Wisdom

Grown people know that they do not always know the way of things, and even if they think they know, they do not know where and how they got the proof.

Motivation alone is not enough. If you have an idiot and you motivate him, now you have a motivated idiot.

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.

We don’t know a millionth of one percent about anything.

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own self in all beings, and all beings in his own self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

Mothers are the most instinctive philosophers.

To love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to love with the mind.

It pays to know the enemy—not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.

What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.

Age is a high price to pay for maturity.

Maturity means reacquiring the seriousness one had as a child at play.

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

The most manifest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness.

What the heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow.

What we do not understand we do not possess.

To have doubted one’s own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.

A country is considered the more civilized the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak or a powerful one too powerful.

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.