Quotes About Wisdom

My progress report concerning my journey to the palace of wisdom is discouraging.

You win. You're the philosopher.

Nay, Sir, it was not the WINE that made your head ache, but the SENSE that I put into it' 'What, Sir! will sense make the head ache?' 'Yes, Sir, (with a smile,) when it is not used to it.

Dr Johnson said, the inscription should have been in Latin, as every thing intended to be universal and permanent, should be.

He who has provoked the lash of wit cannot complain that he smarts from it.

Almighty GOD, the giver of wisdom, without whose help resolutions are vain, without whose blessing study is ineffectual; enable me, if it be thy will, to attain such knowledge as may qualify me to direct the doubtful, and instruct the ignorant; to prevent wrongs and terminate contentions; and grant that I may use that knowledge which I shall attain, to thy glory and my own salvation, for JESUS CHRIST'S sake. Amen.

Every notion that any man, dead, living, or unborn, might form as to the universe will necessarily prove wrong

because intelligent persons do not attempt to keep abreast with modern fiction. It is probably ascribable to the fact that they enjoy being intelligent, and wish to remain so.

The wisdom of stories and legends is that they give us another way to understand ourselves and the place we inhabit.

The idea that leading in a "fast world" always requires "fast decisions" and "fast action"—and that we should embrace an overall ethos of "Fast! Fast! Fast!"—is a good way to get killed. 10X leaders figure out when to go fast, and when not to.

Far more difficult than implementing change is figuring out what works, understanding why it works, grasping when to change, and knowing when not to.

The same thing happens in business. When people become fat with conventional wisdom, they're dangerous. A lot of being innovative in business is being willing to give something a try because you don't know it flies in the face of conventional wisdom. As Debi Colman, Apple VP of information systems and technology, puts it: "The single biggest roadblock to creativity and innovation I've encountered in business is conventional wisdom.

But what I find so striking is their incredible simplicity.

Those who built the visionary companies wisely understood that it is better to understand who you are than where you are going—for where you are going will almost certainly change. It is a lesson as relevant to our individual lives as to aspiring visionary companies.

Level 5 leaders confront the brutal facts before they set vision and strategy, and they create a climate where the truth is heard. Failure to confront the brutal facts is a precursor to catastrophic decline, always.

You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts.

Cultivating debate, argument, dialogue, and disagreement—all this takes time, resulting in a slower decision-making process than just issuing an executive order. But it also increases the probability of choosing a wise course of action.

I... had no need for cheering dreams," he wrote. "Facts are better than dreams.

the world is changing, and will continue to do so. But that does not mean we should stop the search for timeless principles.

The kind of knowledge required in such endeavors is not deductive knowledge from first principles but rather what Greeks of the classical period called métis, a concept to which we shall return. Usually translated, inadequately, as "cunning," métis is better understood as the kind of knowledge that can be acquired only by long practice at similar but rarely identical tasks, which requires constant adaptation to changing circumstances.

But I'll tell you the truth,boys, he said. I'd give it all up in a minute if I could just be your age again. And I mean without a nickel in my pocket. All the money on earth aint worth spit compared to bein young and havin a dream to chase after. It's nice to arrive at it, no denyin that, but the real fun's in the gettin there. The gettin there.

Patience means holding back your inclination to the seven emotions: hate, adoration, joy, anxiety, anger, grief, fear. If you don't give way to the seven, you're patient, then you'll soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with Eternity.' 

Sometimes it's wiser to give a quarry extra line -- that's how to catch a fish, neh?

Patience is important for a man, vital for a leader