
Why I Am An Agnostic (1929)
Source: Why I Am An Agnostic and Other Essays
Source: Mindswap (1966), Chapter 14 (p. 70)
Why I Am An Agnostic (1929)
Source: Why I Am An Agnostic and Other Essays
“Confusion is the beginning of wisdom.”
Source: Life, Sex, and Ideas: The Good Life Without God (2002), Chapter 60, “Values and Knowledge” (p. 236)
“Curiosity is the beginning of all wisdom.”
Dans un mois, dans un an (1957, Those Without Shadows, translated 1957)
“To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom.”
1960s, Freedom From The Known (1969)
Context: That is the first thing to learn — not to seek. When you seek you are really only window-shopping. The question of whether or not there is a God or truth or reality, or whatever you like to call it, can never be answered by books, by priests, philosophers or saviours. Nobody and nothing can answer the question but you yourself and that is why you must know yourself. Immaturity lies only in total ignorance of self. To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom.
“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”
“Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.”