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Understanding


Understanding

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Quotations

Ronald ReaganHow do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

—  Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004, American President [1981-1989]

22 likes
Oscar WildeWomen are meant to be loved, not to be understood.

—  Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer

16 likes
HippocratesIt is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.

—  Hippocrates, 460-370 BC, Ancient Greek physician, the “Father of Medicine”

15 likes
Fyodor DostoyevskyNothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him.

—  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer

12 likes
Mark TwainMost people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.

—  Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer

11 likes
Baruch SpinozaI have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.

—  Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677, Dutch philosopher

9 likes
William BlakeIf the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.

—  William Blake, 1757-1827, English poet & painter

8 likes
Isaac AsimovI am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander.

—  Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992, American Sci-Fi writer

8 likes
Stanislaw Jerzy LecSome like to understand what they believe in. Others like to believe in what they understand.

—  Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, 1906-1966, Polish author of maxims

7 likes
AristotleKnowledge of the fact differs from knowledge of the reason for the fact.

—  Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

6 likes
Blaise PascalTo understand is to forgive.

—  Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, French thinker

6 likes
Baruch SpinozaThe highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.

—  Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677, Dutch philosopher

6 likes
Jules VerneIt is only when you suffer that you really understand.

—  Jules Verne, 1826-1905, French writer

6 likes
Vladimir NabokovThe breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

—  Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer

6 likes
Elbert HubbardIf men could only know each other, they would never either idolize or hate.

—  Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915, American writer

5 likes
Georg Christoph LichtenbergWe accumulate our opinions at an age when our understanding is at its weakest.

—  Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, 1742-1799, German author of maxims

5 likes
Zsa Zsa GaborYou never really know a man until you have divorced him.

—  Zsa Zsa Gabor, 1917-2016, Hungarian-American actress

4 likes
Fernando PessoaTo be understood is to prostitute yourself.

—  Fernando Pessoa, 1888-1935, Portuguese poet & writer

4 likes
Helen RowlandWhen two people decide to get a divorce, it isn't a sign that they “don't understand” one another, but a sign that they have, at last, begun to.

—  Helen Rowland, 1875-1950, American journalist & humorist

4 likes
RumiThe soul has been given its own ears to hear things mind does not understand.

—  Rumi, 1207-1273, Persian mystic & poet

4 likes
Terry PratchettA European says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with me?
An American says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with him?

—  Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer

4 likes
QuintilianWe should not speak so that it is possible for the audience to understand us, but so that it is impossible for them to misunderstand us.

—  Quintilian, 35-96 AD, Roman rhetorician

4 likes
Pablo PicassoPeople want to find a meaning in everything and everyone. That's the disease of our age.

—  Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter

3 likes
Albert EinsteinEveryone likes me, yet nobody understands me.

—  Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German-Jewish physicist

3 likes
ConfuciusI hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

—  Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher

3 likes
William BlakeWhat is grand is necessarily obscure to weak men. That which can be made explicit to the idiot is not worth my care.

—  William Blake, 1757-1827, English poet & painter

3 likes
Charles Caleb ColtonHe that will only believe what he can fully comprehend must either have a very long head, or a very short creed.

—  Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832, English cleric & writer

3 likes
Eleanor RooseveltUnderstanding is a two-way street.

—  Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, Wife of the 32nd USA president

3 likes
Vincent Van GoghWhen you prove yourself capable of one thing and you understand one subject, you can be sure to understand many more.

—  Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter

3 likes
Thomas HobbesUnderstanding being nothing else, but conception caused by Speech.

—  Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, English philosopher

3 likes
Joseph JoubertClose your eyes and see.

—  Joseph Joubert, 1754-1824, French author of maxims

3 likes
Mignon McLaughlinNeurotics are sure that no one understands them, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

—  Mignon McLaughlin, 1913-1983, American magazine editor

2 likes
Arthur Clarke“Now I understand,” said the last man.

—  Arthur Clarke, 1917-2008, British Sci-Fi writer

2 likes
ConfuciusI am not bothered by the fact that I am not understood. I am bothered when I do not understand others.

—  Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher

2 likes
Robert FrostThe greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended — and not to take a hint when a hint isn't intended.

—  Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet

2 likes
Saint AugustineDo not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe in order to understand.

—  Saint Augustine, 354-430, Christian theologian & philosopher

2 likes
Italo CalvinoYou’ll understand when you've forgotten what you understood before.

—  Italo Calvino, 1923-1985, Italian writer

Thomas CarlyleImagination is a poor matter when it has to part company with understanding.

—  Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, English writer

Franz Kafka A first sign of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die.

—  Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Bohemian writer

Lenny BruceLiberals can understand everything but people who don't understand them.

—  Lenny Bruce, 1925-1966, American comedian

George EliotThe responsibility of tolerance lies in those who have the wider vision.

—  George Eliot, 1819-1880, English writer

Nikos KazantzakisI once saw a bee drowned in honey and then I understood.

