Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.
- Lao TzuWisdom
In the Western tradition wisdom is almost always defined by what it is not. Socrates is famous for claiming to know that he knew nothing; that was not modesty but method. Knowledge is a set of facts, wisdom is knowing what to do with them — and, more often, knowing when there are not enough of them.
Quotes about wisdom therefore sound almost disappointingly plain. They offer no system, only proportion: how much to say, when to stay silent, how far to trust your own judgement. Eastern traditions add a distrust of words themselves — Lao Tzu opens his book by warning that what matters most cannot be said. Worth remembering while reading a collection of sentences about wisdom.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
- Benjamin FranklinTalent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.
- Arthur SchopenhauerHe who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
- Lao TzuDo not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.
- Baruch SpinozaTry not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
- Albert EinsteinWealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
- EpictetusHe is richest who is content with the least.
- SocratesHe who learns but does not think is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.
- ConfuciusDare to know! Have the courage to use your own understanding.
- Immanuel KantEducation is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
- Nelson MandelaDo not say a little in many words, but a great deal in few.
- PythagorasCourage is knowing what not to fear.
- PlatoHe who flies high falls low.
- Croatian ProverbThe best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life.
- EuripidesProgress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
- George Bernard ShawIt's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
- EpictetusThe important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
- Albert EinsteinOnly the educated are free.
- EpictetusWe are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.
- Immanuel KantKeep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.
- Theodore RooseveltBake it first, then speak — think before you talk.
- Croatian ProverbKnow yourself and you will win all battles.
- Sun TzuNothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
- Marie CurieHave a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
- Charles DickensCharacter is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
- Abraham LincolnBy 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.
- ConfuciusYou have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
- Marcus AureliusIn a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.
- Swami VivekanandaAlways do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
- Mark TwainThe educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.
- AristotleGoodness is the only investment that never fails.
- Henry David ThoreauThe voice of the majority is no proof of justice.
- Friedrich SchillerBetter than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.
- BuddhaHe is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
- EpictetusLove all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
- William ShakespeareEveryone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
- Leo TolstoyThe superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
- ConfuciusWonder is the beginning of wisdom.
- SocratesBegin, be bold and venture to be wise.
- HoraceHe who opens a school door, closes a prison.
- Victor HugoIgnorance: the root and stem of every evil.
- PlatoThe greatest wealth is to live content with little.
- PlatoGive every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
- William ShakespeareIf your hate could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world.
- Nikola TeslaNo man is free who is not master of himself.
- EpictetusHealth is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
- BuddhaThe only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- SocratesA room without books is like a body without a soul.
- CiceroWhile we teach, we learn.
- Seneca