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

"Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found."
Gustave Flaubert
"An opinion can be argued with; a conviction is best shot with a gun."
Gustave Flaubert
"The difficulty is to choose between despair and betrayal."
Gustave Flaubert
"Stupidity and wisdom begin with the same letter."
Gustave Flaubert
G
"Mistakes are the portals of discovery."
George Eliot
G
"The very desire for what is true and good is the most sacred of all desires."
George Eliot
G
"The meaning we make of our suffering is what transforms it into wisdom."
George Eliot
G
"Mediocrities are blessed creatures; they do not think."
George Eliot
C
"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be"
Charles Dickens
C
"Beware of sudden change in the habits of those whom you trust"
Charles Dickens
C
"The heart knows its own bitterness"
Charles Dickens
C
"A loving heart is the truest wisdom"
Charles Dickens
�
"The moment we desire to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments in its favor."
Émile Zola
�
"One should look at the individual rather than at the whole."
Émile Zola
�
"To know the human being is to accept the human being."
Émile Zola
�
"The pursuit of perfection is the pursuit of a phantom."
Émile Zola
�
"The heart knows truths that the mind cannot comprehend."
Émile Zola
A
"The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence."
Alexandre Dumas
A
"The superior man never loses his temper."
Alexandre Dumas
A
"What wisdom can be greater than kindness?"
Alexandre Dumas
A
"The most formidable weapon against errors of any kind is reason."
Alexandre Dumas
A
"The mind is like water. When it is turbulent, it is difficult to see. When it is calm, vision becomes clear."
Alexandre Dumas
H
"The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, but the kind of man the country turns out."
Honoré de Balzac
H
"What is virtue but a succession of victories over ourselves."
Honoré de Balzac
H
"Every heart is a palace where we must sweep daily."
Honoré de Balzac
H
"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."
Honoré de Balzac
H
"True wisdom knows what to do with knowledge."
Honoré de Balzac
C
"Better to be without logic than without feeling."
Charlotte Brontë
C
"Feeling without judgment is a washy draught indeed."
Charlotte Brontë
C
"Distrust those who profess enmity to superiors or to the wealthy."
Charlotte Brontë