§ 7
From Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius
“When asked what learning was the most necessary, he said, "Not to unlearn what you have learned."”
Antisthenes, 4.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 6: The Cynics
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Diogenes Laërtius 107
biographer of ancient Greek philosophers 180–240Related quotes
§ 4
From Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius
“The most necessary learning is that which unlearns evil. ”
“The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.”
Aristippus, 4.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 2: Socrates, his predecessors and followers
“When one asked him what boys should learn, "That," said he, "which they shall use when men."”
Of Agesilaus the Great
Laconic Apophthegms
“The mind unlearns with difficulty what it has long learned.”
Letter to Christian Northoff (1497), as translated in Collected Works of Erasmus (1974), p. 114
“The learned are said to have seeing eyes;
The unlearned have only two sores on their faces.”
Verse XL.3
Tirukkural