Top 366 Prudence Quotes & Sayings

Timidity is the root of prudence in the majority of men.

The only prudence in life is concentration.

[the virtues] cannot exist without Prudence. A proof of this is that everyone, even at the present day, in defining Virtue, after saying what disposition it is [i.e. moral virtue] and specifying the things with which it is concerned, adds that it is a disposition determined by the right principle; and the right principle is the principle determined by Prudence.

An ounce of prudence is worth a pound of cleverness.

Prudence approaches, conscience accuses.

Swift calls discretion low prudence; it is high prudence, and one of the most important elements entering into either social or political life.

The eye of prudence may never shut.

The world is filled with the proverbs and acts and winkings of a base prudence, which is a devotion to matter, as if we possessedno other faculties than the palate, the nose, the touch, the eye and ear; a prudence which adores the Rule of Three, which never subscribes, which never gives, which seldom lends, and asks but one question of any project,--Will it bake bread?

Passionate jealousy is not a good foster-parent for prudence.

Who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence.

I will talk and act, not on my knees, but with prudence.

But the severe rules of discipline which the prudence of the bishops had instituted were relaxed by the same prudence in favour of an Imperial proselyte, whom it was so important to allure, by every gentle condescension, into the pale of the church; and Constantine was permitted, at least by a tacit dispensation, to enjoy most of the privileges, before he had contracted any of the obligations, of a Christian.

Prudence is the knowledge of things to be sought, and those to be shunned.

Prudence suspects that happiness is a bait set by risk.

Courage is a virtue only so far as it is directed by prudence.

Fiscal prudence is very important.

. . . in the final analysis, virtue is not found in extremes, but in prudence . . .

One must not mix up prudence with gestures of servility.

Prudence is a rich, ugly, old maid courted by incapacity.

If a man of good natural disposition acquires Intelligence [as a whole], then he excels in conduct, and the disposition which previously only resembled Virtue, will now be Virtue in the true sense. Hence just as with the faculty of forming opinions [the calculative faculty] there are two qualities, Cleverness and Prudence, so also in the moral part of the soul there are two qualities, natural virtue and true Virtue; and true Virtue cannot exist without Prudence.

Let heaven-eyed Prudence battle with Desire.

Prudence is a presumption of the future, contracted from the experience of time past.

Prudence as well as Moral Virtue determines the complete performance of a man's proper function: Virtue ensures the rightness of the end we aim at, Prudence ensures the rightness of the means we adopt to gain that end.

Spurious prudence, making the senses final, is the god of sots and cowards, and is the subject of all comedy. It is nature's joke, and therefore literature's. True prudence limits this sensualism by admitting the knowledge of an internal and real world.

The less prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we should conduct our own affairs.

Imprudence relies on luck, prudence on method. That gives prudence less edge than it expects.

Prudence, like experience, must be paid for.

Prudence is the footprint of Wisdom.

Surprise is the enemy of prudence.

Rashness attends youth, as prudence does old age.

Caution is the lower story of prudence.

No god is absent where prudence dwells.

Rashness is the companion of youth, prudence of old age.

I love prudence very little, if it is not moral.

As love increases, prudence diminishes.

Often a certain abdication of prudence and foresight is an element of success.

Where passion leads or prudence points the way.

I prefer silent prudence to loquacious folly.

Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to old age.

Things bring their own philosophy with them, that is, prudence.

There is nothing more imprudent than excessive prudence.

Prudence in action avails more than wisdom in conception.

In ethics, prudence is not an important virtue, but in the world it is almost everything.

If the prudence of reserve and decorum dictates silence in some circumstances, in others prudence of a higher order may justify us in speaking our thoughts.

[Prudence] is the virtue of that part of the intellect [the calculative] to which it belongs; and . . . our choice of actions will not be right without Prudence any more than without Moral Virtue, since, while Moral Virtue enables us to achieve the end, Prudence makes us adopt the right means to the end.

O tyrant love, when held by you, We may to prudence bid adieu. [Fr., Amour! Amour! quand tu nous tiens On peut bien dire, Adieu, prudence.]

It is not from reason and prudence that people marry, but from inclination.

As the excitement of the game increases, prudence is sure to diminish.

Where destiny blunders, human prudence will not avail.

Silence is the sanctuary of prudence.

The bounds of a man's knowledge are easily concealed, if he has but prudence.

Prudence will punish to prevent crime, not to avenge it.

Magnanimity will not consider the prudence of its motives.

It is prudence that first forsakes the wretched.

There must be in prudence also some master virtue.

The step between prudence and paranoia is short and steep. Prudence wears a seat belt. Paranoia avoids cars. Prudence washes with soap. Paranoia avoids human contact. Prudence saves for old age. Paranoia hoards even trash. Prudence prepares and plans, paranoia panics. Prudence calculates the risk and takes the plunge. Paranoia never enters the water.

Let us not be too prodigal when we are young, nor too parsimonious when we are old. Otherwise we shall fall into the common error of those, who, when they had the power to enjoy, had not the prudence to acquire; and when they had the prudence to acquire, had no longer the power to enjoy.

No other protection is wanting, provided you are under the guidance of prudence.

Prudence reproaches; conscience accuses.

A woman's best qualities are harmful if undiluted with prudence.