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Knowledge A complacent satisfaction with present knowledge is the chief bar to the pursuit of knowledge.--B. H. Liddell Hart (The Ghost of Napoleon) A knowledge of the path cannot be substituted for putting one foot in front of the other.---M. C. Richards A library may be very large; but if it is in disorder, it is not so useful as one that is small but well arranged. In the same way, a man may have a great mass of knowledge, but if he has not worked it up by thinking it over for himself, it has much less value than a far smaller amount which he has thoroughly pondered.—--Arthur Schopenhauer, 19th-century German philosopher (1788–1860) "The Art of Literature: On Thinking for One’s Self," Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer, tr. T. Bailey Saunders (1851) A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.—Kahlil Gibran, 20th-century Syrian-American mystic poet and painter (1883–1931) The Voice of the Master, pt. 2, ch. 8 (1960; repr. in A Second Treasury of Kahlil Gibran, tr. Anthony Ferris [1962]) A man can only attain knowledge with the help of those who possess it. This must be understood from the very beginning. One must learn from him who knows.—George Gurdjieff, 19th-20th-century Greek-Armenian religious teacher and mystic (c. 1872–1949) Quoted in: P. D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous, ch. 2 (1949) A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.---Bible All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable that I would not rather know it than not.—Samuel Johnson, 18th-century English writer and lexicographer (1709–1784) quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson
All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or
inconsiderable that I would not rather know it than not.—Samuel Johnson,
18th-century English writer and lexicographer All men by nature desire knowledge.—Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher (384–322 B.C.E.) Metaphysics, bk. 1, ch. 1 All our knowledge has its origin in our perception.---Leonardo da Vinci All wish to know, but none want to pay the fee.—Juvenal, 1st-2nd-century Roman poet (60–140) Satires All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.--Juvenal Any piece of knowledge I acquire today has a value at this moment exactly proportioned to my skill to deal with it. Tomorrow, when I know more, I recall that piece of knowledge and use it better.—Mark van Doren, 20th-century American poet (1894–1972) Liberal Education (1943) As the Spanish proverb says, ‘He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.’ So it is in travelling; a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge.—Samuel Johnson, 18th-century English writer and lexicographer (1709–1784) Remark, 17 Apr. 1778, Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, vol. 3 (1791) Be an explorer ... read, surf the internet, visit customers, enjoy arts, watch children play ... do anything to prevent yourself from becoming a prisoner of your knowledge, experience, and current view of the world.--Charles 'Chic' Thompson (What a Great Idea) Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.—Plato, ancient Greek philosopher (ca. 427–347 B.C.E.) The Republic But desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.---Laurence Sterne Depend on it, there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.—Arthur Conan Doyle, 19th-20th-century Scottish author and physician (1859–1930) A Study in Scarlet, 2 (1888) Discussion is an exchange of knowledge, arguments an exchange of ignorance.--Robert Quillen Do not be arrogant because of your knowledge, but confer with the ignorant man as with the learned....---Ptahhotpe Emancipation from error is the condition of real knowledge.—Henri-Frédéric Amiel, 19th-century Swiss writer (1821–1881) The Private Journal of Henri Frédéric Amiel Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.--Thomas Henry Huxley Every mind was made for growth, for knowledge, and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to ignorance.--William Ellery Channing Everything has been said, yet few have taken advantage of it. Since all our knowledge is essentially banal, it can only be of value to minds that are not.—Raoul Vaneigem, contemporary Belgian Situationist philosopher (b. 1934) The Revolution of Everyday Life, Introduction (1967; tr. 1983) For all the talk you hear about knowledge being such a wonderful thing, instinct is worth forty of it for real unerringness.—Mark Twain, 19th-century American writer (1835–1910) (pen name of Samuel Clemens) Tom Sawyer Abroad Gradualness, gradualness, and gradualness. From the very beginning of your work, school yourself to severe gradualness in the accumulation of knowledge.--Ivan Pavlov His priority did not seem to be to teach them what he knew, but rather to
impress upon them that nothing, not even... knowledge, was foolproof. Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known
the effect cannot be produced.—Sir Francis Bacon, 16th–17th-century English
