Knowledge is what is known; the confident understanding of a subject, potentially with the ability to use it for a specific purpose. It is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. Knowledge can be acquired in many different ways and from many sources, including but not limited to perception, reason, memory, testimony, scientific inquiry, education, and practice. The philosophical study of knowledge is called epistemology. The Master said, "Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is? 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 in The Analects 2:17, as translated by Arthur Waley Variant translation: "Yu, shall I teach you about knowledge? What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know. This is true knowledge". 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, Analects, Book II, Chapter XVII. I cannot look at something through someone else's eyes. I can only truly know something which I know. al. (Penguin: 1996),p. 12 Everyone in the world knows how to seek for knowledge that they do not have, but do not know how to find what they already know. al. (Penguin: 1996), p. 80 For knowing is spoken of in three ways: it may be either universal knowledge or knowledge proper to the matter in hand or actualising such knowledge; consequently three kinds of error also are possible. Aristotle, Prior Analytics (67b 4), tr. by Jonathan Barnes (1984/95) In the General Index of Barnes' translations the term "knowledge" gives 85 references, and this quote is the first. All teaching and all intellectual learning come about from already existing knowledge. Aristotle, Posterior Analytics (71a 1), tr. by Jonathan Barnes (1984/95) Other translations of this quote: All doctrine, and all intellectual discipline, arise from pre-existent knowledge, O.F. Owen (1853) All communications of knowledge from teacher to pupil by way of reasoning pre-suppose some pre-existing knowledge., E.S. Bouchier (1901) All instruction given or received by way of argument proceeds from pre-existent knowledge, G.R.G. Mure (1928). Πάντες ἄνθρωποι τοῦ εἰδέναι ὀρέγονται φύσει. Σημεῖον δ ̓ ἡ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἀγάπησις: καὶ γὰρ χωρὶς τῆς χρείας ἀγαπῶνται δι ̓ αὑτάς, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἄλλων ἡ διὰ τῶν ὀμμάτων. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἵνα πράττωμεν ἀλλὰ καὶ μηθὲν μέλλοντες πράττειν τὸ ὁρᾶν αἱρούμεθα ἀντὶ πάντων ὡς εἰπεῖν τῶν ἄλλων. Αἴτιον δ ̓ ὅτι μάλιστα ποιεῖ γνωρίζειν ἡμᾶς αὕτη τῶν αἰσθήσεων καὶ πολλὰς δηλοῖ διαφοράς. All men naturally desire knowledge. An indication of this is our esteem for the senses; for apart from their use we esteem them for their own sake, and most of all the sense of sight. Not only with a view to action, but even when no action is contemplated, we prefer sight, generally speaking, to all the other senses. The reason of this is that of all the senses sight best helps us to know things, and reveals many distinctions. Aristotle, Metaphysics I (980a 21), tr. by Hugh Tredennick. He who chooses to know for the sake of knowing will choose most readily that which is most truly knowledge. Aristotle, Metaphysics book 1, part 2, 982a31, Complete Works (1984), vol. 2, p. 1554. γνῶθι σεαυτόν. Know thyself. Inscription attributed to Chilo of Thales, Pythagoras, Solon, on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. This is the bitterest pain among men, to have much knowledge but no power. Herodotus Book 9, Ch. 16 Variant translations: Of all men's miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing. The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing. Thales was asked what was very difficult; he said: "To know one's self." Diogenes Laertius, Thales, IX. Πᾶσα τε ἐπιστήμη χωριζομένη δικαιοσύνης καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς πανουργία, οὐ σοφία φαίνεται. All knowledge, when separated from justice and the other virtues, is seen to be cunning and not wisdom. Plato, Menexenus. Ἕν οἶδα, ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα. As for me, all I know is that I know nothing. Socrates, Plato, Phædrus, Section CCXXXV. Φεῦ φεῦ, φρονεῖν ὡς δεινὸν ἔνθα μὴ τέλη / λύῃ φρονοῦντι... Alas, how dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in truth! Variant: Wisdom is a curse when wisdom does nothing for the man who has it. Sophocles Oedipus Rex Line 316/7. Prima sapientiae clavis definitur, assidua scilicet seu frequens interrogatio ... Dubitando enim ad inquisitionem venimus; inquirendo veritatem percipimus. Constant and frequent questioning is the first key to wisdom ... For through doubting we are led to inquire, and by inquiry we perceive the truth. Peter Abelard (1079–1142) Sic et Non, Prologus; translation from Frank Pierrepont Graves A History of Education During the Middle Ages and the Transition to Modern Times ([1918] 2005) p. 53. To wisdom belongs the intellectual apprehension of things eternal; to knowledge, the rational apprehension of things temporal. St. Augustine of Hippo, as quoted in The Anchor Book of Latin Quotations: with English translations‎ (1990) by Norbert Guterman, p. 375. Nam non solum scire aliquid, artis est, sed, quædam ars etiam docendi. Not only is there an art in knowing a thing, but also a certain art in teaching it. Cicero, De Legibus, II. 19. Minime sibi quisque notus est, et difficillime de se quisque sentit. Every one is least known to himself, and it is very difficult for a man to know himself. Cicero, De Oratore, III. 9. Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. Not to know what happened before one was born is always to be a child. Cicero, De Oratore, XXXIV. Nec scire fas est omnia. One cannot know everything. 4. 