--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Surely knowledge of the natural world…" description: "\"Surely knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the human condition, knowledge of the nature and dynamics of society, knowledge of the past so that..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/jerome-bruner-16149_artistic_surely-knowledge-of-the-natural-world-kn_1585737.png" --- # Surely knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the… ![“Surely knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the human condition, knowledge of the nature and dynamics of society, knowledge of the past so that one may use it in experiencing the present and aspiring to the future--all of these, it would seem reasonable to suppose, are essential to an…” quote by Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/jerome-bruner-16149_artistic_surely-knowledge-of-the-natural-world-kn_1585737.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/jerome-bruner-16149_artistic_surely-knowledge-of-the-natural-world-kn_1585737.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57e/jerome-bruner-16149_artistic_surely-knowledge-of-the-natural-world-kn_1585737.png) > “Surely knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the human condition, knowledge of the nature and dynamics of society, knowledge of the past so that one may use it in experiencing the present and aspiring to the future--all of these, it would seem reasonable to suppose, are essential to an educated man. To these must be added another--knowledge of the products of our artistic heritage that mark the history of our esthetic wonder and delight.” [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A well‑rounded education requires knowledge of nature, humanity, society, history, and artistic heritage to understand present and future **In simple terms:** Education needs science, humanity, history, and art to be complete Key Takeaway Cultivate interdisciplinary learning for deeper insight Themes education interdisciplinarity humanities Mood inspirational thought‑provoking Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - school curricula - lifelong learning programs - museum visits - literature studies Key Concepts cognitive development cultural literacy historical context Questions to Reflect On - How can curricula balance depth and breadth? - What role does art play in shaping future aspirations? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on specialization can limit holistic understanding ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Educated man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-man/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Heritage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heritage/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge of the past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-of-the-past/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Natural world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-world/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The only use of a knowledge of the past is to equip us for the present. The present contains all that there is. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-only-use-of-a-knowledge-of-the-past-is-to-equip-us-for-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The knowledge of the past times and of the places of the earth is both an ornament and nutriment to the human mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-knowledge-of-the-past-times-and-of-the-places-of-the-earth-is/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Somehow, we have to get older people back close to growing children if we are to restore a sense of community, acquire knowledge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/somehow-we-have-to-get-older-people-back-close-to-growing-children-if/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [With the historian it is an article of faith that knowledge of the past is a key to understanding the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-m-stampp/with-the-historian-it-is-an-article-of-faith-that-knowledge-of-the/) Kenneth M. Stampp > [It has been the resolution of mankind in all ages of the world. No people, no age, ever threw away the fruits of past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/it-has-been-the-resolution-of-mankind-in-all-ages-of-the-world-no/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Most of all, perhaps, we need an intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has anything magical about it, but we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/most-of-all-perhaps-we-need-an-intimate-knowledge-of-the-past-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [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/) > [How surely a knowledge of the world hardens the heart!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-calder-n-de-la-barca/how-surely-a-knowledge-of-the-world-hardens-the-heart/) [Pedro Calderon de la Barca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-calder-n-de-la-barca/) > [To understand what happens now one must find the cause, which may be very long ago in its beginning, but is surely there, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/to-understand-what-happens-now-one-must-find-the-cause-which-may-be/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Knowledge of the past and an optimistic view of the present give you great opportunities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/knowledge-of-the-past-and-an-optimistic-view-of-the-present-give-you/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [I am afraid that I do not believe that any body of men can have enough knowledge of the past, the present and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-cowperthwaite/i-am-afraid-that-i-do-not-believe-that-any-body-of-men-can-have/) [John James Cowperthwaite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-cowperthwaite/) > [Trust God's love. His perfect love. Don't fear He will discover your past. He already has. Don't fear disappointing Him in the future. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/trust-god-s-love-his-perfect-love-don-t-fear-he-will-discover-your/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat the eleventh grade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-w-loewen/those-who-don-t-remember-the-past-are-condemned-to-repeat-the/) [James W. Loewen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-w-loewen/) > [To find the point where hypothesis and fact meet; the delicate equilibrium between dream and reality; the place where fantasy and earthly things are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-smith/to-find-the-point-where-hypothesis-and-fact-meet-the-delicate/) [Lillian Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-smith/) > [It may be said, almost without qualification, that true wisdom consists in the ready and accurate perception of analogies. Without the former quality, knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/it-may-be-said-almost-without-qualification-that-true-wisdom-consists/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) ## More by Jerome Bruner > [In time, and as one comes to benefit from experience, one learns that things will turn out neither as well as one hoped nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/in-time-and-as-one-comes-to-benefit-from-experience-one-learns-that/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [Education must, be not only a transmission of culture but also