“The greatest Clerkes be not the wisest men.”
Part II, chapter 5.
Proverbs (1546), Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
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John Heywood 139
English writer known for plays, poems and a collection of p… 1497–1580Related quotes

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.”

“A little nonsense now and then
Is relished by the wisest men.”
This appears to be an anonymous proverb of unknown authorship, only occasionally attributed to Addison.
Misattributed

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.”
Not original to this work, the proverb dates from at least the 18th century.
Source: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), Ch. 12, 'Back to The Chocolate Factory' (p.88 in the Paperback edition (1998) from Puffin)

[In the Company of the Holy Mother, 200]

Cut down the proud towering thoughts that you get into you, or see they be pure as well as high. There is a nobler ambition than the gaining of all California would be, or the getting of all the suffrages that are on the planet just now.
1860s, On The Choice Of Books (1866)