structure for 'Philosophy'    |     alphabetical list of themes    |     expand these ideas

1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 2. Wise People

[sort of character traits which accompany wisdom]

32 ideas
Wise people choose inaction and silence [Laozi (Lao Tzu)]
One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know [Laozi (Lao Tzu)]
Men who love wisdom must be inquirers into very many things indeed [Heraclitus]
Good people are no different from wise ones [Plato]
Philosophers become as divine and orderly as possible, by studying divinity and order [Plato]
Aristotle thinks human life is not important enough to spend a whole life on it [Nagel on Aristotle]
Wise people can contemplate alone, though co-operation helps [Aristotle]
It is not much help if a doctor knows about universals but not the immediate particular [Aristotle]
It is a great good to show reverence for a wise man [Epicurus]
A wise man's chief strength is not being tricked; nothing is worse than error, frivolity or rashness [Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
Wise men should try to participate in politics, since they are a good influence [Chrysippus, by Diog. Laertius]
Wise men are never astonished at things which other people take to be wonders [Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
Wise men participate in politics, especially if it shows moral progress [Stoic school, by Stobaeus]
Unfortunately we choose a way of life before we are old enough to think clearly [Cicero]
A wise man has integrity, firmness of will, nobility, consistency, sobriety, patience [Cicero]
Wise people escape necessity by willing it [Seneca]
A wise man is not subservient to anything [Seneca]
A wise philosophers uses reason to cautiously judge each aspect of living [Epictetus]
A philosopher should have principles ready for understanding, like a surgeon with instruments [Aurelius]
Wise people should contemplate and discuss the truth, and fight against falsehood [Aquinas]
Why can't a wise man doubt everything? [Montaigne]
To try to be wise all on one's own is folly [Rochefoucauld]
Wise people have fewer acts of will, because such acts are linked together [Leibniz]
Don't use wisdom in order to become clever! [Nietzsche]
Unlike science, true wisdom involves good taste [Nietzsche]
The wisest man is full of contradictions, and attuned to other people, with occasional harmony [Nietzsche]
While faith is a passion (as Kierkegaard says), wisdom is passionless [Wittgenstein]
If you hope to improve the world, all you can do is improve yourself [Wittgenstein]
Wisdom is open to all, and not just to the clever or well trained [Foot]
Wisdom is the property of a person, not of their cognitive state [Zagzebski, by Whitcomb]
The best philosophers I know are the best people I know [Heil]
Tell cleverness from answers, but wisdom from questions [Mahfouz]