What is wisdom, and who are the wise? Discover timeless wisdom quotes that unravel the true essence of being wise.
Wisdom, it sounds so simple. But it’s anything but.
It’s not about being the smartest or having all the answers.
It’s about knowing when to talk…when to listen…when to stay silent…and when to let life figure itself out.
Wisdom, at its core, is the quiet strength that helps us handle life’s chaos with a little more grace.
But what exactly is wisdom, and who gets to be called wise?
Is it the philosopher with all the deep questions, the everyday person who makes thoughtful choices, or the sage who knows the power of silence?
These wisdom quotes delve into what wisdom truly means, its origins, how we discover it, and its influence on our lives.
From ancient thinkers to modern voices, these quotes peel back the layers of wisdom, revealing what it truly means to be wise.
Offering timeless reflections of humanity’s ongoing quest to understand life, these wisdom words go beyond the surface.
What is Wisdom Quotes
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. ~ Socrates
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. ~ Brian O’Driscoll
Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day. ~ Zen Proverb
Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, and do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it. ~ Hermann Hesse
It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life. ~ Sandra Carey
There is a wisdom of the head, and… there is a wisdom of the heart. ~ Charles Dickens
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. ~ Immanuel Kant
Wisdom hears one thing and understands three things. ~ Chinese Proverb
Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. ~ Albert Einstein
Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The attempt to combine wisdom and power has rarely been successful, and then only for a short while. ~ Albert Einstein
Never does Nature say one thing and Wisdom another. ~ Juvenal
When we ignore our inner wisdom, we will come to regret it. ~ John Soforic
Wisdom at times is found in folly. ~ Horace
He is happy in his wisdom who has learned at another’s expense. ~ Plautus
Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well. ~ Proverbs 23:23
Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children. ~ Kahlil Gibran
Speakers have been showering us with pearls of wisdom for centuries, and if all of their valuable advice were laid end to end, it would still be just as good as new. Very little of it has ever been used. ~ Benjamin F. Fairless
Quotes About Being Wise
I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. ~ Socrates
He that can compose himself is wiser than he that composes books. ~ Benjamin Franklin
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. ~ Francis Bacon
The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. ~ William James
The wisest mind has something yet to learn. ~ George Santayana
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion. ~ Chinese Proverb
It takes a wise man to discover a wise man. ~ Diogenes
The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. ~ H. L. Mencken
All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man. ~ Henry David Thoreau
The wisest of the wise may err. ~ Aeschylus
The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions. ~ Claude Levi-Strauss
I myself think that the wise man meddles little or not at all in affairs and does his own things. ~ Chrysippus
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
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally. ~ Baltasar Gracián
The wise man does not grow old, but ripens. ~ Victor Hugo
There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool. ~ Diogenes
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change. ~ Confucius
The wise man is he who knows the relative value of things. ~ William Inge
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. ~ William Shakespeare
Time is the wisest counselor of all. ~ Pericles
The wise man reads both books and life itself. ~ Lin Yutang
I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me. ~ Maya Angelou
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ~ Epictetus
The wise man learns more from his enemies than the fool does from his friends.~ Benjamin Franklin
You’ve heard that it’s wise to learn from experience, but it is wiser to learn from the experience of others. ~ Rick Warren
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives. ~ Abba Eban
A fool wanders, a wise man travels. ~ Thomas Fuller
A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half. ~ Jeff Cooper
Wise is the one who is choosy with associates, for a friendship with a fool can be a costly affair. ~ John Soforic
The wise man knows when to keep silent. Only the fool tells all he knows. ~ Neil Gaiman
It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them. ~ Paulo Coelho
A wise man, recognising that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. ~ Buddha
Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course. ~ William Shakespeare
More Meaningful Quotes About Wisdom
Choose to focus your time, energy and conversation around people who inspire you, support you and help you to grow you into your happiest, strongest, wisest self. ~ Karen Salmansohn
Seek the wisdom of the ages, but look at the world through the eyes of a child. ~ Ron Wild
Youth is the time to study wisdom; old age is the time to practice it. ~ Jean-Baptiste Rousseau
We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn’t. Success often lies just the other side of failure. ~ Leo Buscaglia
My desire is for wisdom, not for the exercise of the will. The will is the strong blind man who carries on his shoulders the lame man who can see. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. ~ Thomas Jefferson
Patience is the companion of wisdom. ~ Saint Augustine
Half a man’s wisdom goes with his courage. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Arrogance diminishes wisdom. ~ Arabian Proverb
To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. ~ Bertrand Russell
Turn your wounds into wisdom. ~ Oprah Winfrey
And that’s it—a peek into the world of wisdom and the minds that seek it. As you think over these words, I hope they guide you toward understanding and a fresh way of seeing life.
Pin These Profound Wisdom Quotes to Understand What It Means to Be Wise!
