--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The primary use of knowledge is for such…" description: "\"The primary use of knowledge is for such guidance of conduct under all circumstances as shall make living complete. All other uses of knowledge are sec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/herbert-spencer-1765_circumstances_the-primary-use-of-knowledge-is-for-such_1401387.jpg" --- # The primary use of knowledge is for such guidance of… ![“The primary use of knowledge is for such guidance of conduct under all circumstances as shall make living complete. All other uses of knowledge are secondary.” quote by Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/herbert-spencer-1765_circumstances_the-primary-use-of-knowledge-is-for-such_1401387.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/herbert-spencer-1765_circumstances_the-primary-use-of-knowledge-is-for-such_1401387.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/188/herbert-spencer-1765_circumstances_the-primary-use-of-knowledge-is-for-such_1401387.jpg) > “The primary use of knowledge is for such guidance of conduct under all circumstances as shall make living complete. All other uses of knowledge are secondary.” [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge primarily guides moral conduct; other uses are secondary. **In simple terms:** Knowledge should direct ethical living. Key Takeaway Use knowledge to guide actions. Themes ethics knowledge purpose Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - education curricula - policy making - personal decision making Key Concepts philosophy morality practical wisdom Questions to Reflect On - How does knowledge shape your daily choices? - What knowledge is most useful for ethical living? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on guidance may neglect innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Guidance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guidance/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Use of knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-of-knowledge/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [The only use of knowledge of the past is to equip us for the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-only-use-of-knowledge-of-the-past-is-to-equip-us-for-the-present/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [What is needed is the development in men of that particular type of skill which will enable them to make social use of knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-angell/what-is-needed-is-the-development-in-men-of-that-particular-type-of/) [Norman Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-angell/) > [Wisdom is the use of knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-millman/wisdom-is-the-use-of-knowledge/) [Dan Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-millman/) > [Wisdom is the right use of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/wisdom-is-the-right-use-of-knowledge/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [To know is not to be wise. To know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/to-know-is-not-to-be-wise-to-know-how-to-use-knowledge-is-to-have/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“Emphasizing the ability of products to augment human capacity can help us refine what we understand as the economy. It helps us see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sar-a-hidalgo/emphasizing-the-ability-of-products-to-augment-human-capacity-can/) César A. Hidalgo > [All along we find that social life - religion, politics, art - reflects the stages reached in the development of the knowledge of self;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mark-baldwin/all-along-we-find-that-social-life-religion-politics-art-reflects-the/) [James Mark Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mark-baldwin/) > [The imagination never forgets; it is a re-membering. 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Samuelsson > [If one writing contributed more than any other to the framework in which this work Sowell's Knowledge and Decisions developed, it would be an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/if-one-writing-contributed-more-than-any-other-to-the-framework-in/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [most of us persist in regarding leadership as synonymous with - indeed solely derived from - high position. 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Radicalism endeavours to realize a state more in harmony with the character of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/conservatism-defends-those-coercive-arrangements-which-a-still/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that pain shall not be inflicted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/absolute-morality-is-the-regulation-of-conduct-in-such-a-way-that/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When a man's knowledge is not in order, the more of it he has the greater will be his confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/when-a-man-s-knowledge-is-not-in-order-the-more-of-it-he-has-the/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The cruelty of a Fijian god, who, represented as devouring the souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the process,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-cruelty-of-a-fijian-god-who-represented-as-devouring-the-souls-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The liberty the citizen enjoys is to be measured not by governmental machinery he lives under, whether representative or other, but by the paucity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-liberty-the-citizen-enjoys-is-to-be-measured-not-by-governmental/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [I had a great dislike to the annoyances entailed by baggage; and it was always with some feeling of elation that I cut myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/i-had-a-great-dislike-to-the-annoyances-entailed-by-baggage-and-it/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity…It is a part of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/progress-therefore-is-not-an-accident-but-a-necessity-it-is-a-part-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Surely in much talk there cannot choose but be much vanity. Loquacity is the fistula of the mind,--ever-running and almost incurable, let every man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/surely-in-much-talk-there-cannot-choose-but-be-much-vanity-loquacity/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-one-can-be-perfectly-free-till-all-are-free-no-one-can-be/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Only when Genius is married to Science can the highest results be produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/only-when-genius-is-married-to-science-can-the-highest-results-be/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [It cannot but happen?that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces? This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/it-cannot-but-happen-that-those-will-survive-whose-functions-happen/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“Before he can remake his society, his society must make him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/before-he-can-remake-his-society-his-society-must-make-him/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) [Explore all 210 Herbert Spencer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## More Circumstances quotes > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. 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She and her colleagues take care of children left behind by circumstances beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/my-sister-in-law-works-for-a-group-that-supports-orphanages-in-cairo/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [It's impossible to know who Donald might have been under different circumstances and with different parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-l-trump/it-s-impossible-to-know-who-donald-might-have-been-under-different/) [Mary L. Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) > [When we watch a play under the standard circumstances, we've lost volition and time is passing. A still play feels like an existential threat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/when-we-watch-a-play-under-the-standard-circumstances-we-ve-lost/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [Being positive helps you to keep away negative thoughts. And helps you to stand in adverse circumstances with the hope that in the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/being-positive-helps-you-to-keep-away-negative-thoughts-and-helps-you/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [It seemed to me that the human beings I met reacted pretty much the same to the same stimuli. Different idioms,yes. Circumstances and conditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/it-seemed-to-me-that-the-human-beings-i-met-reacted-pretty-much-the/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [I don't think you would have missed that putt, but in these circumstances, I would never give you the opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicklaus/i-don-t-think-you-would-have-missed-that-putt-but-in-these/) [Jack Nicklaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicklaus/) > [I used to think I could shape the circumstances around me, but now I know Jesus uses circumstances to shape me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/i-used-to-think-i-could-shape-the-circumstances-around-me-but-now-i/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [Instead of complaining about your circumstances, get busy creating new ones. You either suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-complaining-about-your-circumstances-get-busy-creating-new/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 4,560 Circumstances quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The primary use of knowledge is for such guidance of conduct under all circumstances as shall make living complete. 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