Andre Gide Quotes

One's first step in wisdom is to question everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything.

People of little understanding are most apt to be angry when their sense is called into question.

I've never professed to be an intellectual. I don't try to be.

I was a philosophy major as an undergraduate, and I'm just an arrogant little thing. It's hard for me to admit that I can't understand something, let alone not be in charge of it.

The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.

The more you think you know, the more closed-minded you'll be.

I doubt about myself. I think doubts are good in life. The people who don't have doubts I think only two things-arrogance or not intelligence.

Question is, are you bozos smart enough to feel stupid?

Thinking in isolation and with pride ends in being an idiot.

Knowing ignorance is strength; ignoring knowledge is sickness.

When a wise man does not understand, he says: "I do not understand." The fool and the uncultured are ashamed of their ignorance. They remain silent when a question could bring them wisdom.

The surest way to lose truth is to pretend that one already wholly possesses it.

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.

What we want in students is creativity and a willingness to fail. I always say to students, 'If you've never at some point stayed up all night talking to your new boyfriend about the meaning of life instead of preparing for the test, then you're not really an intellectual.'

The learned man knows that he is ignorant.

Quick condemnation of all that is not ours, of views with which we disagree, of ideas that do not attract us, is the sign of a narrow mind, of an uncultivated intelligence. Bigotry is always ignorant, and the wise boy, who will become the wise man, tries to understand and to see the truth in ideas with which he does not agree.

An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things.

What is important is that one utilizes one's intellect and not to be 100 percent sure about one's convictions. One should always leave room for doubt.

The voice of the intelligence ... is drowned out by the roar of fear. It is ignored by the voice of desire. It is contradicted by the voice of shame. It is hissed away by hate, and extinguished by anger. Most of all it is silenced by ignorance.

Do not be an arrogant scholar, for scholarship cannot subsist with arrogance.

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.

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 try not to be an ideologue about anything. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and I'm willing to evolve.

I'd ask people to keep in mind the idea that if you really understand something, it's even more important for you to consider the possibility of your wrongness. Even if it takes someone dumber than you to point that out.

A man remains ignorant because he loves ignorance, and chooses ignorant thoughts; a man becomes wise because he loves wisdom and chooses wise thoughts.