brown wooden bench in fieldPhoto Credit: Aaron Burden

187 Quotes About Wisdom That Ring True to Life

Welcome to our collection of quotes and shareable quote pictures on wisdom. We hope you enjoy pondering them. Please share widely, and please link back to us. We wish you a life of uncommonly wise decisions!

quote by Gene Oliver: My past is my wisdom to use today... my future is my wisdom yet to experience. Be in the present because that is where life resides. with background image: green leafed plants on forest
Background Photo: Zoya Konstantinova

My past is my wisdom to use today... my future is my wisdom yet to experience. Be in the present because that is where life resides.

 --Gene Oliver
quote by Lord John Russell: A proverb is one man's wit and all men's wisdom. with background image: clear liquid on leaf
Background Photo: Demi Kwant

A proverb is one man's wit and all men's wisdom.

 --Lord John Russell
quote by Kevin Flynn: Calmly in the precious present, be a light for love and wisdom in the window on your world. with background image: red stain on white wall
Background Photo: Etienne Girardet

Calmly in the precious present, be a light for love and wisdom in the window on your world.

 --Kevin Flynn
quote by A. A. Milne: Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known. with background image: photo of author A. A. Milne with quote

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.

 --A. A. Milne
quote by Abhijit Naskar: The highest wisdom is to know that you know nothing. with background image: three women sitting on rock near body of water
Background Photo: Courtney Cook

The highest wisdom is to know that you know nothing.

 --Abhijit Naskar
quote by Abhijit Naskar: The sweetest realizations of life cannot be expressed with words. with background image: close shot of yellow flowers
Background Photo: Masaaki Komori

The sweetest realizations of life cannot be expressed with words.

 --Abhijit Naskar
quote by Alexandre Dumas: All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope. with background image: purple petaled flower
Background Photo: Biegun Wschodni

All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.

 --Alexandre Dumas
quote by Austin O'Malley: Learned men fall into error oftenest by mistaking knowledge for wisdom. with background image: green pine trees near mountain under blue sky during daytime
Background Photo: Quynh Do

Learned men fall into error oftenest by mistaking knowledge for wisdom.

 --Austin O'Malley
quote by Austin O'Malley: Wisdom grows in quiet places. with background image: black bird on brown tree branch during daytime
Background Photo: Eben Piater

Wisdom grows in quiet places.

 --Austin O'Malley
quote by Carl von Clausewitz: There are cases in which the greatest daring is the greatest wisdom. with background image: two women lying on hammock

There are cases in which the greatest daring is the greatest wisdom.

 --Carl von Clausewitz
quote by Christopher Paolini: Wise? No, I simply learned to think. with background image: tall green flowering grasses under blue and white cloudy sky
Background Photo: natasha t

Wise? No, I simply learned to think.

 --Christopher Paolini
quote by David Lloyd George: Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. with background image: road between yellow leaf trees at daytime
Background Photo: quentin

Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.

 --David Lloyd George
quote by Dean Inge: The wisdom of the wise is an uncommon degree of common sense. with background image: white and black bird
Background Photo: Pete Nuij

The wisdom of the wise is an uncommon degree of common sense.

 --Dean Inge
quote by Debasish Mridha, MD: No one is too old to begin again. with background image: clear drinking glass with beer on black table
Background Photo: Thais Do Rio

No one is too old to begin again.

 --Debasish Mridha, MD
quote by Debasish Mridha, MD: Be unique. Be different. Be yourself. with background image: lone tree in grassland
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Be unique. Be different. Be yourself.

 --Debasish Mridha, MD
quote by Debasish Mridha, MD: Kindness is true wisdom--not cleverness. with background image: two women sitting on wooden dock over body of water
Background Photo: KaLisa Veer

Kindness is true wisdom--not cleverness.

 --Debasish Mridha, MD
quote by E. E. Cummings: Kisses are a better fate than wisdom. with background image: red rope on three branch
Background Photo: Will O

Kisses are a better fate than wisdom.

 --E. E. Cummings
quote by Edward Counsel: Wisdom is a treasure, the key whereof is never lost. with background image: green-leafed trees during daytime
Background Photo: Joey Banks

Wisdom is a treasure, the key whereof is never lost.