philosopher, essayist and statesman I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.--Albert Einstein I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever.--Daniel Boorstin I shall devote only a few lines to the expression of my belief in the importance of science ・it is by this daily striving after knowledge that man has raised himself to the unique position he occupies on earth, and that his power and well-being have continually increased.--Marie Curie I was gratified to be able to answer promptly and I did. I said I didn't
know.—Mark Twain, 19th-century American writer If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?---T. H. Huxley If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him, for an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.-- - Joseph E. O'Donnell If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.---Issac Asimov If it rained knowledge, I'd hold out my hand; but I would not give myself the trouble to go in quest of it. - Dr. Samuel Johnson (1707 - 1784) If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.--- Adlai E. Stevenson Jr., speech at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, October 8, 1952 If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions.--Susanne K. Langer If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it.--- Margaret Fuller Information is not knowledge.--Albert Einstein Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.--Samuel Johnson It is important to use all knowledge ethically, humanely, and lovingly.--Carol Pearson (The Hero Within) It is not his possession of knowledge, of irrefutable truth, that makes the man of science, but his persistent and recklessly critical quest for truth.—Karl Popper, 20th-century British philosopher (1902–1994) The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959) It’s not so much what folks don’t know that causes problems, it’s what they do know that ain't so.—Artemus Ward, 19th-century American humorist (1834–1867) (pen name of Charles Farrar Browne) in James F. Clarity and Warren Weafer, Jr., "Briefings," New York Times, 18 October 1984
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan: The proper study of mankind is
man.—Alexander Pope, 17th–18th-century English poet Knowing and not doing are equal to not knowing at all.—Anonymous Saying Knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that’s good taste.—Lucille Ball, 20th-century American comic actress (1911–1989) quoted in The Real Story of Lucille Ball (1954) Knowledge accumulates in universities because freshmen bring in a little and seniors rarely take any away.—Academic Saying Knowledge advances by steps, and not by leaps.---Thomas Babington Macaulay Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned.---- Oliver Wendell Holmes Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.--- Alfred Lord Tennyson Knowledge comes by taking things apart: analysis. But wisdom comes by putting things together.--John A. Morrison Knowledge fills a large brain; it merely inflates a small one.—Sydney J. Harris, 20th-century American journalist and author (1917–1986) syndicated column, Detroit Free Press, 7 January 1982 Knowledge in itself is good and perfect when a learned person is also good, honorable, and humble in life. But if knowledge be joined with a proud, dishonorable, and wicked life, it is a poison.—Catherine of Siena, 14th century Italian mystic, diplomat, and saint (1347-1380) The dialogue of the seraphic virgin Catherine of Siena, ed. and tr. Algar Thorold (1896) Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and shelter for us in advanced age, and if we do not plant it while young, it will give us no shade when we grow old.---Phillip Chesterfield Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.--Martin H. Fischer Knowledge is being applied to knowledge itself. It is now fast becoming the one factor in production, sidelining both capital and labour.---Peter Drucker Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container.—Anonymous Saying Knowledge is gained by learning; trust by doubt; skill by practice; and love by love.--Thomas Szasz Knowledge is not what the pupil remembers but what he cannot forget. Knowledge is nothing but the continually burning up of error to set free the light of truth.—Rabindranath Tagore, 19th-20th-century Indian writer and philosopher (1861–1941) Sadhana (1913) Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.---Samuel Johnson Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study Hard. Be evil. - unknown Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Knowledge is the conformity of the object and the intellect.—Averroes ibn-Rushd, 12th-century Spanish-Arab diplomat, philosopher, and physician (1126–1198) (abu-al-Walid Muhammad ibn-Ahmad) Knowledge is the most democratic source of power.—Alvin Toffler, 20th-century American writer.(b. 1928) Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century, pt. 1, ch. 2, "The Democratic Difference" (1990) Knowledge is the most precious treasure of all things because it can never be given away nor stolen nor consumed. Knowledge is the only fountain both of the love and the principles of human liberty.—Daniel Webster, 19th-century American statesman and orator (1782–1852) in an address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 17 June 1825 Knowledge is the small part of ignorance that we arrange and
