March 16

The main evil of the science of our time consists in the fact that, being incapable of studying everything and not knowing, without the help of religion, what should be studied, it studies only what is necessary and enjoyable for the people of science, who themselves lead wrong lives.

What is most necessary for them is the status quo, from which they profit.

And what they find most enjoyable is the satisfaction of idle curiosity.

1

The study of natural history in Germany has finally reached a point of insanity. Although an insect and a human being are equally valuable to God, it is not so to our human reason. A human being has so many things to put in order before he gets to birds and moths! Search your soul; teach your mind to be careful in its judgements and your heart to be peaceful. Learn to understand human beings and arm yourself with the courage to speak the truth for the good of your neighbors. Sharpen your mind with mathematics if you cannot find some other means to do it; but beware of the classification of little bugs, the superficial knowledge of which is utterly useless, while a precise one leads you away to infinity.

“But God is as infinite in the insect as he is in the sun,” you might say. I readily accept this. He is immeasurable also in a grain of sand, the varieties of which no one has yet systematized. If you do not feel a special calling to gather pearls in the countries where this sand exists, then stay here and cultivate your field: it will require your full attention; and do not forget that the capacity of your brain is finite. There, in the space occupied by the story of some butterfly, you might perhaps find some space for the thoughts of sages, who could inspire you.

— Lichtenberg

2

Wisdom does not consist in knowing many things. We cannot know everything. Wisdom does not consist in knowing as much as possible, but in knowing which knowledge is most necessary, which is less necessary, and which is even less necessary than that. Of all the knowledge that is necessary to a human being, the most important is the knowledge of how to live well, i.e. to live in such a way that you do as little evil and as much good as possible. In our time, however, people are learning all kinds of unnecessary sciences, but are not learning the one that they most need.

3

Where does the greatest insolence lie? It lies in not allowing for God those considerations that are incomprehensible to us.

— Calvin

4

The one who talks much, knows little; the one who knows most, speaks least.

This happens because the one who knows little thinks that everything that he knows is important, and he wants to tell everyone about it. The one who knows a lot also knows that there is a great deal more that he does not know, and that is why he speaks only when others need him to, but when they do not ask him anything, he remains silent.

— After Rousseau

5

When a true scholar understands the demands of reason, he tries to fulfill them. When an average scholar hears the demands of reason, he sometimes fulfills them, sometimes not. When a bad scholar hears the demands of reason, he scoffs at them. If it was not scoffed at, reason would not be reason.

— Laozi

6

A meaningful and necessary proof of intelligence and understanding is whether or not a person knows what questions he can ask. Because if a question is absurd and leads to unnecessary answers, then such a question, apart from disgracing the one asking it, is also unpleasant due to the fact that a careless listener might unwittingly respond to it with an absurd reply. You then get a ridiculous spectacle wherein, in the words of the ancients, one is milking the goat, while the other is holding a sieve under it.

— Kant

If all knowledge was the knowledge of truth, then every kind of knowledge would be useful. But just as people’s false reasonings are often passed off as knowledge, you cannot be too picky about selecting the knowledge you want to acquire.