Quotes About Wisdom

Without remembering, wisdom is impossible (see comments on Exodus 10: 2). Wisdom is learning from our own lives and from the lives of others. Wisdom matters because good cannot be achieved without it. Good intentions without wisdom lead to either nothing or to actual evil. However much evil movements have appealed to the bad side of people's natures, almost every one of them, communism being the most obvious example, also appealed to people's good intentions.

Blessed are You God, ruler of the world, Who created man in wisdom and created within him numerous orifices and spaces. It is known and revealed before You that if one of them should open when it should close or one of them should close when it should open, it would be impossible for us to exist. Blessed are You God, Who heals all mankind and does wonders.

With all our sophistication, the remarkable fact is that the Ten Commandments are more or less all we need.

Many of the horrors of the twentieth century were supported by people with good intentions who lacked wisdom.

People greatly value knowledge and intelligence, but not wisdom.

One reason is the subject of the Torah is all mankind, not just the Jews. That, too, is a major feature of the Torah and this commentary.

The gods are being kind to me in my old age. Most beautiful women are either good, stupid or vicious. And you are the marvellous exception. Lovely as a goddess, clever as an Athenian and a bad hat like myself, yet one who still has decent feelings. I'm going to kiss the lips off you once we land in France.

Make yourselves your island, make yourselves, not anyone else, your refuge; make the Dharma your island, the Dharma your refuge, nothing else your refuge.

Chuang Tzu's message for us is not to completely discard books but to put them in their proper place by understanding the limitation of words. Reading a description of how to make wheels can never give you the skills you will gain by actually making them. Similarly, reading a book about the Tao can never give you the wisdom you will gain by actually living life.

Thus, if you look for the Tao in books, you won't find it anywhere . . . but if you look for the Tao in life, you will find it everywhere.

Use hands-on experience to find the optimal balance in everything. Whatever you need to do, there will be the right speed and the right amount of force to give you the best possible results. Keep in mind that this is something you can only learn from life itself—not from books.

You can always use intuition and observation to bring out the truth.

Philosophers should not only interpret our beliefs; when they are false, they should change them.

Out of the foolishness of the cross comes the unsearchable wisdom of God. So we have to turn to something very weak and very foolish to receive God's wisdom and God's strength.

You see, between us and God's wisdom is a valley, a place of humility. We have to lay aside worldly wisdom. We have to become fools in the eyes of the world in order that we may really enter into God's wisdom.

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. Psalm 25:14, emphasis added

Who is the man who can speak to the strong? Where is the fool who can talk to the wise? Men who are dead now have learnt this long, Bitter is wisdom that fails when it tries.

You want to hear my history? Ask the sea.

Even a brief glimpse of what we were is valuable to help understand what we are

All that we know is nothing, we are merely crammed wastepaper baskets,unless we are in touch with that which laughs at all our knowing.

Between hell now, and hell later, Sassenach, he said, his speech measured and precise, I will take later, every time.

And Finally I put down the last and the best advice I knew, on growing older. 'Stand up straight and try not to get fat.

So remember it, lad. If your head thinks up mischief, your backside's going to pay for it. Brian Fraser to young Jamie

Advice? You're too old to be given it and too young to take it.