--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Without knowing the Knower, all the…" description: "\"Without knowing the Knower, all the knowledge that one gathers cannot be valid.\" — Ramana Maharshi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/ramana-maharshi-915_knowing_without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowl_1130592.jpg" --- # Without knowing the Knower, all the knowledge that one… ![“Without knowing the Knower, all the knowledge that one gathers cannot be valid.” quote by Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/ramana-maharshi-915_knowing_without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowl_1130592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/ramana-maharshi-915_knowing_without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowl_1130592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/ramana-maharshi-915_knowing_without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowl_1130592.jpg) > “Without knowing the Knower, all the knowledge that one gathers cannot be valid.” [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge requires knowing the source; without understanding the knower, information lacks legitimacy. **In simple terms:** Knowing the knower validates knowledge. Key Takeaway Seek self‑knowledge before trusting facts. Themes philosophy epistemology self‑inquiry Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal reflection - spiritual practice - educational research Key Concepts consciousness identity validation Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing the knower change your view of truth? - Can you identify the knower in everyday decisions? A Different Perspective Knowing the knower can be elusive and subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knower Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knower-knowledge-3103303/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Knowing Knower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-knower-3103304/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge Gathers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-gathers-3103305/) ## Related quotes > [You are the knower of knowledge; you perceive perceiving. Come to this place, and see if any questions remain there within you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mooji/you-are-the-knower-of-knowledge-you-perceive-perceiving-come-to-this/) [Mooji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mooji/) > [Knowing the Self, God is known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/knowing-the-self-god-is-known/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self. Real attainment is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/the-mind-of-one-meditating-on-a-single-object-becomes-one-pointed-and/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [ \[W\]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/) > [Knowledge is knowing what to say. Wisdom is knowing whether or not to say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-laurence-torcuator/knowledge-is-knowing-what-to-say-wisdom-is-knowing-whether-or-not-to/) [Mark Laurence Torcuator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-laurence-torcuator/) > [You can never learn less; you can only learn more. The reason I know so much is because I have made so many mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/you-can-never-learn-less-you-can-only-learn-more-the-reason-i-know-so/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [To respect a person is not possible without knowing him; care and responsibility would be blind if they were not guided by knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/to-respect-a-person-is-not-possible-without-knowing-him-care-and/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Knowing is the most profound kind of love, giving someone the gift of knowledge about yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsha-norman/knowing-is-the-most-profound-kind-of-love-giving-someone-the-gift-of/) [Marsha Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsha-norman/) > [“Knowing is not enough. You must accept My blessings in order to attain a better life. You must embrace a higher level of consciousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-b-morrison/knowing-is-not-enough-you-must-accept-my-blessings-in-order-to-attain/) [Mary B. Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-b-morrison/) > [“but those as knows the least have a habit of thinkin' they know all there is to know, while them as knows the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-baum/but-those-as-knows-the-least-have-a-habit-of-thinkin-they-know-all/) [Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-baum/) > [If we are to define science, ... it does not consist so much in knowing, nor even in "organized knowledge," as it does in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/if-we-are-to-define-science-it-does-not-consist-so-much-in-knowing/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [Knowledge is generally considered a good thing; so, presumably, knowing more about how the U.S. thinks and operates around the world is also good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/knowledge-is-generally-considered-a-good-thing-so-presumably-knowing/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [There is a way in which the collective knowledge of mankind expresses itself, for the finite individual, through mere daily living . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurens-van-der-post/there-is-a-way-in-which-the-collective-knowledge-of-mankind-expresses/) [Laurens van der Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurens-van-der-post/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More by Ramana Maharshi > [Then all this earth shines like one house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/then-all-this-earth-shines-like-one-house/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Silence is most powerful. Speech is always less powerful than silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/silence-is-most-powerful-speech-is-always-less-powerful-than-silence/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/meditation-is-sticking-to-one-thought-that-single-thought-keeps-away/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The more you prune a plant, the more it grows. So too the more you seek to annihilate the ego, the more it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/the-more-you-prune-a-plant-the-more-it-grows-so-too-the-more-you-seek/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Think of God; attachments will gradually drop away. If you wait till all desires disappear before starting your devotion and prayer, you will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/think-of-god-attachments-will-gradually-drop-away-if-you-wait-till/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [That which rises and sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality of the universe is the God Arunachala. Meditating on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/that-which-rises-and-sinks-is-made-up-of-what-it-rises-from-the/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Food affects the mind. For the practice of any kind of yoga, vegetarianism is absolutely necessary since it makes the mind more pure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/food-affects-the-mind-for-the-practice-of-any-kind-of-yoga/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self. Real attainment is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/the-mind-of-one-meditating-on-a-single-object-becomes-one-pointed-and/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Eating, bathing, going to the toilet, talking, thinking, and many other activities related to the body are all work. How is it that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/eating-bathing-going-to-the-toilet-talking-thinking-and-many-other/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Knowing the Self, God is known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/knowing-the-self-god-is-known/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Every moment there is creation, every moment destruction. There is no absolute creation, no absolute destruction. Both are movement, and that is eternal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/every-moment-there-is-creation-every-moment-destruction-there-is-no/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The entire Universe is condensed in the body, and the entire body in the Heart. Thus the Heart is the nucleus of the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/the-entire-universe-is-condensed-in-the-body-and-the-entire-body-in/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The state of self-realization, as we call it, is not attaining something new or reaching some goal which is far away, but simply being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/the-state-of-self-realization-as-we-call-it-is-not-attaining/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [God illumines the mind and shines within it. One cannot know God by means of the mind. One can but turn the mind inwards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/god-illumines-the-mind-and-shines-within-it-one-cannot-know-god-by/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [We are so engrossed with the objects, or appearances revealed by the light, that we pay no attention to the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/we-are-so-engrossed-with-the-objects-or-appearances-revealed-by-the/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) [Explore all 329 Ramana Maharshi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) ## More Knowing quotes > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Therefore, brethren, pray until God gives us revelation so that "knowing this" in our spirit we may truly confess "that our old man has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/therefore-brethren-pray-until-god-gives-us-revelation-so-that-knowing/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Life and death were so unpredictable. So close to each other. We existed moment to moment, never knowing who would be the next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/life-and-death-were-so-unpredictable-so-close-to-each-other-we/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [If you don't plan to live the Christian life totally committed to knowing your God and to walking in obedience to Him, then don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-arthur/if-you-don-t-plan-to-live-the-christian-life-totally-committed-to/) [Kay Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-arthur/) > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [I love feeling loved. I don't love knowing that I will always come in second place. I love the fact that at least sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-love-feeling-loved-i-don-t-love-knowing-that-i-will-always-come-in/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad its there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-happy-ending-is-hardly-important-though-we-may-be-glad-its-there/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [They have no right to complain! If women were cool with knowing their man is cheating on them then they have no right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-williams/they-have-no-right-to-complain-if-women-were-cool-with-knowing-their/) [Eric Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-williams/) > [Those who are the most happy appear to know it the least; happiness is something that for the most part seems to mainly consist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-brothers/those-who-are-the-most-happy-appear-to-know-it-the-least-happiness-is/) [Joyce Brothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-brothers/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Trying to find this industry's tendency to celebrate the physical is a waste of time. So I'm happy to play the game. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-wilde/trying-to-find-this-industry-s-tendency-to-celebrate-the-physical-is/) [Olivia Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-wilde/) > [Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/without-the-way-there-is-no-going-without-the-truth-there-is-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 7,350 Knowing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Without knowing the Knower, all the knowledge that one gathers cannot be valid.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ramana Maharshi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowledge-that-one-gathers-cannot/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knowing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowledge-that-one-gathers-cannot/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/ramana-maharshi-915_knowing_without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowl_1130592.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/ramana-maharshi-915_knowing_without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowl_1130592.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/ramana-maharshi-915_knowing_without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowl_1130592.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Without knowing the Knower, all the knowledge that one gathers cannot be valid.” — Ramana Maharshi", "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": "Ramana Maharshi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Without knowing the Knower, all the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowledge-that-one-gathers-cannot/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/without-knowing-the-knower-all-the-knowledge-that-one-gathers-cannot/#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 } } ] } ```