--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is…" description: "\"The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.\" — Joseph Addison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/joseph-addison-377_knowledge_the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is_2726704.png" --- # The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he… ![“The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.” quote by Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/joseph-addison-377_knowledge_the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is_2726704.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/joseph-addison-377_knowledge_the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is_2726704.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/joseph-addison-377_knowledge_the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is_2726704.png) > “The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.” [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True wisdom lies in recognizing the limits of one's knowledge. **In simple terms:** Know that you know nothing. Key Takeaway Embrace humility in learning. Themes humility knowledge philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic study - personal growth - decision making - leadership Key Concepts Socratic paradox epistemic humility Questions to Reflect On - What does acknowledging ignorance enable? - How does humility affect learning? A Different Perspective Some may view it as discouraging confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extent Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extent-man-2369623/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-know-494627/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Man Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-knowledge/) [Utmost Extent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utmost-extent-2924615/) ## Related quotes > [But the valid issue is the extent to which man knows how to form and master the material at his command.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/but-the-valid-issue-is-the-extent-to-which-man-knows-how-to-form-and/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [A man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enermy but also to hate his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-mbululo/a-man-of-knowledge-must-be-able-not-only-to-love-his-enermy-but-also/) [Ally Mbululo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-mbululo/) > [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/) > [Let your desire for truth transcend all minor considerations. Ignorance is invariably confident. The man of knowledge learns to realize his own needs. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grenville-kleiser/let-your-desire-for-truth-transcend-all-minor-considerations/) [Grenville Kleiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grenville-kleiser/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” Be”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-gawdat/real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of-one-s-ignorance-be/) [Mo Gawdat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-gawdat/) > [The more certain our knowledge the less we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-more-certain-our-knowledge-the-less-we-know/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [There's no such thing as useless knowledge. You never know what doors it's going to open up for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/there-s-no-such-thing-as-useless-knowledge-you-never-know-what-doors/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [The highest knowledge is to know that we are surrounded by mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-highest-knowledge-is-to-know-that-we-are-surrounded-by-mystery/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of-one-s-ignorance/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Travel is like knowledge. The more you see, the more you know you haven’t seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hertsgaard/travel-is-like-knowledge-the-more-you-see-the-more-you-know-you-haven/) [Mark Hertsgaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hertsgaard/) > [“To know gneya-gnan (the knowledge regarding the object to be known) is referred to as scriptural knowledge and to Know Gnata-Gnan (the Knowledge regarding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/to-know-gneya-gnan-the-knowledge-regarding-the-object-to-be-known-is/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“On Knowledge: You know that I know you know, but I want you to know that I know you know I know you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/on-knowledge-you-know-that-i-know-you-know-but-i-want-you-to-know/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [It is better to have useless knowledge than to know nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-better-to-have-useless-knowledge-than-to-know-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [It takes knowledge to know something. It takes guts to do what you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-wentz/it-takes-knowledge-to-know-something-it-takes-guts-to-do-what-you-know/) [Pete Wentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-wentz/) ## More by Joseph Addison > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is nothing touches our imagination so much as a beautiful woman in a plain dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-nothing-touches-our-imagination-so-much-as-a-beautiful-woman/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [We are always doing something for posterity, but I would fain see posterity do something for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/we-are-always-doing-something-for-posterity-but-i-would-fain-see/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Female Virtues are of a Domestick turn. The Family is the proper Province for Private Women to Shine in. If they must be showing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/female-virtues-are-of-a-domestick-turn-the-family-is-the-proper/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [As addictions go, reading is among the cleanest, easiest to feed, happiest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/as-addictions-go-reading-is-among-the-cleanest-easiest-to-feed/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-no-society-or-conversation-to-be-kept-up-in-the-world/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [When love once pleads admission to our hearts, In spite of all the virtue we can boast, The woman that deliberates is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/when-love-once-pleads-admission-to-our-hearts-in-spite-of-all-the/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Many actions calculated to procure fame are not conducive to ultimate happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/many-actions-calculated-to-procure-fame-are-not-conducive-to-ultimate/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/t-is-liberty-crowns-britannia-s-isle-and-makes-her-barren-rocks-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/reading-is-a-basic-tool-in-the-living-of-a-good-life/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The moral perfections of the Deity, the more attentively, we consider, the more perfectly still shall we know them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-moral-perfections-of-the-deity-the-more-attentively-we-consider/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The utmost we can hope for in this world is contentment; if we aim at anything higher, we shall meet with nothing but grief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-utmost-we-can-hope-for-in-this-world-is-contentment-if-we-aim-at/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/courage-that-grows-from-constitution-often-forsakes-a-man-when-he-has/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The most skillful flattery is to let a person talk on, and be a listener.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-most-skillful-flattery-is-to-let-a-person-talk-on-and-be-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) [Explore all 620 Joseph Addison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## More Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [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/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Addison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is-to-know-that-he-knows-nothing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knowledge" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is-to-know-that-he-knows-nothing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/joseph-addison-377_knowledge_the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is_2726704.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/joseph-addison-377_knowledge_the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is_2726704.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/joseph-addison-377_knowledge_the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is_2726704.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.” — Joseph Addison", "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": "Joseph Addison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The utmost extent of man's knowledge,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is-to-know-that-he-knows-nothing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-utmost-extent-of-man-s-knowledge-is-to-know-that-he-knows-nothing/#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 } } ] } ```