When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man.

Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess.

The human heart is the same the world over.

An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.

Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as knowing what to do next.

It is in life as it is in ways, the shortest way is commonly the foulest, and surely the fairer way is not much about.

I consider wisdom supernatural because it isn’t taught by men – it’s a gift from God.

The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited.

Those whom the gods love grow young.

There is no such thing as Something for nothing.

All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.

We should all start to live before we get too old.

Live to learn, and you will really learn to live.

Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you’re a human being, you feel, you suffer. You’re gay, you’re sick, you’re nervous or whatever.

There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

The wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions is crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity.

Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to old age.

No one but a fool is always right.

Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage.

There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool.

Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.

Say not, ‚I have found the truth,‘ but rather, ‚I have found a truth.‘

No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way.

Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing.

Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.

We ought to fly away from earth to heaven as quickly as we can; and to fly away is to become like God, as far as this is possible; and to become like him is to become holy, just, and wise.

It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing.

Humanity at the centre of the primates, Homo sapiens, in humanity, is the end-product of a gradual work of creation, the successive sketches for which still surround us on every side.

Man is unable to see himself entirely unrelated to mankind, neither is he able to see mankind unrelated to life, nor life unrelated to the universe.

No matter how long he lives, no man ever becomes as wise as the average woman of forty-eight.

There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.

Silence is the mother of truth.

Who is the wise man? He who sees what’s going to be born.

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

Between falsehood and useless truth there is little difference. As gold which he cannot spend will make no man rich, so knowledge which cannot apply will make no man wise.

The cautious seldom err.

He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.

The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.

If you want to go somewhere, it is best to find someone who has already been there.

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.

A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

I never dared to be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old.

For revolutionary Cubans, to cooperate with other poor and exploited peoples has always been a political principle and a duty towards humanity.

Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another.

Experience which was once claimed by the aged is now claimed exclusively by the young.

If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.

War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can’t smile, grin. If you can’t grin, keep out of the way till you can.

It is the heart always that sees, before the head can see.

If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.

We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.

The world is indebted for all triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.

Ignorance and bungling with love are better than wisdom and skill without.

These poems, with all their crudities, doubts, and confusions, are written for the love of Man and in praise of God, and I’d be a damn‘ fool if they weren’t.

Whatever is well said by another, is mine.