--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not that branches of knowledge…" description: "\"“It is not that branches of knowledge fight with one another, not poetry with anatomy, but fallacies, i.e., people. When a man does not understand a th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/anton-chekhov-298_knowledge_it-is-not-that-branches-of-knowledge-fig_1578559.jpg" --- # It is not that branches of knowledge fight with one… ![“It is not that branches of knowledge fight with one another, not poetry with anatomy, but fallacies, i.e., people. When a man does not understand a thing, he feels discord within himself: he seeks causes for this dissonance not in himself, as he should, but outside himself, and the result is war…” quote by Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/anton-chekhov-298_knowledge_it-is-not-that-branches-of-knowledge-fig_1578559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/anton-chekhov-298_knowledge_it-is-not-that-branches-of-knowledge-fig_1578559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/anton-chekhov-298_knowledge_it-is-not-that-branches-of-knowledge-fig_1578559.jpg) > ““It is not that branches of knowledge fight with one another, not poetry with anatomy, but fallacies, i.e., people. When a man does not understand a thing, he feels discord within himself: he seeks causes for this dissonance not in himself, as he should, but outside himself, and the result is war with something he does not understand.”” [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When people lack understanding, they project discord outward, leading to conflict with the unknown. **In simple terms:** Ignorance causes inner conflict and external war. Key Takeaway Seek self‑knowledge before blaming others. Themes philosophy psychology conflict Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - education - mediation - team dynamics Key Concepts cognitive dissonance self‑awareness Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions cause your inner discord? - How can you turn conflict into learning? A Different Perspective Self‑reflection can be uncomfortable and challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anatomy Fallacies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anatomy-fallacies-5958052/) [Causes Dissonance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes-dissonance-5958050/) [Dissonance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dissonance/) [Fallacies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallacies/) [Fallacies People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallacies-people-5958051/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Since the time of Plato and Aristotle philosophers have had an interest in taking note of common fallacies in reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randal-marlin/since-the-time-of-plato-and-aristotle-philosophers-have-had-an/) [Randal Marlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randal-marlin/) > [“Few fallacies are more dangerous or easier to fall into than that by which, having read a given book, we assume that we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-grudin/few-fallacies-are-more-dangerous-or-easier-to-fall-into-than-that-by/) [Robert Grudin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-grudin/) > [Leaving prices out of the picture is probably the source of more fallacies in economics than any other single misconception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/leaving-prices-out-of-the-picture-is-probably-the-source-of-more/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief-that-things-can-be-kept/) [Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/) > [“Death would not surprise us as often as it does, if we let go of the misbelief that newborns are less mortal than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/death-would-not-surprise-us-as-often-as-it-does-if-we-let-go-of-the/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [One of the most persistent fallacies about the Christian Church is that it kept learning alive during the Dark and Middle Ages. What the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/one-of-the-most-persistent-fallacies-about-the-christian-church-is/) [Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/) > [It is a fearful mistake for us to neglect the study of the Bible to investigate theories that are misleading, diverting minds from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/it-is-a-fearful-mistake-for-us-to-neglect-the-study-of-the-bible-to/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fallacies-do-not-cease-to-be-fallacies-because-they-become-fashions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If fallacies come knocking at my door,I'd rather feed, and shelter full a score,Than hide behind the black portcullis, doubt,And run the risk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/if-fallacies-come-knocking-at-my-door-i-d-rather-feed-and-shelter/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [“Any proposition containing the word "is" creates a linguistic structural confusion which will eventually give birth to serious fallacies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/any-proposition-containing-the-word-is-creates-a-linguistic/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. This is no accident. The inherent difficulties of the subject would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/economics-is-haunted-by-more-fallacies-than-any-other-study-known-to/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [Metaphysical fallacies contain the only clues we have to what thinking means to those who engage in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/metaphysical-fallacies-contain-the-only-clues-we-have-to-what/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“The arrow of time obscures memory of both past and future circumstance with innumerable fallacies, the least trivial of which is perception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-arrow-of-time-obscures-memory-of-both-past-and-future/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [At least half of the popular fallacies about economics come from assuming that economic activity is a zero-sum game, in which what is gained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/at-least-half-of-the-popular-fallacies-about-economics-come-from/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/economics-is-haunted-by-more-fallacies-than-any-other-study-known-to-2/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) ## More by Anton Chekhov > [“Using vile means to attain worthy ends makes the ends themselves vile. Let them ride on the backs of doctors and medical assistants, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/using-vile-means-to-attain-worthy-ends-makes-the-ends-themselves-vile/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [If ever my life can be of any use to you, come and claim it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/if-ever-my-life-can-be-of-any-use-to-you-come-and-claim-it/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [There are still many more days of failure ahead, whole seasons of failure, things will go terribly wrong, you will have huge disappointments ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/there-are-still-many-more-days-of-failure-ahead-whole-seasons-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“But here was all the timorousness and angularity of inexperienced youth, a feeling of awkwardness, and an impression of bewilderment, as if someone had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/but-here-was-all-the-timorousness-and-angularity-of-inexperienced/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“At the water's edge, barrels of pitch blazed like huge bonfires. 