Quotes About Wisdom

I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.

My father always told me that all businessmen were sons of bitches, but I never believed it till now.

The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose plant it this afternoon'

Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.

I was twenty then. What the hell, I used to say, take your time, Bandini. You got ten years to write a book, so take it easy, get out and learn about life, walk the streets. That's your trouble: your ignorance of life.

I'm old, but I'm not good enough to be jaded.

Graduating from college doesn't mean you're smart, said Mike Mussina who graduated from Stanford in 3 1/2 years, but it does mean you're smart enough to know that having a college degree would be a good thing.

Jefferson attributes to a college professor and mentor his lifelong habit of questioning conventional wisdom.

Washington had learned the secrets of inducing others to follow his lead. Washington probably knew more about leadership before he celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday than John Adams discovered in his lifetime.

There are three things which are real God, human folly, and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension. So we must do what we can with the third.

To exclude from positions of trust and command all those below the age of 44 would have kept Jefferson from writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington from commanding the Continental Army, Madison from fathering the Constitution, Hamilton from serving as secretary of the treasury, Clay from being elected speaker of the House and Christopher Columbus from discovering America.

Will raised both eyebrows. 'Well, you learn a new thing everyday,' he said reflectively. 'In your case, that's no exaggeration,' Halt said, completely straight-faced.

Horace, when you get older, try to avoid being saddled with an apprentice. Not only are they a damned nuisance, but apparently they constantly feel the need to get the better of their masters. They're bad enough when they're learning. But when they graduate, they become unbearable. [The Kings of Clonmel Pg.268]

She knew more about these situations than she realized, he thought. She'd spent years at Duncan's side. "When in doubt," he added, "be pompous.

The young gentleman is correct," he said. Halt raised an eyebrow. "He may be correct, and he is undoubtedly young. But he's no gentleman." ~Halt and General Sapristi speaking of Will

You're right, Halt,' she said, and he nodded acklowledgement of her backing down. 'Nice to hear someone else saying that for a change,' Will said cheerfully. 'Seems like I've said those words an awful lot in my time.' Halt turned a bleak gaze on him. 'And you've always been right.

Always expect trouble in the desert. Then you usually won't meet it.

You're dropping the bow hand as you release," he called, although Halt certainly wasn't. His mentor looked around, saw him, and replied pithily, "I believe your grandmother needs lessons in sucking eggs.

And with his arm around the younger man's shoulders still, he led him away from the bow and back to the small group by the tiller. Halt glanced up as they approached, caught a look from Gilan and had a pretty good idea what they had been talking about. "Where have you two been?" he asked, his tone light. admiring the view," Gilan told him. "Thought you might need a hand from the two wisest heads on board.

Sometimes, life threw up problems that even the wisest, most trusted mentor couldn't solve for you. It was part of the pain of growing up. And having to stand by and watch was part of being a mentor.

Halt and Gilan looked at him, then looked at each other, and said in chorus: "You're an apprentice. You're not ready to think." Then

A wise man once told me, don't believe anything you hear until you've seen it with your own eyes," Halt said. Crowley looked up at him. "Who said that? Pritchard?" It sounded like the sort of thing their old mentor might say. Halt affected to think for a few seconds, then gave a slight smile. "No. I think it was me, actually. I can be very wise at times.

The dog, he thought, was wiser and more kindly natured than he was.

What if Halt were wrong?