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| Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.―Aristotle |
Wisdom is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight.
Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, self-transcendence and non-attachment, and virtues such as ethics and benevolence.
Wisdom has been defined in many different ways, including several distinct approaches to assess the characteristics attributed to wisdom.
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.
INSPIRATIONAL SAYINGS OF WISDOM
Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.― Leo Tolstoy
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.― Paulo Coelho
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.― Socrates
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.― Albert Einstein
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.― Lao Tzu
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.― Albert Einstein
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.― Mark Twain
The past has no power over the present moment.― Eckhart Tolle
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.― Aristotle
I'm not young enough to know everything.― J.M. Barrie
Any fool can know. The point is to understand.― Albert Einstein
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.― Truman Capote
Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver and gold.― Bob Marley
Related: The 120 Best Quotes On Knowledge.
Think before you speak. Read before you think.― Fran Lebowitz
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.― Jimi Hendrix
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.― Abigail Van Buren
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.― Sharon Salzberg
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.― Isaac Asimov
We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.― Leo Tolstoy
Even strength must bow to wisdom sometimes.― Rick Riordan
Turn your wounds into wisdom.― Oprah Winfrey
The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.― Thomas Paine
There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.― Patrick Rothfuss
I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.― Bruce Lee
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.― Confucius
The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.― Voltaire
We learn from failure, not from success!― Bram Stoker
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.― Rumi
He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.― Confucius
Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.― Martin Luther King Jr.
Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?― John Keats
Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it.― Margaret Drabble
The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.― Marcus Aurelius
We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.
Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.― Thomas Jefferson
All knowledge hurts.― Cassandra Clare
It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise.― George R.R. Martin
Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.― Socrates
The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing.― Oscar Wilde
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.― Oscar Wilde
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.― Francis Bacon
Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.― Anne Bradstreet
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.― Lao Tzu
Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.― Michael Levine
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.― Lewis Carroll
It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.― Henry David Thoreau
The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.― Theodore Roosevelt
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.― Jim Elliot
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.― William Arthur Ward
The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.― George Orwell
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.― John Wooden
Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.― Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.― Carl Jung
I ask not for any crown. But that which all may win; Nor try to conquer any world, Except the one within.― Louisa May Alcott
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom.― Elizabeth Gaskell
A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.― John C. Maxwell
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.― Henry Ford
Honesty is the best policy.― Benjamin Franklin
Related: The 100 Best Quotes About Hope.
People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.― Jean Jacques Rousseau
Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.― Sigmund Freud
If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.― Theodore Roosevelt
We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.― Martin Luther King Jr.
Slow and steady wins the race.― Robert Lloyd
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.― Karl Lagerfeld
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.― Thomas A. Edison
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.― Alfred Lord Tennyson
Patience is the companion of wisdom.― Saint Augustine
He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.― J.R.R. Tolkien
It is impossible to love and to be wise.― Francis Bacon
We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.― Marcel Proust
Wise? No, I simply learned to think.― Christopher Paolini
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Where wisdom reigns, there is no conflict between thinking and feeling.― Carl Gustav Jung
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.― Epictetus
The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.― William James
Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.― Franz Kafka
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.― Buddha
Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.Jim Rohn
A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.― Baltasar Gracian
The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.― John Burroughs
There is a wisdom of the head, and... there is a wisdom of the heart.― Charles Dickens
Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut, that held its ground.― David Icke
No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful.― Ernest Hemingway
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.― Will Rogers
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.― Socrates
Commitment is an act, not a word.― Jean-Paul Sartre
No man is poor who has a Godly mother.― Abraham Lincoln
Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.― Anton Chekhov
Wisdom... comes not from age, but from education and learning.― Anton Chekhov
The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.― Oliver Wendell Holmes
A smart person knows how to talk. A wise person knows when to be silent.― Roy T. Bennett
Always be a first rate version of yourself, and not a second rate version of someone else.― Judy Garland
The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid.― Confucius
Wisdom is not wisdom when it is derived from books alone.― Horace
Wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good.― Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Cleverness is not wisdom.― Euripides
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.― Confucius
Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more.― William Cowper
The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.― Thomas Szasz
A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.― Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton
No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.― Theodore Roosevelt
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.― David Starr Jordan
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.― Thomas J. Watson
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.― Rabindranath Tagore
Man's wisdom is his best friend; folly his worst enemy.― William Temple
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.― Buddha
A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.― Herb Caen
Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle ofsoftness overcoming hardness.― Lao Tzu
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.― Khalil Gibran
It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.― Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Wisdom outweighs any wealth.― Sophocles
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.― Ralph Waldo Emerson
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.― Marilyn vos Savant
A desire not to butt into other people's business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom.― Robert A. Heinlein
A man only becomes wise when he begins to calculate the approximate depth of his ignorance.― Gian Carlo Menotti
Don't find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.― Henry Ford
Conceit spoils the finest genius.― Louisa May Alcott
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.― Dante Alighieri
Experience is the father, and memory the mother of wisdom.― Proverb
How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!― Homer
Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up.― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Time flows away like the water in the river.― Confucius
Anger exceeding limits causes fear and excessive kindness eliminates respect.― Euripides
Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so.― Dale Carnegie
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.― Jim Rohn
Quotes of wisdom about life
Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.― Albert Einstein
Step with care and great tact, and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.― Dr. Seuss
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.― Isaac Asimov
Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.― John Lennon
Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.― Leo Buscaglia
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.― Roy T. Bennett
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hold fast to dreams. For if dreams die. Life is a broken-winged bird. That cannot fly.― Langston Hughes
Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, Love is knowing I am everything, and between the two my life moves.― Nisargadatta Maharaj
True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.― Socrates
The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.― Paulo Coelho
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.― Thomas A. Edison
Wisdom is having things right in your life and knowing why.― William Stafford
The unexamined life is not worth living.― Socrates
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.― Patrick Ness
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.― Dalai Lama
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.― Paulo Coelho
There are three constants in life; change, choice and principles.― Stephen Covey
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.― Soren Kierkegaard
God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.― Voltaire
Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.― Helen Keller
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.― Elbert Hubbard
Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent.― Billy Graham
Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.― Stephen Hawking
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.― Abraham Lincoln
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.― Confucius