--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But 'true wisdom is such that no evil use…" description: "\"“But 'true wisdom is such that no evil use can ever be made of it.' That is worth our pondering because we, more than any previous generation, are witn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/ellen-f-davis-25448_knowledge_but-true-wisdom-is-such-that-no-evil-use_3040275.jpg" --- # But 'true wisdom is such that no evil use can ever be made… ![“But 'true wisdom is such that no evil use can ever be made of it.' That is worth our pondering because we, more than any previous generation, are witnessing the evil effects of perverted knowledge, knowledge not essentially connected to goodness. ... No other generation has been so successful at…” quote by Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/ellen-f-davis-25448_knowledge_but-true-wisdom-is-such-that-no-evil-use_3040275.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/ellen-f-davis-25448_knowledge_but-true-wisdom-is-such-that-no-evil-use_3040275.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/ellen-f-davis-25448_knowledge_but-true-wisdom-is-such-that-no-evil-use_3040275.jpg) > ““But 'true wisdom is such that no evil use can ever be made of it.' That is worth our pondering because we, more than any previous generation, are witnessing the evil effects of perverted knowledge, knowledge not essentially connected to goodness. ... No other generation has been so successful at using its technological knowledge in order to manipulate the world and satisfy its own appetites.”” [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Warns that knowledge without moral grounding can be weaponized, urging ethical reflection. **In simple terms:** Knowledge needs moral purpose, else it harms. Key Takeaway Align knowledge with goodness. Themes ethics technology knowledge Mood cautionary thought‑provoking Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - education - policy making - innovation Key Concepts moral philosophy social impact Questions to Reflect On - What moral checks guide your learning? - How can society ensure ethical tech? A Different Perspective Even good knowledge can be misused. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [True wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-wisdom/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [Everything has been said yet few have taken advantage of it. Since all our knowledge is essentially banal, it can only be of value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-vaneigem/everything-has-been-said-yet-few-have-taken-advantage-of-it-since-all/) [Raoul Vaneigem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-vaneigem/) > [Selfishness, if but reasonably tempered with wisdom, is not such an evil trait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-ruffini/selfishness-if-but-reasonably-tempered-with-wisdom-is-not-such-an/) [Giovanni Ruffini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-ruffini/) > [The world's oldest wisdom: each evil thought infuses the mind, sooner or later, with an unholy fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/the-world-s-oldest-wisdom-each-evil-thought-infuses-the-mind-sooner/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [“Nietzsche attacks the myth of a “pure” objective knowledge that could hover over reality without being implicated in it, that could, without prejudice or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-braver/nietzsche-attacks-the-myth-of-a-pure-objective-knowledge-that-could/) [Lee Braver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-braver/) > [To express the same idea in still another way, I think that human knowledge is essentially active.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/to-express-the-same-idea-in-still-another-way-i-think-that-human/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [We have freedom to do good or evil; yet to make choice of evil, is not to use, but to abuse our freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-francis-de-sales/we-have-freedom-to-do-good-or-evil-yet-to-make-choice-of-evil-is-not/) [Saint Francis de Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-francis-de-sales/) > [“People are given full freedom of decision-making Some use it for good and be good Some use it for evil, and be evil When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slobodan-boban-manic/people-are-given-full-freedom-of-decision-making-some-use-it-for-good/) [Slobodan Boban Manic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slobodan-boban-manic/) > [“What we’re fighting ... what mankind has always been fighting ... is evil. Evil will always use the most expedient route to achieve its goal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lyman/what-we-re-fighting-what-mankind-has-always-been-fighting-is-evil/) John Lyman > [“History has taught us that the nature of man is evil, sublimely so. Good is not perfectible, but evil is. Why should you not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/history-has-taught-us-that-the-nature-of-man-is-evil-sublimely-so/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [“Knowledge is true strength. Understanding is true might. Wisdom is true power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/knowledge-is-true-strength-understanding-is-true-might-wisdom-is-true/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know. This is true wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/what-you-know-you-know-what-you-don-t-know-you-don-t-know-this-is/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [True wisdom gives the only possible answer at any given moment, and that night, going back to bed was the only possible answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/true-wisdom-gives-the-only-possible-answer-at-any-given-moment-and/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-arliss/humility-is-the-only-true-wisdom-by-which-we-prepare-our-minds-for/) George Arliss > [“If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/if-men-learn-this-it-will-implant-forgetfulness-in-their-souls-they/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) ## More by Ellen F. Davis > [ “The Song \[of Solomon\] captures the ecstatic aspect of love that is the main subject of the whole Bible.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/the-song-of-solomon-captures-the-ecstatic-aspect-of-love-that-is-the/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“That the Old Testament represents God chiefly as angry Judge and vicious Warrior is a false stereotype. While these images are not absent, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/that-the-old-testament-represents-god-chiefly-as-angry-judge-and/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“...our role as comforters is not to solve the problem of pain; even less is it to stick up for God. Trying to vindicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/our-role-as-comforters-is-not-to-solve-the-problem-of-pain-even-less/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“The very idea of wisdom, as the Bible understands it, challenges the mind-set of our society and the view of knowledge that all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/the-very-idea-of-wisdom-as-the-bible-understands-it-challenges-the/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“And there we recognize that our frailty is not meant to cause us anxiety and sorrow. Rather, God means it to be a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/and-there-we-recognize-that-our-frailty-is-not-meant-to-cause-us/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“The Garden of Eden was the place where the first human creatures might have acquired wisdom: Eden was the place for total intimacy with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/the-garden-of-eden-was-the-place-where-the-first-human-creatures/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“What gives a liturgy its plot? A liturgy is always a sort of drama, that is, an intentional sequence of events, however simple or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/what-gives-a-liturgy-its-plot-a-liturgy-is-always-a-sort-of-drama/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“Contrition means finding the courage to let your heart break over sin. Willfully letting your heart break and then offering the pieces to God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/contrition-means-finding-the-courage-to-let-your-heart-break-over-sin/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“The fourth-century Greek theologian St. John Chrysostom said that Job's greatest trial was that his wife was not taken.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/the-fourth-century-greek-theologian-st-john-chrysostom-said-that-job/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [ “God accommodates \[Moses'\] complaints and makes in-course corrections. God does not take a human being so fully into the divine confidence--you might say, God… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/god-accommodates-moses-complaints-and-makes-in-course-corrections-god/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“The problem was acutely described in 1909 in a penetrating essay by Adolf Schlatter: According to the sceptical position, it is true that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/the-problem-was-acutely-described-in-1909-in-a-penetrating-essay-by/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“...Job rails against God, not as a skeptic, not as a stranger to God's justice, but precisely as a believer. It is the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/job-rails-against-god-not-as-a-skeptic-not-as-a-stranger-to-god-s/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“For us the true measure of our wisdom will never be the grade point average we covet, a degree or rank, the right job,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/for-us-the-true-measure-of-our-wisdom-will-never-be-the-grade-point/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“If God has a best friend (and why not?), then surely it is Moses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/if-god-has-a-best-friend-and-why-not-then-surely-it-is-moses/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) > [“The sufferer who keeps looking for God has, in the end, privileged knowledge. ... She passes through a door that only pain will open,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-f-davis/the-sufferer-who-keeps-looking-for-god-has-in-the-end-privileged/) [Ellen F. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) [Explore all 23 Ellen F. Davis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-f-davis/) ## More Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But 'true wisdom is such that no evil use can ever be made of it.' 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