Quotes About Wisdom

Like the measles, love is most dangerous when it comes late in life.

To be perfectly original one should think much and read little, and this is impossible, for one must have read before one has learnt to think.

Years steal fire from the mind as vigor from the limb; and life's enchanted cup but sparkles near the brim.

The 'good old times' - all times when old are good.

Wedded she some years, and to a man Of fifty, and such husbands are in plenty; And yet, I think, instead of such a ONE 'Twere better to have TWO of five and twenty...

But who, alas! can love, and then be wise?

Old man! 'Tis not difficult to die.

Then away with all such from the head that is hoary! What care I for the wreaths that can only give glory?

And yet methinks the older that one grows Inclines us more to laugh than scold, though laughter Leaves us so doubly serious shortly after.

If I am a fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of his self-approved wisdom.

Till taught by pain, Men really know not what good water's worth.

With virtues equall'd by her wit alone

methinks the older that one grows, Inclines us more to laugh the scold, though laughter Leaves us so doubly serious shortly after.

Without a friend, what were humanity, To hunt our errors up with a good grace? Consoling us with—'Would you had thought twice! Ah, if you had but follow'd my advice!

Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe, Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast, Is that portentous phrase, 'I told you so,' Utter'd by friends, those prophets of the past, Who, 'stead of saying what you now should do, Own they foresaw that you would fall at last, And solace your slight lapse 'gainst 'bonos mores,' With a long memorandum of old stories.

While common men grow ignorantly old, The lawyer's brief is like the surgeon's knife, Dissecting the whole inside of a question, And with it all the process of digestion.

But he who seeks the flowers of truth Must quit the garden for the field

Adversity is the first path to truth.

In matters of religion and matrimony I never give any advice because I will not have anybody's torments in this world or the next laid to my charge.

Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them.

The value of moments, when cast up, is immense, if well employed; if thrown away, their loss is irrevocable.

Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not merely pull it out and strike it merely to show that you have one.

Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked.

Common sense (which, in truth, is very uncommon) is the best sense I know of: abide by it; it will counsel you best.