Ikigai Daily
WonderQuote995 of 1,961

To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.

Confucius, Analects

Philosophy

Why it matters

The idea in context

Humility is part of intelligence. The honest boundary of knowledge is what makes learning possible.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Neyi bildiğini ve neyi bilmediğini bilmek, gerçek bilgidir.
Konfüçyüs, Konuşmalar

Alçakgönüllülük zekânın parçasıdır. Bilginin dürüst sınırı, öğrenmeyi mümkün kılan şeydir.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

Analects tradition; wording varies across public-domain translations.

Background reading: ConfuciusAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
Open in the iPhone appEditorial method

Related cards

These cards share a subject or mode with the one above. The route is editorial, not personalised.

Q0877
WonderPhilosophy

Socrates left no writings of his own; we know him mainly through students and later writers, especially Plato.

The Socrates we meet is partly a historical person and partly a figure preserved through dialogues, memory and argument. That makes him powerful and difficult: his voice reaches us through others. This matters globally for any tradition built on witnesses. The lesson is source awareness: even great teachers arrive through human transmission.

Philosophy historyRead card
Q0878
WonderPhilosophy

True wisdom begins in knowing how little you know.

A modern rewording of the most famous idea associated with Socrates, who left no writings; we know him through Plato and Xenophon. In Plato's Apology he explains that his only edge over others is awareness of his own ignorance. The point is practical, not falsely modest: overestimating what we know is where most error begins, so honest not-knowing is the first competence.

SocratesRead card
Next in the open archiveIt is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.Q1026