Quotes About Wisdom

Who can say it's not what we see with our eyes open that is distorted, and that what's described here isn't the true essence of things?" He slowed down outside a door. "Haven't you ever heard old men sigh that life's a dream?

The older generation may not understand all the new scientific terms of the young generation, but they know the principles of life which never change. And it is a wise youngster who will not discard the inheritance of wisdom and experience from those who have gone before.

It is not foolish to ask a question of the world. We of Vlar-rei make songs or our questions. It is only foolish to want answers.

Fools blow air out of their mouths as often as their bums, and either way it causes a stink and comes to nothing.

Speak less and say more

It would be a little late in deciding now that we would not live our lives by the whimsical wisdoms of futuretellers, don't you think? [Chapter 33, page 386]

It would be a simple matter if lives were lived by hindsight. There is much we would not begin, if we could see how it would end

It would be a simple matter if lives were lived by hindsight,' Rushton said. 'There is much we would not begin, if we could see how it would end.

Of all our possessions, wisdom alone is imortal.

Of all possessions wisdom alone is immortal.

Spend your leisure time in cultivating an ear attentive to discourse, for in this way you will find that you learn with ease what others have found out with difficulty.

For the greatest thing in the smallest compass is a sound mind in a human body.

Where there are humans you'll find flies, and Buddhas.

If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants.

Tis much better to do a little with certainty & leave the rest for others that come after than to explain all things by conjecture without making sure of any thing.

If I have come further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

and a person who worries over something he can do nothing about is an extraordinary fool.

The wise and sagacious men of ancient times had the very spirit of the martial and did not kill.

The scriptures are within yourself; [those that are written down] only point out what you have not been able to see on your own.

These things are endless. When you try fixing your mind on the places you contact with your eyes and ears, you'll find that everything between Heaven and Earth can become the seed of some resourcefulness. There is nothing under Heaven that cannot be said to be your teacher. Everything is important to you, so search it out. When there is absolutely nothing important enough for you to search out, there will be nothing left for you to receive from mankind.

An earthworm close by sighed and said, "Well now, men are clear enough about what they've understood, but can't infer one thing from another. The men who lecture on the Four Books and the Six Classics,1 with their magnificent and noble principles, would none of them understand commentary on their own minds. Thus, once separated from their books, they are unable to understand the mind at all.

From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.

When God punishes a land, he deprives it leaders of wisdom.

If nothing is going well, call your grandmother.