Wisdom Quotes

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Wisdom Quotes

Fun fact: Owls represent wisdom in pop culture because in ancient Greece, they were sidekicks to Athena, goddess of wisdom. Click on any wisdom quote below to see it in context and find out where it falls on Shmoop's pretentious scale. We'll give you details on who said it, when they said it, and in some cases, why on earth they thought it was okay to say it.

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Taylor Swift
"'Cause you know I love the players, and you love the game."
Source: Blank Space | Speaker: Taylor Swift
Ogden Nash
"A bit of talcum is always walcum."
Source: Reflection on Babies | Author: Ogden Nash
The Blue Fairy
"A lie keeps growing and growing until it's as clear as the nose on your face."
Source: Pinocchio | Speaker: The Blue Fairy
Cherry Valance
"A Swiss watch or a woman from anywhere."
Source: Red River | Speaker: Cherry Valance
Sister Jude Martin
"All monsters are human."
Source: American Horror Story: Asylum | Speaker: Sister Jude Martin
Mahatma Gandhi
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
Source: Misquote | Speaker: Mahatma Gandhi
Edward Murphy
"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."
Source: None. | Speaker: Edward Murphy
Carl Weathers
"Baby, you got a stew going."
Source: Arrested Development | Speaker: Carl Weathers
Khaled Hosseini
"Beauty is an enormous, unmerited gift given randomly, stupidly."
Source: And the Mountains Echoed | Author: Khaled Hosseini
Scott Pilgrim
"Bread makes you fat?"
Source: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Speaker: Scott Pilgrim
Galileo Galilei
"But it does move."
Source: Unknown | Speaker: Galileo Galilei
Ron Swanson
"Dear frozen yogurt: you are the celery of desserts. Be ice cream or nothing. Zero stars."
Source: Parks and Recreation | Speaker: Ron Swanson
Barbara Jordan
"Do not call for Black power or green power. Call for brain power."
Source: Campus Speeches, Quoted in the Chicago Tribune | Author: Barbara Jordan
Mr. Vernon
"Don't mess with the bull, young man."
Source: The Breakfast Club | Speaker: Mr. Vernon
Josey Wales
"Dyin' ain't much of a living, boy."
Source: The Outlaw Josey Wales | Speaker: Josey Wales
Dr. Gregory House
"Everybody lies."
Source: House M.D. | Speaker: Dr. Gregory House
Evelyn Couch
"Face it, girls. I'm older and I have more insurance."
Source: Fried Green Tomatoes | Speaker: Evelyn Couch
Dean Vernon Wormer
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
Source: National Lampoon's Animal House | Speaker: Dean Vernon Wormer
Andy Dufresne and "Red" Redding
"Get busy living or get busy dying."
Source: The Shawshank Redemption | Speaker: Andy Dufresne and "Red" Redding
Gordon Gekko
"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
Source: Wall Street | Speaker: Gordon Gekko
William Congreve
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Source: The Mourning Bride | Author: William Congreve
Leonardo da Vinci
"Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful."
Source: The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci | Author: Leonardo da Vinci
Christina Rossetti
"Hurt no living thing."
Source: Hurt No Living Thing | Author: Christina Rossetti
Tom Powers
"I ain't so tough."
Source: The Public Enemy | Speaker: Tom Powers
John Merrick
"I am not an animal!"
Source: Elephant Man | Speaker: John Merrick
Voltaire
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Speaker: Voltaire
Charles M. Schulz
"I love mankind… It's people I can't stand."
Source: Peanuts (comic) | Author: Charles M. Schulz
Douglas Adams
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."
Source: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul | Author: Douglas Adams
Ace of Base
"I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes."
Source: "The Sign" | Speaker: Ace of Base
Hannah Horvath
"I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice. Of a generation."
Source: Girls | Speaker: Hannah Horvath
The Spice Girls
"I wanna really really really wanna zig-a-zig ha."
Source: "Wannabe" | Speaker: The Spice Girls
Jefferson Smith
"I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules."
Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith
Contestants
"I'd like to buy a vowel."
Source: Wheel of Fortune | Speaker: Contestants
Abbi Jacobson
"I'm an adult, and I'm responsible. Let's go get some candy."
