--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Say oh wise man how you have come to such…" description: "\"Say oh wise man how you have come to such knowledge? Because I was never ashamed to confess my ignorance and ask others.\" — Johann Gottfried Herder" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/johann-gottfried-herder-20232_answers_say-oh-wise-man-how-you-have-come-to-suc_724854.jpg" --- # Say oh wise man how you have come to such knowledge?… ![“Say oh wise man how you have come to such knowledge? Because I was never ashamed to confess my ignorance and ask others.” quote by Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/johann-gottfried-herder-20232_answers_say-oh-wise-man-how-you-have-come-to-suc_724854.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/johann-gottfried-herder-20232_answers_say-oh-wise-man-how-you-have-come-to-suc_724854.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/johann-gottfried-herder-20232_answers_say-oh-wise-man-how-you-have-come-to-suc_724854.jpg) > “Say oh wise man how you have come to such knowledge? Because I was never ashamed to confess my ignorance and ask others.” [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Admitting ignorance and seeking counsel is the foundation of true wisdom. **In simple terms:** Ask questions, learn from others. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and ask. Themes humility learning wisdom Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - career mentorship - personal growth - problem solving Key Concepts Socratic method epistemic humility Questions to Reflect On - What can you learn by asking for help? - How does humility affect your relationships? A Different Perspective It may be hard to admit lack of knowledge in competitive environments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Answers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answers/) [Ashamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed/) [Ashamed Confess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed-confess-914598/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Confess Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confess-ignorance-1891695/) [Confession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Ask](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-ask-5688518/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge Ashamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-ashamed-5688517/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) [Wise man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-man/) ## Related quotes > [Nor am I ashamed, as some are, to confess my ignorance of those matters with which I am unacquainted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/nor-am-i-ashamed-as-some-are-to-confess-my-ignorance-of-those-matters/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I am not ashamed to confess I am ignorant of what I do not know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/i-am-not-ashamed-to-confess-i-am-ignorant-of-what-i-do-not-know/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [It is my great desire to reform my subjects, and yet I am ashamed to confess that I am unable to reform myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-the-great/it-is-my-great-desire-to-reform-my-subjects-and-yet-i-am-ashamed-to/) [Peter the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-the-great/) > [Be not ashamed to confess that you have been in the wrong. It is but owning that you now have more sense than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremiah-seed/be-not-ashamed-to-confess-that-you-have-been-in-the-wrong-it-is-but/) [Jeremiah Seed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremiah-seed/) > [I am not ashamed to confess that I am ignorant of what I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/i-am-not-ashamed-to-confess-that-i-am-ignorant-of-what-i-do-not-know/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“Like all males, he hated to confess ignorance by asking directions,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/like-all-males-he-hated-to-confess-ignorance-by-asking-directions/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [To confess ignorance is often wiser than to beat about the bush with a hypothetical diagnosis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/to-confess-ignorance-is-often-wiser-than-to-beat-about-the-bush-with/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [It is better to confess ignorance than provide it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-hickam/it-is-better-to-confess-ignorance-than-provide-it/) [Homer Hickam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-hickam/) > [The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-essence-of-knowledge-is-having-it-to-apply-it-not-having-it-to/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“To free a man from error is not to deprive him of anything but to give him something: for the knowledge that a thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/to-free-a-man-from-error-is-not-to-deprive-him-of-anything-but-to/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Boys say its great..boys say its fine... 9 months later boys say its not mine..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simi-ngr/boys-say-its-great-boys-say-its-fine-9-months-later-boys-say-its-not/) [Simi Ngr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simi-ngr/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-characters-in-my-novels-are-my-own-unrealized-possibilities-that/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Notoriety and public confession in the literary form is a frazzler of the heart you were born with, believe me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/notoriety-and-public-confession-in-the-literary-form-is-a-frazzler-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [A love to Christ which is so cowardly and selfish that it is unwilling to proclaim by a public confession its faith in Him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-eliot-kittredge/a-love-to-christ-which-is-so-cowardly-and-selfish-that-it-is/) [Abbott Eliot Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-eliot-kittredge/) > [If You Love Someone, Be Brave Enough To Tell Them., Otherwise Be Brave Enough To Watch Them To Be Loved By Someone Else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bilal-zahoor/if-you-love-someone-be-brave-enough-to-tell-them-otherwise-be-brave/) [Bilal Zahoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bilal-zahoor/) ## More by Johann Gottfried Herder > [It is easier to make a lady of a peasant-girl than a peasant-girl of a lady.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/it-is-easier-to-make-a-lady-of-a-peasant-girl-than-a-peasant-girl-of/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [What of us lies in the hearts of others is our truest and deepest self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/what-of-us-lies-in-the-hearts-of-others-is-our-truest-and-deepest-self/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Everyone loves his own country, customs, language, wife, children, not because they are the best in the world, but because they are his established…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/everyone-loves-his-own-country-customs-language-wife-children-not/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [The friend who holds up before me the mirror, conceals not my smallest faults, warns me kindly, reproves me affectionately, when I have not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/the-friend-who-holds-up-before-me-the-mirror-conceals-not-my-smallest/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [“A learned society of our day, no doubt with the loftiest of intentions, has proposed the question, “Which people, in history, might have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/a-learned-society-of-our-day-no-doubt-with-the-loftiest-of-intentions/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Calmly take what ill betideth; Patience wins the crown at length: Rich repayment him abideth Who endures in quiet strength. Brave the tamer of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/calmly-take-what-ill-betideth-patience-wins-the-crown-at-length-rich/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Touch not the flute when drums are sounding around; when fools have the word, the wise will be silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/touch-not-the-flute-when-drums-are-sounding-around-when-fools-have/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [What destiny sends, bear! Whoever perseveres will be crowned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/what-destiny-sends-bear-whoever-perseveres-will-be-crowned/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Jesus Christ is, in the noblest and most perfect sense, the realized ideal of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/jesus-christ-is-in-the-noblest-and-most-perfect-sense-the-realized/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [The working of revolutions misleads me no more; it is as necessary to our race as its waves to the stream, that it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/the-working-of-revolutions-misleads-me-no-more-it-is-as-necessary-to/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Whoever perseveres will be crowned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/whoever-perseveres-will-be-crowned/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [So says the most ancient book of the Earth; thus it is written on its leaves of marble, lime, sand, slate, and clay: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/so-says-the-most-ancient-book-of-the-earth-thus-it-is-written-on-its/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [“You people in all parts of the world, who have passed away over the ages, you did not live only to fertilize the earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/you-people-in-all-parts-of-the-world-who-have-passed-away-over-the/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Brave is the lion tamer, brave is the world subduer, but braver is the one who has subdued himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/brave-is-the-lion-tamer-brave-is-the-world-subduer-but-braver-is-the/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Nothing in Nature stands still; everything strives and moves forward. If we could only view the first stages of creation, how the kingdoms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/nothing-in-nature-stands-still-everything-strives-and-moves-forward/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) [Explore all 30 Johann Gottfried Herder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) ## More Answers quotes > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [You feed yourself. 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