--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Real knowledge is to know the extent of…" description: "\"“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance. —Confucius The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/max-tegmark-3860_ignorance_real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of_1700124.jpg" --- # Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance… ![“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance. —Confucius The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about. —Wayne Dyer” quote by Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/max-tegmark-3860_ignorance_real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of_1700124.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/max-tegmark-3860_ignorance_real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of_1700124.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/max-tegmark-3860_ignorance_real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of_1700124.jpg) > ““Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance. —Confucius The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about. —Wayne Dyer”” [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding one's limits is essential; true knowledge includes recognizing how much one does not know. **In simple terms:** Knowing what you don't know is true knowledge. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and seek learning. Themes humility learning self-awareness Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - research - personal growth - decision making Key Concepts epistemology metacognition Questions to Reflect On - What areas do you assume you know? - How can you turn unknowns into learning opportunities? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on ignorance can paralyze action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Real knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” —Confucius”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-oppenlander/real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of-one-s-ignorance-confucius/) Richard Oppenlander > [“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you know nothing about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-w-dyer/the-highest-form-of-ignorance-is-when-you-reject-something-you-know/) [Wayne W. Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-w-dyer/) > [The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-highest-form-of-ignorance-is-when-you-reject-something-you-don-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Oh, Confucius, "real knowledge" is to know we will ever be able to measure the extent of our, or one's, ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-cia-ramos/oh-confucius-real-knowledge-is-to-know-we-will-ever-be-able-to/) Lúcia Ramos > [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/) > [“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/) > [All I really know is the extent of my own ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/all-i-really-know-is-the-extent-of-my-own-ignorance/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Condemnation before investigation is the highest form of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/condemnation-before-investigation-is-the-highest-form-of-ignorance/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [ “The Rochester group \[of VOTF\], however, was met with some concern as they found it hard to believe my account as it unfolded before… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-l-bailey-jr/the-rochester-group-of-votf-however-was-met-with-some-concern-as-they/) [Charles L. 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Bailey Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-l-bailey-jr/) > [“The source of all the problems in the world is ignorance - the limited view point or narrow mindedness or the conditioned state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/the-source-of-all-the-problems-in-the-world-is-ignorance-the-limited/) [Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/) > [“Non-knowing is not a form of ignorance but a difficult transcendence of knowledge. This is the price that must be paid for an oeuvre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-lescure/non-knowing-is-not-a-form-of-ignorance-but-a-difficult-transcendence/) Jean Lescure > [“Education is learning the extent of one's own ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-c-nolan/education-is-learning-the-extent-of-one-s-own-ignorance/) [Raymond C. Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-c-nolan/) > [“Hate is a disease that belongs to those who are inflicted with the most unfortunate form of ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kortright/hate-is-a-disease-that-belongs-to-those-who-are-inflicted-with-the/) Chris Kortright ## More by Max Tegmark > [“My personal analysis is that the media have made the AI-safety debate seem more controversial than it really is. After all, fear sells, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/my-personal-analysis-is-that-the-media-have-made-the-ai-safety-debate/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Chapter 2: How could an infinite space get created in a finite time? It sounds impossible. But as I mentioned, inflation is like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/chapter-2-how-could-an-infinite-space-get-created-in-a-finite-time-it/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“I suspect that if we can build such ultra-intelligent machines, then the first one will be severely limited by the software we’ve written for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/i-suspect-that-if-we-can-build-such-ultra-intelligent-machines-then/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Aristarchos simply divided it by 3.7 and got the size of the Moon!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/aristarchos-simply-divided-it-by-3-7-and-got-the-size-of-the-moon/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“I view the measure problem as the greatest crisis in physics today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/i-view-the-measure-problem-as-the-greatest-crisis-in-physics-today/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“the whole can contain less information than the sum of its parts—and sometimes even less than one of its parts!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/the-whole-can-contain-less-information-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-and/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. —Albert Einstein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/in-theory-theory-and-practice-are-the-same-in-practice-they-are-not/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Why do we perceive the world as stable and ourselves as local and unique? Here’s my guess: because it’s useful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/why-do-we-perceive-the-world-as-stable-and-ourselves-as-local-and/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“the neuron bundle comes from our eyes, ears, nose, mouth or skin. The key difference lies not in the neurons that carry this information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/the-neuron-bundle-comes-from-our-eyes-ears-nose-mouth-or-skin-the-key/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“In other words, even though an observer moment objectively occupies less than a liter of volume and a second of time, it subjectively feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/in-other-words-even-though-an-observer-moment-objectively-occupies/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Neural networks have now transformed both biological and artificial intelligence, and have recently started dominating the AI subfield known as machine learning (the study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/neural-networks-have-now-transformed-both-biological-and-artificial/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Physics is the ultimate intellectual adventure, the quest to understand the deepest mysteries of our Universe. Physics doesn’t take something fascinating and make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/physics-is-the-ultimate-intellectual-adventure-the-quest-to/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [Our external physical reality is a mathematical structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/our-external-physical-reality-is-a-mathematical-structure/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“it can start with something smaller than an atom and create an infinite space inside of it, containing infinitely many galaxies, without affecting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/it-can-start-with-something-smaller-than-an-atom-and-create-an/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“A perfectly obedient superintelligence whose goals automatically align with those of its human owner would be like Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann on steroids: lacking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/a-perfectly-obedient-superintelligence-whose-goals-automatically/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) [Explore all 120 Max Tegmark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) ## More Ignorance quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [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/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self, then ignorance is better than such knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakim-sanai/if-knowledge-does-not-liberate-the-self-from-the-self-then-ignorance/) [Hakim Sanai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakim-sanai/) > [You are senile old fool, and because of your impudence, I cannot fathom how you still live!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-senile-old-fool-and-because-of-your-impudence-i-cannot-fathom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/knowledge-will-forever-govern-ignorance-and-a-people-who-mean-to-be/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vashti-quiroz-vega/don-t-turn-your-face-away-once-you-ve-seen-you-can-no-longer-act-like/) Vashti Quiroz-Vega > [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/) > [The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-only-victories-which-leave-no-regret-are-those-which-are-gained/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Those who embrace prejudice doom themselves to live in ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-lintz-sr/those-who-embrace-prejudice-doom-themselves-to-live-in-ignorance/) John P Lintz Sr > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) [Browse all 5,657 Ignorance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance. —Confucius The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about. —Wayne Dyer”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Max Tegmark" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of-one-s-ignorance-confucius-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of-one-s-ignorance-confucius-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/max-tegmark-3860_ignorance_real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of_1700124.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/max-tegmark-3860_ignorance_real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of_1700124.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/max-tegmark-3860_ignorance_real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of_1700124.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance. —Confucius The highest form of ignorance is when…” — Max Tegmark", "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": "Max Tegmark", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Real knowledge is to know the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of-one-s-ignorance-confucius-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/real-knowledge-is-to-know-the-extent-of-one-s-ignorance-confucius-the/#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 } } ] } ```