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Wise men learn by other men's mistakes; fools by their own. Latin proverb
Think with the wise, but talk with the vulgar. Greek proverb
Learning makes a good man better and an ill man worse. Proverb
He that knows little, soon repeats it. Proverb
Send a fool to the market and a fool he'll return. Proverb
He that talketh what he knoweth, will also talk what he knoweth not. Francis Bacon, 1st Baron Verulam, Essays. 6. Of Simulation and Dissimulation
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Francis Bacon, 1st Baron Verulam, Essays. 50. Of Studies
Where there is no vision, people perish. The Bible, Proverbs, 29, 18
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. The Bible, Ecclesiastes, 1, 18
Academy, n. Originally a grove in which philosophers sought a meaning in nature; now a school in which naturals seek a meaning in philosophy. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Academy
Adage, n. A hoary-headed platitude that is kicked along the centuries until nothing is left of it but its clothes. A "saw" which has worn out its teeth on the human understanding. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Adage
Allegory, n. A metaphor in three volumes and a tiger. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Allegory
April Fool, n. The March fool with another month added to his folly. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. April Fool
Barometer, n. An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Barometer
Bigot, n. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Bigot
Book-Learning, n. The dunce's derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Book-Learning
Cabbage, n. A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head. [...] Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Cabbage
Clairvoyant, n. A person, commonly a woman, who has the power of seeing that which is invisible to her patron - namely, that he is a blockhead. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Clairvoyant
Connoisseur, n. A specialist who knows everything about something and nothing about anything else. [...] Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Connoisseur
Crayfish, n. A small crustacean very much resembling the lobster, but less indigestible.In this small fish I take it that human wisdom is admirably figured and symbolized; for whereas the crayfish doth move only backward, and can have only retrospection, seeing naught but the perils already passed, so the wisdom of man doth not enable him to avoid the follies that beset his course, but only to apprehend their nature afterward. Sir James Merivale
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Crayfish
Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Cynic
Dictionary, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. [...] Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Dictionary
Education, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Education
Erudition, n. Dust shaken out of a book into an empty skull. [...] Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Erudition
Esoteric, adj. Very particularly abstruse and consummately occult. The ancient philosophies were of two kinds - exoteric, those that the philosophers themselves could partly understand, and esoteric, those that nobody could understand. It is the latter that have the most profoundly affected modern thought and found greatest acceptance in our time. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Esoteric
Gravitation, n. The tendency of all bodies to approach one another with a strength proportioned to the quantity of matter they contain - the quantity of matter they contain being ascertained by the strength of their tendency to approach one another. This is a lovely and edifying illustration of how science, having made A the proof of B, makes B the proof of A. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Gravitation
Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable, He sets the fashions of opinion and taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a deadline. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Idiot
Insanity, n. A glossy and gorgeous intellectual fabric, of which sanity is the seamy side. The nature of insanity is not clearly known except by those who know everything. Amongst Western nations it is commonly regarded as a disorder, but Oriental peoples consider it an inspiration. The Mohammedan venerates the same lunatic whom the Christian would put into a strait jacket or chain to a post. [...] Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Insanity
Learning, n. The kind of ignorance affected by (and affecting) civilized races, as distinguished from Ignorance, the sort of learning incurred by savages. See Nonsense. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Learning
Lecturer, n. One with his hand in your pocket, his tongue in your ear and his faith in your patience. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Lecturer
Mad, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that themselves are sane. [...] Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Mad
Newtonian, adj. Pertaining to a philosophy of the universe, invented by Newton, who discovered that an apple will fall to the ground, but was unable to say why. His successors and disciples have advanced so far as to be able to say when. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Newtonian
Peripatetic, adj. Walking about. Relating to the philosophy of Aristotle, who, while expounding it, moved from place to place in order to avoid his pupil's objections. A needless precaution - they knew no more of the matter than he. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Peripatetic
Philosophy, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Philosophy
Pleonasm, n. An army of words escorting a corporal of thought. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Pleonasm
Positivism, n. A philosophy that denies our knowledge of the Real and affirms our ignorance of the Apparent. Its longest exponent is Comte, its broadest Mill and its thickest Spencer. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Positivism
Quill, n. An implement of torture yielded by a goose and commonly wielded by an ass. This use of the quill is now obsolete, but its modern equivalent, the steel pen, is wielded by the same everlasting Presence. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Quill
Reflection, n. An action of the mind whereby we obtain a clearer view of our relation to the things of yesterday and are able to avoid the perils that we shall not again encounter. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Reflection
Reprint, n. Stuffing that is used very plentifully to season local journalistic dishes. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Reprint
Revelation, n. Discovering late in life that you are a fool. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Revelation
Sanity, n. A state of mind which immediately precedes and follows murder. Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Sanity
Saw, n. A trite popular saying, or proverb. (Figurative and colloquial.) So called because it makes its way into a wooden head. Following are examples of old saws fitted with new teeth.A penny saved is a penny to squander.
