Quotes About Wisdom

Señor, concédeme serenidad para aceptar todo aquello que no puedo cambiar, fortaleza para cambiar lo que soy capaz de cambiar, y sabiduría para entender la diferencia.

all types of virtue are really just different aspects of wisdom.

La disciplina del deseo (que también recibe el nombre de aceptación estoica) nos dice qué es y qué no es adecuado desear.

Si no es para tu provecho, la puerta está abierta: si es para tu provecho, mantenla. Porque en cada acontecimiento la puerta debe estar abierta y entonces no tendremos problemas»,[11

Seneca actually explicitly says in his thirty-third letter to his friend Lucilius: Will I not walk in the footsteps of my predecessors? I will indeed use the ancient road—but if I find another route that is more direct and has fewer ups and downs, I will stake out that one. Those who advanced these doctrines before us are not our masters but our guides. The truth lies open to all; it has not yet been taken over. Much is left also for those yet to come.

True philosophy is a matter of a little theory and a lot of practice:

We are not becoming more educated; we are simply acquiring more knowledge. There is a fundamental difference between the two.

Understanding is the beginning of both wisdom and compassion.

This Daoist art of perspective-taking—recognizing the existence of various perspectives—is called the "Illumination of the Obvious" or the attainment of ming ? (acuity, discernment).

Massimo Pigliucci

Cicero concluded that "the actual hitting of the mark [is] to be chosen but not to be desired,

One of the key tenets of Stoicism is that we ought to recognize, and take seriously, the difference between what we can and cannot master.

To paraphrase Ben Zoma: "Who is wise? The one who learns from all traditions." I have learned valuable lessons from other traditions while maintaining my own identity and beliefs. This teaching also calls me to listen to those whose political opinions differ from mine. How wise our world would become if only we would all learn from each other!

Existen dos cosas que es menester cortar: el temor a lo futuro y la memoria de las molestias pasadas: éstas ya no me atañen, aquél aún no.»

The basic idea of the new philosophy was that in order to figure out how to live a life worth living, a eudaimonic life, as both modern philosophers and psychologists still refer to it, we have to master two things: we need to develop a decent understanding of how the world works, so not to engage in wishful thinking and waste a lot of time and resources; and we need to reason as well as we can about things, or we risk arriving at the wrong conclusions as to what to do and how.

To a Stoic, it ultimately does not matter if we think the Logos is God or Nature, as long as we recognize that a decent human life is about the cultivation of one's character and concern for other people (and even for Nature itself) and is best enjoyed by way of a proper—but not fanatical—detachment from mere worldly goods.

for it is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits; it is evidently equally foolish to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician and to demand from a rhetorician demonstrative proofs.

The way the Stoics put all of this into practice is by means of the four cardinal virtues: practical wisdom, the ability to navigate complex situations, especially morally salient ones, in the best way possible; courage, of the moral kind, as in the courage to stand up and do the right thing; justice, meaning treating others as worthy of the respect and dignity that comes with being fellow humans; and temperance, responding to situations in just measure, without excess or defect.

are we going to teach the best of what we currently know about the world (however provisional such knowledge may be), or shall we decide if the earth is flat or round by majority consensus?

Zhuangzi, another pivotal Daoist sage in the fourth century BCE, says, "Resign yourself to what cannot be avoided and nourish what is within you—this is the best.

This activation of our living root involves focusing on what is most important and what is within our control, such as our abilities, desires, plans, and daily routines. Through these teachings, we can learn the Daoist way to be comfortable with uncertainty and build a bridge between ancient Daoist wisdom and contemporary challenges.

What should we do then? Make the best use of what is in our power, and treat the rest in accordance with its nature." Epictetus, Discourses I, 1.17

A word is like a finger pointing at different things. Do not look at the finger; focus on the essence of the word. Focus on what the finger is pointing at!

Spirituality is a way of life. it is not just doing meditation.