Quotes about wisdom

Siddhartha had begun to feel the seeds of discontent within him. … He had begun to suspect that his worthy father and his other teachers, the wise Brahmins, had already passed on to him the bulk and best of their wisdom, that they had already poured the sum total of their knowledge into his waiting vessel; and the vessel was not full, his intellect was not satisfied.

No, this tremendous amount of knowledge, collected and preserved by successive generations of wise Brahmins, could not be easily overlooked. But where were the Brahmins, the wise men, the priests who were successful in not only having this most profound knowledge, but in living it?

Death never takes the wise man by surprise, he is always ready to go.

There's nothing useless to a man of sense.

"Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "That is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.

To mingle with one's life a certain presence of the sepulchre is the law of the wise man, and it is the law of the ascetic. In this relation, the ascetic and the sage tend towards a common centre.

The young have the ability, but lack the wisdom, and the old have the wisdom, but lack the ability.

There is no happiness where there is no wisdom;

No wisdom but in submission to the gods.

Big words are always punished,

And proud men in old age learn to be wise.

It is no weakness for the wisest man

To learn when he is wrong.

Wisdom outweighs any wealth.

There is more than one kind of wisdom, and all are essential in the world; it is not bad that they should alternate.

Seek first the virtues of the mind; and other things either will come, or will not be wanted.