Let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies, and who believe this to be great and manly. Nothing is so praiseworthy, nothing so clearly shows a great and noble soul, as clemency and readiness to forgive.

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Men do not learn much from the lessons of history and that is the most important of all the lessons of history.

Eating words has never given me indigestion.

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

Wisdom has its root in goodness, not goodness its root in wisdom.

I believe time wounds all heels.

I never hold a grudge.

I have many regrets, and I’m sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret… if you have any sense, and if you don’t regret them, maybe you’re stupid.

Ignorant people see life as either existence or non-existence, but wise men see it beyond both existence and non-existence to something that transcends them both; this is an observation of the Middle Way.

Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.

The art is long, life is short.

No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.

Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

Always remember that others may hate you but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.

We cannot learn men from books.

I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.

Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.

On the way back from Mumbai to go meet with President Xi in China, I stopped in Singapore to meet with a guy named Lee Kuan Yew, who most foreign policy experts around the world say is the wisest man in the Orient.

The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years but the one with the richest experiences.

Forty is the old age of youth, fifty is the youth of old age.

There is no wealth but life.

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

Don’t throw stones at your neighbors if your own windows are glass.

When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.

As the biggest library if it is in disorder is not as useful as a small but well-arranged one, so you may accumulate a vast amount of knowledge but it will be of far less value than a much smaller amount if you have not thought it over for yourself.

An egg today is better than a hen to-morrow.

If we had more hell in the pulpit, we would have less hell in the pew.

If I get stuck, I look at a book that tells me how someone else did it. I turn the pages, and then I say, ‚Oh, I forgot that bit,‘ then close the book and carry on. Finally, after you’ve figured out how to do it, you read how they did it and find out how dumb your solution is and how much more clever and efficient theirs is!

Let not a libation of tears be the only offering at the shrine of Jesus; let us also rejoice with joy unspeakable. If we have need to lament our sin, how much more to rejoice at our pardon!

Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven’t committed.

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century may claim over all previous centuries.

Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.

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.

A man may be a fool and not know it, but not if he is married.

Experience is one thing you can’t get for nothing.

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.

Listen to many, speak to a few.

Light troubles speak; the weighty are struck dumb.

The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and must therefore be treated with great caution.

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

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

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Many sophisticated, intelligent people lack wisdom and common sense.

Everything deep is also simple and can be reproduced simply as long as its reference to the whole truth is maintained. But what matters is not what is witty but what is true.

I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.

I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.

Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.

If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles.

I say there is no darkness but ignorance.

The age of a woman doesn’t mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.

Education is the period during which you are being instructed by somebody you do not know, about something you do not want to know.

If a man does his best, what else is there?

Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.

Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.

That old law about ‚an eye for an eye‘ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.