22. Si quid novisti rectius istis. Candidus imperti, si non, his utere mecum. If you know anything better than this candidly impart it; if not, use this with me. Horace, Epistles, I, 6, 67. E cœlo descendit nosce te ipsum. This precept descended from Heaven: know thyself. Juvenal, Satires (early 2nd century), XI. 27. Scire est nescire, nisi id me scire alius scierit. To know is not to know, unless someone else has known that I know. Lucilius, Fragment. Quid nobis certius ipsis Sensibus esse potest? qui vera ac falso notemus. What can give us more sure knowledge than our senses? How else can we distinguish between the true and the false? Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, I, 700. Et teneo melius ista quam meum nomen. I know all that better than my own name. Martial, Epigrams (c. 80-104 AD), IV. 37. 7. Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter? Is then thy knowledge of no value, unless another know that thou possessest that knowledge? Persius, Satires, I. 27. Ego te intus et in cute novi. I know you even under the skin. Persius, Satires, III. 30. Same in Erasmus—Adagia. Plus scire satius est, quam loqui. It is well for one to know more than he says. Plautus, Epidecus, I. 1. 60. Natura semina scientiæ nobis dedit, scientiam non dedit. Nature has given us the seeds of knowledge, not knowledge itself. Seneca the Younger, Epistolæ Ad Lucilium, CXX. Namque inscitia est, Adversum stimulum calces. For it shows want of knowledge to kick against the goad. Terence, Phormio, I, 24, 27. Faciunt næ intelligendo, ut nihil intelligant. By too much knowledge they bring it about that they know nothing. Terence, Andria, Prologue, XVII. Do you know how God controls the clouds and how he causes the lightning to flash from his cloud? Do you know how the clouds float? These are the wonderful works of the One perfect in knowledge. Book of Job 37: 15-16, NWT They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9 (KJV) Variant translation: The earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea. Isaiah 11:9b (NWT) Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. The Bible (KJV), Proverbs 24:3-4. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Daniel 12:4 (KJV) The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. David, Psalms 19:1-2 (KJV) In vain have you acquired knowledge if you do not impart it it to others. Deuteronomy Rabbah (c. 450–900). He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Ecclesiastes. I. 18. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Solomon, Proverbs 1:7 (KJV) Variant translation: The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge. Wisdom and discipline are what mere fools have despised. Proverbs 1:7 (New World Translation) When wisdom enters your heart And knowledge becomes pleasant to your soul, Thinking ability will keep watch over you, And discernment will safeguard you, To save you from the bad course, From the man speaking perverse things, From those leaving the upright paths To walk in the ways of darkness. Solomon, Book of Proverbs 2: 10-13, NWT Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. Solomon, Proverbs 12:1. Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3-4 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33 (KJV) Variant translation: O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and beyond tracing out his ways are! For “who has come to know Jehovah’s mind, or who has become his adviser?” Or, “who has first given to him, so that it must be repaid to him?” Because from him and by him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33-35 (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures) And (mention, O Muhammad), when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" He (God) said: Surely, I know what you know not. Quran 2:30 They (angels) said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise." Quran 2:32 And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart – about all those (one) will be questioned. Quran 17:36 So high (above all) is God, the Sovereign, the Truth. And, (O Muhammad), do not hasten with (recitation of) the Qur'an before its revelation is completed to you, and say, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge." Quran 20:114 To wisdom belongs the intellectual apprehension of things eternal; to knowledge, the rational apprehension of things temporal. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) As quoted in The Anchor Book of Latin Quotations: with English translations‎ (1990) by Norbert Guterman, p. 375. There is another form of temptation, more complex in its peril. ... It originates in an appetite for knowledge. ... From this malady of curiosity are all those strange sights exhibited in the theatre. Hence do we proceed to search out the secret powers of nature (which is beside our end), which to know profits not, and wherein men desire nothing but to know. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) X, 35 Without any delusive representation of images or phantasms, I am most certain that I am, and that I know and delight in this. In respect of these truths, I am not at all afraid of the arguments of the Academicians, who say, What if you are deceived? For if I am deceived, I am. For he who is not, cannot be deceived; and if I am deceived, by this same token I am. And since I am if I am deceived, how am I deceived in believing that I am? for it is certain that I am if I am deceived. Since, therefore, I, the person deceived, should be, even if I were deceived, certainly I am not deceived in this knowledge that I am. