--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Kant ... was also quite aware that \"the…" description: "\"Kant ... was also quite aware that \"the urgent need\" of reason is both different from and \"more than mere quest and desire for knowledge.\" Hence, the d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/hannah-arendt-610_activity_kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgen_966665.jpg" --- # Kant ... was also quite aware that "the urgent need" of… ![“Kant ... was also quite aware that "the urgent need" of reason is both different from and "more than mere quest and desire for knowledge." Hence, the distinguishing of the two faculties, reason and intellect, coincides with a distinction between two altogether different mental activities, thinking…” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/hannah-arendt-610_activity_kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgen_966665.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/hannah-arendt-610_activity_kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgen_966665.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/hannah-arendt-610_activity_kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgen_966665.jpg) > “Kant ... was also quite aware that "the urgent need" of reason is both different from and "more than mere quest and desire for knowledge." Hence, the distinguishing of the two faculties, reason and intellect, coincides with a distinction between two altogether different mental activities, thinking and knowing.” [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reason seeks knowledge, but its higher purpose is to guide action beyond mere curiosity. **In simple terms:** Reason drives action, not just knowledge. Key Takeaway Align intellect with purposeful action. Themes philosophy ethics politics Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - policy making - education - activism Key Concepts reason intellect action Questions to Reflect On - How does reason inform your decisions? - What distinguishes thinking from knowing? A Different Perspective Reason can be misapplied without moral grounding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire for knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-for-knowledge/) [Distinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinction/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Whether this propensity be one of those original principles in human nature of which no further account can be given; or whether, as seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/whether-this-propensity-be-one-of-those-original-principles-in-human/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [One can be sophisticated and believe in God. Reason and intellect are not to be laid aside where matters of religion are concerned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/one-can-be-sophisticated-and-believe-in-god-reason-and-intellect-are/) [Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/) > [Reason and intellect are opening wedges in an understanding of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/reason-and-intellect-are-opening-wedges-in-an-understanding-of-reality/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [“I don’t believe that the same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect—” “—intended us to forgo their use?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/i-don-t-believe-that-the-same-god-who-endowed-us-with-sense-reason/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [The reason why everything I do is so different is not because I'm trying to be provocative; it's simply a reflection of whatever was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devin-townsend/the-reason-why-everything-i-do-is-so-different-is-not-because-i-m/) [Devin Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devin-townsend/) > [My son is the reason why I write music. He's the reason why everything is different for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/my-son-is-the-reason-why-i-write-music-he-s-the-reason-why-everything-2/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) > [“The reason why we are all different is to allow us to; to keep learning about each other so we can keep working with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-dee-artner/the-reason-why-we-are-all-different-is-to-allow-us-to-to-keep/) [Dee Dee Artner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-dee-artner/) > [There was a time when metal ruled the world and I don't see any reason why it should be different now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zacky-vengeance/there-was-a-time-when-metal-ruled-the-world-and-i-don-t-see-any/) [Zacky Vengeance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zacky-vengeance/) > [“..:The reason that you are different and don't fit-in, is because you are destined for greatness and something very special. So don't get discourage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-garcia/the-reason-that-you-are-different-and-don-t-fit-in-is-because-you-are/) [Rafael Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-garcia/) > [The two explorers are given fictional names. But as in real life, they travel to the Amazon roughly a generation apart, in the early-to-mid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-cole/the-two-explorers-are-given-fictional-names-but-as-in-real-life-they/) [Tom Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-cole/) > [Exploration is the physical expression of the Intellectual Passion. And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apsley-cherry-garrard/exploration-is-the-physical-expression-of-the-intellectual-passion/) [Apsley Cherry-Garrard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apsley-cherry-garrard/) > [The origin of all science is the desire to know causes, and the origin of all false science is the desire to accept false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-origin-of-all-science-is-the-desire-to-know-causes-and-the-origin/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [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/) > [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/) > [Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive attracting and supporting investigators in their efforts; and just this knowledge, really grasped and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/ardent-desire-for-knowledge-in-fact-is-the-one-motive-attracting-and/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) ## More by Hannah Arendt > [“It means, first, that everything that appears in public can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity. For us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-means-first-that-everything-that-appears-in-public-can-be-seen-and/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-practice-of-violence-like-all-action-changes-the-world-but-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Nationalism always preserved this initial intimate loyalty to the government and never quite lost its function of preserving a precarious balance between nation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nationalism-always-preserved-this-initial-intimate-loyalty-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/forgiveness-is-the-key-to-action-and-freedom/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/death-not-merely-ends-life-it-also-bestows-upon-it-a-silent/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/only-crime-and-the-criminal-it-is-true-confront-us-with-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their abundance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/we-have-almost-succeeded-in-leveling-all-human-activities-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Totalitarian politics—far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist—use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/totalitarian-politics-far-from-being-simply-antisemitic-or-racist-or/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“It is like the distinction between war and peace: just as war takes place for the sake of peace, thus every kind of activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-like-the-distinction-between-war-and-peace-just-as-war-takes/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Every end in history necessarily contains a new beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/every-end-in-history-necessarily-contains-a-new-beginning/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) [Explore all 405 Hannah Arendt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) Gero Miesenbock > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Kant ... was also quite aware that \"the urgent need\" of reason is both different from and \"more than mere quest and desire for knowledge.\" Hence, the distinguishing of the two faculties, reason and intellect, coincides with a distinction between two altogether different mental activities, thinking and knowing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hannah Arendt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgent-need-of-reason-is-both/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Activity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgent-need-of-reason-is-both/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/hannah-arendt-610_activity_kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgen_966665.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/hannah-arendt-610_activity_kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgen_966665.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/hannah-arendt-610_activity_kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgen_966665.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kant ... was also quite aware that \"the urgent need\" of reason is both different from and \"more than mere…” — Hannah Arendt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Hannah Arendt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Kant ... was also quite aware...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgent-need-of-reason-is-both/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/kant-was-also-quite-aware-that-the-urgent-need-of-reason-is-both/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```