The small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify we give the name of knowledge.
Interpretation
Knowledge is often just a small portion of the vast unknown, organized and defined by us.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce highlights the distinction between true knowledge and the limited understanding we create from the vast expanse of ignorance. It suggests that what we call 'knowledge' is merely the tiny segment of what we do understand, categorized and arranged from a much larger body of information that remains unknown or ungrasped.
In practice
In a lecture about the importance of continual learning, this quote serves to remind us that what we know is just a fraction of the greater unknown.
PALM, n. A species of tree . . . of which the familiar "itching palm" ("Palma hominis") is most widely distributed . . . . This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver.
Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a rough substitute that will serve at a pinch--as cunning is the wisdom of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward.
Indigestion: A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind. As the simple Red Man of the Western Wild put it, with, it must be confessed, a certain force: 'Plenty well, no pray; big belly ache, heap God.'
Disobey n:To celebrate with an appropriate ceremony the maturity of a command
NOUMENON, n. That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult to locate; it can be apprehended only by a process of reasoning - which is a phenomenon.
PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.
If you want people to think out of the box, you shouldn't create the box in the first place.
I let go of all expectations. People, places and things are free to be themselves, and I am free to be me.
I was teaching in one of the universities while the country was suffering from a severe famine. People were dying of hunger, and I felt very helpless. As an economist, I had no tool in my tool box to fix that kind of situation.
God doesn't promise security from life's storms but security in life's storms. God doesn't always call the equipped, but he will always equip the called. In the long run, avoiding danger is no safer than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.
We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.
After such knowledge, what forgiveness?
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