Quotes About Insight

An error is simply a failure to adjust immediately from a preconception to an actuality.

I discovered that those who seldom dwell on their emotions know better than anyone else just what an emotion is.

Philosophers] are like a traveler passing through a field at night who in a momentary lightning flash sees far and wide, but the sight vanishes so swiftly that he is plunged again into the darkness of night before he can take even a step-let alone be directed on the way by its help.

True and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

for when any one understands this Epistle, he has a passage opened to him to the understanding of the whole Scripture.

Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

Trie and sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

The knowledge of ourselves, therefore, is not only an incitement to seek after God, but likewise a considerable assistance towards finding him.

that there is nothing put forth in Scripture which it is not profitable to know.

Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God. Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true sound wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

Indeed, men who have either quaffed or even tasted the liberal arts penetrate with their aid far more deeply into the secrets of the divine wisdom." - John Calvin

He liked the bow, where it was quiet. If he looked over the edge of the deck, he could just see the bulbous front of the ship where it met the water. For centuries, the bows of ships had been like knives. But not any longer. Wilson pondered the change until he understood. A bulbous prow would raise the bow. This would make the ship more efficient by reducing the impact of the bow-wave. He wondered about the man whose insight it was, and if he'd gotten credit for it.

lack of firm knowledge rarely equates with complete ignorance.

It is this quality, the power of seeing order in apparent confusion, that has marked the work of all great men.

I write to make sense of my life." -John Cheever, quoted in _Cheever - A Life_ (2009) by Blake Bailey

Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.

A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.

The public library is the most dangerous place in town

Poetry is man's best means of perceiving most profoundly the action and the consequence of his own emotions.

We do not first get all the answers and then live in the light of our understanding. We must rather plunge into life meeting what we have to meet and experiencing what we have to experience and in the light of living try to understand. if insight comes at all, it will not before, but only through and after experience.

He who laughs most, learns best

I think the problem with people like this is that they are so stupid that they have no idea how stupid they are.

The really good idea is always traceable back quite a long way, often to a not very good idea which sparked off another idea that was only slightly better, which somebody else misunderstood in such a way that they then said something which was really rather interesting.