“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Wise Quotes About Life page 4
Hamza Yusuf (1958) American Islamic scholar
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/158902.Hamza_Yusuf
“A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.”
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
Article on Biography.
1820s, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827–1855)
Variant: For love is ever the beginning of Knowledge, as fire is of light.
Gregory Maguire book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Source: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”
Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird
Source: To Kill a Mockingbird
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
Variant: Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
“This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.”
Variant: This is your life and its ending one moment at a time.
Source: Fight Club
“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.”
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author
“A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
Original from Zig Ziglar https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zig_Ziglar <br class="br">Misattributed
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.”
Anthony Robbins (1960) Author, actor, professional speaker
Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear
Source: The Wise Man's Fear (2011), Chapter 43, “The Flickering Way” (p. 318)
“Your life only gets better when you get better.”
Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer
“[…] where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise.”
Thomas Gray (1716–1771) English poet, historian
“Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
Alexandre Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo
Chapter 117 http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo/Chapter_117 <br class="br">The Count of Monte Cristo (1845–1846)
“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”
Og Mandino (1923–1996) American author
“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
“Trust your heart if the seas catch fire and live by love though the stars walk backwards.”
Ben Sherwood book The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud
Source: The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud
“Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“Do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in few!”
Pythagoras (-585–-495 BC) ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher
“Very little is needed to make a happy life.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
ἐν ὀλιγίστοις κεῖται τὸ εὐδαιμόνως βιῶσαι
VII, 67
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII
“Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.”
Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica
“The wisest mind has something yet to learn.”
George Santayana (1863–1952) 20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with Pragmatism
“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
As quoted in Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989) by Jeffrey M. Elliot
“Perpetual Optimism is a Force Multiplier.”
Colin Powell (1937) Former U.S. Secretary of State and retired four-star general
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Attributed to Emerson in Life’s Instructions for Wisdom, Success, and Happiness (2000) by H. Jackson Brown Jr., as well as numerous on-line sources since, the article "The Purpose of Life Is Not To Be Happy But To Matter" at the Quote Investigator https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/11/29/purpose/ indicates that this quote is probably derived from various statements first made by Leo Rosten, including the following words delivered at the National Book Awards held in New York in 1962: "The purpose of life is not to be happy — but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all." <br class="br">Misattributed
“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.”
Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books
Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990)
Source: Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Patrick Süskind (1949) German writer and screenwriter
Source: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
“For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.”
Carl Sagan book Contact
Source: Contact (1985), Chapter 24 (p. 430)
Henry James (1843–1916) American novelist, short story author, and literary critic
Quoted by Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance (1934), ch. 10.
“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author
“Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“This is the world as it is. This is where you start.”
Saul D. Alinsky (1909–1972) American community organizer and writer
“Liberty without Learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
1963, Address at Vanderbilt University
Context: The essence of Vanderbilt is still learning, the essence of its outlook is still liberty, and liberty and learning will be and must be the touchstones of Vanderbilt University and of any free university in this country or the world. I say two touchstones, yet they are almost inseparable, inseparable if not indistinguishable, for liberty without learning is always in peril, and learning without liberty is always in vain.
“Life is short and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.”
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher
Source: The World as Will and Representation, Vol 1
“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.”
Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina
(voice of Anna) C. Garnett, trans. (New York: 2003), Part 7, Chapter 24 p. 685
Source: Anna Karenina (1875–1877; 1878)
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“The secret is that there is no secret.”
Lionel Shriver book We Need to Talk About Kevin
Source: We Need to Talk About Kevin
“Be still my heart; thou hast known worse than this.”
Variant: Be strong, saith my heart; I am a soldier;
I have seen worse sights than this.
Source: The Odyssey
“You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more.”
Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
“The truth is more important than the facts.”
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American architect (1867-1959)
“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.”
