Quotes about knowledge
page 44

Jane Roberts photo
John Muir photo

“Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of that unit — the cosmos? The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge. From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens.”

From the same material he has made every other creature, however noxious and insignificant to us. They are earth-born companions and our fellow mortals. … This star, our own good earth, made many a successful journey around the heavens ere man was made, and whole kingdoms of creatures enjoyed existence and returned to dust ere man appeared to claim them. After human beings have also played their part in Creation's plan, they too may disappear without any general burning or extraordinary commotion whatever.
Source: A Thousand-Mile Walk To the Gulf, 1916, chapter 6: Cedar Keys, pages 160-161

Tristan Tzara photo
Robert G. Ingersoll photo
Anton Webern photo
John Stuart Mill photo
Arthur C. Clarke photo
Ethan Allen photo
Ethan Allen photo
Ethan Allen photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
Teal Swan photo
John Stuart Mill photo
Thomas Carlyle photo

“The Church, poor old benighted creature, had at least taken care of that: the noble aspiring soul, not doomed to choke ignobly in its penuries, could at least run into the neighboring Convent, and there take refuge. Education awaited it there; strict training not only to whatever useful knowledge could be had from writing and reading, but to obedience, to pious reverence, self-restraint, annihilation of self,—really to human nobleness in many most essential respects. No questions asked about your birth, genealogy, quantity of money-capital or the like; the one question was, "Is there some human nobleness in you, or is there not?"”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

The poor neat-herd's son, if he were a Noble of Nature, might rise to Priesthood, to High-priesthood, to the top of this world,—and best of all, he had still high Heaven lying high enough above him, to keep his head steady, on whatever height or in whatever depth his way might lie!
1850s, Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850), The New Downing Street (April 15, 1850)

Julio Iglesias photo

“I regret not having taken more advantage of time — of the solidity of time, the intention of time. That’s why I don’t like to sleep much anymore. Had I known when I was 20 that I was going to be a musician, I would have taken to the piano, I would have taken the guitar more seriously, I would have perfected my knowledge of music.”

Julio Iglesias (1943) Spanish recording artist; singer-songwriter

On one of his biggest regrets in "Julio Iglesias reflects on a life that 'has been a miracle'" https://apnews.com/7ef030336a5b4a1a949723346d64ec51 in AP News (2019 Jun 14)

Muhammad al-Baqir photo

“The virtue of knowledge is more lovable with Allah than the virtue of worship. The best (thing) in your religion is piety.”

Muhammad al-Baqir (677–733) fifth of the Twelve Shia Imams

Al-Khisal, p. 4
[Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi, Jasim al-Rasheed, The Life of Imam Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Baqir, His traditions from the Prophet, 1999]

Ibn Taymiyyah photo

“Guidance is not attained except with knowledge and correct direction is not attained except with patience.”

Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328) Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian, who lived during the era of the first Mamluks (1250-1328)

Ibn Taymiyyah, Diseases of the heart and their cures https://www.amazon.com/Diseases-Hearts-Their-Cures-Taymiyyah/dp/0953647633

Thomas Hylland Eriksen photo
Thomas Hylland Eriksen photo
William Quan Judge photo
Raewyn Connell photo
Erich Fromm photo

“Care and responsibility are constituent elements of love, but without respect for and knowledge of the beloved person, love deteriorates into domination and possessiveness. Respect is not fear and awe; it denotes, in accordance with the root of the word (respicere = to look at), the ability to see a person as he is, to be aware of his individuality and uniqueness. To respect a person is not possible without knowing him; care and responsibilty would be blind if they were not guided by the knowledge of the person's individuality.”

Erich Fromm (1900–1980) German social psychologist and psychoanalyst

Source: Man for Himself (1947), Ch. 3; in Ch. 2 of his later work The Art of Loving (1956) a similar statement is made :
Respect is not fear and awe; it denotes, in accordance with the root of the word (respicere = to look at), the ability to see a person as he is, to be aware of his unique individuality. Respect, thus, implies the absence of exploitation. I want the loved person to grow and unfold for his own sake, and in his own ways, and not for the purpose of serving me.

Martin Heidegger photo
Marilyn Ferguson photo
T.S. Eliot photo
John Allen Paulos photo
John Denham photo
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar photo
Marilyn Ferguson photo
William Wordsworth photo
Thomas Jefferson photo

“I am not afraid to appeal to the nation at large, to posterity, and still less to that Being Who sees Himself our motives, Who will judge us from His own knowledge of them.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Writings (1904), Vol. XI, p. 44, to Abigail Adams on July 22, 1804.
1800s

Tavleen Singh photo

“When I go to the Vishwanath Mandir in Benares and listen to the most powerful, magical aarti I hear from the priests that the knowledge of it will probably die because the temple is now controlled by secular bureaucrats.”

Tavleen Singh (1950) Indian journalist

Tavleen Singh, quoted in https://talageri.blogspot.com/2016/05/hindutva-or-hindu-nationalism.html [This article is a major extract from the article "Sita Ram Goel, memories and ideas" by S. Talageri, written for the Sita Ram Goel Commemoration Volume, entitled "India's Only Communalist", edited by Koenraad Elst, published in 2005.