 --Edward Counsel
quote by Edward Counsel: Wisdom's door is ever open. with background image: brown pine trees near mountain covered with fog
Background Photo: eberhard grossgasteiger

Wisdom's door is ever open.

 --Edward Counsel
quote by Edward Counsel: Be wise before the storm. with background image: body of water near mountains
Background Photo: Nathan Dumlao

Be wise before the storm.

 --Edward Counsel
quote by Edward Counsel: Wisdom is often counted folly by the unwise. with background image: closeup photo of green leafed plant
Background Photo: Annie Spratt

Wisdom is often counted folly by the unwise.

 --Edward Counsel
quote by Edward Counsel: Wisdom is mostly the fruit of experience. with background image: saguaro
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Wisdom is mostly the fruit of experience.

 --Edward Counsel
quote by Edward Counsel: Wisdom is ever fresh; other things grow stale, but this is the evergreen flower of nature. with background image: forest trees photograph
Background Photo: Logan Easterling

Wisdom is ever fresh; other things grow stale, but this is the evergreen flower of nature.

 --Edward Counsel
quote by Edward Young: The man of wisdom is the man of years. with background image: green trees on forest during daytime
Background Photo: Adam Bixby

The man of wisdom is the man of years.

 --Edward Young
quote by Edward de Bono: Cleverness is like a lens with a very sharp focus. Wisdom is more like a wide-angle lens. with background image: brown, black, and white butterfly on purple petaled flower photo
Background Photo: Dan Freeman

Cleverness is like a lens with a very sharp focus. Wisdom is more like a wide-angle lens.

 --Edward de Bono
quote by Euripides: Silence is true wisdom's best reply. with background image: sunset
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Silence is true wisdom's best reply.

 --Euripides
quote by Evan Esar: A word to the wise is -- unnecessary. with background image: person cooking on seashore
Background Photo: Liam Simpson

A word to the wise is -- unnecessary.

 --Evan Esar
quote by Francis Quarles: Wisdom not only gets, but once got, retains. with background image: green leafed trees with fog
Background Photo: Hannah Tims

Wisdom not only gets, but once got, retains.

 --Francis Quarles
quote by Francis Quarles: Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise. with background image: flowers
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise.

 --Francis Quarles
quote by Frederick Lenz: True wisdom is to see and understand your relationship with the universe. When you gain that relational knowledge, then you are wise. with background image: green leafed plants on forest
Background Photo: Zoya Konstantinova

True wisdom is to see and understand your relationship with the universe. When you gain that relational knowledge, then you are wise.

 --Frederick Lenz
quote by Friedrich Schiller: Full of wisdom are the ordinations of fate. with background image: low angle photography of green and brown tree
Background Photo: Mathias P.R. Reding

Full of wisdom are the ordinations of fate.

 --Friedrich Schiller
quote by Geoffrey Chaucer: Full wise is he that can himself know. with background image: green leafed trees with fog
Background Photo: Hannah Tims

Full wise is he that can himself know.

 --Geoffrey Chaucer
quote by George Crabbe: Be there a will, and wisdom finds a way. with background image: low angle photography of green and brown tree
Background Photo: Mathias P.R. Reding

Be there a will, and wisdom finds a way.

 --George Crabbe
quote by Gerald Brenan: Wisdom is keeping a sense of fallibility of all our views and opinions. with background image: two women lying on hammock

Wisdom is keeping a sense of fallibility of all our views and opinions.

 --Gerald Brenan
quote by Herbert Hoover: Wisdom oft times consists of knowing what to do next. with background image: green lizard
Background Photo: Mark Stoop

Wisdom oft times consists of knowing what to do next.

 --Herbert Hoover
quote by Homer: Wisdom never lies. with background image: 2 women standing on brown field during daytime
Background Photo: Farrinni

Wisdom never lies.

 --Homer
quote by Jacqueline Carey: There is no folly like the folly of the wise. with background image: calm body of water and mountain
Background Photo: Jake Fagan

There is no folly like the folly of the wise.

 --Jacqueline Carey
quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau: What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? with background image: green lizard
Background Photo: Mark Stoop

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

 --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
quote by John Cheever: Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two. with background image: silhouette of person standing beside bare tree under stary sky
Background Photo: Vincent Chin

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.

