Wisest Man Quotes - Page 3

• If one were to bring ten of the wisest men in the world together and ask them what was the most stupid thing in existence, they would not be able to discover anything so stupid as astrology.

  David Hilbert

  Stupid, Men, Astrology

  "Comic Sections". Book by Desmond MacHale, 1993.

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• The boy heaved a sigh. "I would ask to go with you," he said, " but I have to finish my lessons. I so look forward to the day when I know everything. Then I won't have to read any more books or do any more counting." Beatrix smiled. "I don't wish to be discouraging, Rye, but it's not possible to know everything." "Mama does." Rye paused reflectively. "At least, Papa says we mus t pretend she does, because it makes her happy." "Your father," Beatrix informed him with a laugh, " is one of the wisest men I've ever known.

  Lisa Kleypas

  Father, Book, Men

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• The wisest man the warl' e'er saw,
  He dearly loved the lasses, O.

  Robert Burns

  Life, Men, Saws

  Robert Burns (1860). “Poems & Songs”, p.117

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• Nature hath nothing made so base, but can read some instruction to the wisest man.

  Tryon Edwards

  Nature, Men, Instruction

  Tryon Edwards (1853). “The World's Laconics: Or, The Best Thoughts of the Best Authors”, p.409

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• The wisest man is he who can account for his actions.

  Umar

  Inspiring, Men, Action

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• Even the wisest man grows tense
  With some sort of violence
  Before he can accomplish fate,
  Know his work or choose his mate.
  
  Poet and sculptor, do the work,
  Nor let the modish painter shirk

  William Butler Yeats

  Wisdom, Art, Fate

  William Butler Yeats (1997). “The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats: Volume I: The Poems, 2nd Edition”, p.334, Simon and Schuster

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• One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Life, Wisdom, Men

  Henry David Thoreau (1882). “Walden”, p.16

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• If we could sufficiently understand the order of the universe, we should find that it exceeds all the desires of the wisest men, and that it is impossible to make it better than it is, not only as a whole and in general but also for ourselves in particular, if we are attached, as we ought to be, to the Author of all, not only as to the architect and efficient cause of our being, but as to our master and to the final cause, which ought to be the whole aim of our will, and which can alone make our happiness.

  Gottfried Leibniz

  Men, Order, Desire

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• Of all parts of wisdom, the practice is the best. Socrates was esteemed the wisest man of his time because he turned his acquired knowledge into morality, and aimed at goodness more than greatness.

  John Tillotson

  Greatness, Men, Practice

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• Democracy can't work. Mathematicians, peasants, and animals, that's all there is - so democracy, a theory based on the assumption that mathematicians and peasants are equal, can never work. Wisdom is not additive; its maximum is that of the wisest man in a given group.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Animal, Men, Democracy

  Robert A. Heinlein (2007). “Glory Road”, p.277, Macmillan

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• The gretteste clerkes been noght wisest men.

  Geoffrey Chaucer

  Men, Wisest

  'The Canterbury Tales' 'The Reeve's Tale' l. 4054

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• Any man will go considerably out of his way to pick up a silver dollar; but here are golden words, which the wisest men of antiquity have uttered, and whose worth the wise of every succeeding age have assured us of; and yet we learn to read only as far as Easy Reading, the primers and classbooks, and when we leave school, the Little Reading, and story books, which are for boys and beginners; and our reading, our conversation and thinking, are all on a very low level, worthy only of pygmies and manikins.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Wise, Book, Reading

  Henry David Thoreau (1882). “Walden”, p.168

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• The wisest men are wise to the full in death.

  John Ruskin

  Wise, Men, Wisest

  John Ruskin, John Atkinson Hobson (1899*). “John Ruskin's works”

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• The wisest man may be a blind father.

  Jules Verne

  Father, Men, May

  Jules Verne (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Jules Verne (Illustrated)”, p.3897, Delphi Classics

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• [n regard to Jesus believing himself inspired] This belief carried no more personal imputation than the belief of Socrates that he was under the care and admonition of a guardian demon. And how many of our wisest men still believe in the reality of these inspirations while perfectly sane on all other subjects

  Thomas Jefferson

  Jesus, Believe, Inspiration

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• The wisest man knows he know nothing.

  A. Lee Martinez

  Men, Knows, Wisest

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• The wisest man preaches no doctrines; he has no scheme; he sees no rafter, not even a cobweb, against the heavens. It is clear sky.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Sky, Heaven

  Henry David Thoreau (2013). “The Essential Thoreau”, p.490, Simon and Schuster

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• The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection.

  William Godwin

  Philosophy, Men, Introspection

  William Godwin (2006). “Thoughts on Man, His Nature, Productions and Discoveries”, p.385, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Wise, Stars, Flower

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (2016). “Nature and the Method of Nature”, p.3, Library of Alexandria

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• We must get away from this limited *I did this and I did that* and the self-centeredness, that dominates our society Today. It must be a privilege to serve members of society. Not that we want rewards or medals or honor for what we do, because it is just an honor to do it, if you cannot work for that, than you missed the boat. You don’t understand the teachings of the wisest men ever lived.

  Jacque Fresco

  Teaching, Men, Self

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• A child can ask a thousand questions that the wisest man cannot answer.

  Jacob Abbott

  Children, Men, Answers

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• The wisest man could ask no more of fate Than to be simple, modest, manly, true, Safe from the many, honored by the few; Nothing to court in Church, or World, or State, But inwardly in secret to be great.

  James Russell Lowell

  Fate, Simple, Men

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• All "public interest' legislation (and any distribution of money taken by force from some men for the unearned benefit of others) comes down ultimately to the grant of an undefined undefinable, non-objective, arbitrary power to some government officials. The worst aspect of it is not that such a power can be used dishonestly, but that it cannot be used honestly. The wisest man in the world, with the purest integrity, cannot find a criterion for the just, equitable, rational application of an unjust, inequitable, irrational principle.

  Ayn Rand

  Integrity, Taken, Men

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.161, Penguin

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• Jed Diamond is, quite simply, one of the wisest men writing today on the topic of male emotional and physical health.

  Michael Gurian

  Writing, Men, Emotional

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• This is beyond understanding." said the king. "You are the wisest man alive. You know what is preparing. Why do you not make a plan to save yourself?" And Merlin said quietly, "Because I am wise. In the combat between wisdom and feeling, wisdom never wins.

  John Steinbeck

  Wise, Kings, Winning

  John Steinbeck (2008). “The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)”, p.85, Penguin

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