Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.

We cannot seek or attain health, wealth, learning, justice or kindness in general. Action is always specific, concrete, individualized, unique.

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Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living.

We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.

Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it.

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.

If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning.

There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow.

The aim of education is the knowledge not of fact, but of values.

The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.

True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.

It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.