--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To really understand something is to be…" description: "\"“To really understand something is to be liberated from it. Humanity's greatest ally is the self-educated individual, who has read, understood, delays ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/ross-ashcroft-274623_eyes-wide-open_to-really-understand-something-is-to-be_2990812.jpg" --- # To really understand something is to be liberated from it… ![“To really understand something is to be liberated from it. Humanity's greatest ally is the self-educated individual, who has read, understood, delays their gratification, and walks around with their eyes wide open.” quote by Ross Ashcroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/ross-ashcroft-274623_eyes-wide-open_to-really-understand-something-is-to-be_2990812.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/ross-ashcroft-274623_eyes-wide-open_to-really-understand-something-is-to-be_2990812.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/ross-ashcroft-274623_eyes-wide-open_to-really-understand-something-is-to-be_2990812.jpg) > ““To really understand something is to be liberated from it. Humanity's greatest ally is the self-educated individual, who has read, understood, delays their gratification, and walks around with their eyes wide open.”” Ross Ashcroft ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding liberates us from the limits of our own assumptions, empowering self‑educated individuals to act with awareness. **In simple terms:** Knowledge frees you from ignorance. Key Takeaway Cultivate self‑education and awareness. Themes learning self‑education liberation awareness human potential Mood reflective inspired When to use this quote - academic study - personal development - decision making - social interaction - political engagement Key Concepts critical thinking personal growth autonomy Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑education change your perception? - What limits remain despite knowledge? A Different Perspective Self‑education alone may not overcome structural barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eyes wide open](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-wide-open/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ## Related quotes > [I'm an educated individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-gibbs/i-m-an-educated-individual/) [Freddie Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-gibbs/) > [“Five hundred years of science have liberated humanity from the shackles of enforced ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/five-hundred-years-of-science-have-liberated-humanity-from-the/) [Lawrence M. Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-m-krauss/) > [The star of revolution will rise high above the streets of Moscow, from a sea of blood and fire, and turn into a lodestar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/the-star-of-revolution-will-rise-high-above-the-streets-of-moscow/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“I like few things better than to have my work read and understood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blackwell/i-like-few-things-better-than-to-have-my-work-read-and-understood/) William Blackwell > [“Therefore I beg you, reader, not to rejoice too greatly if you have read much, but if you have understood much. Nor that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-of-saint-victor/therefore-i-beg-you-reader-not-to-rejoice-too-greatly-if-you-have/) [Hugh of Saint Victor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-of-saint-victor/) > [“Every book has to wait for the right time to be read and understood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/every-book-has-to-wait-for-the-right-time-to-be-read-and-understood/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [Poets yearn, of course, to be published, read, and understood, but they do little, if anything, to set themselves above the common herd and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wislawa-szymborska/poets-yearn-of-course-to-be-published-read-and-understood-but-they-do/) [Wislawa Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wislawa-szymborska/) > [“What is read and understood and contemplated and intellectually grasped is our own, madam, to live and work with. A lifetime's study will not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/what-is-read-and-understood-and-contemplated-and-intellectually/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [I never went to university. I'm self-educated. I didn't go because I was too impatient, too arrogant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-never-went-to-university-i-m-self-educated-i-didn-t-go-because-i/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) > [“Whether one is formally educated or self educated; the cornerstone of success is education.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-foster/whether-one-is-formally-educated-or-self-educated-the-cornerstone-of/) Will Foster > [None of the world's problems will have a solution until the world's individuals become thoroughly self-educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/none-of-the-world-s-problems-will-have-a-solution-until-the-world-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anyone can be self-educated if they find the loose end of something to care about passionately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-spufford/anyone-can-be-self-educated-if-they-find-the-loose-end-of-something/) [Francis Spufford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-spufford/) > [To become self-educated you should condemn yourself for all those things that you would criticize others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diogenes/to-become-self-educated-you-should-condemn-yourself-for-all-those/) [Diogenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diogenes/) > [I don't find myself interesting as a person and the details I find boring, quite frankly. You could sum it up in a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-don-t-find-myself-interesting-as-a-person-and-the-details-i-find/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [Any drunk who has tried to put his car where a lamppost stands is a self-educated physicist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/any-drunk-who-has-tried-to-put-his-car-where-a-lamppost-stands-is-a/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) ## More Eyes wide open quotes > [Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and halfway closed there after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dobson/keep-your-eyes-wide-open-before-marriage-and-halfway-closed-there/) [James Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dobson/) > [“Eight-and-twenty years,' said I, 'I have lived, and never a ghost have I seen as yet.' The old woman sat staring hard into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/eight-and-twenty-years-said-i-i-have-lived-and-never-a-ghost-have-i/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/keep-your-eyes-wide-open-before-marriage-half-shut-afterwards/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [It hurts to even be breathing with tired eyes wide open, I fear my own tears and my heart of falling love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-harvey/it-hurts-to-even-be-breathing-with-tired-eyes-wide-open-i-fear-my-own/) Natasha Harvey > [The earliest storytellers were magi, seers, bards, griots, shamans. They were, it would seem, old as time, and as terrifying to gaze upon as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-earliest-storytellers-were-magi-seers-bards-griots-shamans-they/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I believe that dreams - day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing - are likely to lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/i-believe-that-dreams-day-dreams-you-know-with-your-eyes-wide-open/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [Gossip is a plague that consumes weak, gullible people and blinds them from the truth of reality; it can devour entire city's. I prefer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-spade/gossip-is-a-plague-that-consumes-weak-gullible-people-and-blinds-them/) [David Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-spade/) > [“Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/imagination-has-brought-mankind-through-the-dark-ages-to-its-present/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [Often pagans, with their eyes wide open, do not see very clearly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rouault/often-pagans-with-their-eyes-wide-open-do-not-see-very-clearly/) [Georges Rouault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rouault/) > [You start out with your eyes wide open, and you've got dreams, and we worked really, really hard, and ours came true. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/it-takes-me-five-rounds-to-hit-the-middle-of-the-target-and-when-i-do/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time I keep the ends out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-cash/i-keep-a-close-watch-on-this-heart-of-mine-i-keep-my-eyes-wide-open/) [Johnny Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-cash/) > [“I watched with my eyes, tasted with my tongue, heard with my ears and felt with my fingers as my beautiful girl reached her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raine-miller/i-watched-with-my-eyes-tasted-with-my-tongue-heard-with-my-ears-and/) [Raine Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raine-miller/) [Browse all 136 Eyes wide open quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-wide-open/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To really understand something is to be liberated from it. 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