Quotes about Knowledge

I fear the man of a single book.

On the contrary, Augustine says (Octog. Tri. Quaest. qu. xlvi),"Such is the power inherent in ideas, that no one can be wise unless they are understood.

Objection 1: It seems that God does not know evil things. For the Philosopher (De Anima iii) says that the intellect which is not in potentiality does not know privation. But "evil is the privation of good," as Augustine says (Confess. iii, 7). Therefore, as the intellect of God is never in potentiality, but is always in act, as is clear from the foregoing (A[2] ), it seems that God does not know evil things.

Reply to Objection 1: The reason why God has no name, or is said to be above being named, is because His essence is above all that we understand about God, and signify in word. Reply to Objection 2: Because we know and name God from creatures, the names we attribute to God signify what belongs to material creatures, of which the knowledge is natural to us.

Reply to Objection 3: From effects not proportionate to the cause no perfect knowledge of that cause can be obtained. Yet from every effect the existence of the cause can be clearly demonstrated, and so we can demonstrate the existence of God from His effects; though from them we cannot perfectly know God as He is in His essence.

It was necessary for man's salvation that there should be a knowledge revealed by God besides philosophical science built up by human reason.

A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.

I saw many aspects of the country which I needed to see in order that I might know what we need to do.

No man is truly educated unless he knows where he came from, why he is here, and where he can expect to go in the next life.

The truth of the matter is this: false ideas about truth lead to false ideas about life.

Any denial of truth presupposes truth, so the existence of truth is inescapable.

Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living.3