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

L
"The fall of one man is a lesson to another."
Livy
L
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
Livy
P
"Wisdom is not gained by years alone."
Pliny the Younger
P
"A loving heart is the truest wisdom."
Pliny the Younger
P
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
Pliny the Younger
A
"The human capacity for self-deception is matched only by our capacity for truth-seeking."
Ammianus Marcellinus
A
"The pursuit of knowledge often requires the abandonment of comforting illusions."
Ammianus Marcellinus
A
"Those who listen more than they speak learn what others cannot teach them."
Ammianus Marcellinus
A
"To possess knowledge without compassion is to possess a dangerous thing."
Ammianus Marcellinus
S
"Excess in all things reveals the poverty of the soul."
Suetonius
S
"The strongest empires are built by those who listen more than they speak."
Suetonius
S
"The lessons of the ancients remain eternally relevant."
Suetonius
S
"In every gain lies the seed of potential loss."
Suetonius
S
"In the face of uncertainty, wisdom is knowing what you cannot control."
Suetonius
T
"The greatest empire is the empire of the mind."
Tacitus
T
"Wisdom comes not from years, but from reflection on experience."
Tacitus
M
"Wisdom is knowing when to speak and when to be silent."
Martial
M
"Wisdom whispers while folly shouts."
Martial
M
"Wisdom is knowing what to do; courage is doing it."
Martial
P
"The best plan is to profit from the folly of others."
Pliny the Elder
P
"We are more intelligent than the animals, but no more virtuous."
Pliny the Elder
P
"The cruelest remedy is the best."
Pliny the Elder
P
"Fortune blinds those whom she favors too much."
Pliny the Elder
P
"The mind of man is more intuitive than logical."
Pliny the Elder
P
"The only true wisdom is in knowing oneself."
Pliny the Elder
P
"The heart is the seat of the mind."
Pliny the Elder
P
"There is no greater wealth than wisdom."
Pliny the Elder
H
"He who has made a fair compact with poverty is rich."
Horace
H
"Rule your mind or it will rule you."
Horace
H
"A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes."
Horace