--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know what I want and what I might gain…" description: "\"I know what I want and what I might gain, and yet, how profitless to know.\" — Robert Browning" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/robert-browning-734_gains_i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain_1066365.png" --- # I know what I want and what I might gain, and yet, how… ![“I know what I want and what I might gain, and yet, how profitless to know.” quote by Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/robert-browning-734_gains_i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain_1066365.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/robert-browning-734_gains_i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain_1066365.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/robert-browning-734_gains_i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain_1066365.png) > “I know what I want and what I might gain, and yet, how profitless to know.” [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire for knowledge without purpose feels empty and unfulfilling. **In simple terms:** Knowing without purpose is empty. Key Takeaway Seek meaning, not just knowledge. Themes purpose knowledge fulfillment Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal growth - academic study - career decisions - spiritual seeking Key Concepts existentialism value of insight Questions to Reflect On - What purpose does your knowledge serve? - How can you align learning with values? A Different Perspective Knowledge alone may not bring satisfaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Knowledge without labor is profitless. Knowledge with labor is genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/knowledge-without-labor-is-profitless-knowledge-with-labor-is-genius/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [When the mind forgets the purpose of Christian life, then even the clear fulfillment of virtue becomes profitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-eremita/when-the-mind-forgets-the-purpose-of-christian-life-then-even-the/) [Marcus Eremita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-eremita/) > [But this is a true saying among men: the gifts of enemies are no gifts and profitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/but-this-is-a-true-saying-among-men-the-gifts-of-enemies-are-no-gifts/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [I pray thee cease thy counsel, Which falls into mine ears as profitless as water in a sieve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-pray-thee-cease-thy-counsel-which-falls-into-mine-ears-as/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Every life has its actual blanks, which the ideal must fill up, or which else remain bare & profitless forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-ward-howe/every-life-has-its-actual-blanks-which-the-ideal-must-fill-up-or/) [Julia Ward Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-ward-howe/) > [The most profitless things to manufacture are excuses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/the-most-profitless-things-to-manufacture-are-excuses/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [“The pity of it was that this discovery, if such it was, now seemed so stale, so profitless to me. What good was it?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/the-pity-of-it-was-that-this-discovery-if-such-it-was-now-seemed-so/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [The unpleasant events you are passing from will not have been profitless to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-unpleasant-events-you-are-passing-from-will-not-have-been/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [People who can eat as much as they want and never gain weight, I hate you...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-who-can-eat-as-much-as-they-want-and-never-gain-weight-i-hate/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“No one wakes up in the morning and says, 'I want to gain 150 pounds and I will start right now!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tricia-cunningham/no-one-wakes-up-in-the-morning-and-says-i-want-to-gain-150-pounds-and/) Tricia Cunningham > [I want to gain as much weight as possible, and I want to see what I can do with that weight once I'm all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryson-dechambeau/i-want-to-gain-as-much-weight-as-possible-and-i-want-to-see-what-i/) [Bryson DeChambeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryson-dechambeau/) > [The more you lose something, the more you want to win it, the more you want to gain it and take it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniil-medvedev/the-more-you-lose-something-the-more-you-want-to-win-it-the-more-you/) [Daniil Medvedev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniil-medvedev/) > [I'll love you when your hair turns grey and I'll still want you if you gain a little weight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ll-love-you-when-your-hair-turns-grey-and-i-ll-still-want-you-if/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't worry about what you may loose. Instead focus on what you want to gain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/don-t-worry-about-what-you-may-loose-instead-focus-on-what-you-want/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [If you want to gain my trust, then prove it to me!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mc-vinzed/if-you-want-to-gain-my-trust-then-prove-it-to-me/) Mc Vinzed ## More by Robert Browning > [I would have rummaged, ransacked at the word; Those old odd corners of an empty heart; For remnants of dim love the long disused,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-would-have-rummaged-ransacked-at-the-word-those-old-odd-corners-of/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, never doubted clouds would break, never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/one-who-never-turned-his-back-but-marched-breast-forward-never/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [All service ranks the same with God,- With God, whose puppets, best and worst, Are we: there is no last nor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/all-service-ranks-the-same-with-god-with-god-whose-puppets-best-and/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [“I was ever a fighter, so---one fight more, The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-was-ever-a-fighter-so-one-fight-more-the-best-and-the-last-i-would/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [But how carve way i' the life that lies before, If bent on groaning ever for the past?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/but-how-carve-way-i-the-life-that-lies-before-if-bent-on-groaning/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [If you get simple beauty and naught else, you get about the best thing God invents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/if-you-get-simple-beauty-and-naught-else-you-get-about-the-best-thing/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/how-good-is-man-s-life-the-mere-living-how-fit-to-employ-all-the/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/oh-to-be-in-england-now-that-april-s-there-and-whoever-wakes-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The ultimate, angels' law, Indulging every instinct of the soul There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-ultimate-angels-law-indulging-every-instinct-of-the-soul-there/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/grow-old-along-with-me-the-best-is-yet-to-be-the-last-of-life-for/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/that-s-the-wise-thrush-he-sings-each-song-twice-over-lest-you-should/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Look not down but up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/look-not-down-but-up/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [What a thing friendship is - World without end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/what-a-thing-friendship-is-world-without-end/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Silence 'tis awe decrees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/silence-tis-awe-decrees/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) [Explore all 386 Robert Browning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) ## More Gains quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [Europe is creating the flight of refugees that's tearing it apart politically, and leading rightwing nationalist parties to gain power to withdraw from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/europe-is-creating-the-flight-of-refugees-that-s-tearing-it-apart/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [The poet reminds men of their uniqueness and it is not necessary to possess the ultimate definition of this uniqueness. Even to speculate is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-cousins/the-poet-reminds-men-of-their-uniqueness-and-it-is-not-necessary-to/) [Norman Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-cousins/) > [Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you'll love it up here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/change-your-attitude-and-gain-some-altitude-believe-me-you-ll-love-it/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [If China someday gains a more fair, just, and accountable system of government, it will be due to the hard work and efforts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/if-china-someday-gains-a-more-fair-just-and-accountable-system-of/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Some lose yet gain, others gain and yet lose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-lose-yet-gain-others-gain-and-yet-lose/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some people enjoy taking a light stroll in the morning and that gives them relief and that sort of feeling. That is what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ichiro-suzuki/some-people-enjoy-taking-a-light-stroll-in-the-morning-and-that-gives/) [Ichiro Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ichiro-suzuki/) > [Importunity is a condition of prayer. We are to press the matter, not with vain repetitions, but with urgent repetitions. We repeat, not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/importunity-is-a-condition-of-prayer-we-are-to-press-the-matter-not/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [Professional politicians like to talk about the value of experience in government. Nuts! The only experience you gain in politics is how to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/professional-politicians-like-to-talk-about-the-value-of-experience/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [How you educate the people around you, what steps you take toward making it better, what sacrifices you make. The equation of life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-hawkins/how-you-educate-the-people-around-you-what-steps-you-take-toward/) [Andrew Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-hawkins/) Browse all 3,001 Gains quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I know what I want and what I might gain, and yet, how profitless to know.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Browning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain-and-yet-how-profitless-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gains" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain-and-yet-how-profitless-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/robert-browning-734_gains_i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain_1066365.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/robert-browning-734_gains_i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain_1066365.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc9/robert-browning-734_gains_i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain_1066365.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I know what I want and what I might gain, and yet, how profitless to know.” — Robert Browning", "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": "Robert Browning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I know what I want and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain-and-yet-how-profitless-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/i-know-what-i-want-and-what-i-might-gain-and-yet-how-profitless-to/#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 } } ] } ```