A man is known by the company that he organizes.
A bad workman quarrels with the man who calls him that.
A bird in the hand is worth what it will bring.
Better late than before anybody has invited you.
Example is better than following it.
Half a loaf is better than a whole one if there is much else.
Think twice before you speak to a friend in need.
What is worth doing is worth the trouble of asking somebody to do it.
Least said is soonest disavowed.
He laughs best who laughs least.
Speak of the Devil and he will hear about it.
Of two evils choose to be the least.
Strike while your employer has a big contract.
Where there's a will there's a won't.
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Saw
Syllogism, n. A logical formula consisting of a major and a minor assumption and an inconsequent. (See Logic.) Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Syllogism
Tzetze (or Tsetse) Fly, n. An African insect (Glossina morsitans) whose bite is commonly regarded as nature's most efficacious remedy for insomnia, though some patients prefer that of the American novelist (Mendax interminabilis). Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, s. v. Tzetze (or Tsetse) Fly
Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other. Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace, 1, 1796
"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to day." Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Ch. 9
Books cannot always please, however good; Minds are not ever craving for their food.George Crabbe, The Borough, Letter 3, The Vicar, 138
Great Wits are sure to Madness near alli'd And thin Partitions do their Bounds divide.John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, Part 1, 156
We must trust the perfection of the creation so far as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy. Every man's condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Introduction
All science has one aim, namely, to find a theory of nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Introduction
Strictly speaking, therefore, all that is separate from us, all which Philosophy distinguishes as the NOT ME, that is, both nature and art, all other men and my own body, must be ranked under this name, NATURE. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Introduction
The Imagination may be defined to be the use which the Reason makes of the material world. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Idealism, VI, 2
Empirical science is apt to cloud the sight, and by the very knowledge of functions and processes to bereave the student of the manly contemplation of the whole. The savant becomes unpoetic. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Prospects, VIII
He will perceive that there are far more excellent qualities in the student than preciseness and infallibility; that a guess is often more fruitful than an indisputable affirmation, and that a dream may let us deeper into the secret of nature than a hundred concerted experiments. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Prospects, VIII
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Prospects, VIII
In this distribution of functions the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state he is Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
The chemist finds proportions and intelligible method throughout matter; and science is nothing but the finding of analogy, identity, in the most remote parts. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
The sacredness which attaches to the act of creation, the act of thought, is transferred to the record. The poet chanting was felt to be a divine man: henceforth the chant is divine also. The writer was a just and wise spirit: henceforward it is settled the book is perfect; as love of the hero corrupts into worship of his statue. Instantly the book becomes noxious: the guide is a tyrant. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given; forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books.
Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
Genius is always sufficiently the enemy of genius by over-influence. The literature of every nation bears me witness. The English dramatic poets have Shakspearized now for two hundred years. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
The office of the scholar is to cheer, to raise, and to guide men by showing them facts amidst appearances. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
He then learns that in going down into the secrets of his own mind he has descended into the secrets of all minds. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
Truly speaking, it is not instruction, but provocation, that I can receive from another soul. What he announces, I must find true in me, or reject; and on his word, or as his second, be he who he may, I can accept nothing. Ralph Waldo Emerson, An Address Delivered Before the Senior Class in Divinity College, Cambridge. Sunday Evening, July 15, 1838
Never read any book that is not a year old. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude, Books
Learning hath gained most by those books by which the printers have lost. Thomas Fuller, The Holy and the Profane State, Of Books
A book may be amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity. Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield, Preface
When the last reader reads no more.Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Last Reader
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The world's great men have not commonly been great scholars, nor great scholars great men. Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, Ch. 6
To be strong-backed and neat-bound is the desideratum of a volume. Magnificence comes after. Charles Lamb, Last Essays of Elia, Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading
The mental features discoursed of as the analytical, are, in themselves, but little susceptible of analysis. Edgar Allan Poe, The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Truth is not always in a well. In fact, as regards the more important knowledge, I do believe that she is invariably superficial. Edgar Allan Poe, The Murders in the Rue Morgue
As regards the greater truths, men often err by seeking them at the bottom than at the top; the depth lies in the huge abysses where wisdom is sought - not in the palpable places where she is found. Edgar Allan Poe, Letter to B-
Besides, one might suppose that books, like their authors, improve by travel - their having crossed the sea is, with us, so great a distinction. Edgar Allan Poe, Letter to B-
And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart
[...] it may well be doubted whether human ingenuity can construct an enigma of the kind which human ingenuity may not, by proper application, resolve. Edgar Allan Poe, The Gold-Bug
[...] there are no authors, from whose works individual inaccurate sentences may not be culled. Edgar Allan Poe, Wyandotté
In enforcing a truth, we need severity rather than efflorescence of language. We must be simple, precise, terse. We must be cool, calm, unimpassioned. In a word, we must be in that mood which, as nearly as possible, is the exact converse of the poetical. Edgar Allan Poe, The Poetic Principle
Abstractions may amuse and exercise, but take no hold on the mind. Edgar Allan Poe, Mesmeric Revelation
It is the nature of thought to be irrevocable. Edgar Allan Poe, Mesmeric Revelation
Ah, not in knowledge is happiness, but in the acquisition of knowledge! In for ever knowing, we are for ever blessed; but to know all were the curse of a fiend. Edgar Allan Poe, The Power of Words
[...] whatever the mathematicians may assert, there is, in this world at least, no such thing as demonstration [...] Edgar Allan Poe, Eureka
The error of our progenitors was quite analogous with that of the wiseacre who fancies he must necessarily see an object the more distinctly, the more closely he holds it to his eyes. Edgar Allan Poe, Eureka
Now, it is clear, not only that what is obvious to one mind may not be obvious to another, but that what is obvious to one mind at one epoch, may be anything but obvious, at another epoch, to the same mind. Edgar Allan Poe, Eureka
A little learning is a dangerous thing.Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, 215
A perfect judge will read each work of Wit With the same spirit that its author writ.Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, 233
Some praise at morning what they blame at night, But always think the last opinion right.Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, 430
The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head.Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, 612
And all our knowledge is, ourselves to know.Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, Epistle 4, 396
'Yes, but not in the South', with slight adjustments will do for any argument about any place, if not about any person. Stephen Potter, Lifemanship, The Canterbury Block
What is Matter? - Never Mind. What is Mind? - No Matter.The Punch, Vol. 29, 19, 1855
When a new book is published, read an old one. Samuel Rogers (Attributed)
If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying. John Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies
A truism is on that account none the less true. Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount, A Book of Quotations
Brevity is the soul of wit.William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 2, 2, 90
Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school; [...] William Shakespeare, Henry the Sixth, Part Two, 4, 7, 30
So wise so young, they say, do never live long.William Shakespeare, Richard the Third, 3, 1, 79
Thought does not become a young woman. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals, Act 1, Scene 2
Some folk are wise, and some are otherwise. T. G. Smollett, Roderick Random, Ch. 6
Impropriety is the soul of wit. William Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, Ch. 4
Quos deus perdere vult, prius dementat. [Whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.] Latin proverb, after Sophocles, Antigone, 622-624
What though his head be empty, provided his common-place book be full. Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub, Digression in Praise of Digression
Sapienti sat. [(A word is) enough to the wise.] Publius Terentius Afer, Phormio, 541
I'm Charley's aunt from Brazil, where the nuts come from. Brandon Thomas, Charley's Aunt, Act 1
I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up. Mark Twain (S. Langhorne Clemens), The Innocents Abroad, Ch. 7
A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read. Mark Twain (S. Langhorne Clemens), Speech, The Disappearance of Literature
Did you ever have the measels, and if so how many? Artemus Ward (C. Farrar Browne), Artemus Ward His Book, The Census
Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes).Walt Whitman, Song of Myself, 51
The man who sees both sides of a question is a man who sees absolutely nothing at all. Oscar (Fingall O'Flahertie Wills) Wilde, The Critic as Artist, Part 2
I have nothing to declare except my genius. Oscar (Fingall O'Flahertie Wills) Wilde (At New York Custom House)
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