It is much better to know something about everything than to know everything about one thing.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
To each individual the world will take on a different connotation of meaning-the important lies in the desire to search for an answer.
—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-born British Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic
Knowledge is more than equivalent to force. The master of mechanics laughs at strength.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
As soon as true thought has entered our mind, it gives a light which makes us see a crowd of other objects which we have never perceived before.
—Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand (1768–1848) French Writer, Academician, Statesman
Knowledge dwells in heads replete with thoughts of other men; wisdom, in minds attentive to their own.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
Knowledge is the eye of desire and can become the pilot of the soul.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
There is a thing called knowledge of the world which people do not have until they are middle aged. It is something which cannot be taught to younger people because it is not logical and does not obey laws which are constant. It has no rules.
—Theodore H. White (1915–86) American Journalist, Historian, Novelist
Again and again I therefore admonish my students in Europe and America: Don’t aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run — in the long-run, I say! — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
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 (1867–1934) Polish-born French Physicist, Chemist
Hatred is the sign of a secret attraction that is eager to flee from itself and furious to deny its own existence. That too is God’s play in His creature.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
I think knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that’s good taste.
—Lucille Ball (1911–89) American Actor, Comedian, Model
A thought is an arrow shot at the truth; it can hit a point, but not cover the whole target. But the archer is too well satisfied with his success to ask anything farther.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Any piece of knowledge I acquire today has a value at this moment exactly proportional 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 (1894–1972) American Poet, Writer, Critic
For knowledge, too, is itself power.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
To succeed in business, to reach the top, an individual must know all it is possible to know about that business.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
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 J. Boorstin (1914–2004) American Historian, Academic, Attorney, Writer
The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
Infinite toil would not enable you to sweep away a mist; but by ascending a little you may often look over it altogether. So it is with our moral improvement; we wrestle fiercely with a vicious habit, which would have no hold upon us if we ascended into a higher moral atmosphere.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) English Dramatist, Essayist
I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
There is, so I believe, in the essence of everything, something that we cannot call learning. There is, my friend, only a knowledge — that is everywhere.
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German-born Swiss Novelist, Poet
Let a man in a garret but bum with enough intensity and he will set fire to the world.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) English Biologist
In your thirst for knowledge, be sure not to drown in all the information.
—Anthony J. D’Angelo
Many people think of knowledge as money, They would like knowledge, but do not want to face the perseverance and self-denial that goes into the acquisition of it.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
Man know much more than he understands.
—Alfred Adler (1870–1937) Austrian Psychiatrist
Knowledge, like religion, must be “experienced” in order to be known.
—Edwin Percy Whipple (1819–86) American Literary Critic
To know the right means of getting something done is virtually to have done it.
—Mark Caine
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
Better know nothing than half-know many things.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
A complacent satisfaction with present knowledge is the chief bar to the pursuit of knowledge.
—B. H. Liddell Hart (1895–1970) English Historian
There are twallied powers in man; knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is so much of the truth seen in a distorted medium as the mind arrives at by groping, wisdom what the eye of divine vision sees in the spirit.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Proclaim not all thou knowest, all thou owest, all thou hast, nor all thou canst.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Base-minded they that lack intelligence; for God himself for wisdom most is praised, and men to God thereby are highest raised.
—Edmund Spenser (1552–99) English Poet
The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Desire to know why, and how — curiosity, which is a lust of the mind, that a perseverance of delight in the continued and indefatigable generation of knowledge — exceedeth the short vehemence of any carnal pleasure.
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) English Political Philosopher
Knowledge cultivates your seeds and does not sow in you seeds.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Know-how will surpass guess-how.
—Unknown
If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.
—Isaac Newton (1643–1727) English Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, Theologian
He is strong who conquers others; He who conquers himself is mighty.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
He wrapped himself in quotations — as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of emperors.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
When a king asked Euclid, whether he could not explain his art to him in a more compendious manner, he was answered, that there was no royal way to geometry. Other things may be seized by might, or purchased with money, but knowledge is to be gained only by study, and study to be prosecuted only in retirement.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike you, do not wait until he has struck before you crush him.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Whatever is expressed is impressed. Whatever you say to yourself, with emotion, generates thoughts, ideas and behaviors consistent with those words.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it.
—Unknown
Those who act as if they know more than their boss seldom do.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
The greatest obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the continents and the ocean was not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge.
—Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004) American Historian, Academic, Attorney, Writer
We are in fact convinced that if we are ever to have pure knowledge of anything, we must get rid of the body and contemplate things by themselves with the soul by itself. It seems, to judge from the argument, that the wisdom which we desire and upon which we profess to have set our hearts will be attainable only when we are dead and not in our lifetime.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch.
—Ivern Ball (1926–92) American Writer, Aphorist
If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Forgiveness is praised by the Christian and the Vaishnava, but for me, I ask, “What have I to forgive and whom?”
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Zeal will do more than knowledge.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Knowledge is the most democratic source of power.
—Alvin Toffler (1928–2016) American Writer, Futurist
Wherefore a man can know nothing by himself, save after a natural manner, which is only that which he attains by means of the senses. For this cause he must have the phantasms and the forms of objects present in themselves and in their likenesses; otherwise it cannot be, for, as philosophers say: Ab objecto et potentia paritur notitia. That is: From the object that is present and from the faculty, knowledge is born in the soul. Wherefore, if one should speak to a man of things which he has never been able to understand, and whose likeness he has never seen, he would have no more illumination from them whatever than if naught had been said of them to him.
—John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish Roman Catholic Mystic
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.
—Georges Gurdjieff (1877–1949) Armenian Spiritual Leader, Occultist
The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Every mind was made for growth, for knowledge, and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to ignorance.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
You are your greatest investment. The more you store in that mind of yours, the more you enrich your experience, the more people you meet, the more books you read, and the more places you visit, the greater is that investment in all that you are. Everything that you add to your peace of mind, and to your outlook upon life, is added capital that no one but yourself can dissipate.
—George Matthew Adams (1878–1962) American Columnist, Journalist
To know is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
What a man knows should find its expression in what he does; the value of superior knowledge is chiefly in that it leads to a performing manhood.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
He is wise who knows the sources of knowledge — who knows who has written and where it is to be found.
—Archibald Alexander Hodge (1823–86) American Presbyterian Theologian
Reviewing what you have learned and learning anew, you are fit to be a teacher.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Whether you know the shape of a pebble or the structure of a solar system, the anxioms remain the same: that it exists and that you know it.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher, Playwright, Screenwriter
He knows so little and knows it so fluently.
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945) American Novelist
The sure foundations of the state are laid in knowledge, not in ignorance; and every sneer at education, at culture, at book learning, which is the recorded wisdom of the experience of mankind, is the demagogue’s sneer at intelligent liberty, inviting national degeneracy and ruin.
—George William Curtis (1824–92) American Essayist, Public Speaker, Editor, Author
To comprehend a man’s life, it is necessary to know not merely what he does, but also what he purposely leaves undone. There is a limit to the work that can be got out of a human body or a human brain, and he is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is still wiser who, from among the things that he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.
—William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) English Liberal Statesman, Prime Minister
In many things it is not well to say, “Know thyself” it is better to say, “Know others.”
—Menander (c.343–c.291 BCE) Greek Comic Dramatist, Poet
The more of wisdom we know, the more we may earn. That man who seeks to learn more of his craft shall be richly rewarded.
—George Samuel Clason (1874–1957) American Businessperson, Author
Knowledge is the antidote to fear.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.
—Thomas Browne (1605–82) English Author, Physician
Knowledge always desires increase, it is like fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate itself.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
To wisdom belongs the intellectual apprehension of things eternal; to knowledge, the rational apprehension of things temporal.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
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 Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Inspiration is a slender river of brightness leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge, it exceeds reason more perfectly than reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Open thy eyes and see what the world really is and what God; have done with vain and pleasant imaginations.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
The worth and value of knowledge is in proportion to the worth and value of its object.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
One of the greatest joys known to man is to take a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge.
—Robert Wilson Lynd (1879–1949) Irish Essayist, Critic
Knowledge is inherent in man; no knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside.
We say Newton discovered gravitation. Was it sitting anywhere waiting for him?
It was in his own mind; the time came and he found it out.
All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; he infinite library of the universe is in our own mind.
The external world is simply the suggestion, the occasion, which sets you to study your own mind.
—Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu Monk, Mystic
I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge.
—Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) Russian-born American Composer, Musician
Knowledge is the true organ of sight, not the eyes.
—The Panchatantra Indian Collection of Fables and Folktales
Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning.
