Quotes about Understanding
Speech is for the convenience of those who are hard of hearing; but there are many fine things which we cannot say if we have to shout.
— Henry David Thoreau
Truth strikes us from behind and in the dark, as well as from before and in broad daylight.
— Henry David Thoreau
Knowledge does not come to us by details, but in flashes of light from heaven.
— Henry David Thoreau
Who shall say what prospect life offers to another? Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?
— Henry David Thoreau
Sometimes we are inclined to class those who are once-and-a-half witted with the half-witted, because we appreciate only a third part of their wit.
— Henry David Thoreau
A man's ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful, while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless beside being ugly. Which is the best man to deal with, he who knows nothing about a subject, and what is extremely rare, knows that he knows nothing, — or he who really knows something about it, but thinks that he knows all?
— Henry David Thoreau
Being is the great explainer.
— Henry David Thoreau
The highest that we can attain to is not Knowledge, but Sympathy with Intelligence.
— Henry David Thoreau
I am thinking by what long discipline and at what cost a man learns to speak simply at last.
— Henry David Thoreau
With respect to wit, I learned that there was not much difference between the half and the whole.
— Henry David Thoreau
Not all books are as dull as their readers.
— Henry David Thoreau
Der Mensch behauptet, viel zu wissen; Doch seht nur, wie sie überschießen, Die Künste und die Wissenschaften, Die tausend Errungenschaften; Der Wind, der weht, Ist alles, was er versteht.
— Henry David Thoreau