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

I
"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of"
Ivan Karamazov
D
"Insanity is contagious."
Doc Daneeka
C
"Being sane is a full-time job."
Cheswick
C
"We're all crazy in here, just in different ways."
Chief Bromden
R
"You're not sick, you're just awake."
Randle McMurphy
C
"The real asylum is out there, not in here."
Chief Bromden
N
"The heart's desires are often wiser than the mind's calculations."
Natasha Rostova
J
"Cleverness is not wisdom."
Javert
J
"To rise in the morning resolved to be happy is going to bed every night assured of disappointment."
Jean Valjean
I
"The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for."
Ivan Karamazov
J
"I don't want to be safe; I want meaning."
John the Savage
C
"You're not gonna count how many upstairs they are, are you?"
Chief Bromden
P
"Everything comes to those who wait"
Pierre Bezukhov
T
"You don't have to look around. There is no where else to look."
Tralfamadorian
B
"The most important thing I have to say is this: I've been granted a high privilege."
Billy Pilgrim
F
"The heart has reasons that reason knows nothing of."
Fantine
Y
"Insanity is contagious."
Yossarian
M
"I have something to say about nostalgia"
Mustapha Mond
N
"Simplicity is the last degree of sophistication"
Natasha Rostova
P
"The greatest discoveries come from observing what others overlook"
Pierre Bezukhov
N
"The heart knows what the mind cannot comprehend"
Natasha Rostova
B
"How nice—to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive."
Billy Pilgrim
B
"I am a Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains."
Billy Pilgrim
C
"I'm not saying they're not just doing it because they want to. But I am saying that they're doing it."
Chief Bromden
N
"Medication is a form of love, in a way."
Nurse Ratched
D
"Insanity is contagious."
Doc Daneeka
Y
"The only real victory is in refusing to play."
Yossarian
I
"Despair is sometimes the only response to truth"
Ivan Karamazov
D
"A moment of understanding is worth a lifetime of philosophy"
Dmitri Karamazov
C
"Sometimes it's a hard world to live in. All you do is what you think you're supposed to do."
Chief Bromden