108 Conventional Wisdom Quotes

Following is our list of conventional wisdom quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about wisdom.

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Famous Conventional Wisdom Quotes

Conventional wisdom would have one believe. — Mumia Abu-Jamal

Conventional wisdom is no wisdom at all. Conventional wisdom is taking somebody else's word for the way things are It's the followers of this world who rely on assumption. Not the leaders. — Richard Marcinko

Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for reputation to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally. — John Maynard Keynes

Paradoxical, things that seem obvious, broad consensus — Howard Marks

The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking. — John Kenneth Galbraith

The only way to get ahead is to find errors in conventional wisdom. - Larry Ellison

The only way to get ahead is to find errors in conventional wisdom. — Larry Ellison

Mainstream media tend to just mouth the conventional wisdom, to see everything through the filter of right and left. — Arianna Huffington

If you are buying into a vacuum of conventional wisdom... the potential to capitalize is enormous. — Cathie Wood

Wisdom... is often an abstraction associated not with fact or reality but with the man who asserts it and the manner of its assertion. — John Kenneth Galbraith

Few things in this world are more predictable than the reaction of conventional minds to unconventional ideas. — John Anthony West

Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences. — Norman Cousins

Potentially profitable, nonconsensus forecasts are very hard to believe in and act on for the simple reason that they are so far from conventional wisdom. — Howard Marks

The masses are always wrong...Wisdom is doing everything the crowd does not do. All you do is reverse the totality of their learning and you have the heaven they're looking for. — Charles Bukowski

Common sense is that which tells us the world is flat. — Stuart Chase

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom. - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Short Conventional Wisdom Quotes

  • All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man. — Henry David Thoreau
  • Conservation is the application of common sense to the common problems for the common good. — Gifford Pinchot
  • A short saying often contains much wisdom. — Sophocles
  • The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs, which are brief and pithy. — William Penn
  • Among mortals second thoughts are wisest. — Euripides
  • A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the advice. — Bill Cosby
  • Everyone is wise until he speaks. — Proverbs
  • Common sense is not so common. — Voltaire

Conventional Wisdom Image Quotes

Conventional wisdom quote It hurts because it matters.
It hurts because it matters.

Wisdom Quotes

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. — Charles Spurgeon

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. - Socrates

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. — Socrates

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. - Marilyn vos Savant

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. — Marilyn vos Savant

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. - Aristotle

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. — Aristotle

A waterfall cannot be silent, just as the wisdom! When they speak, the voice of power speaks! — Mehmet Murat Ildan

Patience is the companion of wisdom. - Saint Augustine

Patience is the companion of wisdom. — Saint Augustine

Conventional wisdom quote Be not afraid of going slowly, Be afraid of standing still.
Be not afraid of going slowly, Be afraid of standing still.

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf. — Walter Lippmann

Love is man's natural endowment, but he doesn't know how to use it. He refuses to recognize the power of love because of his love of power. — Dick Gregory

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. — Reinhold Niebuhr

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. — Confucius

Not Conventional Quotes

If at times my productions do not express the conventionally beautiful, there is always an effort to express the universal beauty of man's continuous struggle to lift his social position and to add dimension to his spiritual being. — Jacob Lawrence

Radical constructivism, thus, is radical because it breaks with convention and develops a theory of knowledge in which knowledge does not reflect an 'objective' ontological reality. — Paul Watzlawick

I break away from all conventions that do not lead to my earthly success and happiness. — Anton Szandor LaVey

Conventional wisdom quote How you make others feel about themselves says a lot about you.
How you make others feel about themselves says a lot about you.

Cannabis is remarkably safe. Although not harmless, it is surely less toxic than most of the conventional medicines it could replace if it were legally available. Despite its use by millions of people over thousands of years, cannabis has never caused an overdose death. — Lester Grinspoon

A child-like man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves in the cocoon of middle-aged habit and convention. — Aldous Huxley

The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own. — Aldous Huxley

Conventional wisdom quote A ship in harbour is safe but thats not what ships are for.
A ship in harbour is safe but thats not what ships are for.

Film noir is not a genre. It is not defined, as are the western and gangster genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood. It is a film 'noir', as opposed to the possible variants of film gray or film off-white. — Paul Schrader

What distinguishes the campaign finance issue from just about every other one being debated these days is that the two sides do not divide along conventional liberal/ conservative lines. — James L. Buckley

As long as people are going to call you lunatic anyway, why not get the benefit of it? It liberates you from convention. — Gregory Maguire

A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. — James Madison

Convent Quotes

Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly. — Albert Einstein

Within 2 years Im predicting...that youre going to see a suitcase nuke in this country. Youre probably going to see a release in a few years of something communicable. & I am predicting that you will see a lot of conventional bombings...in the next year or so. — Alex Jones

I propose getting rid of conventional armaments and replacing them with reasonably priced hydrogen bombs that will be distributed equally throughout the world. — Idi Amin

Conventional wisdom quote Life is like a piano, the white keys represent happiness and the black shows sadness, but as you go
Life is like a piano, the white keys represent happiness and the black shows sadness, but as you go through life's journey, remember that the black keys also makes music.

