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

S
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"
Salvor Hardin
S
"A person is smart, people are dumb"
Salvor Hardin
E
"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that moment I also love him."
Ender Wiggin
O
"The most important human ability is to tell the difference between what belongs to us and what does not."
Orson Scott Card (Narrator)
T
"Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not."
Tyrion Lannister
T
"I drink and I know things."
Tyrion Lannister
S
"There is no escape from a woman's subtlety"
Spice-induced narrator/Paul's visions
S
"The desert is a teacher"
Stilgar
P
"The test of a first-rate intelligence"
Paul Atreides
T
"You must learn to distinguish necessity from desire"
Thufir Hawat
S
"The greatest achievement is simplicity"
Spice-induced narrator/Paul's visions
P
"Those who seek control lose it"
Paul Atreides
T
"The greatest fools have the greatest kingdoms."
Tyrion Lannister
H
"Sword fighting in the metaverse is not like sword fighting in reality"
Hiro Protagonist
H
"The sword is mightier than the code only in the hands of someone who understands both"
Hiro Protagonist
E
"A man who knows he is a fool is not a complete fool."
Estraven
G
"To be so completely rational as to have no emotions is to be incomplete."
Genly Ai
G
"In the end, understanding is the only victory that matters."
Genly Ai
S
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"
Salvor Hardin
J
"A sword is not a toy"
Jon Snow
G
"A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, but first and foremost they want to be regarded as human beings"
Genly Ai
E
"To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness"
Estraven
T
"I drink and I know things."
Tyrion Lannister
E
"I think you're still hung up on the old idea that kids should be seen and not heard."
Ender Wiggin
M
"Winning is not about destroying your enemy. It's about understanding them."
Mazer Rackham
S
"You do not beg the sun for mercy."
Stilgar
S
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"
Salvor Hardin
S
"Intelligence without action is merely philosophy"
Salvor Hardin
D
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
Douglas Adams
D
"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
Douglas Adams