The Wise Quotes

When people show you who they are ... believe them!

A horse can lend its rider the speed and strength he or she lacks - but the rider who is wise remembers it is no more then a loan.

The god, O men, seems to me to be really wise; and by his oracle to mean this, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness and of none effect.

Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof; it is temporary expedient, often wise in party politics, almost sure to be unwise in statesmanship.

An honest answer is the sign of true friendship.

Be not penny-wise. Riches have wings. Sometimes they fly away of themselves, and sometimes they must be set flying to bring in more.

At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.

As a wise man once said, 'If not us, then who; if not now, then when?'

Don't look where you fall, but where you slipped.

Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.

And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things too. Don't run out ahead of Him.

Our toil must be in silence, and our efforts all in secret; for this enlightened age, when men believe not even what they see, the doubting of wise men would be his greatest strength.

The only thing certain is nothing is certain.

Writers, however mature and wise and eminent, are children at heart.

Who has begun has half done. Have the courage to be wise. Begin!

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.

In nature's infinite book of secrecy A little I can read.

You create your own universe as you go along.

I don't fancy colors of the face, I'm always attracted to colors of the brain.

The fool wanders, a wise man travels.

We must be wise taskmasters and not require of ourselves what we cannot possibly perform. Recreation we must have. Otherwise, the strings of our soul, wound up to an unnatural tension, will break.

Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way - and the fools know it.

Brains aren't everything. In fact in your case they're nothing.

The hours of a wise man are lengthened by his ideas.

Better to hunt in fields, for health unbought, Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught, The wise, for cure, on exercise depend; God never made his work for man to mend.

It's bad taste to be wise all the time, like being at a perpetual funeral.

The fool is looking for happiness far away. The wise man makes it grow under his feet.

More important than anything else is for Americans to wise up to class warfare demagoguery and reject the politics of envy.

Let your critics make you humble, and your enemies make you wise. Learn from every stumble but let nothing keep you down, for you were born to rise!

The best books for a man are not always those which the wise recommend, but often those which meet the peculiar wants, the natural thirst of his mind, and therefore awaken interest and rivet thought.

It’s time to stop being vague. If you wish to be an extraordinary person, if you wish to be wise, then you should explicitly identify the kind of person you aspire to become.

Alas, how right the ancient saying is: We, who are old, are nothing else but noise And shape. Like mimicries of dreams we go, And have no wits, although we think us wise.

Government is an evil; it is only the thoughtlessness and vices of men that make it a necessary evil. When all men are good and wise, government will of itself decay.

Happiness is the secret of beauty. But who knows the secret of happiness? The wise woman keeps her cosmetics at hand.

For deeds to die, however nobly done, And thoughts of men to as themselves decay, But wise words taught in numbers for to run, Recorded by the Muses, live for ay.

Angels want peace; devils want war! Wise man wants tranquillity and creation; stupid man wants noise and destruction!

Store up reservoirs of calm and content and draw on them at later moments when the source isn't there, but the need is very great.

Live, be, move, rejoice -- you are alive! Without the heart's wise rhythm, we could not exist.

Who was the fool, who the wise man, beggar or king? Whether poor or rich, all's the same in death.

Just as it is agreed that we all wish to be happy, so it is that we all wish to be wise, since no one without wisdom is happy.

Death is a woman, and for that reason she's courageous and just, and never makes distinctions between mortals; she'll crush the ignorant, the arrogant, and the wise alike under her icy foot.

Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.

The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.

May our adversities make us strong. May our victories make us wise. May our actions make us proud.

Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.

The intellect of the wise is like glass; it admits the light of heaven and reflects it.

We may look old and wise to the outside world. But to each other, we are still in junior school.

Unthought-of Frailties cheat us in the Wise.

The world I believe is far too serious, and being far too serious ... it has need of a wise and merry philosophy.

Scents bring memories, and many memories bring nostalgic pleasure. We would be wise to plan for this when we plant a garden.