“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”
My life came to a standstill. I could breathe, eat, drink and sleep, and I could not help doing these things; but there was no life, for there were no wishes the fulfilment of which I could consider reasonable. If I desired anything, I knew in advance that whether I satisfied my desire or not, nothing would come of it. Had a fairy come and offered to fulfil my desires I should not have known what to ask. If in moments of intoxication I felt something which, though not a wish, was a habit left by former wishes, in sober moments I knew this to be a delusion and that there was really nothing to wish for. I could not even wish to know the truth, for I guess of what it consisted. The truth was that life is meaningless.
More to explore
“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”
“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”
Explore over 387,000 quotes from your favorite books and authors.
Browse All Quotes