QuoteProject
To know when to be generous and when firm—that is wisdom.
Edith Wharton
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Wisdom involves knowing the right times to be kind and to stand your ground.

This quote emphasizes that true wisdom lies in discernment and the ability to balance generosity with assertiveness. It suggests that understanding the appropriate moments to offer kindness versus when to be resolute is a hallmark of a wise individual.

Themes

WisdomGenerosityFirmnessBalanceKnowledge

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about the qualities of a good leader.

More from Edith Wharton

They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Edith WhartonRead
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each other’s angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead

Similar quotes

Good words," I replied. "But deeds must prove it also; and after he is well, remember you don't forget resolutions formed in the hour of fear.
Emily BronteRead
My friend, be not like him who sits by his fireside and watches the fire go out, then blows vainly upon the dead ashes. Do not give up hope or yield to despair because of that which is past, for to bewail the irretrievable is the worst of human frailties.
Khalil GibranRead
I think you remember certain phrases from bad reviews. You don't remember all the bad reviews.
John UpdikeRead
To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.
George SantayanaRead
Lift the veil that obscures the heart, and there you will find what you are looking for.
KabirRead
The grandiose person is never really free; first because he is excessively dependent on admiration from others, and second, because his self-respect is dependent on qualities, functions, and achievements that can suddenly fail.
Alice MillerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.