Source: Infinite Jest
“A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none.”
“A man must know his limitations.”
Source: Drenai series, Legend, Pt 1: Against the Horde, Ch. 10
Maxim no .1.
The Maxims of Ptahhotep (c. 2350 BCE)
Context: Do not be arrogant because of your knowledge, but confer with the ignorant man as with the learned. For knowledge has no limits, and none has yet achieved perfection in it. Good speech is more hidden than malachite, yet it is found in the possession of women slaves at the millstones.
“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none.”
Our Relation to Others, § 23
Essays
“Every man has seen the wall that limits his mind.”
Tout homme a vu le mur qui borne son esprit.
Poèmes philosophiques, "La flute", line 108; (ed.) Paul Viallaneix Oeuvres complètes (1965) p. 103; translation from Jason Merchey Values of the Wise (2004) p. 200. (1843).
“An excellent man: he has no enemies, and none of his friends like him.”
Quoted by George Bernard Shaw in a letter to Ellen Terry, 25 September 1896.
Context: On George Bernard Shaw An excellent man: he has no enemies, and none of his friends like him.
Source: Education of a Wandering Man (1989), Ch. 11
“Limited in his nature, infinite in his desires, man is a fallen god who remembers the heavens.”
Méditations Poétiques (1820), Sermon 2
