Wisdom

Wisdom belongs to the philosopher who grasps the Good and orders soul and city by its light.

Wisdom is knowledge of first causes and highest principles; practical wisdom is a separate virtue of right action.

True wisdom is knowledge of God; it begins in fear of the Lord and ends in the vision of eternal truth.

Wisdom judges all things by their highest cause; it exists as philosophical virtue, theological virtue, and supernatural gift.

Wisdom is self-knowledge and the honest acceptance of human limitation, not the mastery of systems.

Wisdom requires a method of radical doubt that clears all uncertain foundations and rebuilds knowledge from certainty.

Wisdom is the intellectual love of God, the mind's union with the eternal order of nature.

Wisdom requires knowing the limits of reason and subordinating knowledge to the demands of moral duty.

Wisdom is reason's self-knowledge through history; the owl of Minerva flies only at dusk.