I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.

Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than what happens.

I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.

It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.

I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.

It is quality rather than quantity that matters.

How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!

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

I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.

Look, the American people are smart.

There is a wisdom of the head, and a wisdom of the heart.

Those who do not know how to live must make a merit of dying.

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

I’m considered wise, and sometimes I see myself as knowing. Most of the time, I see myself as wanting to know. And I see myself as a very interested person. I’ve never been bored in my life.

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

The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.

It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.

Age doesn’t bother me. So many of my heroes were older guys. It’s the lack of years left that weighs far heavier on me than the age that I am.

I’m in awe of the universe, but I don’t necessarily believe there’s an intelligence or agent behind it. I do have a passion for the visual in religious rituals, though, even though they may be completely empty and bereft of substance. The incense is powerful and provocative, whether Buddhist or Catholic.

Teach us that wealth is not elegance, that profusion is not magnificence, that splendor is not beauty.

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

I had therefore to remove knowledge, in order to make room for belief.

I do think there is a lot of potential if you have a compelling product and people are willing to pay a premium for that. I think that is what Apple has shown. You can buy a much cheaper cell phone or laptop, but Apple’s product is so much better than the alternative, and people are willing to pay that premium.

The trouble ain’t that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain’t distributed right.

His priority did not seem to be to teach them what he knew, but rather to impress upon them that nothing, not even… knowledge, was foolproof.

Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.

If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water’s edge.

I know nothing, except the fact of my ignorance.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

Hatreds not vowed and concealed are to be feared more than those openly declared.

It is impossible to love and to be wise.

Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.

There is a difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man is really so; but he that thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool.

It says nothing against the ripeness of a spirit that it has a few worms.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.

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.

But Satan now is wiser than of yore, and tempts by making rich, not making poor.

I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.

The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

Despair is the conclusion of fools.

Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs.

Do not ask for what you will wish you had not got.

When Rumsfeld gets up on television and says we have definitive intelligence that al Qaeda is working with Iraq, how is an ordinary citizen supposed to react? They won’t tell you the evidence, and when anyone asks, they say, ‚Well, you know: It’s secret.‘

Some old men, continually praise the time of their youth. In fact, you would almost think that there were no fools in their days, but unluckily they themselves are left as an example.

Change alone is unchanging.

It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.

The cautious seldom err.

He who knows best knows how little he knows.

Any man is liable to err, only a fool persists in error.

Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.

Girls are soft and pretty.

Everything in excess is opposed to nature.

No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious.

I had given up some youth for knowledge, but my gain was more valuable than the loss.

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.