Source: Broad City | Speaker: Abbi Jacobson
Tina Belcher
"I'm no hero. I put my bra on one boob at a time like everyone else."
Source: Bob's Burgers | Speaker: Tina Belcher
Chris Robinson
"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV."
Source: Vicks Formula 44 | Speaker: Chris Robinson
Ron Swanson
"If it doesn't have meat, it's a snack."
Source: Parks and Recreation | Speaker: Ron Swanson
Gandhi
"If you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth."
Source: Gandhi | Speaker: Gandhi
Ray Kinsella
"If you build it, they will come."
Source: Field of Dreams | Speaker: Ray Kinsella
Marilyn Monroe
"If you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best"
Source: Marilyn Monroe | Speaker: Marilyn Monroe
Frank Underwood
"If you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table."
Source: House of Cards | Speaker: Frank Underwood
Joseph Goebbels
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
Source: Misquote | Speaker: Joseph Goebbels
Harry Lime
"In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, and they had 500 years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
Source: The Third Man | Speaker: Harry Lime
Regis Philbin
"Is that your final answer?"
Source: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Speaker: Regis Philbin
Jean-Luc Picard
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life."
Source: Star Trek: The Next Generation | Speaker: Jean-Luc Picard
Opening credits narration
"It is written."
Source: Slumdog Millionaire | Speaker: Opening credits narration
William Munny
"It's a hell of a thing killing a man."
Source: Unforgiven | Speaker: William Munny
Sam Wheat
"It's amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you."
Source: Ghost | Speaker: Sam Wheat
Jessie J
"It's not about the money, money, money."
Source: Price Tag | Speaker: Jessie J
Tira
"It's not the men in your life that counts. It's the life in your men."
Source: I'm No Angel | Speaker: Tira
Lieutenant Columbo
"Just one more thing..."
Source: Columbo | Speaker: Lieutenant Columbo
Sgt. Joe Friday
"Just the facts, ma'am."
Source: Dragnet | Speaker: Sgt. Joe Friday
Michael Corleone
"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
Source: The Godfather: Part II | Speaker: Michael Corleone
Homer Simpson
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try."
Source: The Simpsons | Speaker: Homer Simpson
Forrest Gump
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Source: Forrest Gump | Speaker: Forrest Gump
Ferris Bueller
"Life moves pretty fast."
Source: Ferris Bueller's Day Off | Speaker: Ferris Bueller
Tom Haverford
"Love fades away. But things...things are forever."
Source: Parks and Recreation | Speaker: Tom Haverford
Jenny
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
Source: Love Story | Speaker: Jenny
Forrest Gump
"Mama says, "Stupid is as stupid does.""
Source: Forrest Gump | Speaker: Forrest Gump
Protagoras
"Man is the measure of all things."
Source: Truth | Author: Protagoras
Oda Mae Brown
"Molly, you in danger, girl."
Source: Ghost | Speaker: Oda Mae Brown
Edna St. Vincent Millay
"My candle burns at both ends"
Source: First Fig | Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Leo Durocher
"Nice guys finish last."
Source: Leo Durocher | Speaker: Leo Durocher
Thomas Hobbes
"No arts; no letters; no society."
Source: Leviathan | Author: Thomas Hobbes
They Might Be Giants
"Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople."
Source: Istanbul (Not Constantinople) | Speaker: They Might Be Giants
Ida Corwin
"Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young."
Source: Mildred Pierce | Speaker: Ida Corwin
Mr. McGuire
"Plastics."
Source: The Graduate | Speaker: Mr. McGuire
Harry Nilsson
"Put the lime in the coconut."
Source: "Coconut" | Speaker: Harry Nilsson
Buffy Summers
"Seize the moment. 'Cause tomorrow you might be dead."
Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Speaker: Buffy Summers
Taylor Swift
"Shake it off."
Source: Shake It Off | Speaker: Taylor Swift
Bette Midler
"Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need. I say love, it is a flower and you its only seed."
Source: The Rose | Speaker: Bette Midler
Marnie Michaels
"Sometimes being stuck inside my own head is so exhausting it makes me want to cry."
Source: Girls | Speaker: Marnie Michaels
John Withals
"Starve a cold, feed a fever."
Source: Medieval Reference Manual | Author: John Withals
Coretta Scott King
"Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation."
