--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Door of Knowledge Through Which the…" description: "\"“The Door of Knowledge Through Which the Untutored May Not Pass sticks something wicked in the damp.”\" — Terry Pratchett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/terry-pratchett-19_damp_the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the_421698.jpg" --- # The Door of Knowledge Through Which the Untutored May Not… ![“The Door of Knowledge Through Which the Untutored May Not Pass sticks something wicked in the damp.” quote by Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/terry-pratchett-19_damp_the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the_421698.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/terry-pratchett-19_damp_the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the_421698.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/terry-pratchett-19_damp_the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the_421698.jpg) > ““The Door of Knowledge Through Which the Untutored May Not Pass sticks something wicked in the damp.”” [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge is guarded, and those untrained may encounter hidden dangers when seeking it. **In simple terms:** Untrained seekers face hidden risks. Key Takeaway Approach learning with humility and preparation. Themes knowledge danger learning curiosity Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type cautionary philosophical When to use this quote - academic study - self‑education - exploration - innovation Key Concepts epistemology risk assessment growth mindset Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards do you use when learning new topics? - How can you balance curiosity with caution? A Different Perspective Blind pursuit can lead to harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-patton/untutored-courage-is-useless-in-the-face-of-educated-bullets/) [George S. Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) > [Scientists actively approach the door to knowledge—the boundary of the domain of what we know. We question and explore and we change our views…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-randall/scientists-actively-approach-the-door-to-knowledge-the-boundary-of/) [Lisa Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-randall/) > [Questioning is the door of knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/questioning-is-the-door-of-knowledge/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Meditation is the key that opens the door to all the knowledge and understanding in life—certainly to our current lives and also to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-williams/meditation-is-the-key-that-opens-the-door-to-all-the-knowledge-and/) [Lisa Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-williams/) > [Liberalism is dead, so dead that Democrats have all become moderate Republicans, and the heavy hand of Big Government is now limp and damp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/liberalism-is-dead-so-dead-that-democrats-have-all-become-moderate/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Without wishing to damp the ardor of curiosity or influence the freedom of inquiry, I will hazard a prediction that, after the most industrious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/without-wishing-to-damp-the-ardor-of-curiosity-or-influence-the/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Beautiful and minimalist, the traditional Japanese art of ikebana - arranging bouquets of cut flowers and leaves using very few elements - ideally corresponded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-ellena/beautiful-and-minimalist-the-traditional-japanese-art-of-ikebana/) [Jean-Claude Ellena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-ellena/) > [There is nothing pleasanter than spading when the ground is soft and damp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/there-is-nothing-pleasanter-than-spading-when-the-ground-is-soft-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I can't live without mousse. When my hair is damp I put it at the roots. When I blow dry my hair it makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-mitchell/i-can-t-live-without-mousse-when-my-hair-is-damp-i-put-it-at-the/) [Shay Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-mitchell/) > [Write what you know. Every guide for the aspiring author advises this. Because I live in a long-settled rural place, I know certain things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/write-what-you-know-every-guide-for-the-aspiring-author-advises-this/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [The triumph of the Confederacy... would be a victory for the powers of evil which would give courage to the enemies of progress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-triumph-of-the-confederacy-would-be-a-victory-for-the-powers-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/don-t-tell-me-about-the-world-not-today-it-s-springtime-and-they-re/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-interesting-to-contemplate-an-entangled-bank-clothed-with-many/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“The morning was so damp and misty”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-morning-was-so-damp-and-misty/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) ## More by Terry Pratchett > [“This one’s mental.’ ‘Eccentric.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘A bag of cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/this-one-s-mental-eccentric-what-s-the-difference-a-bag-of-cash/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“But I did not return until half past four this morning and I distinctly remember stubbing my toe on the stairs. I am as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-i-did-not-return-until-half-past-four-this-morning-and-i/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Someone broke from the scrum and, punching and kicking, staggered towards the Klatchian goal. "Isn't that man your butler?" said Ahmed. "Yes." "One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/someone-broke-from-the-scrum-and-punching-and-kicking-staggered/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [You can't trust folk songs. They always sneak up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-can-t-trust-folk-songs-they-always-sneak-up-on-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Magrat wondered what it was like, spending your whole life doing something you didn’t want to do. Like being dead, she considered, only worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/magrat-wondered-what-it-was-like-spending-your-whole-life-doing/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A hardback's harder at Christmas time because that's a good hardback buying time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-hardback-s-harder-at-christmas-time-because-that-s-a-good-hardback/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There were more old people. The world was full of them,' said the wizard. 