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

A
"Through contemplation of the cosmos, we contemplate our own nature."
Anaximander
A
"To question is to acknowledge the boundless depths of mystery."
Anaximander
A
"The sage understands that possession is temporary, but participation in the infinite is eternal."
Anaximander
A
"The architect of nature builds with means beyond our comprehension."
Anaximander
A
"The questions that cannot be answered are often the truest questions."
Anaximander
A
"The wise surrender to the current while remaining true to their nature."
Anaximander
D
"Know thyself."
Democritus
D
"Deliberation is the consultation of the wise; rashness, of fools."
Democritus
D
"Envy is foreign to the man of understanding."
Democritus
D
"A bad man's mouth is like an army of demons."
Democritus
D
"You will be wise when you understand how to be wise."
Democritus
D
"Avoid excess in all things."
Democritus
D
"Silence is sometimes the greatest wisdom."
Democritus
D
"The man who makes few words speaks volumes."
Democritus
D
"Small tokens often contain great meanings."
Democritus
D
"The more a man knows, the more he forgives."
Democritus
D
"Seek wisdom, not power; wisdom brings power with it."
Democritus
A
"The infinite nature of air mirrors the infinite potential within each person."
Anaximenes
A
"Study the movements of air to predict the movements of fate."
Anaximenes
A
"The infinite cannot be measured, only experienced and contemplated."
Anaximenes
A
"Understanding comes not from words, but from direct engagement with nature."
Anaximenes
A
"What appears as conflict is often merely different perspectives of the same reality."
Anaximenes
A
"In the rarefaction of certainty lies the expansion into truth."
Anaximenes
E
"Come now and learn of medicines"
Empedocles
E
"The wise know themselves"
Empedocles
E
"Wisdom begins with wonder"
Empedocles
E
"The heart knows what the mind cannot understand"
Empedocles
P
"One should both say and think that Being is."
Parmenides
P
"Never shall this prevail, that what is not, is."
Parmenides
P
"Plurality is an illusion; all is one."
Parmenides