“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”
You were the first to demonstrate beyond question by your experience that man is man everywhere, that is, a kind, sociable being with whom communication can and should be established through kindness and truth, not guns and spirits. I do not know what contribution your collections and discoveries will make to the science for which you serve, but your experience of contacting the primitive peoples will make an epoch in the science for which I serve i.e. the science which teaches how human beings should live with one another. — Leo Tolstoy, to N. N. Miklhouho-Maclay, September 1886 [
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