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Wise Quotes

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Wise Quotes

“..(T)here are two opposite reasons for being a democrat. You may think all men so good that they deserve a share in the government of the commonwealth, and so wise that the commonwealth needs their advice. That is, in my opinion, the false, romantic doctrine of democracy. On the other hand, you may believe fallen men to be so wicked that not one of them can be trusted with any irresponsible power over his fellows.”

“That man is formed for social life is an observation which, upon our first inquiry, presents itself immediately to our view, and our reason approves that wise and generous principle which actuated the first founders of civil government, an institution which hat its origin in the weakness of individuals, and hath for its end the strength and security of all; and so long as the means of effecting this important end are thoroughly known and religiously attended to government is one of the richest blessings to mankind, and ought to be held in the highest veneration”

“Man was designed in a way in which he must eat in order to give him a solid reason to go to work everyday. This helps to keep him out of trouble. God is wise.”

Men Way Giving Reason Helping Order Pleasure Wise Trouble Everyday

Book:Killosophy

Source: Killosophy

“Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.”

Inspirational Reason Wisdom Happiness Liberty Wise Anger Angry Athlete Rage Poor Richard Rage And Anger Anger And Hurt Anger And Fear Feeling Angry No Anger Anger And Bitterness Angry Feelings

Book:Poor Richard's Almanack

Source: Poor Richard's Almanack

“All extremes does perfect reason flee, And wishes to be wise quite soberly.”

Doe Reason Wish Perfect Wise Extremes Being Wise

Author:Moliere

“Sensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their support and encouragement ... Manners, by which not only the freedom, but the very existence of the republics, are greatly affected, depend much upon the public institutions of religion and the good education of youth; in both these instances our fathers laid wise foundations, for which their posterity have had reason to bless their memory.”

“Can an author with reason complain that he is cramped and shackled if he is not at liberty to publish blasphemy, bawdry, or sedition?; all of which are equally prohibited in the freest governments, if they are wise and well-regulated ones.”

Ifs Wells Reason Government Liberty Wise Complaining Publish Blasphemy

Author:Bill Vaughan

“Christmas is the time for celebration, so I'm not against decorating, putting on lights, buying gifts. In fact, the whole reason we give gifts is the wise men gave gifts to Jesus at the first Christmas, and that started the gift-giving process.”

Men Giving Firsts Reason Whole Facts Light Jesus Process Wise Buying Celebration Decorating Gift Giving

Author:Rick Warren

“The only people who are afraid of file sharing are the people whose albums are so dull presentation-wise that nobody cares about owning the actual finished product, and the people who have so little connection to their listeners that said listeners have no reason to care whether the artists they like are getting reimbursed for their efforts.”

People Littles Said Reason Care Artist Effort Wise Products Connections Albums Finished Dull No Reason Listeners Files Presentation Nobody Cares File Sharing

Author:John Darnielle

“That conduct often seems ridiculous the secret reasons of which are wise and solid.”

Reason Seems Secret Wise Ridiculous

Author:Francois de La Rochefoucauld

“No one really knew the sciences except the Lord Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, by reason of his length of life and experience, as well as of his studiousness and zeal. He knew mathematics and perspective, and there was nothing which he was unable to know; and at the same time he was sufficiently acquainted with languages to be able to understand the saints and the philosophers and the wise men of antiquity but his knowledge of languages was not such as to enable him to effect translations until the latter portion of his life.”

Knows Men Wells Reason Able Language Lord Wise Effects Perspective Mathematics Saint Philosopher Latter Length Portions Translations Zeal Bishops Antiquity Length Of Life

Author:Roger Bacon

“Incidentally, the next time some war-mongering wise-ass tries to tell you that one reason we're in the Middle East is to enhance the civil rights and social equality of women, remind them that we very enthusiastically destroyed the most secular country over there, where women could dress as they liked, have good jobs, be literate, and vote.”

Trying War Country Reason Jobs Next Social Wise Rights Middle Vote Dresses East Ass Civil Rights Destroyed Middle East Secular Next Time Good Job Social Equality Wise Ass

Author:L. Neil Smith

“There are so many kinds of madness, so many ways in which the human brain may go wrong; and so often it happens that what we call madness is both reasonable and just. It is so. Yes. A little reason is good for us, a little more makes wise men of some of us--but when our reason over-grows us and we reach too far, something breaks and we go insane.”

Men Way Humans Kind May Littles Reason Happens Grows Brain Break Wise Madness Insane Reasonable Human Brain

Book:Works by James Oliver Curwood (Illustrated, 22 books)

Source: Works by James Oliver Curwood (Illustrated, 22 books)

“Reason is not like the goods sold in the market places--the more plentiful they are, the less they are worth. Reason's worth waxes with her abundance. But were she sold in the market, it is only the wise man who would understand her true value.”

Men Reason Values Wise Abundance Goods Rationality True Value Plentiful

Author:Khalil Gibran

“What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds speaking, thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous! What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal and falacious! Would to God that wise measures may be taken in time to avert the consequences we have but too much reason to apprehend.”