Isaac Asimov book Foundation
Part IV, The Traders, section 1; originally published as “The Wedge” in Astounding (October 1944)
Source: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation (1951)
“Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
Gretchen Rubin (1966) American writer
Source: The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”
Jodi Picoult book Small Great Things
Source: Small Great Things
“To love and to be loved is the greatest happiness.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) Indian spiritual teacher
Quotations from Gurudev’s teachings, Chinmya Mission Chicago
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”
Rita Mae Brown (1944) Novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
Brown did include this quote in her book Sudden Death (Bantam Books, New York, 1983), p. 68, but it appears she was just paraphrasing a quote that had already been written elsewhere. The earliest known appearance of a similar quote is the "approval version" of the Narcotics Anonymous "Basic Text" released in November 1981, which included the quote "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results." A PDF scan of the 1981 approval version can be found here http://www.nauca.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1981-11-Basic-Text-Approval-Form-White.pdf, with the quote appearing on p. 11 (p. 25 of the PDF), at the end of the fourth paragraph (which begins "We have a disease; progressive, incurable and fatal"). More in this article https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/23/same/ on Quote Investigator website. <br class="br">Misattributed
Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) American aviation pioneer and author
The Official Website of Amelia Earhart - Quotes http://www.ameliaearhart.com/about/quotes.html
“You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream.”
Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) Christian apologist, novelist, and Medievalist
Unknown, but also attributed to Les Brown, a motivational speaker. Commonly attributed to C.S. Lewis, but never with a primary source listed.
Misattributed
“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism during British-ruled India
In Ethical Religion, (Madras: S. Ganesan, 1922), p. 62 http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015002732066?urlappend=%3Bseq=66 <br class="br">1920s <br class="br">Variant: A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
“A man doesn't begin to attain wisdom until he recognizes that he is no longer indispensable.”
Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888–1957) Medal of Honor recipient and United States Navy officer
Source: Alone (1938), Ch. 12, last lines of the book.
“The future was not what it used to be.”
K. A. Bedford book Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait
Source: Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait (2008), Chapter 13 (p. 156)
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism during British-ruled India
Variant on aphorism "Study as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were to die tomorrow" pre-dating Gandhi, variously attributed to Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – 636), in FPA Book of Quotations (1952) by Franklin Pierce Adams, to Edmund Rich (1175–1240) in American Journal of Education (1877), or to Alain de Lille in Samuel Smiles's Duty https://books.google.com/books?id=33UzAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA363&dq=live+die+tomorrow+learn+forever&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjd3s_2m57MAhWFMGMKHe-sAl8Q6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=live%20die%20tomorrow%20learn%20forever&f=false (1881). <br class="br">The 1995 book "The good boatman: a portrait of Gandhi," states that Gandhi subscribed "to the view that a man should live thinking he might die tomorrow but learn as if he would live forever." <br class="br">In his 2010 Boyer lecture Glyn Davis (Professor of Political Science and Vice-Chancellor of Melbourne University) attributes the quote to Desiderius Erasmus. "He [Erasmus] reworked Pliny to urge 'live as if you are to die tomorrow, study as if you were to live forever'. Many students obey the first clause - the best heed both." <br class="br">There is a similar quote by Johann Gottfried Herder: "Mensch, genieße dein Leben, als müssest morgen du weggehn; Schone dein Leben, als ob ewig du weiletest hier." ["Man, enjoy your life as if you were to depart tomorrow; spare your life as if you were to linger here forever."] (Zerstreute Blätter, 1785). <br class="br">Disputed
“Either you will be you or you will not be at all.”
Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman
“The Knight,” p. 81
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “What After”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German writer, artist, and politician
Attributed to Zig Ziglar
Misattributed
“Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so.”
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) British statesman and man of letters
19 November 1745
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American judge
Concurring, Dennis v. United States, 339 U.S. 162, 184 (1950).
Judicial opinions
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) French sculptor
As quoted in Heads and Tales (1936) by Malvina Hoffman, p. 47
1900s-1940s
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.”
Seneca the Younger (-4–65 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist
As quoted in What Great Men Think About Religion (1945) by Ira D. Cardiff, p. 342. No original source for this has been found in the works of Seneca, or published translations. It is likely that the quote originates with Edward Gibbon who wrote:<blockquote>The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful. — Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. I http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/890, Ch. II</blockquote> Elbert Hubbard would claim in 1904 ( Little Journeys: To the homes of great philosophers: Seneca http://www.online-literature.com/elbert-hubbard/journeys-vol-eight/2/) that Gibbon was "making a free translation from Seneca". <br class="br">Disputed
“All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman
Source: How to Be Like Walt : Capturing the Magic Every Day of Your Life (2004), Ch. 3 : Imagination Unlimited, p. 63; Unsourced variant: All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.
“There was content, but no container.”
Simon Blackburn (1944) British academic philosopher
Source: Think (1999), Chapter Four, The Self, p. 135
“We need not think alike to love alike.”
