Wisest Quotes

• The wisest men follow their own direction.

  Euripides

  Inspirational, Wise, Hard Work

  Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides (1959). “The complete Greek tragedies”

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• When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man.

  Diogenes

  Men, Looks, Philosopher

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• Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.

  Samuel Adams

  Law, Government, People

  The Advertiser, 1748.

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  Whatever dramas are going on in my life, I always find that place inside my head where I see myself as the cleanest, tallest, strongest, wisest person that I can be.

  Layne Staley

  Drama, Strongest, Persons

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• Be sure your wisest words are those you do not say.

  Robert W. Service

  Robert William Service, “Silence”

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• There is this difference between happiness and wisdom; he that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so; but he that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Wise, Men, Thinking

  "Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think".

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• Turn your wounds into wisdom.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Inspirational, Life, Positive

  Oprah Winfrey (2017). “The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights and Inspirational Conversations”, p.120, Pan Macmillan

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• A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.

  Roald Dahl

  Funny, Wisdom, Teacher

  Roald Dahl (2007). “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator”, p.84, Penguin

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• It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Mahatma Gandhi (1965). “Glorious Thoughts of Gandhi: Being a Treasury of about Ten Thousand Valuable and Inspiring Thougths of Mahatma Gandhi, Classified Under Four Hundred Subjects”

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• 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

  Wise, Wisdom, Attitude

  "Words of Wisdom to Live By". Book by Alfred Armand Montapert, 1986.

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• Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1838). “The Literary Remains of Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Preface. Formula fidei de ss. Trinitate. Nightly prayer. Notes on the book of common prayer; Hooker; Field; Donne; Henry More; Heinrichs; Hacket; Jeremy Taylor; The pilgrim's progress; John Smith. Letter to a godchild”, p.186

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• The wisest mind has something yet to learn.

  George Santayana

  Graduation, Wisdom, Diversity

  George Santayana (1936). “The Works of George Santayana”

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• There is a difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man is really so; but he that thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool.

  Francis Bacon

  Happiness, Wisdom, Humility

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• Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.

  William Shakespeare

  Inspirational, Wise, Adversity

  William Shakespeare, Michael Hattaway (1993). “The Third Part of King Henry VI”, p.129, Cambridge University Press

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• The wisest of the wise may err.

  Aeschylus

  Wise, Wisdom, Literature

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• 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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• Thinking well to be wise: planning well, wiser: doing well wisest and best of all.

  Malcolm Forbes

  Wise, Thinking, Planning Ahead

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• Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Education, Teaching, Knowledge

  'Lacon' (1820) vol. 1, no. 322

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• I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.

  Maya Angelou

  Life Changing, Long, Sides

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• Books are the quietest and most constant of friends.

  Charles William Eliot

  Book, Reading, Library

  Charles William Eliot (1926). “Charles W. Eliot: the man and his beliefs”

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• The wisest prophets make sure of the event first.

  Horace Walpole

  Wise, Events, Firsts

  Letter to Thos. Walpole, 19 February 1785, in 'Letters'

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• Every year of my life I grow more convinced that it is wisest and best to fix our attention on the beautiful and the good, and dwell as little as possible on the evil and the false.

  Richard Cecil

  Beauty, Beautiful, Years

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• My mother is probably the wisest person I've ever known. She's not schooled, she's not well read. But she has a philosophy of life that makes well-read people seem like morons.

  Gene Simmons

  Mother, Philosophy, People

  "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, (NPR), February 4, 2002.

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• Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Inspirational, Friendship, Peace

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies from the papers of T. Jefferson”

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  Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.

  Charles William Eliot

  Friendship, Happiness, Teacher

  "The Durable Satisfactions of Life (The Happy Life)". Book by Charles William Eliot (p. 37), 1910.

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