--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If thou be one whose heart the holy forms…" description: "\"“If thou be one whose heart the holy forms Of young imagination have kept pure, Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know, that pride, Howe'er disguised..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/william-wordsworth-403_true-knowledge_if-thou-be-one-whose-heart-the-holy-form_2823818.jpg" --- # If thou be one whose heart the holy forms Of young… ![“If thou be one whose heart the holy forms Of young imagination have kept pure, Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know, that pride, Howe'er disguised in its own majesty, Is littleness; that he, who feels contempt For any living thing, hath faculties Which he has never used; that thought with him…” quote by William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/william-wordsworth-403_true-knowledge_if-thou-be-one-whose-heart-the-holy-form_2823818.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/william-wordsworth-403_true-knowledge_if-thou-be-one-whose-heart-the-holy-form_2823818.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b56/william-wordsworth-403_true-knowledge_if-thou-be-one-whose-heart-the-holy-form_2823818.jpg) > ““If thou be one whose heart the holy forms Of young imagination have kept pure, Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know, that pride, Howe'er disguised in its own majesty, Is littleness; that he, who feels contempt For any living thing, hath faculties Which he has never used; that thought with him Is in its infancy. The man, whose eye Is ever on himself, doth look on one, The least of nature's works, one who might move The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds Unlawful, ever. O, be wiser thou! Instructed that true knowledge leads to love, True dignity abides with him alone Who, in the silent hour of inward thought, Can still suspect, and still revere himself, In lowliness of heart.”” [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True knowledge transforms pride into humility, urging love and reverence for all life, especially the smallest creations **In simple terms:** Pride is small; knowledge brings love and humility Key Takeaway Cultivate humility and respect for all beings Themes humility knowledge love reverence Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal reflection - environmental activism - teaching children - leadership development Key Concepts self-awareness spiritual growth ethics Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing one's own pride change behavior? - What small actions can demonstrate reverence for nature? 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Forgive me not for what I say Much less what I feel... My lady, You the one who stole my soul and hid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-caban-jr/now-forgive-me-not-for-what-i-say-much-less-what-i-feel-my-lady-you/) [Alexander Caban Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-caban-jr/) > [Go, wiser thou! and in thy scale of sense weigh thy opinion against Providence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/go-wiser-thou-and-in-thy-scale-of-sense-weigh-thy-opinion-against-2/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Can Christ be in thou heart and thou not know it? 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To work effectively, we must think clearly; to act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/all-that-we-do-outwardly-is-but-the-expression-and-completion-of-our/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Oh, be wise, Thou! Instructed that true knowledge leads to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/oh-be-wise-thou-instructed-that-true-knowledge-leads-to-love/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) ## More by William Wordsworth > [Spade! Thou art a tool of honor in my hands. I press thee, through a yielding soil, with pride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/spade-thou-art-a-tool-of-honor-in-my-hands-i-press-thee-through-a/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Brothers all In honour, as in one community, Scholars and gentlemen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/brothers-all-in-honour-as-in-one-community-scholars-and-gentlemen/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [The eye— it cannot choose but see; we cannot bid the ear be still; our bodies feel, where'er they be, against or with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-eye-it-cannot-choose-but-see-we-cannot-bid-the-ear-be-still-our/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [“Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/dreams-books-are-each-a-world-and-books-we-know-are-a-substantial/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Now when the primrose makes a splendid show, And lilies face the March-winds in full blow, And humbler growths as moved with one desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/now-when-the-primrose-makes-a-splendid-show-and-lilies-face-the-march/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [“Where are your books? - that light bequeathed To beings else forlorn and blind! Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed From dead men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/where-are-your-books-that-light-bequeathed-to-beings-else-forlorn-and/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Knowledge and increase of enduring joy From the great Nature that exists in works Of mighty Poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/knowledge-and-increase-of-enduring-joy-from-the-great-nature-that/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [The common growth of Mother Earth Suffices me,-her tears, her mirth, Her humblest mirth and tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-common-growth-of-mother-earth-suffices-me-her-tears-her-mirth-her/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [And he is oft the wisest manWho is not wise at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/and-he-is-oft-the-wisest-manwho-is-not-wise-at-all/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [The oldest