My heart can be pasture for deer and a convent for monks, a temple for idols and a Kaaba for the pilgrims. It is both the tables of the Torah and the Koran. It professes the religion of Love wherever its caravans are heading. Love is my law. Love is my faith. — Ibn Arabi

Forget conventionalisms; forget what the world thinks of you stepping out of your place; think your best thoughts, speak your best words, work your best works, looking to your own conscience for approval. — Susan B. Anthony

The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge right or make good decision. — Alexander Hamilton

Conventional wisdom quote Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose.
Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose.

Let our government be like that of the solar system. Let the general government be like the sun and the states the planets, repelled yet attracted, and the whole moving regularly and harmoniously in several orbits. — John Dickinson

At the very least, participatory involvement with the many forms of art can enable us to see more in our experience, to hear more on normally unheard frequencies, to become conscious of what daily routines have obscured, what habit and convention have suppressed. — Maxine Greene

Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune. — Noam Chomsky

I am exceedingly distressed at the proceedings of the Convention-being ... almost sure, they will ... lay the foundation of a Civil War. — Elbridge Gerry

Conventionality Quotes

Just as fossil fuels from conventional sources are finite and are becoming depleted, those from difficult sources will also run out. If we put all our energy and resources into continued fossil fuel extraction, we will have lost an opportunity to have invested in renewable energy. — David Suzuki

There will definitely be a tribunal for this crime [attack on peaceful Ukrainian Cities]. Internationally. This is a violation of all conventions. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy

A kid in an abusive home has far fewer rights than any POW. There is no Geneva Convention for kids. — Andrew Vachss

Conventional wisdom quote Every time you judge someone else, you reveal an unhealed part of yourself.
Every time you judge someone else, you reveal an unhealed part of yourself.

The actual state of our knowledge is always provisional and... there must be, beyond what is actually known, immense new regions to discover. — Louis de Broglie

The metaphor of the king as the shepherd of his people goes back to ancient Egypt. Perhaps the use of this particular convention is due to the fact that, being stupid, affectionate, gregarious, and easily stampeded, the societies formed by sheep are most like human ones. — Northrop Frye

It is important to recognize the differences between the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism. The treatment of those detained at Abu Ghraib is governed by the Geneva Conventions, which have been signed by both the U.S. and Iraq. — John Yoo

Conventional wisdom quote Stop trying to calm the storm. Calm yourself, the storm will pass.
Stop trying to calm the storm. Calm yourself, the storm will pass.

The world is put back by the death of every one who has to sacrifice the development of his or her peculiar gifts to conventionality. — Florence Nightingale

On big issues like war in Iraq, but in many other issues they simply must be multilateral. There's no other way around. You have the instances like the global warming convention, the Kyoto protocol, when the U.S. went its own way. — Hans Blix

Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. - Arthur Conan Doyle

Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. — Arthur Conan Doyle

Tonight, I am pleased to announce that I have secured $1 million from the Convention Host Committee to fund the beautification of Boston's neighborhoods. — Thomas Menino

People Writing About Conventional Wisdom

Name Quotes Likes
Read quotes by Howard Marks

Howard Marks
quotes on cycle, risk and investing

117 1
Read quotes by John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith
quotes on government, immigration and capitalism

393 2029
Read quotes by Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia Abu-Jamal
quotes on love, education and marriage

24 650
Read quotes by Richard Marcinko

Richard Marcinko
quotes on leadership, education and success

19 236
Read quotes by John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes
quotes on economics, capitalism and government intervention

214 2116
Read quotes by Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison
quotes on success

113 609

More Conventional Wisdom Quotes

When the topic of food comes up in conversation with family, friends or casual acquaintances, it’s fascinating to hear the litany of rationalizations, knee-jerk defense mechanisms, self-limiting belief statements and general confusion or ignorance from otherwise intelligent folks when it comes to eating healthfully. But then again, Conventional Wisdom has often led even the best and brightest minds in nutritional science astray. — Mark Sisson

I try to encourage people to think for themselves, to question standard assumptions... Don't take assumptions for granted. Begin by taking a skeptical attitude toward anything that is conventional wisdom. Make it justify itself. It usually can't. Be willing to ask questions about what is taken for granted. Try to think things through for yourself. — Noam Chomsky

Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you'd actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. — James Clear

Establishing and maintaining an unconventional investment profile requires acceptance of uncomfortably idiosyncratic portfolios which frequently appear downright imprudent in the eyes of conventional wisdom. — Howard Marks

Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you’d actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. And despite what the latest productivity best seller will tell you, this is a smart strategy, not a dumb one. — James Clear

