But what is Hope? Nothing but the paint on the face of Existence; the least touch of truth rubs it off, and then we see what a hollow-cheeked harlot we have got hold of.
Lord ByronRead
Socrates said, our only knowledge was_x000D_ _x000D_ "To know that nothing could be known;" a pleasant_x000D_ _x000D_ Science enough, which levels to an ass_x000D_ _x000D_ Each Man of Wisdom, future, past, or present._x000D_ _x000D_ Newton, (that Proverb of the Mind,) alas!_x000D_ _x000D_ Declared, with all his grand discoveries recent,_x000D_ _x000D_ That he himself felt only "like a youth_x000D_ _x000D_ Picking up shells by the great Ocean-Truth."
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the idea that true wisdom lies in recognizing the limits of our knowledge.
The quote suggests that genuine understanding is rooted in humility and the acknowledgment that there is much we do not know. Socrates points out that the pursuit of knowledge reveals more questions than answers, while Newton conceptually compares his discoveries to a child gathering shells on a vast beach of uncharted knowledge, highlighting the perpetual journey of learning and the vastness of the unknown.
Themes
KnowledgeWisdomHumilityLearningTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on education at a conference, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of fostering a mindset of inquiry over certainty.
More from Lord Byron
All quotes →It is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake.
Lord ByronRead
For what were all these country patriots born? To hunt, and vote, and raise the price of corn?
Lord ByronRead
Absence - that common cure of love.
Lord ByronRead
Her great merit is finding out mine; there is nothing so amiable as discernment.
Lord ByronRead
But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
Lord ByronRead
Similar quotes
Adversity has ever been considered the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself.
Samuel JohnsonRead
What's encouraging about meditation is that, even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we're closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance.
Pema ChodronRead
Every industrious man, in every lawful calling, is a useful man. And one principal reason why men are so often useless is that they neglect their own profession or calling, and divide and shift their attention among a multiplicity of objects and pursuits.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
People who believe they have the power to exercise some measure of control over their lives are healthier, more effective and more successful than those who lack faith in their ability to effect changes in their lives.
Albert BanduraRead
The wise man who has become accustomed to necessities knows better how to share with others than how to take from them, so great a treasure of self-sufficiency has he found.
EpicurusRead
I do think all good and evil comes from words. I have to tune myself into a good temper with something musical, and I run to a book as a child to its mother.
Virginia WoolfRead