Only Socrates knew, after a lifetime of unceasing labor, that he was ignorant. Now every high-school student knows that. How did it become so easy?
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Socrates famously admitted his ignorance, but now even young students know this fact without the struggle to understand it.
- In plain terms
- Wisdom about ignorance has become common knowledge without effort.
- What can you take from it?
- True wisdom requires effort, not just knowing facts.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is knowledge the same as wisdom?
- What value is there in struggle?
Another view
It overlooks that knowing one is ignorant does not equal being wise.
More from Allan Bloom
There is no real teacher who in practise does not believe in the existence of the soul, or in a magic that acts on it through speech.
Permalink to quote #1 Fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is for them to be wise ... specialized competence and suc…
Permalink to quote #3 Education in our times must try to find whatever there is in students that might yearn for completion, and to reconstruct the learning that would enable them a…
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
First come I; my name is Jowett. There's no knowledge but I know it. I am master of this college: What I don't know isn't knowledge.
Henry Charles BeechingHenry Charles Beeching quote #1 Education makes us more stupid than the brutes. A thousand voices call to us on every hand, but our ears are stopped with wisdom.
Jean GiraudouxJean Giraudoux quote #9 Experience is a good school. But the fees are high.
Heinrich HeineHeinrich Heine quote #27