I keep six honest serving men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

Nothing leads so straight to futility as literary ambitions without systematic knowledge.

There is nothing so absurd or ridiculous that has not at some time been said by some philosopher.

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.

There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

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 human existence.

When you fear something, learn as much about it as you can. Knowledge conquers fear.

The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.

They [the Americans] have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man, they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement, humanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and they admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by something better tomorrow.

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.

Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature; it is our future that lays down the law of our today.

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.

He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

College isn't the place to go for ideas.

Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked.

If you want a new idea, read an old book.

Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.

The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.