QuoteProject
The more a man knows, the more willing he is to learn-the less a man knows, the more positive he is that he knows everything.
Robert Green Ingersoll
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Knowledge leads to humility, while ignorance fosters arrogance.

This quote emphasizes the relationship between knowledge and one's willingness to learn. It suggests that as individuals gain more knowledge, they become more aware of how much there is still to learn, leading to a humble approach to understanding. Conversely, those with little knowledge often exhibit overconfidence in their beliefs, wrongly assuming they know all there is to know.

Themes

KnowledgeHumilityLearningIgnoranceWisdom

In practice

Example use cases

In a classroom discussion about the importance of lifelong learning, this quote can emphasize the value of staying humble and open-minded.

More from Robert Green Ingersoll

I will follow my logic, no matter where it goes, after it has consulted with my heart. If you ever come to a conclusion without calling the heart in, you will come to a bad conclusion.
Robert Green IngersollRead
If the guardians of society, the protectors of 'young persons,' could have had their way, we should have known nothing of Byron or Shelley. The voices that thrill the world would now be silent.
Robert Green IngersollRead
The religion that has to be supported by law is without value, not only, but a fraud and a curse. The religious argument that has to be supported by a musket is hardly worth making.
Robert Green IngersollRead
There is no slavery but ignorance.
Robert Green IngersollRead
In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.
Robert Green IngersollRead
I believe that there is something far nobler than loyalty to any particular man. Loyalty to the truth as we perceive it - loyalty to our duty as we know it - loyalty to the ideals of our brain and heart - is, to my mind, far greater and far nobler than loyalty to the life of any particular man or God. . . .
Robert Green IngersollRead

Similar quotes

To be outspoken is easy when you do not wait to speak the complete truth.
Rabindranath TagoreRead
A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being. For such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding, and sees ever more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss, fume, worry, and grieve. He remains poised, steadfast, serene.
James AllenRead
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
John RuskinRead
I get one hour, really 25 minutes in a sermon on a weekend, to combat all the hours of the week that people are told you are what you have through billboards, commercials, and sitcoms, and so forth.
Max LucadoRead
Then, without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that a quiet conscience makes one strong.
Anne FrankRead
In heaven I'll wish with all my heart that I could reclaim a thousandth part of the time I've let slip through my fingers, that I could call back those countless conversations which could have glorified my Lord-but didn't.
Billy GrahamRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.