Wisdom is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight.
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| Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.―Aristotle |
Here is a selection of wise sayings to help you make the most of your life: A great source of power is wisdom. We learn the most from listening to other people's success and failure tales.
160 Wise quotes that will inspire you to success in life. Make the most of your life by being inspired by these sage words of advice.
Wisdom Quotes and Sayings
Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.
It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform, or pause and reflect.
It is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.
Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.
In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.
The past has no power over the present moment.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
I'm not young enough to know everything.
Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver and gold.
Think before you speak. Read before you think.
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.
We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.
Even strength must bow to wisdom sometimes.
Turn your wounds into wisdom.
The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.
There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.
I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.
Angry people are not always wise.
The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.
There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.
We learn from failure, not from success!
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.
Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.
Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it.
The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.
We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.
Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.
All knowledge hurts.
It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise.
Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
I ask not for any crown. But that which all may win; Nor try to conquer any world, Except the one within.
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom.
A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Honesty is the best policy.
People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.
Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.
If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.
Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.
We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Don't sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there's nothing else you can give and nobody will care for you.
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
Patience is the companion of wisdom.
He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.
It is impossible to love and to be wise.
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
Wise? No, I simply learned to think.
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Where wisdom reigns, there is no conflict between thinking and feeling.
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.
Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.
Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.
There is a wisdom of the head, and... there is a wisdom of the heart.
Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut, that held its ground.
No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful.
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.
Commitment is an act, not a word.
No man is poor who has a Godly mother.
Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.
Wisdom... comes not from age, but from education and learning.
The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
A smart person knows how to talk. A wise person knows when to be silent.
Always be a first rate version of yourself, and not a second rate version of someone else.
The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid.
Wisdom is not wisdom when it is derived from books alone.
Wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good.
Cleverness is not wisdom.
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more.
The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.
A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.
No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.
Hide not your talents, they for use were made, What's a sundial in the shade?
Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.
The small wisdom is like water in a glass: clear, transparent, pure. The great wisdom is like the water in the sea: dark, mysterious, impenetrable.
Man's wisdom is his best friend; folly his worst enemy.
A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.
A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.
Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.
The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.
It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.
Wisdom outweighs any wealth.
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.
A desire not to butt into other people's business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom.
A man only becomes wise when he begins to calculate the approximate depth of his ignorance.
Don't find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.
Conceit spoils the finest genius.
I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.
The wisest are the most annoyed at the loss of time.
Experience is the father, and memory the mother of wisdom.
How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!
Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up.
Time flows away like the water in the river.
Anger exceeding limits causes fear and excessive kindness eliminates respect.
Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so.
Don't wish it was easier wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge wish for more wisdom.
Wisdom Quotes For Life
Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.
Step with care and great tact, and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.
Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone's life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
Hold fast to dreams. For if dreams die. Life is a broken-winged bird. That cannot fly.
Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, Love is knowing I am everything, and between the two my life moves.
True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.
The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Wisdom is having things right in your life and knowing why.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
You do not write your life with words...You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.
There are three constants in life; change, choice and principles.
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.
God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.
Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out of it alive.
Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent.
Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
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