--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If wisdom were offered me with the…" description: "\"If wisdom were offered me with the proviso that I should keep it shut up and refrain from declaring it, I should refuse. There's no delight in owning a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/seneca-the-younger-219_declaring_if-wisdom-were-offered-me-with-the-provi_694637.jpg" --- # If wisdom were offered me with the proviso that I should… ![“If wisdom were offered me with the proviso that I should keep it shut up and refrain from declaring it, I should refuse. There's no delight in owning anything unshared.” quote by Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/seneca-the-younger-219_declaring_if-wisdom-were-offered-me-with-the-provi_694637.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/seneca-the-younger-219_declaring_if-wisdom-were-offered-me-with-the-provi_694637.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/seneca-the-younger-219_declaring_if-wisdom-were-offered-me-with-the-provi_694637.jpg) > “If wisdom were offered me with the proviso that I should keep it shut up and refrain from declaring it, I should refuse. There's no delight in owning anything unshared.” [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wisdom loses value if kept secret; sharing enriches both giver and receiver. **In simple terms:** Keeping knowledge private makes it pointless. Key Takeaway Share insights to create meaning. Themes wisdom sharing community humility Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - teaching - mentoring - public speaking - writing - leadership Key Concepts Stoicism ethical communication value of knowledge Questions to Reflect On - What knowledge have you withheld? - How does sharing change its impact? A Different Perspective If sharing risks misuse, secrecy may protect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Declaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/declaring/) [Declaring Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/declaring-refuse-5511717/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Owning Unshared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/owning-unshared-1944404/) [Refrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refrain/) [Refrain Declaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refrain-declaring-5511716/) [Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuse/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Shut up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shut-up/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wisdom Offered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom-offered-634322/) ## Related quotes > [There's no delight in owning anything unshared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-no-delight-in-owning-anything-unshared/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If wisdom were offered me with this restriction, that I should keep it close and not communicate it, I would refuse the gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-wisdom-were-offered-me-with-this-restriction-that-i-should-keep-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Our best chance of contentment lies in taking up the wisdom offered to us in coded form through our coughs, allergies, social gaffes, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/our-best-chance-of-contentment-lies-in-taking-up-the-wisdom-offered/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Wisdom can be offered only by those from whom wisdom flows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-bax/wisdom-can-be-offered-only-by-those-from-whom-wisdom-flows/) [Timothy Bax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-bax/) > [“No one, from pontiffs to professors, has a monopoly on the truth. In the end, we are all just travelers--not scientists or mystics or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-darling/no-one-from-pontiffs-to-professors-has-a-monopoly-on-the-truth-in-the/) [David Darling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-darling/) > [If God has given graces to some good women, revealing to them something holy and good through His Holy Scriptures, should they, for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-dentiere/if-god-has-given-graces-to-some-good-women-revealing-to-them/) [Marie Dentiere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-dentiere/) > [Let us ask what is best - not what is customary. Let us love temperance - let us be just - let us refrain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/let-us-ask-what-is-best-not-what-is-customary-let-us-love-temperance/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Refrain from following the example of those whose craving is for attention, not their own improvement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/refrain-from-following-the-example-of-those-whose-craving-is-for/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [A man can refrain from wanting what he has not and cheerfully make the best of a bird in the hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/a-man-can-refrain-from-wanting-what-he-has-not-and-cheerfully-make/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [If true, the Pythagorean principles as to abstain from flesh, foster innocence; if ill-founded they at least teach us frugality, and what loss have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/if-true-the-pythagorean-principles-as-to-abstain-from-flesh-foster/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [By declaring yourself a leader, you're taking initiative and moving into a role of influence in a lively and vital network that's changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/by-declaring-yourself-a-leader-you-re-taking-initiative-and-moving/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-the-preaching-of-our-ministers-and-the-practice-of-our/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [Intelligence is silence, truth is being invisible. But what a racket I make in declaring this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-rorem/intelligence-is-silence-truth-is-being-invisible-but-what-a-racket-i/) [Ned Rorem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-rorem/) > [Declaring victory without war .. the belief that India gave up the option of war under American pressure is totally wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atal-bihari-vajpayee/declaring-victory-without-war-the-belief-that-india-gave-up-the/) [Atal Bihari Vajpayee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atal-bihari-vajpayee/) > [How do you define a poet? It's very simple. Anyone declaring that he is a poet, is a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-cannon/how-do-you-define-a-poet-it-s-very-simple-anyone-declaring-that-he-is/) [Billy Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-cannon/) ## More by Seneca the Younger > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [It is for the superfluous we sweat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-for-the-superfluous-we-sweat/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears; the effect of precepts is therefore slow and tedious, whilst that of examples is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/men-trust-rather-to-their-eyes-than-to-their-ears-the-effect-of/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/a-great-step-towards-independence-is-a-good-humored-stomach-one-that/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Men