"Much of the wisdom of the world..." - Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Much of the wisdom of the world is not wisdom, and the most illuminated class of men are no doubt superior to literary fame, and are not writers.
More by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It is bad enough that our geniuses cannot do anything useful, but it is worse that no man is fit for society who has fine traits.He is admired at a distance, but he cannot come near without appearing a cripple.”
“The highest end of government is the culture of men.”
“Begin and proceed on a settled conviction that but little is permitted to any man to do or to know, and if he complies with the first grand laws, he shall do well.”
More on Wisdom
“I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.”
“If the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don't read that hogwash, but rather leave it for the reptile from whom it has been fabricated.”
“We're all ignorant, just about different stuff.”
More on Knowledge
“People disparage knowing and the intellectual life, and urge doing. I am content with knowing, if only I could know.”
“Arrive at knowledge over small streamlets, and do not plunge immediately into the ocean, since progress must go from the easier to the more difficult.”
“The husbandman is always a better Greek than the scholar is prepared to appreciate, and the old custom still survives, while antiquarians and scholars grow gray in commemorating it.”