Wisdom Quotes

The best minds across centuries have wrestled with what it means to be wise. These quotes capture their hard-won insights.

64329 quotes

H
"The heart's knowledge comes before the mind's understanding."
Hilda Doolittle
"The mind is the greatest thing we possess, and we must learn to use it wisely."
Wallace Stevens
"To understand ourselves, we must first understand the world."
Wallace Stevens
"Truth is not discovered but created through understanding."
Wallace Stevens
"Wisdom consists in knowing what to value."
Wallace Stevens
"We must learn to see with both mind and heart."
Wallace Stevens
"Every human being is interesting if you dig deep enough."
Fannie Hurst
"Every person is a universe within themselves."
Fannie Hurst
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
Fannie Hurst
"Wisdom grows with experience."
Fannie Hurst
E
"Only the diamond's bright light can cut through the darkness."
Edna St. Vincent Millay
E
"Youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."
Edna St. Vincent Millay
E
"The wise inherit glory but the foolish inherit only shame."
Edna St. Vincent Millay
E
"I have learned to live with my demons; we are old friends now."
Edna St. Vincent Millay
E
"Money is temporary; memories are eternal."
Edna St. Vincent Millay
"The mind is an enchanting thing."
Marianne Moore
"Restraint is an aesthetic achievement."
Marianne Moore
"The mind of the wise is like a mirror that reflects and absorbs nothing."
Marianne Moore
"Feeling is not everything; it is also how we understand."
Marianne Moore
"We cannot separate what we think from what we feel."
Marianne Moore
W
"The cure for monotony is attention to detail."
William Carlos Williams
W
"The body knows what the mind has not yet learned."
William Carlos Williams
H
"We are not given to know our purpose until we have lived it."
Hart Crane
H
"The wisdom of ages speaks through the voice of the present moment."
Hart Crane
A
"Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real thoughts."
Amy Lowell
A
"Wisdom comes from experience and reflection."
Amy Lowell
"The mind of winter is the mind that accepts things as they are without romantic embellishment."
Wallace Stevens
"We must be content to live in paradox, holding contradictory truths simultaneously."
Wallace Stevens
H
"We must learn to see with new eyes, to perceive what lies beneath the surface."
Hilda Doolittle
H
"Wisdom comes from living fully, from paying attention."
Hilda Doolittle