 --John Cheever
quote by John Florio: Wisdom sails with wind and time. with background image: saguaro
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Wisdom sails with wind and time.

 --John Florio
quote by Josh Billings: Wisdom has never made a bigot, but learning has. with background image: sunset with agave stem
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Wisdom has never made a bigot, but learning has.

 --Josh Billings
quote by Lactantius: The first point of wisdom is to discern what is false; the second, to know what is true. with background image: leafless tree on body of water during daytime
Background Photo: Jack B

The first point of wisdom is to discern what is false; the second, to know what is true.

 --Lactantius
quote by Lactantius: Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be. with background image: person cooking on seashore
Background Photo: Liam Simpson

Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be.

 --Lactantius
quote by M. Scott Peck: Discipline is wisdom and vice versa. with background image: top view of green succulent plants
Background Photo: Annie Spratt

Discipline is wisdom and vice versa.

 --M. Scott Peck
quote by Matshona Dhliwayo: The highest wisdom is sometimes found in the lowest people. with background image: purple petaled flower
Background Photo: Biegun Wschodni

The highest wisdom is sometimes found in the lowest people.

 --Matshona Dhliwayo
quote by Matshona Dhliwayo: True wisdom doesn't have an expiry date; it is timeless. with background image: photo of pine tree
Background Photo: Kimon Maritz

True wisdom doesn't have an expiry date; it is timeless.

 --Matshona Dhliwayo
quote by Norman Macdonald: The beginning of wisdom is the knowledge of folly. with background image: green-leafed trees during daytime
Background Photo: Joey Banks

The beginning of wisdom is the knowledge of folly.

 --Norman Macdonald
quote by Oliver Goldsmith: True wisdom consists of tracing effects to their causes. with background image: pink flowers in tilt shift lens
Background Photo: J Lee

True wisdom consists of tracing effects to their causes.

 --Oliver Goldsmith
quote by Paul Tillich: Wisdom loves the children of men, but she prefers those who come through foolishness to wisdom. with background image: green leafed tree on body of water under starry sky
Background Photo: nate rayfield

Wisdom loves the children of men, but she prefers those who come through foolishness to wisdom.

 --Paul Tillich
quote by Plautus: It is wisdom to think upon anything before we execute it. with background image: orange flowers
Background Photo: Henry Be

It is wisdom to think upon anything before we execute it.

 --Plautus
quote by Sara Teasdale: Wisdom is not acquired save as the result of investigation. with background image: white and black bird
Background Photo: Pete Nuij

Wisdom is not acquired save as the result of investigation.

 --Sara Teasdale
quote by Sophocles: Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way. with background image: woman carrying toddler on seashore
Background Photo: Daiga Ellaby

Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.

 --Sophocles
quote by William Cowper: Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. with background image: body of water near mountains
Background Photo: Nathan Dumlao

Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

 --William Cowper
quote by Bill Clinton: Strength and wisdom are not opposing values. with background image: photo of author Bill Clinton with quote

Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.

 --Bill Clinton
quote by William Saroyan: Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. with background image: black and white butterfly on green leaf
Background Photo: Meg Jerrard

Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure.

 --William Saroyan
quote by Witold Gombrowicz: Foolishness is a twin sister of wisdom. with background image: aerial photography of pine trees
Background Photo: Federico Bottos

Foolishness is a twin sister of wisdom.

 --Witold Gombrowicz
quote by Michael Leunig: Wisdom may best arise from a humbling reality. with background image: green lizard
Background Photo: Mark Stoop

Wisdom may best arise from a humbling reality.

 --Michael Leunig
quote by Jeffrey Eugenides: All wisdom ends in paradox. with background image: brown pine trees near mountain covered with fog
Background Photo: eberhard grossgasteiger

All wisdom ends in paradox.

 --Jeffrey Eugenides
quote by Sophia Amoruso: The best wisdom is earned through experience, particularly mistakes. with background image: two white swan on body of water
Background Photo: Wolfgang Hasselmann

The best wisdom is earned through experience, particularly mistakes.

