One good punch on your enemy’s nose, gives more pleasure than hearing well-meaning advice from your elders.
—Tibetan Proverb
Be smart, be intelligent and be informed.
—Tony Alessandra
What nectar can be drunk with the ears? Good advice.
—Indian Proverb
Giving advice to the ignorant is like the rain falling on muddy ground.
—Persian Proverb
I have all my life long been lying in bed till noon; yet I tell all young men, and tell them with great sincerity, that nobody who does not rise early will ever do any good.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
If your strength is small, don’t carry heavy burdens. If your words are worthless, don’t give advice.
—Chinese Proverb
Disease is not of the body but of the place.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
I listen and give input only if somebody asks.
—Barbara Bush (1925–2018) American First Lady
The action of a fool cannot serve as a precedent.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Stay at home in your mind. Don’t recite other people’s opinions. I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I always advise people never to give advice.
—P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) British Novelist, Short-story Writer, Playwright
With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the character causes the disease—because it has not expressed itself. Passion moves inward, striking and blighting the deepest cellular recesses.
—Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American Writer, Philosopher
Good advice is often annoying—bad advice never is.
—French Proverb
When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Advice is the only commodity on the market where the supply always exceeds the demand.
—Unknown
A woman has advice only for another woman.
—Turkish Proverb
In those days he was wiser than he is now; he used frequently to take my advice.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Those who school others, oft should school themselves.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The advice of foxes is dangerous for chickens.
—Spanish Proverb
When a man comes to me for advice, I find out the kind of advice he wants, and I give it to him.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
The best career advice to give to the young is “Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.”
—Katharine Whitehorn (b.1928) English Journalist, Writer, Columnist
It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is absolutely fatal.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.
—Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) Indian Head of State
Once you’ve given advice to someone, you’re obligated.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer. For there is no such flatterer as is a man’s self.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Listening to advice often accomplishes far more than heeding it.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
Most people when they come to you for advice, come to have their own opinions strengthened, not corrected.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
He who builds according to every man’s advice will have a crooked house.
—Danish Proverb
If one man says to thee, “Thou art a donkey,” pay no heed. If two speak thus, purchase a saddle.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
To advise is not to compel.
—Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) Russian Short-Story Writer
Good counsels observed are chains of grace.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Old men are fond of giving good advice, to console themselves for being no longer in a position to give bad examples.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
The advice of a clever woman can ruin a strong town.
—Chinese Proverb
A thing to which a fool does not consent, know as the right thing.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Number one: Don’t frisk me. Don’t hurt me physically. Don’t get anywhere near my neck. And don’t call me Regis. Advice to his guests
—David Letterman (b.1947) American TV Personality, Comedian
Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.
—Teresa of Avila (1515–82) Spanish Carmelite Nun, Mystic
If you achieve success, you will get applause, and if you get applause, you will hear it. My advice to you concerning applause is this; enjoy it but never quite believe it.
—Robert Montgomery (1904–81) American Film, Television Actor, Director, Producer
Teeth placed before the tongue give good advice.
—Italian Proverb
What you do not use yourself, do not give to others. For example: advice.
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
The best practical advice I can give to the present generation is to practice the virtue which the Christians call love.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
The war is lost for too much advice.
—Sicilian Proverb
It is better to advise than upbraid, for the one corrects the erring; the other only convicts them.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Never give advice in a crowd.
—Arabic Proverb
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Do not be inaccessible. None is so perfect that he does not need at times the advice of others. He is an incorrigible ass who will never listen to any one. Even the most surpassing intellect should find a place for friendly counsel. Sovereignty itself must learn to lean. There are some that are incorrigible simply because they are inaccessible: They fall to ruin because none dares to extricate them. The highest should have the door open for friendship; it may prove the gate of help. A friend must be free to advise, and even to upbraid, without feeling embarrassed.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Some consultants are like the bottom half of a double boiler: They get all heated up but don’t know what’s cooking.
—Unknown
If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions; I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
There are none so deaf as those who will not hear advice.
—Indian Proverb