--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is…" description: "\"Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive attracting and supporting investigators in their efforts; and just this knowledge, really grasp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/claude-bernard-7455_ardent_ardent-desire-for-knowledge-in-fact-is-t_64169.png" --- # Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive… ![“Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive attracting and supporting investigators in their efforts; and just this knowledge, really grasped and yet always flying before them, becomes at once their sole torment and their sole happiness. Those who do not know the torment of the unknown…” quote by Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/claude-bernard-7455_ardent_ardent-desire-for-knowledge-in-fact-is-t_64169.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/claude-bernard-7455_ardent_ardent-desire-for-knowledge-in-fact-is-t_64169.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/claude-bernard-7455_ardent_ardent-desire-for-knowledge-in-fact-is-t_64169.png) > “Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive attracting and supporting investigators in their efforts; and just this knowledge, really grasped and yet always flying before them, becomes at once their sole torment and their sole happiness. Those who do not know the torment of the unknown cannot have the joy of discovery which is certainly the liveliest that the mind of man can ever feel.” [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The pursuit of knowledge drives investigators, making the unknown both a source of suffering and the greatest joy when uncovered. **In simple terms:** Knowledge fuels both torment and happiness. Key Takeaway Discovery is a paradoxical pleasure. Themes Curiosity Motivation Intellectual struggle Joy of learning Human nature Mood Inspired Reflective Awe Type Philosophical Motivational When to use this quote - Scientific research - Personal study - Exploring new fields - Solving complex problems Key Concepts Inquiry Emotion Cognition Practical Applications - Motivating research teams - Designing educational curricula Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to seek answers? - How do you balance the frustration of uncertainty with the excitement of discovery? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ardent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ardent/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire for knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-for-knowledge/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Investigators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investigators/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Torment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torment/) ## Related quotes > [Humanities deepest desire for knowledge is justification enough for continuing our quest. and our goal is nothing less than a complete description of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/humanities-deepest-desire-for-knowledge-is-justification-enough-for/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [I think a part of evolution is the desire to know yourself, and know the world you live in, and discover everything you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audra-mcdonald/i-think-a-part-of-evolution-is-the-desire-to-know-yourself-and-know/) [Audra McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audra-mcdonald/) > [Love is desire for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/love-is-desire-for-knowledge/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to commune with the spirit of the universe, to be intoxicated with the fumes, call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/my-desire-for-knowledge-is-intermittent-but-my-desire-to-commune-with/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [My father... never required me to study anything, but he knew how to inspire in me a great desire for knowledge. Before learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-marie-ampere/my-father-never-required-me-to-study-anything-but-he-knew-how-to/) [Andre-Marie Ampere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-marie-ampere/) > [The tiny, initial clue ... by allowing us to imagine what we do not know, stimulates a desire for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-tiny-initial-clue-by-allowing-us-to-imagine-what-we-do-not-know/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Restrain an inordinate desire for knowledge, in which is found much anxiety and deception. Learned men always wish to appear so, and desire recognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/restrain-an-inordinate-desire-for-knowledge-in-which-is-found-much/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [Once a man criticized my desire for knowledge by saying that it was not fitting for a woman to possess learning because there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-de-pizan/once-a-man-criticized-my-desire-for-knowledge-by-saying-that-it-was/) [Christine de Pizan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-de-pizan/) > [The search for truth is, as it always has been, the noblest expression of the human spirit. Man's insatiable desire for knowledge about himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-b-fosdick/the-search-for-truth-is-as-it-always-has-been-the-noblest-expression/) [Raymond B. Fosdick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-b-fosdick/) > [Man did not address his inquiries to the earth on which he stood until a remarkably late stage in the development of his desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-heinrich-ralph-von-koenigswald/man-did-not-address-his-inquiries-to-the-earth-on-which-he-stood/) Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald > [My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to bathe my head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/my-desire-for-knowledge-is-intermittent-but-my-desire-to-bathe-my/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [ Wonder is defined by Thomas \[Aquinas\] in the Summa Theologiae \[I-II, Q. 32, a. 8\], as the desiderium sciendi, the desire for knowledge, active… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-pieper/wonder-is-defined-by-thomas-aquinas-in-the-summa-theologiae-i-ii-q-32/) [Josef Pieper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-pieper/) > [The joy of discovery is certainly the liveliest that the mind of man can ever feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/the-joy-of-discovery-is-certainly-the-liveliest-that-the-mind-of-man/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [The fact that knowledge endlessly recedes as the investigator is about to grasp it is what constitutes at the same time his torment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/the-fact-that-knowledge-endlessly-recedes-as-the-investigator-is/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [We must remain, in a word, in an intellectual disposition which seems paradoxical, but which, in my opinion, represents the true mind of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/we-must-remain-in-a-word-in-an-intellectual-disposition-which-seems/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) ## More by Claude Bernard > [In every enterprise ... the mind is always reasoning, and, even when we seem to act without a motive, an instinctive logic still directs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/in-every-enterprise-the-mind-is-always-reasoning-and-even-when-we/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Descriptive anatomy is to physiology what geography is to history, and just as it is not enough to know the typography of a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/descriptive-anatomy-is-to-physiology-what-geography-is-to-history-and/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Mediocre men often have the most acquired knowledge. It is in the darker. It is in the darker regions of science that great