Wisest Quotes

• The wisest men follow their own direction.

  Euripides

  Inspirational, Wise, Hard Work

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

  26 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  61 Copy quote

• 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.

  44 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  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

  99 Copy quote

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

  Robert W. Service

  Robert William Service, “Silence”

  41 Copy quote

  Show source

• A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.

  Francis Bacon

  Wisdom, Educational, Creativity

  76 Copy quote

• Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.

  Confucius

  Life, Change, Wise

  Confucius “The Analects”, W. W. Norton & Company

  40 Copy quote

  Show source

• When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.

  Quintilian

  Hard Work, Yield, Defeat

  Quintilian (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Quintilian (Illustrated)”, p.319, Delphi Classics

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Among mortals second thoughts are wisest.

  Euripides

  Wise, Wisdom, Second Thoughts

  Euripides (2015). “The Tragedies of Euripides”, p.250, Xist Publishing

  23 Copy quote

  Show source

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

  William Godwin

  Philosophy, Men, Wisest Man

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

  24 Copy quote

  Show source

• And to say that society ought to be governed by the opinion of the wisest and best, though true, is useless. Whose opinion is to decide who are the wisest and best?

  Thomas B. Macaulay

  Government, Liberty, Useless

  7 Copy quote

• I think it's wonderful when a love story begins with a great deal of romance and affection, passion and excitement, that's how it should be. But I don't necessarily know that it's the wisest thing in the world to expect that it ends there, or that it should, 30 years down the road, still look as it did on the night of your first kiss.

  Elizabeth Gilbert

  Passion, Kissing, Night

  "'Eat, Pray, Love' author tackles marriage". Interview with A. Pawlowski, www.cnn.com. January 5, 2010.

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• Time is the wisest of all counselors.

  Plutarch

  Time, Time Management, Counselor

  66 Copy quote

• The greatest scholars are not usually the wisest people.

  Geoffrey Chaucer

  Wisdom, People, Ministry

  19 Copy quote

• Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Inspirational, Positive, Wisdom

  Thomas Jefferson (1854). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson”, p.112

  878 Copy quote

  Show source

• If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.

  Maya Angelou

  Inspirational, Motivational, Change

  Twitter post from Jan 15, 2017

  452 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  "How Obama's favorite theologian shaped his first year in office" by John Blake, www.cnn.com. February 5, 2010.

  191 Copy quote

  Show source

• Even the weakest disputant is made so conceited by what he calls religion, as to think himself wiser than the wisest who thinks differently from him.

  Walter Savage Landor

  Conceited, Thinking, Religion

  Walter Savage Landor (1853). “The Works of Walter Savage Landor”, p.223

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Even the wisest men make fools of themselves about women, and even the most foolish women are wise about men

  Theodor Reik

  Relationship, Wise, Women

  Theodor Reik (1963). “The Need to be Loved”

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• The wisest have the most authority.

  Plato

  Christian, Wise, Plato

  19 Copy quote

• It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Inspirational, Wise, Wisdom

  "The Moral Maxims and Reflections". Book by François de La Rochefoucauld. Maxim 132, 1678.

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• No man was ever wise by chance.

  Seneca the Younger

  Inspirational, Life, Wise

  "Epistolæ Ad Lucilium" by Marcus Fabius Quintilianus as reported in "Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations" by Jehiel Keeler Hoyt, p. 878-82., 1922.

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Beautiful, Teaching, Personality

  Leo Tolstoy (2012). “The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories”, p.78, Courier Corporation

  79 Copy quote

  Show source

• The idea of beauty is the fundamental idea of everything. In the world we see only distortions of the fundamental idea, but art, by imagination, may lift itself to the height of this idea. Art is therefore akin to creation.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Art, Ideas, Imagination

  Leo Tolstoy (2015). “What is Art?: "The Kingdom of God is Within You"”, p.432, eKitap Projesi

  13 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Humility, Unwise, Pride And Humility

  Mahatma Gandhi, Anand T. Hingorani, Ganga Anand Hingorani (1985). “The Encyclopaedia of Gandhian Thoughts”

  15 Copy quote

  Show source