My Reviewers Reviewed (lecture from June 27, 1877, San Francisco, CA)
Context: The waste of that immense force in stopping the planets in their grand courses, for the purpose claimed, would be like using a Krupp gun to destroy an insect to which a single drop of water is “an unbounded world.” How is it possible for men of ordinary intellect, not only to endorse such ignorant falsehoods, but to malign those who do not? Can anything be more debasing to the intellect of man than a belief in the astronomy of the Bible?
“Those with intellect suffer in bliss with their intellect, and the ignorant live blissfully in misery.”
Source: From the poem Li-Hawā An-Nufūsi http://www.almotanabbi.com/poemPage.do?poemId=248, Line 8
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Al-Mutanabbi 13
Arabic poet from the Abbasid era 915–965Related quotes
“Wisdom and intellect is every man's friend, ignorance and illiteracy are his enemies.”
Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 467.
Regarding Knowledge & Wisdom, General
Everything works together for the best (Fredrikstad, 7 January, 1976)
“Intellect is a part of a good faith. Intellect is the light, the heart is the direction.”
Es gibt Menschen mit leuchtendem und Menschen mit glänzendem Verstande. Die ersten erhellen ihre Umgebung, die zweiten verdunkeln sie.
Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 28.
Source: Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960), p. 164
Context: Two friends went into an orchard. One of them possessing much worldly wisdom, immediately began to count the mango trees there and the number of mangoes each tree bore, and to estimate what might be the approximate value of the whole orchard. His companion went to the owner, made friends with him, and then, quietly going into a tree, began at his host's desire to pluck the fruits and eat them. Whom do you consider to be the wiser of the two? Eat mangoes. It will satisfy your hunger. What is the good of counting the trees and leaves and making calculations? The vain man of intellect busies himself with finding out the "why" and "wherefore" of creation, while the humble man of wisdom makes friends with the Creator and enjoys His gift of supreme bliss.
“She hasn’t got any intellect to speak of; but you don’t need any intellect to be an intellectual.”
The Scandal of Father Brown (1935) The Scandal of Father Brown
The Father Brown Mystery Series (1910 - 1927)