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) XI, 26, Parts of this passage has been heavily compared with later statements of René Descartes. The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. Paul of Tarsus, First Epistle to the Corinthians 8:2 A name made great is a name destroyed. He who does not increase his knowledge decreases it. Hillel the Elder Pirkei Avot 1:13 The knowledge of anything, since all things have causes, is not acquired or complete unless it is known by its causes. Therefore in medicine we ought to know the causes of sickness and health. And because health and sickness and their causes are sometimes manifest, and sometimes hidden and not to be comprehended except by the study of symptoms, we must also study the symptoms of health and disease. Now it is established in the sciences that no knowledge is acquired save through the study of its causes and beginnings, if it has had causes and beginnings; nor completed except by knowledge of its accidents and accompanying essentials. Of these causes there are four kinds: material, efficient, formal, and final. Avicenna (c. 1020) "On Medicine". Prudens quaestio dimidium scientiae. To ask the proper question is half of knowing Roger Bacon (c. 1214 – 1294) cited in: LIFE, 8 sept 1958, p. 73 Other translation: Half of science is asking the right questions. ...if perception is only knowledge or a means towards knowledge; since he who perceives, has knowledge thereby, according to the special character of the senses, by sight of colours, by taste of savours and so forth: then whatsoever has knowledge in whatsoever manner may be said without impropriety in some sense to perceive. Therefore, O Lord, although Thou art not a body, yet of a truth Thou hast in this sense perception in the highest degree, since Thou knowest all things in the highest degree; but not in the sense wherein an animal that has knowledge by means of bodily feeling is said to have perception. Anselm of Canterbury (1077/78) Proslogion, chapter 5, translated by Clement C. J. Webb (1903). Knowledge comes Of learning well retain'd, unfruitful else. Dante Alighieri, Vision of Paradise, Canto V, line 41. The eye with which I see God is the same with which God sees me. My eye and God's eye is one eye, and one sight, and one knowledge, and one love. Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 - 1328). Knowledge comes through likeness. And so because the soul may know everything, it is never at rest until it comes to the original idea, in which all things are one. And there it comes to rest in God. Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 - 1328) Sermon 9, as translated in The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church (1999) by Hughes Oliphant Old, Ch. 9 : The German Mystics, p. 449. For the more a man knows, the more worthy he is. Robert of Gloucester, Rhyming Chronicle. You must know that if a person, who has attained a certain degree of perfection, wishes to impart to others, either orally or in writing, any portion of the knowledge which he has acquired of these subjects, he is utterly unable to be as systematic and explicit as he could be in a science of which the method is well known. The same difficulties which he encountered when investigating the subject for himself will attend him when endeavouring to instruct others: viz., at one time the explanation will appear lucid, at another time, obscure: this property of the subject appears to remain the same both to the advanced scholar and to the beginner. For this reason, great theological scholars gave instruction in all such matters only by means of metaphors and allegories. Maimonides (c. 1190) Guide for the Perplexed sic: si omnes homines natura scire desiderant, ergo maxime scientiam maxime desiderabunt. Ita arguit Philosophus I huius cap. 2. Et ibidem subdit: "quae sit maxime scientia, illa scilicet quae est circa maxime scibilia". Maxime autem dicuntur scibilia dupliciter: uel quia primo omnium sciuntur sine quibus non possunt alia sciri; uel quia sunt certissima cognoscibilia. Utroque autem modo considerat ista scientia maxime scibilia. Haec igitur est maxime scientia, et per consequens maxime desiderabilis. If all men by nature desire to know, then they desire most of all the greatest knowledge of science. So the Philosopher argues in chap. 2 of his first book of the work [Metaphisics]. And he immediately indicates what the greatest science is, namely the science which is about those things that are most knowable. But there are two senses in which things are said to be maximally knowable: either [1] because they are the first of all things known and without them nothing else can be known; or [2] because they are what are known most certainly. In either way, however, this science is about the most knowable. Therefore, this most of all is a science and, consequently, most desirable..." Duns Scotus Quaestiones subtilissimae de metaphysicam Aristotelis, as translated in: William A. Frank, Allan Bernard Wolter (1995) Duns Scotus, metaphysician. p. 18-19 You must acquire the best knowledge first, and without delay; it is the height of madness to learn what you will later have to unlearn. Desiderius Erasmus Letter to Christian Northoff (1497), as translated in Collected Works of Erasmus (1974), p. 114. If thou knewest the whole Bible by heart, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it profit thee without the love of God and without grace? Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Imitation of Christ, I, 1, 8). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895). p. 365. Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars. Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Imitation of Christ Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise. Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Imitation of Christ He knew what is what. John Skelton, Why Come Ye nat to Courte, line 1,106. I have taken all knowledge to be my province. Francis Bacon, letter to Lord Burleigh, 1592. Knowledge is power. Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacræ [Sacred Meditations] (1597) "De Hæresibus" [Of Heresies] Also in Leviathan (1651) by Thomas Hobbes, Chapter X. Knowledge and human power are synonymous, since the ignorance of the cause frustrates the effect. Francis Bacon, Novum Organum, Aphorism III. Knowledge bloweth up, but charity buildeth up. Francis Bacon, rendering of I Cor, VIII. I. Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est. For knowledge, too, is itself a power. Francis Bacon, Treatise, De Hæresiis. I find that even those that have sought knowledge for itself, and not for benefit, or ostentation, or any practicable enablement in the course of their life, have nevertheless propounded to themselves a wrong mark, namely, satisfaction, which men call truth, and not operation. For as in the courts and services of princes and states, it is a much easier matter to give satisfaction than to do the business; so in the inquiring of causes and reasons it is much easier to find out such causes as will satisfy the mind of man and quiet objections, than such causes as will direct him and give him light to new experiences and inventions. Francis Bacon, Valerius Terminus: Of the Interpretation of Nature, Works, vol. 1, p. 87. Knowledge that stays at the tip of one's tongue Can always be used and expressed by the learned. The fool is deceived by what needs reference To a teacher or text for support. Ballaladeva (or Ballalasena) in his 16th century classic, Bhoja-Prabandha, quoted from Balakrishna, S., Lessons from Hindu History in 10 Episodes (2020) 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; but it will never be worn, nor shine, if it is not polished. Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, Letters (July 1, 1748). Scientia non habet inimicum nisi ignorantem Knowledge has no enemy except an ignorant man George Puttenham, The Arte of English Poesie (1589), excerpted and translated in Renaissance Debates on Rhetoric (edited by Wayne A. Rebhorn). Que nuist savoir tousjours et tousjours apprendre, fust ce D'un sot, d'une pot, d'une que—doufle D'un mouffe, d'un pantoufle. What harm in learning and getting knowledge even from a sot, a pot, a fool, a mitten, or a slipper. François Rabelais, Pantagruel (1532), III. 16. Then I began to think, that it is very true which is commonly said, that the one-half of the world knoweth not how the other half liveth. François Rabelais, Works, Book II, Chapter XXXII. And seeing ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part II (c. 1590-91), Act IV, scene 7, line 78. Too much to know is to know naught but fame. William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost (c. 1595-6), Act I, scene 1, line 92. But the full sum of me * * Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractis'd; Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn. William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (late 1590s), Act III, scene 2, line 159. Crowns have their compass—length of days their date— Triumphs their tomb—felicity, her fate— Of nought but earth can earth make us partaker, But knowledge makes a king most like his Maker. William Shakespeare on King James I. See Payne Collier, Life of Shakespeare. And thou my minde aspire to higher things; Grow rich in that which never taketh rust. Sir Philip Sidney, Sonnet. Leave me, O Love. Sweet food of sweetly uttered knowledge. Sir Philip Sidney, Defence of Poesy. Yet all that I have learn'd (hugh toyles now past) By long experience, and in famous schooles, Is but to know my ignorance at last. Who think themselves most wise are greatest fools. William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, Recreation with the Muses, London. Fol. 1637, p. 7. For all knowledge and wonder (which is the seed of knowledge) is an impression of pleasure in itself. Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning (1605), Book I, i, 3. There is oftentimes a great deal of knowledge where there is but little wisdom to improve that knowledge. It is not the most knowing Christian but the most wise Christian that sees, avoids, and escapes Satan's snares. Knowledge without wisdom is like mettle in a blind horse, which is often an occasion of the rider's fall. Thomas Brooks (1608-1680). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895). p. 365. He knew what's what, and that's as high As metaphysic wit can fly. Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part I (1663-64), Canto I, line 149. Deep sighted in intelligences, Ideas, atoms, influences. Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part I (1663-64), Canto I, line 533. Nor do I know what is become Of him, more than the Pope of Rome. Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part I (1663-64), Canto III, line 263. He knew whats'ever 's to be known, But much more than he knew would own. Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part II (1664), Canto III, line 297. But ask not bodies (doomed to die), To what abode they go; Since knowledge is but sorrow's spy, It is not safe to know. William Davenant (1606–1668), The Just Italian, Act V, scene 1. Il connoît l'univers, et ne se connoît pas. He knoweth the universe, and himself he knoweth not. Jean de La Fontaine, Fables, VIII. 26. Knowledge is folly unless grace guide it. George Herbert (1593-1633). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 364. Virtue is harder to be got than knowledge of the world; and, if lost in a young man, is seldom recovered. John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) Sec. 70. The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it, into which a young gentleman should be enter'd by degrees, as he can bear it; and the earlier the better, so he be in safe and skillful hands to guide him. The scene should be gently open'd, and his entrance made step by step, and the dangers pointed out that attend him from several degrees, tempers, designs, and clubs of men. He should be prepared to be shocked by some, and caress'd by others; warned who are like to oppose, who to mislead, who to undermine him, and who to serve him. He should be instructed how to know and distinguish them; where he should let them see, and when dissemble the knowledge of them and their aims and workings. John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) Sec. 94. Mark what 'tis his mind aims at in the question, and not what words he expresses it in: and when you have informed and satisfied him in that, you shall see how his thoughts will enlarge themselves, and how by fit answers he may be led on farther than perhaps you could have imagine. For knowledge is grateful to the understanding, as light to the eyes. John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) Sec. 118. For in particulars our knowledge begins, and so spreads itself, by degrees, to generals [Footnote: This is the order in time of the conscious acquistion of knowledge that is human. The Essay might be regarded as a commentary on this one sentence. Our intellectual progress is from particulars and involuntary recipiency, through reactive doubt and criticism, into what is at last reasoned faith.]. Though afterwards the mind takes the quite contrary course, and having drawn its knowledge into as general propositions as it can, makes those familiar to its thoughts, and accustoms itself to have recourse to them, as to the standards of truth and falsehood. [Footnote: This is the philosophic attitude. Therein one consciously apprehends the intellectual necessities that were UNCONCIOUSLY PRESUPPOSED, its previous intellectual progress. In philosophy we 'draw our knowledge into as general propositions as it can' be made to assume, and thus either learn to see it as an organic while in a speculative unity, or learn that it cannot be so seen in a finite intelligence, and that even at the last it must remain 'broken' and mysterious in the human understanding.] John Locke, An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Book IV Of Knowledge And Probability Chapter 7 Of Maxims John Locke, An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Book IV Of Knowledge And Probability Chapter 7 Of Maxims I went into the temple, there to hear The teachers of our law, and to propose What might improve my knowledge or their own. John Milton, Paradise Regained (1671), Book I, line 211. The end of learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love Him and imitate Him. John Milton (1608–1674). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 364. Vous parlez devant un homme à qui tout Naples est connu. You speak before a man to whom all Naples is known. Molière, L'Avare, V. 5. Faites comme si je ne le savais pas. Act as though I knew nothing. Molière, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, II. 6. Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things. As the world, which to the naked eye exhibits the greatest variety of objects, appears very simple in its internal constitution when surveyed by a philosophical understanding, and so much the simpler by how much the better it is understood, so it is in the visions. It is the perfection of God's works that they are all done with the greatest simplicity. He is the God of order and not of confusion. And therefore as they would understand the frame of the world must endeavor to reduce their knowledge to all possible simplicity, so must it be in seeking to understand these visions. Isaac Newton (c.1660-80) fragments from a "Treatise on Revelation", cited in: Richard Olson (1995) Science Deified and Science Defied. p. 125. All things I thought I knew; but now confess The more I know, I know, I know the less. John Owen (1616–1683), The works of John Owen, Bk. VI, p. 39; translation from Latin by Thomas Harvey, as cited in Henry Philip Dodd, The Epigrammatists (1870), p. 150. All things I thought I knew; but now confess The more I know I know, I know the less. Robert Owen, Works, Book VI. 39. 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 (1669) Pensées, Chapter 67. Nous sommes sur un milieu vaste, toujours incertains et flottants entre l'ignorance et la connaissance ; et si nous pensons aller plus avant, notre objet branle, et échappe nos prises ; il se dérobe, et fuit d'une fuite éternelle : rien ne le peut arrêter. C'est notre condition naturelle et, toutefois, la plus contraire à notre inclination. Nous brûlons du désir d'approfondir tout et d'édifier une tour qui s'élève jusqu'à l'infini. Mais tout notre édifice craque, et la terre s'ouvre jusqu'aux abîmes. Extremes are for us as though they were not, and we are not within their notice. They escape us, or we them. This is our true state; this is what makes us incapable of certain knowledge and of absolute ignorance... This is our natural condition, and yet most contrary to our inclination; we burn with desire to find solid ground and an ultimate sure foundation whereon to build a tower reaching to the Infinite. But our whole groundwork cracks, and the earth opens to abysses. Blaise Pascal (1669) Pensées, Chapter 72 ..it is impossible that our rational part should be other than spiritual; and if any one maintain that we are simply corporeal, this would far more exclude us from the knowledge of things, there being nothing so inconceivable as to say that matter knows itself. It is impossible to imagine how it should know itself. Blaise Pascal (1669) Pensées, Chapter 72 We know what we are, but know not what we may be. William Shakespeare, Hamlet (1600-02), Act IV, scene 5, line 42. If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not; Speak then to me. William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1605), Act I, scene 3, line 58. Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another. Joseph Addison, The Guardian (1713), Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, No. 111. Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one, Have oft-times no connexion. Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men, Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. William Cowper, The Task (1785), Book VI, "Winter Walk at Noon", line 88. "Knowledge dwells," etc., found in: Milton, Paradise Lost, VII. Seldon, Table Talk. Young, Satires, VI. Night Thoughts, V. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. William Cowper, The Task (1785), Book VI, "Winter Walk at Noon", l. 96. What must be the knowledge of Him, from whom all created minds have derived both their power of knowledge, and the innumerable objects of their knowledge! What must be the wisdom of Him, from whom all things derive their wisdom! Timothy Dwight IV (1752 – 1817) Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 275. Life is a jest; and all things show it. I thought so once; and now I know it. John Gay, My Own Epitaph, inscribed on Gay’s monument in Westminster Abbey; also quoted as "I thought so once; but now I know it". Upon the progress of knowledge the whole progress of the human race is immediately dependent: he who retards that, hinders this also. And he who hinders this, — what character does he assume towards his age and posterity? Louder than with a thousand voices, by his actions he proclaims into the deafened ear of the world present and to come — "As long as I live at least, the men around me shall not become wiser or better; — for in their progress I too, notwithstanding all my efforts to the contrary, should be dragged forward in some direction; and this I detest I will not become more enlightened, — I will not become nobler. Darkness and perversion are my elements, and I will summon all my powers together that I may not be dislodged from them." Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1794) "The Vocation of the Scholar", as translated by William Smith, in The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1889), Vol. I, Lecture IV, p. 188 Was man nicht versteht, besitzt man nicht. What we do not understand we do not possess. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sprüche in Prosa. Eigentlich weiss man nur wenn man wenig weiss; mit dem Wissen wächst der Zweifel. We know accurately only when we know little; with knowledge doubt increases. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sprüche in Prosa. Quote reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 419-23. Who can direct, when all pretend to know? Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller (1764), line 64. Knowledge is more than equivalent to force. The master of mechanicks laughs at strength. Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759), Ch. 13. Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. Samuel Johnson, The History of Rassselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759), Ch. 41. 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 (1763), Boswell's Life of Johnson. Conversation on Saturday, July 30, 1763. Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. Samuel Johnson, in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol. II, 18 April 1775, p. 258. Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. Samuel Johnson, reported in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson (1775). That all our knowledge begins with experience there can be no doubt. For how is it possible that the faculty of cognition should be awakened into exercise otherwise than by means of objects which affect our senses, and partly of themselves produce representations, partly rouse our powers of understanding into activity, to compare, to connect, or to separate these, and so to convert the raw material of our sensuous impressions into a knowledge of objects, which is called experience? In respect of time, therefore, no knowledge of ours is antecedent to experience, but begins with it. But though all our knowledge begins with experience, it by no means follows, that all arises out of experience. For, on the contrary, it is quite possible that our empirical knowledge is a compound of that which we receive through impressions, and that which the faculty of cognition supplies from itself (sensuous impressions giving merely the occasion)... It is, therefore, a question which requires close investigation, and is not to be answered at first sight,—whether there exists a knowledge altogether independent of experience, and even of all sensuous impressions? Knowledge of this kind is called à priori, in contradistinction to empirical knowledge which has its sources à posteriori, that is, in experience. Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (1781, J.M.D. Meiklejohn Tr. 1872) Introduction I. Of the Difference Between Pure and Empirical Knowledge. Wer viel weiss Hat viel zu sorgen. He who knows much has many cares. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nathan der Weise, IV. 2. Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking makes what we read ours. John Locke, Of the Conduct of the Understanding (1706). The improvement of the understanding is for two ends: first, for our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver and make out that knowledge to others. John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Reading and Study. Appendix B. Quote reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 419-23. Diffused knowledge immortalizes itself. Sir James Mackintosh, Vindiciæ Gallicæ (1791). A little knowledge is a dangerous thing Variant of "A little learning is a dangerous thing" of Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism That virtue only makes our bliss below, And all our knowledge is ourselves to know. