"The law is the last result of human wisdom acting upon human experience for the benefit of the public." (Samuel Johnson [in Hesther L Piozzi’s "Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D", 1786])
"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)
"Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know." (Lev N Tolstoy, "A Calendar of Wisdom", 1910)
"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)
"Men who know themselves are no longer fools. They stand on the threshold of the door of Wisdom." (Havelock Ellis, Impressions & Comments, 1930)
"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)
"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)
"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)
"Science in the service of humanity is technology, but lack of wisdom may make the service harmful." (Isaac Asimov, "Isaac Asimov’s Book of Science and Nature Quotations", 1988)
"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)
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