There’s a reason some of the oldest quotes keep hanging around, and it’s because they’re still relevant to us, even all these years later.
The school door
Michel de Montaigne wrote a collection of essays in 16th-century France, and here’s one of his best quotes: ‘A man may always study, but he must not always go to school.’
No, he’s not saying that school is pointless or anything.
What he was trying to tell people was that you don’t have to be in a classroom to learn. You can change your mind based on your real-life experiences. You can test your ideas. It’s all good. Education isn’t something that has to happen only in a school.
The bright lamp
Ida B. Wells was one of the most famous anti-lynching writers of her time. It figures she had some smart things to say. That includes, ‘The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.’
She published pamphlets. She published speeches. She wrote many things, all to speak out against lynching, and she used facts as a tool. Wells knew how much the truth matters. We could all learn from that.
The lighter mood
Life is easy. At least, that’s what the quote ‘Cheerfulness is a direct and immediate gain,’ might make you think. But that’s not what Arthur Schopenhauer was saying at all in The Wisdom of Life. He didn’t think we had to fake happiness.
He knew that’d be too much. Instead, he was telling people that being cheerful gives you something you can feel right now, rather than later. You don’t need to wait for perfection to enjoy yourself. Remember that.
The silent room
Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s quote is pretty lengthy. But it’s well worth knowing. She said, ‘The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us […] the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls.’
Stanton was someone working with the suffrage movement. So, for her, staying silent about serious issues wasn’t an option. She’s telling us that we shouldn’t sit down and be quiet when it’s something that actually matters. You’ve got to speak up.
The self first
Stanton also had a bit more to say. Another one of her great lines was, ‘Self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice.’ She was pushing against the idea of a ‘good’ woman being a woman who gave herself away. Stanton didn’t think that was right.
It’s not like she was telling people to forget everyone else around them, though. No, she was more nuanced than that. She’s saying that you have a duty to grow your own mind and your own judgment. You’ve got to grow your own life. That’s it.
The open space
In 1625, Francis Bacon wrote, ‘A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.’ It kind of sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t actually understand what he really means by that.
He’s essentially saying that you shouldn’t wait for the perfect opening to act. It doesn’t exist. You should actually try making one for yourself. That’s easier written than done, of course.
The brave hand
Baltasar Gracián was a Spanish Jesuit who had a lot of smart things to say. It’s why he published the book ‘The Art of Worldly Wisdom,’ after all. In it, he said, ‘Knowledge without courage is sterile,’ and he really meant what he said.
He knew the difference between knowing and doing. Sure, you might understand the right thing and the smart thing, but you could still end up freezing when it’s time to act. Your knowledge needs to have some confidence alongside it. Otherwise, it’s not really important.
The weak spot
Here’s another pearl of wisdom from France. This time, it’s from the writer François de La Rochefoucauld, who said, ‘We are often more treacherous through weakness than through calculation.’
Doesn’t matter that he was talking about 17th-century French court life. His words are still true.
He’s reminding us that people don’t always betray out of evil. They don’t do it because they’ve got some grand scheme or anything. Sometimes they’re tired. Sometimes they’re just scared. They take the easy route out, and that’s something we’ve got to avoid doing ourselves.
The small portion
‘The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.’
That sounds like a pretty depressing quote. But it’s not really. Essayist William Hazlitt was actually telling us that we should take the small good things when they happen.
We shouldn’t sit around waiting for some grand prize because, really, that’s never gonna happen. Not for most people, anyway. We should be happy with the little things, like a good meal or a nice book. Then we keep working through the rest.
The first crack
Gracián also said, ‘Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.’
Pretty powerful stuff. He wanted us to know that the bad but small things we do are a problem. They lead us to do worse stuff.
It might be a bit of a strict warning, yes, but it’s still an important one. Allowing yourself to do a small, bad thing could turn into a habit. You don’t even realize it’s happening at first.
The full cup
Epictetus was an ancient Greek philosopher with a lot to say. One of his best quotes was, ‘It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.’
That sounds kind of confusing. Let’s look at what he meant.
He was talking about the very ordinary problem of being too full of yourself and not wanting to hear anything new. You’re not exactly evil. But you’re closed off to learning because you think you know everything already. Newsflash, you don’t.
The second shape
George Eliot once wrote, ‘Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.’ She wasn’t wrong. Eliot’s name was originally Mary Ann Evans, and she knew a thing or two about how your choices can affect your identity.
Actions have consequences. That much is obvious. But what Eliot really meant was that the things people do start affecting the person who did them. They might be good things. They might be bad. No matter what, though, they hang around and influence the doer.
The old spark
Samuel Johnson was famous for many things, and his quotes are part of the reason. He said, ‘Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.’
He was a big supporter of lifelong learning, way before it became a TikTok hashtag or trend.
Curiosity is something that starts pretty early. But it’s not something that disappears because you’re smart, as it keeps you looking at things in a new way. It keeps you asking questions. Never stop trying to understand more about the world around you.
The soft promise
La Rochefoucauld said, ‘We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears.’ He understood people on another level.
You’ve got to work out the difference between who you are when you’re hopeful and who you are when you’re afraid. They’re not the same person. Once you’ve figured that out, you’ve hit the jackpot. Every decision? It’s way easier now.
The named thing
It’s no surprise that Friedrich Nietzsche had a bunch of incredible things to say. One of those was, ‘Things for which we find words are things we have already overcome.’ It’s a smart idea, honestly. Some experiences are too close to the present for us to name.
All we feel is the pressure. We feel the noise. It’s only later, once we can use our words, that we’re able to understand them. That’s when they’ve moved further away. When you can’t name the problem, you’re probably too close to it.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
15 comedy quotes from famous people that might make your sides split from laughter
Whether you’re already in a good mood, feeling down, or somewhere in between, these humorous quotes from comedy legends will lift your spirits.
15 comedy quotes from famous people that might make your sides split from laughter
