- prudence
- prudence, providence, foresight, forethought, discretion are comparable when they denote a quality that enables a person to choose the wise and sensible course, especially in managing his practical affairs. The same differences in implications and connotations are apparent in the corresponding adjectives prudent, provident, foresighted, forethoughtful, discreet.Prudence and prudent (see also WISE) the most comprehensive of these words, imply both that one does not act rashly or unadvisedly and that one has foreseen the probable consequences of one's act. Consequently the terms usually imply habitual caution and circumspection{
that type of person who is conservative from prudence but revolutionary in his dreams— T. S. Eliot
}{prudence is a virtue that reviews all of the values at stake and then assigns to each its proper weight— JAMA
}{had judged it more prudent to hide than to fight— Heiser
}Providence and provident imply thought for the future, especially with reference to its difficulties and its needs and, usually, the provision in advance of what will then be required{the intellectual providence to acquire . . . vast stores of dry information— Bagehot
}{a provident, rather thoughtful people, who made their livelihood secure by raising crops and fowl— Cather
}Foresight and foresighted stress a power, usually the result of a highly developed intelligence, of seeing what is likely to happen and of being prepared for it{the more we study the making of the principate, the more we shall be impressed with the grasp and foresight of its founder— Buchan
}{incapable of the foresighted control and adjustment of action which are the essence of all the higher forms of behavior— McDougall
}Forethought and the less frequent forethoughtful suggest due consideration of contingencies{in choosing the Yankee dialect, I did not act without forethought—J. R. Lowell
}{every newcomer, be he never so forethoughtful, finds himself lacking tools— Bell
}Discretion and discreet stress qualities (as good judgment, caution, and self-control) which make for prudence or compel prudent action; they often imply the power to restrain oneself when one is tempted to be temerarious, passionate, incensed, or loquacious{Encountered an eagerness to talk and a candor of expression among officials that . . . has heavily taxed my discretion— A. E. Stevenson
}{I dare say he will be a discreeter man all his life, for the foolishness of his first choice— A usten
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
