetime.”
Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The guru is nothing but pure consciousness, Bliss and eternal wisdom.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wisdom is the assimilated knowledge in us, gained from an intelligent estimation and close study of our own direct and indirect experience in the world.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man-of-wisdom lives in the world, but he is never of the world.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The average man looks up at night And sees thousands and thousands, of twinkling stars, Each different from the others. But a man of wisdom and achievement, Perceives the one light, Behind the dark dome of the night-sky, Whose incandescence peeps at us, Through all the holes in the night-dome!!”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To see the one in the many is the casual vision of knowledge. To see the many in the one is the mission wisdom.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It takes thousands of them to create an archive of human wisdom; only one to set a torch to it. Wouldn’t you have to say, then, that the work of the librarians is more typical of mortal behavior than the work of the arsonist?”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As the origin and basis of all religions, it cannot be the antagonist of any: it is indeed their purifier, revealing the valuable inner meaning of much that has become mischievous in its external presentation by the perverseness of ignorance and the accretions of superstition; but it recognises and defends itself in each, and seeks in each to unveil its hidden wisdom. p. 21”
Annie Besant (1847–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the next two planes, the spiritual - those of wisdom and power, the buddhic and the atmic - goes on the specific evolution of the Initiate, after the first of the Great Initiations. These five planes form the field of the evolution of consciousness, until the human merges in the divine.”
Annie Besant (1847–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Common wisdom holds that the most complicated thing in the universe (asides from the universe itself) is the human brain. In actual fact, however, other objects are even more complex – starting with human society, especially today’s hypermodern society, a product of thousands and even billions of human brains; not to forget globalisation and the Internet.”
Éric Pichet (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wisdom is knowing what to do next. Virtue is doing it.”
David Starr Jordan (1851–1931) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ideals of Stanford", by President David Starr Jordan, in The Land of Sunshine: A Southern California Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 1. (Los Angeles, June 1898), p. 11
“In succeeding to the throne of Mysore, I follow a great ruler who loved you all, and who won your love by his love of God, by his wisdom, his graciousness, his humility, his faithfulness to his duty and his Kingly greatness; ...called upon people to ‘consecrate themselves in the spirit of unity and self sacrifice.”
Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (1919–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There can only be one wisdom. For if it were possible that there be several wisdoms, then these would have to be from one. Namely, unity is prior to all plurality”
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) said by 1464 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even though you acknowledge diverse religions, you all presuppose in all of this diversity the one, which you call wisdom”
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) said by 1464 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“See, therefore, how you, the philosophers of various schools of thought, agree in the religion of the one God, whom you all presupposed in that which you as lovers of wisdom acknowledge”
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) said by 1464 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some people (cabal members) who thought that they had a monopoly over truth and over wisdom found that the masses didn’t agree with them…These people are now confused …and want to say that they’re the repository of the entire truth and everything else is false consciousness.”
Swapan Dasgupta (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Swapan Dasgupta, a Rajya Sabha MP, in reference to the Lutyens’ cabal, had stated in a debate at Jaipur Literature Festival 2017,
“Transformation: Compassion and loving kindness can transform an enemy into a friend, while right view and wisdom can transform suffering into happiness.”
Thích Nhật Từ (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no providence or wisdom of man, nor of any council of men that can foresee and provide for all events and variety of cases, that will or may arise upon the making of a new law.”
Robert Atkyns (judge) first seen 1208 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 11 How. St. Tr. 1208.
“Human learning, with the blessing of God upon it, introduces us to divine wisdom; and while we study the works of nature the God of nature will manifest himself to us; since, to a well-tutored mind, “The heavens,” without a miracle, “declare his glory, and the firmament showeth his handy-work.”
George Horne (1730–1792) said by 1792 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: George Horne (bp. of Norwich.) (1799). Discourses on several subjects and occasions. Vol. 1,2, p. 357; As quoted in Allibone (1880)
“Unfortunately, people in office develop a rigidity or a false sense of prestige that the Government should not yield to pressure. I was no exception to it during my earlier career in charge of vital departments. Wisdom dawns when it is too late or the situation is beyond redemption.”
R. Venkataraman (1910–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[We are] the two great nations of broad-mindedness and wisdom that had pioneered human civilization. We will surely bring a cooperative and constructive partnership into the 21st century.”
Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Eric Pace in:;Dayal Sharma, 81, Former President of India, The New York Times, 3 January 2000
“Nothing is so peculiar to wisdom as truth.”
Quintus Sextius (51–101 BC) said by 101 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Security always soars along with unemployment,” said Pullen, nodding his head at his own wisdom. “We are in a major downturn. I’ve seen this before, so I know the drill. Locks, bolts, Dobermans, they’re all market leaders this quarter. That’s Capitalism 301, girls.”
Rudy Rucker (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When we consider the ideals - the values - that we should foster in Scotland's young people, we can think of the words inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament. Words that help describe the values for our whole democracy: justice, wisdom, integrity and compassion. Values that are - and have always been - at the heart of Catholic education in Scotland.”
Alex Salmond (1954–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yoga ferried me across the great river from the bank of ignorance to the shore of knowledge and wisdom.”
B. K. S. Iyengar (1918–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“True philosophy is a living wisdom, for which there is no death.”
Ernst, Baron von Feuchtersleben (1806–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've never observed wisdom to emerge from shouting.”
Stacy McGaugh (born 1964) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: at astroweb.case.edu. Accessed 2024.
“The bottom line is that monetary policy is a lot harder in the post-crisis world. We have learned a lot from the past five years, but there is still much we do not know. Policymakers, including the new Federal Reserve chair, are going to need flexible minds, good research, and the wisdom of ordinary Americans if they are going to meet the challenges that lie ahead.”
Christina Romer (born 1958) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Monetary Policy in the Post-Crisis World: Lessons Learned and Strategies for the Future", Sumerlin Lecture, Johns Hopkins University, October 25, 2013.
“Bilateral (cross-strait) relations have always been difficult and complex, requiring patience, wisdom and effort on both sides.”
Katharine Chang (born 1953) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Katharine Chang (2017) cited in "Premier seeks goodwill after Chinese warnings on independence" on The China Post, 8 March 2017.
“Picking up and letting go are two sides of the same coin; they are equally important. To pick up does not mean to fight for something; it is a resolve, a form of tolerance, and wisdom. To let go does not mean to ride on a loose rein and indulge oneself; it is the bodhisattva spirit of giving, only making contributions and not expecting anything in return.”
Hsing Yun (1927–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The stupidity of an old man imagines itself to be wisdom; that of an adult, experience; that of a youth, genius.”
Nicolás Gómez Dávila (1913–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All the life's wisdom can be found in anagrams. Anagrams never lie.”
“I find it hard to listen to fervent Republicans. Put the combined wisdom and honesty of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and a dozen others on the back of a postcard with a thick marker pen and you'll still have plenty of room for the address and stamp.”
Steve Hallett (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is for the legislature to alter the law if Parliament in its wisdom thinks an alteration desirable.”
Edward Macnaghten, Baron Macnaghten (1830–1913) first seen 1889 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hamilton v. Baker, "The Sara" (1889), L. R. 14 Ap. Ca. 227.
“[A] knowledge of Bach is the beginning of musical wisdom.”
Walter Raymond Spalding (1865–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”
James, son of Zebedee (1–44) said by 44 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Relativism, positivism, and nihilism — modern doctrines which mock wisdom and scorn virtue — have at the dawn of the twenty-first century come to dominate.”
Harry V. Jaffa (1918–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She had never acquired in-between shades of character, had not had the opportunity. She had been utterly selfish, and was now selfless, because she had never become a whole person, did not like herself, or know herself. Nor had she ever gained sufficient wisdom to be properly horrified at what she meant to do. She couldn’t think that intensely.”
Tanith Lee (1947–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The mass of mankind, Burke implies, reason hardly at all, in the higher sense, nor ever can: deprived of folk-wisdom and folk-law, which are prejudice and prescription, they can do no more than cheer the demagogue, enrich the charlatan, and submit to the despot.”
Russell Kirk (1918–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Conservatives respect the wisdom of their ancestors; they are dubious of wholesale alteration. They think society is a spiritual reality, possessing an eternal life but a delicate constitution: it cannot be scrapped and recast as if it were a machine.”
Russell Kirk (1918–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source