classify.—Ambrose Bierce, 19th-20th-century American writer and journalist
Knowledge is what we get when an observer, preferably a scientifically trained
observer, provides us with a copy of reality that we can all
recognize.—Christopher Lasch, contemporary American historian Knowledge is what we get when an observer, preferably a scientifically trained observer, provides us with a copy of reality that we can all recognize.—Christopher Lasch, contemporary American historian (b. 1932) "The Lost Art of Political Argument" (first published as "Journalism, Publicity, and the Lost Art of Political Argument," Gannett Center Journal, New York, Spring 1990) Knowledge itself is power.---Francis Bacon Knowledge might be power, but only when you take action.--Richard Keeves Knowledge of physical science will not console me for ignorance of morality in time of affliction, but knowledge of morality will always console me for ignorance of physical science.—Blaise Pascal, 17th-century French mathematician, physicist and theologian (1623–1662) Pensées, no. 23 (c. 1654-62) Knowledge will not always take the place of simple observation.---Arnold Lobel Knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.—Samuel Johnson, 18th-century English writer and lexicographer (1709–1784) Rasselas, ch. 41 Man is distinguished, not only by his reason; but also by this singular passion from other animals . . . which is a lust of the mind, that by a perseverance of delight in the continual and indefatigable generation of knowledge, exceeds the short vehemence of any carnal pleasure.—Thomas Hobbes, 17th-century English philosopher (1588–1679) Leviathan, pt. 1, ch. 6 (1651) Man is not weak; knowledge is more than equivalent to force.—Samuel
Johnson, 18th-century English writer and lexicographer Man knows much more than he understands.—Alfred Adler, 19th-20th-century Austrian psychiatrist (1870–1937) Social Interest (1939) Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value.—Lord Chesterfield, 18th-century English statesman My philosophy is anyone or anything that gives you knowledge inspires you.--Gabrielle Reece Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.---Sandra Carey No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.---John Lock Not by measuring our knowledge, but by admitting the grandeur of the unknowable and telling ourselves that we depend entirely on it, shall we attain the full amplitude of our soul and the greatest measure of justice in our life.--Jeanne de Veitinghoff (The Understanding of Good) Not to know is bad, not to wish to know is worse.--Nigerian Proverb Of a truth, Knowledge is power, but it is a power reined by scruple, having a conscience of what must be and what may be; whereas Ignorance is a blind giant who, let him but wax unbound, would make it a sport to seize the pillars that hold up the long-wrought fabric of human good, and turn all the places of joy as dark as a buried Babylon.—George Eliot, 19th-century English writer (1819–1880) (pen name of Mary Ann Evans) Daniel Deronda, bk. 3, ch. 21 (1876) One of the greatest joys known to man is to take a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge.--Robert Lynd Only when we know little things do we know anything; doubt grows with knowledge.---Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Our age is being forcibly reminded that knowledge is no substitute for wisdom. Far and away the most important thing in human life is living it.--Frank R. Barry Our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.--Sir Karl Popper (Conjectures and Refutations) Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of non-knowledge.---Isaac Bashevis Singer Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of innumerable minds: our language, our science, our religion, our opinions, our fancies we inherited.—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th-century American essayist and philosopher (1803–1882) "Quotations and Originality," Letters and Social Aims (1876) ---Ralph Waldo Emerson Play is the beginning of knowledge.--George Dorsey Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.--John Locke Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.---Confucius Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control.--Martin Luther King, Jr. So it is in traveling; a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge.---Samuel Johnson Talk about those subjects you have had long in your mind, and listen to what others say about subjects you have studied but recently. Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned.—Oliver Wendell Holmes, 19th-century American writer and physician; (1809–1894) The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, ch. 6 (1858) The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see more, not less.---Arthur Miller, 1915 - 2005
The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the