men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/mediocre-men-often-have-the-most-acquired-knowledge-it-is-in-the/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [If I had to define life in a single phrase, I should clearly express my thought of throwing into relief one characteristic which, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/if-i-had-to-define-life-in-a-single-phrase-i-should-clearly-express/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [The investigator should have a robust faith - and yet not believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/the-investigator-should-have-a-robust-faith-and-yet-not-believe/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Even mistaken hypotheses and theories are of use in leading to discoveries. This remark is true in all the sciences. The alchemists founded chemistry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/even-mistaken-hypotheses-and-theories-are-of-use-in-leading-to/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Tout est poison, rien n'est poison, tout est une question de dose. Everything is poisonous, nothing is poisonous, it is all a matter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/tout-est-poison-rien-n-est-poison-tout-est-une-question-de-dose/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [A fact in itself is nothing. It is valuable only for the idea attached to it, or for the proof which it furnishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/a-fact-in-itself-is-nothing-it-is-valuable-only-for-the-idea-attached/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/it-is-what-we-know-already-that-often-prevents-us-from-learning/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [We must remain, in a word, in an intellectual disposition which seems paradoxical, but which, in my opinion, represents the true mind of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/we-must-remain-in-a-word-in-an-intellectual-disposition-which-seems/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [The fact that knowledge endlessly recedes as the investigator is about to grasp it is what constitutes at the same time his torment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/the-fact-that-knowledge-endlessly-recedes-as-the-investigator-is/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [But while I accept specialization in the practice, I reject it utterly in the theory of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/but-while-i-accept-specialization-in-the-practice-i-reject-it-utterly/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Men who have excessive faith in their theories ... make poor observations, because they choose among the results of their experiments only what suits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/men-who-have-excessive-faith-in-their-theories-make-poor-observations/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [First causes are outside the realm of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/first-causes-are-outside-the-realm-of-science/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Progress is achieved by exchanging our theories for new ones which go further than the old, until we find one based on a larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/progress-is-achieved-by-exchanging-our-theories-for-new-ones-which-go/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) [Explore all 91 Claude Bernard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) ## More Ardent quotes > [There are courageous and honest men enough in both sections to fight. There is no question of courage involved. The people of both sections…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/there-are-courageous-and-honest-men-enough-in-both-sections-to-fight/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [I am a Zionist, an ardent supporter of Israel, its defender when I deem Israel to be right and its critic when I deem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-bikel/i-am-a-zionist-an-ardent-supporter-of-israel-its-defender-when-i-deem/) [Theodore Bikel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-bikel/) > [I am an ardent supporter of Israel in all situations and in all circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mulcair/i-am-an-ardent-supporter-of-israel-in-all-situations-and-in-all/) [Thomas Mulcair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mulcair/) > [Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans, but I have some friends who are NASCAR team owners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/not-as-closely-as-some-of-the-most-ardent-fans-but-i-have-some/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) > [The person who inspired me the most was a friend of mine, Anita Roddick. I know that Anita wasn't known to be an ardent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/the-person-who-inspired-me-the-most-was-a-friend-of-mine-anita/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [I rejoice that liberty . . . now finds an asylum in the bosom of a regularly organized government; a government, which, being formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/i-rejoice-that-liberty-now-finds-an-asylum-in-the-bosom-of-a/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [A sick man, surrounded by those who love him, nursed by those who wish earnestly that he should live, will recover (all other things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-sick-man-surrounded-by-those-who-love-him-nursed-by-those-who-wish/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [If a man has a very decided character, has a strongly accentuated career, it is normally the case of course that he makes ardent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/if-a-man-has-a-very-decided-character-has-a-strongly-accentuated/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The idea of restraining the legislative authority, in the means of providing for the national defense, is one of those refinements which owe their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-idea-of-restraining-the-legislative-authority-in-the-means-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Love is not a mere emotion or sentiment. It is the lucid and ardent responses of the whole person to a value that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/love-is-not-a-mere-emotion-or-sentiment-it-is-the-lucid-and-ardent/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The Battle for the Philippines was the greatest naval battle in history, judged in terms of the number of ships taking part, the number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hough/the-battle-for-the-philippines-was-the-greatest-naval-battle-in/) Richard Hough > [From the day I started to think politically and to develop my own moral values, from my earliest youth, I have been an ardent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-spielberg/from-the-day-i-started-to-think-politically-and-to-develop-my-own/) [Steven Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-spielberg/) > [The saddest thing in the world was that human beings, for all their ardent striving and desire, could never achieve physical, emotional, or intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/the-saddest-thing-in-the-world-was-that-human-beings-for-all-their/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“He was young and ardent in a hundred happy ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-was-young-and-ardent-in-a-hundred-happy-ways/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Learn to foster an ardent imagination; so shall you descry beauty which others passed unheeded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-douglas/learn-to-foster-an-ardent-imagination-so-shall-you-descry-beauty/) [Norman Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-douglas/) [Browse all 183 Ardent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ardent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive attracting and supporting investigators in their efforts; and just this knowledge, really grasped and yet always flying before them, becomes at once their sole torment and their sole happiness. 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