—Claude Bernard (1813–78) French Physiologist
It is not so important to know everything as to know the exact value of everything, to appreciate what we learn, and to arrange what we know.
—Hannah More
Knowledge, without common sense, says Lee, is “folly; without method, it is waste; without kindness, it is fanaticism; without religion, it is death.” But with common sense, it is wisdom; with method, it is power; with charity, it is beneficence; with religion, it is virtue, and life, and peace.
—Frederic William Farrar (1831–1903) English Clergyman, Writer
Knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
A desire of knowledge is the natural feeling of mankind; and every human being whose mind is not debauched will be willing to give all that he has to get knowledge.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.
—Robert Quillen (1887–1948) American Journalist, Humorist
What men call knowledge, is the reasoned acceptance of false appearances. Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
There is no knowledge, no light, no wisdom that you are in possession of, but what you have received it from some source.
—Brigham Young (1801–77) American Mormon Leader
What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
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 (1932–94) American Historian, Moralist, Social Critic
Knowledge is power. Rather, knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge — broad, deep knowledge — is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man’s progress is to feel the great heartthrobs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
Who is so deafe or so blinde as is hee that wilfully will neither heare nor see?
—John Heywood
Only divine love bestows the keys of knowledge.
—Arthur Rimbaud (1854–91) French Poet, Adventurer
Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
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 (1735–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
The first step to knowledge is to know that we are ignorant.
—Richard Cecil
Live within; be not shaken by outward happenings.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Never carry your shotgun or your knowledge at half-cock.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
The knowledge that you can handle anything that comes your way is the key to allowing yourself to take healthy, life-affirming risks.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
An age is called “dark,” not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it.
—James A. Michener (1907–97) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Historian
Herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor-all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked-who is good? Not that men are ignorant-what is truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.
—W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) American Sociologist, Social Reformer
Of true knowledge at any time, a good part is merely convenient, necessary indeed to the worker, but not to an understanding of his subject: One can judge a building without knowing where to buy the bricks; one can understand a violin sonata without knowing how to score for the instrument. The work may in fact be better understood without a knowledge of the details of its manufacture, of attention to these tends to distract from meaning and effect.
—Jacques Barzun (b.1907) French-born American Historian, Philosophers
Familiarity breeds contempt.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
—Edith Wharton (1862–1937) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.
—Benjamin Spock (1903–98) American Pediatrician, Author
Knowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-born British Philosopher
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
In all living there is a certain narrowness of application which leads to breadth and power. We have to concentrate on a thing in order to master it. Then we must be broad enough not to be narrowed by our specialties.
—Ralph Washington Sockman (1889–1970) American United Methodist Pastor
America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) French Head of State, Physician, Publisher, Political leader
The great end of life is not knowledge, but action.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) English Biologist
All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
Real knowledge, like everything else of value, is not to be obtained easily. It must be worked for, studied for, thought for, and, more than all, must be prayed for.
—Thomas Arnold (1795–1842) English Educationalist
Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.
—Martin H. Fischer
In every object there is inexhaustible meaning; the eye sees in it what the eye brings means of seeing.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life! And yet can we cast out of our spirits all the good or evil poured into them by so many learned generations?. Ignorance cannot be learned.
—Gerard de Nerval (1808–55) French Poet, Essayist, Critic
Though completely armed with knowledge and endowed with power, we are blind and impotent in a world we have equipped and organized-a world of which we now fear the inextricable complexity.
—Paul Valery (1871–1945) French Critic, Poet
The knowledge we have acquired ought not to resemble a great shop without order, and without an inventory; we ought to know what we possess, and be able to make it serve us in our need.
—Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) German Rationalist Philosopher, Mathematician
Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
Success means accomplishments as the result of our own efforts and abilities. Proper preparation is the key to our success. Our acts can be no wiser than our thoughts. Our thinking can be no wiser than our understanding.
—George Samuel Clason (1874–1957) American Businessperson, Author
All men by nature desire knowledge.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Imagination
Imagination—sparks dreams and laughter,
Dissolves barriers, expands knowledge and lights the mind.
Imagination also holds captive in dark places
Both the weak and strong, liquefies courage,
Builds enormous insurmountable fear.
—Unknown
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass, the mere materials with which wisdom builds, till smoothed and squared and fitted to its place, does but encumber whom it seems to enrich. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
The more a man knows, the more he forgives.
