This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
The truth of not-knowing is the only factor from which one can move. The truth of that is stable. A mind that does not know is in a state of learning. The moment I say I have learned, I have stopped learning and that stopping is the stability of division.
He alone is a man who can resist the genius of the age, the tone of fashion, with vigorous simplicity and modest courage.
Charles Lucas, fully Sir Charles L. Lucas
Civilization is just a slow process of learning to be kind.
Character | Civilization | Learning | Wisdom |
Michel de Montaigne, fully Lord Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
Learning is not to be tacked to the mind, but we must fuse and blend them together, not merely giving the mind a slight tincture, but a thorough and perfect dye. and if we perceive no evident change and improvement, it would be better to leave it alone; learning is a dangerous weapon, and apt to wound its master if it be wielded by a feeble hand, and by one not well acquainted with its use.
Better | Change | Character | Giving | Improvement | Learning | Mind |
Every positive value has its price in negative terms, and you never see anything very great which is not, at the same time, horrible in some respect... the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.
Lydia Sigourney, fully Lydia Huntley Sigourney, née Lydia Howard Huntley
The true order of learning should be: first, what is necessary; second, what is useful, and third, what is ornamental. To reverse this arrangement is like beginning to build at the top of an edifice.
To be fond of learning is to be near to knowledge.
Giving of yourself, learning to be tolerant, giving recognition and approval to others, remaining flexible enough to mature and learn - yields happiness, harmony, contentment and productivity. These are the qualities of a rich life, the bounteous harvest of getting along with people.
Character | Contentment | Enough | Giving | Harmony | Learning | Life | Life | People | Qualities | Approval | Learn |
Lord Acton, John Emerich Dalberg-Acton
Human learning has often been an instrument, not a source, of hostility to religion.