“The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.”

Isaac D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature, "Quotation".
Misattributed, Isaac D'Israeli
Variant: The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update May 22, 2022. History

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Do you have more details about the quote "The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation." by Benjamin Disraeli?
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Benjamin Disraeli 306
British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Pri… 1804–1881

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Isaac D'Israeli photo

“The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.”

Isaac D'Israeli (1766–1848) British writer

Quotation; since at least 1986 a paraphrased form misattributed to his son Benjamin Disraeli has often been quoted: "The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations."
Curiosities of Literature (1791–1834)

“The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, folk sayings and quotations.”

William Feather (1889–1981) Publisher, Author

Attributed in Zebras & Picket Fences (2008) by Jakob Weiss; if this is a statement by Feather, it clearly derives from the earlier remarks of Isaac D'Israeli: "The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation." Since at least 1986 a paraphrased form misattributed to his son Benjamin Disraeli has also often been quoted: "The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations."
Disputed

Sophocles photo

“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.”

Sophocles (-496–-406 BC) ancient Greek tragedian

Source: Antigone, Line 1347, closing lines

Michel De Montaigne photo

“Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Source: The Complete Essays

“The idea that a wise man must be solemn is bred and preserved among people who have no idea what wisdom is, and can only respect whatever makes them feel inferior.”

A Voice from the Attic (1960)
Context: The climate of his mind is so salubrious, so invigorating, that dull thoughts and heavy cares are dispelled by contact with it.
And is not this the true end of scholarship? It is to make us wise, of course, but what is the use of being wise if we are not sometimes merry? The merriment of wise men is not the uninformed, gross fun of ignorant men, but it has more kinship with that than the pinched, frightened fun of those who are neither learned nor ignorant, gentle nor simple, bound nor free. The idea that a wise man must be solemn is bred and preserved among people who have no idea what wisdom is, and can only respect whatever makes them feel inferior.

Christopher Paolini photo
Anaïs Nin photo

“I say quotations are literary. They are good only when dealing with ideas, not with experience. Experience should be pure, unique.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

June 5, 1936 Fire
Diary entries (1914 - 1974)

Samuel Johnson photo
Hermann Hesse photo

“Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish… Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.”

Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German writer

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.

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