All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience. The wise man always throws himself on the side of his assailants. It is more his interest than it is theirs to find his weak point. All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience. The wise man always throws himself on the side of his assailants. It is more his interest than it is theirs to find his weak point. More wisdom is latent in things as they are than in all the words men use. In the vain laughter of folly, wisdom hears half its applause.