A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

wisdom see EXPERIENCE is the father of wisdom.
It is easy to be WISE after the event
Cf. c 1490 P. DE COMMYNES Mёmoires (1924) I. I. xvi. Les deux ducz.. estoient saiges apres le coup (comme l’on dit des Bretons); 1596 T. DANNETT tr. Commynes’ Mёmoires I. xvi. These two Dukes were wise after the hurt received (as the common prouerbe saith) of the Brittons.

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  1616 JONSON Epicene II. iv. Away, thou strange iustifier of thy selfe, to bee wiser then thou wert, by the euent. 1717 R. WODROW Letter 28 Sept. (1843) II. 319 Had we not verified the proverb of being wise behind the time, we might for ever [have] been rid of them. 1900 A. CONAN DOYLE Great Boer War xix. It is easy to be wise after the event, but it does certainly appear that..the action at Paardeberg was as unnecessary as it was expensive. 1977 J. PORTER Who the Heck is Sylvia? ii. ‘It’s easy enough to be wise after the event,’ Babette pointed out sullenly. "foresight and hindsight
  

It is a WISE child that knows its own father

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  1584 J. WITHALS Dict. (rev. ed.) L4 Wise sonnes they be in very deede, That knowe their Parents who did them breede. 1589 R. GREENE Menaphon VI. 92 Wise are the Children in these dayes that know their owne fathers, especially if they be begotten in Dogge daies [the heat of summer], when their mothers are frantick with love. 1596 SHAKESPEARE Merchant of Venice II. ii. 69 It is a wise father that knows his own child. 1613 G. WITHER Abuses I. ii. Is’t not hence this common Prouerbe growes, ‘Tis a wise child that his owne father knowes? 1762 GOLDSMITH Mystery Revealed 21 She called her father John instead of Thomas ..but perhaps she was willing to verify the old proverb, that It is a wise child that knows its own father. 1823 SCOTT Peveril III. x. I only laughed because you said you were Sir Geoffrey’s son. But no matter—’tis a wise child that knows his own father. 1983 R. DAVIES High Spirits 119 It’s a wise child that knows its own father. How wise does a child have to be to know its own great-great-grandfather? ■children and parents
  

wise see also EARLY to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise; a FOOL may give a wise man counsel; FOOLS ask questions that wise men cannot answer; FOOLS build houses and wise men live in them; where IGNORANCE is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise; one cannot LOVE and be wise; PENNY wise and pound foolish; a STILL tongue makes a wise head; a WORD to the wise is enough.