"Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing…

“Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it” is a quotation from Stanford University President David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) that has been printed on many images. Jordan said it frequently, in slightly different forms.

“Wisdom is knowing what is best to do next, and virtue is doing it” was cited in July 1896. “Wisdom means knowing what to do next; virtue means doing what comes next” was cited in February 1897. “Wisdom then is knowing what to do next. Skill is knowing how to do it. Virtue is doing it” was cited in April 1903.

Wikipedia: David Starr Jordan
David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was an American ichthyologist, educator, eugenicist, and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and was the founding president of Stanford University.

10 July 1896, The Globe (Toronto, ON), “Education Association: Interesting Papers Read and Addresses Delivered at Yesterday’s Session—President Jordan’s Epigrams,” pg. 7, col. 4:
Buffalo, July 9.—The National Education Association this morning listened to an interesting paper by President Jordan of Leland Stanford University, California, on “The Junction of Nature Study in the Culture of Moral Power.” (...) “To seek knowledge is better than to have it; character building is action, not imitation; whatever is too distant to be reached is not truthfully reported; wisdom is the parent of virtue; wisdom is knowing what is best to do next, and virtue is doing it; doing right becomes a habit if it is pursued long enough,” were some of the epigrams that abounded throughout the paper, ...

Chronicling America
2 February 1897, The Sun (New York, NY), pg. 2, col. 6:
RELIGIOUS REVIVALS.
PRESIDENT OF JORDAN OF STANFORD DENOUNCES THEM.
(...)
(Stanford President David Starr Jordan in a sermon before the Unitarian Society of Berkeley.—ed.)
“Wisdom means knowing what to do next; virtue means doing what comes next; science, as well as religion, means telling men how to grow better.”

Chronicling America
28 December 1897, San Francisco (CA) Call, “Educators discuss improved methods of instruction,” pg. 5, col. 3:
He becomes an example of what President Jordan has so well said, “All knowledge is scientific knowledge, There is no other knowledge. But the object of science is wisdom. Wisdom is the knowledge what to do next. Virtue is doing it.”

2 April 1898, Press and Horticulturist (Riverside, CA), “Pres. Jordan on Fur Seals,” pg. 8, col. 2:
... Dr. Jordan was then introduced and spoke on The Sober Mind. He said the principles he wished to set forth were the basis of good health, good morals and good education. Teachers complain that they cannot make use of much that they find in the books on psychology, and that is not strange, for it is unintelligible and untrue. Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it, not waiting for somebody else to do it; happiness is the halo of satisfaction that follows virtue.

Google Books
April 1903, University Chronicle (University of California), pg. 4:
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY TENDENCIES.”
DAVID STARR JORDAN.
* Stenographic report of an address delivered by David Starr Jordan, President of Stanford University, at the Charter Day exercises, March 23, 1903.
(...)
Wisdom, as I have had occasion to say once or twice, is knowing what one ought to do next. Not simply knowing in the abstract, not simply knowing what may be done some time, but knowing what one ought to do next. There is always something to do now and here, at this time, and that has to be done immediately, on the spot. This the (Pg. 5—ed.) wise man recognizes. So wisdom is knowing what one ought to do next. Skill is knowing how to do it, because one might know what to do, and yet be ignorant of how to put his knowledge into action. Virtue is actually doing it. There is nothing in virtue that is not dynamic. Passive virtue deserves some other name. Wisdom then is knowing what to do next. Skill is knowing how to do it. Virtue is doing it. Religion is the reason why it should be done. The religion of to-day is more and more the working theory of life and action. Those forms of religion which do not lead to life and action no longer have a place among the dynamic forces of existence.

Google Books
1,600 Quotes & Pieces of Wisdom That Just Might Help You Out When You’re Stuck in a Moment (and can’t get out of it!)
Compiled by Gary Guthrie
Lincoln, NE: iUniverse
2003
Pg. 99:
Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it.—David Starr Jordan

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Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it. - David Starr Jordan
2:49 AM - 9 Oct 2016