Only fools imply compliments. The wise man comes right out with it, point-blank. Imply criticism--unless the criticized isn't within earshot.
Any damn fool can beg up some kind of job; it takes a wise man to make it without working.
There is something deeply satisfying in shaping something with your hands. Proper artificing is like a song made solid. It is an act of creation.
What I personally knew about courting women could comfortably fit into a thimble without taking it off your finger first.
I was one of those. I meddled with dark powers. I summoned demons. I ate the entire little cheese, including the rind.
Death was like an unpleasant neighbor. You didn’t talk about him for fear he might hear you and decide to pay a visit.
When you love something, you have to make sure it loves you back, or you'll bring about no end of trouble chasing it.
De wijze heeft geen onwrikbare beginselen. Hij past zich aan anderen aan. (Free translation into English: The wise man has no firm principles. He adapts to others.)
Common men talk bagfuls of religion but do not practise even a grain of it. The wise man speaks a little, even though his whole life is religion expressed in action.
That is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it's because you're truly a wise man.
Ah! how little knowledge does a man acquire in his life. He gathers it up like water, but like water it runs between his fingers, and yet, if his hands be but wet as though with dew, behold a generation of fools call out, 'See, he is a wise man!' Is ...
No evil being was ever wise: they are all against every wise man's critics.
Even a fool recognizes that there is great sadness in a bucket of tears. But only a wise man thinks to conserve water and use that bucket to wash his car.
A wise man does not always admit to everything he knows. And sometimes an overly-credulous friend can be a source of mild amusement.” ~Sherlock Holmes
All places that the eye of heaven visits are to a wise man ports and happy havens. Teach thy necessity to reason thus; there is no virtue like necessity.
A very wise man once told me that you can't look back-you just have to put the past behind you, and find something better in your future.
I’d heard he had started a fistfight in one of the seedier local taverns because someone had insisted on saying the word “utilize” instead of “use.
Anyone can love a thing . That's as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something . To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect.
There's no clear water from a muddy well. All you can do is let the silt settle until the water clears otherwise it will taste sour. (paraphrased)
Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool
According to the philosopher Andre Comte-Sponville: The wise man has nothing left to expect or to hope for. Because he is entirely happy, he needs nothing. Because he needs nothing, he is entirely happy.
