QuoteProject
The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at the most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant.
Plato
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Our understanding is minimal compared to what we don't know.

Plato's quote emphasizes the vastness of knowledge and the limitations of human understanding. It serves as a reminder that, despite our current learning, a much greater realm of unknown exists, urging us to remain humble and inquisitive in our pursuit of wisdom.

Themes

KnowledgeLearningIgnoranceWisdomUnderstanding

In practice

Example use cases

In a classroom setting, a teacher could use this quote to inspire students to embrace lifelong learning.

More from Plato

Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow... even if that someone is yourself!
PlatoRead
Not one of them who took up in his youth with this opinion that there are no gods ever continued until old age faithful to his conviction.
PlatoRead
...for the object of education is to teach us to love beauty.
PlatoRead
Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil.
PlatoRead
Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.
PlatoRead
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
PlatoRead

Similar quotes

I remember going to university, and the people who'd left home for the first time looked at the food and were horrified. Whereas, my view was that if it was vaguely edible, then it's fine.
Alain De BottonRead
You are told a lot about your education, but some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood, is perhaps the best education of all. If a man carries many such memories into life with him, he is saved for the rest of his days. And even if only one good memory is left in our hearts, it may also be the instrument of our salvation one day.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
Yeah, I'm a thrill seeker, but crikey, education's the most important thing.
Steve IrwinRead
Islam tells us every girl and boy should be educated. I don't know why the Taliban have forgotten it.
Malala YousafzaiRead
I think it's very important that we instill in our kids that it has nothing to do with their name or their situation that they're growing up in; it has to do with who they are as an individual.
Melinda GatesRead
As an educator, I try to get people to be fundamentally curious and to question ideas that they might have or that are shared by others. In that state of mind, they have earned a kind of inoculation against the fuzzy thinking of these weird ideas floating around out there.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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