Wisest Quotes - Page 4

• It is a mortifying truth, and ought to teach the wisest of us humility, that many of the most valuable discoveries have been the result of chance rather than of contemplation, and of accident rather than of design.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Humility, Discovery, Design

  Charles Caleb Colton (1824). “Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think”, p.82

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• This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war.

  Douglas MacArthur

  Plato, War, Mean

  Sylvanus Thayer Award Acceptance Address, delivered 12 May 1962, West Point, NY

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• Passion often makes fools of the wisest men and gives the silliest wisdom.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Passion, Men, Wisest Man

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• All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Light, Shadow, Life Is

  Leo Tolstoy (2016). “Anna Karenina (World Classics, Unabridged)”, p.38, Vij Books India Pvt Ltd

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• You shone like a star. The funniest, wisest writer & the finest friend

  Neil Gaiman

  Stars, Finest

  Twitter post from Mar 26, 2011

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• The wisest man is the silent one. Examine his actions. Judge him by them.

  Karen Marie Moning

  Men, Wisest Man, Judging

  Karen Marie Moning (2016). “The Fever Series 7-Book Bundle: Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, Shadowfever, Iced, Burned”, p.408, Dell

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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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• I wonder if they realize how much I notice about them They probably haven't a clue because I never look at them or show the slightest interest. But I'm very aware of everything. I remember seeing an old film once where a father says to his son: "Son when your mouth's open you're not learning anything." If that's true then I'm well on the way to becoming the world's wisest woman.

  John Marsden

  Father, Son, Looks

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• She decided that her wisest course would be to put him out of her mind. After reaching this conclusion she lay thinking about him until at last she fell asleep.

  Georgette Heyer

  Thinking, Mind, Would Be

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• Heaven walks among us ordinarily muffled in such triple or tenfold disguises that the wisest are deceived and no one suspects the days to be gods.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Thinking, Heaven, Deceived

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert J. Von Frank (2015). “Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Major Poetry”, p.188, Harvard University Press

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• What children we are, even the wisest! When God walks the earth, his steps are often centuries apart.

  Lew Wallace

  Children, Earth, Steps

  Lew Wallace (2016). “Ben-Hur (Diversion Classics)”, p.398, Diversion Books

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• Sometimes, life threw up problems that even the wisest, most trusted mentor couldn't solve for you. It was part of the pain of growing up. And having to stand by and watch was part of being a mentor.

  John Flanagan

  Growing Up, Pain, Mentor

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• Sometimes 'Hmm' is the wisest thing to say.

  Alethea Kontis

  Sometimes, Hmm

  Alethea Kontis (2012). “Enchanted”, p.204, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• The wisest man I ever knew taught me something I never forgot. And although I never forgot it, I never quite memorized it either. So what I’m left with is the memory of having learned something very wise that I can’t quite remember.

  George Carlin

  Wise, Wisdom, Memories

  George Carlin (1998). “Brain Droppings”, Hyperion

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• The wisest among my race understand that agitations of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.

  Booker T. Washington

  Struggle, Race, Progress

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• Pretence about anything sometimes deceives the wisest and shrewdest man, but, however cunningly it is hidden, a child of the meanest capacity feels it and is repelled by it.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Children, Men, Sometimes

  Leo Tolstoy (2012). “Anna Karenina”, p.241, Courier Corporation

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• If travel were so inspiring and informing a business ... then the wisest men in the world would be deck hands on tramp steamers.

  Sinclair Lewis

  Men, Wisest Man, Hands

  Sinclair Lewis (2002). “Arrowsmith: Elmer Gantry ; Dodsworth”

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• The wisest were just the poor and simple people. They knew the war to be a misfortune, whereas those who were better off, and should have been able to see more clearly what the consequences would be, were beside themselves with joy.

  Erich Maria Remarque

  War, Simple, Should Have

  Erich Maria Remarque, Helmuth Kiesel, Joseph Roth (2004). “All quiet on the western front”, Continuum International Publishing Group

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• Not all men (and especially the wisest) share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated. But it is very true that many foolish men have claimed this because it displeased them that women knew more than they did.

  Christine de Pizan

  Men, Foolish Man, Opinion

  Christine De Pizan (1982). “The Book of the City of Ladies”, New York : Persea Books

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• The wisest man is generally he who thinks himself the least so.

  Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux

  Inspirational, Wisdom, Humility

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• In summoning even the wisest of physicians to our aid, it is probably that he is relying upon a scientific "truth", the error of which will become obvious in just a few years' time.

  Marcel Proust

  Health, Medicine, Errors

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• Do not grieve. Misfortune will happen to the wisest and best of men. Death will come, always out of season. It is the command of the Great Spirit, and all nations and people must obey. What is past and cannot be prevented should not be grieved for... Misfortunes do not flourish particularly in our lives - they grow everywhere.

  Kent Nerburn

  Death, Past, Men

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• In private conversation between intimate friends, the wisest men very often talk like the weakest : for indeed the talking with a friend is nothing else but thinking aloud.

  Joseph Addison

  Friends, Men, Thinking

  Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele (1826). “The Spectator: With Notes, and a General Index”, p.293

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• All too willingly man sees himself as the centre of the universe, as something not belonging to the rest of nature but standing apart as a different and higher being. Many people cling to this error and remain deaf to the wisest command ever given by a sage, the famous "Know thyself" inscribed in the temple of Delphi.

  Konrad Lorenz

  Men, Errors, People

  Konrad Lorenz (2005). “On Aggression”, p.99, Routledge

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• Fashion, though Folly's child, and guide of fools, Rules e'en the wisest, and in learning rules.

  George Crabbe

  Fashion, Children, Fool

  'The Library' (1808) l. 167

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