Wise Sage Quotes & Sayings

The non-action of the wise man is not inaction. It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything. The sage is quiet because he is not moved, not because he wills to be quiet ... Joy does all things without concern. For emptiness, stillness, tranquillity, tastelessness, silence, and non-action are the root of all things. — Zhuangzi

Scholars love knowledge.
Philosophers love wisdom.
The most knowledgeable become professors.
The most wise become sages. — Matshona Dhliwayo

A wise man's goal shouldn't be to say something profound, but to say something useful. — Criss Jami

It was really difficult to believe you had a right to argue when you were confronted by wise-looking men telling you that you did not. — Sage Blackwood

A sage can see further than a predator. — Matshona Dhliwayo

They were, doubtless, good men, just and sage. But, out of the whole human family, it would not have been easy to select the same number of wise and virtuous persons, who should be less capable of sitting in judgment on an erring woman's heart, and disentangling its mesh of good and evil, than the sages of rigid aspect towards whom Hester Prynne now turned her face. — Nathaniel Hawthorne

A sage's mind is a storeroom of great riches. — Matshona Dhliwayo

City of Vassillian a party of five sage princes with four horses. The princes, who are of course brave, noble and wise, travel widely in distant lands, fight giant ogres, pursue exotic philosophies, take tea with weird gods and rescue beautiful monsters from ravening princesses before finally announcing that they have achieved enlightenment and that their wanderings are therefore accomplished. The second, and much longer, part of each song would then tell of all their bickerings about which one of them is going to have to walk back. All this lay in the planet's remote past. — Douglas Adams

When did we ever get this notion that our elders have little to offer society? The years of practical experience, the knowledge of past events for first-hand historical accounts, and the wisdom for dealing with problems they faced before us have given the elderly the role of Wise One or Sage in most cultures around the world. But in our self-centered, individualistic, now-oriented culture, we can leave our debts from the past in a nursing home and our debts for the future to our children. — Michael S. Horton

Many words are not proof of the wise man, because the sage only talk when it's needed, and the words are measured and corresponding with the need. — Thales

A scholar's weapon is his pen;
a sage's weapon, his deeds. — Matshona Dhliwayo

One is not born wise; one becomes it. — Matthieu Ricard

A person can be educated and still be stupid, and a wise man can have no education at all. — Jennifer A. Nielsen

when Billy had turned his gaze upon them. They saw an intense knowing in his eyes beneath the surface pain and ravages of the four-day and -night ordeal, a deepness of sight that would have appeared out of place even in an ancient scholar or a wise sage. — L.E. Thissell

A sage is a student, though a teacher. — Matshona Dhliwayo

The female, she said, was like a queen who sat on her throne talking with God. This is the part of us that can converse easily with Spirit. She is wise and intuitive, and totally tuned in. However, by herself she cannot accomplish anything in the world, for she needs her best warrior to help her. This is the inner male. He has the power to bring her ideas to fruition, the power to make them real. In other words, without her wisdom the warrior acts aimlessly, even destructively. But when he is connected to her, and she is connected to Spirit, then he and she can become anything from a sage to a king, a magician, or a lover, but together they can become enlightened ones. — Tricia McCannon

Nothing is so dangerous as an ignorant friend; a wise enemy is worth more.
[Fr., Rien n'est si dangereux qu'un ignorant ami;
Mieux vaudrait un sage ennemi.] — Jean De La Fontaine

One rabbi compared wise men studying the law to children tossing a ball to one another: a first sage said the meaning was this, another said the meaning was that, one gave his opinion, another begged to differ. — Israel Shenker

Turn to philosophy, therefore, with all your soul, sit at her feet, cherish her; a great distance will then begin to separate you from other men. You will be far ahead of all mortals, and even the gods will not be far ahead of you. Do you ask what will be the difference between yourself and the gods? They will live longer. But, by my faith, it is the sign of a great artist to have confined a full likeness to the limits of a miniature. The wise man's life spreads out to him over as large a surface as does all eternity to a god. There is one point in which the sage has an advantage over the god; for a god is freed from terrors by the bounty of nature, the wise man by his own bounty. — Seneca.