“Such a man, truly wise, creams off Nature leaving the sour and the dregs for philosophy and reason to lap up.”

Men Reason Philosophy Wise Leaving Cream Lap Cheerfulness Sour Dregs

Book:A Tale of a Tub - (1704)

Source: A Tale of a Tub - (1704)

“Euripides was wont to say, silence was an answer to a wise man; but we seem to have greater occasion for it in our dealing with fools and unreasonable persons; for men of breeding and sense will be satisfied with reason and fair words.”

Men Persons Reason Seems Answers Silence Greater Wise Fool Fairs Satisfied Occasions Breeding Unreasonable

Author:Plutarch

“Whoever is wise is apt to suspect and be diffident of himself, and upon that account is willing to "hearken unto counsel"; whereas the foolish man, being in proportion to his folly full of himself, and swallowed up in conceit, will seldom take any counsel but his own, and for that very reason, because it is his own.”

Men Reason Wisdom Wise Willing Accounts Foolish Proportion Folly Suspects Conceit Foolish Man

Author:John Balguy

“Fools measure actions, after they are done, by the event; wise men beforehand, by the rules of reason and right. The former look to the end, to judge of the act. Let me look to the act, and leave the end with God.”

Men Looks Ends Reason Done Action Wise Events Judging Fool Let Me Former Fool Me

Author:Joseph Hall

“Death is a woman, and for that reason she's courageous and just, and never makes distinctions between mortals; she'll crush the ignorant, the arrogant, and the wise alike under her icy foot.”

Reason Death Wise Feet Ignorant Mortals Crush Distinction Courageous Arrogant Icy

Book:Sweet Diamond Dust: And Other Stories

Source: Sweet Diamond Dust: And Other Stories

“It is incumbent on us diligently to remember that the kingdom of heaven was promised to the poor in spirit, and that minds afflicted by calamity and the contempt of mankind cheerfully listen to the divine promise of future happiness; while, on the contrary, the fortunate are satisfied with the possession of this world; and the wise abuse in doubt and dispute their vain superiority of reason and knowledge.”

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“By reason of gifts and bribes the offices be given to rich men, which should rather have been executed by wise men.”

Men Should Has Beens Reason Given Rich Wise Office Rich Man Bribe

Book:Utopia

Source: Utopia

“...Though there's reasons in things as nobody knows on---- that's pretty much what I've made out; yet some folks are so wise they'll find you fifty reasons straight off, and all the while the real reason's winking at 'em in the corner, and they niver see't.”

Knows Made Real Reason Wise Folks Corners Fifty Ems Nobody Knows Winking

Book:Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)

“I am pleased as punch no longer to believe in a god who declares reason a sin, who will not choose many noble and great and wise things but has chosen the base things of the world, the foolish things, the weak things and the things which are not. A god who can choose his companions in eternity and prefers Jerry Falwell and Tammy Bakker over Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. I am no longer a fool for Christ's sake. And I have no more desire to be a sheep than to be a fool. It is possible to pull out justification for imposing your will on others, simply by calling your will God's will.”

“That the world is not the embodiment of an eternal rationality can be conclusively proved by the fact that the piece of the worldthat we know--I mean our human reason--is not so very rational. And if it is not eternally and completely wise and rational, then the rest of the world will not be either; here the conclusion a minori ad majus, a parte ad totum applies, and does so with decisive force.”

Ifs Knows World Humans Mean Doe Reason Facts Force Pieces Wise Eternal Rational Conclusion Ads Rationality Embodiment Human Reason

Author:Friedrich Nietzsche

“One of the reasons I always looked up to [George] Carlin is he looked like your grandfather but, acted like your best friend. Most of the adults in my world were adults and acted like adults and had job-type jobs and bills and pressures and stopped playing a long time ago. And George Carlin was a guy that the more he aged the younger he seemed. It was odd because he was still sagely and wise. But he was such a role model for me.”

World Long Stills Reason Jobs Guy Roles Wise Like You Type Long Time Models Adults Pressure Bills Odd Role Models Grandfather Long Time Ago Your Best Friend

Author:Kevin Smith

“Man is an Animal, formidable both from his Passions and his Reason; his Passions often urging him to great Evils, and his Reason furnishing Means to achieve them. To train this Animal, and make him amenable to Order; to inure him to a Sense of Justice and Virtue, to withhold him from ill Courses by Fear, and encourage him in his Duty by Hopes; in short, to fashion and model him for Society, hath been the Aim of civil and religious Institutions; and, in all Times, the Endeavour of good and wise Men. The aptest Method for attaining this End, hath been always judged a proper Education.”

“The art of being agreeable frequently miscarries through the ambition which accompanies it. Wit, learning, wisdom,--what can more effectually conduce to the profit and delight of society? Yet I am sensible that a man may be too invariably wise, learned, or witty to be agreeable; and I take the reason of this to be, that pleasure cannot be bestowed by the simple and unmixed exertion of any one faculty or accomplishment.”

