“Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.”

— Zhuangzi

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond…" by Zhuangzi?

Zhuangzi 38

classic Chinese philosopher -369–-286 BC

Related quotes

“Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”

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

1820s, Signs of the Times (1829)

“What world lies beyond that stormy sea I do not know, but every ocean has a distant shore, and I shall reach it.”

Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) Italian poet, novelist, literary critic, and translator

This Business of Living (1935-1950)

“It is not necessarily for mercenary soldiers to know what is going on. It is sufficient for them to do the job for which they have taken the gold. That had been drummed into me from the moment I enlisted. There is neither right nor wrong, neither good nor evil, only our side and theirs. The honor of the company lies within, directed one brother toward another. Without, honor lies only in keeping faith with the sponsor.”

Glen Cook book Shadow Games

Source: Shadow Games (1989), Chapter 28, “Back to Scouting” (p. 148)

“Search not to find what lies too deeply hid,
Nor to know things, whose knowledge is forbid.”

John Denham (1615–1669) English poet and courtier

Of Prudence, line 231.

“All around us lies what we neither understand nor use. Our capacities, our instincts for this our present sphere are but half developed.”

Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) American feminist, poet, author, and activist

"Good Sense" in a dialogue between Free Hope, Old Church, Good Sense, and Self -Poise. p. 127.
Summer on the Lakes, in 1843 (1844)
Context: All around us lies what we neither understand nor use. Our capacities, our instincts for this our present sphere are but half developed. Let us confine ourselves to that till the lesson be learned; let us be completely natural; before we trouble ourselves with the supernatural. I never see any of these things but I long to get away and lie under a green tree and let the wind blow on me. There is marvel and charm enough in that for me.