Religion is the Self revealing secrets of the Self to the Self. — Abhijit Naskar

He who lives without committing any folly is not so wise as he thinks.
[Fr., Qui vit sans folie n'est pas si sage qu'il croit.] — Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Greater than a sage is the one who taught him; God is the teacher, and the wise are all His students. — Matshona Dhliwayo

The wise man, the sage, is hostile to the new. Disabused, he abdicates: that is his form of protest. — Emile M. Cioran

If you try to test a river's depths with both feet, you will drown. — Matshona Dhliwayo

I have on my office wall a wise and useful reminder by Anne Morrow Lindbergh concerning one of the realities of life. She wrote, "My life cannot implement in action the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds." That's good counsel for us all, not as an excuse to forgo duty, but as a sage point about pace and the need for quality in relationships. — Neal A. Maxwell

A wise person makes one error,
and learns ten lessons.
He makes two errors,
and learns twenty lessons.
He makes three errors,
and learns thirty lessons.
He makes few errors,
and learns countless lessons. — Matshona Dhliwayo

Fear is not to be overcome, or dreaded, or avoided, or expelled from our life; neither is it to be our dwelling, obsession or constant companion. But it should be respected, recognized, and humbly listened to for its singular solemn advice. Indeed, it's wise and cautionary warnings should always be heeded. Fear was designed to function as a familiar adviser, an overly critical, cautious, conservative friend - not our foe. When it is accepted, and appreciated for what it is, fear is a sage, a warning system, and one of our oldest, most experienced guides. When it holds itself at bay as necessary, it is like the security detail that waits at some serious attention in the back of the room, ever watchful, ever ready, benign, non-threatening - until circumstances require its sensitive, timely services. — Connie Kerbs

The Wise (Minstrel or Sage,) out of their books are clay; But in their books, as from their graves they rise. Angels
that, side by side, upon our way, Walk with and warn us! — Bill Vaughan

Human beings do not know that they are sons and daughters of gods so they themselves are gods. They live under the illusion that they are lesser than what they truly are. They don't know that the kingdom awaits them to sit at the throne and unlock all the knowledge within and all the untold stories deep in all ages. Ours is to release the wise sage in all the walking dead. [18] — Unathi Magubeni

You cannot tell a river in which direction it should flow, but you can steer your boat. — Matshona Dhliwayo

Your father says a wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountaintop. — Deborah Harkness

It is not wise to be wiser than is necessary.
[Fr., Ce n'est pas etre sage
D'etre plus sage qu'il ne le faut.] — Philippe Quinault

Look upon him who shows you your faults as a revealer of treasure: seek his company who checks and chides you, the sage who is wise in reproof: it fares well and not ill with him who seeks such company. — Gautama Buddha

I think, honestly, the film industry is eating up comics characters at such a fast pace, and spewing them out as so much unspeakable, stench-y, crap. I mean, I think people are going to get pretty sick of the comics product of superhero, per se. Super-heroism seems to be so visceral for these times. Nobody needs a big clunky guy to throw cars about. You know, we've got drunks in town here that can do that. We don't need that kind of superhero. What we need is a super-sage. We need a genuine group of wise people. We need to become wise. That's the job of tomorrow; becoming wise, and integrated, and understanding. — Melinda Gebbie

I hate wise men because they are lazy, cowardly, and prudent. To the philosophers' equanimity, which makes them indifferent to both pleasure and pain, I prefer devouring passions. The sage knows neither the tragedy of passion, nor the fear of death, nor risk and enthusiasm, nor barbaric, grotesque, or sublime heroism. He talks in proverbs and gives advice. He does not live, feel, desire, wait for anything. He levels down all the incongruities of life and then suffers the consequences. So much more complex is the man who suffers from limitless anxiety. The wise man's life is empty and sterile, for it is free from contradiction and despair. An existence full of irreconcilable contradictions is so much richer and creative. The wise man's resignation springs from inner void, not inner fire. I would rather die of fire than of void. — Emil Cioran

Constantly the Bible deals decisively with the inner spirit of slavery that an idolatrous attachment to wealth brings. "If riches increase, set not your heart on them," counsels the psalmist (Ps. 62:10). The tenth commandment is against covetousness, the inner lust to have, which leads to stealing and oppression. The wise sage understood that "He who trusts in his riches will wither" (Prov. 11:28). — Richard J. Foster

Insults from a sage are better than praises from a fool. — Matshona Dhliwayo

Whenever a time arises where clarity is desired, it is always wise to reflect on the sage within. — Sereda Aleta Dailey

