Misfortune seldom intrudes upon the wise man; his greatest and highest interests are directed by reason throughout the course of life.
Epicurus

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
Francis Bacon

Wise men make more opportunities than they find.
Francis Bacon

It is impossible to love and to be wise.
Francis Bacon

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.
Francis Bacon

There is no man, however wise, who has not at some period of his youth said things, or lived in a way the consciousness of which is so unpleasant to him in later life that he would gladly, if he could, expunge it from his memory.
Marcel Proust

Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.
Chanakya

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet.
Chanakya

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

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
Bruce Lee

Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.
H. L. Mencken

It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just and omnipotent God, but it is quite easy to imagine it run by a board of gods.
H. L. Mencken

No matter how long he lives, no man ever becomes as wise as the average woman of forty-eight.
H. L. Mencken

It is from books that wise people derive consolation in the troubles of life.
Victor Hugo

The wise man does not grow old, but ripens.
Victor Hugo

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

So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others.
Edward Abbey

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

No man was ever wise by chance.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca