Quotes About Wisdom

I cannot have a sufficiency of books. Indeed, I have more than I should... Books give utter delight: they talk with us... and are bound to us by lively and witty intimacy, and do not just insinuate themselves alone on their readers but present the names of others, and each one creates a longing for another.

walk forwards in the radiance of the past

Libri quosdam ad scientiam, quosdam ad insaniam deduxere. (Books have led some to knowledge and some to madness.)

Nihil sapientiae odiosius acumine nimio (Nothing is more hateful to wisdom than excessive cleverness)

And what is the use of knowing many things if, when you have learned the dimensions of heaven and earth, the measure of the seas, the courses of stars, the virtues of plants and stones, the secrets of nature, you still don't know yourself?

And what good has all your reading done you? Out of all the things you have read, how much has really stayed in your soul, what roots have grown there that will, in a good time, bring forth fruit? Examine your heart carefully. If you compare the whole of what you know with what you don't know, you will find that your knowledge is like a small stream dried up in the summer heat compared to the ocean of your ignorance. And even granted that you do know a lot, what difference does it make?

I have friends whose society is delightful to me; they are persons of all countries and of all ages; distinguished in war, in council, and in letters; easy to live with, always at my command.

It is time for writers to admit that nothing in this world makes sense. Only fools and charlatans think they know and understand everything. The stupider they are, the wider they conceive their horizons to be. And if an artist decides to declare that he understands nothing of what he sees—this in itself constitutes a considerable clarity in the realm of thought, and a great step forward.

Let me digress a moment to talk about beginnings. How much simpler life would be if we were wise enough to stop at the first blush of romance, the start of a business transaction or a casual friendship. If we knew enough to pause and think: this is as good as it gets. Everything will go downhill from this moment on. So once again our instincts are the opposite of what they should be, propelling us forward exactly when they should be holding us back.

Once we know that something turned out all right, that we navigated a rough patch more or less intact, it becomes harder to pity our younger self or remember the grief and confusion, the dread of the disaster that didn't happen, the panic of the deer frozen in the headlights of the car that stopped in time.

From the beginning, he'd understood what every three-year-old knows: that the vague threat is way scarier than knowing how much trouble, exactly, you're facing.

Emotions are powerful, but they also change as quick as the wind. That's why the Lord says to renew your mind. Don't base decisions on what you feel.

Better to have trouble with man than trouble with God.

If I provide for this life and turn away from the Lord, I am wise for a moment, but lost forever.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

It's not easy for me either, but if we allow anger to reside in us, we're more guilty than they are because we know the better way.

Sometimes you have to tell the truth, no matter how hard it is. Even when it doesn't change anything. People seem to make the same mistakes over and over again.

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. PROVERBS 19 : 21

Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. . . . Keep me from lying to myself. . . . Help me abandon my shameful ways. . . . I believe in your commands; now teach me good judgment and knowledge.

You teach the heart as well as the mind. Sometimes the truth is hard to bear, but it's better to walk in the light of truth than to live in the darkness of lies.

Bithia seemed wise in the ways of the world, but she was completely ignorant of what she brought upon herself. Commerce with the powers of darkness might gain her what she desired for the moment, but at what cost in the end?

in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). We can choose to be self-sufficient or to rely on God. We can act on our own understanding regarding life's circumstances, or we can seek God's will in every situation. But only one choice assures us that God will direct our paths.

Only fools and the dead are content.

Puedes hacer todos los planes que quieras,pero el propósito del Señor prevalecerá. PROVERBIOS 19:21