Time has changed. One of the most significant changes that prove the world is changing is how we can easily access the internet and the undeniable fast developing modes of electronic communication. Books such as encyclopedias have been left behind because almost all information is now provided online. Now the question is, will everything we learn from the internet make us more intelligent and wise?
The truth is, having the knowledge about circular things doesn’t mean we have acquired wisdom. We’ll start to understand this truth once we learn what the real meaning of wisdom is. We can only acquire wisdom if we have a deep understanding of things and experiences in life that no data or information can ever resolve. Being wise is the ability to see something or somebody’s worth beyond their face value. It is when we use our knowledge to benefit not only ourselves but the people around us as well. Our wisdom is one of the many factors that make us human beings.
We know you want to better understand what wisdom really is which is why we made a long list of wisdom quotes to help you out. We hope you enjoy them and wish that may you not only become knowledgeable but also wise in this journey we call life.
Wisdom Quotes
1. True wisdom is remembering that in the end, no matter what, everything will be fine. – Maxime Lagacé
2. The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. – Thomas Szasz
3. Turn your wounds into wisdom. – Oprah Winfrey
4. Every journey that is successful has culs-de-sac and speed bumps. I carry a wisdom gene through my life through the good, the bad, and the ugly. – Peter Guber
5. Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech. – Plutarch
6. A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends. – Baltasar Gracián
7. The fool wonders, the wise man asks. – Benjamin Disraeli
8. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. – Benjamin Franklin
9. What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? – Jean Jacques Rousseau
10. Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children. – Kahlil Gibran
11. There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. – J.R.R. Tolkien
12. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end. – Leonard Nimoy
13. We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. – Marcel Proust
14. He gossips habitually; he lacks the common wisdom to keep still that deadly enemy of man, his own tongue. – Mark Twain
15. People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little. – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
16. Don’t even try to become, just be.
17. To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day. – Lao Tzu
18. Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge. – Leonardo da Vinci
19. Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change. – Confucius
20. There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool. – Diogenes
21. It’s not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, it’s what you whisper to yourself that has the most power. – Robert T. Kiyosaki
22. Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. – Jimi Hendrix
23. The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one. – Honore De Balzac
24. Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. – Albert Einstein
25. The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness. – Michel de Montaigne
26. Wisdom is keeping a sense of fallibility of all our views and opinions. – Gerald Brenan
27. First of all, to understand the truth, you must stand alone, entirely and wholly alone. No Master, no teacher, no guru, no system, no self-discipline will ever lift for you the veil which conceals wisdom. Wisdom is the understanding of enduring values and the living of those values. No one can lead you to wisdom. – Jiddu Krishnamurti
28. Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. – Thomas Jefferson
29. The first point of wisdom is to discern that which is false; the second, to know that which is true. – Lactantius
30. The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil. – Marcus Tullius Cicero
31. Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences. – Norman Cousins
32. We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools. – Martin Luther King Jr.
33. The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything. – Theodore Roosevelt J. Watson
34. Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. – George S. Patton
35. Much wisdom often goes with fewest words. – Sophocles
36. The way a woman carries herself and the way she dresses ought to promote the following types of words: modesty, discretion, wisdom, beauty, elegance, and refinement, but not sensuality, luxury, extravagance. – Paul Washer
37. We’re all going to change. Otherwise, it’s boring. – Alicia Keys
38. He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book. – Benjamin Franklin
39. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. – Will Rogers
40. A fool is known by his speech; and a wise man by silence. – Pythagoras
41. Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom. – Terry Pratchett
42. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. – Socrates
43. Wisdom and deep intelligence require an honest appreciation of mystery. – Thomas Moore
44. Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. – Albert Einstein
45. Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two. – John Cheever
46. The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing. – Epictetus
47. Stronger by weakness, wiser men become. – Edmund Waller
48. Be there a will, and wisdom finds a way. – George Crabbe
49. Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines. – Richard M. Nixon
50. An owl is traditionally a symbol of wisdom, so we are neither doves nor hawks but owls, and we are vigilant when others are resting. – Urjit Patel
51. If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. – Michael Jordan
52. Man is wise and constantly in quest of more wisdom; but the ultimate wisdom, which deals with beginnings, remains locked in a seed. There it lies, the simplest fact of the universe and at the same time the one which calls forth faith rather than reason. – Hal Borland
53. Men who know themselves are no longer fools. They stand on the threshold of the door of wisdom. – Havelock Ellis
54. Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you. – Aldous Huxley
55. I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done. – Lucille Ball
56. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. – James Allen
57. One part of wisdom is knowing what you don’t need anymore and letting it go. – Jane Fonda
58. The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. – Michelangelo
59. We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far. – Swami Vivekananda
60. Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it. – Margaret Drabble
61. I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine. – Bruce Lee
62. There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there. – Paulo Coelho
63. Seek your own reality, that is what a wise man should do. – Sri Sathya Sai Baba
64. If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise. – William Blake
65. We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom. – Leo Tolstoy
66. Knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows. – Alfred North Whitehead
67. Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. – Alfred Lord Tennyson
68. Wisdom begins at the end. – Daniel Webster
69. Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. – Archimedes
70. Wisdom comes by disillusionment. – George Santayana
71. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. – Carl Jung
72. Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. – Immanuel Kant
73. One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility. – Eleanor Roosevelt
74. Wisdom has never made a bigot, but learning has. – Josh Billings
75. Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. – Juvenal
76. Knowledge is marvelous, but wisdom is even better. – Kay Redfield Jamison
77. Pain is the doorway to wisdom and to truth. – Keith Miller
78. No man was ever wise by chance. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
79. A charming woman… doesn’t follow the crowd. She is herself. – Loretta Young