Ferenc Dávid (1510–1579) Hungarian noble
This attribution seems to have begun in the 1960s, and has been debunked at "Who really said that?" by Peter Hughes at UU World (15 August 2012) http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/229844.shtml; previously misattributed in A Chosen Faith (1991) by John A. Buehrens; also in Unitarian Universalist Origins: Our Historic Faith by Mark W. Harris https://web.archive.org/web/20060101061859/www.uua.org/info/origins.html <br class="br">Misattributed
“The world is not the way they tell you it is.”
George Goodman (1930–2014) American author and economics commentator
Source: The Money Game (1968), Chapter 1, Why Did The master Say "Game"?, p. 3
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) British statesman and man of letters
22 February 1748
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
“There is no knowledge that is not power.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Old Age
1870s, Society and Solitude (1870)
“We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.”
Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman
Book I, Ch. 25
Attributed
“Think like a man of action, and act like a man of thought.”
Sallust (-86–-34 BC) Roman historian, politician
Henri Bergson, as quoted in The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business of Life (1950), p. 442; this only seems to have become attributed to Sallust in the early 21st century.
Misattributed
“You can never plan the future by the past.”
Edmund Burke (1729–1797) Anglo-Irish statesman
Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)
A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American inventor and businessman
This is presented as a statement of 1877, as quoted in From Telegraph to Light Bulb with Thomas Edison (2007) by Deborah Headstrom-Page, p. 22.
1800s
“Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.”
John Wooden (1910–2010) American basketball coach
They Call Me Coach (1972)
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
This quote is commonly attributed to Churchill, but appears in the "Red Herrings: False Attributions" appendix of Churchill by Himself : The Definitive Collection of Quotations (2008) by Richard Langworth, without citation as to where it originates. <br class="br">In American Character, a 1905 address by Brander Matthews, a similar quotation is attributed to L. P. Jacks ( link http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015059451156?urlappend=%3Bseq=238). <br class="br">""Our civilization is a perilous adventure for an uncertain prize... Human society is not a constructed thing but a human organization... We are adopting a false method of reform when we begin by operations that weaken society, either morally or materially, by lower its vitality, by plunging it into gloom and despair about itself, by inducing the atmosphere of the sick-room, and then when its courage and resources are at a low ebb, expecting it to perform some mighty feat of self-reformation... Social despair or bitterness does not get us anywhere... Low spirits are an intellectual luxury. An optimist is one who sees an opportunity in every difficulty. A pessimist is one who sees a difficulty in every opportunity... The conquest of great difficulties is the glory of human nature." L. P. Jacks, quoted in American character, by Brander Matthews, 1906 <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Variant: A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
“I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.”
Montesquieu (1689–1755) French social commentator and political thinker
J'ai toujours vu que, pour réussir dans le monde, il fallait avoir l'air fou et être sage.
Pensées Diverses
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection”
Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism
Sharon Salzberg in an article in a magazine called “Woman of Power” in 1989
Misattributed
“Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion.”
Francis Bacon book Novum Organum
Aphorism 20
Novum Organum (1620), Book II
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
Truman Capote (1924–1984) American author
From "Self-Portrait" (1972)
Truman Capote: Conversations (1987)
“It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) Poet, essayist, physician
Ch. 10 http://books.google.com/books?id=omwRAAAAYAAJ&q=%22It+is+the+province+of+knowledge+to+speak+and+it+is+the+privilege+of+wisdom+to+listen%22&pg=PA264#v=onepage and The Atlantic Monthly October 1872 http://books.google.com/books?id=psqcIq5UxYkC&q=%22It+is+the+province+of+knowledge+to+speak+and+it+is+the+privilege+of+wisdom+to+listen%22&pg=PA427#v=onepage <br class="br">The Poet at the Breakfast Table (1872)
“A Friend to all, is a Friend to none.”
Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
“My philosophy is of the heart and not of the mind,”
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) French chemist and microbiologist
Source: The Life of Pasteur (1902), p. 163
Context: I confess frankly, however, that I am not competent on the question of our philosophical schools. Of M. Comte I have only read a few absurd passages; of M. Littré I only know the beautiful pages you were inspired to write by his rare knowledge and some of his domestic virtues. My philosophy is of the heart and not of the mind, and I give myself up, for instance, to those feelings about eternity which come naturally at the bedside of a cherished child drawing its last breath. At those supreme moments, there is something in the depths of our souls which tells us that the world may be more than a mere combination of phenomena proper to a mechanical equilibrium brought out of the chaos of the elements simply through the gradual action of the forces of matter.