Mythopoeia (1931)
“All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man.”
“4833. The wise Man draws more Advantage from his Enemies, than a Fool from his Friends.”
Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1749) : The wise Man draws more Advantage from his Enemies, than the Fool from his Friends.
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
“Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.”
Source: The Complete Essays
Siddhartha (1922)
Context: Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.
No. 85
The Federalist Papers (1787–1788)
Context: I should esteem it the extreme of imprudence to prolong the precarious state of our national affairs, and to expose the Union to the jeopardy of successive experiments, in the chimerical pursuit of a perfect plan. I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man. The result of the deliberations of all collective bodies must necessarily be a compound, as well of the errors and prejudices, as of the good sense and wisdom, of the individuals of whom they are composed.
“Sweet songs of youth, the wise, the meeting of all wisdom
To believe in the good in man.”
Lyrics of "Loved by the Sun", on the soundtrack of the film Legend (1986).
“Erasmus: Madness and Rivalry,” Giving Offense: Essays on Censorship (1996), p. 94
“The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.”
