Why did my parents send me to the schools That I with knowledge might enrich my mind? Since the desire to know first made men fools, And did corrupt the root of all mankind.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author questions why he was educated if knowledge first made men fools and corrupted mankind.
- In plain terms
- Why learn if knowledge made people foolish and corrupted humanity?
- What can you take from it?
- Knowledge can sometimes lead to folly rather than wisdom.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is knowledge always good?
- Has learning led to folly?
Another view
It presents a negative view of knowledge that ignores its benefits.
More from John Davies
Wedlock, indeed, hath oft compared been To public feasts, where meet a public rout,- Where they that are without would fain go in, And they that are within wou…
Permalink to quote #2 What can we know, or what can we discern, When error chokes the windows of the mind, The diverse forms of things, how can we learn, That have been ever from ou…
Permalink to quote #4 Much like a subtle spider which doth sit In middle of her web, which spreadeth wide; If aught do touch the utmost thread of it, She feels it instantly on every…
Permalink to quote #1
Related quotes
Life is not a thing of knowing only - nay, mere knowledge has properly no place at all save as it becomes the handmaiden of feeling and emotion.
Learned HandLearned Hand quote #1 [Mais par ce que selon le sage Salomon,] Sapience n'entre point en ame malivole, & science sans conscience n'est que ruyne de l'ame.
Francois RabelaisFrancois Rabelais quote #3 No man is the wiser for his learning.
John SeldenJohn Selden quote #8