122 Wisdom Quotes and Sayings
Looking for the inspiring wisdom quotes? Here are the best inspirational and motivational wisdom quotes and sayings.
Wisdom Quotes
- “Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.” – Lao Tzu
- “Your mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha
- “Wisdom is knowing when you can’t be wise.” – Paul Engle
- “Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.” – Confucius
- “Wisdom is not attained by years, but by ability.” – Plautus
- “Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” – Albert Einstein
- “We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” – George Bernard Shaw
- “Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.” – Frank Sonnenberg
- “To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” – Marilyn vos Savant
Famous Wisdom Quotes
- “The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Even when you have doubts, take that step. Take chances. Mistakes are never a failure – they can be turned into wisdom.” – Cat Cora
- “True wisdom listens more, talks less and can get along with all types of people.” – Kiana Tom
- “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates
- “The final wisdom of life requires not the annulment of incongruity but the achievement of serenity within and above it.” – Reinhold Niebuhr
- “He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.” – Aeschylus
- “Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” – Buddha
- “He who devotes sixteen hours a day to hard study may become at sixty as wise as he thought himself at twenty.” – Mary Wilson Little
- “It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.” – Epictetus
- “Some of the best lessons we ever learn are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom and success of the future.” – Dale Turner
Best Wisdom Quotes
- “Earthly wisdom is doing what comes naturally. Godly wisdom is doing what the Holy Spirit compels us to do.” – Charles Stanley
- “Counsel woven into the fabric of real life is wisdom.” – Walter Benjamin
- “Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.” – Zhuangzi
- “I actually think with age comes some level of wisdom.” – Nina Totenberg
- “Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.” – William Wordsworth
- “In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.” – Ansel Adams
- “Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.” – Francis Bacon
- “There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.” – Confucius
- “All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.” – Alexandre Dumas
- “The difference between a wise and foolish man is this–the former sees much, thinks much, and speaks little; but the latter speaks more than he either sees or thinks.” – William Scott Downey
Wisdom Short Quotes
- “Wisdom comes alone through suffering.” – Aeschylus
- “Patience is the companion of wisdom.” – Saint Augustine
- “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” – Thomas Jefferson
- “Silence is true wisdom’s best reply.” – Euripides
- “Wise men make more opportunities than they find.” – Francis Bacon
- “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” – William James
- “Cleverness is not wisdom.” – Euripides
- “Wisdom alone is the science of other sciences.” – Plato
- “Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness.” – Sophocles
- “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Quotes about Wisdom
- “Wisdom begins at the end.” – Daniel Webster
- “Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.” – Thomas J. Watson
- “Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and just listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking, and listening activates the non-conceptual intelligence within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions.” – Eckhart Tolle
- “Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.” – Elbert Hubbard
- “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “Wisdom is knowledge which has become a part of one’s being.” – Orison Swett Marden
- “Man’s wisdom is his best friend; folly his worst enemy.” – William Temple
- “Wisdom outweighs any wealth.” – Sophocles
- “Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “In life, all good things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by.” – Lucille Ball
Inspiring Wisdom Quotes
- “Discipline is wisdom and vice versa.” – M. Scott Peck
- “Wise men talk because they have something to say; Fools , because they have to say something.” – Plato
- “When you’re used to being prepared to reject conventional wisdom, it leaves you open to learn more.” – Mayim Bialik
- “The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
- “The sum of wisdom is that time is never lost that is devoted to work.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Much wisdom often goes with fewest words.” – Sophocles
- “Genius unrefined resembles a flash of lightning, but wisdom is like the sun.” – Franz Grillparzer
- “There’s a beauty to wisdom and experience that cannot be faked. It’s impossible to be mature without having lived.” – Amy Grant
- “Wisdom is nothing but a preparation of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life.” – Herman Hesse
- “Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. A constant coming and going: wisdom lies in the momentary.” – Octavio Paz
Popular Wisdom Quotes
- “With age comes common sense and wisdom.” – Nas
- “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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
- “The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
- “The gateways to wisdom and learning are always open, and more and more I am choosing to walk through them. Barriers, blocks, obstacles, and problems are personal teachers giving me the opportunity to move out of the past and into the Totality of Possibilities.” – Louise L. Hay
- “Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.” – Aesop
- “Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.” – Samuel Smiles
- “If suffering brings wisdom, I would wish to be less wise.” – William Butler Yeats
- “The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching.” – Joseph Smith, Jr.
