i-TFTD #223: Deepavali Special

As Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the US, said, Diwali—the festival of lights—symbolises the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. So here’s a! bumper edition of i-TFTD on knowledge.

#223-1. Lead us from the unreal (illusion) to the real
Lead us from darkness to light.
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad c. 800BCE, I.3.28

#223-2. Everyone has the right to... knowledge... the supreme goal is attained by... knowledge alone.
-Adi Shankaracharya (great Indian philosopher and spiritual leader, 788 CE - 820 CE) in Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya 2.2

#223-3. It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.
-Epictetus (Greek Stoic philosopher, 55–135CE)

#223-4. The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
-Henri-Louis Bergson (French philosopher, 1859–1941)

#223-5. We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.
-John Naisbitt (author of Megatrends, b. 1929)

#223-6. Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.
-Kahlil Gibran (Lebanese born American philosophical poet, 1883-1931)

#223-7. The dumbest people I know are those who know it all.
-Malcolm Forbes (publisher, 1919–1990)

#223-8. The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.
-Thomas Berger (American novelist, b. 1924)

#223-9. If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
-Isaac Asimov (author, 1920-1992)

#223-10. It is no good to try to stop knowledge from going forward. Ignorance is never better than knowledge.
-Enrico Fermi (Italian physicist, 1901-1954)

#223-11. A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak.
-Michael Garrett Marino (author?)

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Through the centuries, the wise have advised the sincere pursuit of knowledge. One has to have a thirst for it, and seek with a mind open to change, with humility and curiosity.