Quotes About Wisdom

Il faut apprendre la terre, c'est indispensable, savoir ce qu'elle est. Il faut l'aimer sans niaiserie, en reconnaître les principales maternels et nourriciers. Il faut la travailler en tenant compte du savoir et du sentiment, avec la force du corps. (p.242)

But I've been dead much longer than I lived, and I have had the chance to educate myself in that that I lacked in life. I wasn't stupid when I lived, just ignorant. There's a lot to learn, simply by watching the follies of the living.

But I have so much to learn!" Zane cried plaintively. "Then get to it, Death," she said, closing the door behind her.

Of course. MAN—an acronym." The mouth on the screen quirked with obscure humor. "Oh? What do the letters stand for?" "Multi-Appendaged-Numbskull, of course. Every creature who is worthy of the title of sapience knows that.

It was said that familiarity bred contempt, but surely ignorance bred error.

Become what you are, having learned what that is.

I libri pesano tanto: eppure, chi se ne ciba e se li mette in corpo, vive tra le nuvole.

É por isso, meus caros Símias e Cebete, que os verdadeiros filósofos se acautelam contra os apetites do corpo, resistem-lhes e não se deixam dominar por eles; não têm medo da pobreza nem da ruína de sua própria casa, como a maioria dos homens, amigos das riquezas, nem temem a falta de honrarias e a vida inglória, como se dá com os amantes do poder e das distinções

O que de pior acontece a qualquer pessoa é tornar-se inimigo da palavra

Ânito e Meleto podem matar-me, mas não me podem fazer mal. Platão, Apologia de Sócrates (30 C-D)

Todos os que afirmam saber as coisas sobre as quais medito, seja por tê-las ouvido de mim, seja por tê-las ouvido de outros, seja por tê-las descoberto sozinhos, não é possível, segundo meu parecer, que tenham entendido algo desse objeto. Sobre essas coisas não existe um texto escrito meu nem existirá jamais.

Temer a morte, Atenienses, não é mais que julgar ser sábio,sem o ser, porque é imaginar que se sabe o que se não sabe. É que ninguém sabe o que é a morte nem se, por acaso, ela será para o homem o maior dos bens. Mas temem-na como se soubessem com segurança que é o maior dos males.

Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.

A house that has a library in it has a soul.

Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.

An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.

I thought to myself: I am wiser than this man; neither of us probably knows anything that is really good, but he thinks he has knowledge, when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do not think I have.

Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.

For to fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise without really being wise, for it is to think that we know what we do not know. For no one knows whether death may not be the greatest good that can happen to man.

To be afraid of death is only another form of thinking that one is wise when one is not; it is to think that one knows what one does not know. No one knows with regard to death wheather it is not really the greatest blessing that can happen to man; but people dread it as though they were certain it is the greatest evil. -The Last Days of Socrates

Books are immortal sons defying their sires.

Either we shall find what it is we are seeking or at least we shall free ourselves from the persuasion that we know what we do not know.

No human thing is of serious importance.

He whom loves touches not walks in darkness.