- “Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” – Immanuel Kant
Motivational Wisdom Quotes
- “We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters.” – Robert E. Lee
- “From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.” – Publilius Syrus
- “Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life – in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
- “Wisdom is a kind of knowledge. It is knowledge of the nature, career, and consequences of human values.” – Sidney Hook
- “Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
- “Along with success comes a reputation for wisdom.” – Euripides
- “Wisdom begins in wonder.” – Socrates
- “To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.” – Plutarch
- “Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.” – Sophocles
- “Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.” – Norman Cousins
Inspirational Wisdom Quotes
- “A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.” – Moliere
- “There is a wisdom of the head, and a wisdom of the heart.” – Charles Dickens
- “Losing faith in your own singularity is the start of wisdom, I suppose; also the first announcement of death.” – Peter Conrad
- “A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” – Charles Dickens
- “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
- “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- “Remembering is painful, it’s difficult, but it can be inspiring and it can give wisdom.” – Paul Greengrass
- “Wisdom sails with wind and time.” – John Florio
- “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” – Brian O’Driscoll
- “To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.” – Wilson Mizner
Wisdom Quotes
- “I think it’s nice to age gracefully. OK, you lose the youth, a certain stamina and dewy glow, but what you gain on the inside as a human being is wonderful: the wisdom, the acceptance and the peace of mind. It’s a fair exchange.” – Cherie Lunghi
- “True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” – Socrates
- “The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
- “Sometimes I am happy and sometimes not. I am, after all, a human being, you know. And I am glad that we are sometimes happy and sometimes not. You get your wisdom working by having different emotions.” – Yoko Ono
- “The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.” – Khalil Gibran
- “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.” – Jimi Hendrix
- “Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.” – Sidonie Gabrielle Colette
- “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.” – William Blake
- “Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.” – Epicurus
Quotes on Wisdom
- “Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- “Wisdom allows nothing to be good that will not be so forever; no man to be happy but he that needs no other happiness than what he has within himself; no man to be great or powerful that is not master of himself.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
- “We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” – Samuel Smiles
- “Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.” – William J. Clinton
- “I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” – Thomas Jefferson
- “Sciences may be learned by rote, but wisdom not.” – Laurence Sterne
- “Hatred is corrosive of a person’s wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation’s spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and block a nation’s progress to freedom and democracy.” – Liu Xiaobo
- “Cunning… is but the low mimic of wisdom.” – Plato
- “Who is wise in love, love most, say least.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
- “The wise man hath his thoughts in his head; the fool, on his tongue.” – Ivan Panin
Wisdom Words Quotes
- “This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To keep your secret is wisdom; but to expect others to keep it is folly.” – Samuel Johnson
- “We respect our elders. There is wisdom that comes from experience, and I am not going to stop learning from wise counsel.” – Marcia Fudge
- “Lord, bless me with the ability to achieve all that I can, and the wisdom to realize it doesn’t all have to be by tomorrow!” – William Eardley IV
- “Memory is the mother of all wisdom.” – Aeschylus
- “No man was ever wise by chance.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
- “The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
- “Wisdom is found only in truth.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “You can practice to attain knowledge, but you can’t practice to attain wisdom.” – Herbie Hancock
- “The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.” – Isaac D’Israeli
- “If I don’t have wisdom, I can teach you only ignorance.” – Leo Buscaglia
- “Those who improve with age embrace the power of personal growth and personal achievement and begin to replace youth with wisdom, innocence with understanding, and lack of purpose with self-actualization.” – Bo Bennett
