“Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one,
Have oft-times no connexion, Knowledge dwells
in heads replete with thoughts of other men,
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own.”

—  William Cowper , The Task

Source: The Task (1785), Book VI, Winter Walk at Noon, Line 88.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one, Have oft-times no connexion, Knowledge dwells in heads replete with thought…" by William Cowper?
William Cowper photo
William Cowper 174
(1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist 1731–1800

Related quotes

Michel De Montaigne photo

“We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Book I, Ch. 25
Attributed

Timothy Dwight IV photo

“What must be the knowledge of Him, from whom all created minds have derived both their power of knowledge, and the innumerable objects of their knowledge! What must be the wisdom of Him, from whom all things derive their wisdom!”

Timothy Dwight IV (1752–1817) American historian

Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 275.

“Understanding the knowledge and wisdom of the Qur'an is by far, higher than memorizing.”

Ali (601–661) cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad

Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 418
Regarding the Qur'an

Benjamin Franklin photo

“The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …
James Gleick photo

“Information is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom.”

James Gleick book The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

"One God One Religion - Brother Hamza Andreas Tzortzis" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q-vmmLFat8, Youtube (April 16, 2018)
Source: The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

Rachel Caine photo

“There are three parts to learning: information, knowledge and wisdom, A mere accumulation of information is not knowledge, and a treasure of knowledge is not in itself, wisdom.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Ink and Bone

Benjamin H. Freedman photo

“Knowledge is a collection of facts. Wisdom is the use of knowledge. Without facts there is no knowledge. Without knowledge there is no wisdom. Facts prevent what nothing can cure. Facts are Man's best defense mechanism. Without them men fumble, falter and fail. Without them nations decline and fall. Wisdom wins wars before they start. Knowledge aborts national hostilities. Wisdom obviates racial antipathies. Knowledge effaces religious animosities. Emancipation from bigotry prefaces peace. Intolerance takes all and gives nothing. Peace rewards reciprocal respect and regard. To all Men of Good Will, "Pax Vobiscum!"”

Benjamin H. Freedman (1890–1984) American businessman

Facts are Facts (1954)

“Both knowledge and wisdom extend man's reach. Knowledge led to computers, wisdom to chopsticks.”

Alan Perlis (1922–1990) American computer scientist

The Synthesis of Algorithmic Systems, 1966

“A clever mind is not a heart. Knowledge doesn't really care, wisdom does.”

Benjamin Hoff book The Tao of Pooh

The Now of Pooh.
Source: The Tao of Pooh (1982)
Context: Abstract cleverness of the mind only separates the thinker from the world of reality, and that world, the Forest of Real Life, is in a desperate condition now because of too many who think too much and care too little. In spite of what many minds have thought themselves into believing, that mistake cannot continue for much longer if everything is going to survive. The one chance we have to avoid certain disaster is to change our approach, and learn to value wisdom and contentment. These are things that are being searched for anyway, through Knowledge and Cleverness, but they do not come from Knowledge and Cleverness. They never have, and they never will. We can no longer afford to look so desperately hard for something in the wrong way and in the wrong place. If Knowledge and Cleverness are allowed to go on wrecking things, they will before much longer destroy all life on this earth as we know it, and what little may temporarily survive will not be worth looking at, even if it were possible for us to do so.

Related topics