In my article ‘The 3 “Secret” Reasons for Exploring What All Learners Desire‘, I said the following:

What Is Knowledge?

There is no easy, simple answer to this one. In fact there is no agreed-upon definition of knowledge. Truth is, I don’t believe there will ever be one. There could be such a definition… but only if we lived in a Utopian World.

That’s the slight irony of the situation – the desire we learners have to acquire something we can’t accurately define.

Picture Courtesy of Voss

Striving to understand the nature of knowledge is a beneficial thing which helps us become better learners. Let’s have a look at some quotes I like from great minds who shed light on the answer we seek with their profound wisdom. I can relate to what each of them say on a significant level.

1. A library may be very large; but if it is in disorder, it is not so useful as one that is small but well arranged. In the same way, a man may have a great mass of knowledge, but if he has not worked it up by thinking it over for himself, it has much less value than a far smaller amount which he has thoroughly pondered. —Arthur Schopenhauer, 19th-century German philosopher

Growing up, I held many opinions that I slowly but surely realized weren’t mine. I don’t even remember how they managed to get into my head. During debates and arguments, I found that I couldn’t defend them well and that’s when it hit me hard.

I couldn’t defend them because I didn’t think much about what I accepted and believed to be true. I never contemplated it. Over the past two years, thanks to the free flow of information online, I discarded a lot of ideas and relearned even more. I find that what I know now has much more value to me than what I regarded as the “truth” previously. It’s because of thinking and coming to one’s own conclusions.

2. A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.—Kahlil Gibran, 20th-century Syrian-American mystic poet and painter

This holds solidly especially in entrepreneurship. You can have some of the greatest ideas in the world but they’re all useless if not acted upon or at least propagated.

3. All men by nature desire knowledge.—Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher

We are all born with an inquisitive nature. This is inherently part of who we are but the systems and environments we grow up in sometimes tend to kill that great intrinsic property we possess.

Further reading: 3 Steps to Revive Your Inner Child

4. All wish to know, but none want to pay the fee.—Juvenal, 1st-2nd-century Roman poet

Learning is fun but it can turn into a pain whenever we encounter things we find difficult to swallow. Many just choose to become apathetic but those who persevere and burst through the thick wall find a worthy reward on the other side.

5. Any piece of knowledge I acquire today has a value at this moment exactly proportioned to my skill to deal with it. Tomorrow, when I know more, I recall that piece of knowledge and use it better.—Mark van Doren, 20th-century American poet

I’m not a father yet. Heck, I’m not even married, but I have read a few things about fatherhood. The information I consumed is safely stored in my brain but I can’t grasp its full meaning. I don’t have sufficient “skills” yet. The day I become a father, I will.

6. Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container. —Anonymous Saying

Knowledge is out there floating around the internet in infinite abundance. All it takes to find food for thought nowadays in this amazing Information Age we live in is a few clicks.

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