—Catherine II of Russia (1729–96) Russian Empress
The shortest and the surest way of arriving at real knowledge the lessons we have been taught, to remount the first principles, and take nobody’s word about them.
—Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751) English Politician, Philosopher
It is well for the heart to be naive and for the mind not to be.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse.
—African Proverb
All my life I believed I knew something. But then one strange day came when I realized that I knew nothing; yes, I knew nothing. And so words became void of meaning. I have arrived too late at ultimate uncertainty.
—Ezra Pound (1885-1972) American Poet, Translator, Critic
There is one thing one has to have: either a soul that is cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art, and knowledge.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
I learned that when reason died, then Wisdom was born; before that liberation, I had only knowledge.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.
—Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–72) American Jewish Rabbi
There is no knowledge for which so great a price is paid as a knowledge of the world; and no one ever became an adept in it except at the expense of a hardened and a wounded heart.
—Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789–1849) Irish Novelist, Writer
Say oh wise man how you have come to such knowledge? Because I was never ashamed to confess my ignorance and ask others.
—Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) German Lutheran Philosopher, Theologian, Poet, Literary Critic
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man; the power that crosses the white sea, driven by the stormy wind, making a path under surges that threaten to engulf him…
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of facts within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a little want of knowledge is also a dangerous thing.
—Samuel Butler
A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
To know that which before us lies in daily life, is the prime wisdom; what is more is fume, or emptiness, or fond impertinence, and renders us, in things that most concern, unpracticed and unprepared.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
Most men want knowledge, not for itself, but for the superiority which knowledge confers; and the means they employ to secure this superiority are as wrong as the ultimate object, for no man can ever end with being superior, who will not begin with being inferior.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
But instinct is something which transcends knowledge. We have, undoubtedly, certain finer fibers that enable us to perceive truths when logical deduction, or any other willful effort of the brain, is futile.
—Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian-American Electrical Engineer, Inventor
Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of non-knowledge.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–91) Polish-born American Children’s Books Writer, Novelist, Short Story Writer
To know what we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
A man comes into a bar, obviously nervous and obviously in a hurry, walks over to the counter, picks up an empty glass and starts eating it. When he is finished he goes over to the wall, walks up the wall, walks along the ceiling, walks down the other wall and disappears out the door.
The barkeeper can’t believe his eyes. What the hell, he says, is going on here?
A man who has been sitting on a bar stool and seen the whole thing, says with a shrug of his shoulders, Don’t worry, I know that guy. It’s always the same thing with him — comes and goes without even saying hello.
There are millions of people who are living like this. Miracles are happening all around but they can’t see anything, they are blind with their knowledge.
Drop your knowledge. Knowledge is worthless; wonder is precious. Regain the wonder that you had when you were a child — and the kingdom of God belongs only to those who are able to become children again.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
What is all our knowledge worth? We do not even know what the weather will be tomorrow.
—Berthold Auerbach (1812-82) German Novelist
Depend upon 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 (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
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.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more mysterious.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
They are so knowing, that they know nothing.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.
—John Naisbitt American Trend Analyst
In a crisis of choice when you are perplexed and do not know which way to go, it might be good to consult several persons.
—Thomas Keating (1923–2018) American Trappist Monk
If you want to be truly successful invest in yourself to get the knowledge you need to find your unique factor. When you find it and focus on it and persevere your success will blossom.
—Sidney Madwed (1926–2013) American Poet, Author
Knowledge is a sacred cow, and my problem will be how we can milk her while keeping clear of her horns.
—Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893–1986) Hungarian-American Biochemist
The long unmeasured pulse of time moves everything. There is nothing hidden that it cannot bring to light, nothing once known that may not become unknown.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
A reading machine, always wound up and going, he mastered whatever was not worth the knowing.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
In God’s providence there is no evil, but only good or its preparation.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet
If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chinese Statesman
A learned man is an idler who kills time with study. Beware of his false knowledge : it is more dangerous than ignorance.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Real knowledge, like everything else of the highest value, is not to be obtained easily. It must be worked for, studied for, thought for, and, more than all, it must be prayed for.
—Thomas Arnold (1795–1842) English Educationalist
Scientific knowledge is constantly changing. A discovery of one year receives confirmation the next or is thrown aside.
—James Truslow Adams (1878–1949) American Historian, Writer