Profound Quotes from the Wise
- Do not cast your jewels before swine; for words nurture the mind. The baseness of men distorts their meaning, and the ignorant and foolish mock what they cannot comprehend. Thus, you risk bringing the wisdom of the wise to a state of mockery and diminished reputation. Therefore, reserve wisdom for the discerning. – Pythagoras
- I wish to lavish and distribute, so that the wise among mankind may once again revel in their madness, and the poor in their fortunes. – Friedrich Nietzsche
- Do not seek the footprints of the wise; instead, search for their deeds and the fruits of their harvest. – Matsuo Bashō
- The wisdom of the sages and the experiences of ages can be preserved through proverbs. – Benjamin Disraeli
- The wise are those who grasp wisdom and emulate the great without losing their identity or infringing upon their independence. – Karim Al-Shadhili
- The wise believe that problems are usually temporary, that time is the only remedy, and that trials serve as tests of our capabilities. – William Arthur Ward
- A sage was asked: Which companions are the most loyal and faithful? He replied: Righteous deeds. And which are the most harmful and degrading? He said: The self and desire. They asked him: What is the way out? He said: By following the right path. They asked: And what lies therein? He said: Striving and making an effort.
- You all, renowned wise ones, have served the people and their delusions, not the truth. For this, you earn respect, and thus, people tolerate your ingratitude, as it is but a jest and a turning that brings you back to the populace. This is what a master does with his servants, relishing their excessive vigor. However, the one despised by the people, like a dog hates a wolf, is the free thinker, the enemy of dogma, who sanctifies nothing and dwells in the wilderness. – Friedrich Nietzsche
Wise Sayings about Life
- A wise person said: The sources of sorrow in this world are three: a lover who has parted from their beloved, a parent who has lost their child, and a wealthy individual who has lost their fortune.
- When a poor man flirts with a woman in the street, they make a great fuss about it; however, if a rich man purchases hundreds of concubines and flirts with them openly, it is deemed acceptable. – Ali Al-Wardi
- The role of caricature is to expose life in every sense of the word. Caricature always lays life bare in the open air, in the public streets; it captures life wherever it may be found and brings it to the forefront, where there is no room for mending its gaps or covering its flaws. This art must be confrontational with its subjects particularly, a close friend to those who engage with it, but a mischievous ally. – Naji Al-Ali
- Where do we find joy, when every child among us wears garments stained with the blood of Karbala? And thought in our land is cheaper than shoes, while the ultimate goal of life for us is reduced to sex and women. – Nizar Qabbani
- When a person fails, they lose interest in worldly life and start focusing solely on the afterlife as compensation. – Hashim Saleh
- No darkness in this world can extinguish the light of a single candle. – Francis of Assisi
- Love is the only madness that makes sense in this world. – Mostafa Mahmoud
- To associate with the righteous transforms you in six directions: from doubt to certainty, from hypocrisy to sincerity, from unawareness to remembrance, from worldly desire to aspiration for the hereafter, from arrogance to humility, and from ill intention to counsel. – Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah
- The truly unfortunate are those who have wasted their lives on knowledge they did not apply, missing both worldly pleasures and the bounties of the hereafter, only to present themselves bankrupt when called to account. – Ibn Al-Jawzi
- Do not quarrel if you know you are in the wrong; if you triumph in this life, you will be disgraced in the next. – Tal’at Muhammad Afifi
- The perception of money in our global view is the only optimistic truth in our civilization. Money is the most important aspect of life; it embodies health, power, honor, generosity, and beauty. Its greatest virtue is that it can utterly humble the downtrodden, just as it can elevate and empower the noble. – George Bernard Shaw
- We were not cast into this world to suffer in solitude, as Sartre suggests.. Each particle in the universe points its finger towards the mercy of the compassionate. Even pain was not created by God in vain; rather, it serves as an indicator and compass, directing us to the source of illness and drawing our attention to it. – Mostafa Mahmoud (Philosopher, Doctor, and Egyptian Writer)
- Those who wrong others will eventually face wrong themselves, even if delayed. Whoever oppresses the defenseless due to weakness will be forced to ingest the same oppression they inflicted upon others, often worse. Life, as they say, is a debt; its repayment may be postponed, but it is always due, both in this life and the next. – Abdul Wahab Matawi (Egyptian Journalist)
- I have tasted the flames of passion, more enduring than the fire of the wilderness. I have chastised the lovers until I experienced it myself, and I marveled at how one who does not love might die. I excused them and understood my fault in ridiculing them, as I faced the same plight. Our nature is that of a homestead, forever haunted by the raven’s call. We weep for the world, yet no gathering has truly bonded under it; where are the mighty conquerors who hoarded fortunes, yet remain unremembered? – Abu Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi
Remarkable Quotes from the Wise
Notable quotes from the wise include:
- If a noble person is asked, they show humility; if a lowly person is questioned, they exhibit arrogance.
- We find humility mingled with ignorance and stinginess far more commendable than arrogance accompanied by decorum and generosity.
- Trust in God is the purest hope, while reliance on Him is the most steadfast action.
- If you feel distant from people, lonely or estranged, remember your closeness to God.
- If you see scholars at the gates of kings, say ‘What poor kings, what poor scholars!’ But if you see kings at the gates of scholars, say ‘What noble kings, what noble scholars!’
- Strive to learn and teach knowledge to others, practice grace and tranquility, and be humble to those from whom you learn and whom you teach. Do not become tyrants among scholars; let not your ignorance undermine your knowledge.
- Do not be among those who gather the knowledge of scholars and the wisdom of the wise and yet flow with the foolish.
Wise Reflections by Philosophers and Thinkers
Insights from philosophers and thinkers include:
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Making the simple complex is common; however, making the complex simple is astonishing. That is the essence of creativity!
- Charles Mingus: Have you ever watched a stonecutter breaking stones? He strikes the rock with his hammer perhaps a hundred times, without revealing a single crack or fissure, and yet it is not the final blow that brings success, but the hundred blows that came before it.
- The philosophy of life condensed into a few lines: Your wealth lies within yourself, your worth is in your actions, your motivations deserve more attention than your goals, and do not expect too much from others, for such expectations often lead to disappointment.
- Greatness does not come when things are going well. It arises when you are genuinely tested, when you are struck down by challenges and disappointments, and when you feel sadness and pain. You can never truly appreciate being at the summits of the mountains unless you have previously been in the valleys below.
Beautiful Quotes about Love from the Wise
Beautiful sayings about love from the wise include:
- Benjamin Franklin: Those who fall in love with themselves are safe from the hypocrites. Stendhal: Love is the most potent form of magic.
- Arthur Schopenhauer: Love without fidelity is like a building without a foundation.
- George Bernard Shaw: The most loyal love among humans is the love of food. Victor Hugo: The endurance of love lies in maintaining decorum.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: True love begins when we do not expect anything in return.
- Mahatma Gandhi: Wherever love exists, life flourishes.
- Victor Hugo: A man may write a book about love, yet struggle to express it; but a woman’s word about love is sufficient to encompass it all.
- Swage: Jealousy in love is like water for a rose; a little revives, but too much can kill.
- If you wish your love to endure, uphold your courtesy; every person becomes a poet when love touches their heart.
- Speak softly when discussing love; for love is nothing but madness, and lovers are often blind to the foolishness they commit.
- Love is a bearable hell; life without love is an unbearable paradise.