Applying Wise Quotes to Living Well

Spread the love:

After reading countless wise quotes, we have selected a few exceptionally wise ones for our readers that will give them the most important lessons for living life well.

This article contains wise quotes from some of the greatest and wisest minds in history, including Baltasar Gracian, Seneca, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Buddha, Confucius, Goethe, Benjamin Franklin, William James, Socrates, Aristotle, and many more.

The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it. — John Locke

Also Read: Preparation for Relaxation for Nourishing Your Body

Table of Contents

Wise Quotes and Words of Wisdom

There are so many ways we can be tested in life. We can get so much right and yet have disastrous consequences from getting a few things wrong. To give ourselves the best opportunity to live well, we don’t need to acquire a thorough knowledge of everything, but we must learn many, many important things. There is no secret to life, and we should not look for one.

The root of suffering is attachment. — Often attributed to Buddha

We should be careful about anchoring to any outcome that we cannot control—even when we will likely get what we want. Preferring one outcome over another is fine, but we should work to not be crushed by an outcome that is not our preference.

We should also apply these wise quotes and this line of thinking to what we already have in our lives. This could be our possessions, our jobs, our social status, friends, and loved ones—nearly anything.

If we become too attached to something, we set ourselves up to be crushed should we ever lose it, and even if we never lose it, the fear of losing it can be devastating. We should be grateful for the good things we have in our lives but not be overly attached to them.

This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Wise Quotes and Sayings On Life

Forming good habits and discovering how to live well can make life easier but not effortless. There are many things that we can resolve to do, like reading wise quotes and practicing many times, and still be unable to do effortlessly. Such things will never become fully automatic, and we may need to renew our commitments to them frequently all our lives.

Even good habits that become nearly effortless for a time can later be disrupted by changing circumstances. We must be prepared for this and ready to reinitiate important habits that have been broken.

The following are some of the lifelong duties that we must continuously remind ourselves of and practice. We must remember to:

Be grateful for the good we have in our lives and have had in the past.
Appreciate the benefits of the struggles we are currently overcoming.
Not be bothered much by little worries or troubles.
Maintain a good attitude and good mood most of the time.
Give others a reasonable benefit of the doubt.
Remind ourselves how little we know, frequently.
Enjoy life today, not letting the past or fears for the future prevent us from having joy now.
Keep learning and keep improving, for life.

Wise venturing is the most commendable part of human prudence. — George Savile

Wise Quotes and Quotes About Life

Before making an important decision, we should ensure that we have put a reasonable effort into getting enough information to choose wisely. But no matter how much information we have, it is not possible to be completely sure about most things.

We have to take reasonable risks to live well. We must not demand absolute certainty before making decisions. Rather, we should seek sufficient certainty for what the situation demands.

Just as there are stupid bets that win, there are smart ones that lose. Bad decisions are not equivalent to decisions that turn out poorly. We can make good decisions and fail, and we can make bad decisions and succeed. We must beware of excessively judging our decisions by outcome alone.

And, we must differentiate between decisions that were smart but ended in bad results and decisions that were poor and ended in bad results. As the Roman philosopher and politician Marcus Cicero put it, “We must not say that every mistake is a foolish one.” Better yet, perhaps it is better to not think of smart bets that turn out poorly as “mistakes” at all.

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it. — Charles Buxton

We have a massive cognitive bias that makes most of us believe it will be much easier in the future to take the actions needed to improve ourselves. We readily believe we will have much more free time and energy to make needed changes. So, we must become very aware of and very intolerant of such beliefs.

We cannot foolishly assume that it will be much easier to take the actions we most need to in the future. It probably won’t be. If we want to be assured of a successful, happier future, we have to develop ourselves now and work toward important goals now, rather than depending on our doing so at some point down the road.

Wise Quotes and Quotes of The Day

If you wish to live, you must first attend your funeral. — Katherine Mansfield

Living well requires that we accept our eventual death, and it requires us to accept that it could come much sooner than we would like. We may never be completely comfortable with this, but we must not avoid thinking about it. On the contrary, we would do well to remind ourselves frequently that we are mortal and that our time is quite limited.

This is not to encourage recklessness. It is to help us to prioritize well and not be bothered excessively by little things. We should care much less about living a long life and much more about living life well. To a large degree, how long we live is out of our control. How well we live is much more controllable.

2. Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Innate ability, intelligence, and talent are much less responsible for success than we often think. Sustained effort and persistence are much more important than is commonly recognized. With enough determination, enough time, and enough effort, we can accomplish much.

The philosopher William James once noted that “Men habitually use only a small part of the powers they possess and which they might use under appropriate circumstances.” With enough persistence, most of us have the amazing capability. Recognizing this, even a little bit, makes us more likely to tap into some of this power.

As we work toward goals, we should be aware that initial failure in an endeavor often does not say much about our ability to accomplish it in the long run. However, as we are persistent in our efforts to accomplish a goal, we must remember to be willing to try many different methods to achieve it, as any single method may be ineffective.