Quotes for the Journey: Wisdom The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness. Michel de Montaigne

When people are on the point of drowning, all they care for is their lives.  But as soon as they get ashore, they ask, "Where is my umbrella?"  Wisdom, in life, consists in not asking for the umbrella.        -John Wu       If wisdom were offered me with the proviso that I should keep it shut and refrain from declaring it, I should refuse.  There's no delight in owning anything unshared.        -Seneca     Only the wise person draws from life, and from every stage of it, its true savour, because only he or she feels the beauty, the dignity, and the value of life.  The flowers of youth may fade, but the summer, the autumn, and even the winter of human existence, have their majestic grandeur, which the wise person recognizes and glorifies.        -Amiel     The foolish reject what they see, not what they think; the wise reject what they think, not what they see. . . . Observe things as they are and don't pay attention to other people.       -Huang-Po     Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all of which are necessary to the whole.  Spring and winter, growth and decay, creativity and fallowness, health and sickness, power and impotence, and life and death all belong within the economy of being.       -Sam Keen      It is far easier to be wise for others than to be so for oneself.       -Duc de la Rochefoucauld

There is a wise being living inside of you. It is your intuitive self.  Focus your awareness into a deep place in your body, a place where your "gut feelings" reside.  You can communicate with it by silently talking to it, making requests, or asking questions.  Then relax, don't think too hard with your mind, and be open to receiving answers.  They are usually very simple and relate to the present moment, not the past or the future, and they feel right.       -Shakti Gawain

Until we stop ourselves or, more often, have been stopped, we hope to put certain of life's events "behind us" and get on with our living.  After we stop we see that certain of life's issues will be with us for as long as we live.  We will pass through them again and again, each time with a new story, each time with a greater understanding, until they become indistinguishable from our blessings and our wisdom.  It's the way life teaches us to live.       -Rachel Naomi Remen

All discoveries in art and science result from an accumulation of errors.       -Marshall McLuhan

At twenty-two, I thought I knew everything.  Now, at sixty-seven, I find I haven't tasted a drop from the sea of knowledge.  The more I learn, the more I find out how little I know.       -John Copage

Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.  One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.       -Hermann Hesse

A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he or she who fills our memory with rows on rows of natural objects, classified with name and form.       -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The voice of wisdom is inherent within us and willing to guide us when we stop to listen.  Of course, there are times when we feel we've been still as stone, and the still, small voice is still too quiet to hear.  When this happens, the challenge is to practice quieting your mind anyway.  Stopping and asking, quieting and listening, trusting and waiting.  Waiting is difficult but worth the effort because a quiet, uncluttered mind is a natural antenna for whispers of wisdom from within.        -Sue Patton Thoele

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.        -Khalil Gibran

I hold myself indebted to any one from whose enlightened understanding another ray of knowledge communicates to mine.  Really to inform the mind is to correct and enlarge the heart.        -Junius

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it-- and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on the hot stove-lid.  She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again--and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.       -Mark Twain

Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge--broad deep knowledge-- is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked humankind's progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life.       -Helen Keller

Old places and old persons in their turn, when spirit dwells in them, have an intrinsic vitality of which youth is incapable; precisely the balance and wisdom that comes from long perspectives and broad foundations.       -George Santayana

A wise old owl sat on an oak, The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird? Edward Hersey Richards

The poor long for riches and the rich for heaven, but the wise long for a state of tranquillity.        -Swami Rama

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.        -David Starr Jordan

The differences in human life depend, for the most part, not on what people do, but upon the meaning and purpose of their acts.  All are born, all die, all lose their loved ones, nearly all marry and nearly all work, but the significance of these acts may vary enormously.  The same physical act may be in one situation vulgar and in another holy.  The same work may be elevating or degrading.  The major question is not "What act do I perform?" but "In what frame do I put it?"  Wisdom about life consists in taking the inevitable ventures which are the very stuff of common existence, and glorifying them.        -Elton Trueblood

Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.       -Samuel Taylor Coleridge

We should never be ashamed to own we have been in the wrong, which is but saying in other words, that we are wiser today than we were yesterday.       -Jonathan Swift

There are many ways to seek wisdom.  There is travel, there are masters, there is service.  There is staring into the eyes of children and elders and lovers and strangers.  There is sitting silently in one spot and there is being swept along in life's turbulent current.  Life itself will grant you wisdom in ways you may neither understand nor choose.    It is up to you to be open to all these sources of wisdom and to embrace them with your whole heart.       -Kent Nerburn

