Our favourite knowledge quotes

Below are some of the sources of inspiration for our Investing in Knowledge vision.

"Even the most misfitting child
Who?s chanced upon the library?s worth
Sits with the genius of the Earth
And turns the key to the whole world"
(Ted Hughes)

"All men by nature desire knowledge" (Aristotle)

"Education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them" (John Ruskin)

"Surely knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the human condition, knowledge of the nature and dynamics of society, knowledge of the past so that one may use it in experiencing the present and aspiring to the future?all of these, it would seem reasonable to suppose, are essential to an educated person. To these must be added another?knowledge of the products of our artistic heritage that mark the history of our aesthetic wonder and delight." (Jerome S. Bruner)

"Knowledge is indivisible. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well." (Isaac Asimov)

"Knowledge is the most democratic source of power." (Alvin Toffler)

"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it." (Samuel Johnson)

"What I don?t know isn?t knowledge." ( Henry Charles Beeching )

"For all knowledge and wonder (which is the seed of knowledge) is an impression of pleasure in itself." (Francis Bacon)

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it." (Margaret Fuller)

"Men can know more than their ancestors did if they start with a knowledge of what their ancestors had already learned....That is why a society can be progressive only if it conserves its traditions." (Walter Lippmann)

"Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel." (August Hare )

"Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of innumerable minds." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion." (D. J. Boorstein)

"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child." (George Bernard Shaw)

"The acquisition of knowledge is the mission of research, the transmission of knowledge is the mission of teaching and the application of knowledge is the mission of public service." (James A. Perkins)

"To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is... the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself and enlarges the sphere of existence." (John Quincy Adams )

"Knowledge is like money: to be of value, it must circulate, and in circulation it can increase in quantity and, hopefully in value." (Louis L'Amour)

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance." (Socrates)

"If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." (Benjamin Franklin)

"In your thirst for knowledge, be sure not to drown in all the information." (Anthony J. D'Angelo)

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." (Jorge Luis Borges)

"You see I don?t believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence and that?s the main reason for employing wild animals as librarians." (Monty Python)

We?d welcome additions to this list. Please email other inspirational words to info@mla.gov.uk .

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