It is easy to dismiss the world as ‚irrelevant,‘ or consumed by ‚paranoid anti-Americanism,‘ but perhaps not wise.

A lot of truth is said in jest.

The fool wonders, the wise man asks.

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

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

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

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.

The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations.

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.

When befriended, remember it; when you befriend, forget it.

The wise are wise only because they love. The fool are fools only because they think they can understand love.

It seems to never occur to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united.

I was inspired to spend an entire year – my 65th year – reading, researching, and meditating on Lao-tzu’s messages, practicing them and ultimately writing down these insights as I felt Lao-tzu wanted us to know them.

He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.

To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.

It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking their visions and hallucinations too seriously.

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.

Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know – and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance.

Where knowledge ends, religion begins.

The person who doesn’t scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs.

Be smarter than other people, just don’t tell them so.

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

That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.

I’ve got a feeling that music might not be the most interesting place to be in the world of things.

The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.

Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man.

If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn’t do anything to you, but since you aren’t wise, you need us who are old.

I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.

Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don’t have brains enough to be honest.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. For the moment, it is all that links them together.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

Methods of thought which claim to give the lead to our world in the name of revolution have become, in reality, ideologies of consent and not of rebellion.

Our best thoughts come from others.

Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in this world.

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.

A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.

Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.

All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

My home is in Heaven. I’m just traveling through this world.

Don’t get older just to get wiser. If you get older, you will be wiser, I believe that – if you dare. But get older because it’s fun!

Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don’t know.

A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.

He who would pass his declining years with honor and comfort, should, when young, consider that he may one day become old, and remember when he is old, that he has once been young.

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.

What one fool can understand, another can.

I do not want the peace which passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace.

Fiction is such a world of freedom, it’s wonderful. If you want someone to fly, they can fly.

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

We live in a world that has narrowed into a neighborhood before it has broadened into a brotherhood.

Clever men are good, but they are not the best.

The last suit that you wear, you don’t need any pockets.

Silence is the mother of truth.

Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.

I say there is no darkness but ignorance.