Those who have the largest hearts have the soundest understandings; and they are the truest philosophers who can forget themselves.       -William Hazlitt

There is no greater mistake in the world than the looking upon every sort of nonsense as the want of sense.       -Leigh Hunt

The first 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

Dare to be wise: begin! Those who postpone the hour of living rightly are like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses, yet on it glides, and will glide forever.       -Horace

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.  The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.      -Lin Yutang

I call that mind free which is not passively framed by outward circumstances, which is not swept away by the torrent of events, which is not the creature of accidental impulse, but which bends events to its own improvement, and acts from an inward spring, from immutable principles which it has deliberately espoused.        -William Ellery Channing

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live, according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust.        -Henry David Thoreau

A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.       -Eleanor Roosevelt

The highest wisdom is kindness.         -The Gemara

Wisdom is not to be obtained from textbooks, but must be coined out of human experience in the flame of life.       -Morris Raphael Cohen

We see then how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power, or of the hands.  For have not the verses of Homer continued twenty-five hundred years, or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter; during which time infinite palaces, temples, castles, cities have been decayed and demolished?       - Francis Bacon

You must learn day by day, year by year, to broaden your horizon.  The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about-- the more you have left when anything happens.       -Ethel Barrymore

Who is wise?  Those who learn from everyone.        -Benjamin Franklin

Youth is the time to study wisdom; old age is the time to practice it.        -Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Any piece of knowledge I acquire today has a value at this moment exactly proportioned to my skill to deal with it.  Tomorrow, when I know more, I recall that piece of knowledge and use it better.        -Mark Van Doren

It is noble to seek truth, and it is beautiful to find it.  It is the ancient feeling of the human heart-- that knowledge is better than riches; and it is deeply and sacredly true.         -Sydney Smith

The lessons of great men and women are lost unless they reinforce upon our minds the highest demands which we make upon ourselves; they are lost unless they drive our sluggish wills forward in the direction of their highest ideas.       -Jane Addams

Some have narrowed their minds, and so fettered them with the chains of antiquity that not only do they refuse to speak save as the ancients spake, but they refuse to think save as the ancients thought.  God speaks to us, too, and the best thoughts are those now being vouchsafed to us.  We will excel the ancients!       -Savonarola

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. . . It is one of the few havens remaining where a person's mind can get both provocation and privacy.       -Edward P. Morgan

Wisdom is not finally tested by the schools, Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof.        -Walt Whitman

Abundance of knowledge does not teach a person to be wise.       -Heraclitus

A wise person will make more opportunities than he or she finds.       -Francis Bacon

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.       -William James

The seat of knowledge is in the head; of wisdom, in the heart.  We are sure to judge wrong if we do not feel right.        -William Hazlitt

There is no happiness where there is no wisdom.       -Sophocles

The wise stand out, because they see themselves as part of the Whole.  They shine, because they don't want to impress.  They achieve great things, because they don't look for recognition.  Their wisdom is contained in what they are, not their opinions.  They refuse to argue, so no-one argues with them.       -Lao Tzu

Wisdom outweighs any wealth.       -Sophocles

Wisdom sends us back to our childhood.         -Pascal

Seven characteristics distinguish the wise:  they do not speak in the presence of those wiser than themselves, do not interrupt, are not hasty to answer, ask and answer the point, talk about first things first and last things last, admit when they do not know, and acknowledge the truth.        -the Talmud

To have lived long does not necessarily imply the gathering of much wisdom and experience.  One who has pedaled twenty-five thousand miles on a stationary bicycle has not circled the globe.  He or she has only garnered weariness.        -Paul Eldridge

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.       -Edward R. Murrow

There is a great difference between knowing a thing and understanding it; you can know a lot and not really understand anything.        -Charles F. Kettering

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty.  To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.        -Bertrand Russell

We can be knowledgeable with other people's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other people's wisdom.        -Michel de Montaigne

If I'm wise, I won't worry about growing old, for I know that there's a time for everything.  I won't worry about whether someone likes me or not, for I know that all things can't be.  I won't worry about the things that I don't have, for not having them diminishes me not one bit.  I won't worry about the future and regret the past, for I know that only the present moment truly matters, for it's all that we can live.  If I'm wise, I will keep my eyes open and notice things that other people pass by or dismiss as trivial.  I will stop and smell the flowers and marvel at the snow and ice.  I will give of myself as much as I can, knowing that in giving comes our true growth.  I will be grateful for each new day of life that I receive, for I know that each day is a gift, and it's up to me to make something of that gift.       -tom walsh