Source: My Life with Martin Luther King Jr. | Author: Coretta Scott King
Family Feud Hosts
"Survey says!"
Source: Family Feud | Speaker: Family Feud Hosts
Seneca
"That man lives badly who does not know how to die well."
Source: On Tranquility of Mind | Author: Seneca
Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski
"The Dude abides."
Source: The Big Lebowski | Speaker: Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski
Frank Underwood
"The gift of a good liar is making people believe you lack a talent for lying."
Source: House of Cards | Speaker: Frank Underwood
Thomas Hobbes
"The life of man [is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Source: Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil | Author: Thomas Hobbes
Hannah Arendt
"The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution."
Source: The New Yorker | Author: Hannah Arendt
Bertrand Russell
"The most savage controversies are about those matters as to which there is no good evidence either way."
Source: An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish | Author: Bertrand Russell
Unknown
"The proof is in the pudding."
Source: Proverb | Speaker: Unknown
Sebastian
"The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake."
Source: The Little Mermaid | Speaker: Sebastian
Terry Pratchett
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."
Source: Diggers (The Bromeliad Trilogy) | Author: Terry Pratchett
Heraclitus
"The way up and the way down are one and the same."
Source: Refutations by Hippolytus | Author: Heraclitus
Kurt Vonnegut
"There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind."
Source: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater | Author: Kurt Vonnegut
The Vicar
"This is the people's war!"
Source: Mrs. Miniver | Speaker: The Vicar
Arthur Kirkland
"This whole court's out of order!"
Source: …And Justice for All | Speaker: Arthur Kirkland
George Santayana
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Source: Reason in Common Sense | Author: George Santayana
Rust Cohle
"Time is a flat circle."
Source: True Detective | Speaker: Rust Cohle
Edwin Starr
"War—huh yeah—what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"
Source: War | Speaker: Edwin Starr
Ned "Scotty" Scott
"Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies."
Source: The Thing from Another World | Speaker: Ned "Scotty" Scott
Mr. Miyagi
"Wax on, wax off."
Source: The Karate Kid | Speaker: Mr. Miyagi
Kurt Vonnegut
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be very careful what we pretend to be."
Source: Mother Night | Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Anaïs Nin
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
Source: Seduction of the Minotaur | Author: Anaïs Nin
Lorde
"We'll never be royals."
Source: "Royals" | Speaker: Lorde
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
"Well-behaved women rarely make history."
Source: Marilyn Monroe | Author: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Geraldine Jones
"What you see is what you get!"
Source: The Flip Wilson Show | Speaker: Geraldine Jones
Elvis Costello
"What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?"
Source: "Peace, Love, and Understanding" | Speaker: Elvis Costello
Ogden Nash
"Whenever you're wrong, admit it Whenever you're right, shut up."
Source: A Word to Husbands | Author: Ogden Nash
The Beatles
"Whisper words of wisdom, let it be."
Source: "Let It Be" | Speaker: The Beatles
Ben Parker
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Source: Spider-Man | Speaker: Ben Parker
Hannah Horvath
"You are from New York; therefore, you are just naturally interesting."
Source: Girls | Speaker: Hannah Horvath
Heraclitus
"You can never step into the same river twice."
Source: Cratylus by Plato | Author: Heraclitus
J
"You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good."
Source: Men in Black | Speaker: J
Mahatma Gandhi
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Source: Unknown | Author: Mahatma Gandhi
Ogden Nash
"You must never lend any money to anybody unless they don't need it."
Source: Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer | Author: Ogden Nash
Felix Unger
"You should never assume."
Source: The Odd Couple | Speaker: Felix Unger
Jefferson Smith
"You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well, I'm not licked."
Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith
Babu
"You very bad man, Jerry."
Source: Seinfeld | Speaker: Babu
Tenth Doctor
"You want weapons. We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world."
Source: Doctor Who | Speaker: Tenth Doctor
Pat Benatar
"You're a heartbreaker."
Source: Heartbreaker | Speaker: Pat Benatar
Trent Walker
"You're so money and you don't even know it."
Source: Swingers | Speaker: Trent Walker
Judge May
"You're the sanest man that ever walked into this courtroom."
Source: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town | Speaker: Judge May
Roger Sterling
"Your whole generation, you drink for the wrong reasons."
Source: Mad Men | Speaker: Roger Sterling