If you realize you aren’t so wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you’re wiser today.
Olin Miller (fl. early 20th C) American humorist
(Attributed)
Quotations about:
wise
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) German astronomer
(Attributed)
TOUCHSTONE: I do now remember a saying, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
As You Like It, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 30ff (5.1.30-32) (1599)
(Source)
Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Cunning,” Essays, No. 22 (1625)
(Source)
It is only the very wisest and the very stupidest who never change.
[唯上知與下愚不移]
Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 17, verse 3 (17.3) (6th C. BC – 3rd C. AD) [tr. Soothill (1910)]
(Source)
Some scholars recommend reading 17.2-3 together (I don't get it), and some actually merge them into a single verse; that is noted below. (Source (Chinese)). Alternate translations:
There are only the wise of the highest class, and the stupid of the lowest class, who cannot be changed.
[tr. Legge (1861)]
Only the supremely wise and the most deeply ignorant do not alter.
[tr. Jennings (1895)]
It is only men of the highest understanding and men of the grossest dullness, who do not change.
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]
There are two classes that never change: the supremely wise and the profoundly stupid.
[Source (1906)]
Only the wisest and the dullest never change.
[tr. Soothill (1910), Alternate 1]
Only the uppermost wise and the lowermost stupid do not change.
[tr. Soothill (1910), Alternate 2]
Only those of highest intelligence, and lowest simplicity do not shift.
[tr. Pound (1933)]
It is only the very wisest and the very stupidest who cannot change.
[tr. Waley (1938)]
Only the highest and the lowest characters don’t change.
[tr. Lin Yutang (1938)]
The only ones who do not change are sages and idiots.
[tr. Ware (1950), 17.2]
It is only the most intelligent and the most stupid who are not susceptible to change.
[tr. Lau (1979)]
Only the most intelligent and the most stupid do not change.
[tr. Dawson (1993), 17.2]
Only the wisest and the stupidest never change.
[tr. Leys (1997)]
Only the highest of the wise and the lowest of the stupid do not change.
[tr. Huang (1997), 17.2]
Only the super wisdom and the infer stupidness cannot be changed.
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998), #443]
Only the most wise (zhi) and the most stupid do not move.
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998)]
It is the highest wisdom and the lowest stupidity that do not change.
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998), 17.2b]
Those of the loftiest wisdom and those of the basest ignorance: they alone never change.
[tr. Hinton (1998)]
Only the highest among the wise and the lowest among the stupid never change.
[tr. Watson (2007)]
Only the most intelligent and the most stupid are not inclined to change.
[tr. Annping Chin (2014)]
Only superior wisdom and extreme stupidity cannot be changed.
[tr. Li (2020)]
Only the supremely wise and the most deeply ignorant do not alter.
[Source]
Only the supremely wise and the abysmally ignorant do not change.