—  Nikos Kazantzakis, 1883-1957, Greek writer

Odysseas ElytisWhen superstitions reach a mathematical clarity, they lead us to a deeper knowledge of the world.

—  Odysseas Elytis, 1911-1996, Greek poet, Nobel 1979

Antoine RivarolWe spend half our life remembering without understanding, and the other half understanding without remembering.

—  Antoine Rivarol, 1753-1801, French author of maxims

John SteinbeckTry to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.

—  John Steinbeck, 1902-1968, American writer, Nobel 1962

Aldοus HuxleyI’m afraid of losing my obscurity. Genuineness only thrives in the dark. Like celery.

—  Aldοus Huxley, 1894-1963, English writer

Bertolt BrechtPeople who understand everything get no stories.

—  Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956, German writer

William MaxwellMy father represented authority, which meant—to me—that he could not also represent understanding.

—  William Maxwell, 1908-2000, American writer

William Hazlitt I’m not smart. I try to observe. Millions saw the apple fall but Newton was the one who asked why.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

André MalrauxTo understand what the outside of an aquarium looks like, it’s better not to be a fish.

—  André Malraux, 1901-1976, French writer & statesman

William Hazlitt To get others to come into our ways of thinking, we must go over to theirs; and it is necessary to follow, in order to lead.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

Terry PratchettIf you stopped tellin’ people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive.

—  Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer

William FaulknerTo understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.

—  William Faulkner, 1897-1962, American writer, Nobel 1949

Martin HeideggerMaking itself intelligible is suicide for philosophy.

—  Martin Heidegger, 1889-1976, German philosopher

Marshall McLuhanThe percept takes priority of the concept.

—  Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980, Canadian academic & media theorist

Marshall McLuhanIt is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behaviour.

—  Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980, Canadian academic & media theorist

Sri AurobindoYoga is a generic name for any discipline by which one attempts to pass out of the limits of one’s ordinary mental consciousness into a greater spiritual consciousness.

—  Sri Aurobindo, 1872-1950, Indian nationalist, yogi & philosopher

Sri AurobindoThat within us which seeks to know and to progress is not the mind but something behind it which makes use of it.

—  Sri Aurobindo, 1872-1950, Indian nationalist, yogi & philosopher

Sri AurobindoIn order to see, you have to stop being in the middle of the picture.

—  Sri Aurobindo, 1872-1950, Indian nationalist, yogi & philosopher

Henri JeansonOn the floor we argue, but in bed we explain. And on the pillow, we understand each other!

—  Henri Jeanson, 1900-1970, French critic & columnist

Alexandre DumasLearning does not make one learned: there are those who have knowledge and those who have understanding. The first requires memory and the second philosophy.

—  Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870, French writer

Douglas AdamsI'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.

—  Douglas Adams, 1952-2001, British Sci-Fi writer

José SaramagoWe use words to understand each other and even, sometimes, to find each other.

—  José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998]

José SaramagoThe difficult thing isn't living with other people, it's understanding them.

—  José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998]

     (Blindness, 1995)

Søren KierkegaardIf you think you understand it, it isn't God.

—  Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Danish philosopher

Edgar Allan PoeAnd now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but overacuteness of the senses?

—  Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer

Frank HerbertThe ultimate test ... to see the good in evil and the evil in good.

—  Frank Herbert, 1920-1986, American sci-fi writer

Arthur Conan DoyleAnything seems commonplace, once explained.

—  Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859-1930, British writer

Nicolas Gomez DavilaClarity of text is the only clear sign of the maturity of an idea.

—  Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994, Colombian writer

Leonardo da VinciThe artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of.

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

Leonardo da VinciNothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood.

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

Leonardo da VinciThe noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

Baltasar GracianDon't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.

—  Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658, Spanish writer

Funny Quotes

Jean-Paul SartreEverything has been figured out, except how to live.

—  Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905-1980, French philosopher

7 likes

Ancient Greek

EuripidesWisdom lies in clarity.

Σοφόν το σαφές.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Orestes

13 likes
SolonAnalyze the unknown based on the known.

Τα αφανή τοις φανεροίς τεκμαίρου.

—  Solon, 630-560 BC, Ancient Greek lawmaker & philosopher

8 likes
Marcus AureliusFocus on the essence of a thing, whether it be through actions or motives or appearances.

Πρόσεχε τω υποκειμένω ή τη ενεργεία ή τω δόγματι ή τω σημαινομένω.

—  Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor ‐ Meditations VII, 22

     ((Hannibal Lecter paraphrased this…))

6 likes
SophoclesThe wise man understands the new things based on the old things.

Ανήρ έννους τα καινά τοις πάλαι τεκμαίρεται.

—  Sophocles, 496-406 BC, Ancient tragic poet

5 likes

Movie Quotes

Duck Soup (1933)Why, a four year-old child could understand this report. Run out and find me a four year-old child.

—  from the film Duck Soup (1933)

5 likes



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Similar Topics

Intelligence

Conclusion

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Self-knowledge

Knowledge

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Listening

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Reality

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