100 Words of Wisdom From The Best Minds (Ever)

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder and chief editor of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm, peaceful and powerful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

I’ve spent 10+ hours doing one thing:

Curate the wisest words from Einstein, Buddha, Socrates, Emerson, Thoreau, Plato, Bruce Lee, and many more.

Here’s a list of THE top 100 words of wisdom ever written.

I guarantee you’ll find some insights from these amazing minds.

Enjoy!

Doubt is the origin of wisdom. Augustine of Hippo

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination. Napoleon Bonaparte

Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. Immanuel Kant

Foolishness is a twin sister of wisdom. Witold Gombrowicz

Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. Albert Einstein

words of wisdom quotes power put time our knowledge proper thomas j watson

Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use. Thomas J. Watson

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. Seneca

A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself. Michel de Montaigne

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. Francis Bacon

Discipline is wisdom and vice versa. M. Scott Peck

words of wisdom great generous petty contentious zhuangzi wisdom

Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Zhuangzi

Wisdom sails with wind and time. John Florio

A symptom of wisdom is curiosity. The evidence is calmness and perseverance. The causes are experimentation and understanding. Maxime Lagacé

A fool is known by his speech; and a wise man by silence. Pythagoras

The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness. Michel de Montaigne

Related

The Best Words of Wisdom

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The fool wonders, the wise man asks. Benjamin Disraeli

There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool. Diogenes

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. Jimi Hendrix

Never say no twice if you mean it. Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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. Hermann Hesse

Everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait. Leo Tolstoy

Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves. Buddha

Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end. Leonard Nimoy

A lot of wisdom is just realizing the long-term consequences of your actions. The longer term you’re willing to look, the wiser you’re going to seem to everybody around you. Naval Ravikant

A weak reaction is to rush things. A strong reaction is to go slow and steady. Maxime Lagacé

We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. Marcel Proust

The best words are the ones you are ready for. Maxime Lagacé

Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself. Kahlil Gibran

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

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit. David Elton Trueblood

The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one. Honoré de Balzac

The wise know they are fools. Fools think they are wise. Maxime Lagacé

Maturity is when you stop being surprised by anything. Wisdom is when you start again. Maxime Lagacé

Wisdom and deep intelligence require an honest appreciation of mystery. Thomas Moore

The greatest wealth is to live content with little. Plato

What Is Wisdom?

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Wisdom is knowing when you can’t be wise. Paul Engle

Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences. Norman Cousins

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

The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing. Epictetus

Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry. Samuel Smiles

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

Much wisdom often goes with fewest words. Sophocles

Part 2. Words of Wisdom That Are…

Inspirational Words of Wisdom

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He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book. Benjamin Franklin

Fast thinking looks cool but it’s deep thinking that makes all the difference. And deep thinking is always slow thinking. @TheAncientSage

Who then is free? The wise man who can command himself. Horace

He who would begun has half done. Dare to be wise; begin. Horace

Man is wise and constantly in quest of more wisdom; but the ultimate wisdom, which deals with beginnings, remains locked in a seed. There it lies, the simplest fact of the universe and at the same time the one which calls forth faith rather than reason. Hal Borland

One part of wisdom is knowing what you don’t need anymore and letting it go. Jane Fonda

Do now what your future you will thank you for. Maxime Lagacé

First of all, to understand truth you must stand alone, entirely and wholly alone. No Master, no teacher, no guru, no system, no self-discipline will ever lift for you the veil which conceals wisdom. Wisdom is the understanding of enduring values and the living of those values. No one can lead you to wisdom. Jiddu Krishnamurti

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The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. Paulo Coelho (Source)

Men who know themselves are no longer fools. They stand on the threshold of the door of wisdom. Havelock Ellis

Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as knowing what to do next. Herbert Hoover

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself a fool. Anatole France

Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech. Plutarch

True wisdom is remembering that in the end, no matter what, everything will be fine. Maxime Lagacé

It’s better to be alone than to spend time with toxic people. It’s better to do nothing than to work on something that doesn’t matter. It’s better to rest than to climb the wrong mountain. James Clear

If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise. William Blake

Short Words of Wisdom

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One-liners, short words of wisdom, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.

Knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows. Alfred North Whitehead

The more you know the less you say. Sahil Lavingia (Source)

Don’t try to become, let go of who you’re not. Maxime Lagacé

The truest sayings are paradoxical. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. Alfred Lord Tennyson

One principle eliminates a thousand decisions. Johnny Uzan

Wisdom comes by disillusionment. George Santayana

Wisdom has never made a bigot, but learning has. Josh Billings

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. Juvenal

The wisest of the wise may err. Aeschylus

Pain is the doorway to wisdom and to truth. Keith Miller

I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom. Anatole France

No man was ever wise by chance. Seneca

Wisdom is knowledge which has become a part of one’s being. Orison Swett Marden

Kindness is wisdom. Philip James Bailey

Wisdom begins in wonder. Socrates

Wisdom outweighs any wealth. Sophocles

The wise are those who know the Self. Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Deep Words of Wisdom

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I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom. Terry Pratchett

The wise man belongs to all countries, for the home of a great soul is the whole world. Democritus

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best words of wisdom will create confusion, action, understanding and ultimately, peace. Maxime Lagacé

If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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

It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. Mahatma Gandhi

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. Dakota (Native American saying)

Has fortune dealt you some bad cards. Then let wisdom make you a good gamester. Francis Quarles

The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil. Marcus Tullius Cicero

Genius unrefined resembles a flash of lightning, but wisdom is like the sun. Franz Grillparzer

Wisdom is knowing what to ignore. Shane Parrish (Source)

A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men. Roal Dahl

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

Wisdom is seeing wounds and obstacles as blessings. Maxime Lagacé

Innocence dwells with wisdom, but never with ignorance. William Blake

It’s wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. J. R. R. Tolkien

The small wisdom is like water in a glass: clear, transparent, pure. The great wisdom is like the water in the sea: dark, mysterious, impenetrable. Rabindranath Tagore

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

Words should be weighed, not counted. Yiddish proverb

Conclusion

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Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give. William A. Ward

Key Takeaways

Wise people prefer
- Questions over answers
- Listening over talking
- Doubts over confidence
Wise people don’t care about
- rewards
- criticism
- what they don’t control
Keep in mind: life is chaos. Being a little foolish can help.
Want to become wiser? Forget schooling. Fail, reflect and learn instead.
Tools to become wise?
- Discipline
- Acceptance
- Meditation (mindful.org)

100 Words of Wisdom From The Best Minds (Ever)

The Best Words of Wisdom

What Is Wisdom?

Part 2. Words of Wisdom That Are…

Inspirational Words of Wisdom

Short Words of Wisdom

Deep Words of Wisdom

Conclusion

Key Takeaways

Further Readings (For Wisdom And Life Lessons)

Table Of Contents