Quotes About Wisdom

There's only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience.

Experience is climbing the ladder built from your mistakes.

[T]he person that had took a bull by the tail once had learnt sixty or seventy times as much as a person that hadn't, and said a person that started in to carry a cat home by the tail was gitting knowledge that was always going to be useful to him, and warn't ever going to grow dim or doubtful.

Don't ask questions of fairy tales.

He who eats until he is sick must fast until he is well.

A fast is better than a bad meal.

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom, in the pursuit of truth as in the endeavor after a worthy manner of life.

Fear is one part prudence.

A cat bitten once by a snake dreads even rope.

Listen to the little voice of doubt only if it has something insightful to say, not if it's just spouting fear.

Fear is the mother of foresight: spiritual fear... temporal fear...

If you play with fire, you're gonna get burned.

Fire in the heart sends smoke into the head.

Never fight fire from ego.

Have cognition before ignition.

Always eat grapes downwards — that is, always eat the best grape first; in this way there will be none better left on the bunch, and each grape will seem good down to the last. If you eat the other way, you will not have a good grape in the lot...

What is bought is cheaper than a gift.

Word by word the big books are made.

What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.

Who brings a tale takes two away.

Philosophy is a first rate thing to have, but you can't alleviate the gout with it, unless the gout happens to be on some other fellow.

With respect to the gout, the physician is but a lout. (Que ha la gota el medico no vee gota.)

Confucius perspired out more knowledge than the U.S. Senate has vocalized out in the last 50 years.

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting.