--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That which we know is but little; that…" description: "\"That which we know is but little; that which we have a presentiment of is immense; it is in this direction that the poet outruns the learned man.\" — Ph..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c6/philibert-joseph-roux-13218_imagination_that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-wh_2688781.png" --- # That which we know is but little; that which we have a… ![“That which we know is but little; that which we have a presentiment of is immense; it is in this direction that the poet outruns the learned man.” quote by Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c6/philibert-joseph-roux-13218_imagination_that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-wh_2688781.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c6/philibert-joseph-roux-13218_imagination_that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-wh_2688781.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c6/philibert-joseph-roux-13218_imagination_that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-wh_2688781.png) > “That which we know is but little; that which we have a presentiment of is immense; it is in this direction that the poet outruns the learned man.” [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Limited knowledge contrasts with vast intuition, allowing poets to surpass scholars in insight **In simple terms:** Poets rely on intuition beyond formal knowledge Key Takeaway Trust intuitive insight alongside study Themes knowledge intuition creativity Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - research - teaching - philosophical debate Key Concepts epistemology poetics Questions to Reflect On - When does intuition outshine formal learning? - How can scholars incorporate poetic intuition? A Different Perspective Intuition can be mistaken for insight without evidence ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-order-to-master-the-unruly-torrent-of-life-the-learned-man/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [A learned man has always riches in himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phaedrus/a-learned-man-has-always-riches-in-himself/) [Phaedrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phaedrus/) > [I never learned from a man who agreed with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-never-learned-from-a-man-who-agreed-with-me/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [The learned man will not rest until he finds the one to learn more from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/the-learned-man-will-not-rest-until-he-finds-the-one-to-learn-more/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [“A learned man said: The learned men are the lights of the ages. Each is a light in his own time giving light to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imam-al-ghazali/a-learned-man-said-the-learned-men-are-the-lights-of-the-ages-each-is/) [Imam Al-Ghazali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imam-al-ghazali/) > [A learned man is honoured by the people.A learned man commands respect everywhere for his learning. Indeed, learning is honoured everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-learned-man-is-honoured-by-the-people-a-learned-man-commands/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [A learned man is a sedentary, concentrated solitary enthusiast, who searches through books to discover some particular grain of truth upon which he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-learned-man-is-a-sedentary-concentrated-solitary-enthusiast-who/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [A highly learned man has two sources of happiness: Either he abandons all earthly interests or else he possesses much which could be abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-highly-learned-man-has-two-sources-of-happiness-either-he-abandons/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The learned man's life itself shines as the message for mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sai-baba/the-learned-man-s-life-itself-shines-as-the-message-for-mankind/) [Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sai-baba/) > [“The Prophet said: Don't sit with every learned man. Sit with the learned man who calls towards five matters towards faith from doubt, sincerity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imam-al-ghazali/the-prophet-said-don-t-sit-with-every-learned-man-sit-with-the/) [Imam Al-Ghazali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imam-al-ghazali/) > [“Simon, she'd learned, was a man who studied people. He learned their weaknesses as a way of protecting himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mackenzie-taylor/simon-she-d-learned-was-a-man-who-studied-people-he-learned-their/) MacKenzie Taylor > [Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/learned-we-may-be-with-another-man-s-learning-we-can-only-be-wise/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [For although Claudius had been accused of gambling and drunkenness, not only were no worse sins laid to his charge, but he had successfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-although-claudius-had-been-accused-of-gambling-and-drunkenness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/i-have-learned-that-a-man-who-makes-trouble-for-others-is-also-making/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [A learned man came to me once. He said, "I know the way, -- come." And I was overjoyed at this. Together we hastened.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-crane/a-learned-man-came-to-me-once-he-said-i-know-the-way-come-and-i-was/) [Stephen Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-crane/) ## More by Philibert Joseph Roux > [Lofty mountains are full of springs; great hearts are full of tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/lofty-mountains-are-full-of-springs-great-hearts-are-full-of-tears/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [The historian must be a poet; not to find, but to find again; not to breathe life into beings, into imaginary deeds, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/the-historian-must-be-a-poet-not-to-find-but-to-find-again-not-to/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Poetry is the exquisite expression of exquisite impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/poetry-is-the-exquisite-expression-of-exquisite-impressions/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [The philosopher spends in becoming a man the time which the ambitious man spends in becoming a personage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/the-philosopher-spends-in-becoming-a-man-the-time-which-the-ambitious/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Friendship is the ideal; friends are the reality; reality always remains far apart from the ideal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/friendship-is-the-ideal-friends-are-the-reality-reality-always/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Certain names always awake certain prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/certain-names-always-awake-certain-prejudices/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Conscientious men are, almost everywhere, less encouraged than tolerated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/conscientious-men-are-almost-everywhere-less-encouraged-than-tolerated/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Morality is the fruit of religion: to desire the former without the latter is to desire an orange without an orange-tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/morality-is-the-fruit-of-religion-to-desire-the-former-without-the/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Everything that is exquisite hides itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/everything-that-is-exquisite-hides-itself/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [At first we hope too much and later on, not enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/at-first-we-hope-too-much-and-later-on-not-enough/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Success causes us to be more praised than known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/success-causes-us-to-be-more-praised-than-known/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [We distrust our heart too much, and our head not enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/we-distrust-our-heart-too-much-and-our-head-not-enough/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [We are more conscious that a person is in the wrong when the wrong concerns ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/we-are-more-conscious-that-a-person-is-in-the-wrong-when-the-wrong/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Friendship admits of difference of character, as love does that of sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/friendship-admits-of-difference-of-character-as-love-does-that-of-sex/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [As long as we love, we lend to the beloved object qualities of mind and heart which we deprive him of when the day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/as-long-as-we-love-we-lend-to-the-beloved-object-qualities-of-mind/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) [Explore all 51 Philibert Joseph Roux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That which we know is but little; that which we have a presentiment of is immense; it is in this direction that the poet outruns the learned man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philibert Joseph Roux" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-which-we-have-a-presentiment-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-which-we-have-a-presentiment-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c6/philibert-joseph-roux-13218_imagination_that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-wh_2688781.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c6/philibert-joseph-roux-13218_imagination_that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-wh_2688781.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c6/philibert-joseph-roux-13218_imagination_that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-wh_2688781.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That which we know is but little; that which we have a presentiment of is immense; it is in this direction…” — Philibert Joseph Roux", "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": "Philibert Joseph Roux", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That which we know is but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-which-we-have-a-presentiment-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/that-which-we-know-is-but-little-that-which-we-have-a-presentiment-of/#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 } } ] } ```