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man (1733-34), Epistle IV, line 397. In vain sedate reflections we would make When half our knowledge we must snatch, not take. Alexander Pope, Moral Essays (1731-35), Epistle I, line 39. Far must thy researches go Wouldst thou learn the world to know; Thou must tempt the dark abyss Wouldst thou prove what Being is; Naught but firmness gains the prize, Naught but fullness makes us wise, Buried deep truth e'er lies. Friedrich Schiller, Proverbs of Confucius, Bowring's translation. Willst du dich selber erkennen, so sieh' wie die andern es treiben; Willst du die andern versteh'n, blick in dein eigenes Herz. If you wish to know yourself observe how others act. If you wish to understand others look into your own heart. Friedrich Schiller, Votire Tablets, Xenien. Wouldst thou know thyself, observe the actions of others. Wouldst thou other men know, look thou within thine own heart. Friedrich Schiller (1796), Tabulae Votivae (Votive Tablets) "The Key"; tr. Edgar Alfred Bowring, The Poems of Schiller, Complete (1851). Much learning shows how little mortals know; Much wealth, how little worldlings can enjoy. Edward Young (1683 – April 5, 1765) Quotes reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)., p. 366. Oh, be wise, Thou! Instructed that true knowledge leads to love. William Wordsworth (1795). Lines left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree. Real knowledge, like every thing 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). p. 364. 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, Intuitions and Summaries of Thought (1862), Volume II, p. 24. Knowledge by suffering entereth, And life is perfected by death. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A Vision of Poets (1844), "Conclusion", St. 37. Pursuit of knowledge under difficulties. Lord Brougham, book title of a book published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1830). Duke of Sussex, address to the Royal Society (1839). Prof. Craik, Volume bearing this title (1828). Real knowledge never promoted either turbulence or unbelief; but its progress is the forerunner of liberality and enlightened toleration. Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) p. 366. The tree of knowledge is not that of life. Lord Byron, Manfred (1817), Act I, scene 1. Knowledge is not happiness, and science But an exchange of ignorance for that Which is another kind of ignorance. Lord Byron, Manfred (1817), Act II, scene 4. And is this the prime And heaven-sprung message of the olden time? Coleridge (1772–1834). Referring to "Know thyself". There's lots of people—this town wouldn't hold them; Who don't know much excepting what's told them. Will Carleton (1885) City Ballads, p. 143. For love is ever the beginning of Knowledge, as fire is of light. Thomas Carlyle, Essays, Death of Goethe. What is all Knowledge too but recorded Experience, and a product of History; of which, therefore, Reasoning and Belief, no less than Action and Passion, are essential materials? Thomas Carlyle, Essays, On History. To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge. Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil (1845), Book I, Chapter V. How calmly and genially the mind apprehends one after another the laws of physics! What noble emotions dilate the mortal as he enters into the counsels of the creation, and feels by knowledge the privilege to Be! His insight refines him. The beauty of nature shines in his own breast. Man is greater that he can see this, and the universe less, because Time and Space relations vanish as laws are known. Here again we are impressed and even daunted by the immense Universe to be explored. "What we know, is a point to what we do not know." Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (1849) Introduction, p. 37. There is no knowledge that is not power. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude (1870), "Old Age". Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of innumerable minds. Knowledge is the antidote to fear,— Knowledge, Use and Reason, with its higher aids. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude, Courage. The Doctrine of Knowledge, apart from all special and definite knowing, proceeds immediately upon Knowledge itself, in the essential unity in which it recognises Knowledge as existing; and it raises this question in the first place — How this Knowledge can come into being, and what it is in its inward and essential Nature? The following must be apparent: — There is but One who is absolutely by and through himself, — namely, God; and God is not the mere dead conception to which we have thus given utterance, but he is in himself pure Life. He can neither change nor determine himself in aught within himself, nor become any other Being; for his Being contains within it all his Being and all possible Being, and neither within him nor out of him can any new Being arise. Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1810) Outline of the Doctrine of Knowledge. I. The first step to self-knowledge is self-distrust. Nor can we attain to any kind of knowledge, except by a like process. J.C. and A.W. Hare (1827) Guesses at Truth, p. 454. There are a multitude of allied branches of knowledge connected with man's condition; the relation of these to political economy is analogous to the connexion of mechanics, astronomy, optics, sound, heat, and every other branch more or less of physical science, with pure mathematics. William Stanley Jevons Letter to Henrietta Jevons (28 February 1858), published in Letters and Journal of W. Stanley Jevons (1886), edited by Harriet A. Jevons, his wife, p. 101. Knowledge of the truth I may perhaps have attained to; happiness certainly not. Accomplish something in the world, men tell me. Shall I then publish my grief to the world, contribute one more proof for the wretchedness and misery of existence, perhaps discover a new flaw in human life, hitherto unnoticed? I might then reap the rare reward of becoming famous, like the man who discovered the spots on Jupiter. I prefer, however, to keep silent. Soren Kierkegaard Either/Or Part I, Swenson p. 34, 1843. Not if I know myself at all. Charles Lamb (1775–1834), Essays of Elia, The Old and the New Schoolmaster. Knowledge, when only the possession of a few, has almost always been turned to iniquitous purposes. Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Romance and Reality (1831), Vol I, Chapter 19 Who knows how many links we may have to ascend in the vast cycle of worlds around, ere we arrive at the one which is knowledge — where we may look before, and after, and judge of the whole ? How many stages of probation may we yet have to pass ! Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Francesca Carrara (1834), Vol.II, Chapter 30 As all true virtue, wherever found, is a ray of the life of the All-Holy; so all solid knowledge, all really accurate thought, descends from the Eternal Reason, and ought, when we apprehend it, to guide us upwards to Him. Henry Liddon (1829–1890). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895). p. 366. 'Tain't a knowin' kind of cattle Thet is ketched with mouldy corn. James Russell Lowell, The Biglow Papers, No. 1, line 3. To the man who aspires to know, no man who has been the meanest student of knowledge should be unknown. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Zanoni (1842) Book III, Chapter IV. A kind of semi-Solomon, half-knowing everything, from the cedar to the hyssop. Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (About Brougham). Life and Letters, Volume I, p. 175. Let me always remember that it is not the amount of religious knowledge which I have, but the amount which I use, that determines my religious position and character. Alexander Maclaren (1826–1910). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) p. 365. Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power. Horace Mann, Lectures and Reports on Education, Lecture I. Quote reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 419-23. As revelation is the great strengthener of reason, the march of mind which leaves the Bible in the rear, is an advance, like that of our first parents in Paradise, towards knowledge, but, at the same time, towards death. Henry Melvill (1798–1871). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 364. Only by knowledge of that which is not thyself, shall thyself be learned. Owen Meredith (pseudonym of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton), "Γνωι Σεαυτον" ("Know Thyself"), in The Poetical Works of Owen Meredith (1867), Volume I, p. 247. To understand at all what life means, one must begin with Christian belief. And I think knowledge may be sorrow with a man unless he loves. William Mountford (1816–1885). Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895). p. 364. It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge. XXXII : Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret. The fear of speculation, the ostensible rush from the theoretical to the practical, brings about the same shallowness in action that it does in knowledge. It is by studying a strictly theoretical philosophy that we become most acquainted with Ideas, and only Ideas provide action with energy and ethical significance. Friedrich Schelling (1802) Lectures on the Method of Academic Study. Every increase of knowledge may possibly render depravity more depraved, as well as it may increase the strength of virtue. It is in itself only power; and its value depends on its application. Sydney Smith (1771–1845) Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 364. A life of knowledge is not often a life of injury and crime. Sydney Smith, Pleasures of Knowledge. Every man is a valuable member of society who, by his observations, researches, and experiments, procures knowledge for men ... it is in his knowledge that man has found his greatness and his happiness, the high superiority which he holds over the other animals who inhabit the earth with him, and consequently no ignorance is probably without loss to him, no error without evil ... the particle and the planet are subject to the same laws, and what is learned of one will be known of the other ... I bequeath the whole of my property ... to the United States of America to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. James Smithson, various writings, including his will. Inscription, National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C. The essential difference between that knowledge which is, and that which is not conclusive evidence of Christian character, lies in this: the object of the one is the agreement of the several parts of a theological proposition; the object of the other is moral beauty, the intrinsic loveliness of God and Divine things. The sinner sees and hates; the saint sees and loves. Gardiner Spring (1785–1873) Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 365. Knowledge alone is the being of Nature, Giving a soul to her manifold features, Lighting through paths of the primitive
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