"Things […] are some of them continuous […] which are properly and peculiarly called 'magnitudes'; others are discontinuous, in a side-by-side arrangement, and, as it were, in heaps, which are called 'multitudes', a flock, for instance, a people, a heap, a chorus, and the like. Wisdom, then, must be considered to be the knowledge of these two forms. Since, however, all multitude and magnitude are by their own nature of necessity infinite - for multitude starts from a definite root and never ceases increasing; and magnitude, when division beginning with a limited whole is carried on, cannot bring the dividing process to an end […] and since sciences are always sciences of limited things, and never of infinites, it is accordingly evident that a science dealing with magnitude […] or with multitude […] could never be formulated. […] A science, however, would arise to deal with something separated from each of them, with quantity, set off from multitude, and size, set off from magnitude." (Nicomachus of Gerasa, "Introductio Arithmetica", cca. 100 AD)
"[Intuitive] Understanding is consequent upon deliberation, and firmly embraces the better part. For [intuitive] understanding concerns itself with divine truths, and the relish, love, and observance of the latter constitutes true wisdom. Rather than being the [mere] product of nature, these successive steps are the result of grace. The latter, according to its own free determination, derives the various rivulets of the sciences and wisdom from the fountainhead of sense perception. Grace reveals hidden divine truths by means of those things which have been made, and by that unity which belongs to love, communicates what it has made manifest, thus uniting man to God." (John of Salisbury, "Metalogicon", 1159
"Of all things the most desirable is wisdom, whose fruit consists in the love of what is good and the practice of virtue. Consequently the human mind must apply itself to the quest of wisdom, and thoroughly study and investigate questions in order to formulate clear and sound judgments concerning each." (John of Salisbury, "Metalogicon", 1159)
"There can only be one wisdom. For if it were possible that there be several wisdoms, then these would have to be from one. Namely, unity is prior to all plurality." (Nicholas of Cusa, "De Pace Fidei" ["The Peace of Faith"], 1453)
"Our wisdom and deliberation for the most part follow the lead of chance." (Michel de Montaigne, "Essays", 1580)
"Look round the world: contemplate the whole and every part of it: You will find it to be nothing but one great machine, subdivided into an infinite number of lesser machines, which again admit of subdivisions, to a degree beyond what human senses and faculties can trace and explain. All these various machines, and even their most minute parts, are adjusted to each other with an accuracy, which ravishes into admiration all men, who have ever contemplated them. The curious adapting of means to ends, throughout all nature, resembles exactly, though it much exceeds, the productions of human contrivance; of human design, thought, wisdom, and intelligence." (David Hume, "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion", 1779)
"It should be noted that the seeds of wisdom that are to bear fruit in the intellect are sown less by critical studies and learned monographs than by insights, broad impressions, and flashes of intuition." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)
"Religion is the metaphysics of the masses […] Just as they have popular poetry, and the popular wisdom of proverbs, so they must have popular metaphysics too: for mankind absolutely needs an interpretation of life; and this, again, must be suited to popular comprehension." (Arthur Schopenhauer, "The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion", 1851)
“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” (Samuel Smiles, “Facilities and Difficulties”, 1859)
"Collective wisdom, alas, is no adequate substitute for the intelligence of individuals. Individuals who opposed received opinions have been the source of all progress, both moral and intellectual. They have been unpopular, as was natural." (Bertrand Russell, "Why I Am Not a Christian", 1927)
"Accidental discoveries of which popular histories of science make mention never happen except to those who have previously devoted a great deal of thought to the matter. Observation unilluminated by theoretic reason is sterile. […] Wisdom does not come to those who gape at nature with an empty head. Fruitful observation depends not as Bacon thought upon the absence of bias or anticipatory ideas, but rather on a logical multiplication of them so that having many possibilities in mind we are better prepared to direct our attention to what others have never thought of as within the field of possibility." (Morris R Cohen, "Reason and Nature", 1931)
"[…] that all science is merely a game can be easily discarded as a piece of wisdom too easily come by. But it is legitimate to enquire whether science is not liable to indulge in play within the closed precincts of its own method. Thus, for instance, the scientist’s continuous penchant for systems tends in the direction of play." (Johan Huizinga, "Homo Ludens", 1938)
"Wisdom is your perspective on life, your sense of balance, your understanding of how the various parts and principles apply and relate to each other." (Stephen R Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)
“[…] the human brain must work in models. The trick is to have your brain work better than the other person’s brain because it understands the most fundamental models: ones that will do most work per unit. If you get into the mental habit of relating what you’re reading to the basic structure of the underlying ideas being demonstrated, you gradually accumulate some wisdom." (Charles T Munger, “Poor Charlie’s Almanack”, 2005)
"The fact that cognitive diversity matters does not mean that if you assemble a group of diverse but thoroughly uninformed people, their collective wisdom will be smarter than an expert's. But if you can assemble a diverse group of people who possess varying degrees of knowledge and insight, you're better off entrusting it with major decisions rather than leaving them in the hands of one or two people, no matter how smart those people are." (James Surowiecki, "The Wisdom of Crowds", 2005)
"[…] many-model thinking produces wisdom through a diverse ensemble of logical frames. The various models accentuate different causal forces. Their insights and implications overlap and interweave. By engaging many models as frames, we develop nuanced, deep understandings." (Scott E Page, "The Model Thinker", 2018)
"A ray of imagination or of wisdom may enlighten the universe, and glow into remotest centuries." (George Berkeley)
"Collective intelligence is where the whole is smarter than any one individual in it. You can think of it that in a predictive context, this could be the wisdom of crowds, sort of thing where people guessing the weight of a steer, the crowd’s guess is going to be better than the average guess of the person in it." (Scott E Page [interview])
"Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom." (Samuel T Coleridge)
"It is not in the nature of things for any one man to make a sudden violent discovery; science goes step by step, and every man depends on the work of his predecessors. When you hear of a sudden unexpected discovery - a bolt from the blue, as it were - you can always be sure that it has grown up by the influence of one man on another, and it is this mutual influence which makes the enormous possibility of scientific advance. Scientists are not dependent on the ideas of a single man, but on the combined wisdom of thousands of men, all thinking of the same problem, and each doing his little bit to add to the great structure of knowledge which is gradually being erected." (Ernest Rutherford)
"Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know." (Lev N Tolstoy)
"The highest wisdom has but one science-the science of the whole-the science explaining the whole creation and man's place in it." (Lev N Tolstoy)
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