Be wise;
Soar not too high to fall; but stoop to rise.
Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Wisdom is justified of her children.
A little too wise they say do ne'er live long.
Though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps
At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity
Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill
Where no ill seems.
But to know
That which before us lies in daily life,
Is the prime wisdom.
Socrates * * *
Whom, well inspir'd, the oracle pronounc'd
Wisest of men.
II est bon de frotter et limer notre cervelle
contre celle d'autrui.
It is good to rub and polish our brain against
that of others.
Montaigne—Essays. Bk. I. Ch. XXIV.
The most manifest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of
things in the regions above the moon, always
clear and serene.
Montaigne—Essays. Bk. I. Ch. XXV.
Le sage vit tant qu'il doibt, non pas tant qu'il
peut.
A wise man sees as much as he ought, not
as much as he can.
Montaigne—Essays: Bk. II. Ch. III.
li
Qui aura est6 une fois bien fol ne sera nulle
aultre fois bien sage.
He who has once been very foolish will at
no other time be very wise.
Montaigne—Essays. Bk. III. Ch. VI.
Seven wise men on an old black settle,
Seven wise men of the Mermaid Inn,
Ringing blades of the one right metal,
What is the best that a blade can win?
Alfred Notes—Tales of The Mermaid Tavern. II.
Some men never spake a wise word, yet doe
wisely; some on the other side doe never a wise
deed, and yet speake wisely.
Sir Thomas Oveubury—Crumms fal'n from
King James Talk. In Works.
| seealso = (See also Rochester under Royalty)
When swelling buds their od'rous foliage shed,
And gently harden into fruit, the wise
Spare not the little offsprings, if they grow
Redundant.
Feliciter sapit qui alieno periculo sapit.
He gains wisdom in a happy way, who gains
it by another's experience.
Plautus—Mercator. IV. 7. 40.
Nemo solus satis sapit. _ ,
No man is wise enough by himself.
Plautus—Miles Ghriosus. III. 3. 12.
Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit.
No one is wise at all times.
Pliny 'che Elder—Historia Naturalis. VII.
41. 2.
Tell (for you can) what is it to be wise?
'Tis but to know how little can be known,
To see all other's faults, and feel our own.
| author = Pope
| work = Essay on Man.
| place = Ep. IV. L. 260.
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice
in the street.
Proverbs. I. 20. '_
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get
wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs. IV. 7.
Wisdom is better than rubies.
Proverbs. VIII. 11.
Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise.
Quarles—Emblems. Bk. II. Em. 2.
Ce n'est pas etre sage
D'etre plus sage qu'il ne le faut.
It is not wise to be wiser than is necessary.
Quinault—Armide.
Ann que ne semblons es Atheniens, qui ne
consultoient jamais sinon apres le cas faict.
So that we may not be like the Athenians,
who never consulted except after the event
done.
Rabelais—Pantagruel. Ch. XXIV.
The power is yours, but not the sight;
You see not upon what you tread;
You have the ages for your guide,
But not the wisdom to be led.
Edwin Arlington Robinson—Cassandra.
Wouldst thou wisely, and with pleasure,
Pass the days of life's short measure,
From the slow one counsel take,
But a tool of him ne'er make;
Ne'er as friend the swift one know,
Nor the constant one as foe.
Schiller—Proverbs of Confucius. E. A. Bowrtng's trans.
The Italian seemes wise, and is wise; the Spaniard seemes wise, and is a foole; the French seemes a foole, and is wise; and the English seemes a foole and is a foole.
Quoted as a common proverb by Thos. Scot, in The Highwaies of Ood and the King. P. 8. (1623)
