“It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean.”
More from John Locke on Wisdom
“A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world.”
“The thoughts that come often unsought and as it were drop into the mind are commonly the most valuable of any we have.”
“Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.”
“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge it is thinking that makes what we read ours.”
“The only defense against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.”
“No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.”
“Virtue is harder to be got than knowledge of the world; and, if lost in a young man, is seldom recovered.”
Others on Wisdom
Sun Tzu
30 quotes“Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.”
Dalai Lama
22 quotes“Compassion is the radicalism of our time.”
Cervantes
20 quotes“A closed mouth catches no flies.”
Aesop
19 quotes“Little by little does the trick.”
Confucius
19 quotes“The gem cannot be polished without friction nor man perfected without trials.”
Ben Franklin
18 quotes“Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.”
Napoleon
16 quotes“Ability is of little account without opportunity.”
Cicero
15 quotes“Great is the power of habit. It teaches us to bear fatigue and to despise wounds and pain.”
George Washington
14 quotes“Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive.”
Rudyard Kipling
14 quotes“I keep six honest serving men. (They taught me all I know) Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and...”
Khalil Gibran
14 quotes“Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.”
George R.R. Martin
14 quotes“This was how an enemy should be dealt with: with a dagger, not a declaration.”