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Nature Quote by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth traveled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it. ‘You appear to be astonished,’ he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. ‘Now that I do know it I…” quote by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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““That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth traveled round the sun appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it. ‘You appear to be astonished,’ he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. ‘Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it.’ ‘To forget it!’ ‘You see,’ he explained, ‘I consider that a man’s brain is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.’ ‘But the Solar System!’ I protested. ‘What the deuce is it to me?’ he interrupted impatiently: ‘you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.””

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

About This Quote

Source Short story: "The Adventure of the Dancing Men", 1903

Knowledge should be curated; excess facts crowd useful insight, so selective learning is essential.

In simple terms: Only keep useful knowledge.

Key Takeaway

Focus on tools that serve your goals.

Themes

learning focus knowledge

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

educational philosophical

When to use this quote

  • education
  • research
  • personal development
  • decision making

Key Concepts

cognitive load information theory

Questions to Reflect On

  • What facts are truly essential for you?
  • How do you decide what to discard?
A Different Perspective

Human brains have limited capacity; some knowledge is inevitably lost.

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