Quotes About Wisdom

I mention this only to shew that the citations of the most judicious authors frequently deceive us, and consequently that prudence obliges us to examine quotations, by whomsoever alleged.

The obscurest sayings of the truly great are often those which contain the germ of the profoundest and most useful truths. Genius rapidly traverses the living present to bury itself in the deepest mysteries of the universe; often making the grandest discoveries at a single glance.

I really didn't say everything I said.

A man is getting old w'en he walks around a puddle instead of through it.

The best way to live your life is to go to the other side of the rainbow young, but at a very old age.

REALITY, n. The dream of a mad philosopher.

Be careful not to drown in a mirage.

Instead of being born again, why not just grow up?

How often must I tell you that we are made wise not by the recollections of our past, but by the responsibilities of our future.

In office a Confucian, in retirement a Taoist.

Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.

Prudence operates on life in the same manner as rules on composition: it produces vigilance rather than elevation.... prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy.

You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.

Truths and roses have thorns about them.

The rose has thorns only for those who would gather it.

The door to safety swings on the hinges of common sense.

I'm allergic to stupidity — I break out in sarcasm.

He whose science exceedeth his sense, perisheth by his ignorance.

God did not give wings to scorpions.

You have the Answer. Just get quiet enough to hear it.

I travel upon the heart line of past and present, weaving in the sun pollen of who I am today, wading in the rain puddles of having too much to say because I must always speak from four directions. It is where I have been. It is where I am going. It is where I move. It is where I am.

Ah! but the moods lie in his nature, my boy, just as much as his reflections did, and more. A man can never do anything at variance with his own nature. He carries within him the germ of his most exceptional action; and if we wise people make eminent fools of ourselves on any particular occasion, we must endure the legitimate conclusion that we carry a few grains of folly to our ounce of wisdom.

It's easy to get lost when the map is in your hand and not in your heart.

My father told me all about the birds and bees. The liar — I went steady with a woodpecker till I was twenty-one.