--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And all had, after long acquaintance, at…" description: "\"“And all had, after long acquaintance, at last understood that familiarity with a place will lead not to absolute knowledge but only ever to further in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/robert-macfarlane-11240_familiarity_and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-l_2075050.jpg" --- # And all had, after long acquaintance, at last understood… ![“And all had, after long acquaintance, at last understood that familiarity with a place will lead not to absolute knowledge but only ever to further inquiry.” quote by Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/robert-macfarlane-11240_familiarity_and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-l_2075050.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/robert-macfarlane-11240_familiarity_and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-l_2075050.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/robert-macfarlane-11240_familiarity_and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-l_2075050.jpg) > ““And all had, after long acquaintance, at last understood that familiarity with a place will lead not to absolute knowledge but only ever to further inquiry.”” [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Familiarity with a place sparks more questions, not final answers. **In simple terms:** Knowing a place leads to more inquiry. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity over certainty. Themes exploration knowledge humility Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - travel - research - environmental study Key Concepts place inquiry learning Questions to Reflect On - How does familiarity limit understanding? - When does curiosity become doubt? A Different Perspective Familiarity can breed complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [“The prevalence of the application as the Self in the applied awareness as the Self is absolute Knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/the-prevalence-of-the-application-as-the-self-in-the-applied/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“People of the world say that, "Absolute Knowledge (Keval Gnan) is a thing to 'do'." No, it is something to be known! That which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/people-of-the-world-say-that-absolute-knowledge-keval-gnan-is-a-thing/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [àTheir saying thought is a thing and all knowledge past present and future are contained in it. 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J. Grothe > [Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/every-judgment-teeters-on-the-brink-of-error-to-claim-absolute/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [It would seem evident, therefore, that the secret of the American short story was the treatment of characteristic American life, with absolute knowledge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/it-would-seem-evident-therefore-that-the-secret-of-the-american-short/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [We could all be mediums, and all have absolute knowledge, if the bright light of our ego consciousness would not dim it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-louise-von-franz/we-could-all-be-mediums-and-all-have-absolute-knowledge-if-the-bright/) [Marie-Louise von Franz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-louise-von-franz/) > [“To know ‘who I am and who I am not’ is called Gnan (Absolute knowledge).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/to-know-who-i-am-and-who-i-am-not-is-called-gnan-absolute-knowledge/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Knowledge is power. And absolute knowledge can corrupt absolutely. I like power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shafkat-sakeebur-rahman/knowledge-is-power-and-absolute-knowledge-can-corrupt-absolutely-i/) Shafkat Sakeebur Rahman > [“Complete understanding’ is considered ‘Absolute Vision’ (keval darshan) and when it manifests in one’s conduct, it is considered ‘Absolute Knowledge' (keval gnan). ‘Absolute Vision’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/complete-understanding-is-considered-absolute-vision-keval-darshan/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [There are only a few bits of absolute knowledge in the world, people can learn only one or two fundamental facts about each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/there-are-only-a-few-bits-of-absolute-knowledge-in-the-world-people/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“Absolute knowledge is an all-inclusive knowledge. If it is to be absolute, it cannot leave anything outside itself, not even error. It includes error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juli-n-mar-as/absolute-knowledge-is-an-all-inclusive-knowledge-if-it-is-to-be/) Julián Marías > [We know that there is no absolute knowledge, that there are only theories; but we forget this. The better educated we are, the harder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lincoln-steffens/we-know-that-there-is-no-absolute-knowledge-that-there-are-only/) [Lincoln Steffens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lincoln-steffens/) ## More by Robert Macfarlane > [“The association of the wild and the wood also run deep in etymology. The two words are thought to have grown out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/the-association-of-the-wild-and-the-wood-also-run-deep-in-etymology/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“We are adept, if occasionally embarrassed, at saying what we make of places - but we are far less good at saying what places…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/we-are-adept-if-occasionally-embarrassed-at-saying-what-we-make-of/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [Anyone who lives in a city will know the feeling of having been there too long. The gorge-vision that the streets imprint on us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/anyone-who-lives-in-a-city-will-know-the-feeling-of-having-been-there/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“I had started climbing trees about three years earlier, or rather, re-started; for I had been at a school that had a wood for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/i-had-started-climbing-trees-about-three-years-earlier-or-rather-re/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“The whole foot is a document of motion, inscribed by repeated action. Babies - from those first foetal footfalls, the kneading of sole against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/the-whole-foot-is-a-document-of-motion-inscribed-by-repeated-action/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“My grandparents... planted their land up with trees, both those native... and exotics which stood in memory of the countries where they had lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/my-grandparents-planted-their-land-up-with-trees-both-those-native/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“Touch is a reciprocal action, a gesture of exchange with the world. To make an impression is also to receive one, and the soles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/touch-is-a-reciprocal-action-a-gesture-of-exchange-with-the-world-to/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [Knowing another is endless,' Shepherd had written; 'The thing to be known grows with the knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/knowing-another-is-endless-shepherd-had-written-the-thing-to-be-known/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [By speaking of greater forces than we can possibly invoke, and by confronting us with greater spans of time than we can possibly envisage,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/by-speaking-of-greater-forces-than-we-can-possibly-invoke-and-by/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [I remembered what Thoreau had written in his journal about thinking nothing of walking eight miles to greet a tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/i-remembered-what-thoreau-had-written-in-his-journal-about-thinking/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“...the instinct and the body (the felt smoothness of pebbles, the seen grain of light) must know in ways that the conscious mind cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/the-instinct-and-the-body-the-felt-smoothness-of-pebbles-the-seen/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“meaning indifferent to the distinction between things. It is not, on the whole, that natural phenomena and entities themselves are disappearing; rather that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/meaning-indifferent-to-the-distinction-between-things-it-is-not-on/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“When the lark sing he feels invulnerable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/when-the-lark-sing-he-feels-invulnerable/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [“...he suggested that paths were imprinted with the 'dreams' of each traveler who had walked it and that his own experiences would in course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/he-suggested-that-paths-were-imprinted-with-the-dreams-of-each/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) > [ “Although the disappearance of the true wildwood \[in the British Isles\] occurred in the Neolithic period, before humanity began to record its own history,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/although-the-disappearance-of-the-true-wildwood-in-the-british-isles/) [Robert Macfarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) [Explore all 60 Robert Macfarlane quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/) ## More Familiarity quotes > [Too much familiarity breeds contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/too-much-familiarity-breeds-contempt/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Part of the advantage, and part of the result of trying to be a producer and director, are the practical things, you find. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/campbell-scott/part-of-the-advantage-and-part-of-the-result-of-trying-to-be-a/) [Campbell Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/campbell-scott/) > [You have to know that you have to have familiarity with the artist that you want to be, but there's so much about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-barbaro/you-have-to-know-that-you-have-to-have-familiarity-with-the-artist/) [Monica Barbaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-barbaro/) > [I'm sure there are a lot of Italians who refer to themselves as goombahs and greaseballs and whatever. That's what people do. It gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/i-m-sure-there-are-a-lot-of-italians-who-refer-to-themselves-as/) [Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/) > [“And when I look into his eyes there’s a feeling of something I can only describe as familiarity, a sense of safety. Like coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-james/and-when-i-look-into-his-eyes-there-s-a-feeling-of-something-i-can/) [Rebecca James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-james/) > [My familiarity with the successful use of very long steel ropes for mining purposes naturally suggested their adaptation to the new purpose of deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-agassiz/my-familiarity-with-the-successful-use-of-very-long-steel-ropes-for/) Alexander Agassiz > [Vulgar and inactive minds confound familiarity with knowledge, and conceive themselves informed of the whole nature of things, when they are shown their form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/vulgar-and-inactive-minds-confound-familiarity-with-knowledge-and/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is familiarity with life that makes time speed quickly. When every day is a step in the unknown, as for children, the days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/it-is-familiarity-with-life-that-makes-time-speed-quickly-when-every/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [When the writing is good, a book becomes a mirror. The reader will see an uncanny familiarity and respond accordingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-knox/when-the-writing-is-good-a-book-becomes-a-mirror-the-reader-will-see/) Jen Knox > [Today the greatest single deterrent to knowledge of Jesus is His familiarity. Because we think we know Him, we pass Him by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-kirkland/today-the-greatest-single-deterrent-to-knowledge-of-jesus-is-his/) Winifred Kirkland > [When you've worked in the same place for 13 years, when things go well, you know how to keep it going well. When things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-stevens/when-you-ve-worked-in-the-same-place-for-13-years-when-things-go-well/) [Brad Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-stevens/) > [The hues of the opal, the light of the diamond, are not to be seen if the eye is too near.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-hues-of-the-opal-the-light-of-the-diamond-are-not-to-be-seen-if/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [But while ignorance can make you insensitive, familiarity can also numb. Entering the second half-century of an information age, our cumulative knowledge has changed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/but-while-ignorance-can-make-you-insensitive-familiarity-can-also/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) Browse all 454 Familiarity quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And all had, after long acquaintance, at last understood that familiarity with a place will lead not to absolute knowledge but only ever to further inquiry.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Macfarlane" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-last-understood-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Familiarity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-last-understood-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/robert-macfarlane-11240_familiarity_and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-l_2075050.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/robert-macfarlane-11240_familiarity_and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-l_2075050.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/robert-macfarlane-11240_familiarity_and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-l_2075050.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And all had, after long acquaintance, at last understood that familiarity with a place will lead not to…” — Robert Macfarlane", "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 Macfarlane", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-macfarlane/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And all had, after long acquaintance,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-last-understood-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-macfarlane/and-all-had-after-long-acquaintance-at-last-understood-that/#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 } } ] } ```