Alastair Reynolds photo

“No act of knowledge acquisition is entirely without risk.”

Source: House of Suns (2008), Chapter 5 (p. 59)

Henri de Saint-Simon photo

“The progress of the human mind, the revolutions which occur in the development of knowledge, give each century its special character.”

Henri de Saint-Simon (1760–1825) French early socialist theorist

Preface
The Reorganization of the European Community (1814)

Wendell Berry photo
Patañjali photo

“By meditation upon Light and upon Radiance, knowledge of the Spirit can be reached and thus peace can be achieved.”

Patañjali (-200–-150 BC) ancient Indian scholar(s) of grammar and linguistics, of yoga, of medical treatises

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

Molly Scott Cato photo

“Now is not the time to campaign to rejoin but we must keep the dream alive, especially for young people who are overwhelmingly pro-European. I hold in my heart the knowledge that one day I will be back in this [the European Parliament] chamber, celebrating our return to the heart of Europe.”

Molly Scott Cato (1963) British economist and Member of the European Parliament

Said in a speech to the European Parliament after she voted against ratifying the UK's Brexit withdrawl agreement. Molly Scott Cato: 'One day I will be back' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-51303316/molly-scott-cato-one-day-i-will-be-back (29 January 2020)
2020

Louis Brandeis photo
Husayn ibn Ali photo

“Knowledge facilitates comprehension and experience increases wisdom.”

Husayn ibn Ali (626–680) The grandson of Muhammad and the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib

[Mizan al-Hikmah, Muhammadi Reishahri, Muhammad, Dar al-Hadith, 2010, 2, Qum, 186]
Regarding Wisdom

Deng Feng-Zhou photo

“Public servants are not entitled to abuse their power to do anything illegal.
Writers are not supposed to misuse their flair to elicit evil thoughts.
Professionals are never easy to cultivate.
Immoral is one when he applies his knowledge to the breachment of morality and law.”

Deng Feng-Zhou (1949) Chinese poet, Local history writer, Taoist Neidan academics and Environmentalist.

(zh-TW) 持槍作盜進行侵,利筆文章誨殺淫。
技藝人才培不易,植因造業孽緣深。

"Professional morality" (專業道德)

Source: Deng Feng-Zhou, "Deng Feng-Zhou Classical Chinese Poetry Anthology". Volume 6, Tainan, 2018: 84.

“The Internet is like a knowledge of the ocean, you can grab as much as you can.”

Akshay Makadiya (1993) an Entrepreneur and Founder of RankLane

In a Radio Interview https://soundcloud.com/akshay-makadiya/akshay-makadiya-radio-interview-with-rj-sheetal with RJ Sheetal at Radio Mirchi. June 14, 2014

Joseph Larmor photo

“The direct knowledge of matter that mankind can acquire is a knowledge of the average behaviour and relations of the crowd of molecules.”

Joseph Larmor (1857–1942) Irish physicist and mathematician

[Bakerian lecture.―On the statistical and thermodynamical relations of radiant energy, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, 83, 560, 1909, 82–95, 10.1098/rspa.1909.0080] (p. 82)

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel photo

“India is pre-eminently distinguished for the many traits of original grandeur of thought and of the wonderful remains of immediate knowledge.”

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829) German poet, critic and scholar

quoted in Londhe, S. (2008). A tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and wisdom spanning continents and time about India and her culture. New Delhi: Pragun Publication.

Bulleh Shah photo
Patañjali photo

“The basis of correct knowledge is correct perception, correct deduction and correct witness (or accurate evidence).
One of the most revolutionary realizations to which the occult student has to adjust himself is the appreciation that the mind is a means whereby knowledge is to be gained...”

Patañjali (-200–-150 BC) ancient Indian scholar(s) of grammar and linguistics, of yoga, of medical treatises

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect: a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

Alice A. Bailey photo

“By meditation upon Light and upon Radiance, knowledge of the Spirit can be reached and thus peace can be achieved.”

Alice A. Bailey (1880–1949) esoteric, theosophist, writer

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect: a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary (1927)

Alice A. Bailey photo
Sheldon Pollock photo

“The Veda, the transcendent śāstra, subsumes all knowledge.”

Sheldon Pollock (1948) American linguist

Quoted from Rajiv Malhotra, The Battle for Sanskrit (2016)

N. S. Rajaram photo
Martin J. Rees photo

“We’re all depressingly ‘lay’ outside our specialisms — my own knowledge, of recent biological advances, such as it is, comes largely from ‘popular’ books and journalism.”

Martin J. Rees (1942) cosmologist, astrophysicist, Astronomer Royal, Master of Trinity College, President of the Royal Society

as quoted by Jessica Bland in [16 January 2012, Martin Rees looks back to understand why 'scientific citizens' will be important in the future, In Verba, The Royal Society, http://blogs.royalsociety.org/in-verba/2012/01/16/martin-rees-looks-back-to-understand-why-‘scientific-citizens’-will-be-important-in-the-future/]

Karl Pearson photo
Karl Pearson photo
Karl Pearson photo
Chögyam Trungpa photo
Jami photo

“Common-sense knowledge is prompt, categorical, and inexact.”

