QuoteProject
All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.
Juvenal
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Knowledge is valued, but acquiring it often requires effort and sacrifice.

Juvenal's quote highlights the disparity between the desire for knowledge and the willingness to put in the hard work necessary to attain it. While many people express a yearning to learn and understand more about the world, only a small percentage are prepared to endure the challenges and efforts required to truly gain that knowledge. This underscores the idea that education and learning come at a cost, often in the form of time, dedication, and perseverance.

Themes

KnowledgeEffortSacrificeLearningEducation

In practice

Example use cases

In a graduation speech to inspire students to pursue learning relentlessly.

More from Juvenal

Revenge is sweeter than life itself. So think fools.
JuvenalRead
Peace visits not the guilty mind.
JuvenalRead
An incurable itch for scribbling takes possession of many, and grows inveterate in their insane breasts.
JuvenalRead
Poverty is bitter, but it has no harder pang than that it makes men ridiculous.
JuvenalRead
This is his first punishment, that by the verdict of his own heart no guilty man is acquitted.
JuvenalRead
A lucky man is rarer than a white crow.
JuvenalRead

Similar quotes

States should not balance their budgets on the backs of students.
Arne DuncanRead
I never heard of anyone who was really literate or who ever really loved books who wanted to suppress any of them. Censors only read a book with great difficulty, moving their lips as they puzzle out each syllable, when someone tells them that the book is unfit to read.
Robertson DaviesRead
[F]or avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy . . . the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments. [T]herefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.
Gouverneur MorrisRead
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.
Samuel JohnsonRead
High school students ought to seek out campus communities where they feel not only empowered to engage their talents, but also challenged to leave their comfort zones. The ability to embrace new opportunities emerges, in part, from a willingness to take risks and to fail.
Drew Gilpin FaustRead
Doing real world projects is, I think, the best way to learn and also to engage the world and find out what the world is all about.
Ray KurzweilRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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