Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Quotes

Who would dare assert that we know all there is to be known?

We know less when we erroneously think we know than when we recognize that we don't.

There is but a slight difference between the man who may be said to know nothing and him who thinks he knows everything.

Knowing that we don't know it's humility; thinking that we know what we don't know, is sickness.

He who thinks he knows, doesn't know. He who knows that he doesn't know, knows.

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.

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.

The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others.

It's not the things you don't know that trip you up. It's the things you think you know, but you don't. You fail to ask a certain question because you believe you know the answer. Separating your information from your assumptions can be very tricky business.

Thinking you know when in fact you don't is a fatal mistake, to which we are all prone

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.

It is worse still to be ignorant of your ignorance.

The Man That Knowz Something Knowz That He Knowz Nothing At All.

Nothing puts a greater obstacle in the way of the progress of knowledge than thinking that one knows what one does not yet know.

Man is wise only while in search of wisdom; when he imagines he has attained it, he is a fool.

I know nothing, because I know too much, and understand not nearly enough and never will.

The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.

Knowledge does not corrupt, unless it is arrogant; but then it is not true knowledge.

All you know is what you think you know, but that isn't always what's real.

The majority of people have no understanding of the things with which they daily meet, nor, when instructed, do they have any right knowledge of them, although to themselves they seem to have.

Belief is in ignorance. If you know, you know. And it is good that if you don’t know, know that you don’t know — the belief can deceive you. The belief can create an atmosphere in your mind, where, without knowing, you start thinking that you know. Belief is not trust, and the more strongly you say that you believe totally, the more you are afraid of the doubt within you.

There's the bullshit you know that you know; the bullshit you don't know and know you don't know; and the bullshit you just think you know but really don't.

The only thing I know for sure is how much I do not know.

When a person supposes that he knows, and does not know; this appears to be the great source of all the errors of the intellect.

I only know when I don't know a thing. My uncle has taught me that wisdom lies in that.