Source: Philosophy in a New Key (1942), Ch. 10, p. 216

“Why should knowledge of where I came from tell me where I am going to?”

A.J.P. Taylor (1906–1990) Historian

'Moving with the Times', The Observer, 22 October 1961

Florence Nightingale photo
Walter Reuther photo

“Free labor understands and acts in the knowledge the the struggle for peace and the struggle for human freedom are inseparably tied together with the struggle for social justice.”

Walter Reuther (1907–1970) Labor union leader

Address before the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, India, April 5, 1956, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 131
1950s, Address before the Indian Council on World Affairs (1956)

Douglas Engelbart photo

“In 20 or 30 years, you’ll be able to hold in your hand as much computing knowledge as exists now in the whole city, or even the whole world.”

Douglas Engelbart (1925–2013) American engineer and inventor

Source: https://via.hypothes.is/https://foresight.org/Updates/Update29/Update29.2.php#annotations:PoEiopu_Eee_awvQEu10ag

Ibn Hazm photo
Ibn Hazm photo
Ibn Hazm photo
Frederick Douglass photo
Harry Gordon Selfridge photo

“[T]he artist sells the work of his brush and in this he is a merchant. The writer sells to any who will buy, let his ideas be what they will. The teacher sells his knowledge of books—often in too low a market—to those who would have this knowledge passed on to the young.
The doctor... too is a merchant. His stock-in-trade is his intimate knowledge of the physical man and his skill to prevent or remove disabilities. ...The lawyer sometimes knows the laws of the land and sometimes does not, but he sells his legal language, often accompanied by common sense, to the multitude who have not yet learned that a contentious nature may squander quite as successfully as the spendthrift. The statesman sells his knowledge of men and affairs, and the spoken or written exposition of his principles of Government; and he receives in return the satisfaction of doing what he can for his nation, and occasionally wins as well a niche in its temple of fame.
The man possessing many lands, he especially would be a merchant... and sell, but his is a merchandise which too often nowadays waits in vain for the buyer. The preacher, the lecturer, the actor, the estate agent, the farmer, the employé, all, all are merchants, all have something to dispose of at a profit to themselves, and the dignity of the business is decided by the manner in which they conduct the sale.”

Harry Gordon Selfridge (1858–1947) America born English businessman

The Romance of Commerce (1918), Concerning Commerce

Guy P. Harrison photo
Michel Henry photo
Stephen Vincent Benét photo
Stephen Vincent Benét photo
Aldous Huxley photo

“I'm interested in truth, I like science. But truth's a menace, science is a public danger. As dangerous as it's been beneficent. … It's curious … to read what people in the time of Our Ford used to write about scientific progress. They seemed to imagine that it could go on indefinitely, regardless of everything else. Knowledge was the highest good, truth the supreme value; all the rest was secondary and subordinate. True, ideas were beginning to change even then. Our Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasise from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can't. And, of course, whenever the masses seized political power, then it was happiness rather than truth and beauty that mattered. Still, in spite of everything, unrestricted scientific resarch was still permitted. People still went on talking about truth and beauty as though they were sovereign goods. Right up to the time of the Nine Years' War. That made them change their tune all right. What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you? That was when science first began to be controlled — after the Nine Years' War. People were ready to have even their appetites controlled then. Anything for a quiet life. We've gone on controlling ever since. It hasn't been very good for truth, of course. But it's been very good for happiness. One can't have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for.”

Source: Brave New World (1932), Mustapha Mond, in Ch. 16

Annie Besant photo
Annie Besant photo
Annie Besant photo
Alexandra David-Néel photo
Izabella Miko photo
Swami Samarpanananda photo

“Luxury of freedom hates the discipline of knowledge.”

Swami Samarpanananda Monk, Author, Teacher

Kratu-A Novel ( Page 24 )

Swami Samarpanananda photo

“When the quest for knowledge burns bright, one gets the right teacher too.”

Swami Samarpanananda Monk, Author, Teacher

The World of Religions ( Page 73 )

“Every individual being has the ability to acquire intuitive knowledge.”

Shah Badakhshi Indian poet

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 203

James Thomson (B.V.) photo
Audrey Hepburn photo
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo
Petr Chelčický photo

“But true Christians love God and their neighbors as themselves; they commit no evil by the grace of God. It is not necessary to compel them to goodness since they know better what is good than the law-imposing authority. They have a knowledge of God within, which is a knowledge of His commandments and His love. Having His love within they do good to others and are just to all men in accordance with His law so that the authorities which rule the world have no occasion to find them guilty.”

Variant: A world contrary to God must be kept within bounds by the world’s sword. But true Christians love God and their neighbors as themselves; they commit no evil by the grace of God. It is not necessary to compel them to goodness since they know better what is good than the law imposing authority.
Source: The Net of Faith (c. 1443), Chapter 95, Summary

Justin Barrett photo
Gregory Palamas photo