Wisdom & Understanding

“To believe without understanding is just indolence, mental laziness!”

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

“Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.”

“Look at the innumerable books: They do not animate, they only weary the human spirit!”

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding.”

“To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is a disease.”

“He must try to understand them; for otherwise he opens wide the door to errors, and with errors the Truth is always debased.”

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.”

“It is wisdom with which every one and one's own self are untroubled and satisfied.”

“Again, on the other hand, people imagine they are so self- reliant, so independent, that they can do everything themselves, and with a little effort even become Divine.”

“For the LORD gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.”

“The fool who knows his foolishness, is wise at least so far. But a fool who thinks himself wise, he is called a fool indeed.”

“Only a complete understanding, free of any gaps, is synonymous with conviction, which alone has spiritual value!”

“Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.”

“The knowledge of Creation, spiritual knowledge, is the real purport of all life!”

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

“He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.”

“If a fool be associated with a wise man even all his life, he will perceive the truth as little as a spoon perceives the taste of soup.”

“A mature or clarified person can very easily be recognised, for he stands in the Light and avoids all that is dark!”

“How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! Yes, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”

“Only in simplicity of thought and action does greatness lie and power develop, for simplicity alone strives towards the Primordial Laws of Creation and harmonises with them!”

“Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter end.”

“It is understanding and intellect which it is not possible to buy at a price.”

“You who are striving for recognition, do not entangle yourselves in a web, but become seeing!”

“One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”

“If an intelligent man be associated for one minute only with a wise man, he will soon perceive the truth, as the tongue perceives the taste of soup.”

“Where there is no humility there is also never true knowledge!”

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.”

“The farther that one goes out (from himself), the less he knows.”

“Always look into the household of this Creation and you will know how you have to arrange your life on earth!”

“The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”

“If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs, follow that wise man; it will be better, not worse, for those who follow him.”

“True knowledge need not be incomprehensible, for at the same time it holds the capacity, indeed the inherent desire, to express itself in simple terms!”

“Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established.”

“The privilege of being endowed with the ability to think also brings man the duty to investigate!”

“For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.”

“It is knowledge of which no one knows a superfluity.”

“Even knowledge is of no avail where understanding is lacking.”

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. All those who do his work have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

“Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the learned, the much enduring, the dutiful, the elect; one ought to follow a good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of the stars.”

“Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.”

“Conviction, however, can only arise through complete understanding, and understanding in turn presupposes deep reflection and personal examination.”

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

“You will yet learn to recognise the value of everything; for what men have so far called knowledge is hardly the hundredth part of what they really could know.”

“To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'”

“A man is not a Muni because he observes silence (mona, i.e. mauna), if he is foolish and ignorant; but the wise who, taking the balance, chooses the good and avoids evil, he is a Muni, and is a Muni thereby; he who in this world weighs both sides is called a Muni.”

“Men indeed have the word, but not the understanding of it!”

“For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can't be compared to it.”

“How often does the most simple person hit unswervingly on the right thing with an expression of the intuitive perception!”

“When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.”

“And in wisdom he is the more complete who is able to preserve his own soul.”

“He who devotes himself to learning (seeks) from day to day to increase (his knowledge); he who devotes himself to the Tao (seeks) from day to day to diminish (his doing).”

“Just for that reason it is not really correct to speak of Commandments. Rather they are very well-meant advice, pointing out the right way through the World of Matter, with which the human spirits themselves wished to become acquainted.”

“He who spares his words has knowledge. He who is even tempered is a man of understanding.”

“A man is not learned because he talks much; he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.”

“You see that all the Commandments are only the best friends for men, to protect them faithfully from evil and from suffering!”

“Don't be wise in your own eyes. Fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”