Prudence Quotes

Can you also, Lucullus, affirm that there is any power united with wisdom and prudence which has made, or, to use your own expression, manufactured man? What sort of a manufacture is that? Where is it exercised? when? why? how?

Well, me don't swim too tough so me don't go in the water too deep.

There's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for.

Least said, soonest mended

I prefer silent prudence to loquacious folly.

Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.

Never test the depth of river with both the feet.

Mind your speech a little lest you should mar your fortunes.

I have the consolation to believe, that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.

Our liberality should not exceed our ability.

Don't go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or you'll land in trouble too big for you.

And keep you in the rear of your affection, Out of the shot and danger of desire, The chariest maid is prodigal enough If she unmasks her beauty to the moon.

An army abroad is of little use unless there are prudent counsels at home.[Lat., Parvi enim sunt foris arma, nisi est consilium domi.]

It is never worth while to make rents in a garment for the sake of mending them? Nor to create doubts in order to show how cleverly we can quiet them.

The eye of prudence may never shut.

'Tis best to weigh the enemy more mighty than he seems.

It's much easier to stay out of trouble now than to get out of trouble later.

I have often repented of speech but hardly ever of silence.

Prudence is the virtue of the senses. It is the science of appearances. It is the outmost action of the inward life.

It is safer to do most men harm than to do them too much good.

Hear no ill of a friend, nor speak any of an enemy.

We should be careful that our benevolence does not exceed our means.

Who contains himself goes seldom wrong.

Fear not, provided you fear; but if you fear not, then fear.

Nothing more unqualified the man to act with prudence than a misfortune that is attended with shame and guilt.

He who talks more is sooner exhausted.

Listen much, keep silent when in doubt, and always take heed of the tongue; thou wilt make few mistakes. See much, beware of pitfalls, and always give heed to thy walk; thou wilt have little to rue. If thy words are seldom wrong, thy deeds leave little to rue, pay will follow.

Avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, we should remember also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it

Silence is the best response to a fool.

Circumstances sometimes require, that rights the most unquestionable should be advanced with delicacy.

Cut the Wings of your Hens and Hopes, lest they lead you a weary Dance after them.

While prudence will endeavor to avoid this issue of war, bravery will prepare to meet it.

Our generosity never should exceed our abilities.

Caution is the eldest child of wisdom.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Be wary when a naked person offers you his shirt

Men do not fail commonly for want of knowledge, but for want of prudence to give wisdom the preference.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.

Before you consult your fancy, consult your purse.

Men nearly always follow the tracks made by others and proceed in their affairs by imitation, even though they cannot entirely keep to the tracks of others or emulate the prowess of their models. So a prudent man should always follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been outstanding.

Determine on some course more than a wild exposure to each chance.

War is a lottery in which nations ought to risk nothing but small amounts.

Thou weigh'st thy words before thou givest them breath.

Like a young heir, come a little prematurely to a large inheritance, we shall wanton and run riot until we have brought our reputation to the brink of ruin, and then, like him, shall have to labor with the current of opinion, when COMPELLED perhaps, to do what prudence and common policy pointed out, as plain as any problem in Euclid, in the first instance.

The less prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we should conduct our own affairs.

He that has a house to put's head in has a good head-piece.

None wise dares hopeless venture.

Never risk what you have and need for what we don't have and don't need.

I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.

[Prudence] is the virtue of that part of the intellect [the calculative] to which it belongs; and . . . our choice of actions will not be right without Prudence any more than without Moral Virtue, since, while Moral Virtue enables us to achieve the end, Prudence makes us adopt the right means to the end.

The prudent man does himself good; the virtuous one does it to other men.

Let people take death seriously, and not travel far.

Be assured that it gives much more pain to the mind to be in debt, than to do without any article whatever which we may seem to want.

For many men that stumble at the threshold are well foretold that danger lurks within.

Prudence must not be expected from a man who is never sober.[Lat., Non est ab homine nunquam sobrio postulanda prudentia.]

I hold it to be a proof of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words toward anyone, for neither diminishes the strength of the enemy.

If what one has to say is not better than silence, then one should keep silent.

The tongue must be heavy indeed, because so few people can hold it

The cunning man steals a horse, the wise man lets him alone.