man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-oldest-man-he-seemed-that-ever-wore-grey-hairs/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [“She was a Phantom of delight When first she gleam'd upon my sight; A lovely Apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament: Her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/she-was-a-phantom-of-delight-when-first-she-gleam-d-upon-my-sight-a/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [“If the time should ever come when what is now called science, thus familiarised to men, shall be ready to put on, as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/if-the-time-should-ever-come-when-what-is-now-called-science-thus/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Truth takes no account of centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/truth-takes-no-account-of-centuries/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime of something far more deeply interfused, whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/i-have-felt-a-presence-that-disturbs-me-with-the-joy-of-elevated/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Like thoughts whose very sweetness yielded proof that they were born for immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/like-thoughts-whose-very-sweetness-yielded-proof-that-they-were-born/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) [Explore all 587 William Wordsworth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) ## More True knowledge quotes > [ “Skills (learning) or lack of skills is all egoistic knowledge (ego based knowledge). Ego-free Knowledge is called (true) Knowledge \[Gnan\].” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/skills-learning-or-lack-of-skills-is-all-egoistic-knowledge-ego-based/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/to-know-what-you-know-and-what-you-do-not-know-that-is-true-knowledge/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“surely the only true knowledge of our fellow-man is that which enables us to feel with him—which gives us a fine ear for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/surely-the-only-true-knowledge-of-our-fellow-man-is-that-which/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“My spirit welled up in its joy because I asked myself "why?" The dread key to all true knowledge is "why?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mika-waltari/my-spirit-welled-up-in-its-joy-because-i-asked-myself-why-the-dread/) [Mika Waltari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mika-waltari/) > [“Any man who behaves arrogantly with what little he knows, or claims to know all, only reveals to all that he really knows nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/any-man-who-behaves-arrogantly-with-what-little-he-knows-or-claims-to/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“Knowledge as a past fact, as something dead and done with—knowledge by the time it gets into encyclopaedias and text-books—does consist of assertion, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-g-collingwood/knowledge-as-a-past-fact-as-something-dead-and-done-with-knowledge-by/) [R. G. Collingwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-g-collingwood/) > [This generation lacks true knowledge of how the past has trapped you with psychological lassos over Adam's apples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reks/this-generation-lacks-true-knowledge-of-how-the-past-has-trapped-you/) [Reks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reks/) > [“The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/the-humble-sage-by-virtue-of-true-knowledge-sees-with-equal-vision-a/) [A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/) > [“To make a true choice, we must have true knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/to-make-a-true-choice-we-must-have-true-knowledge/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [ “refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the \[true\] knowledge of God; and I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/refute-arguments-and-theories-and-reasonings-and-every-proud-and/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [Self-knowledge is the only basis of true knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/self-knowledge-is-the-only-basis-of-true-knowledge/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“7 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge,       but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/7-fear-of-the-lord-is-the-foundation-of-true-knowledge-but-fools/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The human curiosity is as if an ant which seeks knowledge and walks over the books of science.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/the-human-curiosity-is-as-if-an-ant-which-seeks-knowledge-and-walks/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [“To be in touch with wilderness is to have stepped past the proud cattle of the field and wandered far from the twinkles of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-shaw/to-be-in-touch-with-wilderness-is-to-have-stepped-past-the-proud/) [Martin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-shaw/) > [Since a true knowledge of nature gives us pleasure, a lively imitation of it, either in poetry or painting, must produce a much greater;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/since-a-true-knowledge-of-nature-gives-us-pleasure-a-lively-imitation/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) [Browse all 194 True knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If thou be one whose heart the holy forms Of young imagination have kept pure, Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know, that pride, Howe'er disguised in its own majesty, Is littleness; that he, who feels contempt For any living thing, hath faculties Which he has never used; that thought with him Is in its infancy. The man, whose eye Is ever on himself, doth look on one, The least of nature's works, one who might move The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds Unlawful, ever. O, be wiser thou! 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