Men May Art Reason Simple Pleasure Wise Ambition Agree Profit Delight Witty Wit Accomplishment Faculty Sensible Accompany Exertion

Book:The observer

Source: The observer

“There is a wheel within a wheel; a secret sacred wheel of Providence (most visible in marriages), guided by His hand that allows not the race to the swift nor bread to the wise, nor good wives to good men: and He that can bring good out of evil (for mortals are blind to this reason) only knows why this blessing was denied to patient Job, to meek Moses, and to our as meek and patient Mr Hooker.”

Source: The Ecclesiastical polity and other works of Richard Hooker: with his life by I. Walton. To which are added, the 'Christian letter' to mr. Hooker; and dr. Covel's 'Just and temperate defence' in reply to it [&c.] an intr. and notes by B. Hanbury

“People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something, always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons.”

People World Mind Reason Body Wise This World Seasons Wake Up Longing Seeking Customs Sublime Deluded Body Change

Book:The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

Source: The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“In truth, there never was any remarkable lawgiver amongst any people who did not resort to divine authority, as otherwise his laws would not have been accepted by the people; for there are many good laws, the importance of which is known to be the sagacious lawgiver, but the reasons for which are not sufficiently evident to enable him to persuade others to submit to them; and therefore do wise men, for the purpose of removing this difficulty, resort to divine authority.”

People Men Has Beens Reason Law Purpose Known Wise Divine Authority Importance Difficulty Accepted Remarkable Submit Evident Resorts

Author:Niccolo Machiavelli

“Few things are needful to make the wise man happy, but nothing satisfies the fool; - and this is the reason why so many of mankind are miserable.”

Men Reason Wise Mankind Fool Miserable Reason Why

Author:Francois de La Rochefoucauld

“Imagination cannot make fools wise, but it makes them happy, as against reason, which only makes its friends wretched: one covers them with glory, the other with shame.”

Reason Imagination Wise Fool Glory Shame Wretched

Book:Pascal Pensées

Source: Pascal Pensées

“The fact is, I see no compelling reason why we should not unilaterally get rid of our nuclear weapons. To maintain them is costly and adds nothing to our security. I can think of no circumstances under which it would be wise for the United States to use nuclear weapons, even in retaliation for their prior use against us. What, for example, would our targets be? It is impossible to conceive of a target that could be hit without large-scale destruction of many innocent people?”

“The fool tells me his reason; the wise man persuades me with my own.”

Men Reason My Own Wise Fool

Author:Aristotle

“... I know for sure, that the universe is wise and compassionate. The question then becomes: How can there be such brutality and pain and such suffering in the world if the universe is compassionate and wise. The reason is we put it there. We create it. And it is up to us to stop creating it.”

Ifs Knows World Reason Pain Suffering Universe Wise Creating Compassionate Brutality

Author:Gary Zukav

“You have never seen greatness in a Presidency; I have. It was a rich kid who you would think had every reason to be a horse's ass - Franklin Roosevelt. He was humane and wise and resourceful. He was called a traitor to his class.”

Thinking Reason Kids Class Rich Wise Greatness Horse Ass Presidency Humane Traitor Franklin Resourceful Rich Kids

Author:Kurt Vonnegut

“Performance-wise, you really need to be down in the trenches; you need to do the hard work, for a lot of reasons: To build yourself as a performer, to get a sense of the audience, to work hard and to wonder, 'Do I really want to do this?'”

Want Needs Hard Reason Wonder Audience Wise Hard Work Performances Performers Trenches

Author:Joan Jett

“I'm sympathetic to the people who go, "Whoa, we'd like to have the benevolent, wise dictator. It will all work much more efficiently," but the reason that we remain staunch democrats - with a small d - is it's a decades long, it's a centuries long, it's a country long process for being inclusive.”

People Long Country Reason Process Wise Century Democrat Decades Dictator Sympathetic Benevolent

Author:Reid Hoffman

“I wore the gold for some reasons. One, as a Christian.When Jesus was born wise men bring him gold.No wise man brought bling. Bling is not in The Bible.”

Men Reason Christian Jesus Born Wise Gold Bling

Author:Mr. T

“Fools give you reasons and wise men never try.”

Men Giving Trying Reason Wise Fool

Author:Seymour Stein

“You have never seen greatness in a Presidency; I have. It was a rich kid who you would think had every reason to be a horse's ass - Franklin Roosevelt. He was humane and wise and resourceful. He was called a traitor to his class. With George Bush, that charge would never stick.”

Thinking Reason Kids Rich Wise Greatness Ass Traitor Franklin Resourceful Rich Kids

Author:Kurt Vonnegut

“The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin.”

“God is speaking to us. But are we listening to Him? When our conscience begins to nudge us for whatever reason, we might have this low-level misery or uneasiness about whatever it is we've done or we're about to do. At times like this, it's wise to prayerfully consider whether we're offending God with our actions.”

Reason Done Might Action Levels Wise Listening Lows Conscience Misery Our Actions Nudge Offending Uneasiness Low Level

Author:Joyce Meyer