Being Wise Quotes - Page 5

• Thus, statesmanlike, I'll saucily impose,
  And safe from action, valiantly advise;
  Sheltered in impotence, urge you to blows,
  And being good for nothing else, be wise.

  John Wilmot

  Wise, Drinking, Blow

  John Wilmot, John Adlard (2002). “The Debt to Pleasure: John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, in the Eyes of His Contemporaries and in His Own Poetry and Prose”, p.112, Taylor & Francis

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• there is nothing so easy as to be wise for others; a species of prodigality, by-the-by - for such wisdom is wholly wasted.

  Letitia Elizabeth Landon

  Wise, Advice, Easy

  Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1852). “Romance and reality”, p.87

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• For surely to be wise is the most desirable thing in all the world.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Happiness, Wise, World

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• We study history not to be clever in another time, but to be wise always.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Wise, Clever, Carpe Diem

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• We find nothing easier than being wise, patient, superior. We drip with the oil of forbearance and sympathy, we are absurdly just, we forgive everything. For that very reason we ought to discipline ourselves a little; for that very reason we ought to cultivate a little emotion, a little emotional vice, from time to time. It may be hard for us; and among ourselves we may perhaps laugh at the appearance we thus present. But what of that! We no longer have any other mode of self-overcoming available to us: this is our asceticism, our penance.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Sympathy, Wise, Emotional

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• None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as far as we can perceive, much security for his being wiser than any of his neighbours. The chance of his being wiser than all his neighbours together is still smaller.

  Thomas B. Macaulay

  Liberty, Together, Civil Rights

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• I read when I get up in the morning, when I can during the day and every single evening. Most of my weekends are spent reading great books. Books are my constant companions. If you eat three times a day you'll be fed. But if you read three times a day you'll be wise.

  Shimon Peres

  Wise, Morning, Book

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• Sapere aude. Dare to be wise.

  Horace

  Wise, Knowledge, Dare

  Horace (1976). “Q. Horati Flacci Sermones et epistulae”

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• There is nothing more becoming any wise man, than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art: let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters, than thy inferiors.

  Walter Raleigh

  Friendship, Wise, Art

  Sir Walter Raleigh (1829). “Miscellaneous works”, p.557

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• No man is bound to be rich or great, - no, nor to be wise; but every man is bound to be honest.

  Benjamin Rudyerd

  Wise, Honesty, Men

  Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, Benjamin Rudyerd (capt.) (1841). “Memoirs of Sir Benjamin Rudyerd: Containing His Speeches and Poems. To which are Added the Letters of His Great-great-grandson Benjamin Rudyerd”, p.130

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• Make the most of prayer. ... Prayer is the master-weapon. We should be wise if we used it more, and did so with a more specific purpose.

  Charles Spurgeon

  Wise, Prayer, Purpose

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• It behoves thee to love God wisely; and that may thou not do but if thou be wise.

  Richard Rolle

  Wise, May, God Love

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• The gods never let us love and be wise at the same time.

  Publilius Syrus

  Wise, Latin, Complicated Relationship

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• What is a gentleman? It is to be honest, to be gentle, to be generous, to be brave, to be wise; and possessed of all these qualities to exercise them in the most graceful manner.

  William Makepeace Thackeray

  Wise, Exercise, Brave

  William Makepeace Thackeray (2005). “The Snobs of England: And, Punch's Prize Novelists”, p.8, University of Michigan Press

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• In a word, if this country can steer clear of European politics, stand firm on its bottom, and be wise and temperate in its government, it bids fair to be one of the greatest and happiest nations in the world.

  George Washington

  Wise, Country, Government

  George Washington (1852). “The life of General Washington: first president of the United States”, p.271

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• If there is one thing the psychic taught me, it's that people and events are rarely who and what we think they are. They are more meaningful, more worth our attention-part of some finely choreographed, eternal dance that we would be wise to bow down before in gratitude and humility

  Leslie Morgan Steiner

  Wise, Meaningful, Gratitude

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• I'd like to be wise. You have to go through a lot to get there, but I'm willing to go through a lot.

  Nicole Kidman

  Wise, Willing

  FaceBook post by Nicole Kidman from Feb 11, 2017

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• Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics.

  Stephen Colbert

  Wise, Remember You, Remembers You

  Stephen Colbert Commencement Address, departments.knox.edu. June 2006.

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• If you are wise, be wise; keep what goods the gods provide you.

  Plautus

  Wise, God Provides, Goods

  Titus Maccius Plautus (1852). “The comedies of Plautus literally tr., with notes, by H.T. Riley”, p.121

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• History has tried hard to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians. Now, to go and stick one at the very head of the government couldn't be wise.

  Mark Twain

  Wise, Government, Sticks

  Mark Twain, Gary Scharnhorst (2006). “Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews”, p.6, University of Alabama Press

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• If you are to be among the noble you must be noble. If you are to be among the wise, you must be wise, if you would be among the pure in heart, you must be pure in heart.

  Hugh B. Brown

  Wise, Heart, Would Be

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• Abundance of knowledge does not teach men to be wise.

  Heraclitus

  Wise, Wisdom, Men

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• Advice, as it always gives a temporary appearance of superiority, can never be very grateful, even when it is most necessary or most judicious. But for the same reason everyone is eager to instruct his neighbours. To be wise or to be virtuous is to buy dignity and importance at a high price; but when nothing is necessary to elevation but detection of the follies or faults of others, no man is so insensible to the voice of fame as to linger on the ground.

  Samuel Johnson

  Wise, Grateful, Men

  The Rambler, No 87, January 15, 1751.

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• To appreciate nonsense you must first acquire wisdom, then compromise the two; only then will the fool understand you, and believe himself to be wise.

  Ernest Chapman

  Wise, Believe, Two

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• Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart. One self-approving hour whole years outweighs Of stupid starers and of loud huzzas; And more true joy Marcellus exil'd feels Than Cæsar with a senate at his heels. In parts superior what advantage lies? Tell (for you can) what is it to be wise? 'T is but to know how little can be known; To see all others' faults, and feel our own.

  Alexander Pope

  Wise, Lying, Stupid

  Alexander Pope (1815). “Poetical works”, p.247

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