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

J
"The study of mechanics has taught me humility before the complexity of creation."
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
J
"I have found that errors in calculation often point toward deeper truths."
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
J
"I have learned that the greatest discoveries come to those who ask the right questions."
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
J
"In all my work, I have sought to reveal the hidden harmony of nature."
Joseph-Louis Lagrange
C
"Wisdom consists not in seeing great things, but in seeing small things clearly."
Claude Adrien Helvetius
C
"The pursuit of pleasure without wisdom is the path to ruin."
Claude Adrien Helvetius
P
"True wisdom consists in knowing the limits of knowledge."
Paul-Henri Thiry Holbach
P
"Reason is the light that guides humanity."
Paul-Henri Thiry Holbach
P
"Prejudice is born of ignorance."
Paul-Henri Thiry Holbach
"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of."
Catherine de Medici
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
Catherine de Medici
"The mind is everything. What you think, you become."
Catherine de Medici
I
"A woman's intellect is as capable as a man's, if given the opportunity."
Isabella d'Este
I
"A cultivated mind is a woman's greatest jewel."
Isabella d'Este
I
"I have learned to value substance over appearance."
Isabella d'Este
I
"To know oneself is the beginning of wisdom."
Isabella d'Este
I
"I value those who possess both heart and mind."
Isabella d'Este
J
"Common sense is not so common."
Jean d'Alembert
J
"The mind is everything; what you think, you become."
Jean d'Alembert
M
"Wisdom is the highest good."
Marsilio Ficino
M
"Wisdom teaches us to live well."
Marsilio Ficino
"To know oneself is to have already begun the journey toward wisdom."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"The human mind is a garden; neglect it and weeds will flourish; cultivate it and it will bloom."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"Reason without experience is empty; experience without reason is blind."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"Knowledge without virtue is a sword in the hands of a fool."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"The path to wisdom is paved with the stones of our mistakes."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"The child's natural curiosity is the first stirring of the philosophical spirit."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"The value of an idea is determined not by its age, but by its truth."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"Virtue without understanding is mere habit; understanding without virtue is empty."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
"Every person possesses the capacity for wisdom; few possess the will to pursue it."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac