161 Old Wisdom Quotes

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

Quick Jump To

Famous Old Wisdom Quotes

All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man. — Henry David Thoreau

True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance. — Akhenaton

An old man’s sayings are rarely untrue. — Danish Proverbs

Mixing one's wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably. — Bertolt Brecht

Wisdom overcomes fortune. — Juvenal

Better a drop of wisdom than an ocean of gold — Greek Proverbs

A short saying often contains much wisdom. — Sophocles

Take an old man’s counsel and an experienced man’s knowledge — Greek Proverbs

It is never too late to be wise. — Daniel Defoe

Prudent, cautious self-control, is wisdom's root. — Robert Burns

Wisdom is the comb given to a man after he has lost his hair. — Irish Proverbs

Wisdom is like the rain. Its source is limitless, but it comes down according to the season. — Rumi

Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom. — Terry Pratchett

The wisest have the most authority. — Plato

A wise old owl once lived in a wood, the more he heard the less he said, the less he said the more he heard, let's emulate that wise old bird. — Flann O'Brien

Short Old Wisdom Quotes

  • Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences. — Norman Cousins
  • Wisdom sails with wind and time. — John Florio
  • Time is the wisest of all counselors. — Plutarch
  • Memory is the mother of all wisdom. — Aeschylus
  • Among mortals second thoughts are wisest. — Euripides
Old wisdom quote Old days won't open new doors.
Old days won't open new doors.

Getting Old Wisdom Quotes

Some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age. — C. E. M. Joad

We are getting older, and we are getting wiser, and we are getting freer. And when you get the wisdom and the truth, then you get the freedom and you get power, and then look out. Look out. — Melissa Etheridge

The beauty of getting older is the surprise of what else you can do to make the world a better place with the wisdom that you've accrued over those years. — Goldie Hawn

Old wisdom quote Old ways won't open new doors.
Old ways won't open new doors.

I love being my age. I love getting older. What you lose in looks, you gain in wisdom. I might not be as physically beautiful on the outside today, but I'm much more beautiful on the inside. True beauty comes from inside. — Delvene Delaney

I don't want to put a pause on the rest of my life; I'm really enjoying getting older and the wisdom that comes from that. — Rosemarie DeWitt

Some people are afraid of change and [feel] that getting older is a bad thing, but I really love maturing and gaining wisdom, and the experience of being pregnant and having a child and seeing what a woman's body can do is amazing. — Christina Aguilera

Old wisdom quote A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions.
A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions.

To those who say "Sufism is apolitical" or "no politics," I respond: "No politics is politics." Look at the very old African Sufi tradition, the Asian Sufi tradition, or the North African Sufi tradition. Then you get it and understand what Sufism is all about wisdom, courage and resistance. — Tariq Ramadan

When we looked at the life cycle in our 40s, we looked to old people for wisdom. At 80, though, we look at other 80-year-olds to see who got wise and who not. Lots of old people don't get wise, but you don't get wise unless you age. — Erik Erikson

Lots of old people don't become wise, but you don't get wise unless you age. — Joan Erikson

The difference between a 20-something and a 30-something man? Wisdom. At 20 years old, we dont really get how sensitive and beautiful women are. By 30, were finally starting to learn. — Gilles Marini

Old Age Quotes

Travel is a caprice in childhood, a passion in youth, a necessity in manhood, and an elegy in old age. — Jose Rizal

When marrying, ask yourself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this person into your old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory. — Friedrich Nietzsche

Act your age, not your shoe size. - Prince

Act your age, not your shoe size. — Prince

Old wisdom quote I am still learning.
I am still learning.

Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

The ultimate self is free from sin, free from old age, free from death and grief, free from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing and imagines nothing. — Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. In order to achieve happiness, it is imperative to gain mastery of your body. If at the age of 30 you are stiff and out of shape, you are old. If at 60 you are supple and strong then you are young. — Joseph Pilates

Old wisdom quote Every fairy tale needs a good old fashioned villain
Every fairy tale needs a good old fashioned villain

Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician. — Dorothy Parker

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. — Victor Hugo

Relish love in your old age! Aged love is like aged wine; it becomes more satisfying, more refreshing, more valuable, more appreciated and more intoxicating! — Leo Buscaglia

In the City of Death, there is pitch darkness and huge clouds of dust, neither sister nor brother is there. This body is frail, old age is overtaking it. — Guru Gobind Singh

Old Man Wisdom Quotes

When an old man dies, a library is burned with him. — African Proverbs

A famously wise old man in a village was once asked how he came by his wisdom. "I got it from my good judgment," he answered. And where did his good judgment come from? "I got it from my bad judgment." — Sydney J. Harris

No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful. — Ernest Hemingway

Though I am alive now, I do not believe an old man's pessimism is nessessarily truer than a young man's optimism simply because it comes after. There are things a young man knows that are true and are not yet in the old man's power to recollect. Spring has its sappy wisdom. — Richard Rodriguez

Do not let me hear Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly, Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession, Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God. The only wisdom we can hope to acquire Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless. — T. S. Eliot

we've produced a generation of spiritual panhandlers, begging for coins of wisdom, banging like bums on every closed door...if an old man moves into a shack or a cave and lets his beard grow, people will flock from miles around just to read his "no trespassing" sign — Tom Robbins

Boys can see adventure in a dirty old duck puddle, and if the Scoutmaster is a boys' man he can see it, too. — Baden Powell de Aquino

Why should I laugh?' asked the old man. 'Madness in youth is true wisdom. Go, young man, follow your dream, and if you do not find the happiness that you seek, at any rate you will have had the happiness of seeking it. — Andrew Lang

Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save those that are useless to wisdom. — Joseph Joubert

Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom. — Joseph Joubert

Wisdom Old Cowboy Quotes

Don't squat with your spurs on. — Will Rogers

When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. — Tammara Webber

Grandpa Patterson used to say: Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from any direction. — Debbie Macomber

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a raindance. — Texas Bix Bender

It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep. — Will Rogers

If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there — Will Rogers

Old Time Wisdom Quotes

My dear, old age is like an airplane flying in a storm. Once you're in it there's nothing you can do. You can't stop a plane, you can't stop a storm, you can't stop time. So you might as well take it easy, with wisdom. — Golda Meir

By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it. — Bill Vaughan

There is no short-cut no patent tram-road, to wisdom. After all the centuries of invention, the soul's path lies through the thorny wilderness which must still be trodden in solitude, with bleeding feet, with sobs for help, as it was trodden by them of old time. — George Eliot

Compassionate the mountains rise Dim with the wistful dimness of old eyes That, having looked on life time out of mind, Know that the simple gift of being kind Is greater than all the wisdom of the wise. — DuBose Heyward

Pleasure has its time; so too, has wisdom. Make love in thy youth, and in old age attend to thy salvation. — Voltaire

It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag. — Donald Trump

Quit smoking in the hope of growing old. It takes a long time to write. People go to books for wisdom and older authors tend to have more of it. — Barbara Kingsolver

In an old time there was a king as wise as a dictionary. — Anne Sexton

What then is the wisdom of the times called old? Is it the wisdom of gray hairs? No. It is the wisdom of the cradle. — Thomas Browne

Youth is the time to study wisdom; old age is the time to practice it. — Jean-Baptiste Rousseau

Ancient Wisdom Quotes

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. — Pericles

I make ancient wisdom relevant, but through modern research and science. — Jay Shetty

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. I wish you all very good lives. — J. K. Rowling

Through consciousness, our minds have the power to change our planet and ourselves. It is time we heed the wisdom of the ancient indigenous people and channel our consciousness and spirit to tend the garden and not destroy it. — Bruce H. Lipton

The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you. — Lao Tzu

The mystic and the physicist arrive at the same conclusion; one starting from the inner realm, the other from the outer world. The harmony between their views confirms the ancient Indian wisdom that Brahman, the ultimate reality without, is identical to Atman, the reality within. — Fritjof Capra

Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few. — Pythagoras

For the May Day is the great day, Sung along the old straight track. And those who ancient lines did ley Will heed this song that calls them back... Pass the cup, and pass the Lady, And pass the plate to all who hunger, Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, Pass the cup of crimson wonder. — Jethro Tull

To sit patiently with a yearning that has not yet been fulfilled, and to trust that, that fulfillment will come, is quite possibly one of the most powerful "magic skills" that human beings are capable of. It has been noted by almost every ancient wisdom tradition — Elizabeth Gilbert

Old And Wise Quotes

You can't be old and wise, if you were never young and crazy. — Chris Brown

The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too. — Luther Standing Bear

Money is power, freedom, a cushion, the root of all evil, the sum of blessings. — Carl Sandburg

Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late — Benjamin Franklin

Seamen three! what men be ye? Gotham's three Wise Men we be. Whither in your bowl so free? To rake the moon from out the sea. The bowl goes trim. The moon doth shine, And our ballast is old wine. — Thomas Love Peacock

The harvest moon has no innocence, like the slim quarter moon of a spring twilight, nor has it the silver penny brilliance of the moon that looks down upon the resorts of summer time. Wise, ripe, and portly, like an old Bacchus, it waxes night after night. — Donald C. Peattie

The old Lakota was wise. He knew that a man's heart away from nature becomes hard. — Luther Standing Bear

Almighty Father! let thy lowly child, Strong in his love of truth, be wisely bold,-- A patriot bard, by sycophants reviled. Let him live usefully, and not die old! — Ebenezer Elliott

A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while they are young, but when old and past service. — Plutarch

For if the mystery concealed of old is made manifest to the Apostles through the prophetic writings, and if the prophets, being wise men, understood what proceeded from their own mouths, then the prophets knew what was made manifest to the Apostles. — Origen

Old Saying Quotes

My sister just had a baby, a little newborn. The kid is adorable, so cute. She wouldn't let me hold him, she refuses. She says, 'No way, Anthony, I'm afraid you're gonna drop him.' I'm 32 years old. Like I'm some kind of idiot. Like I don't have a million other ways to hurt that baby. — Anthony Jeselnik

I learn from my mistakes. It’s a very painful way to learn, but without pain, the old saying is, there’s no gain. — Johnny Cash

There's an old saying, 'Life begins at forty.' That's silly. Life begins every morning you wake up. — George Burns

Again and again I tell God I need help, and God says, 'Well, isn't that fabulous? Because I need help too. So you go get that old woman over there some water, and I'll figure out what we're going to do about your stuff. — Anne Lamott

Pay less attention to what men say. Just watch what they do. — Dale Carnegie

Thank God I have the seeing eye, that is to say, as I lie in bed I can walk step by step on the fells and rough land seeing every stone and flower and patch of bog and cotton pass where my old legs will never take me again. — Beatrix Potter

J’aurais dû être plus gentille—I should have been more kind. That is something a person will never regret. You will never say to yourself when you are old, Ah, I wish I was not good to that person. You will never think that. — Khaled Hosseini

This isn't the old days where you can just say stuff and people will believe it. — Mike Pence

Say goodbye to the age-old stereotypes of seduction. Seductive, but not a seductress, a woman wears a scent to reveal her personality. — Paco Rabanne

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me, And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves, And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. — Jenny Joseph

Great 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

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children. — Kahlil Gibran

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions. — Hafez

If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice? — David Livingstone

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. - Ruth Graham

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. — Ruth Graham

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children. — Kahlil Gibran

If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys. — Chief Dan George

The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. — Ronald Reagan

The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed. — Hudson Taylor

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. — Albert Einstein

Wise Wisdom Quotes

Don’t depend too much on anyone in this world because even your own shadow leaves you when you are in darkness. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay. — Dalai Lama

There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them. — Friedrich Nietzsche

When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. — Socrates

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.This was said by gene wilder ... what does it mean ? — Gene Wilder

To admonish your brother in private is to advise him and improve him. But to admonish him publicly is to disgrace and shame him. — Al-Shafi‘i

Does money upset the hearts of learned men? He answered, "men whose hearts are changed by money are not learned" — Al-Ghazali

There comes a point when you either embrace who and what you are, or condemn yourself to be miserable all your days. Other people will try to make you miserable; don't help them by doing the job yourself. — Laurell K. Hamilton

We have a right to believe whatever we want, but not everything we believe is right. — Ravi Zacharias

Authority, power, and wealth do not change a man; they only reveal him — Ali ibn Abi Talib

People Writing About Old Wisdom

Name Quotes Likes
Read quotes by Greek Proverbs

Greek Proverbs
quotes on ancient, wisdom and culture

176 1
Read quotes by Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau
quotes on nature, civil disobedience and solitude

2697 19655
Read quotes by Akhenaton

Akhenaton
quotes on life, love and religion

28 471
Read quotes by Danish Proverbs

Danish Proverbs
quotes on life, friendship and wisdom

69 1
Read quotes by Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht
quotes on war, politics and fascism

189 2166
Read quotes by Juvenal

Juvenal

300 1355

More Old Wisdom Quotes

In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat. — Leon Trotsky

‎In every crisis there is a message. Crises are nature's way of forcing change - breaking down old structures, shaking loose negative habits so that something new and better can take their place. — Susan L. Taylor

Old foxes want no tutor. — Vietnamese Proverbs

He had never looked forward to the wisdom and other vaunted benefits of old age. Would he be able to die young—and if possible free of all pain? A graceful death—as a richly patterned kimono, thrown carelessly across a polished table, slides unobtrusively down into the darkness of the floor beneath. A death marked by elegance. — Yukio Mishima

The young have the strength, the old have the wisdom. — Albanian Proverbs

Seek wisdom in books, rare manuscripts, and cryptic poems if you will, but seek it out also in simple stones, and fragile herbs, and in the cries of wild birds. Listen to the whisperings of the wind and the roar of water if you would discover magic, for it is here that the old secrets are preserved. — Scott Cunningham

It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides. — George Sand

How earthy old people become --moldy as the grave! Their wisdom smacks of the earth. There is no foretaste of immortality in it. They remind me of earthworms and mole crickets. — Henry David Thoreau

There’s no fool like an old fool. — American Proverbs

Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people seek it. — David Gemmell

From inability to let well alone; from too much zeal for the new and contempt for what is old; from putting knowledge before wisdom, science before art and cleverness before common sense; from treating patients as cases; and from making the cure of the disease more grievous than the endurance of the same, Good Lord, deliver us. — Sir Robert Hutchison, 1st Baronet

The person who does not listen to advice does not grow old — Spanish Proverbs

The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they alone knew everything and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for girls, they are forward, immodest and unwomanly in speech, behaviour and dress. — Socrates

Children, old people, vagabonds laugh easily and heartily: they have nothing to lose and hope for little. In renunciation lies a delicious taste of simplicity and deep peace. — Matthieu Ricard

Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place. — Abigail Van Buren

The old -- like children -- talk to themselves, for they have reached that hopeless wisdom of experience which knows that though one were to cry it in the streets to multitudes, or whisper it in the kiss to one's beloved, the only ears that can ever hear one's secrets are one's own! — Eugene O'Neill

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

It's true, some wine improves with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place. — Abigail Van Buren

Observation, not old age, brings wisdom. — Publilius Syrus

Poetry is ultimately mythology, the telling of stories of the soul. The old myths, the old gods, the old heroes have never died. They are only sleeping at the bottom of our minds, waiting for our call. We have need of them, for in their sum they epitomize the wisdom and experience of the race. — Stanley Kunitz

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. — John Ray

Old Marley was dead as a doornail... The wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile. — Charles Dickens

Make wisdom your provision for the journey from youth to old age, for it is a more certain support than all other possessions. — Bias of Priene

Experience - the wisdom that enables us to recognise in an undesirable old acquaintance the folly that we have already embraced. — Ambrose Bierce

You can lead a bureaucrat to water, but you can't make him think. — Ric Keller

To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living. — Henri Frederic Amiel

I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming... suddenly you find - at the age of 50, say - that a whole new life has opened before you. — Agatha Christie

Wisdom delights in water; love delights in hills. Wisdom is stirring; love is quiet. Wisdom is merry; love grows old. — Confucius

In Conclusion

Which quotation resonated with you best? Did you enjoy our collection of old wisdom quotes? Or may be you have a slogan about old wisdom to suggest. Let us know using our contact form.

Citation

Feel free to cite and use any of the quotes in this collection of old wisdom quotations. For popular citation styles(APA, Chicago, MLA), please use this citation page.

Embed HTML Link

Copy and paste this HTML code in your webpage