William Shakespeare Quotes on Wisdom & Knowledge (40 Quotes)

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

I do profess to be no less than I seem; to serve him truly that will put me in trust: to love him that is honest; to converse with him that is wise, and says little; to fear judgment; to fight when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish.

Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.

O, if, I say, you look upon this verse,
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse,
But let your love even with my life decay,
Lest the wise world should look into your moan
And mock you with me after I am gone.

Wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss, but cheerily seek how to redress their harms.

Love is your master, for he masters you;
And he that is so yoked by a fool,
Methinks, should not be chronicled for wise.

All is the fear and nothing is the love;
As little is the wisdom, where the flight
So runs against all reason.

And whatsoever else shall hap tonight, Give it an understanding, but no tongue

He is wise, sir; he knew your worship would kill
him if he came.

Withal I did infer your lineaments,
Being the right idea of your father,
Both in your form and nobleness of mind;
Laid open all your victories in Scotland,
Your discipline in war, wisdom in peace,
Your bounty, virtue, fair humility;
Indeed, left nothing fitting for your purpose
Untouch'd or slightly handled in discourse.

Give it an understanding, but no tongue.

Alas, my lord,
Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.

Love talks with better knowledge, and knowledge with dearer
love.

Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.

Who is Silvia What is she, That all our swains commend her Holy, fair, and wise is she.

A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman-
Fram'd in the prodigality of nature,
Young, valiant, wise, and no doubt right royal-
The spacious world cannot again afford;
And will she yet abase her eyes on me,
That cropp'd the golden prime of this sweet prince
And made her widow to a woeful bed?

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes 'bove wisdom, grace, and fear.

Holy, fair, and wise is she;
The heaven such grace did lend her,
That she might admired be.

We make trifles of terrors, ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge, when we should submit ourselves to an unknown fear.

When clouds are seen, wise men put on
their cloaks;
When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand;
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?

Be wise, and get you home.

The why is plain as way to parish church:
He that a fool doth very wisely hit
Doth very foolishly, although he smart,
Not to seem senseless of the bob; if not,
The wise man's folly is anatomiz'd
Even by the squand'ring glances of the fool.

If she be fair and wise, fairness and wit,
The one's for use, the other useth it.

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

I tell thee what, Antonio-
I love thee, and 'tis my love that speaks-
There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond,
And do a wilful stillness entertain,
With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit;
As who should say 'I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips let no dog bark.

He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one Exceeding wise, fair-spoken and persuading Lofty and sour to them that loved him not But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.

... but you are wise, Or else you love not, for to be wise and love Exceeds man's might ...

My good Lord Archbishop, I am very sorry
To sit here at this present, and behold
That chair stand empty; but we all are men,
In our own natures frail and capable
Of our flesh; few are angels; out of which frailty
And want of wisdom, you, that best should teach us,
Have misdemean'd yourself, and not a little,
Toward the King first, then his laws, in filling
The whole realm by your teaching and your chaplains-
For so we are inform'd-with new opinions,
Divers and dangerous; which are heresies,
And, not reform'd, may prove pernicious.

BRUTUS Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses,

FIRST CITIZEN Come, come, we fear the worst all shall be well. THIRD CITIZEN When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand When the sun sets, who doth not look for night Untimely storms make men expect a dearth. All my be well but if God sort it so. Tis more than we deserve, or I expect. SECOND CITIZEN Truly, the souls of men are full of dread Ye cannot reason almost with a man That looks not heavily and full of fear. THIRD CITIZEN Before the times of change, still is it so By a divine instinct mens minds distrust Ensuing dangers as, by proof, we see The waters swell before a boisterous storm.

Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.

Thus we play the fool with the time and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds and mock us.

I do now remember a saying, 'The fool doth think himself wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'

Who can be wise, amazed, temperate, and furious, Loyal and neutral, in a moment No man. ... who could refrain, That had a heart to love, and in that heart Courage to make his love known.

Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile Filths savour but themselves.

Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.

We, ignorant of ourselves Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers Deny us for our good so find we profit By losing of our prayers.

To be wise, and love, Exceeds man's might.

They met me in the day of success, and I have
learned by the perfectest report they have more in them than
mortal knowledge.