"The highest wisdom has but one science - the science of the whole-the science explaining the whole creation and man's place in it." (Lev N Tolstoy, "War and Peace', 1867)
"Oh, great, divinely bounding wisdom of walls and barriers! They are, perhaps, the greatest of man’s inventions. Man ceased to be a wild animal only when he built the first wall." (Yevgeny Zamiatin, "We", 1924)
"He was doomed, like millions, to flee from wisdom and be a hero." (James Hilton, "Lost Horizon", 1933)
"Men who know themselves are no longer fools. They stand on the threshold of the door of Wisdom." (Havelock Ellis, Impressions & Comments, 1930)
"Too much wisdom is a bad thing. It makes one cynical, overcautious, backward-looking." (Malcolm Jameson, "Pride", 1942)
"Facts are ventriloquist’s dummies. Sitting on a wise man’s knee they may be made to utter words of wisdom; elsewhere, they say nothing, or talk nonsense, or indulge in sheer diabolism." (Aldous Huxley, "Time Must Have a Stop", 1944)
"There is in life an element of elfin coincidence which people reckoning on the prosaic may perpetually miss. As it has been well expressed in the paradox of Poe, wisdom should reason on the unforeseen." (Gilbert K Chesterton, "The Father Brown omnibus", 1951)
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." (J R R Tolkien, "The Fellowship of the Ring", 1954)
"A desire not to butt into other people’s business is eighty percent of all human wisdom." (Robert A. Heinlein, "Stranger in a Strange Land", 1961)
"Goodness alone is never enough. A hard, cold wisdom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil." (Robert A Heinlein, "Stranger in a Strange Land", 1961)
"Sometimes one must try anything, he decided. It is no disgrace. On the contrary, it is a sign of wisdom, of recognizing the situation." (Philip K Dick, "The Man in the High Castle", 1962)
"Polish comes from the cities; wisdom from the desert." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)
"These dwarfs amass knowledge as others do treasure; for this reason they are called Hoarders of the Absolute. Their wisdom lies in the fact that they collect knowledge but never use it." (Stanislaw Lem, "How Erg the Self-Inducing Slew a Paleface", 1965)
"If everything, everything were known, statistical estimates would be unnecessary. The science of probability gives mathematical expression to our ignorance, not to our wisdom." (Samuel R Delany, "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones", 1969)
"Age does not bring wisdom. Often it merely changes simple stupidity into arrogant conceit." (Robert A. Heinlein, "Time Enough for Love", 1973)
"The god is most fond of small children and the aged. Small boys and girls have innocence. Old people have tranquillity and wisdom. These are the things that are pleasing to the god. We should strive without effort to retain innocence, and to attain tranquillity and wisdom as soon as we can." (Gene Wolfe, "The Eyeflash Miracles", 1976)
"We take foul medicines to improve our health; so we must entertain foul thoughts on occasion, to strengthen wisdom." (Brian W Aldiss, "The Small Stones of Tu Fu", 1978)
"There is a time to battle against Nature, and a time to obey her. True wisdom lies in making the right choice." (Arthur C Clarke, "The Fountains of Paradise", 1979)
"For all the tenure of humans on Earth, the night sky had been a companion and an inspiration. The stars were comforting. They seemed to demonstrate that the heavens were created for the benefit and instruction of humans. This pathetic conceit became the conventional wisdom worldwide." (Carl Sagan, "Contact", 1985)
"Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn’t believing. It’s where belief stops, because it isn’t needed any more." (Terry Pratchett, "Pyramids", 1989)
"What is all your studying worth, all your learning, all your knowledge, if it doesn't lead to wisdom? And what's wisdom but knowing what is right, and what is the right thing to do?" (Iain Banks, "Use of Weapons", 1990)
"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end." (Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flinn, "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", [film] 1992)
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