--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The knower and the known are one. Simple…" description: "\"The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/meister-eckhart-1044_imagine_the-knower-and-the-known-are-one-simple_1022974.jpg" --- # The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine… ![“The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge.” quote by Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/meister-eckhart-1044_imagine_the-knower-and-the-known-are-one-simple_1022974.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/meister-eckhart-1044_imagine_the-knower-and-the-known-are-one-simple_1022974.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/meister-eckhart-1044_imagine_the-knower-and-the-known-are-one-simple_1022974.jpg) > “The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge.” [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He teaches that the distinction between the knower and the known dissolves in divine unity, urging a direct, experiential understanding of God. **In simple terms:** Knowing and being known are one in God. Key Takeaway Seek inner unity with the divine through contemplation. Themes spirituality philosophy unity knowledge divine Mood contemplative hopeful serene Type philosophical spiritual inspirational When to use this quote - personal meditation - spiritual practice - philosophical study - teaching Key Concepts mysticism ontology theology Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing unity change daily life? - What practices foster this awareness? A Different Perspective The concept may be abstract for those unfamiliar with mystic traditions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [“...he stood before her, a god of fire and rain...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/portia-da-costa/he-stood-before-her-a-god-of-fire-and-rain/) [Portia Da Costa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/portia-da-costa/) > [Include the knower in the known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/include-the-knower-in-the-known/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [“knowledge depends on the mode of the knower; for what is known is in the knower according to the measure of his mode”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/knowledge-depends-on-the-mode-of-the-knower-for-what-is-known-is-in/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [God is identical with His attributes, so that it may be said that He is the knowledge, the knower, and the known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/god-is-identical-with-his-attributes-so-that-it-may-be-said-that-he/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [To be sure, our mental processes often go wrong, so that we imagine God to have gone away. What should be done then? Do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/to-be-sure-our-mental-processes-often-go-wrong-so-that-we-imagine-god/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [“I stood staring to heaven and nothing came from there, no mercy or redemption. Whatever had come had come already and it was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robertson/i-stood-staring-to-heaven-and-nothing-came-from-there-no-mercy-or/) [James Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robertson/) > [“My mother had tried to raise me as a Catholic, but war had deracinated whatever meager plantings her efforts had achieved. No God ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eisler/my-mother-had-tried-to-raise-me-as-a-catholic-but-war-had-deracinated/) [Barry Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eisler/) > [“I was just a mere mortal and he was a god. I never stood a chance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-burks/i-was-just-a-mere-mortal-and-he-was-a-god-i-never-stood-a-chance/) [Robin Burks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-burks/) > [“Mark Twain, cynical about so much else, has a particular reverence in the Holy Land for "sitting where a god has stood". What flabbergasted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/mark-twain-cynical-about-so-much-else-has-a-particular-reverence-in/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Among us all men were created sons of God and stood erect, as conscious of their divinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eastman/among-us-all-men-were-created-sons-of-god-and-stood-erect-as/) Charles Eastman > [God must act and pour himself into you the moment he finds you ready. 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I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/i-cannot-imagine-a-god-who-hates-anything-that-is-love-any-way-we/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [“Books never cease to astonish me. When I was a child, I knew--in the incontestable way that children know things--that God was an author…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-cooley/books-never-cease-to-astonish-me-when-i-was-a-child-i-knew-in-the/) [Martha Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-cooley/) ## More by Meister Eckhart > [God holds each of us by a string. When we sin, we cut the string. But God ties it up again, making a knot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/god-holds-each-of-us-by-a-string-when-we-sin-we-cut-the-string-but/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [When I think of God's Kingdom, I am compelled to be silent because of its immensity, because God's Kingdom is none other than God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/when-i-think-of-god-s-kingdom-i-am-compelled-to-be-silent-because-of/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [Action and becoming are one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/action-and-becoming-are-one/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [Whoever wants to receive the body of our Lord does not need to scrutinize what they are feeling at the time or how great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/whoever-wants-to-receive-the-body-of-our-lord-does-not-need-to/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [Nothing will be able to hinder us, if we desire and seek God alone, and take pleasure in nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/nothing-will-be-able-to-hinder-us-if-we-desire-and-seek-god-alone-and/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [ \[W\]e must come into a transformed knowing, an unknowing which comes not from ignorance but from knowledge. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/w-e-must-come-into-a-transformed-knowing-an-unknowing-which-comes-not/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [I need to be silent for awhile, worlds are forming in my heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/i-need-to-be-silent-for-awhile-worlds-are-forming-in-my-heart/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [One person who has mastered life is better than a thousand persons who have mastered only the contents of books, but no one can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/one-person-who-has-mastered-life-is-better-than-a-thousand-persons/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [“But where is this true possession of God, whereby we really possess him, to be found? This real possession of God is to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/but-where-is-this-true-possession-of-god-whereby-we-really-possess/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [The most powerful prayer, one well-nigh omnipotent, and the worthiest work of all is the outcome of a quiet mind. 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It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Many patients imagine that they have tried everything. True, they have used many remedies, but they have never had the cause of their infirmity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-palmer/many-patients-imagine-that-they-have-tried-everything-true-they-have/) [Daniel D. 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But it's - I'm very clear.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/i-can-t-imagine-that-i-would-be-asked-that-by-the-president-elect/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) > [We live in such a special time when literally anything we can think of is possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-willey/we-live-in-such-a-special-time-when-literally-anything-we-can-think/) [Daniel Willey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-willey/) > [Imagine what you'd do if it absolutely didn't matter what people thought of you. Got it? Good. Never go back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/imagine-what-you-d-do-if-it-absolutely-didn-t-matter-what-people/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [ Together he \[Girolamo Savonarola\] and his archenemy Lorenzo \[de' Medici\] would have been the stuff of gargoyles. 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