Quotes from book
De Docta Ignorantia

Nicholas of CusaOriginal title De docta ignorantia (Latin, 1440)

De docta ignorantia is a book on philosophy and theology by Nicholas of Cusa , who finished writing it on 12 February 1440 in his hometown of Kues, Germany.

Nicholas of Cusa photo

“For a persistent and continued ascent to [the Principle and Source of] life is the constituent element of increased happiness.”

Nicholas of Cusa book De Docta Ignorantia

De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440)

Nicholas of Cusa photo

“Wisdom is not to be found in the art of oratory, or in great books, but in a withdrawal from these sensible things and in a turning to the most simple and infinite forms. You will learn how to receive it into a temple purged from all vice, and by fervent love to cling to it until you may taste it and see how sweet That is which is all sweetness. Once this has been tasted, all things which you now consider as important will appear as vile, and you will be so humbled that no arrogance or other vice will remain in you. Once having tasted this wisdom, you will inseparably adhere to it with a chaste and pure heart. You will choose rather to forsake this world and all else that is not of this wisdom, and living with unspeakable happiness you will die.”

Nicholas of Cusa book De Docta Ignorantia

De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440)

Nicholas of Cusa photo

“I am a -living shadow and Thou the Truth… Therefore, my God, Thou art alike shadow and Truth; Thou art alike the image and the Exemplar of myself and all men.”

Nicholas of Cusa book De Docta Ignorantia

De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440)

Nicholas of Cusa photo

“The greatest danger against which most men have warned us is that which comes from communicating intellectual secrets to minds become subservient to the authority of an inveterate habit, for such is the power of a long-lasting observance, that most men prefer death to giving up their way of life.”

Nicholas of Cusa book De Docta Ignorantia

De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440)

Nicholas of Cusa photo

“All we know of the truth is that the absolute truth, such as it is, is beyond our reach.”

Nicholas of Cusa book De Docta Ignorantia

De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440)

Nicholas of Cusa photo

“Therefore, the inhabitants of other stars — of whatever sort these inhabitants might be – bear no comparative relationship to the inhabitants of the earth (istius mundi ). [That is true] even if, with respect to the goal of the universe, that entire region bears to this entire region a certain comparative relationship which is hidden to us — so that in this way the inhabitants of this earth or region bear, through the medium of the whole region, a certain mutual relationship to those other inhabitants. (By comparison, the particular parts of the fingers of a hand bear, through the medium of the hand, a comparative relationship to a food; and the particular parts of the foot [bear], through the medium of the foot, [a comparative relationship] to a hand — so that all [members] are comparatively related to the whole animal.) Hence, since the entire region is unknown to us, those inhabitants remain altogether unknown.”

Nicholas of Cusa book De Docta Ignorantia

trans. Jasper Hopkins (Minneapolis: Arthur J Banning Press, 1990), 119 – 20.
De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440)

Nicholas of Cusa photo

“In God, absolute unity is absolute multiplicity, absolute identity is absolute diversity”

Nicholas of Cusa book De Docta Ignorantia

De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440)
Context: In God, absolute unity is absolute multiplicity, absolute identity is absolute diversity; absolute actuality is absolute potentiality

Similar authors

Nicholas of Cusa photo
Nicholas of Cusa49
German philosopher, theologian, jurist, and astronomer 1401–1464
Meister Eckhart photo
Meister Eckhart69
German theologian None
Omar Khayyám photo
Omar Khayyám94
Persian poet, philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer None
Peter Abelard photo
Peter Abelard20
French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent lo… None
Thomas Aquinas photo
Thomas Aquinas104
Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catho… None
Albertus Magnus photo
Albertus Magnus5
Dominican friar None
Avicenna photo
Avicenna8
medieval Persian polymath, physician, and philosopher None
Roger Bacon photo
Roger Bacon21
medieval philosopher and theologian None
Julian of Norwich photo
Julian of Norwich372
English theologian and anchoress None
Thomas à Kempis photo
Thomas à Kempis41
German canon regular None