One who never anticipates deceit or expects duplicity, and yet is the first to recognize such things – is that not a sage indeed?

The Saint is a man who disciplines his ego. The Sage is a man who rids himself of his ego.

How dare I claim to be a sage or a benevolent man?

He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man.

To practice magic is to be a quack; to know magic is to be a sage.

What, then, is the achieved Sage?
One whose Act is determined by the higher phase of the Soul.

Wisdom consists not only in knowing truths and being able to communicate them, but also in the sage’s capacity to recognize the most subtle limitations or hazards of human nature.

Truly they who know still know nothing if the strength of love be not theirs; for the true sage is not he who sees, but he who, seeing the furthest, has the deepest love for mankind. He who sees without loving is only straining his eyes in the darkness.

I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs when others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.

My idea of the modern Stoic sage is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into information, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.

Any sage can do philosophy, but not every philosopher is a sage.

Que ta vision soit à chaque instant nouvelle. Le sage est celui qui s'étonne de tout.

The Sage

A person of wisdom should be truthful, without arrogance, without deceit, not slanderous and
not hateful. The wise person should go beyond the evil of greed and miserliness.
To have your mind set on calmness, you must take power over sleepiness, drowsiness and
lethargy. There is no place for laziness and no recourse to pride.
Do not be led into lying, do not be attached to forms. You must see through all pride and fare
along without violence.
Do not get excited by what is old, do not be contented with what is new. Do not grieve for
what is lost or be controlled by desire.

The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be all unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret — It is only the sage who is able for this.