We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.
To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the others.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Learning is distinct from mere knowledge; true understanding arises from deeper philosophical inquiry.
This quote by Alexandre Dumas emphasizes that simply acquiring knowledge is not the same as truly learning. It suggests that there are different types of individuals in the realm of education: the learners who seek deeper understanding and critical thought, and the learned who may simply hold information without the wisdom that comes from philosophical reflection. Memory aids in the retention of facts, while philosophy fosters a more profound comprehension of those facts and their implications.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to emphasize the importance of lifelong learning.
More from Alexandre Dumas
All quotes βThere are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body's sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.
I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.
There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.
Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.
It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising
Similar quotes
I made use of the college library by borrowing books other than scientific books, such as all of the plays by George Bernard Shaw, the writing of Edgar Allan Poe. The college library helped me to develop a broader aspect on life.
If you want to make information stick, it's best to learn it, go away from it for a while, come back to it later, leave it behind again, and once again return to it - to engage with it deeply across time. Our memories naturally degrade, but each time you return to a memory, you reactivate its neural network and help to lock it in.
Teach your daughters, teach your granddaughters, everybody has to have something that they're good at where they can earn a living.
I could undertake to be an efficient pupil if it were possible to find an efficient teacher.
May I suggest that you all read? And often. Believe me, it's nice to have something to talk about other than the weather and the Queen's health. Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating.
It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. It is a grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.