Wine give strenght to weary men. and
And wine can of their wits the wise beguile.
Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile. and
Let those who drink not, but austerely dine,
Dry up in law; the muses smell of wine. and
No poem was ever written by a drinker of water. and
Bacchus opens the gate of the heart. and
Might to inspire new hopes and powerful
To drown the bitterness of cares. — Homer

If you venture to be a sage
Let your virtues subside your rage
For deep wisdom you'll be venerated
Let cold veins feel blood cells generated — Munia Khan

What whispers from the center of the soul is an innocence - so loving, so pure, so divine - that the sage bows and the wise man weeps at the sound of its soft singing. — Heather K. O'Hara

I'm not sure I'm cut out for this wise-advice business. Maybe I should wear a fake white beard to convince myself I am a sage. — Cassandra Clare

Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile — Homer

Alexander Rostov was neither scientist nor sage; but at the age of sixty-four he was wise enough to know that life does not proceed by leaps and bounds. It unfolds. At any given moment, it is the manifestation of a thousand transitions. Our faculties wax and wane, our experiences accumulate and our opinions evolve--if not glacially, then at least gradually. Such that the events of an average day are as likely to transform who we are as a pinch of pepper is to transform a stew. — Amor Towles

The wise man believes profoundly in silence, the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence - not a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree, not a ripple upon the surface of the shinning pool - his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal attitude and conduct of life. Silence is the cornerstone of character. — Charles Alexander Eastman

Even more than the time when she gave birth, a mother feels her greatest joy when she hears others refer to her son as a wise learned one. — Thiruvalluvar

Been having a fight with your blankets, Septimus?" A familiar voice echoed down the chimney. "Looks like you lost," the voice continued with a chuckle. "Not wise to take on a pair of blankets, lad. One, maybe, but two blankets always gang up on you. Vicious things, blankets. — Angie Sage

To help me be a better listener and observer, she shared a little proverb that I carry with me whenever I travel. She says, "With two eyes and two ears and one mouth, try to observe and listen four times as much as you speak."
Her advice has paid off. I learn much more by staying quiet. I pick up more cultural signals when I am observing than when I am talking. As another sage observed, "When I's talking, I ain't learning nothin' new." Or again: "Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent" (Prov 17:28). — Paul Borthwick

Don't resist change if it is to your advantage.
Don't ruin a good opportunity fixating on a bad one.
Don't burn down bridges you will need to cross tomorrow.
Don't expect other people to solve your problems.
Don't let what's behind you dictate what's ahead of you.
Don't lose sleep over anyone who doesn't lose sleep over you.
Don't let life's small arrows wound your big soul. — Matshona Dhliwayo

SAGE. A wise and Holy man who died a long time ago. No one modern qualifies. — Diana Wynne Jones

The enlightened worry less than others,
quarrel less than others,
fight less than others,
transgress less than others;
care more than others,
give more than others,
and love more than others. — Matshona Dhliwayo

You don't need a long beard to be a sage;
you need to be teachable.
You don't need gray hair to be wise;
you need to be sensible. — Matshona Dhliwayo

Te is thus the natural miracle of one who seems born to be wise and humane, comparable to what we call "perfect specimens" of flowers, trees, or butterflies - though sometimes our notions of the perfect specimen are too formal. Thus Chuang-tzu enlarges on the extraordinary virtue of being a hunchback, and goes on to suggest that being weird in mind may be even more advantageous than being weird in body. He compares the hunchback to a vast tree which has grown to a great old age by virtue of being useless for human purposes because its leaves are inedible and its branches twisted and pithy.5 Formally healthy and upright humans are conscripted as soldiers, and straight and strong trees are cut down for lumber; wherefore the sage gets by with a perfect appearance of imperfection, such as we see in the gnarled pines and craggy hills of Chinese painting. — Alan W. Watts

He who is not sage and wise, humane and just, cannot use secret agent.s. And he who is not delicate and subtle cannot get the truth out of them. — Sun Tzu

My character is different from all of the Elves you've met before, in that she's really young. And I keep telling journalists this because I've really focused on that in my performance. I'm trying to distinguish her from all of these incredibly sage and wise Elves that have lived for thousands of years. — Evangeline Lilly