acquisition of it.—Laurence Sterne, 18th-century English writer The genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.---Mao Zedong The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.---John F. Kennedy The greatest good of the mind is the knowledge of God, and the greatest virtue of the mind is to know God.—Baruch Spinoza, 17th-century Dutch philosopher (1632–1677) Ethics, bk. 4, prop. 28 The knowledge of an unlearned man is living and luxuriant like a forest, but covered with mosses and lichens and for the most part inaccessible and going to waste; the knowledge of the man of science is like timber collected in yards for public works, which still supports a green sprout here and there, but even this is liable to dry rot.—Henry David Thoreau, 19th-century American essayist and naturalist (1817–1862) entry for 7 January 1851, Journals (1906) The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.--Ralph W. Sockman The learned are mere literary drudges.—William Hazlitt, 18th–19th-century English essayist (1778–1830) "On the Ignorance of the Learned," in Edinburgh Magazine (July 1818; repr. in Table Talk [1821]) The old believe everything; the middle aged suspect everything: the young know everything.--Oscar Wilde The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.—John Locke, 17th-century English philosopher (1632–1704) Some Thoughts Concerning Education, sct. 88 (1693) The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.---Socrates The only source of knowledge is experience.---Albert Einstein The preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks is of more importance to the public than all the property of all the rich men in the country.—John Adams, 2nd President of the U.S. (1735–1826) Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law (1765) The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing.— Oscar Wilde, 19th-century British playwright and writer (1854–1900) The Soul of Man under Socialism (1891) The recipe of perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.--Elbert Hubbard The saying that knowledge is power is not quite true. Used knowledge is power, and more than power. It is money, and service, and better living for our fellowmen, and a hundred other good things. But mere knowledge, left unused, has no power in it.--Edward E. Free The small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify we give the name of knowledge.--Ambrose Bierce The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught.—Luc Vauvenargues , 18th-century French moralist
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge available to us:
observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects
facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that
combination. Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection
profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined;
and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.—Denis Diderot,
18th-century French philosopher There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul.—Arnold Bennett, 19th-20th-century English writer and playwright (1867–1931) The Journals of Arnold Bennett, entry for 18 March 1897 (1932) There is hardly any place or any company where you may not gain knowledge, if you please; almost everybody know some one thing, and is glad to talk about that one thing.--Lord Chesterfeld There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.--Bertrand Russell There is no other source of knowledge but the intellectual manipulation of carefully verified observations.—Sigmund Freud, 19th-20th-century Austrian psychiatrist (1856–1939) Quoted in Puner, Freud, p. 267 There is only one good, knowledge, and only one evil, ignorance.—Socrates, ancient Greek philosopher (469–399 B.C.E.) Quoted in Diogenes Laertius, Vitae Philosophorum, 2.31 These days people seek knowledge, not wisdom. Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future.--Vernon Cooper Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.--Brian Tracy Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.—Bertrand Russell, 19th-20th-century English philosopher and mathematician (1872–1970) Autobiography To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.--Marilyn vos Savant To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.---Benjamin Disraeli
To be proud of knowledge is to be blind with light.—Benjamin Franklin,
18th-century American statesman and inventor Universities are full of Knowledge; the freshman bring a little in, the seniors take none away, and the knowledge there accumulates.--Abbott Lawrence Lowell We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.--John Naisbitt (Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives) We are finite beings, and even if each of us possesses a large dormant capacity for objective self-transcendence, our knowledge of the world will always be fragmentary, however much we extend it.---Thomas Nagel We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the more we are capable of seeing.--Maria Mitchell (in Maria Mitchell by Kendall) We're drowning in information and starving for knowledge.--Rutherford D. Rogers When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge.---Confucius
Where is the Life we have lost in living? Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.--Albert Einstein Wonder rather than doubt is the root of knowledge.--Abraham Joshua Heschel You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out completely dry. Most people do.--Norman Juster Zeal without knowledge is fire without light.--Thomas Fuller Zeal will do more than knowledge.--William Hazlitt |