You have to be willing to question conventional wisdom and think for yourself. — Jim Simons

I'm very proud of the Rome episode of 'No Reservations' because it violated all the conventional wisdom about making television. You're never, ever supposed to do a food or travel show in black and white. — Anthony Bourdain

Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing a group of people so poor they didn't have $50 for a bus ticket out of town. If we want to learn something from this disaster, the lesson ought to be: America's poor deserve better than this. — Michael Eric Dyson

Every statistic you come across, everything you read in a textbook, everything you learn from parents or teachers, everything you see or read in the news or on social media, every tenet of conventional wisdom – it’s all indirect knowledge. That’s why perhaps the most important skill of a skilled thinker is knowing when to trust. — Tim Urban

Strings of coincidence can strengthen us in the determination to follow our deepest intuitions even when they run counter to conventional wisdom and logic and cannot be subjected to rational explanation. — Robert Moss

The conventional wisdom is often wrong. — Steven Levitt

All new ideas begin in a non-conforming mind that questions some tenet of the conventional wisdom. — Hyman Rickover

Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is. Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage - at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom. — Carl Sagan

Sometimes God gives instructions that go against conventional wisdom, such as treating people kindly when they're hateful. Who really wants to do that? Instructions like that may not always make sense, so that's why I need to trust and obey the One who inspired them. — George Foreman

Contemporary art challenges us.. it broadens our horizons. It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom. — Eli Broad

Never accept ultimatums, conventional wisdom, or absolutes. — Christopher Reeve

Many people have their reputations as reporters and analysts because they are on television, batting around conventional wisdom. A lot of these people have never reported a story. — Bob Woodward

Active management strategies demand uninstitutional behavior from institutions, creating a paradox that few can unravel. Establishing and maintaining an unconventional investment profile requires acceptance of uncomfortably idiosyncratic portfolios, which frequently appear downright imprudent in the eyes of conventional wisdom. — David F. Swensen

The most important aspect of my personality as far as determining my success goes; has been my questioning conventional wisdom, doubting experts and questioning authority. While that can be painful in your relationships with your parents and teachers, it's enormously useful in life. — Larry Ellison

People always blame the girl; she should have said no. A monosyllable, but conventional wisdom has always been that boys can't manage it. — Anna Quindlen

Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. — Sam Walton

Never accept conventional wisdom when it comes to finance. If others keep failing, why do you want to follow them? — Ziad K. Abdelnour

Doubt the conventional wisdom unless you can verify it with reason and experiment — Steve Albini

You give me a credit to which I have no claim in calling me "the writer of the Constitution of the United States." This was not, like the fabled Goddess of Wisdom, the offspring of a single brain. It ought to be regarded as the work of many heads and many hands. — James Madison

No morn ever dawned more favorable than ours did; and no day was every more clouded than the present! Wisdom, and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm. — George Washington

Conventional wisdom holds that setting a timetable for getting American troops out of Iraq would be a mistake. — Nick Clooney

The biggest handicap in research is an ability to think outside the box. The handicap is being encumbered by all the conventional wisdom in a given field. — Aubrey de Grey

Analysts may be correct that the presidential election won't primarily turn on entitlements reform, but by choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney can, contrary to conventional wisdom, make it a winning issue and lay the foundation for a reform mandate when he wins. — David Limbaugh

Progress is not a straight line; the future is not a mere projection of trends in the present. Rather, it is revolutionary. It overturns the conventional wisdom of the present, which often conceals or ignores the clues to the future. — Dr. An Wang

I think conventional wisdom is that time is not on our side. But there are a number of members of Congress who have primaries and when those primaries are done, they may be more inclined to address the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. — John McCain

If you are the kind of person who listens to conservative advice, you may do okay in life, but you probably won't ever be a fantastic leader. You have to take risks, and you also have to go against conventional wisdom, because conventional wisdom doesn't make for startling advances in society. — Ruth Simmons

Create a vision and never let the environment, other people's beliefs, or the limits of what has been done in the past shape your decisions. Ignore conventional wisdom. — Lionel Robbins, Baron Robbins

The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events. — John Kenneth Galbraith

Screening out peer pressure and conventional wisdom. It is so powerful, that most of us aren't even aware of how much it is influencing our decisions. — Robert S. Kaplan

There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom and relying on shortcuts can be worse than knowing nothing at all. — Ben Horowitz

The most important lesson of New Labour is this: Every time we made progress we did it by challenging the conventional wisdom. — Ed Miliband

Highly successful leaders ignore conventional wisdom and take chances. Their stories inevitably include a defining moment or key decision when they took a significant risk and thereby experienced a breakthrough. — Larry Osborne

Whether you are buying a car or casting a ballot, choosing a job or planning a family, follow your moral compass. Don't let others define you. Don't let advertisers mold you; don't let zealots ensnare you; don't let conventional wisdom trap you....you are part of a much larger whole. — Denis Hayes

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