80. It is wiser to find out than to suppose. – Mark Twain
81. He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe. – Marcus Aurelius
82. The truest wisdom is a resolute determination. – Napoleon Bonaparte
83. Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom – and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech. – Benjamin Franklin
84. Kindness is wisdom. – Philip James Bailey
85. Cunning… is but the low mimic of wisdom. – Plato
86. Not by age but by capacity is wisdom acquired. – Plautus
87. Wisdom begins in wonder. – Socrates
88. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. – Napoleon Bonaparte
89. Those who improve with age embrace the power of personal growth and personal achievement and begin to replace youth with wisdom, innocence with understanding, and lack of purpose with self-actualization. – Bo Bennett
90. Contemplation and wisdom are highest achievements and a man is not totally at home with them. – Gabriel Marcel
91. Don’t waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear. – Paulo Coelho
92. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. – Sharon Salzberg
93. We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. – Joseph Campbell
94. Wisdom is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two. – John Cheever
95. The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. – Albert Einstein
96. The small wisdom is like water in a glass: clear, transparent, pure. The great wisdom is like the water in the sea: dark, mysterious, impenetrable.- Rabindranath Tagore
97. We can’t really digest food unless there’s hunger. So we can’t really assimilate spiritual wisdom unless we feel the need for it. – Radhanath Swami
98. It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer. – Albert Einstein
99. If you have the insight of non-self, if you have the insight of impermanence, you should make that insight into a concentration that you keep alive throughout the day. Then what you say, what you think, and what you do will then be in the light of that wisdom and you will avoid making mistakes and creating suffering. – Thich Nhat Hanh
100. I’m not young enough to know everything. – J.M. Barrie
101. The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache. – Marjorie Pay Hinckley
102. The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. – Friedrich Nietzsche
103. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. – Rumi
104. I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. – Albert Einstein
105. As one grows older, one becomes wiser and more foolish. – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
106. God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars. – Elbert Hubbard
107. It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness. – Leo Tolstoy
108. Plan your life like you will live forever, and live your life like you will die the next day.
109. Out of sight, out of mind.
110. Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment. – Morihei Ueshiba
111. Just because something is common sense doesn’t mean its common practice.
112. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he’ll eat forever. – Chinese Proverb
113. A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom. – Robert Frost
114. It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish. – Aeschylus
115. Everything in moderation
116. The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself a fool. – Anatole France
117. Deal with the faults of others as gently as your own. – Chinese Proverb
118. To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. – Marilyn vos Savant
119. Silence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish. – Charles Caleb Colton
120. The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
121. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot
122. Imagination is more important than knowledge. – Albert Einstein
123. Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. – Buddha
124. Who in their infinite wisdom decreed that Little League uniforms be white? Certainly not a mother. – Erma Bombeck
125. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. – Thomas A. Edison
126. Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. – Henry Ford
127. It is not white hair that engenders wisdom. – Menander
128. I tweet, therefore my entire life has shrunk to 140 character chunks of instant event and predigested gnomic wisdom. And swearing. – 0 Neil Gaiman
129. If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. – Lewis Carroll
130. Gray hairs are signs of wisdom if you hold your tongue, speak and they are but hairs, as in the young. – Rabindranath Tagore
131. A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. – John C. Maxwell
132. Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. – Ludwig van Beethoven
133. Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men. – Confucius
134. Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life. – Aristophanes
135. There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. – Patrick Rothfuss
136. You can’t be wise and in love at the same time. – Bob Dylan
137. Angry people are not always wise. – Jane Austen
138. The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them. – Paulo Coelho
139. Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right. – Isaac Asimov
140. Any fool can know. The point is to understand. – Albert Einstein
141. The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back. – Abigail Van Buren
142. The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. – Isaac Asimov
143. All human wisdom works and has worries and grief as reward. – Johann Georg Hamann
144. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect). – Mark Twain
145. The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. – William Shakespeare
146. It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it. – Maurice Switzer
147. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. – Eleanor Roosevelt
148. Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. George – Bernard Shaw
149. The final wisdom of life requires not the annulment of incongruity but the achievement of serenity within and above it. – Reinhold Niebuhr
150. Don’t gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold. – Bob Marley
151. Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you. – John Wooden
152. The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique. – Walt Disney
153. By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. – Confucius
154. It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen. – John Wooden
155. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. – Reinhold Niebuhr
156. The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. – William Arthur Ward
157. It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them. – Epictetus
158. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life. – Epicurus
159. A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. – Saint Basil
160. We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future. – George Bernard Shaw
161. Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. – John Wooden
162. Because you are women, people will force their thinking on you, their boundaries on you. They will tell you how to dress, how to behave, who you can meet and where you can go. Don’t live in the shadows of people’s judgment. Make your own choices in the light of your own wisdom. – Amitabh Bachchan
163. Learning sleeps and snores in libraries, but wisdom is everywhere, wide awake, on tiptoe. – Josh Billings
164. In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks. – John Muir
165. Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life – in a firmness of mind and mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as talk; and to make our actions and words all of a color. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
166. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. – Jim Rohn
167. To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him. – Buddha
168. It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. – Henry David Thoreau
169. For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. – Audrey Hepburn
170. Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching. – Satchel Paige