Quotes About Prudence

Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.

A sixth sense cannot make up for a total lack of common sense.

All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.

A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.

Personally, I don't bother with anything cheap—my mother always said cheap was dear in the long run—but some people aren't fussy.

The surest ways of winning are more disastrous than any defeat.

Education must have two foundations --morality as a support for virtue, prudence as a defense for self against the vices of others. By letting the balance incline to the side of morality, you only make dupes or martyrs; by letting it incline to the other, you make calculating egoists.

You can learn too much from experience.  A cat that sits on a hot stove will not sit on a hot stove again but unfortunately the cat will not sit on a cold one either."  - Mark Twain

Borrowing to invest can make good sense as long as the return on the investment is higher than the cost of financing it. Borrowing to consume, on the other hand, uses debt to plug recurring bills or deficits that operating income should cover. Experience teaches prudent public and private borrowers a golden rule: borrow to invest, not to consume.

When humanitarianism came into vogue, and the unsound were tended at public expense, this natural selection ceased. And since these unfortunates were incapable alike of prudence and of social responsibility, they procreated without restraint, and threatened to infect the whole species with their rottenness.

It's just like what they say about lightening; It's safest to stand where it has already struck.

Dance like no one is watching; email like it may one day be read aloud in a deposition.

If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.

Sai la stessa paura che si prova all'inizio di un amore, quando l'intuito ci annuncia le sofferenze che esso ci costerà, e la prudenza ci induce a girarvi intorno senza accostarcisi troppo, ma è un girarvi a spirale, più vicino sempre più vicino, e sai bene che finirai per cadervi dentro: a pagare ogni istante di gioia con mille dolori.

But rather than the patronizing "But being decadent is the only way to survive!" of some who criticize me, I would far prefer to be told simply to go and die. It's straightforward. But people almost never say, "Die!" Paltry, prudent hypocrites!

Don't go looking for trouble rather avoid it.

Don't try to be too clever. And when purposefully misspelling common words, proceed with caution.

We are not to judge thrift solely by the test of saving or spending. If one spends what he should prudently save, that certainly is to be deplored. But if one saves what he should prudently spend, that is not necessarily to be commended. A wise balance between the two is the desired end.

Be cautious and bold.

My countrymen,…think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it.20

Out here, it's better safe than sorry, because generally speaking, too much of the time sorry means you're dead.

Wisdom precludes boldness.

Be wary of folly.

La cautela es siempre la herramienta de la sabiduría.