 --Sophia Amoruso
quote by Alan Kay: The best way to predict the future is to invent it. with background image: photo of pine tree
Background Photo: Kimon Maritz

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

 --Alan Kay
quote by A. R. Rahman: Wisdom comes from within. Knowledge is acquired and can sometimes put a screen on your wisdom. with background image: leafless tree on snow covered ground
Background Photo: Wolfgang Hasselmann

Wisdom comes from within. Knowledge is acquired and can sometimes put a screen on your wisdom.

 --A. R. Rahman
quote by Abigail Adams: Wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call out great virtues. with background image: landscape photography of mountain hit by sun rays
Background Photo: David Marcu

Wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call out great virtues.

 --Abigail Adams
quote by Barry Schwartz: Practical wisdom is what's called for in situations that have a moral dimension to them. with background image: person holding gray leaf
Background Photo: Jakob Owens

Practical wisdom is what's called for in situations that have a moral dimension to them.

 --Barry Schwartz
quote by Constantin Stanislavski: The greatest wisdom is to realize one's lack of it. with background image: orange flowers
Background Photo: Henry Be

The greatest wisdom is to realize one's lack of it.

 --Constantin Stanislavski
quote by Doug Ducey: Conventional wisdom is not always the best wisdom. with background image: three people paddling in canoe
Background Photo: Braxton Stuntz

Conventional wisdom is not always the best wisdom.

 --Doug Ducey
quote by David Starr Jordan: Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. with background image: green tree under blue sky during night time
Background Photo: Tasos Mansour

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.

 --David Starr Jordan
quote by Francis Hutcheson: Wisdom denotes the pursuing of the best ends by the best means. with background image: closeup photography of black and brown bird
Background Photo: Boris Smokrovic

Wisdom denotes the pursuing of the best ends by the best means.

 --Francis Hutcheson
quote by Herb Caen: A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew. with background image: silhouette of kneeling man
Background Photo: Aaron Burden

A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.

 --Herb Caen
quote by Johannes Tauler: Because in the school of the Spirit man learns wisdom through humility, knowledge by forgetting, how to speak by silence, how to live by dying. with background image: aerial photography of pine trees with mist
Background Photo: Dorel Gnatiuc

Because in the school of the Spirit man learns wisdom through humility, knowledge by forgetting, how to speak by silence, how to live by dying.

 --Johannes Tauler
quote by Mary Browne: Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom. with background image: green tree under blue sky during night time
Background Photo: Tasos Mansour

Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.

 --Mary Browne
quote by Philip Sidney: Give tribute, but not oblation, to human wisdom. with background image: toddler hugging siberian husky
Background Photo: __ drz __

Give tribute, but not oblation, to human wisdom.

 --Philip Sidney
quote by Paul Engle: Wisdom is knowing when you can't be wise. with background image: body of water near mountains
Background Photo: Nathan Dumlao

Wisdom is knowing when you can't be wise.

 --Paul Engle
quote by Peter Abelard: The key to wisdom is this -- constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth. with background image: green leafed plants on forest
Background Photo: Zoya Konstantinova

The key to wisdom is this -- constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth.

 --Peter Abelard
quote by Pindar: Even wisdom has to yield to self-interest. with background image: top view of green succulent plants
Background Photo: Annie Spratt

Even wisdom has to yield to self-interest.

 --Pindar
quote by Riccardo Muti: Nobility of spirit has more to do with simplicity than ostentation, wisdom rather than wealth, commitment rather than ambition. with background image: black dragonfly perched on green grass in close up photography during daytime
Background Photo: Serge van Neck

Nobility of spirit has more to do with simplicity than ostentation, wisdom rather than wealth, commitment rather than ambition.

 --Riccardo Muti
quote by Theodore Dreiser: In order to have wisdom we must have ignorance. with background image: bird at pier
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

In order to have wisdom we must have ignorance.

 --Theodore Dreiser
quote by Willem Dafoe: There's a real wisdom to not saying a thing. with background image: brown trees under blue sky during daytime
Background Photo: Jr. Farren

There's a real wisdom to not saying a thing.

 --Willem Dafoe
quote by William Temple: Man's wisdom is his best friend; folly his worst enemy. with background image: green lizard
Background Photo: Mark Stoop

Man's wisdom is his best friend; folly his worst enemy.

 --William Temple
quote by Laozi: The farther you go, the less you know. with background image: person cooking on seashore
Background Photo: Liam Simpson

The farther you go, the less you know.

