Mark Twain Quotes

The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.

The more I know, the more sure I am I know so little. The eternal paradox.

But let a man know that there are things to be known, of which he is ignorant, and it is so much carved out of his domain of universal knowledge.

To know you are ignorant is the beginning of wisdom.

I am enormously wise and abysmally ignorant.

I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.

To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.

No man should escape our universities without knowing how little he knows.

I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.

I'm not very wise to many things.

The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.

He that knew all that learning ever writ, Knew only this - that he knew nothing yet.

I know nothing, except the fact of my ignorance.

I know that I don’t know.

The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. Even those of the intelligent who believe that they have a nostrum are too individualistic to combine with other intelligent men from whom they differ on minor points.

I sometimes confuse myself with the little I know.

If a man knew anything, he would sit in a corner and be modest; but he is such an ignorant peacock, that he goes bustling up and down, and hits on extraordinary discoveries.

Our ignorance, and it is based on the egos we have. It is the unwillingness to go beyond ego.

I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know.

Wisdom is also a deeper consciousness of ignorance.

He stared at his feet. “I’m still very ignorant,” he said, “but at least I’m ignorant about really important things.

Many person might have achieved wisdom had they not supposed that they already possessed it.

Those who know are not learned. Those who are learned do not know.

Let your desire for truth transcend all minor considerations. Ignorance is invariably confident. The man of knowledge learns to realize his own needs. Be honest and severe in your self-appraisal. Learn the art of learning, and you are well on the way to achievement. True greatness is reflective, not assertive.

Nor am I ashamed, as some are, to confess my ignorance of those matters with which I am unacquainted.