'Yes, I know. And now it's full of young people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-were-more-old-people-the-world-was-full-of-them-said-the-wizard/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Hobson was big and heavyset, but not exactly fat; he was probably what you’d get if you shaved a bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/hobson-was-big-and-heavyset-but-not-exactly-fat-he-was-probably-what/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-d-like-freedom-truth-and-justice-wouldn-t-you-comrade-sergeant/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You are not apprehensive, are you? I can't detect no trace of fear none whatsoever Roomy cranium all possible videos of all possible outcomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-are-not-apprehensive-are-you-i-can-t-detect-no-trace-of-fear-none/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/imagination-not-intelligence-made-us-human/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Explore all 3,328 Terry Pratchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## More Damp quotes > [“The morning was so damp and misty”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-morning-was-so-damp-and-misty/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-interesting-to-contemplate-an-entangled-bank-clothed-with-many/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/don-t-tell-me-about-the-world-not-today-it-s-springtime-and-they-re/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [The triumph of the Confederacy... would be a victory for the powers of evil which would give courage to the enemies of progress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-triumph-of-the-confederacy-would-be-a-victory-for-the-powers-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [Write what you know. Every guide for the aspiring author advises this. Because I live in a long-settled rural place, I know certain things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/write-what-you-know-every-guide-for-the-aspiring-author-advises-this/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [I can't live without mousse. When my hair is damp I put it at the roots. When I blow dry my hair it makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-mitchell/i-can-t-live-without-mousse-when-my-hair-is-damp-i-put-it-at-the/) [Shay Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-mitchell/) > [There is nothing pleasanter than spading when the ground is soft and damp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/there-is-nothing-pleasanter-than-spading-when-the-ground-is-soft-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Beautiful and minimalist, the traditional Japanese art of ikebana - arranging bouquets of cut flowers and leaves using very few elements - ideally corresponded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-ellena/beautiful-and-minimalist-the-traditional-japanese-art-of-ikebana/) [Jean-Claude Ellena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-ellena/) > [Without wishing to damp the ardor of curiosity or influence the freedom of inquiry, I will hazard a prediction that, after the most industrious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/without-wishing-to-damp-the-ardor-of-curiosity-or-influence-the/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Liberalism is dead, so dead that Democrats have all become moderate Republicans, and the heavy hand of Big Government is now limp and damp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/liberalism-is-dead-so-dead-that-democrats-have-all-become-moderate/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [If any man has drunk a little too deeply from the cup of physical pleasure; if he has spent too much time at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/if-any-man-has-drunk-a-little-too-deeply-from-the-cup-of-physical/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [ My new city \[Seattle\] and its hinterland felt deceptively homely. Their similar latitude gave them the angular light and lingering evenings I was used… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/my-new-city-seattle-and-its-hinterland-felt-deceptively-homely-their/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [“It was a rimy morning, and very damp. I had seen the damp lying on the outside of my little window, as if some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-was-a-rimy-morning-and-very-damp-i-had-seen-the-damp-lying-on-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There is something remarkably and peculiarly English about the passion for sitting on damp seats watching open-air drama only the English have mastered the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheridan-morley/there-is-something-remarkably-and-peculiarly-english-about-the/) Sheridan Morley Browse all 101 Damp quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Door of Knowledge Through Which the Untutored May Not Pass sticks something wicked in the damp.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terry Pratchett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the-untutored-may-not-pass-sticks/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Damp" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the-untutored-may-not-pass-sticks/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/terry-pratchett-19_damp_the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the_421698.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/terry-pratchett-19_damp_the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the_421698.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/terry-pratchett-19_damp_the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the_421698.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Door of Knowledge Through Which the Untutored May Not Pass sticks something wicked in the damp.” — Terry Pratchett", "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": "Terry Pratchett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The Door of Knowledge Through Which...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the-untutored-may-not-pass-sticks/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-door-of-knowledge-through-which-the-untutored-may-not-pass-sticks/#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 } } ] } ```