 --Laozi
quote by William Stafford: Wisdom is having things right in your life and knowing why. with background image: forest near mountain alps
Background Photo: Milada Vigerova

Wisdom is having things right in your life and knowing why.

 --William Stafford
quote by Peter Drucker: Great wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data. with background image: photo of author Peter Drucker with quote

Great wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data.

 --Peter Drucker
quote by Jyoti Patel: She follows her heart Burns with the fire Shines through the dark Takes her brain along She is growing By burning the bridges and Lighting the candles. with background image: white and blue sky during daytime
Background Photo: Dan Cherkasov

She follows her heart
Burns with the fire
Shines through the dark
Takes her brain along

She is growing
By burning the bridges and
Lighting the candles.

 --Jyoti Patel
quote by Roger Housden: It's the bringing together of knowledge and wisdom that is a great part -- perhaps the greatest part -- of our life's journey. with background image: foggy mountains
Background Photo: Simon Berger

It's the bringing together of knowledge and wisdom that is a great part -- perhaps the greatest part -- of our life's journey.

 --Roger Housden
quote by Nelson Mandela: The anchor of all my dreams is the collective wisdom of mankind as a whole. with background image: close-up photo of two men shaking hands near beach at sunset
Background Photo: Tyler Nix

The anchor of all my dreams is the collective wisdom of mankind as a whole.

 --Nelson Mandela
quote by Mahatma Gandhi: Cowardice is incompatible with divine wisdom. with background image: fireplace on fire
Background Photo: Greg Rosenke

Cowardice is incompatible with divine wisdom.

 --Mahatma Gandhi
quote by Louise Hay: The gateways to wisdom and knowledge are always open. with background image: selective focus photo of green snake plant
Background Photo: Maddy Baker

The gateways to wisdom and knowledge are always open.

 --Louise Hay
quote by Heraclitus: Men that love wisdom must be acquainted with very many things indeed. with background image: grassland landscape
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Men that love wisdom must be acquainted with very many things indeed.

 --Heraclitus
quote by Plutarch: The process may seem strange and yet it is very true. I did not so much gain the knowledge of things by the words, as words by the experience I had of things. with background image: silhouette of flower during sunset
Background Photo: Adelin Grigorescu

The process may seem strange and yet it is very true. I did not so much gain the knowledge of things by the words, as words by the experience I had of things.

 --Plutarch
quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: To live the greatest number of good hours is wisdom. with background image: clear liquid on leaf
Background Photo: Demi Kwant

To live the greatest number of good hours is wisdom.

 --Ralph Waldo Emerson
quote by William Wordsworth: Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar. with background image: green pine trees near mountain under blue sky during daytime
Background Photo: Quynh Do

Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.

 --William Wordsworth
quote by William James: The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook. with background image: brown and black tiger near body of water
Background Photo: Ratanjot Singh

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.

 --William James
quote by Rumi: Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. with background image: man and woman with dog on woods
Background Photo: Mitchell Luo

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.

 --Rumi
quote by Leonardo da Vinci: Wisdom is the daughter of experience. with background image: flowers
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Wisdom is the daughter of experience.

 --Leonardo da Vinci
quote by Aristotle: Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. with background image: lone tree in grassland
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

 --Aristotle
quote by Leo Tolstoy: Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. with background image: photo of author Leo Tolstoy with quote

Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know.

 --Leo Tolstoy
quote by Jiddu Krishnamurti: Self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, which is the ending of fear. with background image: low angle view of blue clouds
Background Photo: Matthew McBrayer

Self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, which is the ending of fear.

 --Jiddu Krishnamurti
quote by Zhuang Zhou: Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. with background image: orange flowers
Background Photo: Henry Be

Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious.

 --Zhuangzi

Longer Version:

Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.

quote by William Faulkner: The end of wisdom is to dream high enough to lose the dream in the seeking of it. with background image: brown Scottish fold in brown thick-pile blanket
Background Photo: Mikhail Vasilyev

The end of wisdom is to dream high enough to lose the dream in the seeking of it.

 --William Faulkner
quote by Victor Hugo: Wisdom is a sacred communion. with background image: sunset
Background Photo: DiscoverQuotes Staff

Wisdom is a sacred communion.

 --Victor Hugo
brown wooden bench in field

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