--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To know where a thing is we must have…" description: "\"To know where a thing is we must have found it.\" — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_found_to-know-where-a-thing-is-we-must-have-fo_3038545.jpg" --- # To know where a thing is we must have found it. ![“To know where a thing is we must have found it.” quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_found_to-know-where-a-thing-is-we-must-have-fo_3038545.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_found_to-know-where-a-thing-is-we-must-have-fo_3038545.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_found_to-know-where-a-thing-is-we-must-have-fo_3038545.jpg) > “To know where a thing is we must have found it.” [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. To understand something, you must first locate it. **In simple terms:** Find it before you can know it. Key Takeaway Seek out the object of study first. Themes knowledge search discovery methodology clarity Mood inquisitive analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - scientific experiments - historical archives - personal introspection Key Concepts epistemology objectivity research methods Questions to Reflect On - What do you need to locate before understanding? - How does discovery change your perception? A Different Perspective Finding may be impossible without clues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Know Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-thing/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Search](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/search/) [Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing/) ## Related quotes > [Never give up on something when in fact you know that it's the only thing that could make you happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariejoie-uro/never-give-up-on-something-when-in-fact-you-know-that-it-s-the-only/) [Mariejoie Uro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariejoie-uro/) > [“You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/you-can-know-a-thing-to-death-and-be-for-all-purposes-completely/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I hadn't known anything else, other than being an artist, and I needed to be a person for a while, really get to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-styrke/i-hadn-t-known-anything-else-other-than-being-an-artist-and-i-needed/) [Tove Styrke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-styrke/) > [I know one thing: that you can do a lot of things but if you don't educate people into conscious anarchism it gets frittered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-know-one-thing-that-you-can-do-a-lot-of-things-but-if-you-don-t/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Actors are like Swiss Army knives - we're ready to use any lever at any moment. But I learned long ago that, unfortunately, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-williams/actors-are-like-swiss-army-knives-we-re-ready-to-use-any-lever-at-any/) [Allison Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-williams/) > [“I know now that there is no one thing is true–it is all true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-know-now-that-there-is-no-one-thing-is-true-it-is-all-true/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [For we do not think that we know a thing until we are acquainted with its primary conditions or first principles, and have carried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/for-we-do-not-think-that-we-know-a-thing-until-we-are-acquainted-with/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It is much better to know something about everything than to know everything about one thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/it-is-much-better-to-know-something-about-everything-than-to-know/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [You're going to have to watch me to know how I do my thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-cannonier/you-re-going-to-have-to-watch-me-to-know-how-i-do-my-thing/) [Jared Cannonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-cannonier/) > [First, you must know what the thing is, and then after learn the use of the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-recorde/first-you-must-know-what-the-thing-is-and-then-after-learn-the-use-of/) [Robert Recorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-recorde/) > [Until you know the whole thing you will NEVER understand me and my actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/until-you-know-the-whole-thing-you-will-never-understand-me-and-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [War stinks! There's nothing good about it. But you know the whole thing, it's you or them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-e-thornton/war-stinks-there-s-nothing-good-about-it-but-you-know-the-whole-thing/) [Michael E. Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-e-thornton/) > [I don't pretend to be an expert on intellectual property law, but I do know one thing. If a music industry executive claims I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-ian/i-don-t-pretend-to-be-an-expert-on-intellectual-property-law-but-i-do/) [Janis Ian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-ian/) > [“If a person is living out his Personal Legend, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/if-a-person-is-living-out-his-personal-legend-he-knows-everything-he/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“A whole life has already been determined at a stage when we didn't know a thing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/a-whole-life-has-already-been-determined-at-a-stage-when-we-didn-t/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) ## More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-easier-to-perceive-error-than-to-find-truth-for-the-former-lies/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-no-patriotic-art-and-no-patriotic-science/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-connoisseur-of-art-must-be-able-to-appreciate-what-is-simply/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Let us not dream that reason can ever be popular. Passions, emotions, may be made popular; but reason remains ever the property of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/let-us-not-dream-that-reason-can-ever-be-popular-passions-emotions/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Our foibles are really what make us lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/our-foibles-are-really-what-make-us-lovable/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/instruction-does-much-but-encouragement-everything/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Giving is the business of the rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/giving-is-the-business-of-the-rich/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/just-begin-and-the-mind-grows-heated-continue-and-the-task-will-be/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I look upon all four Gospels as thoroughly genuine, for there shines forth from them the reflected splendor of a sublimity proceeding from Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-look-upon-all-four-gospels-as-thoroughly-genuine-for-there-shines/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. 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