From women’s eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire;
They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain, and nourish all the world. William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost IV iii 350
Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school: and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used; and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill. William Shakespeare, II Henry IV ii 35
And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. ibid. II Henry IV vii 72-73, Saye
No, 'tis hereafter to know, but now to promise. William Shakespeare, Henry V V ii 210-211, King Harry
Be governed by your knowledge, and proceed
I’ th’ sway of your own will. William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear IV v 17-18, Cordelia
The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery. Anais Nin
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. Alfred Lord Tennyson
Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
All men by nature desire knowledge. Aristotle, On Man in the Universe
There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance. Hippocrates
Shall I teach you what knowledge? When you know a thing, say that you know it; when you do not know a thing, admit that you do not know it. That is knowledge. Confucius
No one knows anything, really. It’s all rented, or borrowed. Ian McEwan
We are students of words: we are shut up in schools, and colleges, and recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do not know a thing. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays
Doubt ... is an illness that comes from knowledge and leads to madness. Gustave Flaubert, Memoirs of a Madman
How little we know of what there is to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time instead of going to die today because I have learned much about life in these four days; more, I think than in all other time. I’d like to be an old man to really know. I wonder if you keep on learning or if there is only a certain amount each man can understand. I thought I knew so many things that I know nothing of. I wish there was more time. Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
What transforms this world is – knowledge. Do you see what I mean? Nothing else can change anything in this world. Knowledge alone is capable of transforming the world, while at the same time leaving it exactly as it is. When you look at the world with knowledge, you realize that things are unchangeable and at the same time are constantly being transformed. Yukio Mashima, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You’re always sort of feeling your way. Diane Arbus, Diane Arbus Revelations
There is no shame in not knowing. The problem arises when irrational thought and attendant behaviour fill the vacuum left by ignorance. Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Sky is Not the Limit
In nine lifetimes, you’ll never know as much about your cat as your cat knows about you. Michel de Montaigne
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to be oneself. Michel de Montaigne
These people have learned not from books, but in the fields, in the wood, on the river bank. Their teachers have been the birds themselves, when they sang to them, the sun when it left a glow of crimson behind it at setting, the very trees, and wild herbs. Anton Chekhov
A good book can teach you about the world and about yourself. You learn more than how to read better; you also learn more about life. You become wiser. Not just more knowledgeable – books that provide nothing but information can produce that result. But wiser, in the sense that you are more deeply aware of the great and enduring truths of human life. Mortimer J Adler, How to Read a Book
We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine. H L Mencken
Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Plato, The Republic
Either we shall find what it is we are seeking or at least we shall free ourselves from the persuasion that we know what we do not know. ibid.
Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. Plato
You can never know everything. Part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of knowledge lies in going on anyway. Robert Jordan
Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know. Donald Rumsfeld
No thief, however skilful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire. L Frank Baum, The Lost Princess of Oz
I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led. Thomas Jefferson
The acquisition of knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good. For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known. Leonardo da Vinci
Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous. Frank Herbert
To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the others. Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
It is a common sentence that knowledge is power; but who hath duly considered or set forth the power of ignorance? Knowledge slowly builds up what ignorance in an hour pulls down. George Eliot, Daniel Deronda
Maybe I don’t really want to know what’s going on. Maybe I’d rather not know. Maybe I couldn’t bear to know. The Fall was a fall from innocence to knowledge. Margaret Atwood
The sum of things to be known is inexhaustible, and however long we read, we shall never come to the end of our story-book. A E Housman
Despite my firm convictions, I have been always a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth. Malcolm X
Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write. John Adams
Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again. Vincent van Gogh
The true method of knowledge is experiment. William Blake