Beautiful Words of Wisdom

Every room in my home overflows with books. I have discovered many beautiful words of wisdom as I read what others have to share. As well, I have friends who share wisdom quotes they find. Here is a selection of those words of wisdom quotes on many topics...we'll start with quotes about love; isn't that the one that intrigues us most?

Beautiful Words of Wisdom About Love

Love isn't how you feel, it's what you do. ~Madeline L'Engle (1918-2007), Wind in the Door, 1974

God is Love. Therefore love. Without distinction, without calculation, without procrastination, love. Lavish it upon the poor, where it is very easy; especially upon the rich, who often need it most; most of all upon our equals, where it is very difficult, and for whom perhaps we each do least of all. ~Henry Drummond (1851-1897), The Greatest Thing in the World, 1892

Some day, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.And then, for the second time in the history of the world,man will discover fire. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)

Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality—not as we expect it to be but as it is—is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love. ~Frederick Buechner, “The Miracles at Hand,” The Magnificent Defeat, 1966 p 143

When we make ourselves vulnerable, we do open ourselves to pain, sometime excruciating pain. The more people we love, the more we are liable to be hurt, and not only by the people we love, but for the people we love. When anyone I love is in pain—physical, mental, spiritual—I, too, am in pain… But our souls do not grow if we insulate ourselves from pain. ~Madeline L’Engle (1918-2007), Penguins and Golden Calves, 1996 p 20

This is one of the miracles of love: It gives … a power of seeing through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted. ~C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), A Grief Observed, 1961

If you are enjoying these, take some time to read more of our collected wisdom quotes.

Beautiful Words of Wisdom About Happiness

You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy. ~Eric Hoffer

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. ~Albert Schweitzer

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. ~Anne Frank

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. ~Denis Waitley

The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind. ~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

Many people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. ~Helen Keller

Beautiful Words of Wisdom About Life

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. ~Abraham Lincoln

How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making y our life a worthy expression of leaning into the light. ~Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ~Annie Dillard

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived. ~Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die. ~ Amelia Burr

Wisdom is not only found in the writings of the famous; some of the most beautiful words of wisdom I have received have come from my friends and family members who know me best.

The Bible is filled with beautiful words of wisdom. The book of Proverbs is the most well known wisdom book and has some beautiful wise words about the Proverbs 31 Woman.

Wisdom is Love: The Greatest Gift One Generation Can Give to Another

One definition of wisdom: "Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use."~ Thomas J. Watson

My love for reading has lead me to many, both men and women, who have much wisdom to share. I especially like to read books about wise women and ponder their life experiences.