--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From my readings, I had learned of a vast…" description: "\"“From my readings, I had learned of a vast pool of human knowledge that both included books and went far beyond them in content and reach. The humans, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/david-zindell-19617_books_from-my-readings-i-had-learned-of-a-vast_1393270.jpg" --- # From my readings, I had learned of a vast pool of human… ![“From my readings, I had learned of a vast pool of human knowledge that both included books and went far beyond them in content and reach. The humans, of course, having only the faintest of intimations of quenging, use a different though related metaphor for the noosphere in which they like to dip…” quote by David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/david-zindell-19617_books_from-my-readings-i-had-learned-of-a-vast_1393270.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/david-zindell-19617_books_from-my-readings-i-had-learned-of-a-vast_1393270.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/david-zindell-19617_books_from-my-readings-i-had-learned-of-a-vast_1393270.jpg) > ““From my readings, I had learned of a vast pool of human knowledge that both included books and went far beyond them in content and reach. The humans, of course, having only the faintest of intimations of quenging, use a different though related metaphor for the noosphere in which they like to dip their feet. Instead of seeing the truth of all things as a single, superluminal substance that everywhere flows like water, they conceive of it as a collection of things, and they content themselves with fashioning nets with their minds in the hope of casting them out in order to capture here a prettier pebble and there a smoother shell. Hence their name for the Oceanic wisdom that should flow among all beings: the worldwide Net.”” [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote likens humanity’s collective knowledge to a vast ocean, suggesting we capture bits of insight like shells and pebbles using mental nets. **In simple terms:** Human knowledge is an ocean we fish from with ideas. Key Takeaway Seek diverse sources, not just single truths. Themes knowledge exploration collective intelligence Mood curious inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research - education - creative brainstorming - cross‑disciplinary collaboration Key Concepts noosphere network metaphor epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide which “pebble” to capture? - What limits the net of our collective understanding? A Different Perspective It may oversimplify complex knowledge into a metaphor that ignores power dynamics of information access. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Human knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-knowledge/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [If you become a helper of hearts, springs of wisdom will flow from your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-you-become-a-helper-of-hearts-springs-of-wisdom-will-flow-from/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“All Human Knowledge is precious whether or not it serves the slightest human use.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/housman/all-human-knowledge-is-precious-whether-or-not-it-serves-the/) Housman > [“Historically, holism had been a break from the reductionist methods of science. Holism (...) is a way of viewing the universe as a web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/historically-holism-had-been-a-break-from-the-reductionist-methods-of/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [“The most amazing mechanism in the known universe is the human brain; it takes in information all the time then uses it, all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-dubin/the-most-amazing-mechanism-in-the-known-universe-is-the-human-brain/) Amanda Dubin > [Those who want to row on the ocean of human knowledge do not get far, and the storm drives those out of their course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/those-who-want-to-row-on-the-ocean-of-human-knowledge-do-not-get-far/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [Furnished as all Europe now is with Academies of Science, with nice instruments and the spirit of experiment, the progress of human knowledge will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/furnished-as-all-europe-now-is-with-academies-of-science-with-nice/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Historic changes and challenges. Breakthroughs in human knowledge and opportunity. And yet, for vast numbers across the globe, the daily realities have not altered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/historic-changes-and-challenges-breakthroughs-in-human-knowledge-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To think, it seems to me, is to hold an idea long enough to unlock and shape its power in the varied contexts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-john-steiner/to-think-it-seems-to-me-is-to-hold-an-idea-long-enough-to-unlock-and/) Vera John-Steiner > [Modern man, seeking a middle position in the evaluation of sense impression and thought, can, following Plato , interpret the process of understanding nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-pauli/modern-man-seeking-a-middle-position-in-the-evaluation-of-sense/) [Wolfgang Pauli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-pauli/) > [On the ostensible exactitude of certain branches of human knowledge, including mathematics. The exactness is a fake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/on-the-ostensible-exactitude-of-certain-branches-of-human-knowledge/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge… is empathy, for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bullard/opinion-is-really-the-lowest-form-of-human-knowledge-it-requires-no/) Bill Bullard > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [My journey deep into coma, outside this lowly physical realm and into the loftiest dwelling place of the almighty Creator, revealed the indescribably immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-journey-deep-into-coma-outside-this-lowly-physical-realm-and-into/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More by David Zindell > [“The deep structure of the universe is pure consciousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/the-deep-structure-of-the-universe-is-pure-consciousness/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [“Historically, holism had been a break from the reductionist methods of science. Holism (...) is a way of viewing the universe as a web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/historically-holism-had-been-a-break-from-the-reductionist-methods-of/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [We are the eyes through which the Univers observes itself and knows itself divine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/we-are-the-eyes-through-which-the-univers-observes-itself-and-knows/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [For it is only in accepting death that one can truly live, and for the human animal, death has always been the great black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/for-it-is-only-in-accepting-death-that-one-can-truly-live-and-for-the/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [ If you kill me, you kill yourself." \[...\] He only wanted to convey to Janegg the truth of ahimsa, which is that all beings… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/if-you-kill-me-you-kill-yourself-he-only-wanted-to-convey-to-janegg/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [We walk the brink of racial suicide because we were smart enough to make atomic bombs and stupid enough to use them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/we-walk-the-brink-of-racial-suicide-because-we-were-smart-enough-to/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [A man lusts to become a god…and there is murder. Murder upon murder upon murder. Why is the world of men nothing but murder?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/a-man-lusts-to-become-a-god-and-there-is-murder-murder-upon-murder/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [Who would bring light must endure burning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/who-would-bring-light-must-endure-burning/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [“The number two, he thought, was an ominous number. Two is a reflection or duplication of one, the most perfect of the natural numbers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/the-number-two-he-thought-was-an-ominous-number-two-is-a-reflection/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [ “Reality \[...\] at every level from photons to philosophical fancies to the consciousness of living organisms was fluid \[...\]. To break apart and confine… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/reality-at-every-level-from-photons-to-philosophical-fancies-to-the/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [“So many synapses,' Drisana said. 'Ten trillion synapses in the cortex alone.' Danlo made a fist and asked, 'What do the synapses look like?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/so-many-synapses-drisana-said-ten-trillion-synapses-in-the-cortex/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [“Science,’ he informed me, ‘might not yet have all the answers, but it is the only verifiable—and hence meaningful—way of asking the right questions.’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/science-he-informed-me-might-not-yet-have-all-the-answers-but-it-is/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [But it is the nature of life that no emotion is meant to last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/but-it-is-the-nature-of-life-that-no-emotion-is-meant-to-last-forever/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [ It's not enough to look for the truth, however a noble journey that might be. \[...\] You must be able to say "yes" to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/it-s-not-enough-to-look-for-the-truth-however-a-noble-journey-that/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [What is a human being, then?' A seed' A... seed?' An acorn that is unafraid to destroy itself in growing into a tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/what-is-a-human-being-then-a-seed-a-seed-an-acorn-that-is-unafraid-to/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) [Explore all 32 David Zindell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“From my readings, I had learned of a vast pool of human knowledge that both included books and went far beyond them in content and reach. The humans, of course, having only the faintest of intimations of quenging, use a different though related metaphor for the noosphere in which they like to dip their feet. Instead of seeing the truth of all things as a single, superluminal substance that everywhere flows like water, they conceive of it as a collection of things, and they content themselves with fashioning nets with their minds in the hope of casting them out in order to capture here a prettier pebble and there a smoother shell. 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