a provider of alternative views of the world and a strengthener of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/education-must-be-not-only-a-transmission-of-culture-but-also-a/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [Agency presupposes choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/agency-presupposes-choice/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [The agentive mind is not only active in nature, but it seeks out dialogue and discourse with other active minds. And it is through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/the-agentive-mind-is-not-only-active-in-nature-but-it-seeks-out/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [Teaching is the canny art of intellectual temptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/teaching-is-the-canny-art-of-intellectual-temptation/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [Passion, like discriminating taste, grows on its use. You more likely act yourself into feeling than feel yourself into action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/passion-like-discriminating-taste-grows-on-its-use-you-more-likely/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [It is sentimentalism to assume that the teaching of life can always be fitted to the child's interests, just as it is empty formalism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/it-is-sentimentalism-to-assume-that-the-teaching-of-life-can-always/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [The notion of multiple literacies recognized that there are many ways of being-and of becoming-literate, and that how literacy develops and how it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/the-notion-of-multiple-literacies-recognized-that-there-are-many-ways/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [The essence of creativity is figuring out how to use what you already know in order to go beyond what you already think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/the-essence-of-creativity-is-figuring-out-how-to-use-what-you-already/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > ["Thinking about thinking" has to be a principle ingredient of any empowering practice of education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/thinking-about-thinking-has-to-be-a-principle-ingredient-of-any/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [Organizing facts in terms of principles and ideas from which they may be inferred is the only known way of reducing the quick rate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/organizing-facts-in-terms-of-principles-and-ideas-from-which-they-may/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [Telling others about oneself is...no simple matter. It depends on what we think they think we ought to be like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/telling-others-about-oneself-is-no-simple-matter-it-depends-on-what/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [In reference to right answers - Knowing is a process, not a product.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/in-reference-to-right-answers-knowing-is-a-process-not-a-product/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [We begin with the hypothesis that any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/we-begin-with-the-hypothesis-that-any-subject-can-be-taught/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) > [Understanding something in one way does not preclude understanding it in other ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-bruner/understanding-something-in-one-way-does-not-preclude-understanding-it/) [Jerome Bruner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) [Explore all 40 Jerome Bruner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-bruner/) ## More Artistic quotes > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [We don't make glamorous movies today. Everything now is very realistic, artistic - and depressing. When is the last time you you saw a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-head/we-don-t-make-glamorous-movies-today-everything-now-is-very-realistic/) [Edith Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-head/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/in-a-personal-way-to-do-with-family-and-the-father-son-relationship/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [It took me a long time to get to where I am, but I am here and it is everywhere I want to be.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-nokia/it-took-me-a-long-time-to-get-to-where-i-am-but-i-am-here-and-it-is/) [Princess Nokia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-nokia/) > [When we idealize the real, we sacrifice to artistic fancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/when-we-idealize-the-real-we-sacrifice-to-artistic-fancy/) [Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/) > [For now, I'm supposing that all movements are equal, which they're not, except in this respect: that none of them gives a damn about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/for-now-i-m-supposing-that-all-movements-are-equal-which-they-re-not/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [At a time when painting itself often seems to be a threatened, even despised, form of artistic activity, Andrew Salgado emerges as a dazzlingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-lucie-smith/at-a-time-when-painting-itself-often-seems-to-be-a-threatened-even/) Edward Lucie-Smith > [I think once the artistic world of the type designer merged with the scientific world of the computer programmer, you began to see this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/i-think-once-the-artistic-world-of-the-type-designer-merged-with-the/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [Writers and musicians know well the importance of extensive reading for successful writing or extensive listening for musical composition. Likewise, visual artists... understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laseau/writers-and-musicians-know-well-the-importance-of-extensive-reading/) [Paul Laseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laseau/) > [Being a Catholic, I was drawn to the mystery of the Latin and the smoke and the mirrors and all of that. That part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sarandon/being-a-catholic-i-was-drawn-to-the-mystery-of-the-latin-and-the/) [Susan Sarandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sarandon/) > [It is, of course, a luxury to create art and, on top of this, to insist on expressing one's own artistic opinion. Nothing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beckmann/it-is-of-course-a-luxury-to-create-art-and-on-top-of-this-to-insist/) [Max Beckmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beckmann/) > [Niches set back in the walls contained polished marble statues of entwined bodies. Will looked away from them hastily, and then back. It wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/niches-set-back-in-the-walls-contained-polished-marble-statues-of/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) [Browse all 1,574 Artistic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Surely knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the human condition, knowledge of the nature and dynamics of society, knowledge of the past so that one may use it in experiencing the present and aspiring to the future--all of these, it would seem reasonable to suppose, are essential to an educated man. 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