Quotes About Wisdom

He was one of those people, she thought, who just seemed to know a great deal. And he spoke so wisely, as if had thought for hours about everything he said.

Mushroom people are fond of saying, 'There are old mycologists and there are bold mycologists, but there are no old, bold mycologists.' 

He is a good man, but even a good man can fall for a glamorous woman. That is well known." "That is very well known," agreed Mma Ramotswe. "Look at Adam. Look how he fell for Eve." "Just because she had no clothes on, he fell for her," said Mma Makutsi. "That sometimes helps," said Mma Ramotswe.

I heard him say that he knew that he had been very stupid and that he would not be stupid again. Those were his very words, Mma, and I wrote them down on a piece of paper which we can keep in the office here and take out and wave at him some time in the future if we need to do so.

One could never read enough. Never.

Some knowledge is a fish," she muttered. "Some is a serpent.

been able to find out what the really big questions are.

There is a tidal wave of ignorance, Mma Ramotswe. It is a great tidal wave and it will drown all of us if we are not careful.

Mma Makutsi was unconvinced. "Where there is smoke there's fire, Mma. I have always said that." Mma Ramotswe could not let that pass. "But what does Clovis Andersen say in The Principles of Private Detection, Mma? Does he not say that you must be very careful to decide where the smoke is coming from? Smoke can drift, Mma. Those were his exact words, I think.

The obvious, Ulf once observed, is rarely the obvious until the passage of time has proved it so.

Trust your nose, but make sure it's pointing in the right direction.

Wise people had been replaced in the public estimation by that curious category of people—celebrities—who were, for the most part, shallow people not known for their wisdom. Where were the Nelson Mandelas of this world of celebrity?

Why, thought Ulf, should a grown man seek to defraud a gullible fish? Here is a tasty morsel—no! A concealed hook! Foolish, foolish fish...

Don't be excessively judgmental, if you like, but always–always–be prepared to make a judgment. Otherwise you'll go through life not really knowing what you mean.

That, she imagined, was because he had been given the eyes to see things, as we are given the eyes of those who have gone before us, and can see the world in the way in which they saw it.

She should not have taken any of these people at face value. She had been naive. But this conclusion, she realized, pointed unambiguously in the direction of cynicism. And she would not be a cynic. It was better to be naive, much better.

People had to be left to make their own mistakes, even if the rest of us could see quite clearly the dangers that lay ahead.

Mma Ramotswe would often stop and look at the sky; and this just went to show how wise she was, because looking at the sky was something that we all should do more often.

And the memory made her humble; for we should not forget what it is to be young and to have ideas and attitudes that may later seem so fanciful.

But it was a mistake to go through life trying to interfere in things that were beyond your control, or which were going to happen anyway, no matter what you do. A certain amount of acceptance -which wasn't the same thing as cowardice, or indifference -was necessary or you would spend your life burning up with annoyance and rage.

Use the last report," Anna suggested. "Simply delete 'efficiency' or whatever and insert 'restructuring.' That will save you a great deal of time." Ulf acknowledged the wisdom of this advice. "Restructuring" would go away, just as "efficiency" and "skills development" had gone away. But hoops had to be jumped through in order for this to happen, and Ulf would have to do that.

and although she'd glibly remarked that you couldn't stand still, was this actually true or was it a hollow axiom as false and misleading as any other trite saying? Why should one not stand still? If the position in which one found oneself standing was a satisfactory and comfortable one? She felt no need, no need at all to move on from being Mma Ramotswe of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, wife that great mechanic, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni.

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni," she asked, "do you think that our souls grow as we get older?" He did not answer immediately, but when he did, she thought his answer quite perfect. "Yes," he said. "Our souls get wider. They grow like the branches of a tree—growing outwards. And

There were some things that one could stop, or try to stop, but it was a mistake to go through life trying to interfere in things that were beyond your control, or which were going to happen anyway, no matter what you did. A certain amount of acceptance—which was not the same thing as cowardice, or indifference—was necessary or you would spend your life burning up with annoyance and rage.