can be divided into 2 groups: one that goes ahead and achieves something, and one that comes after and criticizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/men-can-be-divided-into-2-groups-one-that-goes-ahead-and-achieves/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/leisure-without-study-is-death-and-the-grave-of-a-living-man/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Such as the chain of causes we call Fate, such is the chain of wishes: one links on to another; the whole man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/such-as-the-chain-of-causes-we-call-fate-such-is-the-chain-of-wishes/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [To rule yourself is the ultimate power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/to-rule-yourself-is-the-ultimate-power/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The road by precepts is tedious, by example, short and efficacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-road-by-precepts-is-tedious-by-example-short-and-efficacious/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Misfortune is the test of a person's merit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/misfortune-is-the-test-of-a-person-s-merit/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [He who does not want to die should not want to live. For life is tendered to us with the proviso of death. Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/he-who-does-not-want-to-die-should-not-want-to-live-for-life-is/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Let us not seek our disease out of ourselves; 'tis in us, and planted in our bowels; and the mere fact that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/let-us-not-seek-our-disease-out-of-ourselves-tis-in-us-and-planted-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [After death there is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/after-death-there-is-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Adversity finds at last the man whom she has often passed by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/adversity-finds-at-last-the-man-whom-she-has-often-passed-by/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Hesitation is the best cure for anger. The first blows of anger are heavy, but if it waits, it will think again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/hesitation-is-the-best-cure-for-anger-the-first-blows-of-anger-are/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) [Explore all 872 Seneca the Younger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## More Declaring quotes > [How do you define a poet? It's very simple. Anyone declaring that he is a poet, is a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-cannon/how-do-you-define-a-poet-it-s-very-simple-anyone-declaring-that-he-is/) [Billy Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-cannon/) > [Declaring victory without war .. the belief that India gave up the option of war under American pressure is totally wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atal-bihari-vajpayee/declaring-victory-without-war-the-belief-that-india-gave-up-the/) [Atal Bihari Vajpayee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atal-bihari-vajpayee/) > [Intelligence is silence, truth is being invisible. But what a racket I make in declaring this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-rorem/intelligence-is-silence-truth-is-being-invisible-but-what-a-racket-i/) [Ned Rorem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-rorem/) > [If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-the-preaching-of-our-ministers-and-the-practice-of-our/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [By declaring yourself a leader, you're taking initiative and moving into a role of influence in a lively and vital network that's changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/by-declaring-yourself-a-leader-you-re-taking-initiative-and-moving/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The power of declaring war being with the Legislature, the Executive should do nothing necessarily committing them to decide for war in preference of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-power-of-declaring-war-being-with-the-legislature-the-executive/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours. When you make a decision to "be" a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/time-cools-time-clarifies-no-mood-can-be-maintained-quite-unaltered/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Science is advanced by proposing and testing hypothesis, not by declaring questions unsolvable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-matzke/science-is-advanced-by-proposing-and-testing-hypothesis-not-by/) [Nick Matzke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-matzke/) > [When you say "I am," the words that follow are summoning creation with a mighty force, because you are declaring it to be fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/when-you-say-i-am-the-words-that-follow-are-summoning-creation-with-a/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [Reason should investigate its own parameters before declaring its omniscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/reason-should-investigate-its-own-parameters-before-declaring-its/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [If you're calling yourself a maverick and you're not Dirk Nowitzki, then you are probably not one. In fact, this rule applies to anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-mckay/if-you-re-calling-yourself-a-maverick-and-you-re-not-dirk-nowitzki/) [Adam McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-mckay/) > [We speak of 'software eating the world,' 'the Internet of Things,' and we massify 'data' by declaring it 'Big.' But these concepts remain for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-battelle/we-speak-of-software-eating-the-world-the-internet-of-things-and-we/) [John Battelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-battelle/) > [I am challenging Ezer Weizman to accept the democratic state where both of us can live in this democratic state. What confederation? No. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasser-arafat/i-am-challenging-ezer-weizman-to-accept-the-democratic-state-where/) [Yasser Arafat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasser-arafat/) > [What China would do, I cannot predict. China has all but given up the claim to the use of force, except in the circumstance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/what-china-would-do-i-cannot-predict-china-has-all-but-given-up-the/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [Guerrilla war is a test of wills. Obama's actual objectives - rollback in Iraq, containment in Syria - are not unreasonable. But they require…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/guerrilla-war-is-a-test-of-wills-obama-s-actual-objectives-rollback/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) [Browse all 157 Declaring quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/declaring/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If wisdom were offered me with the proviso that I should keep it shut up and refrain from declaring it, I should refuse. 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