Scholar Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old scholar quotes, scholar sayings, and scholar proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

The real scholar learns how to evolve the unknown from the known, and draws near the master. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
When the modern scholar cites from a classic text, the quotation seems to burn a hole in his own drab page. George Steiner
A scholar's heart is a dark well in which are buried many aborted feelings that rise to the surface as arguments. Natalie Clifford Barney
Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary. Patrick F. McManus
A scholar is committed to building on knowledge that others have gathered, correcting it, confirming it, enlarging it. Parker Palmer
A scholar is always praised. He who attains knowledge also acquires capabilities to vanquish his enemies. Rig Veda
The diligent scholar is he that loves himself, and desires to have reason to applaud and love himself. William Godwin
I said... how and why, young children were sooner allured by love than driven by beating to attain good learning. Roger Ascham
There is no such whetstone, to sharpen a good wit and encourage a will to learn, as is praise. Roger Ascham
Learning teacheth more in one year than experience in twenty. Roger Ascham
We must distinguish between a man of polite learning and a mere scholar; the first is a gentleman and what is a gentleman should be; the last is a mere bookcase, a bundle of letters, a head stuffed with the jargon of languages, a man that understands everybody but is understood by nobody. Daniel Defoe
If we wish to teach, we must stop to think the scholar's thoughts. A. Maclaren
Of course, a scholar who attempts anything but scholarship is rather in the position of a man who has volunteered to amuse a children's party; he is not sure that his really solid virtues will count for much. Northrop Frye
A teacher who is not a scholar is soon to be going out of touch with his own subject, and a scholar who is not a teacher is soon going to be out of touch with the world. Northrop Frye
Every scholar develops something analogous to a sense of smell, and if a book has declared itself intellectually bankrupt on page 2 the experienced scholar, left to himself will not read on to page 302. Northrop Frye
Certainly, the influence of my teachers on me was not directly through anything they taught me, but the impression they gave that the life of a scholar was worth living. Northrop Frye
The scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is the Man Thinking. John Bartlett
Scholars, and often the clergy in relation to the laity, are peculiarly reluctant to concede the innate human capacity to accept the marvelous. to delight in the wonder and respond to the strongest claims made on the imagination. Rachel Trickett
A scholar's ink lasts longer than a martyr's blood. Irish Proverb
The rivalry of scholars advances wisdom. Yiddish Proverb
The greatest scholars are not the wisest men. Roman Proverb
A table is not blessed if it has fed no scholars. Yiddish Proverb
A scholar’s like this gentle breeze, / He harnesses all opportunities like the breeze, / Gaining experience through interactions, / Amassing knowledge through learning. Krishnan Balasubramanian
I would like to be a scholar in whatever I do, a scholar is never finished, he is always seeking and I am always seeking. Amad Jamal
The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you. B.B. King
The office of the scholar is to cheer, to raise, and to guide men by showing them facts amidst appearances. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A scholar is like a book written in a dead language. It is not everyone that can read in it. William Hazlitt
The humblest painter is a true scholar, and the best of scholars is the scholar of nature. William Hazlitt
Not everyone realizes that to write a really good piece of journalism is at least as demanding intellectually as the achievement of any scholar. Max Weber
I would probably have been very content as a scholar to have carried on organizing exhibitions and writing books and teaching. Thomas P. Campbell