--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What can I know? What ought I to do? What…" description: "\"What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?\" — Immanuel Kant" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/immanuel-kant-532_hope_what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what_318575.jpg" --- # What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope? ![“What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?” quote by Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/immanuel-kant-532_hope_what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what_318575.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/immanuel-kant-532_hope_what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what_318575.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/immanuel-kant-532_hope_what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what_318575.jpg) > “What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?” [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Kant asks three fundamental questions: knowledge, duty, and hope, framing human inquiry. **In simple terms:** Kant explores knowledge, duty, hope. Key Takeaway Reflect on these questions for guidance. Themes philosophy ethics epistemology Mood inquisitive thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - personal development - ethical decision making Key Concepts categorical imperative practical reason Practical Applications - Answers may vary across cultures and contexts. Questions to Reflect On - How do these questions shape your life? A Different Perspective What do you know, what should you do, what do you hope? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Know Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-ought-673659/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Ought Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought-hope-3008151/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) ## Related quotes > [What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what-can-i-hope/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Do what you know you ought to do. Why should we ever go abroad, even across the way, to ask a neighbor's advice? There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/do-what-you-know-you-ought-to-do-why-should-we-ever-go-abroad-even/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [See that you do not use the trick of prayer to cover up what you know you ought to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/see-that-you-do-not-use-the-trick-of-prayer-to-cover-up-what-you-know/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [It is not sufficient to know what one ought to say, but one must also know how to say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/it-is-not-sufficient-to-know-what-one-ought-to-say-but-one-must-also/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“Perhaps you still think you ought to think out beforehand and know what you ought to do. To that there is only one answer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/perhaps-you-still-think-you-ought-to-think-out-beforehand-and-know/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [In effect, you're saying that if you knew how you oughtt to live, then the flaw is man could be controlled. If you knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/in-effect-you-re-saying-that-if-you-knew-how-you-oughtt-to-live-then/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [The most important part of every business is to know what ought to be done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/columella/the-most-important-part-of-every-business-is-to-know-what-ought-to-be/) [Columella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/columella/) > [Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/three-things-are-necessary-for-the-salvation-of-man-to-know-what-he/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [It is not enough to understand what we ought to be, unless we know what we are; and we do not understand what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-is-not-enough-to-understand-what-we-ought-to-be-unless-we-know/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-the-apostle/the-man-who-thinks-he-knows-something-does-not-yet-know-as-he-ought/) [Paul the Apostle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-the-apostle/) > [When men know not what to do, they ought not to do they know not what](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-men-know-not-what-to-do-they-ought-not-to-do-they-know-not-what/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How can you get very far, If you don't know who you are? How can you do what you ought, If you don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-hoff/how-can-you-get-very-far-if-you-don-t-know-who-you-are-how-can-you-do/) [Benjamin Hoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-hoff/) > [“God orders what we cannot do, that we may know what we ought to ask of him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/god-orders-what-we-cannot-do-that-we-may-know-what-we-ought-to-ask-of/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [“we know that men find themselves under a moral law, which they did not make, and cannot quite forget even when they try, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/we-know-that-men-find-themselves-under-a-moral-law-which-they-did-not/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [Don't think to come over me with th' old tale, that the rich know nothing of the trials of the poor; I say, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/don-t-think-to-come-over-me-with-th-old-tale-that-the-rich-know/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) ## More by Immanuel Kant > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [How then is perfection to be sought? Wherein lies our hope? In education, and in nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/how-then-is-perfection-to-be-sought-wherein-lies-our-hope-in/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Heaven has given human beings three things to balance the odds of life: hope, sleep, and laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/heaven-has-given-human-beings-three-things-to-balance-the-odds-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Beauty presents an indeterminate concept of Understanding, the sublime an indeterminate concept of Reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/beauty-presents-an-indeterminate-concept-of-understanding-the-sublime/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Philosophical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from concepts ; mathematical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from the construction of concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/philosophical-knowledge-is-the-knowledge-gained-by-reason-from/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-categorical-imperative-would-be-one-which-represented-an-action-as/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [When I could have used a wife, I could not support one; and when I could support one, I no longer needed any](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/when-i-could-have-used-a-wife-i-could-not-support-one-and-when-i/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Enlightenment is the liberation of man from his self-caused state of minority... Supere aude! Dare to use your own understanding!is thus the motto of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/enlightenment-is-the-liberation-of-man-from-his-self-caused-state-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The ideal of the supreme being is nothing but a regulative principle of reason which directs us to look upon all connection in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-ideal-of-the-supreme-being-is-nothing-but-a-regulative-principle/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“Jeg skal alltid handle slik at den regelen jeg handler etter kunne gjelde som allmenn lov.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/jeg-skal-alltid-handle-slik-at-den-regelen-jeg-handler-etter-kunne/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Deaths, births, and marriages, considering how much they are separately dependent on the freedom of the human will, should seem to be subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/deaths-births-and-marriages-considering-how-much-they-are-separately/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [It is precisely in knowing its limits that philosophy consists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/it-is-precisely-in-knowing-its-limits-that-philosophy-consists/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A society that is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody else’s life is simply immoral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-society-that-is-not-willing-to-demand-a-life-of-somebody-who-has/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [. . . as to moral feeling, this supposed special sense, the appeal to it is indeed superficial when those who cannot think believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/as-to-moral-feeling-this-supposed-special-sense-the-appeal-to-it-is/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Explore all 476 Immanuel Kant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## More Hope quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“What can we do in any hardship? We can hope with prayerful praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/what-can-we-do-in-any-hardship-we-can-hope-with-prayerful-praise/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Stop trying to give me hope ... I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-me-love-give-me-peace-on-earth-give-me-light-give-me-life-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pray, hope, don't worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-tasks-equal-to-your-powers-pray-for-powers-equal-to/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [I am at a point in my life where everything I have worked for starts to look like a burden, a weight on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-abou-samra/i-am-at-a-point-in-my-life-where-everything-i-have-worked-for-starts/) [Simone Abou Samra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-abou-samra/) > [Im really happy that I met you I hope you know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/im-really-happy-that-i-met-you-i-hope-you-know-that/) [Im Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-nothing/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 24,868 Hope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Immanuel Kant" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what-may-i-hope/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hope" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what-may-i-hope/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/immanuel-kant-532_hope_what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what_318575.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/immanuel-kant-532_hope_what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what_318575.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/immanuel-kant-532_hope_what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what_318575.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?” — Immanuel Kant", "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": "Immanuel Kant", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What can I know? What ought...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what-may-i-hope/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/what-can-i-know-what-ought-i-to-do-what-may-i-hope/#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 } } ] } ```