--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To know all is to despise all." description: "\"“To know all is to despise all.”\" — Robertson Davies" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/robertson-davies-834_despise_to-know-all-is-to-despise-all-2063624_2063624.png" --- # To know all is to despise all. ![“To know all is to despise all.” quote by Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/robertson-davies-834_despise_to-know-all-is-to-despise-all-2063624_2063624.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/robertson-davies-834_despise_to-know-all-is-to-despise-all-2063624_2063624.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/robertson-davies-834_despise_to-know-all-is-to-despise-all-2063624_2063624.png) > ““To know all is to despise all.”” [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding everything leads to cynicism and loss of wonder. **In simple terms:** Knowing all breeds contempt. Key Takeaway Seek humility over total knowledge. Themes knowledge humility cynicism Mood reflective skeptical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic study - personal relationships - political discourse - media consumption Key Concepts philosophy existentialism Questions to Reflect On - Do you value mystery over certainty? - How does knowing everything affect empathy? 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If there were such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/there-can-be-no-doubt-that-samuel-marchbanks-is-one-of-the-choice-and/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Nobody who looks as though he enjoyed life is ever called distinguished, though he is a man in a million.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/nobody-who-looks-as-though-he-enjoyed-life-is-ever-called/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [They're all so highly educated, you know. Education is a great shield against experience. It offers so much, ready-made and all from the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/they-re-all-so-highly-educated-you-know-education-is-a-great-shield/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Students today are a pretty solemn lot. One of the really notable achievements of the twentieth century has been to make the young old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/students-today-are-a-pretty-solemn-lot-one-of-the-really-notable/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) [Explore all 357 Robertson Davies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) ## More Despise quotes > [My whole life has conspired to bring me to this place, and I can’t despise my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/my-whole-life-has-conspired-to-bring-me-to-this-place-and-i-can-t/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. 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J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I despise a person of little mind - one might as well not have any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-dunham-kelley-hawkins/i-despise-a-person-of-little-mind-one-might-as-well-not-have-any/) [Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-dunham-kelley-hawkins/) > [I despise computers in many ways. 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This you should pity rather than despise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-miserable-most-to-love-unloved-this-you-should-pity-rather-than/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Browse all 918 Despise quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despise/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To know all is to despise all.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robertson Davies" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/to-know-all-is-to-despise-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despise" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/to-know-all-is-to-despise-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/robertson-davies-834_despise_to-know-all-is-to-despise-all-2063624_2063624.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/robertson-davies-834_despise_to-know-all-is-to-despise-all-2063624_2063624.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/robertson-davies-834_despise_to-know-all-is-to-despise-all-2063624_2063624.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To know all is to despise all.” — Robertson Davies", "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": "Robertson Davies", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“To know all is to despise...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/to-know-all-is-to-despise-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/to-know-all-is-to-despise-all/#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 } } ] } ```