“The man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first step toward knowledge.”
Max Heindel book The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (1909) Introduction
Speech to the Chambers of Commerce of the Empire (9 June 1896), quoted in The Times (10 June 1896), p. 4
1890s
“The man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first step toward knowledge.”
Max Heindel book The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (1909) Introduction
Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American writer
it is greatness itself.
Reported in Louis Klopsch, Many Thoughts of Many Minds (1896), p. 133.
“Realizing you’ve got shit on your fingers is the first step toward washing your hands.”
Daniel Abraham (1969) speculative fiction writer from the United States
Source: Nemesis Games (2015), Chapter 20 (p. 209)
Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) American birth control activist, educator and nurse
"Morality and Birth Control", February-March, 1918, pp. 11,14.
Birth Control Review, 1918-32
“Scepticism is the first step towards truth.”
Denis Diderot book Philosophical thoughts
As quoted in The Anchor Book of French Quotations with English Translations (1963) by Norbert Gutermam
Pensées Philosophiques (1746)
Variant: A thing is not proved just because no one has ever questioned it. What has never been gone into impartially has never been properly gone into. Hence skepticism is the first step toward truth. It must be applied generally, because it is the touchstone.
Variant: The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.
Source: Pensées philosophiques
“Kant was the first to take the next decisive step”
Hermann Weyl (1885–1955) German mathematician
Introduction<!-- p. 3 -->
Space—Time—Matter (1952)
Context: In the field of philosophy Kant was the first to take the next decisive step towards the point of view that not only the qualities revealed by the senses, but also space and spatial characteristics have no objective significance in the absolute sense; in other words, that space, too, is only a form of our perception.
Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) sixth Prime Minister of India
Speech in Hindi while addressing a tribal rally at Nandurbar, Pune, 31 March 1989 — Selected Speeches and Writings of Rajiv Gandhi, Vol.V, 1989, p.7 note: Nothing is more important than the unity and integrity of our nation. India is indivisible. Secularism is the bedrock of our nationhood. It implies more than tolerance. It involves an active effort for harmony. No religion preaches hatred and intolerance. Vested interests, both external and internal, are inciting and exploiting communal passions and violence to divide India.
Source: en.wikiquote.org - Rajiv Gandhi / Nothing is more important than the unity and integrity of our nation. India is indivisible. Secularism is the bedrock of our nationhood. It implies more than tolerance. It involves an active effort for harmony. No religion preaches hatred and intolerance. Vested interests, both external and internal, are inciting and exploiting communal passions and violence to divide India.
Howard Williams (humanitarian) (1837–1931) English humanitarian
The Ethics of Diet, Preface http://www.ivu.org/history/williams/preface.html from the 1st edition, 1883.
“A correct theory is the first step towards improvement”
William Stanley Jevons The Theory of Political Economy
Source: The Theory of Political Economy (1871), Chapter I, Introduction, p. 44.
Context: A correct theory is the first step towards improvement, by showing what we need and what we might accomplish.