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They just want to wipe out the Krauts, finish, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/lebedev-france-has-a-clear-and-defined-policy-the-french-know-what/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“My holy of holies are the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom - freedom from force and falsity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/my-holy-of-holies-are-the-human-body-health-intelligence-talent/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“What we have, we do not treasure,” and what’s more we do not even love it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/what-we-have-we-do-not-treasure-and-what-s-more-we-do-not-even-love-it/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [No matter how corrupt and unjust a convict may be, he loves fairness more than anything else. If the people placed over him are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/no-matter-how-corrupt-and-unjust-a-convict-may-be-he-loves-fairness/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“It is my opinion that every woman can be a writer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-is-my-opinion-that-every-woman-can-be-a-writer/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“His reading suggested a man swimming in the sea among the wreckage of his ship, and trying to save his life by greedily clutching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/his-reading-suggested-a-man-swimming-in-the-sea-among-the-wreckage-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Experience often repeated, truly bitter experience, had taught him long ago that with decent people, especially Moscow people -- always slow to move and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/experience-often-repeated-truly-bitter-experience-had-taught-him-long/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Why do you always wear black?” "I am mourning for my life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/why-do-you-always-wear-black-i-am-mourning-for-my-life/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) [Explore all 679 Anton Chekhov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## More Dissonance quotes > [Ah, what is it we send up thither, where our thoughts are either a dissonance or a sweetness and a grace?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/ah-what-is-it-we-send-up-thither-where-our-thoughts-are-either-a/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [There is no one part of the brain which recognizes or responds emotionally to music. Instead, there are many different parts responding to different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/there-is-no-one-part-of-the-brain-which-recognizes-or-responds/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Dissonance is the truth about harmony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dissonance-is-the-truth-about-harmony/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I played to 20,000 people every day because people were walking on 5th Ave going to and from their jobs, and my sounds were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlemagne-palestine/i-played-to-20-000-people-every-day-because-people-were-walking-on/) [Charlemagne Palestine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlemagne-palestine/) > [After a while, if you're committed, you start to believe in the things in which you're praying. It's just cognitive dissonance. You can't live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs-2/after-a-while-if-you-re-committed-you-start-to-believe-in-the-things/) [A. J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs-2/) > [“Dissonance theory also exploded the self-flattering idea that we humans, being Homo sapiens, process information logically. On the contrary: If the new information is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-tavris-elliot-aronson/dissonance-theory-also-exploded-the-self-flattering-idea-that-we/) [Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-tavris-elliot-aronson/) > [If we understood the world, we would realize that there is a logic of harmony underlying its manifold apparent dissonances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-sibelius/if-we-understood-the-world-we-would-realize-that-there-is-a-logic-of/) [Jean Sibelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-sibelius/) > [Cherish what is dearest while you have it near you, and wait not till it is far away. Blind and deaf that we are;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/cherish-what-is-dearest-while-you-have-it-near-you-and-wait-not-till/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [One who knows how to appreciate color relationships, the influence of one color with another, their contrasts and dissonances, is promised an infinite variety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-delaunay/one-who-knows-how-to-appreciate-color-relationships-the-influence-of/) [Sonia Delaunay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-delaunay/) > [dissonance, n. Nights when I need to sleep and you can't. Days when I want to talk to you and you won't. Hours when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/dissonance-n-nights-when-i-need-to-sleep-and-you-can-t-days-when-i/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“cognitive dissonance is”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-sheldrake/cognitive-dissonance-is/) [Rupert Sheldrake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-sheldrake/) > [English audiences of working people are like an instrument that responds to the player. 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It's a language that was alien and then it's less and less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-jarrett/if-a-person-plays-dissonance-long-enough-it-will-sound-like/) [Keith Jarrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-jarrett/) [Browse all 111 Dissonance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dissonance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is not that branches of knowledge fight with one another, not poetry with anatomy, but fallacies, i.e., people. 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