When we are relaxed and reasonable content, we are naturally wise.  We accept that life is unpredictable, unreliable.  We say jokingly or philosophically, "Nothing is sure except death and taxes," or God willing and the creek don't rise," reminding each other that, notwithstanding the level of planning, we are continually dealing with being surprised.  We get startled.  We recover.  We are disappointed.  We adjust.  Mostly--with Wisdom intact--we manage.       -Sylvia Boorstein

Pure wisdom always directs itself towards God; the purest wisdom is knowledge of God.        -Lew Wallace

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.        -Doug Larson

The wisdom in the story of the most educated and powerful person is often not greater than the wisdom in the story of a child, and the life of a child can teach us as much as the life of a sage.        -Rachel Naomi Remen

Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.        -Merry Browne

Time ripens all things.  No one is born wise.       -Cervantes

The poor long for riches and the rich for heaven, but the wise long for a state of tranquility.        -Swami Rama

Keep the gold and keep the silver, but give us wisdom.        -Arabian proverb

We do not receive wisdom-- we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world.        -Marcel Proust

Wisdom is not book learning but, rather, a quality or state of knowing what is true or right coupled with the judgment to discern constructive action.  Wisdom is the insight and intuition contained in the proverbial still, small voice that only a quiet mind can hear and know.       -Sue Patton Thoele

Wisdom comes most easily to those who have the courage to embrace life without judgment and are willing to not know, sometimes for a long time.  It requires us to be more fully and simply alive than we have been taught to be.  It may require us to suffer.  But ultimately we will be more than we were when we began.  There is the seed of a greater wholeness in everyone.       -Rachel Naomi Remen

Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.       -William Wordsworth

I was walking along the river and I saw a little old man.  No teeth--really what we would call dirty, because we're clean--you know, it's all relative-- drinking a bottle of cheap wine, eating a piece of cheese, with a big grin on his face.  I almost passed him by.  He said, "Good morning, son."  Anyone who calls me "son" is my buddy.  So I sat down and we started rapping.  We shared the wine, we shared the cheese, and we also shared philosophy.  I said to this man "You know, you look so happy and contented and centered and peaceful.  Do you have a secret to life?"  He said, without a moment's hesitation, "Indeed,  do."    I said, "Would you share it with me?"    "Of course, son."  He said, "If you want to live happy all of your life, always keep your mind full and your bowels empty."  Now, there's wisdom!  Nobody asked him to a brain bank!  They should have!       -Leo Buscaglia

Be happy.  It's one way of being wise.       -Colette

Give me wisdom over book knowledge any day.  I've spent many years in college--twelve years as a student and twelve teaching, and I can say without hesitation that I would prefer the company of an unschooled wise man or woman to that of a person who knows much, but feels little.  The two aren't mutually exclusive, of course--many educated people are also wise, and many unschooled people are also unfeeling.  But it seems that the more knowledge we have, the more we tend to look at ourselves as knowing what we need to know, and that couldn't be any further from the truth. What I need when I talk to people is feedback about my life, about me.  If I'm to advance as a human being and become better (which to me means becoming more useful to my fellow human beings), then I need feedback that helps me to see what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong.  I need a wise person to tell me that this person's course of action is ineffective because he or she isn't taking something important into consideration, to tell me that my words were too harsh or too soft for a situation, to tell me that what somebody did to me wasn't at all as I perceived it, but something different entirely. Most of all, though, I appreciate the examples of the wise--the lives they live and the way they tend to be content with just what they have.  They tend to be much more accepting and understanding, for they see where people are coming from inside--they're able to see past the facades and the attention-getting and know what a person is about. Wisdom is a quality that I strive after, and I would rather have a pound of wisdom than a ton of knowledge.  It's too late, though--I already have a ton of knowledge, and I'm trying my best to purify it, to take what I need to live a useful life from it and leave the rest behind, so that I may grow in wisdom and thus grow in usefulness to my fellow human beings.  it takes a great deal of maple sap to make maple syrup, and what's not necessary or vital is evaporated as the sap is boiled down.  It's a mistake to think that all of our knowledge is necessary--we need to let some of it evaporate as we search for the wisdom that will most help ourselves and others. -Tom Walsh

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