September 23

However great people’s knowledge may seem in comparison with their former ignorance, it is always only an infinitely small part of all possible knowledge.

1

Socrates did not have the typical scientist’s weakness of talking about everything in the universe, searching for the origin of what the sophists call nature, and trying to work out the primary causes of the creation of celestial bodies. “Is it really the case,” he would say, “that people spend so much time on things that have so little to do with human lives because they think that they have already figured out all the important things that a human being should know? Or do they think that they can neglect the things that are subject to our study and dive deep into the mysteries that are not?”

He was especially surprised by the blindness of the false scientists who do not understand that the human mind cannot penetrate these mysteries. “That is why,” he would say, “all these people, those who imagine that they can talk about such things, can hardly agree on their basic opinions, and when you listen them all together, you get the impression that you are among madmen. And really, what are the hallmarks of the unfortunates possessed by madness? They are afraid of that which is not frightening, and they do not fear that which is truly dangerous.”

— Xenophon

2

It is strange to think that the sciences can someday become hostile to religion. The sciences, if they are vain, become hostile not only to religion, but to truth also; not only is true science not hostile to religion, but it always assists it.

— John Ruskin

3

It is better not to be born for the one who hopes to lift the veil from that which is above or below us, from that which was before and that which will come after.

— The Talmud

4

Knowledge is infinite, and the one people consider most learned is just as far from true knowledge as an illiterate peasant.

— John Ruskin

5

We cannot imagine the extent of our ignorance without the help of science, just as a blind person cannot visualize darkness until he regains his sight.

— Kant

It is better to know less than you can know than more than you need to know. Do not fear ignorance, fear superfluous, burdensome knowledge that is acquired solely for the sake of vanity.